43 of Subhuman and Adrenalin!

On this day, 43 ago (23 October 1980), UK industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle released simultaneously two 7” singles, Adrenalin/Distant Dreams (Part Two) and Subhuman/Something Came Over Me. They were both sold in camouflage printed plastic bags.

‘Adrenalin’ and‘ Distant Dreams' might well be some of Throbbing Gristle's more accessible songs but still feature weird tape loops and odd lyrics by Genesis P. Orridge’. So in the musical context of 1980, these songs were still a long way off from mainstream music.

Worth noting, the 7" version of "Distant Dreams (pt. II)" has a different mix comparing it to the one made available as bonus on later Grey Area CD editions of "Mission Of Dead Souls”.

The Subhuman/Something Came Over Me single was everything but accessible for the mainstream music lovers with Subhuman being more of a soundscape of scraping metalics while Genesis screams and shouts his lyrics over them. However ‘Something Came Over Me’ definitely has the most pop/rock song elements and melodies, however they are countered by Genesis P. Orridge undisguised ode to a white sticky substance.

The artwork features the painting Apotheosis of War by Vasili Vasilyevich Vereshchagin on the front cover and a canal bridge underpass.

Both singles entered the UK indie charts peaking at 23rd (Subhuman/Something Came Over Me) and 26th (Adrenalin/Distant Dreams) (Part Two)) position.

Subhuman/Something Came Over Me ( 7" IR 13)

A:Subhuman" – 2:53
B: Something Came Over Me" – 3:43

Adrenalin/Distant Dreams (Part Two) (7" - IR 15)

A: Adrenalin" – 3:59
B: Distant Dreams (Part Two)" – 5:30