Robotic
mimeA mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
and music duo
Tik and Tok (Tim Dry and Sean Crawford) began performing together with SHOCK: a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe in the early 1980s with
Barbie Wilde{BLPunsourced|date=August 2009}Barbie Wilde is a Canadian actress and writer, best known for appearing as the Female Cenobite in Hellbound: Hellraiser II - the second of eight Hellraiser films based on Clive Barker's novella, The Hellbound Heart...
, Robert Pereno, LA Richards and
Carole CaplinCarole Caplin was the style adviser to Cherie Blair. She was controversial because of her relationship with the convicted conman Peter Foster.-Early life:Caplin was brought up by her mother, Sylvia, of Jewish descent...
.
Shock's first record 'Angel Face', with production by
Rusty EganRusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...
(
VisageVisage are a English pop band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s.-New Wave years :...
) and
Richard James BurgessRichard James Burgess is a studio drummer, music-computer programmer, recording artist, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. He was the producer for Spandau Ballet's first two albums.-Education:...
(
LandscapeLandscape are a British band, best known for their 1981 hits, "Einstein A Go-Go" and "Norman Bates". Formed in 1974, they toured constantly during the mid to late 1970s, playing rock, punk and jazz venues and releasing two instrumental EPs on their own Event Horizon label...
) was a modest dance floor hit. In 1981, Shock co-starred with
UltravoxUltravox are a British New Wave rock band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements...
at the legendary 'People's Palace Valentine's Ball' at the Rainbow Theatre.
Robotic
mimeA mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
and music duo
Tik and Tok (Tim Dry and Sean Crawford) began performing together with SHOCK: a rock/mime/burlesque/music troupe in the early 1980s with
Barbie Wilde{BLPunsourced|date=August 2009}Barbie Wilde is a Canadian actress and writer, best known for appearing as the Female Cenobite in Hellbound: Hellraiser II - the second of eight Hellraiser films based on Clive Barker's novella, The Hellbound Heart...
, Robert Pereno, LA Richards and
Carole CaplinCarole Caplin was the style adviser to Cherie Blair. She was controversial because of her relationship with the convicted conman Peter Foster.-Early life:Caplin was brought up by her mother, Sylvia, of Jewish descent...
.
Shock's first record 'Angel Face', with production by
Rusty EganRusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...
(
VisageVisage are a English pop band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s.-New Wave years :...
) and
Richard James BurgessRichard James Burgess is a studio drummer, music-computer programmer, recording artist, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. He was the producer for Spandau Ballet's first two albums.-Education:...
(
LandscapeLandscape are a British band, best known for their 1981 hits, "Einstein A Go-Go" and "Norman Bates". Formed in 1974, they toured constantly during the mid to late 1970s, playing rock, punk and jazz venues and releasing two instrumental EPs on their own Event Horizon label...
) was a modest dance floor hit. In 1981, Shock co-starred with
UltravoxUltravox are a British New Wave rock band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements...
at the legendary 'People's Palace Valentine's Ball' at the Rainbow Theatre. This was the moment when the
New RomanticNew Romanticism was a youth fashion movement that peaked in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. Originally centered around part of the Synthpop music scene, it has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture...
scene exploded and went from being an obscure cult to a global trend.
Shock went on to support
Gary NumanGary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars"...
at his
Wembley ArenaWembley Arena is an indoor arena in Wembley, London, UK. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for the 1934 Empire Games by Sir Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, the Empire Pool. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer...
shows in April, 1981. They eventually broke up and reformed as a foursome with Barbie, Tim, Sean and Carole and released the single, 'Dynamo Beat', on
RCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1983 and a partner from 1983 to 1986.-The RCA family of labels:RCA is the name of three different co-owned record...
. However, soon Tim and Sean as Tik and Tok broke away to form their own successful double act.
Tik and Tok, having perfected a form of mime movement called 'Robotics' in conjunction with their striking image, appeared on innumerable TV shows (including 'The Royal Variety Show' 1983 in front of HRH Queen Elizabeth and the cult Rock 'n' Roll programme 'The Tube'). They supported
Duran DuranDuran Duran are an English rock band from Birmingham, United Kingdom. They were one of the most successful of the 1980s bands and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States. Since the 1980s they have placed 14 in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the...
at Birmingham Odeon in '82, worked with
VangelisEvangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou , is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
at his home studio, were themselves supported by a fledgling
Depeche ModeDepeche Mode are an English electronic band who formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, got a huge amount of press coverage and released 5 singles and a well-received album on the Survival label in the UK, Germany and Japan. Three of these singles were hits on the
UK Indie ChartThe UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.-History:In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
, "Screen Me I'm Yours" being the most successful, reaching number 17. Their second single "Cool Running" earned them a place in the UK Top 70.They went to Tokyo and Germany for a while for live performances and in 1982 were featured artistes in the third
Star WarsStar Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two immediate sequels, released at three-year intervals...
movie 'Return of the Jedi' and the cult sci-fi/ horror film '
XtroXtro is a low-budget British science fiction horror film made in 1982 and directed by Harry Bromley Davenport and co-produced by Bob Shaye...
'. Last, but by no means least, they were the support act on Gary Numan's enormously successful comeback tour 'Warriors' for seven weeks in Autumn 1983.
In 2003 Tim and Sean were invited to be guests at the first of an ongoing series of Star Wars autograph Conventions worldwide as a result of their roles in "Return Of The Jedi".This led to them coming back together as Tik and Tok after 20 years to make a new album "Dream Orphans". This was entirely recorded at Tim's home, and in hotel rooms in Holland, France, Germany and Tokyo on a Mac laptop, and many of the tracks were co-produced by Pete Steer and Geoff Pinckney of the bands Alien 6 and tenek. Another track - 'Intolerance V' was re-mixed by Jules Seifert of The Sepia (who also re-mastered the 'Intolerance - the very best of' CD).Tik and Tok appeared as special guests at the 2006 Elektrofest at Koko in London. But as of the present they've decided to take another lunchbreak. But never say never...
Albums
- Intolerance (1984) Survival Records.
- Intolerance: The Very Best of 1982-1984 (2006) Self-released CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
.
- Dream Orphans (2007) Self-released CD.
Singles and EPs
- Summer in the City b/w Crisis (1982) Survival Records.
- Cool Running b/w Vile Bodies (1983) Survival Records.
- Screen Me, I'm Yours b/w Dangerous and Unafraid (1984) Survival Records.
- Everything Will Change b/w Cracking Up (1984) Survival Records.
- Higher Ground b/w Down From The Sky (1984) Survival Records.
- Tik & Tok EP (2004) Rephlex label (vinyl only).
- Slightly Deranged EP (2006) Self-released CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
.
- Intolerance Xtras EP (2006) Self-released CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
.
- Vintage LO-FI EP (2006) Self-released CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
.
External links