Computer Games (song)

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This article is about the 1979 Mi-Sex song. For the 1978 Yellow Magic Orchestra song, see Yellow Magic Orchestra (album).
"Computer Games"
Single by Mi-Sex
from the album Graffiti Crimes
ReleasedSeptember 1979 (Australia/NZ)
Recorded1979
GenreSynth-pop
Length3:54
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Peter Dawkins
Mi-Sex singles chronology
"But You Don't Care"
(1979) 		"Computer Games"
(1979) 		"People"
(1980)

"Computer Games" is a song by New Zealand band Mi-Sex, released in September 1979 in Australia and New Zealand as the second single from their debut studio album, Graffiti Crimes (1979). The song peaked at number 1 in Australia and 5 in New Zealand. The music video was filmed on location at what was at the time Control Data Corporation's North Sydney centre and included gameplay from the 1979 arcade games Speed Freak, Basketball and Star Fire. The single won the award for Best Australian Single at the 1979 TV Week/Countdown Music Awards.[1]

The single was also released in Europe and North America, as well as South Africa where the band's name was altered to MS to satisfy censorship.

The song was also re-recorded as the final track for the band's 1983 album Where Do They Go?, a dub version was the 12" B-side of their 1983 single "Lost Time"[2] and again on the 2016 EP Extended Play.

Reception[edit]

Musicologist Ian McFarlane opined that it was an "electro-pop anthem... with its simplistic, brain-teasing riff and Gilpin's mannered vocal yelps, "Computer Games" boasted little substance but was constructed for maximum effect. It came to epitomise the one word which has plagued the memory of Mi-Sex: 'contrived'."[3]

Stewart Mason from AllMusic said "Steve Gilpin's theatrical vocals, full of Brian Connolly-style hiccups and leaps into falsetto, are an interesting counterpoint to the unvarying electronic rhythm, particularly on the memorable stuttering chorus."[4] Cash Box said, "This avant-pop band has taken the sound first pioneered by Eno and Ultravox and molded it into more of a hard rock sound. The band employs witty future-orientated lyrics to augment the swirling synthesized sounds."[5]

Track listings[edit]

Australia/New Zealand 7" (BA 222563)

  1. "Computer Games" – 3:54
  2. "Wot Do You Want?" – 2:55

Australian 12"

  1. "Computer Games" (Disco Version) – 4:41
  2. "Graffiti Crimes" – 3:49

Spanish version

  1. "Juego De Computadoras (Computer Games)" – 3:54
  2. "Que Queres? (Wot Do You Want?)" – 2:55

United Kingdom dance version

  1. "Computer Games" (Special Dance Mix) – 6:17
  2. "Wot Do You Want?" – 2:55

Charts[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Weekly chart performance for "Computer Games"
Chart (1979–1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[7] 16
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 44
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[9] 5
US Hot Dance Club Songs[10] 61

Year-end charts[edit]

1979 year-end chart performance for "Computer Games"
Chart (1979) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11][12] 19
1980 year-end chart performance for "Computer Games"
Chart (1980) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] 68

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Countdown Show no.235 Aired: 13/4/1979 on ABC, Australia
  2. ^ "Mi-Sex – Lost Time (Dub Version) (1983, Vinyl)".
  3. ^ McFarlane, 'Mi-Sex' entry. Archived from the original on 7 August 2004. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Computer Games by Mi-Sex". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  5. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 1, 1980. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 202. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  7. ^ "Mi-Sex – Computer Games" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Mi-Sex – Computer Games" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Mi-Sex – Computer Games". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  10. ^ "Dance Club Songs: Week of March 29, 1980". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 431. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  12. ^ "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via Imgur.com.
  13. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
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