This is an obscure song that has special meaning to me. Landscape were a British band from the 1980’s who sounded a bit like Kraftwerk. Their biggest hit was ‘Einstein a go-go’. They followed that up with the creepiest song I’d ever heard, entitled ‘Norman Bates’, which made it in to the top forty.

The reason it holds special meaning for me is because it terrified the life out of me. I was nine years old when it came out and was a big fan of watching horror videos such as ‘The Omen’, ‘The Howling’ and ‘An American Werewolf in London’. I think the record's entry in to the charts coincided with the release of one of those awful sequels to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie ‘Psycho’.

The song basically involves a lot of synthesisers and a vocalist repeating the phrase “My name is Norman Bates, I’m just a normal guy, my name is Norman Bates,” over and over again. It’s sung in a voice that is half-man / half-dalek and therefore manages to seem banal and sinister at the same time. I recall seeing the band perform it on Top of the Pops and I was utterly aghast. Half way through the record, a newsreader joins in on the shenanigans by reporting the story of Norman Bates, and offering some psychobabble on why he dressed up as his own mother before committing murder.

Stupidly, I ended up buying the record. I thought that if I listened to it a few times it might become less haunting. That turned out not to be the case. I have a vivid memory of playing it on the stereo in my parent’s living room and having to run outside because it freaked me out so much.

It’s a chilling song and I can see no reason for Landscape to have recorded it, other than to frighten young children, which it did. Thanks Guys.

Colin Jackson was born in 1972 and raised in Edinburgh. He now lives in Bristol. He is currently involved in a business in Romania that deals in land and property development. He have also recently completed a postgraduate diploma at the London School of Journalism and does freelancing and writes short stories in his spare time. To read Colin’s story, ‘Carson McDermott’ on the showcase section of this site, click here

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.