Originally starting life as a throwaway B-side, with "Reward" as the A-Side, the song failed to chart anywhere on its initial release because of the collapse of Opal Productions, the parent company of Sunburst Records.
[1] While awaiting a meeting with the hall's owner, he encountered the mother of Herb Rooney and it emerged that he wanted a singer to record one of his compositions.
[3] "Synthetic Substitution" is a scathing critique of what society would be like if it was entirely computerised,[4] which towards the end of the song features the wailing of Bliss clinging onto the final few authentic remnants of his daily life.
[1] In 1986 the song's drums, provided by Bernard Purdie[5] - were sampled in "Ego Trippin'" by Ultramagnetic MCs, spawning numerous other uses.
[5] In a 2010 interview produced exclusively for its trailer, Bliss said that "[Herb Rooney and I] had no idea what the song was about; we just needed a B-side".