First world tour by a group without leaving their studio

On 14 May 1994, Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans of the pioneering electronic duo The Future Sound of London (UK) kicked off their world tour with a live studio performance that was transmitted down three high-speed phone lines using ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) technology to BBC Radio 1 (UK), where the sound was decoded and broadcast live to the station's listeners. Over the next four months, from the comfort of their London studio, Cobain and Dougans used the same method to transmit live shows to hundreds of venues, radio stations and art galleries around the world, eschewing a conventional venue-to-venue tour in support of their double album Lifeforms, released on 27 May 1994.

The innovative studio project - also the first world tour featuring live shows played down telephone wires - was in support of The Future Sound of London's (FSoL) 1994 album Lifeforms, with the live performances made at the duo's Earthbeat Studios in Dollis Hill, London Borough of Brent. The interactive venture featured 3D images of the performances and contributions from King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp.

ISDN was considered state of the art in May 1994, with the communications network first defined in 1988. Nowadays, with the advance in technology and the birth of social media networks, it's commonplace for musicians to broadcast audio/video performances direct to fans worldwide.

A Virgin Records press release to promote the "3D Headspace Transmission Tour" included the following words of wisdom: "Internet is the worldwide network of computers, alternatively known as the information superhighway, which currently has one million new users logging on every month, and it is widely believed that in the 21st century, having internet will become as necessary a part of everyday life as the telephone is today."

The two-hour Radio 1 transmission went out on DJ Pete Tong's Essential Mix show.

The groundbreaking tour, "borne out of their disregard for conventional touring", took in cities such as New York, Toronto and Paris.

A limited-edition album of the studio sessions was released in December 1994, followed by a full release of the album - titled ISDN - in June 1995. The 1995 release was supported by the EP "Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman". The EP and album peaked at No.22 and No.46 in the UK, respectively.

AllMusic review: "While webcast concerts and performances swiftly became commonplace by the end of the 1990s, there had to be pioneers somewhere in earlier years, and FSoL was among them. Instead of touring for the Lifeforms album in 1994, they instead set up a series of appearances on a variety of radio stations, as well as concert dates involving broadcasting to specific venues. ISDN, named after the high-speed connection that made these ventures possible, compiles a variety of cuts from four different sessions, including one with Robert Fripp. All four were live performances, with only new material appearing on ISDN itself, making it a fine standalone collection of intrinsic value beyond its gee-whiz factor."