Synth-pop classic or dud?

But since hearing about electroclash and use of a lot of this stuff in bootlegging I've been going back to it.

My conclusion : Blancmange & Yazoo ... what fucking great bands. Vince Clark's melodic genius is everywhere in Yazoo. And I'm finding Blancmange's arrangements on things like Don't Tell Me, Day Before You Came, etc. wonderfully subtle and inventive.

it's fun to dig these old questions up - like why did this only get 8 answers? i feel like people have a lot more to say about synth-pop than that

Couldn't agree more. Yazoo was one of my favourite bands back in the 80s. Clarke's musical talents go without saying, but Alison Moyet's bluesy voice is what made the band stand apart from the rest of (Clarke's many bands!) the great synth-pop bands for me. That's not to say I didn't like "the rest" of them by any means.

Another synth-pop album that I almost wore through the vinyl was Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.

i feel like you can acheive ambience in other ways but they're just so easy and pretty...

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000H7JA6Q.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V38763239_.jpg

We hate 'em.

I think a major part of the reason why modern-day approximations of synthpop artists don't really work is that they're working with modern technology, while a lot of the classic synthpoppers (obv) worked with much older synth technology. It was fascinating for me to find that little YouTube clip of Midge Ure explaining this one synth that Ultravox used for Vienna and telling of how it was actually kinda old and battered already by the time they got around to recording the album. I think that if anyone is serious about recording and releasing some great modern-day synthpop, they need to get serious about finding out how to, um, "re-make/re-model" (sorry) some really old synths, like from the late '70s - very early '80s. After tracking some down, that is.

anyone want to do a rough guide to 80's synth-pop?
... and then publicize it so people such as myself can snatch it up and see if everything got properly named/covered?

Audioporno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeVRYPjcVXg

^^ Thanks for this. Had to use proxy.org w/ NL server to watch part 9 though.

Synth Britannia on BBC 4 well worth a watch.

After more than exhausting all of the notable (and not so notable) synthpop/New Romantic albums/artists that appeared in the UK throughout the '70s/'80s, I've started to seriously take a lot at synthpop/New Romantic albums/artists that appeared in other countries at around about the same time. While my searches of synthpop/New Romantic stuff in the rest of Europe seems to be turning up some interesting things, I can't help but think that good American synthpop/New Romantic stuff was really thin on the ground in the '70s/'80s.

Of course, there's the synth-punk of Suicide, and Devo assimilating synths into their post-punk brew, and Sparks working with Giorgio Moroder etc. but on the other hand, there's stuff like early Berlin which (to me) is incredibly lightweight. It seems to me that things don't really get going in the US for synthpop until the late '80s, with the likes of (on one hand) Nine Inch Nails and their Pretty Hate Machine and (on the other) Information Society with their super-geeky take on it (I like "Running", though!)

It's funny, because these days, and especially in the realms of "indie" music, there seems to be more American synthpop than ever - although, I will say that the American stuff always seems to have a very different feel to it than the British/European stuff; a cultural thing that I can't quite put my finger on.

I guess all the awesome American post-disco R&B/boogie stuff doesn't count as synth pop does it? The Cars - Heartbeat City too rock?

The Units maybe?

Actually you should check out Cybotron

Canadian stuff:
Men without hats
Trans-x

yo if you like gothy slap bass synthpop check out the shriekbacks lol

Speaking of Canadian stuff, I adore the early Rational Youth singles like "City of Night," "Saturdays in Silesia," and "I Want to See the Light."

Actually you should check out Cybotron

― feargal czukay (NickB)

Ha, yeah, "Cosmic Cars" & A Number of Names' "Sharivari" are what I'd think of w/the US alongside all the synthpunk stuff.

Not much of a tradition in NZ (not much in the way of disco here, either) - there's Dolby/Devo-ish novelties like The Body Electric's Pulsing, pub electro like Mi-Sex's Computer Games, the Androidss' Auckland Tonight, and Peking Man's Room That Echoes (often the visuals provide a stronger link than the instrumentation), but the whole Flying Nun/Xpressway South Island axis was v.suspicious of synths as being part of frivolous/decadent/un-NZ Auckland. the Patea Maori Club's Poe E is probably the most famous synth-line in 80s NZ pop.
There's some interesting works reimagining this heritage - Disasteradio's Charisma mixes Devo/Sparks aesthetics with smalltown home computing nostalgia.

(ps: Turrican, have you checked out the Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs thread? Seems right up your alley; was going to mention it on the Knife thread you revived, but this seems as good a place as any...)

Early 80s American synth pop brewed up more on the art-damage side of things -- wall of voodoo, the fibonaccis, tuxedomoon -- all fucking fantastic btw

re: Tuxedomoon, I'd recommend Winston Tong's solo album 'Theoretically Chinese' (produced by Alan Rankine!) if you're looking for US synthpop

I saw Chicago synth trio Scarlet Architect a couple times in the early 80s, figured they're completely forgotten now. Little did I know: European re-releases and they're crowdfunding a tour!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbnCkDlFUgc

The Units maybe?

― feargal czukay (NickB), Monday, August 3, 2015 10:53 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Actually you should check out Cybotron

― feargal czukay (NickB), Monday, August 3, 2015 11:00 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Haven't heard The Units, but I've definitely heard one or two Cybotron tracks in the past - not enough to really form an opinion, though, so I'm definitely going to be investigating further.

Canadian stuff:
Men without hats
Trans-x

― feargal czukay (NickB), Monday, August 3, 2015 11:05 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Again, haven't heard Trans-X. As for Men Without Hats, I was already familiar with the first album (Rhythm Of Youth), but while I enjoy one or two tracks on it, it's never really struck me as being something essential. Out of curiosity, I listened to Pop Goes The World today, since I hadn't really ventured past the debut album, and... yeah, let's just say it's not for me!

Early 80s American synth pop brewed up more on the art-damage side of things -- wall of voodoo, the fibonaccis, tuxedomoon -- all fucking fantastic btw

― Corn on the macabre (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, August 4, 2015 12:44 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This might not come as a surprise, but I fucking love Wall Of Voodoo, particularly Dark Continent and Call Of The West. Weirdly, though, I've never been much taken with what I've heard of Ridgway's solo stuff.

(ps: Turrican, have you checked out the Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs thread? Seems right up your alley; was going to mention it on the Knife thread you revived, but this seems as good a place as any...)

― etc, Tuesday, August 4, 2015 6:06 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I haven't yet, no, although reading the thread is making me wanna check it out ASAP!

"I will say that the American stuff always seems to have a very different feel to it than the British/European stuff; a cultural thing that I can't quite put my finger on."

Do you think it is that many of the early American synth pop groups were synths and drum machines incorporated into live bands where mome of the European groups were more just electronics, vocals and tracks built in studios?

GET THE FIRST MINISTRY ALBUM BRO

Do you think it is that many of the early American synth pop groups were synths and drum machines incorporated into live bands where mome of the European groups were more just electronics, vocals and tracks built in studios?

― earlnash, Tuesday, August 4, 2015 10:07 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hmm. I don't know, I'm not really sure it's that because Ultravox and Tubeway Army/Gary Numan were doing exactly that in the late '70s, as well as Bowie. I don't know what it is, but the American stuff seems to me to be coming from a different "place", and not just geographically.

GET THE FIRST MINISTRY ALBUM BRO

― chaki (kurt schwitterz), Tuesday, August 4, 2015 10:09 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh shit, I forgot about With Sympathy... yeah, I've heard it, and quite like it!