Umm BLUE MONDAY anyone? That's a ridiculous ommission.
I thought it "Blue Monday", but isn't that more about a drum machine pattern than a synth riff?
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 11 February 2008 10:35 (sixteen years ago) link
thought of
i know what matt means, dunno if it's a "riff" tho. but the same is true of 'i feel love' which is more liek a bassline than a riff.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 11 February 2008 10:42 (sixteen years ago) link
It's more of a riff than Trans Europe Express!
― Matt DC, Monday, 11 February 2008 10:59 (sixteen years ago) link
always been a radioactivity man myself
― straight, Monday, 11 February 2008 12:44 (sixteen years ago) link
I chose not to include more than one Kraftwerk riff, but they obviously had more. In addition to the ones already mentioned, there's "The Robots" as well.
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 11 February 2008 19:45 (sixteen years ago) link
I wanna vote for "Valerie" by Steve Winwood, but I cannot.
― call all destroyer, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, good choice. Too bad you can't!
― our work is never over, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:13 (sixteen years ago) link
I know. So I'm abstaining for the moment.
― call all destroyer, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:14 (sixteen years ago) link
IMO the best synth riff ever is the intro to "I Like Chopin" by Gazebo (the extended version in particular); it's THE Italo synth riff!
― daavid, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Isn't that a piano theme?
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:38 (sixteen years ago) link
("Around My Dream" is IMO the ultimate Italo disco riff)
DA FUNK
― 6335, Monday, 11 February 2008 21:05 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, 'Africa' is an omission - but a killer Rush riff ('tom sawyer' maybe) is an even greater omission.
― BlackIronPrison, Monday, 11 February 2008 21:40 (sixteen years ago) link
Moving In Stereo
― contenderizer, Monday, 11 February 2008 21:46 (sixteen years ago) link
D Train - "You're The One For Me"...now that's what I call a riff!
― henry s, Monday, 11 February 2008 21:48 (sixteen years ago) link
summer madness?
― speculator, Monday, 11 February 2008 23:04 (sixteen years ago) link
I can't believe Rez did not make the list.
― Mr. Goodman, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 00:23 (sixteen years ago) link
NINTEY NINE RED BALLOONS should be here, you fools.
Although even if it was, I think I'd still have voted for Are Friends Electric?
― JimD, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 00:29 (sixteen years ago) link
Also, that opening bassline from Mama Used To Say by Junior counts, and would've been a contender.
― JimD, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 00:30 (sixteen years ago) link
Rockit
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 00:30 (sixteen years ago) link
does summer madness count as a riff? its a bit long. definitely one of my favorite synth jams though, fucking ridiculous.
― pipecock, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 01:32 (sixteen years ago) link
does a synth bass riff count? (e.g. "Chameleon")
― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 01:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Lipps Inc - "Funkytown" Roni Griffith - "Desire" The Flirts - "Passion"
― LeRooLeRoo, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 02:49 (sixteen years ago) link
-- daavid, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:27 (Yesterday) Link
-- Geir Hongro, Monday, 11 February 2008 20:38 (Yesterday) Link
No, it's not the piano, it's the synth riff before the piano part. The one that sounds a bit like Valerie Dore's the night.
― daavid, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 03:51 (sixteen years ago) link
A couple of suggestions:
Chips On My Shoulder by Soft Cell,
Is It A Dream by Classix Nouveaux
― Daniel Giraffe, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 08:47 (sixteen years ago) link
AARGH! why did you have to remind me of Sal Solo? "Sat-ees-fac-shioooooooonnnnn!"
How about Love Missile F1-11 by Sigue Sigue Sputnik - YES it was the same riff they used for all their song (sic) and YES it is Eddie Cochran's riff by birthright but what a riff!
― Dingbod Kesterson, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 08:53 (sixteen years ago) link
-- henry s, Monday, 11 February 2008 21:48 (Yesterday) Link
^^^
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 09:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Would it be simply too obvious to mention Don't You Want Me?
[sorry, Dingbod, to upset you with the recollection of Sal Solo at this time of the morning]
― Daniel Giraffe, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 09:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Synth bass riffs could have their own thread.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 09:52 (sixteen years ago) link
'love action' too
xpost
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 09:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Now hang on, Love Action is a hook. A classic hook. But is it a riff?
A hook is a simple melodic figure which you feel compelled to whistle. A riff, on the other hand, is a simple melodic figure to which you feel compelled to STRUT. I'm just throwing that theory out there.
― moley, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 10:54 (sixteen years ago) link
"Hard Times" has a much better "riff" than "Love Action."
― Dingbod Kesterson, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 10:55 (sixteen years ago) link
"Love Action" and "Don't You Want Me" are both based on one note figures that are hooks rather than riffs. "Don't You Want Me" has a great bass motive though.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:34 (sixteen years ago) link
A riff, on the other hand, is a simple melodic figure to which you feel compelled to STRUT
This is a thread by Geir Hongro.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Geir, do you mean the simple repeated rapidly sequenced single note at the start of "Don't you want me?" as the hook, because that is surely not the hook of the record?
― Rob M v2, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:40 (sixteen years ago) link
how is the riff/hook from 'love action' one note?
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:42 (sixteen years ago) link
I think Geir means that 'miaowing' sound on "Love action". Again, not really the hook.
― Rob M v2, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:44 (sixteen years ago) link
It's as much of a hook as the "oo oo oo oo oo WAH oo WAH oo - OW!" of "Golden Skans" I suppose.
― Dingbod Kesterson, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:46 (sixteen years ago) link
some others I like: Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Rydeen' & 'Behind The Mask' Freez 'IOU' New Order 'Thieves Like Us' Al-Naafyish 'Hashim (The Soul)' Soft Cell 'Say Hello Wave Goodbye' Stevie Nicks 'Stand Back' Animotion 'Obsession' S Express 'Hey Music Lover' Orbital 'Chime'
― blueski, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:54 (sixteen years ago) link
'Love Action' hook involves as many as THREE notes - pretty advanced shit
― blueski, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 11:55 (sixteen years ago) link
In fact, if you are not speaking of the "miaow" (which is certainly a hook, but maybe not a synth riff), the riff of "Love Action" consists of three chords rather than three notes.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:36 (sixteen years ago) link
fucking hell.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:41 (sixteen years ago) link
Other things that no longer count as a riff:
1. Opening to Smells Like Teen Spirit
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:43 (sixteen years ago) link
Maybe we should do this poll again with everybody's suggestions added in, since there seem to be more of those than options in the original poll.
― kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:47 (sixteen years ago) link
Then we'd have to open to even more people's suggestions, and the poll would probably have 500 different options to vote for.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:48 (sixteen years ago) link
i agree the miaow is not a riff
― blueski, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Went for Tubeway Army, although I agree with the people upthread who said 'Cars' has the better riff.
The Human League's 'The Things That Dreams Are Made Of' should be in there somewhere.
― Gavin in Leeds, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 18:28 (sixteen years ago) link
Wikipedia says
A riff may be incorporated into a fill, which is a short instrumental passage played in the pause between phrases of a melody. A riff is different from the related concept of a lick in that riffs can also include repeated chord progressions; licks are usually associated with single-note melodic lines rather than chord progressions. Like riffs, licks can be used as the basis of an entire song. A riff can be a hook, if the riff meets the definition of a hook: "a musical idea, a passage or phrase, that is believed to be appealing and make the song stand out", and "catch the ear of the listener" (Covach 2005, p.71).
I'm not sure I agree with it really though.
― JimD, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 18:35 (sixteen years ago) link
Yeah, I have the idea that, in the Common Tongue, a riff is a repeated chord progression around which a song is constructed. Like in the blues.
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 18:43 (sixteen years ago) link
In the Common Tongue, a riff is played by a guitar.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 22:04 (sixteen years ago) link
Tried to limit it to one per act. My favourite Human League synth riff is actually from "Do Or Die".
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 22:05 (sixteen years ago) link
ABBA - "Gimme Gimme Gimme"
― LeRooLeRoo, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 22:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Some of these are fine songs, but not fine riffs... I would argue that I Feel Love doesn't actually have a riff at all.
Since you didn't include 'Life on the Line' by Fad Gadget, I am unable to vote for 'the best synth riffs ever' anyway
― Sandy Blair, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 23:03 (sixteen years ago) link
how is it even possible that you did not include the cars, "just what i needed"?!?
― Emily Bjurnhjam, Tuesday, 12 February 2008 23:11 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― ILX System, Thursday, 21 February 2008 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link
This thread is in absolutely dire need of Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy (which actually stands a chance at the title). Booka Shade - Mandarine Girl and the replacement of Just can't get enough with Enjoy the silence.
― mehlt, Thursday, 21 February 2008 02:27 (sixteen years ago) link
and the replacement of Just can't get enough with Enjoy the silence.
You mean, with a guitar riff?
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 21 February 2008 09:22 (sixteen years ago) link
I played Duran Duran's 'Careless Memory' at a party the other day. No real riff or hook in that one, I aver, but definitely a mighty fine lick.
― moley, Thursday, 21 February 2008 09:33 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Friday, 22 February 2008 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link
all this proves is that a synth "riff" is harder to define than a guitar riff. you should do a thread for guitar "arpeggios" next.
― or something, Friday, 22 February 2008 00:04 (sixteen years ago) link
i don't think 'da funk' is a 'synth riff'.
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Friday, 22 February 2008 00:05 (sixteen years ago) link
"i don't think 'da funk' is a 'synth riff'.
-- That one guy that hit it and quit it"
then what is it?
― pipecock, Friday, 22 February 2008 02:57 (sixteen years ago) link
I mean at that part at the beginning. I think I need a definition of just what constitutes a riff.
― mehlt, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:19 (sixteen years ago) link
*The part that's you can most clearly identify at the beginning, an of course carries on through the rest of the song.
― mehlt, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:20 (sixteen years ago) link
plus a few that obviously should have been in there
wtf?? this is even stupider than the fact that "final countdown" didn't sweep this shit
― winston, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:39 (sixteen years ago) link
new poll: best guitar riffs ever (as chosen by may 2000 issue of blender plus a few that i think are also awesome)
― winston, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:41 (sixteen years ago) link
I think I need a definition of just what constitutes a riff.
I would say it needs to be in the medium to higher registers at least. A bass lick is a bass lick. And chords are chords.
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:44 (sixteen years ago) link
No Steve Miller? Fly Like An Eagle? Swingtown?
― Eazy, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:48 (sixteen years ago) link
NO HALL AND OATES
― CaptainLorax, Friday, 22 February 2008 04:09 (sixteen years ago) link
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3281/2542534054_e56d0e62b5_z.jpg
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Friday, 28 August 2015 02:18 (eight years ago) link