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10 MIN READ TIME

RISE OF THE MACHINES

FELIX ROWE
“Technology changed everything. It turned us from a jazz-funk-fusion band into ‘synth-pop chart-toppers’” says Landscape’s John L Walters

The LM-1, the DMX, the TR-808… not an extract from a trainspotter’s logbook but, in fact, a list of some of the most important players in pop history. This is the tech – the synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and drum machines – that facilitated the most memorable pop masterstrokes of the 1980s, including When Doves Cry, Don’t You Want Me and the unstoppable Blue Monday. Read on to discover the classic devices that shaped the decade’s defining sounds…

A NEW DAWN

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Classic Pop Presents
WELCOME
It was always clear to me – and all at Classic Pop
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NEW MUSIC NIGHT AND DAY
WHO KNEW ELECTRONICS SPELLED GLAMOUR, DANGER AND DANCE? CLASSIC POP TRACES THE FACES OF SYNTH-POP, THE ICONS OF A MOVEMENT THAT SWEPT THE LAND AS THE 70S SHIFTED TO THE 80S…
1977’S ELECTRIC DREAMS
WHILE PUNK SCOWLED AND SPAT, A CHILLIER SOUND WAS EMERGING. THE MACHINES WERE ON THE RISE…
NEW WORLD SYNTHONY
FROM THE MAINSTREAM TO THE UNDERGROUND, AMERICA BREWED ITS OWN ELECTRONIC MOONSHINE
LOW DAVID BOWIE
IN 1976 BOWIE FLED HIS DEMONS, SEEKING SECLUSION, HEALING AND CREATIVE FREEDOM. HE LANDED IN GERMANY AND SET ABOUT CREATING THE FIRST ALBUM OF HIS CELEBRATED ‘BERLIN TRILOGY’, THE MIGHTY LOW…
HEART OF THE MACHINE
IN MUSIC, THE TERMS ‘LEGENDARY’ AND ‘INFLUENTIAL’ ARE SO COMMONPLACE AS TO LOSE ALMOST ALL MEANING. BUT IT MIGHT BE ARGUED THAT MORE THAN ANY OTHER BAND IN HISTORY, KRAFTWERK WERE NECESSARY. AND IF HOUSE, TRANCE, TECHNO AND SYNTH-POP COULD TALK, THEY’D SURELY AGREE…
KRAFTWERK AND SAMPLING
FEEL FREE TO USE THE BAND’S BEATS AND MELODIES: BEST ASK FIRST, THOUGH…
TOMORROW’S WORLD
WHEN THE QUARTET VISITED THE BBC IN 1975, THEY BROUGHT THEIR MACHINES – AND THE FUTURE – WITH THEM
NO.1 IN HEAVEN SPARKS
FINDING THEMSELVES RUNNING OUT OF ROAD AFTER 12 YEARS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS, RON AND RUSSELL MAEL BADLY NEEDED AN INJECTION OF FRESH LIFE. THEY HAD A DREAM COLLABORATOR: THEY JUST DIDN’T HAVE A PHONE NUMBER. BUT THEN AN INDISCREET COMMENT TO A JOURNALIST SET THE WHEELS IN MOTION…
STILL HUNTING
A-HA’S HUNTING HIGH AND LOW IS ONE OF THE FINEST SYNTH-POP ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, AND ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL DEBUTS EVER. HERE CLASSIC POP SPEAKS TO THE BAND’S PRINCIPLE SONGWRITER PAUL WAAKTAAR-SAVOY ABOUT THE ALBUM’S NOT-SO-EASY INCEPTION AND HOW THE ARROGANCE OF YOUTH LED TO ITS RECORDING…
NEVER FOREVER
PAUL ON SONGWRITING – AND THE FUTURE OF A-HA
BETTER TO BE SAFE…
THE HUNTING TOUR ON HOLD
VIENNA ULTRAVOX
FORTY PERCENT OF A BAND QUITTING USUALLY MEANS THE END, BUT WITH ULTRAVOX NOW A QUARTET, THEIR FOUNDATIONS SHIFTED DRAMATICALLY. TUNING THEIR ANTENNA TOWARDS EUROPE, THEY SET ABOUT CREATING A COMPLEX, GRANDIOSE, MELODICALLY STUNNING ALBUM…
MIDGE URE
JOHN EARLS TALKS TO MIDGE URE ABOUT HIS RECENT BOXSET THAT COVERS THE FORMER ULTRAVOX FRONTMAN’S ENTIRE CAREER
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
THERE ARE MUSIC VISIONARIES AND THEN THERE’S THOMAS DOLBY. ALWAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF POP’S POSSIBILITIES, HE’S GONE FROM TOP OF THE POPS TO INVENTING THE RINGTONE AND NOW TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO AID STROKE VICTIMS’ RECOVERY WITH MUSIC. BUT HE’S STILL FINDING TIME TO FINALLY MAKE FRIENDS WITH HIS 80s PEERS AND DECONSTRUCT HIS CLASSICS…
RINGING ENDORSEMENT
INDIRECTLY, MOST OF THE PLANET OWNS A TINY PIECE OF DOLBY’S WORK
STUDIO MAGICIANS
DOLBY REVEALS THE METHODS OF TWO RECORDING LEGENDS, ONE BEST KNOWN FOR ROCK,ONE FOR POP…
ALBUM BY ALBUM eURYTHMICs
ACROSS A DECADE AND NINE ALBUMS, THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MALE-FEMALE DUO OF ALL TIME MOVED FROM POST-PUNK TO A SOULFUL SYNTH-POP SOUND THAT THRILLED MILLIONS
TOP 2O SYNTH-POP DEEP CUTS
CUE UP YOUR MUSIC TRANSMITTER OF CHOICE AND GET READY TO LEAVE THE CHARTS FAR BEHIND AS WE EMBARK UPON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDER, STRANGER AND – YES! – MORE REWARDING REGIONS OF THE GENRE WE HOLD SO DEAR, WITH STOP-OFFS IN SUCH LOCATIONS AS CHICAGO, NEW YORK, HANOVER, GLASGOW, GHENT, FLORENCE, TOKYO, SHEFFIELD AND CHELMSFORD…
BERNARD SUMNER
THE NEW ORDER FRONTMAN SITS DOWN WITH RUDY BOLLY TO TALK OF PLAYING LIVE, FUTURE PLANS, NEW BANDS, MUSIC AS THERAPY, AND HOW TO COPE AS A SINGER…
FUTURE ROCK
WILDLY INVENTIVE, FEARLESSLY EXPERIMENTAL AND AHEAD OF THEIR TIME, THE FIRST THREE ULTRAVOX ALBUMS CLEARED A TRAIL THAT MANY OTHERS WOULD FOLLOW. FOUR OF THOSE WHO WERE THERE – JOHN FOXX, CHRIS CROSS, WARREN CANN AND ROBIN SIMON – LOOK BACK TO THE LATE 1970S. CLASSIC POP LISTENS IN…
ISLAND LIFE
THE FIRST THREE ALBUMS…
SCI FI LULLABIES
ULTRAVOX! DREW FROM SCIENCE FICTION, AND THE GENRE NABBED THE ODD IDEA FROM THE BAND…
“ I’M LOOKING AT THE WORLD AROUND ME AND MYSELF IN THE MIRROR AND, REALLY, I’M DANCING THROUGH THE CHAOS OF IT ALL”
SEX, FAME, RELIGION, CHILDHOOD, GROWING OLDER, THE TROUBLE WITH RELATIONSHIPS… THERE IS PROBABLY NO SUBJECT THAT MARC ALMOND WON’T TACKLE WITH UNFAILING HUMOUR AND A LACERATING LEVEL OF SELFKNOWLEDGE. CLASSIC POP HAS OFTEN BEEN THE LUCKY RECIPIENT OF AN ALMOND BON MOT, SO FOR THIS SYNTH-POP SPECIAL WE COLLECT A FEW OF OUR HERO’S THOUGHTS AND REVISIT THEM ONE MORE WELL-DESERVED TIME…
WHERE DRUID OUR LOVE GO
ONCE ASSOCIATED WITH URBAN DECAY, ALMOND IS NOW A BELIEVER IN THE EARTH AND NATURAL RENEWAL
CELLULAR REGENERATION
SOFT CELL MAY BE PERMANENTLY SHELVED BUT FOR ALMOND COLLABORATION IS STILL KEY
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES
AS A MEMBER OF LANDSCAPE AND THE GO-TO MAN FOR GIVING RECORDS THE ELECTRO TREATMENT THROUGHOUT THE 80s, RICHARD JAMES BURGESS HELPED TO USHER IN THE SYNTH-POP AGE. CLASSIC POP MEETS THE MAN WHO COINED THE PHRASE ‘NEW ROMANTIC’, PRE-EMPTED HOUSE MUSIC AND INVENTED ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC INSTRUMENTS OF THE ERA…
ARE DRUMS ELECTRIC?
FORGET THE ‘PEW-PEW’ OF THE DISCO-ERA SYNDRUM; THE SIMMONS WAS THE FIRST FULLY ELECTRONIC KIT
THE COLONEL VERSUS THE HIT MEN
TRAPPED WAS A MASSIVELY INFLUENTIAL RECORD – AND ITS RUBBERY, PROPULSIVE BASS LINE WAS “BORROWED” FOR A CERTAIN POP CLASSIC
LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
OMD BEGAN AS AN ART PROJECT THAT PLAYED ONE GIG FOR A DARE. NOW, 40 YEARS LATER, ANDY MCCLUSKEY AND PAUL HUMPHREYS’ ART PROJECT HAS SOLD MILLIONS OF RECORDS, SPLIT UP IN A MESS OF BAD DRUGS AND WORSE FINANCES, ONLY TO REFORM AND RETURN STRONGER THAN EVER. “THERE’S STILL AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DRUGS ON OUR TOUR BUS,” THEY ASSURE CLASSIC POP. “BUT NOW THEY’RE JUST PRESCRIPTION ONES KEEPING US ALIVE…”
ONETWO FREE
A HIGHLIGHT OF PAUL HUMPHREYS’ EXTRA-OMD CAREER HAS BEEN HIS COLLABORATION WITH CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
THE FICKLE FINGER OF POP SUCCESS SWIVELLED IN ANDY’S DIRECTION ONCE AGAIN…
GARY DALY
THE CHINA CRISIS FRONTMAN FOLLOWS UP LAST YEAR’S ACCLAIMED SOLO ALBUM GONE FROM HERE WITH LUNA LANDINGS, A BEAUTIFUL SET OF UNRELEASED 80S SYNTH INSTRUMENTALS. ANDY JONES FINDS OUT MORE…
ODD MAN OUT
HOWARD JONES NEVER FITTED ANY ACCEPTED POP STAR TEMPLATE, AND HE WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY. “WE HAVE TO MAKE UP OUR OWN MINDS ABOUT THINGS – NOW MORE THAN EVER,” HE TELLS US…
THE SYNTH NERD
HOWARD TALKS TECH WITH ANDY JONES
FULL CIRCLE
BACK IN 2019 HOWARD DESCRIBED TO ANDY JONES HOW HIS NEW ALBUM TRANSFORM FOUND HIM RETURNING TO HIS ROOTS – AND THE SYNTHESIZER
THE HURTING TEARS FOR FEARS
BEFORE SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR, 1983’S THE HURTING INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO A BAND THAT BLENDED BLEAK MUSINGS ON THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA WITH A RAZOR-SHARP SYNTH-POP INSTINCT AND HIGH-END PRODUCTION VALUES. THE RESULT: A CLASSIC…
TOP 2O CULT HEROES OF SYNTH POP
CLASSIC POP SHINES A LIGHT ON THOSE SHADOWY PIONEERS WHO PAVED THE WAY FOR THE ELECTRO REVOLUTION…
GIORGIO MORODER AND DONNA SUMMER CHANGE MUSIC FOREVER
JULY, 1977
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