TOP 2O CULT HEROES OF SYNTH 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…

RISE OF THE MACHINES

INTRODUCING THE PIONEERING DEVICES THAT SHAPED THE POP MUSIC OF THE 80S. MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN LEAGUE AND LANDSCAPE REVEAL THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE ELECTRONIC REVOLUTION, FROM BLOWING UP DRUM MACHINES TO PRANK-CALLING THE WHITE HOUSE…

GIORGIO MORODER AND DONNA SUMMER CHANGE MUSIC FOREVER

JULY, 1977