Before Are "Friends" Electric?: How Synth-Pop Became Synth-Pop
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- Опубліковано 6 тра 2024
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A vision of the future that never properly arrived, Synth-pop was an ever present staple of the British charts in the 1980s. A canny fusion of pop-suss and technological invention, its height reflected the increased affordability of commercial synthesizers from the late 1970s onward. But that doesn’t mean that the likes of The Human League, Ultravox, OMD and Gary Numan were the first to splice synths and pop together. So who were the pioneers? What were the essential steps along the way, the key tracks and influencers? And how did we get to the point where “Are “Friends” Electric” got to number one? This is how Synth-pop became Synth-pop.
#GaryNuman #Synthpop #MusicDocumentary
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Soundtrack:
Luar - Citrine ( / luarbeats )
B-Side - Pen Unubis
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
0:00 Introduction
02:12 Del Shannon
03:18 Delia Derbyshire
05:26 1968
08:14 Wendy Carlos
10:46 Popcorn
12:38 Roxy Music & Brian Eno
15:06 Kraftwerk
17:50 Jean-Michel Jarre
19:54 David Bowie
22:10 I Feel Love
24:26 That New York Synth Band
26:01 Ultravox!
28:19 The Human League
30:05 Warm Leatherette
31:45 OMD
33:10 Gary Numan & Tubeway Army
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Fun fact: Gary Numan is two weeks older than Gary Oldman.
Ahahahaha get it Newman hahaha hahaha Oldman *wheezes* 😂😫💩🤣🤣🤣
@@davidlopez-rs1hp Do we have a problem, sir?
Dato curioso: El Synthpop se forma del EDM Concreto (Giorgio Moroder) el cual se forja de misma música electrónica, no del Krautrock & Progressive Rock Dusseldorf de Kraftwerk ni el Post Punk de Numan 😉
😭
@@davidlopez-rs1hpbecause surnames
Glaring omission: Yellow Magic Orchestra. From the '4th member' status of Hideki Matsutake, who did programming as assistant to Tomita, to the first-ever uses of the Roland TR-808 and samplers, they were just about as pioneering as Kraftwerk in a later state of the art sense. What started as a one-off style-parody project (Hosono's "Paraiso" album lampooning the Westernized view of Eastern sounds as the 'exotica' style) turned into a band with Beatles-size influence in Japan, including hairstyles! They successfully reinvented their sound and image from 'analog orchestra in tuxedos' playing cod exotica, to straight ahead pop, landing on almost synthpop boy-band status for a couple albums, practically inventing techno along the way on their Technodelic album (samplers in 1981!). Essential.
Yes! YMO and P-Model from Japan. They were actually some of the first bands I listened to that got me into this sound.
YMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nailed it. Loved that band.
I just texted my daughter that I felt Yellow Magic Orchestra was the Kraftwerk of Japan 💯🥰
Yes, and Sparks' No. 1 In Heaven.
Yeah, they practically invented the "80s sound" with tracks like Castalia or Riot in Lagos.
I think Mike Oldfield’s 1973 “Tubular Bells” deserves a mention. The haunting intro of Tubular Bells and the use of the theremin and synth throughout that album.. was as important as prog bands Yes.. or solo artists as Vangelis or Jean Michel Jarre. Mike Oldfield also pioneered that path with albums like Tubular Bells (1973) and Ommadawn (1975).. before Jarre’s “Oxygene” album in 1976.
Spot on Suzie. Ommadawn and hergest ridge especially were ground-breaking albums
no theramin on tub1....
Suzanne Ciani. Back in the earlier part of last century - a 'computer' referred to someone who was tasked with performing calculations, running punch-card machines. It was largely seen as a woman's job. As was phone-exchange operating. Early synths are not incredibly dissimilar to telephone switchboards. Hence the early pioneers of electronic music looked like your mum's friends. They wouldn't have looked out of place behind a desk in a library.
There wasn't anybody better than Vince Clark of Yazzo & Depeche Mode/Erasure he was a true synth wizard.
Tubular Bells?...un tema electrónico de pioneros como Kingsley, Derbyshire, Scott o Garson años luz en base y modelo electrónico.
En el 72 Jarre (Synthetizer Man/ Freedom Day) le daba cátedra de Pre-Synthpop y Electrónica a Mike O. y a los muchachos de Conny Plank y sus flautas (Kraftwerk).
Para 1977 Moroder (E. Munich) con el inicio de la EDM y los 3 primeros géneros de esta escena (NRG, Synthpop, Electro) ya había definido todo lo que se escucharía en los 80s.
Tubular Bells 🧐
Gary absolutely deserves all his success and even more. He's such an inspiration.
Quien te dijo que el Synthpop (EDM) se forma del Progressive Rock & Krautrock Alemán de Kraftwerk y el Post Punk de Numan?...
I'm SO pleased Delia got named checked! That Doctor Who theme is legendary.
@Mike Clemens Delia's sampling and endless splicing of tape to almost single handedly produce a new form of music can not be understated. The soundscapes her mathematical mind created are a unique contribution.
That’s absolutely legendarily epic! Her use of music concréte, thanks for showcasing her!
Not to take anything away from Delia Derbyshire but she wasn't the only one at the Radiophonic Workshop and there were others before her using those techniques. Check out Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan - Song of the Second Moon (1957)
@@erikverkoyen8689 Thanks Erik! Found them on Apple Music and now Googling as I’m listening.
Loooove the TimeLord's version of the Doctor Who theme (80s club classic). I can't think of the correct name of the song right now, but if you look up TimeLords, I'm sure you can find it.
The Bowie quote at 21:33 about yearning for a future that would never come to pass is kind of the core of the entire SynthWave scene. A soundtrack for a future that never happened but people dreamt about in the 1980's.
Kraftwerk name-checking David Bowie on Trans Europe Express and Bowie returning the favor on Heroes with V-2 Schneider
RBE the venus project would have been that future that never happened. The recource based economy was invented in the 80's by Jacque Fresco. Unfortunately the capatalistic monetary system we live in today overruled because of the greedy politicians and governments.
Crap
Ain't that the truth, we believed we would be having leisure time only with robots doing all the work, wearing silver suits flying around space...and here we are back in Victorian Britain, very depressing
@@JustMe-wq5dl Sadly real, it's about time for alternative three.
I also enjoy the story of how Gary Numan was recording a punk album when he stumbled upon a synth in the studio, forever changing the course of his career.
When I was a kid I was a huge fan of Flock of Seagulls, they’re synth work blew me away the first time I heard them and I tried to reproduce the synthesizer work on the piano.
Massive, to the point of getting into Pulp Fiction.
Me too and alsor the music of Howard Jones.
One key method.
@@norbertrivera 82, 83ish lots of bands started the synth, Howard Jones, Eurythmics, Georgio Moroder, Vangelis, new order. By 1983 lots of songs in charts had very modern synth sounds
@@markgallagher1621 yeah,i know that.
I was genuinely surprised to hear you say that Gary Numan did'nt really get the acclaim he deserved til the early 2000's, because in my circle of friends he was a veritable god! Plus the song "Cars" was EVERYWHERE during that time! One of my most vivid memories is when I got my first Gary Numan album... one of my classmates in middle school got "The Pleasure Principle" for christmas, but he only liked hard rock, so he brought it to school and asked me if I wanted it, I had never heard of Gary, or "new wave" music, but I took it home and listened to it... I was absolutely blown the fuck away... I ran over to my friend Kelvin's house and we listened to it over and over for the next 2 or 3 days, then I played it for the rest of my friends. That album had a HUGE impact on me, and all my friends. It literally started me on my journey into electronic music and discovering other bands like OMD, flock of seagulls, Heaven 17, Devo, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, and many others. To this day, "Metal" is still one of my favorite songs. New Wave/Synth Pop/Electronica are still my favorite genres of music next to hip-hop, which one can argue is the child of 80's synth-pop.
Numan was vilified by the press mercilessly throughout the 80's and 90s. It was only when he released Pure in 2000 that he finally started to get some respect. Of course, the press were wrong all along - he was a true pioneer (despite his bad period in the 90s).
I used to listen to KROQ in the early 80s and they mostly didn't like Cars, with I think listeners getting tired of it quickly, very similar to the synth-pop song near that same time Pop Muzic by M which was completely ignored by KROQ.
@@alanthesheep6428 ...i was absolutely not paying attention to the press then, because I missed all that ... are we talking US or UK?
What a heartwarming story :)
To any right thinking person, Gary Numan is one of the immortals. This channel is right about him not being deemed cool at the time though. Quite often the alleged arbiters of coolness are totally out of their depth and Numan was one of those times.
Why does synth music in general makes my brain so happy? Seriously, it feels like I'm receiving a direct brain massage, it's surreal!
Same here, Hi-NRG /Italodisco does.
This is VERY true!!!
I'd be very curious to see if people in the late 70's and early 80's felt the same feeling when they were first hearing synth pop. If so it's not culture and it's something weird in our brain.
Anyone like to turn me on to some favorites in the variety of synthwave, darkwave, or witch house?
I can recommend some of the finest from the progressive breaks/house/DnB record bins:
Love in Traffic (Hybrid Remix) - Satoshi Tomiie
Bitter Little Pill - Starecase
Down to the Wire - Hybrid
Dawn Breaker - John Digweed (& Nick Muir vs Ian O'Donovan)
Ascension - Phil Tangent & Pennygiles
Flaming June (Original mix and Chicane mix) - BT
There is a mystery about that eargasm hiding somewhere between familiarity and novelty in the finest electronic sound textures. Then there is a whole catalogue of song writing and sound production genius factors that go deep with the craft that defies words.
It's because it introduces sustain to a genre that rarely has it. Guitars have a fast attack and decay, so they are somewhat percussive, energetic instruments, but ones that find it hard to hold a note for an extended period. Sustained notes seem to important for producing certain heightened emotions in the listener, particularly melancholy. It's why violins often carry the burden of melancholic passages in orchestral music.
So synths broaden the palette of emotions available for composers to play with. They can create a warm glow, a sense of sadness, and often both together.
For all that synths are often associated with futurism, ultimately they are *romantic* instruments.
Kraftwerk's Autobahn got the hook into me. ELO deserved at least a mention, along with The Move. Jeff Lynne's contributions to synth-pop should not be overlooked.
Thats true a definite contribution but ELO is so uncool lol.
@@grinja73 Jeff Lynne isn’t cool cannot understand that statement Mate .
Spot on! Yes ELOs time album is class
@Jonathan Page Bet you've never heard any ELO ?
We Are The Robots
Cars by Gary Numan was HUGE! You had to be there. I was 9 years old in 1979 and we were listening to Cars in the hood. This was two years before MTV was even a thing. That song was a monster. ❤
I loved Numan's Cars. I was 11 when that was released, still get goosebumps every time that intro kicks in ❤
@@jcfal1708 It wasn't just perspective, the song charted high in the US
Don't forget Are friends electric.
This just popped into my head - the soundtrack for the sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" in the 1950's was entirely electronic and extremely influential.
En france, à la radio télévision, Pierre Shaeffer a expérimenté la musique
electronique dès 1950.
Il a aussi créé le GRM avec Pierre HENRY (psyche rock) dans les années 60.
Jean-Michel Jarre y a travaillé avant de sortir "oxygène ".
Absolutely, decades ahead of it's time! 😎
And also the soundtrack from the film "The Legend of Hell House" 1973.
And then there was the countless electronic compositions by Raymond Scott in the 1950s and 1960s that were often used for TV and Radio advertisements and TV programs.
A 78rpm album of the soundtrack music for the Hitchcock movie, "Spellbound" was my introduction to electronic music (theremin), at about 4 years old. "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is a standout soundtrack - theremin played by Samuel Hoffman, as in "Spellbound".
Perrey and Kingsley were big faves of mine in the '60s. They really deserved more time in this vid.
Vince Clarke was the common element in Yazoo, Erasure and Depeche Mode ... he had a big hand in electronic music.
Im shocked more time wasn't given to him and his MASSIVE influence on everyone.
Trash theory has a whole Vince Clarke episode, its very hard to condense 50 years into 30 minuets.
The video mentions he was inspired by OMD, one specific track was “Almost”, which is excellent. Kraft we’re could be cold, OMD re-humanised electronic music. Then they made Dazzle Ships, an album that wasn’t properly appreciated for 30+ years.
@@michaelayliffe7238 Nope. Just searched for it and i couldn't find what you describe.
Maybe it was another chanel?
He came late in the day, there were so many other producers before him making electronic music.
Space and Cerrone deserved a mention. They both created at least one song each that were highly influential. Magic Fly and Supernature 🔥🔥🔥
The thing I love about I Feel Love is that the album it comes from, I Remember Yesterday, was a concept album based around celebrating music of the past, decade by decade, culminating in a final track representing the future. Giorgio Moroder was tasked with literally writing the music of the future, *and he did it.*
Top tune! Way ahead of its time!
I always think of it as the first techno song. In my top 5 tunes of all time.
@@Robhalifax Hola, te recomiendo escuches el tema de Moroder Now I Need You (1977) que canta Donna Summer, al final de la canción Moroder hace un solo instrumental que prácticamente tienen la base matriz del Techno Europeo y Trance, al igual que el tema Working To The Midnight Shift y el From Here To Eternity / Utopía del mismo año.
SPACE put out a techno song a FEW months prior called magic fly. They played/were on top of the pops.
@@annna6553 Maguic Fly (Didier M.) es del 77 al igual que I Feel Love y sigue similares principios y bases electrónicas, la característica de Moroder 77 es que su E. Munich parte más directamente de la Música Electrónica Clásica (E. Post Concreta, E. Moog, E. Experimental y E. Soundtrack) mientras Didier M. (Space) tiene más presencia de la E. Francia y mucha síntesis con la Disco Europea y el Pop (al igual que Cerrone), solo Jean M. Jarre comparte nivel de producción y desarrollo Electrónico igual a Moroder...en la posteriores producciónes de Space (78-79) empiezan a entrar en síntesis con el EDM de Moroder, Lacksman y YMO (HI-NRG & Synthpop).
Thomas Dolby's contributions to Foreigner's huge success should not be left out moving forward! Epic!
He also toured with Lene Lovitch. She probably deserves a mention as well.
I clicked in the hopes of seeing Thomas's genius credited. Great coverage nonetheless!
OMG, the Dr Who theme is such synth pop. That's amazing.
Delia Derbyshire is a tragic genius. She was decades before her time. An amazing person.
I was an American kid in the ‘80s, not realizing that was two decades old. That theme made me want to play synth. There is still nothing quite like it.
@@5roundsrapid263 those guitars loops are also very joy division esque
@@salo7227 Delia was "uncredited" :(
It still sounds cool to this day. Like some chillwave artist could make it and it would be an indie hit. It slaps.
I was disappointed that YMO was not mentioned in any capacity. If anything they deserve mention for bridging the East and West through their 1978 self-titled album. I believe they influenced many of the UK artists you mentioned in the early 80s.
This is a huge miss imo. Especially given their massive effect on the history of video game music. Which for those of later generations is their primary experience of electronic music far moreso than any of these artists, for better or worse.
AGREE!!!
Same with Telex.
@@Ebinsugewaby CV 😮😮😮😮
And Ryuichi Sakamoto before that again ("Thousand Knives" is my fav album ever). And he was also in YMO (haha).
I'd say Pete Townshend deserves a wee mention, too, for Won't Get Fooled Again and Baba O'Riley; most definitely synth-led tunes from 1971.
There’s an important missing time...1978: No.1 in heaven, a synth pop work of art by Sparks with Ron and Russell Mael.
and Beat the Clock. amazing tunes
Exactly what I was looking for, the influence Sparks had on the synth rock scene in Britain was enormous.
Rons stare should have been cencored
I came looking for a comment like this before even watching the video. I knew he'd ignore Sparks. Fuck sake.
@@beetooex…please, let’s be polite. All tastes are in nature. Moreover, the Mael brothers do not fit in any category if only in theirs😉
Half the fun of watching a Trash Theory episode is seeing how much of the stuff mentioned is music you've owned for years and realizing, "Damn, that was music history I was living through. I'm a lucky mofo!"
A blessing for sure. To me it's just history
Everyone is
I had Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene and Equinoxe on vinyl, cool albums.One of his compositions was used in the film Gallipoli with Mel Gibson.
@@orionsshoe2424 cool, ii didn't know that, thanks for the info.Got to see that movie now.
The three biggest glaring omissions you left out were Fad Gadget who was produced by Daniel Miller, Amon Duul who were using synths at a very early stage,
And the first DEVO album which was produced by Brian Eno. Also I just remembered the French band Heldon with the groundbreaking work of guitarist, and synthesizer pioneer Richard Pinhas.
I thought about Fad Gadget also when they mention Daniel Miller.
Love Devo and Fad Gadget , Back to Nature is pure class
Loved all of this. Since you made mention of what you might've forgotten to mention: Germany's synthpop band called Propaganda, formed in 1982. Totally brilliant!
absolutely!
The 70s and early 80s were a fantastically exciting time to be growing up surrounded with this soundtrack of evolving 'synth music'. Many of these songs are still on rotation in my playlists today...
Was a child in late 70s early 80s, and OMD, JM Jarre, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode & Gary Newman were the sound track of my childhood. Great times!
I wasn't around then, but certainly one of the most creative periods in modern music. For my money, the late 70s/early 80s had better music than the 60s
I was 20 years old in 1977. It was indeed a wonderful time. The UK and US punk explosion of the mid-to-late 70s, and so much of what came next. The revolution in microelectronics technology had much to do with the rise of synth-pop. Cheaper microprocessors and memory chips made synths cheap enough for almost any band.
@@epsteenwusmerdered9878 I was, and it was a brilliant time for an early to mid teenager and you have the timeline pretty much right...but there was some great music in the early to mid 60s to mid to late 70s too, so from my experience, it will be very close either way....but you can compare music evolution to mans evolution...i.e. look what we have done to the planet as evolved humans compared to look where we are musically to our music situation now....both situ are pretty awful.
@@gaskellr44 Sadly agreed. Seems like music (culture in general, really) has declined in quality over the last few decades. Still some good stuff being made, but it's harder to find.
i rediscovered Gary Numan lately. he has made some sensational music in the last decade which i never new existed
I just discovered him a couple of weeks ago, when I stumbled on the "Intruder" video. Now I'm a huge fan. I like his new stuff WAY more than the old classics.
Same here, Numan has been quietly pushing his art into new territories for the past 30 years, it's genuinely remarkable. I want him to live forever if only to hear where he goes next.
Terrible wig though !
@@weimaraner2 It's not a wig! Read his story to find out.
Years back, I bought 'Skin Mechanic' on a lark at a used CD shop.
By far, the best money that I've EVER spent on tunes!
I Feel Love is a song I cannot play in the car. It automatically makes me speed, and I don’t even notice.
This is so well done, and yes, almost impossible to capture all of the music that came thru the synth pop...
Other mentions...
Thomas Dolby - various
Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force - Planet Rock
Vangelis - Chariots of Fire
Perhaps a mention for other TV shows that embraced the synth revolution...
UFO
The Persuaders
Six Million Dollar Man
The Professionals
Etc....
I love how all this culminates into 1983's Blue Monday. That song would change music forever. Long live Joy Division and New Order!!!
Ian Curtis liked Kraftwerk Bernard Sumner liked Moroder BOOM.
"I put my my trust in you"
I am smiling because I am wearing an Unknown Pleasures shirt and have it tattooed on my arm as well. Love them so much
@@dlvnmedia that's awesome! I'd love to get the image on the inner sleeve of unknown pleasures tattooed on me some day 😁
@@dlvnmedia got j d tats too, first one on arm done 1980 after Ian died, then lwtua Angel on my chest
You definitely missed out Sparks and their album Number 1 in Heaven. Released in March 1979, it's a synth pop classic and predates a lot of bands mentioned. It was produced by Giorgio Moroder and spawned several hit singles in the UK.
I agree, I think Beat The Clock really 'woke me up' as a kid. I was never the same since hearing that!
Je pense que KRAFTWERK et GIORGIO MORODER ont apporté les
dernières pierres de l' édifice pop rock.
Les anglais ont utilisé ce nouveau mode musical.
Ils l'ont,d'ailleur,très bien utilisé.
yeah i was pissed sparks wasn't in this but i'm glad kraftwerk was. love them both
Even earlier Sparks deserves a mention here.
Absolutely! "This town" was published before "Autobahn"
And I think it was The Human League’s Travelogue that really got me into synth music when I was about ten years old. Watching the ‘old’ Human League, featuring Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh (later of Heaven 17) was magical. And their version of Mick Ronson’s ‘Only After Dark’ is still one of my favourite songs.
Caught your history of Goth and now this... I'm now subscribed. I'm feeling every one of my 55 years, but this music... of my tweens through twenties is so special, the entire musical landscape exploded and fragmented...
Ministry's With Sympathy was a highly-influental album, and their whole transition from synthpop to industrial to thrash metal would be a fascinating episode!
You can credit/blame Al Jourgenson's addition to LSD and heroin for that transition!
@@rciscon It be like that sometimes
@@rciscon Just LSD and heroin?
Love that one.
Bro too many smart words
I believe Devo deserves a spot in your list. Well done.
No because "they were not men!"
@@Lamster66 Are we not men?
@@petertrudelljr
We are Devo!
We're ALL D-E-V-O. !!!
DEVO was the first synth pop band most Americans had ever heard, and were featured musical guests on Saturday Night Live in 1978. Neil Young began jamming out with them, and he wasn't underground at all with a #1 pop hit in America and several platnum albums under his belt by then.
Sly and the Family Stone "Family Affair," from 1971, also wasn't recognized. It had a fully electronic drum machine in it and went to #1 on the pop charts as well.
Thank you for mentioning Japan, I feel they don’t get enough attention. Although in the last decade of so I have noticed more people talking about them. Being older I either recall some of this when it was happening, or at least learned about it shortly after the fact. I was turned on to Tomita by my father who brought Pictures At An Exhibition home from the radio station for me. It was not something he could play on the air back in those days (he worked at a rock and gold station), but he figured I would like it. Because I didn’t have much access to much experimental or underground music until the early 80’s, this serves as a very useful timeline. Filling in some of the information I am still missing after all these years. I’m not sure I have ever seen such a complete history of synth based music and I am grateful.
I went to the record store to buy a Judas Priest record and for some reason bought Gary Numan's record that just came out.That one record was the reason I started listening to all kind of new music.I still loved Preist and Maiden,Saxon and all that but I listened to a lot of other stuff because I gave Gary's album a chance.
loving judas priest and gary numan makes total sense.
Was it "I, Assassin?" I had basically that same experience with I, Assassin.
I've noticed that no one ever mentions Gary Wright as a synth pop influencer. His 1975 songs "Dream Weaver" and "Love is Alive" are both synth heavy and most definitely pop songs.
"Silent Fury" and " Are you weepin'" are fantastic examples of synth-rock.
Excellent, I never thought of it but you're absolutely right
You took my post right out of my head...though years later. Wright's success with synth pop long pre-dates the punks and new wavers. And by the way, Tomita's first name is pronounced "ee-sow" (rhymes with pow).
Jean-Michel Jarre is a genius. Thanks for covering him. His music was used as the soundtrack to an iconic movie (to Australians anyway) in the early 80s called “Gallipoli” which I think made a lot more people get into his music. Including my dad at the time who then passed on his love for his music to me :)
Absolutely love that film!
Tubular Bells is a standard in any good record collection. A Genius.
Yes! I remember feeling like the only person in the state of Nebraska was listening to him in the mid-80s.
@@headron66 Tubular Bells is Mike Oldfield though :)
@@rogerwennstrom6677 😂Yes I know. I wasn’t answering the top comment just giving another genius a shout out. My bag, I should have explained that👍
I remember being blown away by the album Replicas as a teen. My mate had a record player in the caravan in his parents garden and we just played it over and over. It was like nothing else we had heard. We both wanted to be Numan.
im very glad to see Silver Apples getting the recognition they rightly deserve when it comes to the history of electronic music. they really were the first electronica duet ever!
Absolutely blew my mind with the part about the Dr Who theme. I've heard that hundreds of times but never thought about it that much. Brilliant!
!
Delia Derbyshire is a genius she got some recognition a few years before she died though but not enough during her entire lifetime / career.
It's on YT: The Delian Mode - Delia Derbyshire documentary
Delia was an absolute legend.
Delia was incredible. Only now is she posthumously garnering the attention and credit she so richly deserves.
This is fascinating. I didn't know the Dr Who soundtrack was inspired by WW2 sirens. Amazing!
More about the lady who did the Dr Who sounds in the recent movie: Sisters with Transistors
There was a top 10 pop song with a fully electric drum machine, in 1971, called "It's a Family Affair" by Sly and the Family Stone.
Hands down their best song
Son of My Father, the 1972 single by Chicory Tip that was written by Giorgio Moroder, was one of the first UK number one singles to very prominently feature a Moog synthesizer. The song was so influential that it is still the basis for countless football chants to this day.
The opening riff to Son of My Father is nothing short of delicious.
This is an excellent documentary! I suppose Devo ought to get a mention. And Sparks for their 2 Georgio Moroder produced albums (Number One In Heaven and Terminal Jive). As for the very popular 80s stuff influenced by their 70s predecessors , New Order would be right up there, providing influence for stuff to come later.
Amen
I was 20 when I first heard it on the radio here in New England. "Cars" just had this sound about it. I didn't stop and think about the instruments in the song, just that it was so different and edgy. I have always had preference to British New Wave, Alternative music than American Country or even Rap (awful).
Weren't Devo after it became synth pop?
@@petermgruhn 1979
Yep, and a lot of those later groups even got their "weird keyboard player look " from Sparks.
Lovely 37 minute video on this beautiful genre
OMD’s “Organisation” and Depeche Mode’s “Speak and Spell” were my favorite Synth Pop Albums. Same with Eurythmics 2nd and 3rd albums. Those albums had Amazing Various keyboard chemistry
Saw OMD live in London.
Despite being immersed in synthesizers since Switched On Bach, I still learned a ton from this video. Didn't know both Brians were in Roxy Music for a spell. And never thought about the connection between "Are Friends Electric?" and Neil Young's "Sample and Hold." Great stuff as always, and greatly increased my list of "need to revisit" songs & acts. Thanks!!!
There are several versions of this story out there on the tubes and webs, and I get that it's impossible to aggregate all of the precedents and influencers. But I do think several are typically missed or underrated. Klause Schulze released a synth-based album in 1973 (Cyborg), was an original band member for Tangerine Dream, and founded Kraut rock band Ash Ra Temble. He was a contemporary composer in many ways of Brian Eno. Tangerine Dream also warrants more than a mention - their synth-based album Phaedra (1974) hit #15 and Rubycon (1975) hit #10 in the UK - which surely gave young Brits an early exposure to pure synth sounds and rhythms. They, with Schulze, and Jean Michelle Jarre, perfected the use of synth sequencers, which ultimately led to Morodor’s Moog Modular-based “I Feel Love” featuring Donna Summer, which was both a culmination of years of experiments with synths in pop music, but also a harbinger of many electronic music styles to come. I do appreciate that Trash Theory acknowledged the also ground-breaking work in the mid-70s of Isao Tomita and Vangelis, who pushed the limits of synthesizers in a symphonic framework. The last missing piece here for me is Blondie’s Heart of Glass, which was released on the album Parallel Lines in 1978 (predating Are Friends Electric) and then released as a single in January 1979, going on to chart at #1 in both the US and the UK 1979. Blondie was not a synth pop band, but Heart of Glass’s cool vocals over synth textures could easily be included in a top 10 of synth pop.
Great points. Blondie was quite the innovator. Also was the first person to crossover rap into another genre in her song Rapture. Have to admit. The guy in the video looks like he could've inspired Flava-Flav. KRS One gave her a head nod with "Step into a World".
I'm suprized nobody mentioned Space and Magic Fly from 1977.
Its funny but Midge ure's earlier incarnation with slik was a cross between the bay city rollers and his dismal later version of ultravox. ( Who would be nothing without Billie Currie)
And why has nobody mentioned ABBA virtually all their songs were Piano and Synth based.
I don't really remember it the way described in the Video with synths in pop music like this.You had the Prog Rock bands of the 70s and Artists like Jarre and Vangellis a few pop songs with the token synth parts. We got Kraftwerk and Moroda in the charts and we had Cerone and Super Nature. Bands like Ultravox the Human League Cabaret Voltaire were definately not in the mainsteam buying such records was like buying top shelf magazines Then Bang Tubeway Army and Are Friends electric?
And we all said WTF that was great? The suddenly All these Synth Artists appeared on the scene over the next 2 years
Or maybe I'm just senile!
Yes, Tangerine Dream isn’t mentioned in many of these Infographs. They scored one of the most important movies of the 1980s, Legend, with Tom cruise and Tim Curry. Directed by Ridley Scott. Herbie Hancock, the first synth pop video on mtv..
@@Lamster66 magic fly oh my Jesus that is an iconic track 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
@@sharkeyes
Yes you're right.
My own recollections of before "Are Friends Electric?" was every now and again there was what sounded at the time, to be a futuristic heavily synthesizer track released into the mainstream.
Actually when you listen back now you realise that these people were simply very adept musicians and it was just very tight playing. Ironically with real Drums, Bass guitar and Electric guitar. and some layered synth playing .
Magic Fly without the synth would be like a 70s funky backing track for someone like Barry White.
I think appart from Moroda, Kraftwerk Vangellis and Jarre most "Synth Tracks" at the time were a normal guitar based band with lots of synth parts .
Ironically Are friends Electric? also falls into this catagory.
Rather than being a synth track it is Real Drums and bass provided by Jess Lidyard and Paul Gardiner. With Numan providing the Synth and guitar parts.
That Iconic line on the minimoog is doubled up and with another accentuated version played an octave higher. The movement to it is provided by the bass.
The link part with the assending line is played twice on the moog with backing vocals doing the same thing.The pedal tone between each phrase is a heavily processed guitar.
And the Chorus ( if thats what it is) where Numan talks over it.
is what appears to be wurliter piano with 2 different versions of the part played on the minimoog.
And there is also the additional line with the portamento at the start of each verse. So there's maybe 4- 6 tracks of synth.
Another thing Numan also did was record tracks with effects on rather than dry. What that means is that you can use more effects than you have availible
but the downside is that your stuck with it if you later change your mind.
A Mellotron is not a synth, it is actually a early sampler, it plays tapes, which you can record on.
Was about to say the same.
Agreed
that's what i thought
that's one of the clear mistakes in the DOC
The Mellotron had a big influence on what kind of sounds could be made. Was not a synth but had an impact on the interest in synths
@@mrfuzztone Sure, but it is not a synth. Like I said it is a early sampler.
For me, it was Vangelis and his work on various soundtracks. A friend introduced me to his work in high school, and I would just listen to (in particular) the Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire scores and imagine other worlds in time and space. Still an influence on music I write today. Also, in the category of those influenced by this music, how about today's synthwave genre and all of its subgenres! Your missing out on some great stuff if you haven't heard bands like The Midnight, Gunship, FM-84, LeBrock, Kalax, Micheal Oakley, September 87, and so many more!
Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come were using a drum machine (Bentley Rhythm Ace) live on stage and on their 1972 album, Journey, as well as a VCS3 synth, Mellotron and Theremin.
Episode I've been waiting entire my life.
You mentioned Isao Tomita. YMO would be worth mentioning too.
Isao Tomita is often overlooked. It’s fantastic that he wasn’t omitted.
surprised that Yellow Magic Orchestra wasn't as influential in the UK compared to USA.
They were influential in the UK, too - only short-lived as a commercial act. Other musicians listened intently.
The YMO member Ryūichi Sakamoto collaborated with David Sylvian, leader of the underrated English band called Japan, on 2 great songs in 1982 and 1983:
- Bamboo Music ua-cam.com/video/_u6bmagKNfc/v-deo.html
- Forbidden Colours ua-cam.com/video/x1YkHJJi-tc/v-deo.html
The latter was used for the movie 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' with David Bowie and... Ryūichi Sakamoto of course !
@@loulou7194 Sakamoto co-wrote and performed on the Japan track "Taking Islands In Africa"
Such an amazing group! Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto are two of my favorite artists. I'm surprised that the songs I was hearing by them 10 years ago were Simoon and Firecracker. Those aren't quite as interesting to me. For me it is Light In Darkness, Cue, The Madmen and Exotic Dance. Such effecting songs and definitely synth pop pioneers. I like Neue Tanz a lot. It's a very weird art pop album.
I'd say they were important to the development of the UK scene too. A lot of the British acts mentioned here who were active in the 80's cited YMO as an influence; heck the Human League even made a collaborative EP with them in 1993.
I remember hearing Tubeway Army's "You are in my vision" the first time - it blew me away. When Cars blew up in the US, I wasn't surprised. With almost three thousand comments, why am I bothering? Probably no one will ever see it. But it helps, a little bit, increase the reach of the video and channel in YT, so this is my comment. Outstanding job on this!
In the intro, I see Delia Derbyshire, Brian Eno and Gary Numan. Oh, yeah, get a beverage and a snack and settle in. I still remember lying in bed, listening to FM radio with headphones and hearing Autobahn for the first time. I was a mind-blown little kid. Thanks for such a good vid!
As a sound engineer in Sheffield over the years I had the absolute pleasure to talk to and amplify Silver Apples when he came to us on his last UK tour. The set up was a wooden altar with probably 8 different synths (albeit they weren't anything like I'd ever seen), an oscilloscope and a microphone. I asked Simeon what his tech specs were and he just replied "stereo please". We later talked about guitar effects and the change in technology etc... He was a real nice guy. I knew they were pioneers in the field but until I watched this I'm gutted I didn't chat to him more. Love your channel man 👍
I saw Simeon play about ten years ago. I was right down the front. The girl next to me had some stuff for him to sign and came back saying what a great guy he was. I wish I'd done the same. So glad I got to see a Silver Apples gig, though, even though it was just him by this stage.
"Telstar" by The Tornadoes in my eyes and ears is the first "synth pop" song, even though there were no synths involved. It was a song at the heart of the ethos of synth pop in so much as it looked to the future and that it was influenced by technology such as satellites and the birth of the space race. The modern sound, like nothing else in 1962 was also very synth pop for the time, stretching the sonic boundaries of music.
And Vangelis didn't get a mention at all!
There was a synth, a monophonic valve powered keyboard called a Clavioline. the player could emulate a variety of natural instruments, using a filter which was controlled by a bank of switches which varied the tone, a couple of envelope shapes for fast or slow attack, vibrato and four sub oscillator settings. Volume was controlled by a lever operated by the players' knee. Its more extreme settings could sound quite otherworldly or growly and gritty. Its sounds would feature in many sci-fi and mystery movie soundtracks of the 50s-60s. a lot of contemporary bands seeking old retro sounds would seek them out. Very lucky to find them in good condition. I once found its cousin the Jennings Univox on a market stall, totally mystified by it. What was it? A weird looking thing. a keyboard which packed into a case which contained its amplifier and speaker. Portable but very heavy to carry! It looked like it would give you an electric shock the moment you tried to play it. Some of the wooden keys had lifted off. Would it even make a sound? by the time I'd done my research it was sold.
@@petertrudelljrThey mentioned Vangelis.
You've missed out Cluster/Harmonia - Eno worked with them (and said they were the greatest band in the world at the time), Bowie was listening to them, and their influence on Low and Heroes was immense. Vital
What an outstanding production.
You've made me realise that the original Doctor Who theme started my love for electronic sounds as a small boy in the 60s...
What a nostalgia trip this was 👍
Glad to see Ultravox w/John Foxx get the credit they deserve, they were great live to! Gary Numan widely credit's Ultravox to him going the Synth route also Ultravox member Billy Currie joined Gary Numan to perform "Are Friends Electric" and other early songs.
I love John Fox-era Ultravox.
I totally agree ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
@@kacaubalau2531 Yes! At the time my record player went from Roxy Music to Ultravox, Eno, Kraftwerk, Cluster et.al. one after the other.
Billy was also on the Touring principle" line up as well. Before Ultravox reformed with Ure as lead singer.
Out of the park hit! Most succinct accurate and comprehensive history of electronic musics origins ever. Imagine if you could get the rights and expand it into a full production. This is truly amazing and you should be very proud. My hats off to you sir!
Yep totally agree! A brilliant bit of research.
I imagine seeing what Gary Wright was doing in the 70's with keyboards, using them as a lead instrument led to some inspiration. With some prog groups, the synth was almost on equal ground as the guitar. Certainly with Elp and Gary Wright the synth was at the forefront.
As always, a brilliant recollection and overview of synth-pop. I love the pace of these documentaries.
As mentioned elsewhere, some influential bands are missing including The Moody Blues, Sparks, and Devo … but, to me, a full-circle golden opportunity was missed in the Clockwork Orange record shop scene … the girls discuss the (fictional) chart hits, including The Heaven 17 … the inspiration of course for you know who! 😊
The biggest shocker for me was discovering the Hardcore Devo 1 and 2 Comps of their material from 1974-77, released in the early 2000's. The material on these is definitely formative of all aspects of synth pop and many other odd electronic variants.
Early Devo stuff is incredible.
Devo has probably been categorised more punk than synth.
No mention of Devo seems like a major omission... Whip-It blew my 8 year old mind.
Possibly your 12-13 year old mind too! ;)
Devon?
A bit after tubeway army...
@@zapkvr devo, they were an American new wave band.
Trust me they did much more than whip it and that's their influence I think
The first UK Number One Chart hit in January 1972 that was made using a Moog Synth was Son Of My Father by Chicory Tip from the original composition by Giorgio Moroder.
Synth sound, to me, seems analogous to flat-color fills in a digital drawing: intense and unrealistic, yet scientifically accurate. A synthetic sound that is unlike any natural one, seems like an amazing invention.
my friend went too uni at Leed's, i visited several times.. his course tutor was John Fox, from ultravox. i eventually got my copy of "man who died everyday" signed by Mr fox.. a treasure kept too this day.
Gary Numan is so underrated. The Pleasure Principal is a masterpiece.
YEEESSSSS
Oh yes
You left out the incredibly underrated New Musik from south London, who with their genius front man, Tony Mansfield, created 3 amazing albums from 1979-1982. Their biggest hit was 'Living by Numbers'. Other tracks on their 1st album 'From A to B' were hits or minor hits like 'This World of Water', 'Straight Lines' & the awesome 'Sanctuary'. They had the ability to create 'warm accessible pop' or cold isolation throughout their short career. Their 1981 album 'Anywhere' is my favourite album ever, with 12 quite simply stunning tracks, many driven with their iconic pulsating bass drum & Tony's 12 string guitars. their 3rd & final album 'Warp' is probably the album that will inspire future artists for it's sheer creativity. Check out 'A Train on Twisted Tracks & the amazingly funky 'The Planet Doesn't Mind' for examples. 'Anywhere's' 'Luxury' & 'While You Wait' singles are other tracks of note. Really enjoyed this documentary, thank you.
The beach boys “love you” album was synth pop before it was a genre. So weird and great. Definitely something to check out
Getting real close to discussing Throbbing Gristle/Whitehouse/SPK/DAF and I’m excited.
Hell yeah! Industrial doesn't get enough love I feel
SPK... now that would be interesting. And nice nod to DAF. Ta, forgotten about them.
And more about Cabs ;)
@@imogen4535 exactly they are mostly silent about it .
a throbbing gristle episode would be...interesting 😅
Excellent job with this!
But since you asked, I would have mentioned these (even if only briefly):
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Cerrone
Yello
Art of Noise
Sparks
Klaus Schulze
Cluster
Popol Vuh
Manuel Gottsching / Ashra
Front 242
Patrick Cowley / Sylvester
Telex
Space / Didier Marouani
Raymond Scott
Beaver and Krause
Bruce Haack
Just like to add that the B-52’s “Planet Claire” has that haunting synth/voice mix throughout most of the song. For some reason it reminds me of songs by Dick Dale. I always thought of his songs as Surfer Music.
My favorite of all their songs.
Not a die hard fan of them but I was surprised that you didn’t mention the Moody Blues. They were also quite innovative with their use of the mellotron in the early 70s. The album cover art on my brother’s copy of ‘On the Threshold of a Dream’ used to freak me out as a little kid.
The Mellotron is actually a very early tape based sampler, highly influential and evocative but not a synthesiser.
The Moog bass and classical/gospel influenced galactic abstractness of P-Funk’s synthesizer genius Bernie Worrell was and still is a huge influence on electronic pop music.
Bernie was the fkn man 💯
Kind of irritating that they didn't mention Bernie
And Stevie Wonder and TONTO
Let us not forget about Cabaret Voltaire [mentioned but not explored], Heaven 17 [mentioned, not explored], The Pop Group, Clock DVA, Bill Nelson, Fiat Lux, etc., etc. I could go on but to what end, as there are so many highly influential "synth pop" bands, back in the day. Damn fine documentary, that. More please.
Also Siouxsie's "Kaleidoscope" album. "Happy House" & "Red Light" were heavily influential in electronic music across the board, to this day. Can't forget about all the lame Siouxsie fans who were whining about The Weeknd's Super Bowl performance because he "ripped off" Siouxsie, even though it showed how ignorant they were to just now recognize the sample when The Weeknd's song, "House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls" was made around 5 years ago, lol.
Extra points for mentioning Bill Nelson.
He's a guitar god to some but his contribution to synth pop is more often than not totally overlooked. Not only his own forays into it but the fact that he brought Flock of Seagulls to the worlds attention.
You definitely missed the long version of Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby" with that extension twanging synth before her later "I Feel Love?" The movie industries loved synthetic music. The classic "train ride risk sex" theme song in Risky Business (Tom Cruise movie) combined Tangerine Dreams music. John Carpenter loved synthetic music for "Escape From New York," "Assault on Precinct 13" etc. James Cameron also used it for techno in his "Terminator" theme song.
Wow, the story of how Delia Derbyshire brought the Doctor Who theme to life was incredible. What a genuine innovator. It is hard for one to image making such a song without a computer these days. It is a shame that she was not credited, but I was not surprised to hear that fact. A genius woman who made and indelible mark on music.
I'm a bit surprised you didn't mention YMO at the end there, Rydeen is an eternal classic. I hope you will do a video on Killing Joke or Godflesh at some point in the future ;D
Same here.
Chicory Tip "Son of my Father " 1971
For real
@@actionman3000 that song was originally composed by Giorgio Moroder.
This video is quite white centered, missing a lot. At least it didn't stick just to english speaking artists as it shows Kraftwerk :(
The Captain, from Captain and Tennille. A good friend of my father's, converted a large synthesizer-keyboard into a portable unit for the road tours. This man, at the time was working for Amana, developing the "Radar Range". Known commonly as the Microwave Oven.
Once again i'm going to have to request a spotify playlist for every song featured in these videos. Amazing stuff!
They always forget the Japanese pioneers "YMO". Their album "BGM" is a masterpiece..
The Golden Age of Wireless - Thomas Dolby, the perfect Synthpop album.
Yes! I love that one too!
Por ese album Dolby vive con los techno dioses en el monte Olimpo.
Synth pop blinded me with science!
he's more new wave, not synth pop. and that album sucks. it's kinda irritating. nothing even that a dj could even play. it's more experimental.
@@guanchankey huh?
The greatest single omission was any reference to the groundbreaking work of DEVO (they deserve to be the subject of a future feature) in all other respects excellent work & very enjoyable.
And Jean-Jacques Perrey is not even mentioned in the groundbreaking 60s, but I guess this is an ancient documentary, before internet research.
Very interesting and quite detailed post. I must confess you'd need another hour to list all the synth-pop influencers from around the world. To me it's worth to expand further to the Prog-rock era (especially ELP, Floyd and Genesis) and of course Vangelis. You mention too little about them, they deserve much more!
The alt- puppet TV series "Space Patrol" also featured and electronics theme, and sub-themes for specific action sequences such as the activation of the robot automatic pilot, the "space city" pan and launch sequences, as Thunderbirds did but with a studio orchestra.
So pleasantly surprised to hear how much the “Doctor Who” theme influenced these genres! Tom Baker was my dr. and that opening still gives me the same chills I got after LITERALLY running home from the bus stop to catch it in syndication here in the U.S.
Great mini-doc with tons of fascinating info! Keep ‘em coming.
This is my absolute favorite video of yours so far. Synth runs through my veins, and especially the sounds from Eno, Fripp, Cluster, Gary Numan, Jarre, Popul Vuh, Harmonia, and many many many more. The realization for this love came about ten years ago, and I've never been more happy, especially with the online platforms such as Spotify and such. It's so unlimited, as much as synth music is to me.
Simple Minds with albums Sons and Fascination, Sister Feelings Call and others were an AMAZING synthrock band and one of my very favorite bands of all time.
Big friends with Gary were the Minds. Life in a Day could've been produced by him. Michael McNeil and Charlie Burchill Derek Forbes etc. were in there at the outset.
Jean-Michel Jarre 1976 Oxygène was my very first 100% synth music album i've heard. It was ground breaking, spacy and so addictive!
Great doc, I learned a lot. The only artist I think you may have overlooked is Sparks, particularly teaming up with Giorgio Moroder for No. 1 Song In Heaven and other albums. Highly influential on synth pop.
I was thinking same. Great vid though, 👍
"For anyone of our generation involved in electronic music, Kraftwerk were the godfathers." (Martin Gore, "Depeche Mode")
I was a teen in the 80's and my first live concert was OMD in 1986. I feel really fortunate to have been a teen back then in terms of all of the innovative music that came out during that decade.
Lucky indeed!
Omd r the bollocks live
Jean-Jacques Perrey should be on this list. Since he also worked with Gershon Kingsley. But for most of what Perrey did was experimental musical songs on a Moog. He was also the guy that wrote the famous Disney Parks Main Street Electrical Parade song.
I cannot believe I have just now discovered your channel !!!
Your docs are as good or better than anything I have seen on VH1 or any broadcast channel.
I have been watching music docs since I was 10 or 11 years old.
I'm 51 now.
OUTSTANDING
I fucking love this song, and the music that came before it. “Down in the Park” and “M.E.” are other favorite songs.
Replicas is an amazing album in general
Down in the park is epic
@@depeszTOja Listen to Ultravox's album Systems of Romance which Numan cites as a big influence in his sound.
i couldn't take it back in the day
M.E. is dark as f. Amazing track. I like that each verse introduces a different instrument solo.
‘Replicas’ was the a-bomb explosion in my mind. It’s the bridge, a perfect melding of rock and electronic music, that his later albums would lack. Like, Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’...a perfect balance. And then, never to be seen again.
totally incredible doco.the editing is amazing and so fast paced, well done!