The 80s. The decade of the synthesizer. The decade that digital music woke us from a collective fog like some late night Technicolor clambake. Most of us jumped out of bed and joined the party. How could we not? Why fight synth’s dayglo resonance? Still, some resisted, instead yelling at the kids on the beach. They said to turn down that infernal racket. They even threatened to smash the boom box. But even naysayers can’t shake the sound. Keyboards are insidious. Synth is pervasive. It’s the sand in your shoes and pockets weeks after a trip to the beach. It’s the grit against your skin, between your teeth. Synth is always there, reminding you of the perfect vacation…or the holiday wasted shouting down kids for having fun. Synth goes places we don’t initially perceive. Hence this post, designed to shine a light on some of the unusual places we found synths in the 80s... The Blue Nile – Tinseltown in the Rain (1984). Synth makes its way into Christian music by way of Glasgow. https://youtube/watch?v=WTMyr9x6ZPU Lewis – Cool Night in Paris (1983). Bluesy guitar plucking meets Miami Vice (think Bryan Ferry nursing a hangover in a Panamanian jail with a Casio keyboard). Lewis is a mystery. Or, at least he was. Light in the Attic plucked this album (LAmore) out of obscurity and spent almost three years trying to find its maker (real name is Randy Wulff). https://youtube/watch?v=ZrPAUmUvf6M&list=RD50lbZTOxfDs&index=3 David Campbell – Sky-Man and the Moon (1985). Another Light in the Attic release featured on a recent anthology. This is what happens when you mix synth with Native American folk music. Pretty darn amazing. https://youtube/watch?v=EVrYWUZzFaA Extras: Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Fire. From 1979, French dance music, a cold wave cover of an Arthur Brown (certainly Alice Coopers inspiration, no?) classic. https://youtube/watch?v=zgiu6X6jQLU Lewis – So Be in Love with Me. From Wulffs second album. Elements of Crockett and Tubbs, the soundtrack to Drive, and “Sea of Love.” https://youtube/watch?v=pmXq7ou3jdw Did I miss any obscure entries?
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 23:05:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015