Log #212 - Giving Those Early '80s Synthesizer Bands A Second Chance

I'm heading back to the early '80s this week with some formative music that impacted my ears around school sixth form time. Personally I wasn't ever into these new romantic and electronic bands, preferring rock and prog. It's remarkable to think that at that time the music I was listening to was already considered old when in truth most of it was less than 10 years old and some was even still current. But when you are only 16, 10 years is a very long time and in comparison with the likes of Depeche Mode and OMD, King Crimson, Genesis and Pink Floyd were dinosaurs.

OMD - Architecture and Morality
OMD - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Human League - Travelogue
Depeche Mode - Violator
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Don't Stand Me Down
ABC - Beauty Stab

OMD were one such new electronic band that suddenly appeared on the scene one day in the sixth form common room. I certainly remember some of the cool boys with their new romantic floppy jackets (with the sleeves rolled up) and matching floppy hair carrying around the OMD debut LP with it's modern grid cover (if I remember correctly the outer cover had holes through which the bright orange of the inner cover showed through - that was pretty cool and different).

Sadly the albums here from OMD were a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting something more ground breaking remembering the esteem with which these albums exchanged hands at school. 

Architecture and Morality is pretty basic synth pop without anything that memorable. It's why I turned to the debut album actually to see if that offered more originality and indeed I think it's the better album. It has more of those intriguing Tangerine Dream '70s synth sounds. Some tracks sound a little like Boards Of Canada (The Messerschmitt Twins) and Electricity is a great tune.

On both the albums I don't think much of the singing.

That's where the ABC scores well actually. Although the tone and style sounds so of its era somehow, Martin Fry nevertheless had a good voice. ABC sound more like a regular band, with traditional instruments, less electronics, and some decent electric guitar (much more than you would expect), and proper drums - they are even quite heavy in places. Heavy Citizen is a storming track, and The Power Of Persuasion is pretty cool. Bite The Hand has some excellent riffing. Am I bonkers or does the funky King Money even sound like latter day Led Zeppelin? I think people would be quite surprised with this album, as I was when I first heard it.

Travelogue was The Human League's 2nd album released in 1980. Surprisingly to me it wasn't until the 3rd album Dare, and it's accompanying hit single Don't You Want Me, that The Human League achieved wide commercial success (I had assumed Don't You Want Me came immediately in their career). This preceding album is a bit rawer and minimalist than the subsequent albums. Some of the rhythmic pulses and glitchy effects as on Dreams Of Living and Being Boiled are like Kraftwerk and the hypnotic instrumental Toyota City is where Tangerine Dream meets Steve Hillage (again it might be unfair to suggest the lack of singing is an advantage).

The Dexy album is slightly different to the Come On Eileen template everyone is familiar with. Lots of thumping drums - but it's genuine, not over produced. Quite a lot of surprising spoken word in the songs - the band members sounding like they are in conversation (at first I wondered if I was hearing some interference from somewhere else in my headphones, or whether these were studio outtakes). One of Those Things sounds like the great Werewolves of London. The Waltz is a great song.

10 years on (again) and you can really hear the improved synthetic production on the 1990 Depeche Mode album Violator. The synthesizers sound much better, and the bass floors you. But it's the drum machines that show most improvement over their sound at their inception.

That was then...

I used to think this group were so naff when they first came out: teenagers who barely looked 17 playing feeble one finger melodies on cheap (probably not that cheap in those days) keyboards. What was their big hit they started off with? It was laughable to me, in comparison to the complicated prog rock I was in to.

...this is now

I was vaguely aware Depeche Mode became massive over the years especially in the US and South America. I remember seeing footage of the group playing to massive stadium crowds. They changed their image too of course and moved from a teeny bopper band to a tattooed rock outfit. Lead singer Dave Gahan's heroin problems were widely reported and no doubt contributed towards their new persona (I'm sure not a marketing ploy but possibly increased their cred!).

There are some great tunes on this album including Enjoy The Silence (that's the one with the king walking up a hill holding a deck chair) and Personal Jesus:

Reach out and touch faith
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares

It's the best album in this 6 by a wide margin.