The mass production of digital equipment such as Yamaha DX7 prompted a flood of synth artists during the early eighties. Although the equipment was made overseas the music was very British in its origins and so much that it had an impact on American music when the so called 'second' British invasion occurred in line with the music changing MTV channel.
Synth Pop arose after the post punk period and was an introduction to the new wave era. Since then the British eighties really embraced the the synthesiser. The early inductees were Tubeway Army which then saw lead singer Gary Numan go on his own. Ultravox and Visage had strong connections and took on the Synth feel. Also during that early eighties there was another two bands from Sheffield that made there mark on the pop world they were the Human League and Heaven 17.
Following those bands they were notable successes on both sides of the pond. Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, A Flock of Seagulls along with A-ha, Bronski Beat, OMD and Japan spread the word and soon lots of artists were benefiting from this type of music. Many in the musical world felt threatened and feared this would be the end of the conventional band. suspicions were further confirmed when Howard Jones ,Nik Kershaw and the Thompson Twins enjoyed long success in the charts. As the decade progressed we then saw the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and The Communards reinvigorate the Synth Pop sound.
The Synth Pop sound did start to suffer when Britain was yearning for more guitar sounds and the indie bands started to fight back. So rather than fight it many embraced the sound of the guitar along with synth sound and Depeche Mode and Ultravox started to combine the two in the mid eighties.
But back to the beginning, Gary Numan was considered to be the man to introduce us to this genre, Following on from his punk days he produced an electronic kind of pop-rock with a futuristic sound dominated by machines. Ultravox and Visage took on the baton and embraced this new sound. However, the two most successful products of this school were Sheffield's Human League and Basildon's Depeche Mode. Both bands suffered personnel problems but fought on.
The Human League began as a synth arty type band but the band then split into two in 1980. Martyn Ware and Ian Craig-Marsh evolved into Heaven 17 and Phil Oakey hired musicians Jo Callis and Ian Burden along with backing singers/dancers Jo Catherall and Susanne Sulley (plucked from a nightclub in Sheffield) to complete the new line up. The Human League then produced the definitive Synth-pop album Dare which spawned the huge hit Don't you want me.
Depeche Mode suffered equally with the League. Vince Clarke the composer of there early hits (New Life, Just cant get enough) left in 1981. Clarke went on to find much success with Erasure and Yazoo but the Mode fought on Martin Gore the main singer took on the songwriting which culminated in the huge hit Enjoy the Silence and the album Music for the Masses by turning synth pop into a more guitar based sound appealing to all sorts of fans.
Synth Pop was making big roads in 1981 when Soft Cell went to the top with Tainted Love and followed up with Bedsitter. Also OMD (Enola Gay and Souvenir), Japan (I second that emotion), Ultravox (Vienna and The Voice) and even Kraftwerk (The Model).
We then saw Liverpool A Flock of Seagulls gain more success in the USA with the advent of the pop promo for MTV and they saw two hits I ran and the iconic Wishing (I had a photograph of you) gaining popularity. By the mid eighties more came on the scene but incorporated more instruments to move away from the backlash against synth pop. Howard Jones (New Song, Like to get know you well, What is Love) and Nik Kershaw (Wouldn't it be good, the riddle) carried on the work and were ably assisted by Bronski Beat (Small Town boy), a-ha (Take on me and the sun always shines on TV) and The Thompson Twins (hold me now and you take me up) were able to appeal to a new found market.
Towards the end of the decade the UK moved towards Dance music and rock driven material, synth pop started to fade. There were only a handful of duos fighting for the existence with Pet Shop Boys (West End Girls) , Erasure (Sometimes) and the Communards (don't Leave me this way) keeping in the public interest.
To have a look at the artists from the synth pop era click on the name or song. Enjoy
Soft Cell - Bedsitter
Bronski Beat - Hit that perfect beat
Depeche Mode - Everything counts
Flock of seagulls - Wishing
A-ha - Take on me
OMD - Tesla Girls
Japan - I second that emotion
Gary Numan - Cars
Human League - Don't you want me
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Recommended listening/Purchasing
Electronic - The very best of Synth and New Wave
Electronic 2 - The very best of synth and new wave
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