Synth-pop (short forsynthesizer pop;[11] also calledtechno-pop[12]) is amusic genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features thesynthesizer as the dominant musical instrument.[13] It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers inprogressive rock,electronic,art rock,disco, and particularly theKrautrock of bands likeKraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in thepost-punk era as part of thenew wave movement of the late 1970s.
Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, and the mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians. After the breakthrough ofGary Numan in theUK Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s. In Japan,Yellow Magic Orchestra introduced theTR-808 rhythm machine to popular music, and the band would be a major influence on early British synth-pop acts. The development of inexpensivepolyphonic synthesizers, the definition ofMIDI and the use ofdance beats, led to a more commercial and accessible sound for synth-pop. Thus, its adoption by the style-conscious acts from theNew Romantic movement, together with the rise ofMTV, led to success for large numbers of British synth-pop acts in the US during theSecond British Invasion.
The term "techno-pop" was coined by Yuzuru Agi in his critique of Kraftwerk'sThe Man-Machine in 1978 and is considered a case ofmultiple discovery of naming. Hence, the term can be used interchangeably with "synth-pop", but is more frequently used to describe the scene of Japan.[14] The term "techno-pop" became also popular in Europe, where it started: German band Kraftwerk's 1986 album was titledTechno Pop; English bandthe Buggles has a song named"Technopop" and Spanish bandMecano described their style as tecno-pop.[15]
"Synth-pop" is sometimes used interchangeably with "electropop",[12] but "electropop" may also denote a variant of synth-pop that places more emphasis on a harder, more electronic sound.[16] In the mid to late 1980s, duos such asErasure andPet Shop Boys adopted a style that was highly successful on the US dance charts, but by the end of the decade, the synth-pop of bands such asA-ha andAlphaville was giving way tohouse music andtechno. Interest in synth-pop began to revive in theindietronica andelectroclash movements in the late 1990s, and in the 2000s synth-pop enjoyed a widespread revival and commercial success.
The genre has received criticism for alleged lack of emotion and musicianship; prominent artists have spoken out against detractors who believed that synthesizers themselves composed and played the songs. Synth-pop music has established a place for the synthesizer as a major element ofpop androck music, directly influencing subsequent genres (includinghouse music andDetroit techno) and has indirectly influenced many other genres, as well as individual recordings.
Synth-pop is defined by its primary use of synthesizers,drum machines andsequencers, sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Borthwick and Moy have described the genre as diverse but "characterised by a broad set of values that eschewed rock playing styles, rhythms and structures", which were replaced by "synthetic textures" and "robotic rigidity", often defined by the limitations of the new technology,[3] includingmonophonic synthesizers (only able to play one note at a time).[17]
Many synth-pop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce the music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were "typically woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic 'progression' to speak of".[18] Early synth-pop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection.[19][20] Common lyrical themes of synth-pop songs were isolation, urbananomie, and feelings of being emotionally cold and hollow.[2]
In its second phase in the 1980s,[2] the introduction of dance beats and more conventional rock instrumentation made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop.[19][20] Synthesizers were increasingly used to imitate the conventional and clichéd sound of orchestras and horns. Thin, treble-dominant, synthesized melodies and simple drum programmes gave way to thick, and compressed production, and a more conventional drum sound.[21] Lyrics were generally more optimistic, dealing with more traditional subject matter for pop music such as romance, escapism and aspiration.[2] According to music writerSimon Reynolds, the hallmark of 1980s synth-pop was its "emotional, at times operatic singers" such asMarc Almond,Alison Moyet andAnnie Lennox.[20] Because synthesizers removed the need for large groups of musicians, these singers were often part of a duo where their partner played all the instrumentation.[2]
Although synth-pop in part arose frompunk rock, it abandoned punk's emphasis onauthenticity and often pursued a deliberateartificiality, drawing on the critically derided forms such as disco andglam rock.[3] It owed relatively little to the foundations of early popular music injazz,folk music or theblues,[3] and instead of looking to America, in its early stages, it consciously focused on European and particularly Eastern European influences, which were reflected in band names like Spandau Ballet and songs like Ultravox's "Vienna".[22] Later synth-pop saw a shift to a style more influenced by other genres, such assoul music.[22]
Kraftwerk, one of the major influences on synth-pop, in 1976
Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre.[23] TheMellotron, anelectro-mechanical,polyphonicsample-playback keyboard[24] was overtaken by theMoog synthesizer, created byRobert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds. The portableMinimoog, which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance[25] was widely adopted byprogressive rock musicians such asRichard Wright ofPink Floyd andRick Wakeman ofYes. Instrumental prog rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands likeKraftwerk,Tangerine Dream,Can andFaust to circumvent the language barrier.[26] Their synthesizer-heavy "Kraut rock", along with the work ofBrian Eno (for a time the keyboard player withRoxy Music), would be a major influence on subsequent synth rock.[27]
In 1971, the British filmA Clockwork Orange was released with a synth soundtrack by AmericanWendy Carlos. It was the first time many in the United Kingdom had heardelectronic music.[28]Philip Oakey ofthe Human League andRichard H. Kirk ofCabaret Voltaire, as well as music journalist Simon Reynolds, have cited the soundtrack as an inspiration.[28] Electronic music made occasional moves into the mainstream, with jazz musicianStan Free, under the pseudonymHot Butter, having a top 10 hit in the United States and United Kingdom in 1972, with a cover of the 1969Gershon Kingsley song "Popcorn" using a Moog synthesizer, which is recognised as a forerunner to synth-pop anddisco.[29]
TheCat Stevens albumIzitso, released in April 1977, updated hispop rock style with the extensive use of synthesizers,[32] giving it a more synth-pop style; "Was Dog a Doughnut" in particular was an early techno-pop fusion track,[33] which made early use of amusic sequencer.Izitso reached No. 7 on theBillboard 200 chart, while the song "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" was a top 40 hit.[32] That same month,the Beach Boys released their albumLove You, performed almost entirely by bandleaderBrian Wilson with Moog andARP synthesizers,[34] and with arrangements somewhat inspired by Wendy Carlos'sSwitched-On Bach (1968).[35] Although it was highly praised by some critics and musicians (includingPatti Smith[36] andLester Bangs[37]), the album met with poor commercial reception. The album has been considered revolutionary in its use of synthesizers,[35] while others described Wilson's extensive use of the Moog synthesizer as a "loopyfunhouse ambience"[38] and an early example of synth-pop.[39]
Early guitar-basedpunk rock that came to prominence in the period 1976–77 was initially hostile to the "inauthentic" sound of the synthesizer,[3] but manynew wave andpost-punk bands that emerged from the movement began to adopt it as a major part of their sound. British punk and new wave clubs were open to what was then considered an "alternative" sound.[40][41] Thedo it yourself attitude of punk broke down the progressive rock era's norm of needing years of experience before getting up on stage to play synthesizers.[28][41] The American duoSuicide, who arose from the post-punk scene in New York, utilised drum machines and synthesizers in a hybrid between electronics and post-punk on theireponymous 1977 album.[42] Around this time,Ultravox memberWarren Cann purchased aRolandTR-77drum machine, which was first featured in their October 1977 single release "Hiroshima Mon Amour".[43]
1978 also saw the release of UK bandthe Human League's debut single "Being Boiled" andThe Normal's "Warm Leatherette", which both are regarded as seminal works in early synth-pop.[48] Sheffield bandCabaret Voltaire are also regarded as pioneers of the late 1970s that influenced the emerging synth-pop in Britain.[49] In America, post-punk bandDevo began moving towards a more electronic sound. At this point synth-pop gained some critical attention, but made little impact on the commercial charts.[50]
"This is a finger, this is another... now write a song"
—This quote is a take on the punk manifestoThis is a chord, this is another, this is a third...now start a band celebrating the virtues of amateur musicianship first appeared in a fanzine in December 1976.[51]
British punk-influenced bandTubeway Army, intended their debut album to be guitar driven. In late 1978,Gary Numan, a member of the group, found aminimoog left behind in the studio by another band, and started experimenting with it.[52] This led to a change in the album's sound to electronic new wave.[52] Numan later described his work on this album as a guitarist playing keyboards, who turned "punk songs into electronic songs".[52] A single from the second Tubeway Army albumReplicas, "Are Friends Electric?", topped the UK charts in the summer of 1979.[53] The discovery that synthesizers could be employed in a different manner from that used in progressive rock or disco, prompted Numan to go solo.[53] On his futuristic albumThe Pleasure Principle (1979), he played only synths, but retained a bass guitarist and a drummer for the rhythm section.[53] A single from the album, "Cars" topped the charts.[54]
Numan's main influence at the time was theJohn Foxx-led new wave bandUltravox who released the albumSystems of Romance in 1978. Foxx left Ultravox the following year and scored a synth-pop hit with the single "Underpass" from his first solo albumMetamatic in early 1980.[55]
In 1979,OMD released their debut single "Electricity", which has been viewed as integral to the rise of synth-pop.[56][57] This was followed by a series of landmark releases within the genre, including the 1980 hit singles "Messages" and "Enola Gay".[58] OMD became one of the most influential acts of the period,[59][60] introducing the "synth duo" format to British music.[61][62]Vince Clarke, who co-founded the popular synth-pop groupsDepeche Mode,Erasure,Yazoo andthe Assembly, has cited OMD as his inspiration to become an electronic musician.[63][64] BandleadersAndy McCluskey andPaul Humphreys have been described in the media as "theLennon–McCartney of synth-pop".[65][66]
Giorgio Moroder collaborated with the bandSparks on their albumNo. 1 In Heaven (1979). That same year in Japan, the synth-pop bandP-Model made its debut with the albumIn a Model Room. Other Japanese synth-pop groups emerging around the same time included thePlastics andHikashu.[67] This zeitgeist of revolution in electronic music performance and recording/production was encapsulated by then would-be record producerTrevor Horn ofthe Buggles in the single "Video Killed the Radio Star"; the song topped the UK charts in October 1979 and it also became an international hit; two years later it was the first song aired on MTV.[68][69]Geoff Downes, keyboardist for the Buggles, states, "When we did a rerecorded version forTop of the Pops, the Musicians’ Union bloke said, "If I think you’re making strings sounds out of a synthesizer, I’m going to have you. Video Killed the Radio Star is putting musicians out of business."[70]
1980 also saw the release of where "Video Killed the Radio Star" came from, the Buggles' debut albumThe Age of Plastic, which some writers have labeled as the first landmark of another electropop era,[71][72] as well as what for many is the defining album of Devo's career, the overtly synth-popFreedom of Choice.[73]
The emergence of synth-pop has been described as "perhaps the single most significant event inmelodic music sinceMersey-beat". By the 1980s synthesizers had become much cheaper and easier to use.[74] After the definition ofMIDI in 1982 and the development ofdigital audio, the creation of purely electronic sounds and their manipulation became much simpler.[75] Synthesizers came to dominate the pop music of the early 1980s, particularly through their adoption by bands of theNew Romantic movement.[76] Despite synth-pop's origins in the late 1970s amongnew wave bands like Tubeway Army and Devo, British journalists and music critics largely abandoned the term "new wave" in the early 1980s.[77] This was in part due to the rise of new artists unaffiliated with the preceding punk/new wave era, as well as aesthetic changes associated with synth-pop's movement into the pop mainstream. According to authors Stuart Borthwick and Ron Moy, "After the monochrome blacks and greys of punk/new wave, synthpop was promoted by a youth media interested in people who wanted to be pop stars, such asBoy George andAdam Ant".[3]
The New Romantic scene had developed in the London nightclubs Billy's and the Blitz and was associated with bands such as Duran Duran,Visage, andSpandau Ballet.[78] They adopted an elaborate visual style that combined elements ofglam rock,science fiction andromanticism. Spandau Ballet were the first band of the movement to have a hit single as the synth-driven "To Cut a Long Story Short" reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1980.[79] Visage's "Fade to Grey", characteristic of synth-pop and a major influence on the genre,[80] reached the top ten a few weeks later.[81] Duran Duran have been credited with incorporating dance beats into synth-pop to produce a catchier and warmer sound, which provided them with a series of hit singles,[19] beginning with their debut single "Planet Earth" and the UK top five hit "Girls on Film" in 1981.[82] They would soon be followed into the British charts by a large number of bands utilising synthesizers to create catchy three-minute pop songs.[21] In summer 1981Depeche Mode had their first chart success with "New Life", followed by the UK top ten hit "Just Can't Get Enough".[83] A new line-up forthe Human League along with a new producer and a more commercial sound led to the albumDare (1981), which produced a series of hit singles. These included "Don't You Want Me", which reached number one in the UK at the end of 1981.[84]
Synth-pop reached its commercial peak in the UK in the winter of 1981–2, with bands such asOMD,Japan,Ultravox,Soft Cell, Depeche Mode,Yazoo and evenKraftwerk, enjoying top ten hits. The Human League's and Soft Cell's UK number one singles "Don't You Want Me" and "Tainted Love" became the best selling singles in the UK in 1981.[85] In early 1982 synthesizers were so dominant that theMusicians' Union attempted to limit their use.[86] By the end of 1982, these acts had been joined in the charts by synth-based singles fromThomas Dolby,Blancmange, andTears for Fears. Bands such asSimple Minds also adopted synth-pop into their music on their 1982 albumNew Gold Dream (81–82–83–84).[87]ABC andHeaven 17 had commercial success mixing synth-pop with influences fromfunk andsoul music.[88][89]
Dutch entertainerTaco, who has a background in musical theatre, released his own synth-driven re-imagining of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz"; resulting in a subsequent long-play,After Eight, a concept album that takes music of 1930s sensibilities as informed by the soundscape of 1980s technology. The proliferation of acts led to an anti-synth backlash, with groups including Spandau Ballet, Human League, Soft Cell and ABC incorporating more conventional influences and instruments into their sounds.[90]
In the US (unlike the UK), where synth-pop is sometimes considered a "subgenre" of "new wave" and was described as "technopop" or "electropop" by the press at the time,[91] the genre became popular due to the cable music channelMTV, which reached the media capitals of New York City andLos Angeles in 1982. It made heavy use of style-conscious New Romantic synth-pop acts,[21][50] with "I Ran (So Far Away)" (1982) byA Flock of Seagulls generally considered the first hit by a British act to enter theBillboard top ten as a result of exposure through video.[50] The switch to a "new music" format in US radio stations was also significant in the success of British bands.[50] Reaching No. 2 in the UK in March 1983 and No. 1 on the USBillboard Hot 100 six months later,Rolling Stone called Eurythmics' single "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" "a synth-pop masterpiece".[92]Bananarama's 1983 synth-pop song "Cruel Summer" became an instant UK hit before having similar success in the US the following year.[93] The success of synth-pop and other British acts would be seen as aSecond British Invasion.[50][94] In his early 1980s columns forThe Village Voice, music criticRobert Christgau frequently referred to British synth-pop as "Anglodisco", suggesting a parallel to the contemporary genres ofEurodisco andItalo disco, both highly popular outside the US.[95][96][97][98] Indeed, synth-pop was taken up across the world alongside the continuing presence ofdisco, with international hits for German synth-pop as well as Eurodisco acts includingPeter Schilling,Sandra,Modern Talking,Propaganda,[99] andAlphaville. Other non-British groups scoring synth-pop hits wereMen Without Hats andTrans-X from Canada,Telex from Belgium,Yello from Switzerland,[100] andAzul y Negro from Spain. Among a slew of European groups,Berlin were a rare example of a successful American synth-pop band at this time, though their name nodded to their music's European influences: as with other bands in the genre their breakthrough was aided by heavy rotation on MTV and California new wave stationKROQ-FM.[101] The synth-pop scene of Yugoslavia spawned a large number of acts,[102][103][104] a number of them enjoying huge mainstream popularity in the country, likeBeograd,[105]Laki Pingvini,[106]Denis & Denis,[107] andVideosex.[108]
Trevor Horn (pictured in 1984), frontman of British new wave synth-pop group the Buggles, also produced Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 1984 albumWelcome to the Pleasuredome.
In the mid-1980s, key artists included solo performerHoward Jones, who S.T. Erlewine has stated to have "merged the technology-intensive sound of new wave with the cheery optimism of hippies and late-'60s pop",[109] (although with notable exceptions including the lyrics of "What Is Love?" – "Does anybody love anybody anyway?") andNik Kershaw, whose "well-crafted synth-pop"[110] incorporated guitars and other more traditional pop influences that particularly appealed to a teen audience.[111] Pursuing a more dance-orientated sound wereBronski Beat whose albumThe Age of Consent (1984), dealing with issues of homophobia and alienation, reached the top 20 in the UK and top 40 in the US.[112] andThompson Twins, whose popularity peaked in 1984 with the albumInto the Gap, which reached No.1 in the UK and the US top ten and spawned several top ten singles.[113] In 1984,Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their debut albumWelcome to the Pleasuredome (produced byTrevor Horn of the Buggles), with their first three singles, "Relax", "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", topping the UK chart.[114] The music journalistPaul Lester reflected, "no band has dominated a 12-month period like Frankie ruled 1984".[115] In January 1985, Tears for Fears' single "Shout", written byRoland Orzabal in his "front room on just a small synthesizer and a drum machine", became their fourth top 5 UK hit; it would later top the charts in multiple countries including the US.[116] Initially dismissed in the music press as a "teeny bop sensation" were Norwegian banda-ha, whose use of guitars and real drums produced an accessible form of synth-pop, which, along with an MTV friendly video, took their 1985 single "Take On Me" to number two in the UK and number one in the US.[117]
Indietronica began to take off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed, with acts such asBroadcast from the UK,Justice from France,Lali Puna from Germany, andRatatat andthe Postal Service from the US, mixing a variety of indie sounds with electronic music, largely produced on small independent labels.[137][138] Similarly, theelectroclash subgenre began in New York at the end of the 1990s, combining synth-pop, techno, punk and performance art. It was pioneered byI-F with their track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1998),[139] and pursued by artists includingFelix da Housecat,[140]Peaches,Chicks on Speed,[141] andFischerspooner.[142] It gained international attention at the beginning of the new millennium and spread to scenes in London and Berlin, but rapidly faded as a recognizable genre as acts began to experiment with a variety of forms of music.[143]
In 2020, the genre experienced a resurgence in popularity as 1980s-style synth-pop andsynthwave songs from singers such asthe Weeknd who gained success on international music charts.[187] "Blinding Lights", a synthwave song by the Weeknd, peaked at number one in 29 countries, including the United States, in early 2020; and later became theBillboard number-one greatest song of all time in November 2021.[188] This wave of revival not only popularized established acts but also enabled new artists likeDua Lipa, whose retro-influenced albumFuture Nostalgia won multiple awards and was hailed for its energetic embrace of vintage pop sounds.[189] Meanwhile, indie artists such asM83 continued to explore the boundaries of the genre, blending it with shoegaze and ambient music to create a complex, layered sound in their albumDigital Shades Vol. 2.[190] The genre's adaptability and nostalgic appeal have contributed to its enduring presence and continued evolution in the music industry.[191]
Synth-pop has received considerable criticism and even prompted hostility among musicians and in the press. It has been described as "anaemic"[192] and "soulless".[193] Synth-pop's early steps –Gary Numan in particular – were also disparaged in the British music press of the late 1970s and early 1980s for their German influences,[28] and were characterised by journalistMick Farren as the "Adolf Hitler Memorial Space Patrol".[194] During the 1980s, objections were raised to the quality of compositions and the supposed limited musicianship of artists.[195][196] Numan observed "hostility" and "ignorance" toward synth-pop, claiming that "people didn't think it was real music; they thought machines did it".[197]
OMD frontmanAndy McCluskey recalled a great many people "who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you", and asserted: "Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or a drum machine that said 'hit single', I would have pressed it as often as anybody else would have –but there isn't. It was all written by real human beings".[198]
According to Simon Reynolds, in some quarters synthesizers were seen as instruments for "effete poseurs", in contrast to the phallic guitar.[195] The association of synth-pop with an alternative sexuality was reinforced by the images projected by synth-pop stars, who were seen asgender bending, includingPhil Oakey's asymmetric hair and use of eyeliner,Marc Almond's "pervy" leather jacket, skirt wearing by figures includingMartin Gore of Depeche Mode and the early "dominatrix" image of the Eurythmics'Annie Lennox. In the U.S. this led to British synth-pop artists being characterised as "English haircut bands" or "artfag" music,[195] though many British synth-pop artists were highly popular on both American radio andMTV. Although some audiences were overtly hostile to synth-pop, it achieved an appeal among those alienated from the dominant heterosexuality of mainstream rock culture, particularly among gay, female and introverted audiences.[195][196]
Influence and legacy
By the mid-1980s, synth-pop had helped establish the synthesizer as a primary instrument in mainstream pop music.[19] It also influenced the sound of many mainstream rock acts, such asBruce Springsteen,ZZ Top andVan Halen.[199] It was a major influence onhouse music, which grew out of thepost-disco dance club culture of the early 1980s as some DJs attempted to make the less pop-oriented music that also incorporated influences fromLatin soul,dub,rap music, andjazz.[200]
American musicians such asJuan Atkins, using names including Model 500, Infinity and as part ofCybotron, developed a style ofelectronic dance music influenced by synth-pop andfunk that led to the emergence ofDetroit techno in the mid-1980s.[201] The continued influence of 1980s synth-pop could be seen in various incarnations of 1990s dance music, includingtrance.[202]Hip hop artists such asMobb Deep have sampled 1980s synth-pop songs. Popular artists such asRihanna, UK starsJay Sean andTaio Cruz, as well asBritish pop starLily Allen on her second album, have also embraced the genre.[144][203][204]
^abCollins, Schedel & Wilson 2013, p. 97, "synth pop (also called electro pop, techno pop, and the like)";Hoffmann 2004, p. 2153, "Techno-pop, also termed synth-pop or electro-pop"
^Barry R. Parker,Good Vibrations: the Physics of Music (Boston MD: JHU Press, 2009),ISBN0-8018-9264-3, p. 213.
^M. Spicer (2010), "Reggatta de Blanc: analysing style in the music of the police", in J. Covach; M. Spicer (eds.),Sounding Out Pop: Analytical Essays in Popular Music, University of Michigan Press, pp. 124–49,ISBN978-0-472-03400-0
^R. Unterberger (2004), "Progressive rock", in V. Bogdanov; C. Woodstra; S. T. Erlewine (eds.),All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul, Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, pp. 1330–1,ISBN978-0-87930-653-3
^S. Thornton (2006), "Understanding Hipness: 'Subcultural capital' as feminist cultural tool", in A. Bennett; B. Shank; J. Toynbee (eds.),The Popular Music Studies Reader, London, p. 102,ISBN978-0-415-30709-3{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"Gary Numan interview".BBC Breakfast. 15 May 2012. Event occurs at 8:56 am.BBC One.British Broadcasting Corporation.There was a certain amount of hostility to electronic music when it first came along. People didn't think it was real music; they thought machines did it. There was a lot of ignorance, to be honest.
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