BBC Synth Britannia

[imck37]

Is that Julian Sand, in 0:10:47 ?

[teddyballgame406]

Hmm, no mention of Magazine, Japan, or Telex among other early significant synth groups?

[Goblobslobshoblot]

and then a bit later.....Blackpool. Hmmm.

[Goblobslobshoblot]

funny how it goes "but things weren't all that quiet down south..." and the first person they do is someone from.....Chorley!!! and then the next band is from London are from.....Sheffield! Hmmm.

[sponooch]

Fantastic docu, absolute lovely in every way! 5stars

[OilOnWhyte]

This was thoroughly enjoyable to watch. Thank you for the upload.

[dep1001]

Great documentary!!!

[pat25ish]

..could imagine a bit more space left for New Order..and also mentioning some stuff from US like Suicide

[dvamateur]

Okay, we mention transexual American Walter/Wendy, we mention German Kraftwerk, but I guess it would be a taboo to mention Frenchman J.M. Jarre :)

[Frostbanman]

Ikey from TMV took me here.

[xLordOfNothingx]

I wish they had talk more about Wendy Carlos, truly the mother/father of electronic music.

[FallFanCan]

It's all about Throbbing Gristle 

[FallFanCan]

Those Council High-Rises were an awful idea.

[FallFanCan]

@FallFanCan Thanks Labour.

[Kohntarkosz]

Gotta love Andy McClusky's comment at the end. It must really stink to be part of a movement that is hinged on proving that the previous generation of music is "cliche" and "outmoded" or whatever, only to subsequently find yourself a few years down the road being branded with the same words. Ironic. Dontcha think?

[TPBNiNJAZ]

Dies anyone know any documentaries that go into how house music came about?

[AdzTurner]

@TPBNiNJAZ

Search for "Pump Up The Volume - Part 1 - The History Of House Music".

[Ingranforma]

@ZombieDragQueen the theme from Doctor Who was not made with synths. It was, strictly speaking, musique concrète. Recorded sounds on tape, reassembled.

[Joevirus]

I love that almost every band featured has a Sequential Circuits Pro-One onstage or in the studio!

[Bryan8329]

Quite ironic that the novel of Crash (and J.G.'s work) inspired synth-pop and the primary musical voice in David Cronenberg's film adaptation was an electric guitar ensemble.

[ZombieDragQueen]

So they mentioned A Clockwork Orange, but no one mentions Delia Derbyshire and the theme of Doctor Who that she made in 1963? That was probably the pioneering British synth track.

[TheSnapdragger]

@ZombieDragQueen

The theme track was created with a bass player and 10 or so tape loops playing the low bass tune of various pitches. A oscilator was used for high pitches, no synth was used in the track

[ZombieDragQueen]

@TheSnapdragger

It's true that musique concrete style was adopted but that technique was a major influence on later electronic music making (especially Throbbing Gristle mentioned in the documentary). It deserved at least a nod of recognition.

[Kohntarkosz]

Probably because Delia didn't use a synthesizer on the Doctor Who theme. In fact, synths didn't really exist yet. Well, the RCA synth at the Columbia-Princeton studio did, but what we think of synths today, didn't exist yet. Moog and Buchla had only just started on their respective prototypes at the time.

Delia had to use pre-synth electronic music techniques to render the iconic theme music.

[ZombieDragQueen]

@Kohntarkosz

Well the Russians had already a synthesizer by then, the ANS created from 1937-57. And while the Doctor Who theme employed musique concrete technique instead of actual synthesizer I consider it an electronic piece of music. And giving how prolific the track is and virtually unchanged since it first aired I thought at least a nudge to it would have been in its proper place.

[Kohntarkosz]

@ZombieDragQueen I would put the ANS more in the same category as the RCA synthesizer, in that you more or less had to be a computer programmer to use it. And you probably had to be a VIP to gain access to the instrument with the first place. So I prefer to make a distinction between those instruments and the ones those that came from Moog, Arp, EMS, etc.

[Kohntarkosz]

@ZombieDragQueen As for the Doctor Who theme, I absolutely agree that it is a piece of electronic music. And thinking about it, I'm sure it had to be provided some spark of inspiration for some young viewers to say "Whatever THAT is, I want to do it". So yeah, I guess you have a point it should have at least been mentioned in the same way that Wendy Carlos was. Then again, this is the BBC we're talking about. Don't they ALWAYS manage to get SOMETHING wrong? :-)

[Rayimix3000]

@ZombieDragQueen Delia didn´t used synthesizers... all was hand made, she was a fucking genius.

[ChrisEchoes]

@ZombieDragQueen Yes, very influential but NOT on the artists / groups featured in this documentary. It says it all in the beginning of the documentary.

[Fieldson1977]

The dolbster also worked with Foreigner in the late 70's as a synth "consultant" as it were. (Thus putting him active as a synth player between 75' and 80.) We're Just raving Dolbly fans, if you can't tell :)

[Fieldson1977]

To: dcanmore

Good point, but Dolby's original "Golden Age of Wireless" was released in early 81' in the uk. (Spawning: Europa and the Pirate Twins)

[emoboyrob]

I need your help, can you tell me what songs are being played between these times 1:22:26 - 1:23:27 This is played right before the New Order "Blue Monday" song. Please let me know, I'm going crazy trying to figure it out.

[MajorTriadz]

DID U KNOW ???.......SOME PEOPLE / ARTISTS TRIED TO GET THE SYNTH BANNED WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT !!!!

MAJORTRIADZ=FUNKY FRESH UK HIP HOP :]

[Kohntarkosz]

That actually continued well into the 80's. There were people who were convinced that synths and samplers would put orchestras out of work. In fact, going back to the 50's (pre-synth actually), Louis and Bebe Barton were blackballed by the Hollywood film music establishment after they did the music (or "Electronic tonalities" as the screen credit read) for Forbidden Planet, because a lot of the old school types felt threatened.

[ThePerdurabo]

So' Gay

[PeteReplete]

Oscar Wilde wasn't British!!!!!

[gundt]

What is the song at 45:28 - 46:00? Is that by the Human League? I couldn't find it on the tracklist on the BBC-Website or anywhere on the internet.

[s0LVentCIty]

@gundt Yes it's Human League "Dignity of Labour pt.1"

[gbboi]

a must see!

[Foucault63]

This is a superb overview of the British Synth scene during the late 70s and 80s.

[andygo]

@destructorbeam Thanx! :)



[hynsonandnash]

This, along with the Krautrock, Prog Rock and Factory Records documentaries, is a perfect example of why the BBC is the greatest broadcasting outfit in the world.

[joelmorley5]

This is why we can't let them cut BBC4!

[TheAtheistSwede]

Best documentary evar!

[LiteracyLabyrinth2]

Nice to see true tributes paid to the icons of the 80s - Numan, Human League, Ultravox, Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk.

[studio7tahiti]

i miss the 80 S

[jenwasverydrunk]

80s got to love it. The people and music was so strange and dramatic. 

[wonnatryit]

Great documentary. Very informative and interesting.

Some of my favorite electronic acts old and new from Britain are Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Cabaret Voltiare, Human League, The Prodigy, Faithless, Orbital, Kosheen, Underworld, Aphex twin, Unkle, Leftfield, Allflaws

[craterscar]

@wonnatryit is it find the intruder / odd one out? i know it, it's Aphex Twin.

[biorama]

Excellent video. Although many important artists were mentioned including Dolby, TFF and Blancmange. I also think they were a but harsh to Hojo and Thompson Twins-both important contributors to the synth movement.

[TheNouveauxdecadence]

I think it's a bit vile of them using Howard Jones as a retard of synth pop as I think Howard is a GENIUS. I have seen him live on his Electronic gigs and he is one masterful musician!

[Fieldson1977]

Excellent, but I do agree with a previous post. Why no Dolby?

[dcanmore]

@Fieldson1977 @biorama @majce69 IMO I think Dolby came too late for this docu. If they're talking about Numan being Johnny-come-lately (1979), with Dolby's first release being in 1982, then you see that just about all of the artists in this film were recording in the 1970s. So you could say that the main area of examination is between 1975 to 1980. Same goes for TFF (1983) and Blancmange (1982), with just a cursory look at synth after 1981 because by then it was mainstream.

[junkfood66]

STARFORCE!!!! memories ..... :)

[majce69]

Thank you putting this up,excellent documentary.I was just wondering why nobody didn't even mention Thomas Dolby.

[bellapearls]

Lived it, loved it , still have all those 12 inch records and every cassette I could get my hands on :) excellent documentary .

[FragdaddyXXL]

I was hoping for some mention of The Prodigy, but it ended with the 80s xD

[DarkImperialism]

So glad I stumbled on this this Sunday morning!

[Vebinz]

Excellent documentary!

Though I believe it mis-portrays the decline. Synthpop didn't decline on it's own, It was stifled by the pro-rock reactionary movement pooping up towards the end of the 80's and the beginning of the 90's,especially with the rise of "grunge".

Thanks for posting!

[andygo]

anyone knows the Chris & Cosey song's title?

[will849059]

Cheers man for putting this up 

[adriramirezan7]

Art of Noise???

[cullyvan]

Ive got a remastered version of dignity of labour on my channel. Great program , thanks.

[neogeo53]

when they talk about travle log can anyone tell me what the song is they are playing i really like it

[SuperSonicAnime19]

@neogeo53 Dignity of Labour

[plavskihasajet]

Moog rhymes with vogue, not noob.

[DeeJayCrackah]

@plavskihasajet It's moog. It technically does rhyme with noob. Moo- like a cow, guh- like guh.

[cholling1]

@DeeJayCrackah Moog rhymes with "rogue". It's a Dutch surname.

[DeeJayCrackah]

@cholling1 No. It's mOOg. Moogerfooger. Holy shit I should know, I work with this stuff every day...

[cholling1]

@DeeJayCrackah Oh really? Well, Bob Moog pronounces it to rhyme with "rogue". Watch video TttYkC3NyjM about 1:28 But holy shit, you work with it every day, He just invented the thing and named it after himself.

[DeeJayCrackah]

@cholling1 Well holy shit... nobody calls it a Mougue.... NOBODY! You find me somebody beside you and the other dumbass defending this stupidity, and i'll start pronouncing it your special way.

Nice link btw... too bad you cant enter full links in the comment box...

[Kohntarkosz]

@DeeJayCrackah I pronounce the name so that it rhymes with rogue. That's the way it's meant to be pronounced. That's how Robert pronounced it, and also how his daughter pronounces it. So I would imagine that's the correct pronunciation.

[DeeJayCrackah]

@Kohntarkosz thats great. Im not having this today mate. I don't give a shit about how you pronounce it.

[djsubrocka]

This unfairly shows Howard Jones as a Johnny come lately. Sure, he was no Kraftwerk but he was one of the very first to do all the music / singing by himself live on stage.

[kingofkeyboards]

that is the best thing any BBC program presenter has ever said at the beginning haha although she pronounced moog wrong, but a great effort! :)

[lotropicband]

Great doc, but I'm honestly blown away Japan was omitted as a pioneer of early brilliant synth music.

[decembergirl888]

Not as sad an ending as portayed. sure Oasis sucked but no worse than nearly everything else here that came after Are Friends Electric, which is itself no parargon of anything. Some awesome early shit tho. But am i really supposed to miss Depeche Mode?

[postpunkrocker]

Thanks for New Order's Blue Monday.



[fritzo62]

Absolutely amazing!

[glenjarnold]

Korg MS-20 on my shopping horizon soon!!

[felsner1]

The two League ladies are still quite hot...

[offthelinegt]

@felsner1 The brunette was always my fav, but now it appears the blond has stood the test of time looks wise :)

[manthelittleearthgod]

This is great! Loads of info.

[approachingrider]

what's the song playing from 45.30?

[NumanFanlfc]

@approachingrider 4jg human league

[approachingrider]

@NumanFanlfc well i hear some thing else

[NumanFanlfc]

@approachingrider sorry m8 i fubar'd its dignity of labour part 1  :-)

[NumanFanlfc]

@approachingrider  . dignity of labour part 1 sorry i fooked up

[approachingrider]

@NumanFanlfc thank you, no problem



[HohleBirne]

Thx for uploading!

[Ori0n1975]

This has become one of my favorite documentaries of all time. Very nicely done.

[staticbeat1]

fantastic

[bartfarf]

Joy!

[aut0ceremony]

classic.

[HaloSvevo]

thanks very much for uploading this jewel

[reganmari]

Wow, that was amazing! Thanks for posting.

[Doteatsurpants]

LOL are they trying to say howard jones and thompson twins f*cked up the movement? :S

[Vebinz]

@Doteatsurpants

It is an unfair assertion.

Still, it is an unusual and misguided one, since neither Jones nor the Thompson Twins were synthpop. They were more rock with synth sounds.

[brandoncipelle]

Great thnaks for posting mate I Am in ANALOG HEAVEN. Cheers from the states .

[ElectronicIntervals]

"Anyone can do it with the same equipment as you! Fuck off."

Extremely true, it's not the tools that make great music.

[blumrich1970]

awesome- thanx for uploading!