Synth Britannia - Part 2/9

[L8SEMPRE]

0:39..... Julian Sands in the crowd?

[jrmetmoi]

I LOVE Being Boiled!!!

[jrmetmoi]

I LOVE Warm Leatherette and TVOD

[starbearer76]

I HAVE THAT MINI KORG too. wow... i had NO idea that it was THAT old!!! sweet!!!

[andystonecontent]

Seminal 80s synthpop pioneers HEAVEN 17 are marking the 30th anniversary of their debut album, PENTHOUSE AND PAVEMENT, by releasing a 2 disc DVD set featuring a full live concert, filmed in Sheffield in March 2010, and the acclaimed BBC2 documentary charting the band's career. Plus the first 200 fans who pre-order the DVD set at the band's website will receive a copy signed by the band.

[GUI10287]

whats the name of the music that morode is playing @4:56

[LoZambro]

@GUI10287

"I Feel Love" ft. Donna Summer

.../watch?v=U4KlnuTeH08

[TheSynthesist94]

Im bringing this kind of music back, ive decided! =D

[kingofkeyboards]

@TheSynthesist94 good on ya! I dream of something like this happening once again. lady gaga can jog on for all I care. the 70's and 80's were amazing although I was born in neither of them haha :)

[rabit818]

Thanks for the post. This was the soundtrack of my youth - in Asia.

[SweetMatheson]

@2.42-2.57

What is the name of the song from Roxy Music that was appeared in this documentary?

[LoZambro]

@SweetMatheson: maybe .../watch?v=h2yGudJ_BQ0

[OBSysteme]

Electronic music is total freedom

Rock is a chrome cage.

[TrainmasterCurt]

The best movie to express the real future would be Blade Runner, and the soundtrack from Vangelis is still way ahead of it's time1 Just to think were 9 years away from 2019!

[TheMercyBeat]

@TrainmasterCurt

I do know he's not British but Vangelis is a true electronic music innovator too. Like the "Blade Runner" soundtrack, "Albedo 0.39" (1976) and "Spiral" (1977) albums, both still sound as ahead of their time as the first time around as well. Especially the tracks like "Pulstar" (off the former) and the mighty "Spiral" (off the latter). "Invisible Connections" album from 1985 is yet another magical gem of his. Sounds very obscure and experimental.

[jrmetmoi]

@TheMercyBeat yeah Vangelis is Greek

[diskgrinder]

duran duran is a french phone

[matzomaniac]

amazing amazing amazing amazing!!!

[tbcpuebla]

Wasn´t Sparks' No. 1 in Heaven album influential? This album was from 70s and was produced by Moroder as well.

[TheMercyBeat]

@tbcpuebla

Like Suicide Sparks were indeed influential as well but they were American too. ...Moroder produced many great electronic stuff.

[CartoonsAndGameShows]

@tbcpuebla

I'm sure it was, I think this documentary was focusing more on British peoples response to electronic music. They mentioned Moroder in this Doc, so you're right, it probably would've been appropriate to mention Sparks. Good band though.

[cirmaraki]

is that Julian Sands in the audience at 0:40?

[ComoParkStudio]

@cirmaraki Well, it certainly looks like him... although I think he'd be younger at this approx. time.

[WHITESPIRIT27DEMAIO]

és muy bueno

[csnc82]

0:38 to 0:46 Those guys don't understand what's happening.

[MrsAdely]

3:29 "Being boiled" from Human League...a great New Wave Song!

[rockgod111]

so many of these artists are completely arogant dumbshits. i like the music but jesus, these guys are total duds

[toyprojector]

At around 4:23 when Phillip Oakey playing guitar "hurts your hand". So true Phillip, thats why I'd rather be in a Synth Pop band than a Guitar band.

So true.

[offthelinegt]

what song is playing at 3:00?

[TheMercyBeat]

@offthelinegt

I've been trying to find about that ever since I watched "Made In Sheffield" DVD for the first time some 3 or 4 years back too. It was featured on it as well. I do know it is a song by the Human League or the Future as they were called before but still don't know its name. Sadly. It's not featured on any of their official studio album releases. :-(

[Jarren202]

@TheMercyBeat The song at 3:00 is 4JG (yeah the one Phil talks about!). It's on the album The Golden Hour of The Future.

[TheMercyBeat]

@Jarren202

Thank you to heavens for the info, Jarren202! I still need to get that album. Cheers! :-D

[CatorsCinema]

BUT TG Were doing Amazingley Heavy Sounding so-called "industrial" music as far Back as late 75 so why Are they so understated and mentioned so late....ANd for sutch little time?

[TheMercyBeat]

@CatorsCinema

That is one of the main reasons why I want a DVD of the show as soon as possible. They'd certainly include scenes and parts of the interviews that had been cut off. One of the most perfect examples of a documentary DVD transfer is the "Made In Sheffield: The Birth Of Electronic Pop" one of several years back that features a lot of bonus material on - artists' interviews in their entirety, photos, live performances, missing scenes ...etc.

[theoldschoolraver]

5 star check my synth

[mtc3000]

Ultravox forever!

[chrisnoaro1]

@mtc3000 Absolutely!!!  Love both the Foxx and Ure versions of Ultravox! The Ure era gets a bad rap from too many people, at least 4 albums of pure class containing a style of music unmatched by any other artist before or since. Glad to see there was no back biting in this doco between the different bands or from the narrator or Reynolds.

[mtc3000]

Ultravox forever!

[mtc3000]

Ultravox forever!

[pdorin1]

What is the name of the song in the background that starts at 2:32?

[bobjustman]

Julian Sands! 00:39

[Malocosa]

Was B-movie not available for this documentary?

[chrisnoaro1]

@Malocosa If B-Movie were to get a mention, wouldn't about a hundred others?

[donnasayhi]

4:52: So that's what Harry Caul did after he tore up his apartment... hahahahaha. (movie reference)

[italoblu]

where's duran duran

[zarezagreb2]

Duran Duran were more guitar oriented band. Nick Rhodes was the only member who used electronics.

[MrsRhythmNation]

@zarezagreb2 Ya can't call DD's first 2 albums rock. Nick is a synth pioneer, they came early - 1981! Joy Div & Human League both use guitars too - they're featured. I think DD are unfairly dropped from alot of respectable docos sometimes. They're palmed off with the likes of Wham as a teenie group.

Nick came up with the sounds we know to be the Duran sound, the intro to Planet Earth, the synth chorus of Girls On Film, the synth backer which runs all the way through Hungry Like The Wolf!

[TheMercyBeat]

I agree that they are unfairly dropped from some respectable documentaries as their first two albums ("Duran Duran" and "Rio") are the true '80s pop masterpieces. And just like it was a case with the Human League's "Dare!" and ABC's "The Lexicon Of Love" both foresaw the further direction of the '80s pop music as well. Both had synth-pop tag to them too, esp. the former that features some of the best Nick Rhodes synth lines and has aged better than some of their more serious contemporaries(...)

[TheMercyBeat]

(...)Other synth connections of theirs lay in their beginnings when they were trying to sound like a cross between the early Human League and Syd Barrett - a statement often quoted by John Taylor. Then there were Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Roxy Music and funk influences as well. What they did later is for another story.

Joy Division were featured for their later career as New Order who were more synthy and the doc's makers had to explain their roots despite Peter Hook's bass lines.

[MrsRhythmNation]

@TheMercyBeat Oh I agree! Really I just think it's completely un-due that Duran Duran shouldn't be featured in something like this. It's really awful how they have a reputation as a teenie-pop band, they're so not. I think the people who classify them as this must have only heard The Reflex. Simon's lyrics are far from mainstream teenie lyrics, and with great instrumentation from all members.

Also Japan aren't featured, nor Kate Bush, who were the first to use the Fairlight synth.

[TheMercyBeat]

I'd agree with you once again, MrsRhythmNation. For the reasons you've mentioned Duran Duran weren't a teeny-pop band at all indeed. They sang about the nuclear war, provoked with their videos...etc etc. I agree their later albums weren't as iconic as the first two, though but each had several decent pop tunes many today's pop bands would kill themselves for, esp. single releases.

BBC should do "Pop Britannia" documentary soon definitely. (...)

[TheMercyBeat]

(...)And speaking of the Fairlights, the documentary should've featured the pioneering Art Of Noise as well. According to many various sources they were the very first band to use them.

This documentary needs to have its second chapter definitely. Synthesizer i.e. electronic music is a very wide musical territory.

[MrsRhythmNation]

@TheMercyBeat Yes, agreed! Forgive me, my mind forgot Art Of Noise but yes they were the first in using Fairlight. Pioneers!

This documentary is good but it definitely doesn't feature some of the best, though that is understandable seeing as though not everyone can be availiable I guess. Especially I doubt Kate Bush would take part in something like this, she never does public interviews anymore, nor David Sylvian of Japan. He wants to erase his past in Japan anyway, so... :(

[TheMercyBeat]

Never mind!

Kate Bush is my favourite female solo artist ever. She's just unrepeatable. Unique. She's among very few artists who managed to keep her privacy away from the press as well and I salute her for that wholeheartedly. If you're an artist it is your art/work that should be publicly judged first, and not your private life, you know.

David Sylvian is a pure artistic jewel. Love the works he did with Y.M.O.'s Ryuichi Sakamoto a lot.

But yes, some just can't be available indeed. :-(

[chrisnoaro1]

@MrsRhythmNation Shame Sylvian feels that way about Japan, strikes as damn silly, but I guess only he knows how he feels. I love all his solo stuff as well as most of his Japan stuff. Not very keen on the first 2 albums.

[TheMercyBeat]

@chrisnoaro1

Yes, that's what I think too. Duran Duran were borderline to the whole scene as someone said earlier on here already. "Pop Trash" is the most untypical album in their entire catalogue IMO. Sounds so different from everything they've recorded, before or since. "Planet Earth" and "Save A Prayer" can be found on almost every synth-pop various artists compilation as well ...If the ones who are missing got mentioned documentary would've lasted way too long. 90 minutes is just okay.

[kurosakibellamy]

@TheMercyBeat

They do have and it was named "Pop Britannia" featured Pet Shop Boys and many more.

[TheMercyBeat]

@kurosakibellamy

Thank you for the info, kurosakibellamy matey. Didn't know about that really at all. When was that? Now I wonder how I missed it as I usually watch all the "Britannia" series. I'll try to find it somewhere and watch it in the nearer future definitely. Which period did they cover in?

[SweetMatheson]

@TheMercyBeat y

They do have. It features Pet shop boys and many other bands.

[TheMercyBeat]

@SweetMatheson

Got the answer on that question already. But many thanks anyway. Will watch it soon definitely. Cheers! :-)

[chrisnoaro1]

@MrsRhythmNation I love Japan and Kate Bush, but I think there are reasons why they missed out. I like Duran but again, I think they certainly could not have displaced any of the bands that got included.

[MrsAdely]

@zarezagreb2

Yes, i agree

Well don't forget Jean Michel Jarre, he was a great french electronic Musican...a pioneer of this music style.

[chrisnoaro1]

@italoblu I though Duran could have had a short mention, but then they'd probably have to include too many others. I agree they were pretty synth-heavy, despite having a traditional rock lineup. Love ther first two albums, plus lots of their later stuff. Pop Trash is a masterpiece. My sister and another mate will be bit pissed off they weren't in it!

[AudioVerite]

@italoblu ummm this is about england, duran is from Australia. Hope that helps

[affectionatepunch]

@AudioVerite Duran duran are not from australia they are english...

[fxmark07]

Anyone notice how much Phil Oakey is looking like Karl Pilkington nowdays.

[Setherian]

Holly shit, isnt it Julian Sands at 0:40 , in the crowd???

Fuck hell ya, it is him, hahaha , how ackward, I guess nobody noticed it, or did ya??

[Oscar301]

fuckin good spot! it is him! wonder if, all those years ago, he could've imagined himself amputating Sherilyn Fenn's limbs in Boxing Helena and being raped by a giant centipede in Naked Lunch???

[dgfutg]

Not sure I remember it right (being the kind of film it is and the states i usually watched it in), but isn't him doing the raping?

[Oscar301]

either way it's a case for insecticide!

[piedrada]

Cabaret Voltaire was so ahead of its time even when many caught up in the late 80s, they remained one step ahead.

[Animateme3D]

The Human League just got signed to UK's recording label Wall of Sound! New material (songs, videos, album etc.) expected sometime in 2010!!!!

[grankietto]

Thank you for post this!

[oberdisko]

4JG! bangin!

[gogglygogol45]

Human Leagues "Circus of Death" --brilliant tune.

[menyc]

I Feel Love is still mind blowing. It could be made tomorrow. The greatest sounding record ever made.

[kim1k]

thanks for uplaoding these vids, i tried to watch it on iplayer but it not in there n e more

[Zhorellski]

Thanks for this upload!

[tokyohalogen]

What did The Normal ever release besides TVOD and Warm Leatherette?

[TheMercyBeat]

The only thing other than "T.V.O.D." and "Warm Leatherette" singles they've ever released was 1980's "Live At Runton Pavillion, 6-3-79" live album made together with Robert Rental (another Mute Records artist). And that's about it. Unfortunately. :-(

[Franzko787]

Wasn't Daniel Miller also involved early on with producing Depeche Mode?

[TheMercyBeat]

Yes, he was. But actually his production work was present on all their albums up to 1986's "Black Celebration". Depeche Mode signed their full recording deal to Mute Records only in 1986, five years since debut album's release.

[Franzko787]

Thanks. Yeah the later episodes here mentioned how Daniel found or discovered them and their first album was all Arp 2600 with Arp sequencer.  They all seem like nice chaps and gals though Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 is a bit of a prat. Vince Clarke nice geeky chap. I was always a huge John Foxx fan he comes off as a very pleasant fellow.

[TheMercyBeat]

All true and correct. Also it was incredible to see that so few artists made so much truly great and highly inventive music at the time too, wasn't it? You can't say that about today when there's so many artists but the stuff they're coming out with is very very bad, can you? ...John Foxx's "Underpass" always makes my hair stand on end everytime I hear it. Brilliant stuff!

[thisisjustme1]

Thanks a million for posting !

[MexXwellone]

Min 3.35;) Aphrodelics - Rolling On Chrome