Synthesizer Medley 1985

[moldedfaces]

What kind of freakish mix-up is that crowd. Takes all different strokes to appreciate the complexities of synth boundary pushing to absurd lengths i suppose

[manwithouthat44]

lol this is as 80s as it gets xD

[HypeRhymz]

Is this vid out of sync?

[kac213]

I simply do NOT understand all the hating except for hating's sake of course - this is a wonder in & of it's self: 3 of the greatest techno-geeks of the era along w/awesome Stevie Wonder! And of course prerecorded to avoid any embarrassing blunders & instead of enjoying it the ugly people are spitting on it. Oh well, those of us who know better enjoy it for the performance of masters in their field by LISTENING

[junkyturd]

Stevie wonder was blinded with science (sorry had to say it) LOL!

[kikmazta]

it´s kinda destiny that the 606 was not plugged in .... it is said that they would have been playing the most epic note in history: the "brown note" :-)

[Yrma57]

@kikmazta Sorry, what is the "brown note"?

[MathematiquesModern]

Crowd go nuts when Stevie is introduced!!

[noxgenus]

you would expect something like that from Ray Charles, not Dolby..playing an unplugged 606 as a sampler keyboard

[Alltimeboxing]

Im searching for a song from the 80's with synth and choir... i guess i ll never find it, kinda desperate.

[gmansi]

@Alltimeboxing any clue?

[Alltimeboxing]

@gmansi oh yeah I finally found it, thanks, it was Second Rendez-Vous by Jean-Michel Jarre.

[gmansi]

@Alltimeboxing Great! nice song too

[flux302]

I'm honestly confused. he jumps out with a drum machine thats not plugged in . but then looks confused that there is no sound coming out? I get if it was just performance but then why the look of befuddlement?

[cavaleri]

00:53 Herbie Hancock - "Rock It". 01:14 Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science". 01:26 Howard Jones - "What is Love". 01:54 Stevie Wonder - "Go Home"

[markg0410]

3:50 Ok, I will now conduct this piece so everyone watch....er, sorry, Stevie.

[am0500]

This is probably one of the snidest hings of aw time. I fuckin love Howard Jones and Thomas Dolby but this is so unbelievably ghey.

[proximasolaris2]

ha ha ha...were are the audio cables ? WIFI ? Bluetooth ? 

[romeropablo]

Check the whole history about this in Thomas Dolby blog. It was a mimic performance, it was recorded in Steve Wonder home..and Thomas was crazy enough to confuse the audience to do that...3 talented guys making fun...

[AnalogX64]

I remember seeing this live and at 1:55 the custom instrument that Tomas Dolby was using failed but the rest of the band just continued like nothing happened.

[orphyn9]

at 0:53 what tune is herbie handcock playing? i heard a remix of it on the radio recently and been trying to find it. someone help??

[Atta67]

@orphyn9 It is Herbie Hancock: Rock it.

[bebopPete]

at 03:26 the audio cuts to an entirely different backing track which is definitely NOT the artists on stage. Then, at 04:27 it cuts back to the audience applause for the 4 artists. Check at 03:26 and 04:27 to hear the edit points. There must have been a serious defect in the final minute of the performance, so engineers substituted another track to prevent dead air.

[Apuppetmaster]

Wow. This is a Classic.

[TheNouveauxdecadence]

THIS is fucking GENIUS

[danmotut]

i remember watching this live. thx for posting.

[PharmDWannaBe2014]

I remember videotaping this on the VHS player back in the day! It was less geeky and more progressive in 1985. As for the comment on the synth not being plugged in, there are very few acts that actually perform live in this decade for events like this. This was a really big deal then, putting the best modern keyboardists of the day together!

[J0hannski]

can this get any more geekier?

[marcusrob02]

What I don't understand is....SO WHAT if it was "pre-recorded" or "live"! Who cares! It's still the work of all the featured artists, and sounded phenomenal! I wish I could have argued down the critics back then making all that fuss. Get real!

[marcusrob02]

I'm STILL lost on what the problem was?!?!?! This was a BEYOND excellent performance to me, and BEYOND brilliant!

[wardcurry]

@AztecBlowpipe This is the chorus bit taken from Howard Jones "What is Love" Look up video on YouTube

[kotep777]

why would you fake this with so much talent on stage

[RetrologicalVEVO]

epic #retrological ish

[DBNIGHT]

mental assylum band

[dronespace]

4:32 straight from a nightmare

[keesimo]

The real electronic age

[desetnik15second]

omg i miss those sounds and music.

[uncleplankton]

tap 3

[berowra9]

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[synchronoise71]

somebody should tell thomas dolby to plug the 606 in before playing.

[Yrma57]

@synchronoise71 Sorry, what is a 606?

[deadniggi]

listen to my sounds in my video

FatCat-Demo1

[dieeser]

89 people cant medley .

[buzsub03]

Thanks so much for posting! I loved it! =D

[rockerzac99]

Do I see a Fairlight back there?

[sakeenahm]

this is actually pretty cool, never seen anything like it before

[wolfmanjacksaid]

I don't know why but everytime I see old footage of Howard Jones I think of Cevin Key

[2degucitas]

How many great people in this?? Amazing!!!

[watergoddess9]

This is soooooo cool! Thanks for posting! :) never seen them all together :)

[advatech]

my 606 does not sound like that, maybe I should send it back to Roland

[StarshineMusique]

This puts the SIZE in Synthesizer! :D

[macsnafu]

I thought this was an interesting combination of players, but never quite knew what to make of the medley itself. Different!

[SoundAusBerlin]

ohne Worte

[ricrush1200]

Awesome

[cewek8]

i dont care about the pre recorded or live but i really love the 80s sound of this video and 80s era is my inspiration

[djsbrandao]

Edit: It's a TR 606, seems. Anyway.

[TheAural]

@djsbrandao - That's not a TB or a TR.... It's a Fairlight VoiceTracker... I happen to see one of those units. They build a very few of them then moved into making video products.

Fairlight Instruments is back and as of the 2011 NAMM show have released a rather interesting NEW Failright CMI 30 (the Synthersizer/sampler on the stage with the video monitors is a Failight CMI Series-II). You can also find out more info about these on Youtube.

[djsbrandao]

@TheAural Actually, if you look closer at the design on 1:14 , you'll see the knobs, three close to each other (his hands on one of them), and six smaller ones on the upper part of it (lower, since it's upside down). The black button beside the "piano roll" also resembles the TR606 (although the 303 has a similar design, just smaller).

Anyway, I did some researches on the VoiceTracker, and, it's quite an amazing instrument. It's always nice to know something (old) new. Many thanks.

[bullerbyne]

@TheAural its roland tr-606.

[kotep777]

@TheAural thats clearly a roland 606

[djsbrandao]

Im I the only one that realizes the massive use of playback? Now, of course - and that must be said first of all - I recognize the importance, talent, and so many other qualities (many to mention) of the musicians over there, but, I also know the limits of the sequencing technologies of 1985 that would make - at least almost - impossible not to have most of everything on that stage pre-recorded. Also, Thomas Dolby launching samples... on a TB?

[michinco]

where is Ryuichi Sakamoto?? where is Isao Tomita?? Kitaro??

these three are the most well known and respected synthesists in the world!

and oh, dont forget Jan Michel Jarre also!!

[GidsyWidsy]

<3 this

[KickTheCanBeatJunkie]

these soulectro beats are free on mee: kickthecan.bandcamp.com

[DeafMuteZombie]

yes patrick was right.

[unspokenrespect]

Whats playing at 1:26?

[starbearry]

@unspokenrespect Its an instrumental version of Howard Jones's What Is Love.

[unspokenrespect]

@starbearry thanks 

[lodidodi69]

IF you guys love the 80's synth sounds, you would love Com Truise....check out some of these links

[MystroMusicMan]

@R0CKET2MARS Not weeping. FAIL. dingus!

[MystroMusicMan]

@R0CKET2MARS WRONG FAIL. dingus!

[TheRainSword]

@MystroMusicMan for your health

[MystroMusicMan]

@TheRainSword really?

[BaronvonCase]

I'm not taking anything away from any of these musicians, but really, this is a stellar performance? It seems somewhat discordant, erratic, and cheesy to me. It wouldn't be the first video I'd show someone who I was trying to talk out of the synthesizer stereotype, let's just say. Don't go flaming me, 'cause again, I am not knocking any of the musicians. Just saying the medley could stand to be stretched out a little longer and less reliant on 'Blinded Me with Science'.

[jci10]

Is that Steven Hawking in the background DJ'ing with that robovoice?

[faynes]

how can i buy the Stevie Wonder Moduel i could midi that nicely

[LoveFoPrince]

omg the grammys used 2 B fun? :D NO FRIGGIN WAY! and there were talented musician playing REAL instruments! WOW! (no, I'm not being sarcastic.... ) jeez -.-

[framax67]

Amazing show performed by Herbie, Thomas, Steevie and HOWARD JONES !

Thanks for posting.

[theyearofourlordig88]

eat shit lady gaga...and your egg

[W0r5tCaseSc3nar10]

What a freaking gem of a video, this made my freaking day..."ACTIVATE" wicked

[gizmo4eva]

Does anyone know who the lady in make up is at 04:31?

[TheBoondoggler]

@gizmo4eva Looks alot like Patti Palladin

[mariuseus1]

love this :D

[plasticPlaystation]

You gotta love the Fairlight

[furmaster212]

YEAH! 1985 toyota supra baby, FUCK YEAH im blastin this song on my car tomorrow, the year fits ^_^

[eggfleece]

Thomas Dolby looks like hes off his ass on cocaine

[dronespace]

@eggfleece

haha yeah he looks like a right twat

[J0n0tanII]

This is literally the best thing

[Rockvoxxx]

I love that they built the entire medley around "Go Home". So awesome!.

[witz85]

pre-recorded or not, to say it's terrible is a bit harsh. It starts off great, the middle is good fun if a little bit corny. Stevie's section is great too, but the end HAS always bugged me a little

[CJ81]

All of the parts in this medley were prerecorded, none played live. I read an article about it a few years ago. Again, good musicians, terrible music.

[marcusrob02]

@CJ81 Stop being the critics' puppet. NOTHING about this was "terrible"...I wish more performances on TV were like this!

[witchman67]

I still have this on a betmax tape somewhere.

I remember watching this very well; we all talked about this at school the next day.

Thanks so much for the post.

[ThrilloVanHouten]

It's like I'm listening to the future

[vol009S]

@ThrilloVanHouten

Well the "future" Ain't about the golden sound of the Synthesizer. It's about rap and cell phones. (Pffff! I'll go with 80s instead)

[JAELONTHEGREAT]

This is Crazy !!! My first Time seeing this and I'm Thrilled . This is My Era. Thx for the Posting this ,instead of Leaving It in a Vault. Some where. 4 Synth Master. 1 Dynamic Performance . So much Fun.

[eliezerkorevaar]

Bons tempos que os teclados dominavam a música! nasci um ano antes desse concerto!

[TheNewVideos]

terrible music by good musicians though...

[moecheeks6]

GENIUS

[ColdGripHandle]

legends

[JOCKATEO]

when midi came out it got rid off the multi keyboard setup on stage

[psychonavigator]

@JOCKATEO No it didn't. MIDI protocol was standardized in '82, three years before this performance. Now go to virtually any concert performance of any electronic or rock artist that that utilised keyboards to up until a few years ago, and you'll see that the majority of them had multi keyboard setups.

VST is what ultimately killed multi-keyboard setups. The need for multiple keyboards had to do largely with onboard soundbanks. You can do anything with a PC and a USB MIDI controller these days.

[Necromancer999]

I was lucky enough to catch this when it first aired. I was amazing then and it is still amazing now. These were 4 of the best musicians of the time. Thomas Dolby is a geneous in his own write.

[aurelioequita]

eaaa irado sobrenatural!!

[romeropablo]

Thomas Dolby told the truth in his blog. The entire performance was playback. And the song was recorded in Stevie's home.

[maurlita]

Me agradó ver el video. Cabría preguntarse que tanto tiempo tuvieron para preparar la presentación. Cuando hablamos de TV, nunca hay tiempo suficiente para todo y de ahí que se recurra a las pistas pregrabadas y todo eso. Ahora bien; los cuatro maestros eran perfectamente capaces de tocar en vivo, sobre todo Stevie Wonder que siempre me ha parecido un genio y Howard Jones que, dada su formación clásica, es un excelente pianista. Sólo disfrutemos la música... que es un regalo de Dios para todos.

[aliciaaidamovil]

A MI ME HA GUSTADO



[NarcissistsDie]

Is that Thomas Dolby or Uncle Peter? WOOF BARK, CAKEY PIG!!

[morvan20]

Too bad it's almost all complete playback.

[neogen50]

4:30 i bet that crazy lookin bitch in the audience was thinkin damn i look good...no one will laugh @ me 25 yrs from now....lol

[bebopPete]

@neogen50 the "crazy lookin bitch in the audience" is internationally-acclaimed singer Cyndi Lauper, who won the Best New Artist at the 1985 Grammy Awards. (Not everyone gets to sit in the front row :)

[neogen50]

@bebopPete...do ur homework that is not cyndi lauper...unless she gained 15 pounds and died her hair from red to blond all between getting her award and intermission...next time u respond to a joke, get ur facts right. not every new wave lookin white chick from the 80's is "internationally-acclaimed singer Cyndi Lauper, who won the Best New Artist at the 1985 Grammy Awards"...ass

[birdman3120]

I could tell that was Stevie from the head swaying :-)

[SKOTP69]

WOW! Four Heroes!

[rtmnmk]

4:36 WTF??? lol

Aliens DO exist...



[jipidibipity]

I remember. This was a rare gift to a music novice like me!

[georgemargaris]

stevie wonders part is the best.... just my opinion.

[birdman3120]

@georgemargaris I thought Steven Hawkings was ;-)

[slayerpianoman]

Also what is thomas dolby using?

[xa1a]

@slayerpianoman Hes using a Roland TR606 drum machine that cant trigger samples. It seems like this was all pre recorded, and their just jumping around on stage. :( Except for the vocals of Stevie.

[neogen50]

@xa1a false....they are playing live, remember they are they best keyboardist in the world...even in 85 they did not need to "pre record" their performance

[xa1a]

@neogen50 Really? So tell me then how Thomas Dolby is getting a 606 to trigger samples from a Synclavier especially since a 606 uses DIN sync, and a Synclavier uses midi. Im just dying to know.

[slayerpianoman]

Lol love Stevie Wonder, but doesn't he literally look like a fish bobbing back and forth when he plays lol?

[pheniks0]

hey !!

even steven hawking is in it

[calvinlotz]

@pheniks0 LMAO

[PBTazo]

the best is steavie wonder´s song

[jimmymagnum07]

Master fucking piece!!!

[yonnii]

So awesome!!!!

[FedericoDonelli]

Bored Elvis Costello in the public at 4:32

[NuclearLullaby]

Holy epicness!!! Got a hell of a lot of totally kickass stars doing an awesome jam!

[7fuxxx]

vocoders rule !!!

[7fuxxx]

epic

[otorres2393]

losers calling this fail...lol. the only fail is your lack of appreciation for these classic synth/keyboardist and pulling this type of thing off back in 1985. this is likely them jamming live over top of some already pre-sequenced backing tracks, especially to make the pretty quick and drastic transitions from one song/style to another. you can clearly see some of the moments are totally them playing live. in particular Herbie's killer vocoder solo during Stevie's live jam of "Go Home"....