Great to see the positive response on here to 'Gangsters' - a pivotal moment in 1979's music and the start of a major musical movement. :cool:
At the other end of the scale, why on earth did someone decide to put the sound of seagulls over Legs &Co's routine for 'After The Love Has Gone'?!? Beyond surreal … :o:o
Yup prior to my summer hols punk was still fairly big locally, then during the summer hols 2 Tone started becoming the big thing, along with the mod revival, and by half term autumn 1979 Punk Is Dead graffiti started appearing. An interesting time, but the real innovator in this period was Gary Numan, whose synthesiser music would become a huge influence on the charts in the early 80s.
'Are Friends Electric?' may well be one of 1979's turning points (and a great track), but it's pushing it to say Numan was an innovator: he trod ground that Bowie (especially), Ultravox, the Human League and The Normal had already claimed. His success may have made it easier for those that followed, but it's telling that he was pretty much spurned by the Bowie-obsessed new romantic scene of 1980/1981 that spawned Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
It also has to be said that Numan, and any artist with a synth-led sound, was subject to ridicule from some quarters of the music press, who were adamant that their music was somehow fake because it didn't rely on guitar riffs. I wonder what all those people are saying now … ;-)
I've said this before that we shouldn't run away with ourselves regarding the level of influence that WEA had with regards to hyping. I recall that Brass In Pocket sold very well after entering the lower reaches of the charts. Getting a record to jump 20 places on false sales would have been almost impossible. Maybe into the lower reaches of the top 75 but not into the top thirty. I do recall WEA being quite aggressive but no more so than Phonogram, Virgin, CBS, Chrysalis and the rest. They all had a sales force of reps on the road. I still recall that if the public didn't want it they wouldn't buy it no matter what the labels wanted. Also as I've said previously the BMRB were hampered by technology but they did go to great lengths to detect hyping and would strike you off if they suspected anything was going on with your panel membership. And that membership was really exclusive. To be one of the 750 panel members out if thousands of outlets was a real honour and a privilege. It bought a lot of attention and loads of perks. If labels wanted to give you free records to sell cheaper than non chart shops to help get singles more notice then I never had a problem with that. If the sale was legitimate it would be recorded in the diaries as so. That was the only way the reps got any sales past me and other staff. The BMRB even used to send people round to check the diaries and also to do test purchases to make sure you were recording sales properly.
At the other end of the scale, why on earth did someone decide to put the sound of seagulls over Legs &Co's routine for 'After The Love Has Gone'?!? Beyond surreal … :o:o
Was anyone singing Chas & Dave in the World Cup Final?
Goetze - when the kids are swinging on the gate
Goetze - when the Germans score the winner late
Goetze! When The Dutch put five past the current holders.
Goetze! When Suarez takes a bite out players' shoulders.
Goetze! When England's got tons of unsold souvenirs.
Goetze! When Brazil's defence completely disappears.
Goetze! When The Dutch put five past the current holders.
Goetze! When Suarez takes a bite out players' shoulders.
Goetze! When England's got tons of unsold souvenirs.
Goetze! When Brazil's defence completely disappears.
'Are Friends Electric?' may well be one of 1979's turning points (and a great track), but it's pushing it to say Numan was an innovator: he trod ground that Bowie (especially), Ultravox, the Human League and The Normal had already claimed. His success may have made it easier for those that followed, but it's telling that he was pretty much spurned by the Bowie-obsessed new romantic scene of 1980/1981 that spawned Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
It also has to be said that Numan, and any artist with a synth-led sound, was subject to ridicule from some quarters of the music press, who were adamant that their music was somehow fake because it didn't rely on guitar riffs. I wonder what all those people are saying now … ;-)
True, although Gary Numan did manage to make a rather heavy doom laden synthetic sound, commercially successful, without compromising its core values, which is something the original Human League, the original Ultravox, and even David Bowie, in terms of his amount of airplay, and singles success from that period, had failed to do. I think though in terms of 'Are Friends Electric?' being a signpost for the eighties, which his sound is often credited for, i'm a little less sure. By 1981, synthetic music was primarily 'pop' sounding in nature. Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet, were really not attempting to emulate the industrial, doom laden Gary Numan sound by the 1981 period, and that also goes for the later Human League and Midge Ure's Ultravox, too.
Although rarely mentioned, it is Sparks from the 1979 period, who best represent where synthetic pop would be traveling in the 1981/82 period in my opinion. Their collaboration with Georgio Moroder, is the signpost, to where pop would be going through the early eighties, and not Numan. Aside from the more accented disco beats of 'No 1 Song In Heaven' and 'Beat The Clock', the overall synthetic sound, is the closest we get to an early eighties sound, on those Top Of The Pops 1979 shows. Russell Mael's falsetto isn't that far away from the Associates Billy Mackenzie's, either (think of 'Party Fears Two').
It also has to be said that Numan, and any artist with a synth-led sound, was subject to ridicule from some quarters of the music press, who were adamant that their music was somehow fake because it didn't rely on guitar riffs. I wonder what all those people are saying now … ;-)
These are the same idiots who dismissed Kraftwerk as a novelty act and slated Abba for being mainstream, banal pop. These same idiots now pretend they liked these acts (as they`ve all been decreed cool/pioneers) all along and most likely have boxsets of their work purely to display to their idiot friends. I genuinely pity these folk who needed/need to be told what`s "good" before they allow themselves to listen to it objectively.
'Are Friends Electric?' may well be one of 1979's turning points (and a great track), but it's pushing it to say Numan was an innovator: he trod ground that Bowie (especially), Ultravox, the Human League and The Normal had already claimed.
Numan refined some disparate ideas other artists did as part of their output and gave them a sci-fi identity as a cohesive whole. Replicas, Pleasure Principle and Telekon are wholly complete concept albums existing in Numan`s bespoke PK Dick, Ballardian world and up to that point nobody had really set dystopia to a totally convincing soundtrack over a series of albums. He`s never made great claim to be an originator (he always gives credit to Ultravox and John Foxx in particular) and it`s clear Systems of Romance was a HUGE influence on him.
Are Friends gets all the credit but a much shorter track from Replicas sums up that album better for me - Me! I Disconnect From You:
The alarm rang for days
You could tell from conversations
I was waiting by the screen
I couldn't recognise my photograph
Me, I disconnect from you
I was walking up the stairs
Something moved in silence
I could feel his mind decaying
Only inches away from me
And I disconnect from you
Please don't turn me off
I don't know what I'm doing outside
Me and the telephone that never rings
If you were me, what would you do?
Me, I disconnect from you
Genius.
Searching for the above lyrics I came across this incredible thing:
Will. I. Am. has just had his 10th number one record. Does anyone think that in 10-20 years time he'll be re-evaluated as being any good?
The music charts are dead.
I saw him perform that "song" on Britain's Got Talent and thought it was absolutely dreadful. However, I do like at least one of his Number 1s, "Beep" with the Pussycat Dolls.
Goetze! When a giant bug lands on James Rodriguez's arm.
Goetze! When Messi's free kick couldn't hit the side door of a barn.
Goetze! When Arjen Robben goes down like he's just been shot.
Goetze! When the home fans would rather cheer on the other lot.
These are the same idiots who dismissed Kraftwerk as a novelty act and slated Abba for being mainstream, banal pop. These same idiots now pretend they liked these acts (as they`ve all been decreed cool/pioneers) all along and most likely have boxsets of their work purely to display to their idiot friends. I genuinely pity these folk who needed/need to be told what`s "good" before they allow themselves to listen to it objectively.
Numan refined some disparate ideas other artists did as part of their output and gave them a sci-fi identity as a cohesive whole. Replicas, Pleasure Principle and Telekon are wholly complete concept albums existing in Numan`s bespoke PK Dick, Ballardian world and up to that point nobody had really set dystopia to a totally convincing soundtrack over a series of albums. He`s never made great claim to be an originator (he always gives credit to Ultravox and John Foxx in particular) and it`s clear Systems of Romance was a HUGE influence on him.
Are Friends gets all the credit but a much shorter track from Replicas sums up that album better for me - Me! I Disconnect From You:
The alarm rang for days
You could tell from conversations
I was waiting by the screen
I couldn't recognise my photograph
Me, I disconnect from you
I was walking up the stairs
Something moved in silence
I could feel his mind decaying
Only inches away from me
And I disconnect from you
Please don't turn me off
I don't know what I'm doing outside
Me and the telephone that never rings
If you were me, what would you do?
Me, I disconnect from you
Genius.
Searching for the above lyrics I came across this incredible thing:
Will. I. Am. has just had his 10th number one record. Does anyone think that in 10-20 years time he'll be re-evaluated as being any good?
The music charts are dead.
I find that such a bewildering and strange fact. Admittedly I'm not part of his target audience in any way, shape or form but I don't think I could even name a single song of his. Will his songs be played in 10-20 years time? I'd be very surprised if the answers yes.
The 10 Will. i. am. No.1 Singles are not all by him as a 'Solo' Act.
1) 5 of them are as a member of The Black Eyed Peas. 'Where Is The Love?',
'Boom Boom Pow',' I Gotta Feeling', 'Meet Me Halfway', & 'The Time (Dirty Bit)'.
2) Only the other 5 are by him 'Solo' & credited by name. And all 5 of them are
collaborations with another Artist. 'OMG' - Usher Feat. Will.i.am, 'This Is Love' -
Will.i.am Feat. Eva Simons, 'Hall Of Fame' - The Script Feat. Will.i.am, 'Scream
And Shout' - Will.i.am And Britney Spears, & 'It's My Birthday' - Will.i.am And
Cody Wise.
3) He's not had any UK No.1 Singles at all where he is just on his own.
4) The Gatherer - 'Beep' by The Pussycat Dolls Feat. Will.i.am, (2006), was
not a UK No.1 Hit. It Peaked at No.2.
I don't think I could even name a single song of his .
I've often wondered if this is a generational thing or just the fact the Charts aren't as noticed and prevalent now as 30-40 years ago!
At the height of singles sales in the late 70s my dad (who has no interest in pop music) and grandad too, would say the same thing! - And alot more people back then would know who Blondie or Abba were as they topped the charts, for example compared to Will I Am!
I wasn't singing, but everytime they said his name, I added a 'Cowson'.
And it's Götze!
It seemed to be the case that the host broadcaster couldn't handle umlauts - thus all the Germans with umlauts in their names ended up with an extra e instead, e.g. Oezil, Mueller, Goetze. Unfortunately the twitterati seemed to be unjustly blaming the BBC and ITV for this!
The 10 Will. i. am. No.1 Singles are not all by him as a 'Solo' Act.
1) 5 of them are as a member of The Black Eyed Peas. 'Where Is The Love?',
'Boom Boom Pow',' I Gotta Feeling', 'Meet Me Halfway', & 'The Time (Dirty Bit)'.
2) Only the other 5 are by him 'Solo' & credited by name. And all 5 of them are
collaborations with another Artist. 'OMG' - Usher Feat. Will.i.am, 'This Is Love' -
Will.i.am Feat. Eva Simons, 'Hall Of Fame' - The Script Feat. Will.i.am, 'Scream
And Shout' - Will.i.am And Britney Spears, & 'It's My Birthday' - Will.i.am And
Cody Wise.
3) He's not had any UK No.1 Singles at all where he is just on his own.
4) The Gatherer - 'Beep' by The Pussycat Dolls Feat. Will.i.am, (2006), was
not a UK No.1 Hit. It Peaked at No.2.
Thanks, should have checked before I posted! "Where is the Love" is a good song which I can see being played for years to come.
These are the same idiots who dismissed Kraftwerk as a novelty act and slated Abba for being mainstream, banal pop. These same idiots now pretend they liked these acts (as they`ve all been decreed cool/pioneers) all along and most likely have boxsets of their work purely to display to their idiot friends. I genuinely pity these folk who needed/need to be told what`s "good" before they allow themselves to listen to it objectively.
!
I think the benefit of hindsight tends to change perspectives, somewhat. Artists like Abba, always had a core audience (Abba's was rather huge), but the passing of time, tends to more clearly define an artist. There's also a strong case that you don't always appreciate what you've got until you lose it. Back in the seventies i instinctively loved certain Abba songs (especially 'Dancing Queen' and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You) , others less so ('Super Trouper' possibly for me coming under the banal pop catagory). However, i don't think with Abba, unless you were a real music connosieur, it was very usual to break down the components of those songs, to find out what made them tick. You either liked them, or you didn't. Moving forward a few decades (which ties into the current discussion on what is lacking in modern music), one can appreciate so much more the brilliance of the arrangements, and the general musicianship within those Abba songs, because there is such a lack of that in so called 'music' these days. I can recall watching the Abba tribute show from 1999, with many of the contemporary artists of the day, performing their songs, and i was immediately struct with how they'd managed to turn nearly every great Abba song into what amounts to completely disposable sounding contemporary pop.. I think that's when it truly hit me of how vitally important those original arrangements were (and pretty diverse at times too). The musicians were truly gifted.. The arrangements had a sublety, and an ingenuity about them, which resulted in those songs standing up distinctively and individually on their own terms. There wasn't simply an indiscriminantly placed beat running through everything
Comments
At the other end of the scale, why on earth did someone decide to put the sound of seagulls over Legs &Co's routine for 'After The Love Has Gone'?!? Beyond surreal … :o:o
'Are Friends Electric?' may well be one of 1979's turning points (and a great track), but it's pushing it to say Numan was an innovator: he trod ground that Bowie (especially), Ultravox, the Human League and The Normal had already claimed. His success may have made it easier for those that followed, but it's telling that he was pretty much spurned by the Bowie-obsessed new romantic scene of 1980/1981 that spawned Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
It also has to be said that Numan, and any artist with a synth-led sound, was subject to ridicule from some quarters of the music press, who were adamant that their music was somehow fake because it didn't rely on guitar riffs. I wonder what all those people are saying now … ;-)
Yes exactly the same, and I don't think it was a mistake. It was listed as being only half an hour.
I thought that! Weird!!!
Goetze - when the kids are swinging on the gate
Goetze - when the Germans score the winner late
Goetze! When The Dutch put five past the current holders.
Goetze! When Suarez takes a bite out players' shoulders.
Goetze! When England's got tons of unsold souvenirs.
Goetze! When Brazil's defence completely disappears.
I guess if you are Argentinian then waking up after that match today will certainly be "I Don't Like Mondays".
In Germany it will be "Reasons To Be Cheerful" not (part 3), but (part 4) now!
Hot Chocolate's current minor 1979 hit "Going Through The Motions" would sum up our own nation.
Love it!
True, although Gary Numan did manage to make a rather heavy doom laden synthetic sound, commercially successful, without compromising its core values, which is something the original Human League, the original Ultravox, and even David Bowie, in terms of his amount of airplay, and singles success from that period, had failed to do. I think though in terms of 'Are Friends Electric?' being a signpost for the eighties, which his sound is often credited for, i'm a little less sure. By 1981, synthetic music was primarily 'pop' sounding in nature. Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and Spandau Ballet, were really not attempting to emulate the industrial, doom laden Gary Numan sound by the 1981 period, and that also goes for the later Human League and Midge Ure's Ultravox, too.
Although rarely mentioned, it is Sparks from the 1979 period, who best represent where synthetic pop would be traveling in the 1981/82 period in my opinion. Their collaboration with Georgio Moroder, is the signpost, to where pop would be going through the early eighties, and not Numan. Aside from the more accented disco beats of 'No 1 Song In Heaven' and 'Beat The Clock', the overall synthetic sound, is the closest we get to an early eighties sound, on those Top Of The Pops 1979 shows. Russell Mael's falsetto isn't that far away from the Associates Billy Mackenzie's, either (think of 'Party Fears Two').
Schurlle you can't be serious! ;-)
Certainly Brazil took some inspiration from earlier German teams. They played like Kuntz.
I wasn't singing, but everytime they said his name, I added a 'Cowson'.
And it's Götze!
These are the same idiots who dismissed Kraftwerk as a novelty act and slated Abba for being mainstream, banal pop. These same idiots now pretend they liked these acts (as they`ve all been decreed cool/pioneers) all along and most likely have boxsets of their work purely to display to their idiot friends. I genuinely pity these folk who needed/need to be told what`s "good" before they allow themselves to listen to it objectively.
Numan refined some disparate ideas other artists did as part of their output and gave them a sci-fi identity as a cohesive whole. Replicas, Pleasure Principle and Telekon are wholly complete concept albums existing in Numan`s bespoke PK Dick, Ballardian world and up to that point nobody had really set dystopia to a totally convincing soundtrack over a series of albums. He`s never made great claim to be an originator (he always gives credit to Ultravox and John Foxx in particular) and it`s clear Systems of Romance was a HUGE influence on him.
Are Friends gets all the credit but a much shorter track from Replicas sums up that album better for me - Me! I Disconnect From You:
The alarm rang for days
You could tell from conversations
I was waiting by the screen
I couldn't recognise my photograph
Me, I disconnect from you
I was walking up the stairs
Something moved in silence
I could feel his mind decaying
Only inches away from me
And I disconnect from you
Please don't turn me off
I don't know what I'm doing outside
Me and the telephone that never rings
If you were me, what would you do?
Me, I disconnect from you
Genius.
Searching for the above lyrics I came across this incredible thing:
http://www.factmag.com/2014/03/12/stream-grace-jones-previously-unheard-gary-numan-cover-from-the-nightclubbing-reissue/
I`m speechless!
Will. I. Am. has just had his 10th number one record. Does anyone think that in 10-20 years time he'll be re-evaluated as being any good?
The music charts are dead.
Not here in Scotland I put money on the germans at the start of the world cup to win it and I am about to collect a tidy sum happy days !:)
I saw him perform that "song" on Britain's Got Talent and thought it was absolutely dreadful. However, I do like at least one of his Number 1s, "Beep" with the Pussycat Dolls.
More!
Goetze! When a giant bug lands on James Rodriguez's arm.
Goetze! When Messi's free kick couldn't hit the side door of a barn.
Goetze! When Arjen Robben goes down like he's just been shot.
Goetze! When the home fans would rather cheer on the other lot.
Great cover of my personal favourite Numan song. She totally 'Grace Jones-ified' it!
I find that such a bewildering and strange fact. Admittedly I'm not part of his target audience in any way, shape or form but I don't think I could even name a single song of his. Will his songs be played in 10-20 years time? I'd be very surprised if the answers yes.
1) 5 of them are as a member of The Black Eyed Peas. 'Where Is The Love?',
'Boom Boom Pow',' I Gotta Feeling', 'Meet Me Halfway', & 'The Time (Dirty Bit)'.
2) Only the other 5 are by him 'Solo' & credited by name. And all 5 of them are
collaborations with another Artist. 'OMG' - Usher Feat. Will.i.am, 'This Is Love' -
Will.i.am Feat. Eva Simons, 'Hall Of Fame' - The Script Feat. Will.i.am, 'Scream
And Shout' - Will.i.am And Britney Spears, & 'It's My Birthday' - Will.i.am And
Cody Wise.
3) He's not had any UK No.1 Singles at all where he is just on his own.
4) The Gatherer - 'Beep' by The Pussycat Dolls Feat. Will.i.am, (2006), was
not a UK No.1 Hit. It Peaked at No.2.
Marvellous! Thanks for this, I need to get that now.
I've often wondered if this is a generational thing or just the fact the Charts aren't as noticed and prevalent now as 30-40 years ago!
At the height of singles sales in the late 70s my dad (who has no interest in pop music) and grandad too, would say the same thing! - And alot more people back then would know who Blondie or Abba were as they topped the charts, for example compared to Will I Am!
It seemed to be the case that the host broadcaster couldn't handle umlauts - thus all the Germans with umlauts in their names ended up with an extra e instead, e.g. Oezil, Mueller, Goetze. Unfortunately the twitterati seemed to be unjustly blaming the BBC and ITV for this!
Thanks, should have checked before I posted! "Where is the Love" is a good song which I can see being played for years to come.
I think the benefit of hindsight tends to change perspectives, somewhat. Artists like Abba, always had a core audience (Abba's was rather huge), but the passing of time, tends to more clearly define an artist. There's also a strong case that you don't always appreciate what you've got until you lose it. Back in the seventies i instinctively loved certain Abba songs (especially 'Dancing Queen' and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You) , others less so ('Super Trouper' possibly for me coming under the banal pop catagory). However, i don't think with Abba, unless you were a real music connosieur, it was very usual to break down the components of those songs, to find out what made them tick. You either liked them, or you didn't. Moving forward a few decades (which ties into the current discussion on what is lacking in modern music), one can appreciate so much more the brilliance of the arrangements, and the general musicianship within those Abba songs, because there is such a lack of that in so called 'music' these days. I can recall watching the Abba tribute show from 1999, with many of the contemporary artists of the day, performing their songs, and i was immediately struct with how they'd managed to turn nearly every great Abba song into what amounts to completely disposable sounding contemporary pop.. I think that's when it truly hit me of how vitally important those original arrangements were (and pretty diverse at times too). The musicians were truly gifted.. The arrangements had a sublety, and an ingenuity about them, which resulted in those songs standing up distinctively and individually on their own terms. There wasn't simply an indiscriminantly placed beat running through everything