Synth Brittania - a history of early 80's synth bands...

[Greeny]

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting. I never realised that Depeche Mode were such young kids. I'd heard a fair bit of their music but I guess I'd never seen pictures of them before and always assumed they were much older.

We should do an Electronic Music Fest some time. It seems like everyone here is a guitarist. It would be an interesting challenge to have a fest where guitars are not allowed and everything is done electronically with keyboards and/or computers. Except vocals, of course, although it would be fun to process the vocals electronically.

There must be something 'synthy' in the air at the moment. James and Mike have got themselves keyboards, and I'm on some kind of nostalgic trip too, having just bought a Casio VL-1 (basically a calculator with a built-in keyboard and sequencer) from 1980. It was my first instrument! I wrote all my first songs on it, and was even a singer in a short-lived synth band in the early 80's. Japan, Heaven 17, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Human League and Visage are still very important to me.

There's even been talk of some kind of electronic-only album from Jemima's Kite!

There seems to be a lot of Kaosillators around too, so I think an electronica fest would be a good one to explore. Great idea 64!

[Greeny]

The Casio VL-Tone. Twenty quid, off eBay. My original one must be somewhere in the attic.

[cuthbert]

I have a VL-Tone too, as well as a bunch of other little Casio noisemakers, a Stylophone, and SX-150, and an Electro-Faustus oscillator.

So as you can see, I'd also be in for a bit of Electro-Fest.

(oh, and putting the finishing touches on my Unplugged-Fest submission, which is all-acoustic)

[Greeny]

Ha ha. All the synth twiddlers are coming out of the closet!

[OsCKilO]

That advertising must have worked great with Groupies.....