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Synth-pop is a genre of music that features synthesizers as the dominant instrument, and emerged in the late 1970s as part of the new wave movement. Learn about its origins, development, styles, influences, and revivals in this comprehensive article.
- Spandau Ballet - 'To Cut a Long Story Short' Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short. Before Spandau Ballet went down the ballad route with 'True', they were one of the leading moody New Romantic bands around.
- Duran Duran - 'Rio' Duran Duran - Rio (Official Music Video) If you’re looking for a stylish 1980s music video, look no further than 'Rio'. The vivid promo features iconic images of the band singing and playing around on a yacht speeding over the crystal blue Caribbean Sea.
- M - 'Pop Muzik' M - Pop Muzik (Official Video) One of the greatest one-hit-wonders of all time, you might not know the song by name, but you'll definitely have it in your head all day.
- Dead or Alive - 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)' Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) (Official Video) This bombastic synthpop anthem gave Stock, Aitken and Waterman their first number one in the UK in 1984.
- 40 Yellow Magic Orchestra – Behind The Mask
- 39The Fallout Club– Dream Soldiers
- 38Howard Jones – What Is Love?
- 37 Telex – Moskow Diskow
- 36 Japan – Quiet Life
- 35Yello – Bostich
- 34John Foxx – Underpass
- 33 Talk Talk – It’S My Life
- 32 Blancmange – Living on The Ceiling
- 31Propaganda – Duel
Established in Tokyo by a trio of Japanese music obsessives, YMO would go on to quietly influence the early waves of synth Britannia right through to the futurist disco climes of Daft Punk. With the sounds of Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, video games and Japan’s musical mores as a compass, they navigated the limits of an exotic palette of synths, sam...
A triad of inspired singles endowed The Fallout Club with deserved cult status, but they’re primarily known for spawning a future pop spark in Thomas Dolby. Eerie futurist synthesizers preface Trevor Herion’s doleful lamentations – a haunting keen that had him tipped for success, but one that clearly radiated the mental struggles that would lead to...
While more wholesome than many of the artists tabbed here, Howard Jones is a Godfather of (Synth) Pop if ever there was one. He managed a UK Top 5 at first attempt with the peppy New Song (his most successful satellite in the US), and the debut album from which it was mined – Human’s Lib – went to the top of the charts. A further three hits quickly...
Forged in 1979 by a trio of Belgian gentlemen using entirely electronic equipment (and complete with novelty train sounds), Telex can count themselves amongst the forefathers of synth-pop, and they also provided a prototype for techno – albeit with tongues firmly planted in cheeks. Their cover of Les Chats Sauvages’ Twist à St Tropez is a must, as ...
Trading their gauche glam leanings for an artful, more austere sound, David Sylvian – with newfound deeper vocal strains – and his foppish suburbans eventually hit gold in the UK with this single on second attempt. The group’s 1979 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, Life In Tokyo, initiated the move to a more mannered path and drew out the bluepri...
Debut single I.T. Splash set out Swiss duo Yello’s stall as leftfield professors of sound, unafraid of a little humour here and there, and this frenetic three minutes of brilliance from 1980 LP Solid Pleasuremaintained that idiosyncratic path. With percussive, oddball lyrics of man and machine, delivered over a soundtrack that lurches all over the ...
When art student Dennis Leigh stumbled upon a synth at college, his interest was piqued. Investigations into the Italian futurists, John Cage and the Velvet Underground saw him reborn as Ultravox frontman John Foxx. Then, in 1979, he broke free to cut Metamatic, thesolo album that enclosed this iconic debut. With JG Ballard-inspired dystopian theme...
How the title track of Talk Talk’s 1984 album missed Top 10s around the globe at the time of release seems totally bizarre in hindsight. Famously glum singer Mark Hollis may not have helped; not your typical synth-popper, he cited Otis Redding, Burt Bacharach and Can as influences over the usual modish name-drops of the period. But with Hollis’ del...
Known affectionately by Mute’s Daniel Miller as “the maiden aunts of electronic music”, Blancmange showed their mettle with pilot EP Irene & Mavis, a lo-fi epic. Next came a cherished spot on the infamous Some Bizzare sampler, before inking a deal that led to the full-length Happy Families LP with this nailed-on classic as its centrepiece. The twos...
Put together by Die Krupps’ Ralf Dörper, Propaganda favoured the darker edges of pop over the industrial sounds of his previous incarnation. Relocated to the UK, and with Claudia Brücken at their head, they made initial waves with their debut 7” Dr Mabuse and signed to Trevor Horn’s ZTT roster only to be sidelined when ZTT’s attention (and cash) pr...
- Classic Pop
Mar 27, 2021 · A Ranking of the Top 50 Synth-Pop Songs of the 21st Century! Is there a song we missed? Do you disagree with the ranking? Have any ideas for a ranking you would like to see?
- 33 min
- 88.2K
- Mister Lister
Over 100 new entries added to the new Top 500 including a new entry straight in at Number 10 and a brand new number one.
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (Official Music Video)27.7M views- Ultravox - Vienna (Official Music Video)19.1M views
- Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out30.3M views
- Dream Academy - "Life In A Northern Town" (Official Music Video)11M views
- Erasure - Stop! (Official HD Video)8.5M views
- Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia (2003 Digital Remaster)415.3K views
- Propaganda - Duel11.1M views
- New Musik : Living By Numbers570.5K views
- New Order - True Faith (1987) (Official Music Video) [HD REMASTERED]36M views
- New Order - World In Motion (Official Music Video) [HD Upgrade]12.1M views
Sep 7, 2015 · Synthtopia readers voted for their favorite synthpop songs of all time and here are the results. See the list of 25 synthpop classics with music videos and learn more about the genre.
Apr 3, 2021 · A chronological list of 35 Synth Pop classics from 1978 to 1986, featuring Blondie, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, OMD, Depeche Mode and more. Learn about the rise of synthesizers in Pop music and the musical pioneers who shaped the genre.
