Synth Britannia – BBC4 – UK – 16/10/09 9pm

I mentioned this before, but it’s worth mentioning again, as it’s only 5 days away! As part of BBC4’s Electric Revolution season, this Friday at 9pm, a documentary called Synth Britannia will be shown featuring a plethora of British electronic musicians. Here’s the blurb…

Documentary following a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage.

In the late 1970s, small pockets of electronic artists including the Human League, Daniel Miller and Cabaret Volatire were inspired by Kraftwerk and JG Ballard and dreamt of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain.

The crossover moment came in 1979 when Gary Numan’s appearance on Top of the Pops with Tubeway Army’s Are Friends Electric heralded the arrival of synthpop. Four lads from Basildon known as Depeche Mode would come to own the new sound whilst post-punk bands like Ultravox, Soft Cell, OMD and Yazoo took the synth out of the pages of the NME and onto the front page of Smash Hits.

By 1983, acts like Pet Shop Boys and New Order were showing that the future of electronic music would lie in dance music.

Contributors include Philip Oakey, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore, Bernard Sumner, Gary Numan and Neil Tennant.

And the tracklisting looks amazing too…

1.
Depeche Mode — New Life
2.
Wendy Carlos — William Tell
3.
Wendy Carlos — Clockwork Orange Main Title
4.
Kraftwerk — Autobahn
5.
The Clash — White Riot
6.
The Normal — Tvod
7.
The Normal — Warm Leatherette
8.
The Future — 4 Jg
9.
The Human League — Being Boiled
10.
Donna Summer — I Feel Love
11.
Cabaret Voltaire — Seconds Too Late
12.
Cabaret Voltaire — Nag Nag Nag
13.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — Messages
14.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — Enola Gay
15.
Joy Division — Atmosphere
16.
John Foxx — Underpass
17.
Throbbing Gristle — Still Walking
18.
Throbbing Gristle — Hot on the Heals of Love
19.
Fad Gadget — Back to Nature
20.
Silicon Teens — Memphis Tennessee
21.
Gary Numan — Are Friends Electric?
22.
Gary Numan — Cars
23.
Visage — Fade to Grey
24.
The Flying Lizards — Money
25.
Depeche Mode — New Life
26.
Depeche Mode — Just Can’t Get Enough
27.
The Human League — Don’t You Want Me
28.
Heaven 17 — Penthouse & Pavement
29.
Cabaret Voltaire — Landslide
30.
Soft Cell — Tainted Love
31.
Yazoo — Only You
32.
Yazoo — Don’t Go
33.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — Maid of Orleans
34.
Eurythmics — Sweet Dreams
35.
Ultravox — Vienna
36.
Kraftwerk — The Model
37.
Depeche Mode — Everything Counts
38.
Depeche Mode — Master and Servant
39.
Pet Shop Boys — West End Girls
40.
New Order — Ceremony
41.
New Order — Blue Monday
42.
Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder — Together in Electric Dreams

But once this programme has finished, DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL!!!

The next show is Synth Britannia at the BBC.

With Moogs turned up to 11, a 1970s/80s journey through the BBC’s synthpop archives from Roxy Music to New Order.

Roxy Music — Do the Strand

Tubeway Army — Are ‘Friends’ Electric?

Sparks — Beat the Clock

The Human League — The Path of Least Resistance

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — Messages

Ultravox — Vienna

Depeche Mode — New Life

New Order — Temptation

Soft Cell — Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

Japan — Ghosts

Yazoo — Don’t Go

Tears for Fears — Mad World

Eurythmics — Love is a Stranger

Heaven 17 — Temptation

Howard Jones — What Is Love?

Pet Shop Boys — Opportunities

A proper synth wank fest guaranteed to have you shooting your man spackle all over the shop!!!