Synth-pop is a music genre. It is also called techno-pop and became popular in the late 1970s. This genre uses the synthesizer as its main instrument. Earlier, in the 1960s and 1970s, synthesizers were used in other music styles like progressive rock, electronic music, art rock, disco, and Krautrock by bands such as Kraftwerk. Synth-pop became a separate genre in Japan and the United Kingdom during the post-punk era, which was part of the new wave movement in the late 1970s.
Electronic synthesizers that could be used in recording studios became available in the mid-1960s. In the mid-1970s, electronic art musicians began to rise in popularity. After Gary Numan’s success on the UK Singles Chart in 1979, many artists started using synthesizers in their music during the early 1980s. In Japan, the band Yellow Magic Orchestra used the TR-808 rhythm machine in their music. This band influenced early British synth-pop artists. The invention of affordable polyphonic synthesizers, the creation of MIDI, and the use of dance beats made synth-pop more popular and easier to listen to. This led to the success of British synth-pop artists during the Second British Invasion, especially with the rise of MTV and the New Romantic movement.
The term "techno-pop" was first used by Yuzuru Agi in 1978 when he wrote about Kraftwerk’s album The Man-Machine. This term is often used interchangeably with "synth-pop," but it is more commonly associated with Japan. In Europe, the term also became popular. For example, the German band Kraftwerk released an album titled Techno Pop in 1986, and the English band the Buggles had a song called "Technopop." The Spanish band Mecano described their style as "tecno-pop."
The term "synth-pop" is sometimes used the same way as "electropop." However, "electropop" can also refer to a type of synth-pop that uses a harder, more electronic sound. In the mid-1980s, groups like Erasure and Pet Shop Boys had great success on the US dance charts. By the late 1980s, synth-pop from bands like A-ha and Alphaville was being replaced by house music and techno. Interest in synth-pop returned in the late 1990s through movements like indietronica and electroclash. In the 2000s, synth-pop became popular again and achieved commercial success.
Some people have criticized synth-pop for not showing enough emotion or musical skill. Some artists have spoken against critics who thought synthesizers alone created and played the music. Synth-pop has helped make the synthesizer a major part of pop and rock music. It directly influenced later genres like house music and Detroit techno. It also indirectly influenced many other music styles and individual songs.
Characteristics
Synth-pop is a music style that mainly uses synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers. These tools often replace other instruments. Borthwick and Moy said synth-pop is varied but has common features, such as avoiding rock music styles, rhythms, and structures. Instead, it uses "synthetic textures" and "robotic rigidity," which were shaped by the limits of early technology, like monophonic synthesizers that can only play one note at a time.
Many synth-pop musicians had limited musical training and relied on technology to create music. Their songs were often simple, with repeated rhythms and little musical change. Early synth-pop was described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing," using electronic sounds with little variation. Common song themes included feelings of loneliness, being disconnected in cities, and emotional emptiness.
In the 1980s, synth-pop changed. It added dance beats and more traditional rock instruments, making the music more appealing and fitting the three-minute pop song format. Synthesizers began to copy the sounds of orchestras and horns. Thin, high-pitched melodies and basic drum sounds were replaced by richer, more compressed music and traditional drum styles. Lyrics became more hopeful, focusing on topics like love, escaping problems, and achieving goals. Music writer Simon Reynolds noted that 1980s synth-pop was known for its "emotional, sometimes operatic" singers, such as Marc Almond, Alison Moyet, and Annie Lennox. Since synthesizers reduced the need for large bands, these singers often performed in duos, with their partners handling all the music.
Although synth-pop started partly from punk rock, it avoided punk's focus on being real and instead aimed for a deliberate artificial feel. It borrowed from styles like disco and glam rock, which were often criticized. It had little connection to early music styles like jazz, folk, or blues. Instead, it focused on European, especially Eastern European, influences, seen in band names like Spandau Ballet and songs like Ultravox's "Vienna." Later, synth-pop was influenced by other genres, such as soul music.
History
Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used in recording studios became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time that rock music became a separate type of music. The Mellotron, a keyboard that used both electricity and mechanical parts to play recorded sounds, was later replaced by the Moog synthesizer, created by Robert Moog in 1964. The Moog made sounds entirely using electricity. The portable Minimoog, which was easier to use, especially during live performances, became popular with progressive rock musicians like Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes. Instrumental progressive rock was especially important in Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Can, and Faust to avoid language barriers. Their music, called "Kraut rock," along with the work of Brian Eno (a keyboard player for Roxy Music), influenced later synth rock.
In 1971, the British film A Clockwork Orange was released with a synth soundtrack by American musician Wendy Carlos. This was the first time many people in the United Kingdom heard electronic music. Philip Oakey of the Human League, Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire, and music journalist Simon Reynolds have said the soundtrack inspired them. Electronic music sometimes reached the mainstream, such as when jazz musician Stan Free, using the name Hot Butter, had a top 10 hit in the United States and United Kingdom in 1972. His song "Popcorn," a cover of a 1969 song by Gershon Kingsley, used a Moog synthesizer and is seen as a beginning of synth-pop and disco.
In the mid-1970s, electronic art musicians like Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and Tomita gained attention. Tomita’s 1972 album Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock included electronic versions of rock and pop songs, using speech synthesis and analog music sequencers. In 1975, Kraftwerk played their first British concert and inspired Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, who later formed the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), to use synthesizers instead of guitars. Kraftwerk’s song "Autobahn" became a hit in the UK and Canada. The BBC Four program Synth Britannia called Kraftwerk a key influence on the future of synth-pop. In 1977, Giorgio Moroder released the electronic song "I Feel Love" for Donna Summer, which used programmed beats and influenced later synth-pop. David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy (1977–1979), which included Brian Eno, was also highly influential.
The Cat Stevens album Izitso (1977) used synthesizers to update his pop rock style, making it more like synth-pop. The song "Was Dog a Doughnut" was an early example of techno-pop, using a music sequencer. Izitso reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, and another song was a top 40 hit. In the same month, the Beach Boys released Love You, mostly performed by Brian Wilson using Moog and ARP synthesizers. While some praised the album, it was not commercially successful. Critics called it revolutionary for its use of synthesizers.
Early punk rock, which became popular in 1976–77, was at first not interested in the "inauthentic" sound of synthesizers. However, many new wave and post-punk bands that came from the punk movement later used synthesizers in their music. British punk and new wave clubs welcomed the "alternative" sound of synthesizers. The DIY attitude of punk made it easier for people to use synthesizers without years of experience. The American band Suicide, from the post-punk scene in New York, used drum machines and synthesizers on their 1977 album. Around this time, Ultravox member Warren Cann bought a Roland TR-77 drum machine, which appeared in their 1977 single "Hiroshima Mon Amour."
In 1978, the British band Be-Bop Deluxe released Drastic Plastic, which included the single "Electrical Language" with Bill Nelson on guitar synthesizer and Andy Clark on synthesizers. The Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) released their self-titled album (1978) and Solid State Survivor (1979), creating a "fun-loving and breezy" sound with strong melodies. They introduced the TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music and influenced early British synth-pop.
In 1978, the UK band the Human League released their debut single "Being Boiled," and The Normal released "Warm Leatherette," both considered important early synth-pop songs. The Sheffield band Cabaret Voltaire also helped shape synth-pop in Britain. In the United States, the post-punk band Devo began using more electronic sounds. At this time, synth-pop received some critical praise but had little success on the charts.
British punk-influenced band Tubeway Army originally planned to make a guitar-driven album. In late 1978, Gary Numan, a member of the group, found a Minimoog left behind in the studio and started using it. This changed the album’s sound to electronic new wave. Numan later described his work as turning "punk songs into electronic songs." A single from the second Tubeway Army album Replicas, "Are Friends Electric?", topped the UK charts in 1979. Numan’s discovery that synthesizers could be used differently from progressive rock or disco led him to go solo. His 1979 album The Pleasure Principle used only synthesizers, with a bass guitarist and drummer for rhythm. The single "Cars" from the album topped the charts.
Numan was influenced by the new wave band Ultravox, led by John Foxx, who released the album Systems of Romance in 1978. Foxx left Ultravox in 1979 and had a synth-pop hit with the single "Underpass" from his solo album Metamatic in 1980.
In 1979, the UK band OMD released their debut single "Electricity," which was important for the rise of synth-pop. They followed with hits like "Messages" and "Enola Gay" in 1980. OMD were Britain’s first synth duo and one of the most influential acts of the time. Vince Clarke, who co-founded Depeche Mode, Erasure, Yazoo, and the Assembly, said OMD inspired him to become an electronic musician. OMD’s leaders, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, were called the "Lennon–McCartney of synth-pop."
Giorgio Moroder worked with the band Sparks on their 1979 album No. 1 In Heaven. In Japan, the synth-pop band P-Model released its debut album In a Model Room in 1979. Other Japanese synth-pop groups, like the Plastics and Hikashu, also emerged around this time. This period of change in electronic music was highlighted by Trevor Horn, then a would-be record producer with the band Buggles.
Criticism and controversy
Synth-pop has faced a lot of criticism from musicians and the press. It has been called "weak" and "lacking emotion." Early synth-pop, especially the work of Gary Numan, was criticized in British music magazines during the late 1970s and early 1980s for being influenced by German music. A journalist named Mick Farren once referred to it as the "Adolf Hitler Memorial Space Patrol." In the 1980s, some people criticized the quality of synth-pop songs and the musical skills of the artists. Gary Numan said he faced "hostility" and "ignorance" from others, who believed "people didn’t think it was real music; they thought machines did it."
Andy McCluskey, the frontman of the band OMD, said many people thought "the equipment wrote the song for you." He explained, "Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or a drum machine that said 'hit single,' I would have pressed it as often as anybody else would have – but there isn't. It was all written by real human beings."
According to Simon Reynolds, some people viewed synthesizers as tools for "people who were overly concerned with appearance," in contrast to the guitar, which was seen as a symbol of strength. The association of synth-pop with different ideas about gender was shown through the images of synth-pop stars, such as Phil Oakey’s unusual hairstyle and use of eyeliner, Marc Almond’s "pervy" leather jacket, Martin Gore of Depeche Mode wearing skirts, and Annie Lennox of Eurythmics’ early "dominatrix" look. In the United States, British synth-pop artists were sometimes described as "English haircut bands" or "art fag" music. However, many of these artists were popular on American radio and MTV. While some audiences were openly hostile to synth-pop, it attracted people who felt left out by mainstream rock culture, including gay, female, and introverted listeners.
Influence and legacy
By the mid-1980s, synth-pop helped make the synthesizer a main instrument in popular music. It also changed the sound of many rock bands, such as Bruce Springsteen, ZZ Top, and Van Halen. Synth-pop greatly influenced house music, which began in the early 1980s in dance clubs after the disco era. Some DJs tried to create music that was less pop-focused and added sounds from Latin soul, dub, rap, and jazz.
American musicians like Juan Atkins, who used names such as Model 500 and Infinity, and worked with a group called Cybotron, created a type of electronic dance music inspired by synth-pop and funk. This style helped start Detroit techno in the mid-1980s. The influence of 1980s synth-pop continued into the 1990s in dance music styles like trance. Hip hop artists, such as Mobb Deep, used samples from 1980s synth-pop songs. Later, popular artists like Rihanna, UK singer Jay Sean, Taio Cruz, and British pop star Lily Allen on her second album also used synth-pop sounds.
In a review for The Guardian, music critic Dorian Lynskey called 1981 synth-pop's "special year," naming six important albums from that year: OMD's Architecture & Morality, Depeche Mode's Speak & Spell, Soft Cell's Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Japan's Tin Drum, the Human League's Dare, and Heaven 17's Penthouse and Pavement. Later, Matthew Lindsay of Classic Pop agreed with Lynskey's view.