Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room Initial spark

When I first heard "are friends electric?" By Numan I was absolutely mesmerised then realised that the electric seed had been planted in my head. Good grief it was 1979. Can anyone else recollect what they feel was the seminal track for them?The track that stated "I am going to change the way you listen to music."

Being boiled by the human league for me. It stood out amongst all there hits when i bought there greatest hits a decade ago. It seemed darker and dirtier than the poppy stuff id heard before. Showing that theres more to synths than a flock of seagulls. After that i got into first numan then foxx.

It's very hard to pick just one outstanding track that blew me away. 1979 was a great year for electronic/synth music and IMHO it was the year that changed me musically. It was the period I was introduced to SOR, and yes Are Friends Electric blew me away also, plus I had my first serious girlfriend and she brought me Replicas, which I still own. Oh happy days.
Peter

For me, I think the seeds of a lifetime of electroncia weres own by Kraftwerk.
I firt heard their RadioActivity album, and then Trans Europe Express in 1977.
At the time, I was listening to and getting excited by the music of Cabaret Voltaire, Clock DVA and to a lesser extent Throbbing Gristle.
But like many people, it was the Human League's 'Being Boiled' and "Empire State Human' That really caught my ear as they crossed over into the mainstream.
The real breakthrough was Numan's performance of "Friends" on TOTP which blew me away and made me think that's how it SHOULD be.

Then some chap came along and stripped even that back with a song called "Underpass" or something...

Ooh, now there's a leading question.

It's impossible to single out one track. There are several that I have to mention.

Oxygene parts 2, 3 & 4 by Jean Michel-Jarre
Not only were these magnificent instrumentals some of my earliest musical memories, but this is really what sparked my interest in electronic music - even at such an early age! Oxygene is probably my all-time favourite album.

Love Action/Hard Times by the Human League
Again, synth music, that I loved when I first heard in 1981, at the age of about three. "Love Action" remins my favourite pop song of its kind.

Wild is the Wind/Golden Years by David Bowie
Again, this was released in 1981 and forms part of my earliest musical memories. Bowie's voices fascinated me, as did the photo of him on the album sleeve - a wonderful mono shot (best photo he ever had taken!) with just his eyes in colour. And two of his greatest tracks and certainly my favourites.

But finally, a track that perhaps had more significance than any other...

Steam by Peter Gabriel
Perhaps not Gabriel's greatest track, although arguably his finest "pop" moment since "Sledgehammer". It wasn't so much the song though, but the video. The groundbreaking videos for "Steam" and "Digging in the Dirt" totally blew me away at the time, and also came at an important time in my teens, where I was trying to decide what sort of career I wanted – the visual impact of Gabriel's work made that decision for me.

Those videos also introduced me to Gabriel's music, as I didn't know of him before then, and I have been enormously passionate about it ever since. Discovering Peter's amazing back catalogue (and fantastic album covers and song videos) really inspired me on so many levels, and also turned me into a music "fan".

From here, I was inspired to rediscover David Bowie, who I had not really listed to since playing the aforementioned single as a child, and that gradually led me to discovering other acts such as Simple Minds, Sting, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan and John Foxx.

My first ever record was Tubeway Army's Are 'Friends' Electric?. I remember that (back in 1979) every time Gary Numan was asked about his influences he kept on mentioning how important Ultravox were - a point which appears to have been almost totally missed in recent years...

Anyhow, so I dug out some Ultravox records - and the rest (as they say) is history...

Rob

MIne was a little different. I'd liked pretty much everything by anyone I was interested in until my teens, but Duran Duran's 'Big Thing' was probably the key moment that changed the way I thought and how I really listened to music. The album Iwas quite a departure for the band in both musical and style terms - certainly considering their output and what they were known for until that point. But the album and tour that accompanied it just (as you might say) ticked all the right boxes for me and opened up my eyes to a lot of the stuff that musically influenced the album. From that I got into a lot of dance music, some funk (James Brown and Motown arising from that was a revelation to me I seem to recall), and a whole lot more that took me away from being obsessed about Ultravox (thankfully in retrospect). I think I saw four shows on the tour at the time.

Ahhh, good times they were. Good times...




EG
x

Thank you for reminding me Alex about Oxygene. That's one album even after all this time I never tire of listening to. If I had to pick some top class electronic albums from the early 80's, that had a big influence on my musical taste today and not in any particular order it'd have to be the following;
Systems of Romance.
Replicas.
Oxygene.
METAMATIC. (without doubt my all time favourite)
Equinoxe.
Organisation. (OMD)
Peter

Mine spark was different again.

The first synth I remember hearing was Donna Summer's I feel love.

After that I remember parts of Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film Logans's Run,which had a very strange all synth track in the middle.

The first single I bought was Cerrone's Supernature,followed by Oxegene.

Then I can remember being into Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds in a big way.

Then it was Gary Numans Friends Electric,followed by Underpass.I couldn't really afford records in those days still being at school.

I've only recently bought Metamatic & was surprised to learn that it was already familiar to me.It had been played in our 6th form common room along with loads of early Human League.

I would have to say my introduction to 'electronic' music was the 'BBC radiophonic workshop' and the theme to 'Dr WHO'. My brother, being 5 yrs older than me bought Kraftwerk's 'Autobahn' on 7" single in '74 (?, I think). The first electronic single I bought was 'Popcorn' by Hot Butter, with an EMI record token at 'BOOTS' record department in Camberley, same era I recall.