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.

Oh! How could I possibly have neglected to mention the Doctor Who theme tune?!

Yeah, that was a big influence!! My father had the original theme tune on a vinyl compilation of TV themes... it fascinated me.

Yup,me too how could I have forgotten about DR Who.Then there was a childrens series from 1975 called The Changes,I'm sure that had Kraftwerk doing the main theme,may have been Autobahn,my memories very fuzzy on this.Imdb says Paddy Kingsland but I think he did the incidental music.

Talking of SciFi,then there was the bits of electronic score for The Day the Earth Stood Still & Forbidden Planet.Those predate everything,I can remember them from when I was very young

I just recently acquired (in mp3 format) a huge bunch of Ron Grainer's music, including the original Who theme; Tales Of The Unexpected, The Assassination Trot, Man in a suitcase, Oliver Twist, Old Ned (from Steptoe & Son) etc... great stuff.

Step One was a collection (on K-Tel or one of that ilk) of pop songs done on a Moog, including 'Popcorn' and 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' (!). It was played over and over by my Dad in the mid 70s - very squelchy sequenced mooginess.

Step Two was 'Are Friends Electric', which thankfully dragged me away from a future as a heavy metal fan - I bought my last Motorhead single in 1980!

Step Three. A friend of mine played me a track from a new album he had bought. The cover of the LP was uncluttered, futuristic, irresistably cool. The track was 'Astradyne'.

Step Four. Following the spreading branches of electronic music in all different directions - Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Erasure, Front 242, being in a band myself...the 'dark years' of the early '90s, and the rebirth of the noughties. Halleluiah!

Ahh,I'd forgotten about Popcorn,it was on some hits compilation my mom had along with Slade's Ah momma we're all crazy now :rolleyes:

Yes!! The series did use a part of the full Autobahn track as it's theme...superb!!,
First for me was AFE but Numans constant references to Ultravox sought me to check out them,only avialble were I stay when the new stuff(Ure)came out but then Underpass surfaced and my love of Johns music progressed from there

My Dad had the Popcorn/Hot Butter record. The face on the cover scared me.

He also had this obscure album of moog songs, called "Electric Coconut"... the whole thing terrified me!!

Not particularly original but it has to be "Underpass" on TOTP for me. My brother had already decided he was a Numan fan and, as we were competitive 12 and 13 year olds there was no way we could both like the same artist!

Anyway, Numan wasn't a proper synth act - he had a drummer and guitars......

That's the one! Also has Wig Wam Bam on it - never understood that one.

i've got that one !!

anyway for me it was also 'are friends electric.'

watching that on TOTP was a defining moment in my youth!

It was somewhere where I used to listen to some jukebox or machine, as I used to call it then, playing instrumental/orchestral versions of international hits...

As a child I used to really enjoy those science fiction movies and TV series. Perhaps the track with the biggest impact was the Dr Who theme. Still never ceases to amaze me. To correct people it was written by Ron Grainer but realized by Delia Derbyshire. IMHO the latter carries the biggest merit for its original sound.

During the 70s there was a lot of electronic music that could be picked up on the European airwaves. These synth tracks have already been mentioned here such as Popcorn, Autobahn, War of the Worlds and Oxygene. I would also add Pulstar, Equinoxe, Magic Fly and the vocal led Manureva and I Hear You Now. I used to hum these a lot.

The disco scene arrived with tracks like I Feel Love and Supernature which also became favourites of mine. Until 1979 when Chris C began to listen to the UK charts. When Are Friends Electric? came out it had a lot of meaning to me and followed it up the charts until it got to Number 1. In those days I couldn't afford to buy records so, it was until 1981 when I made synth music my hobby forever. That year the first records I bought were, curiously enough, Architecture & Morality, Visage and Vienna.

In 1983 I discovered John. Bought The Garden + Church, and the Your Dress and Endlessly singles, roughly at the same time, and they literally blew me away! Buying the rest of his back catalogue that year sent me head over heels in space!

Chris C

Most influential thing to merge with my lug-holes ever has to be Numan's Metal. The whole Pleasure Principle theme struck a right old chord with me and I'm sure I owned 3 versions of it at one stage. 2 vinyl (because one got a small scratch) and a cassette. I know I owned 4 versions of 'Cars' - 7", 12", cassingle and 7" import. Not bad considering I was about 13 with naff-all money at the time.

I reckon it was the minimoog that did it(although I had no idea which synth it was at the time). I met Gary in the Leeds HMV and while he was signing this album for me I asked him about the minimoog. He said 'I gave it the sound' - I'm sure he was proud of what he'd done there. Top bloke.

One more if I may - Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock'. I'll have to include a sidenote to Kraftwerk on this one for the Trans-Europe Express riff. Genius.