Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room Synth Britannia

I have to admit I was getting bored in the last 30 mins.

I failed to see the 'revelation' of New Order (yawn) pioneering the fusion of electronica and dance... What's happened to Bernard Sumner?! He looked terrible.

The short section on the Pet Shop Boys and the rise of sampling technology was far more interesting.

It did give the impression that nobody was doing anything nowadays, other than reminiscing about the old days... which is far from the truth. Indeed, a 'what they're doing now' bit to finish with, would have been good. Although they would have probably needed to make something up for The Human League...

Ha ha! Quite right although "working on a new album" would do as it has done for the last 5 or 6 years.

Right about Sumner . .I think he'd been on the booze, although they should have made *more* of what Blue Monday represented in 1983.

And I think you also said about JM Jarre Alex who indeed should've got a mention . .he sort of bridged the gap between prog and mainstream electronic music.

Personally, I think Jarre and Tangerine Dream should both be rated alongside Kraftwerk as some of the original electronic innovators.

Although, as the programme's title suggests, this was about the British artists.

Oh wait... aren't Kraftwerk German?!

Have to agree that the programme certainly lacked something of a 'relevance to the moment' for the majority of the artists portrayed. It would have been good and also optimistic if there had been more indication about their present or most recent contribution (if indeed they have anything), a kind of ‘where are they now?’

I've since watched the programme again with someone who liked a lot of the groups during that period (but not really into electronic music in its wider sense) and is a big fan of Joy Division/New Order/Bernard Sumner (when he was young), and I always have that argument about how ground breaking fantastic Blue Monday was supposed to be at the time. Personally I’m sick to death of having heard it about a million times now, and its alleged starting point for all Rave/House/Dance music, it was even used in recent years to advertise Mars Bars on TV, please... tell me why I don't like Mondays

And as regards Bernard, yes we both agreed that compared to some other people on the show the years appeared to have not been too kind to him, wait, hang on rewind there, he’s just a normal looking bloke for his age, and look at Gary, okay, he’s had hair treatment, but face-wise he’s looking very good, now looking again for a moment to Martin Gore, and perhaps even Phil Oakey, hmm, what’s with the shiny, smooth areas on show in those talking heads shots... surely Dr Botox has paid a visit

Yes Oakey did seem a bit shiny sometimes

Yup - but Kraftwerk were the catalysts for the whole thing just as Elvis was for the Beatles.

I disagree with you about New Order - at the time it was a massive thing for guitar bands such as Joy Division etc to make the leap towards electronics - Joy Division/New Order were accused of becoming 'the next Genesis' - sometimes by people in their own ranks for using synthesizers. Just as it's a leap from 'Bombers' to 'Cars' so was the leap from 'An Ideal for Living' to 'Atmosphere'.

Your look-alike got a good look-in though Garry! Was quoted by more or less everyone as an inspiration.. further reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcmusic/2009/10/synth_britannia_jg_ballard.html

'tis sad but true; the alien urban landscape Ballard predicted is now the world we live in...luckily the yuppies in the Barbican haven't started barbequeing their dogs and neighbours yet...yet...

Generally really enjoyed the programme.
That's the Bob Moog figure on John Foxx's keyboard isn't it?
Shame there was no mention of Thomas Dolby (or did I miss it?), or Landscape, didn't the guy in Landscape invent the Syndrum and had the only person I remember of the synth groups who played a wind instrument synth?

A short section on the ones who didn't survive that era would have been interesting too - The Mobiles, interviewed on tv about their spending thousands on an Oberheim OBXa then demonstrating it to the audience, or Blancmange... or...

And Wasn't Vince Clarke's synth room massive! and John Foxx's one had a very closed-in alien escape-pod vibe to it,...

"Shiny" wasn't the word I would have used...

"of an a**e" would seem more fitting...