Synth Pop emerged as a genre of its own in the late 70s and impacted a lot of the music that filled the airwaves and the charts in the early to mid 80s. Giving birth to the New Romantic era of music, synth pop was so called because of the prominent sound of the synthesiser in the music. Even though synth pop has been away for a while, it’s been making a comeback influencing the sounds of contemporary artists ranging from Lady Gaga through to Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding. Celebrating the profound effect synth pop has had on music, a new 3-CD collection has been released packed with classics from the era.
Synth Pop reads like a who’s who of the late 70s and early 80s, featuring 53 of the most recognisable and iconic songs of the era. The collection kicks off with Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics and picks up the pace pretty fast. You know you’re on to a winning collection when Don’t You Want Me by The Human League, Cars by Gary Numan and Tainted Love by Soft Cell are sequenced one after the other.
There are so many highlights over the 53 tracks that it’s really hard to single out specific songs for mention. The late Donna Summer’s I Feel Love continues to be one of the greatest synth pop songs ever recorded whilst the irresistible Gold by Spandau Ballet continues to be both a karaoke and dancefloor favourite all these years on.
Elsewhere on the release New Order’s Blue Monday kicks off the second disc, Heaven 17’s Temptation sounds as glorious as it ever did and Kim Wilde’s Kids in America remains the brat anthem for a generation. Boyband A1 may have put their spin on Take On Me but nothing beats the A-Ha original, which is included on this collection. The third disc kicks off with the Tears For Fears classic Everybody Wants To Rule The World and offers up gems such as Alison Moyet’s Love Resurrection, Imagination’s Body Talk and Herbie Hancock’s Rockit.
Synth Pop is the kind of collection that every party needs. It’s all killer with no filler and it will ensure that people are dancing from the opening bars of Sweet Dreams through to the closing seconds of Art of Noise’s Moments in Love. Synth Pop was a fantastic era for British music and this collection serves to demonstrate the long-standing effect that it’s had on pop music across the globe. Add this one to your collection and be prepared to play it as the soundtrack to a lot of house parties.
