As an eighties kid, synth pop has been pumping in my blood ever since that first day I turned on my MTV. There’s some debate as to who’s considered a synth pop band and who isn’t. For this September Music Twitter challenge – #SynthPopSeptember – I’m focusing more on what’s considered synth pop, not who. The songs I’m featuring on Mental Jukebox this month aren’t solely composed of synthesizers. There may be drums, bass, and dare I say, electric guitars. But each of these songs were picked because the synthesizer is core to its being.
During high school, I went through a cassette single phase. With no turntable to be found in my house, I resorted to cassettes before finally turning to CDs. Full LP cassettes, cassette singles and mix tapes lined my book shelf. I played some of them over and over again to the point where I can memorize every word, synth flourish and bass line even after not hearing the music for decades. A case in point: Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel ‘89” single.
This remake falls into that late 80’s synth pop resurgence that I wrote about earlier on Mental Jukebox. A movement with so many great songs and moments, but a short movement at that – squashed by the grunge era. To be clear, “Send Me An Angel ‘89” does have a brief guitar solo on it, but it’s the trademark synth riff – together with the angelic chants – that gives the song its new wave sensibility. Make me want to play it on my Casiotone.
“It gets in your eyes. It's making you cry. Don't know what to do. Don't know what to do.”