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.
Like a Human League song on sonic steroids. Growing up I always thought it was The Human League, and I didn’t know who Giorgio Moroder was until Daft Punk paid homage to him on their Random Access Memories album. And what a shame it is that Giovanni Giorgio Moroder doesn’t receive more acclaim. This man unleashed the power of the synthesizer. He was the one with the vision that saw it as the future of music. There would be no euro disco, synth pop and a key swath of new wave without him. “Together In Electric Dreams” is just as much his song as it’s Philip Oakey’s, if not more.
Oakey’s baritone vocals shine like crystals on the track. Simultaneously weighty and lofty, they give the song its upbeat demeanor together with that feel good melody. But the magic of the song is Moroder. He not only crafts gorgeous synth hooks, he uses it to create guitar-like riffs multiple times throughout the song. Moroder unleashed the synthesizer in ways we weren’t accustomed to hearing it. “Together In Electric Dreams” is much more than just a catchy synth pop song. It’s a foreshadowing of the dual vocal attacks of Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield, the synth chord progressions of early Erasure, and the disco vibes of Daft Punk.
“Because the friendship that you gave has taught me to be brave.”