Season 292 - 80's Synth Pop

One Man And His Uke

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SEASON 292 - 80's SYNTH POP

Before we go any further with this, I know we have already had an 80s season, which was SOTU 237, but for this season your source material is specifically synth pop from the 80s, pop music driven primarily by synthesisers, often with electronic rhythm too. Guitars, drums were sometimes played in these songs but they were secondary to the electronic sounds.

Here are some of the artists ( some of whom were covered in SOTU 237) you might want to look at, some are the obvious ones, some less so:
The Human League, Heaven 17, Ultravox, John Foxx, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Blancmange, Pet Shop Boys, Soft Cell, Visage, Gary Numan, Eurythmics, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Tears for Fears, Japan, Landscape, Flock of Seagulls, The Buggles, Bronski Beat, The Communards, Yello, Alphaville, Aha, Thompson Twins, Duran Duran , Spandau Ballet, Kraftwerk, China Crisis, Cabaret Voltaire, ABC, Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Obviously many of the above were recording before and after the 80s, but it is their output from that decade I'd like you to focus on.

Don't forget Giorgio Moroder and some of the artists he worked with during the 80s, ( e.g. Limahl, Phil Oakey to name but two.....)

I'd also love to hear any artists who are not on the list, from anywhere around the world. I'm exited to hear how predominantly electronic pop translates to the ukulele. It's gonna be fun.

Originals are welcome too from any of the very fine Seasonista song writers. And if you've never written a song before, why not have a go now? Originals could be pastiches of 80s Synth Pop, or about how much you love/ loathe Synth Pop.

Any lurkers who are tentatively thinking about having a go at Seasons, now's as good a time as any. Throw off the chains of lurkhood...or is that lurkinghood?

Rules:
Ukulele to be main instrument.
Videos to be new recordings for this season.
Videos to show this is Season 292.

Season starts 12.00 am Hawaii time on Sunday 17th and ends 11.59pm Hawaii time the following Sunday.

Multi tracking is fine.
Collaborations are fine.
Other instruments are fine too.

There will be one or two token prizes drawn at random.

Don't forget Uke4ia's season still has a day to go.

ENJOY!

Playlist below

SOTU 292
 
Love the intro (esp. Berni in his attic ... :D )

You may be inundated with entries... BEVOMU may run out of computer memory ...
 
You *!#?* You pinched my next theme.

(Those symbols represented something pretty mild as well)

However...

Should be fun.
 
I may be deaf by the end of researching this week. Love the synth and the gated drum sounds of the 80's. Got every song cranked up!
 
Anyway, I'd best get some sleep. Thanks for the positive response. Sorry for nicking your theme Geoff ;). Roll on midnight in Hawaii, and I'm really looking forward to what you all bring :music:
 
What a brilliant introduction, John .... and, no, I did NOT like the background music! I am now totally flummoxed as I do not possess either a synthesizer or a drum machine and have no idea how to dub them on; multi-tracking indeed!!! However, I shall do my best to produce something; it sounds like a fun (if noisy) week!
 
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

Time to delve deep into my dad's record collection.
 
So excited...I think I just wet myself. I will likely go overboard so I apologize in advance. EXCELLENT intro video mate. See you tomorrow
 
What a brilliant introduction, John .... and, no, I did NOT like the background music! I am now totally flummoxed as I do not possess either a synthesizer or a drum machine and have no idea how to dub them on; multi-tracking indeed!!! However, I shall do my best to produce something; it sounds like a fun (if noisy) week!

Use of synths/drum machines is not compulsory Val. I'm sure some of the most interesting covers will be Seasonistas just playing uke. If you struggle pm me and I will help.

Ps, and you DIDN'T like the background music? :(
 
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