After last weekends fantastic ‘Synth Brittania‘ documentary on BBC4 there’s no better time to introduce Wilberforce’s second Cosmic Disco mix with some words from the man himself…

By the late 1970’s, as musical technology such as synthesisers, sequencers, and drum machines became more accessible, so white rock musicians previously limited by the guitar-bass-drums format mined this expanded sonic palette to evolve a stark and angular form of dance music. Of course, Kraftwerk were the pioneers of what was dubbed ‘Synth-Pop’ (Personally, I’d call it Electro-Dance), but as the 70’s became the 80’s, many others followed suit, with even ‘Real’ instruments given a synthetic makeover.

This development probably peaked around 1983, when musicians were still using the technology rather than the technology using them. But as the 80’s wore on, that situation was sadly reversed: as far as I’m concerned, the death knell sounded when samplers had become cheap and powerful enough for any fool without an ounce of musical imagination to sample a few bars of other people’s music, loop it, and then rap over the top.

Despite that, a great legacy has been left: there are plenty of tracks that have become classics of the kind (New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ immediately springs to mind), but here I’ve put together some perhaps-less-well-known-but–equally-good-if-not-better-in-my-opinion material.

Wilberforce – Rise of The Machines

• The Associates – Grecian 2000
• The Blue Nile – Tinseltown In The Rain
• Bryan Ferry – The Chosen One
• The League Unlimited Orchestra – Hard Times
• Propaganda – The Murder Of Love
• The Thompson Twins – Love On Your Side
• Scarlet Fantastic – No Memory
• Scritti Politti – Absolute (Version)
• Soft Cell – Torch
• Simple Minds – Thirty Frames A Second
• The Tom Tom Club – Wordy Rappinghood
• Yello – I Love You
• Japan – Life In Tokyo
• King Crimson – Sartori In Tangier
• Fashion – Streetplayer-Mechanik
• Visage – Night Train
• The Eurythmics – This Is The House
• The Lotus Eaters – You Don’t Need Someone New
• Robert Palmer – Looking For Clues
• John Foxx – Europe After The Rain
• The Cars – Heartbeat City