Synth Britannia

soundstory · 22-10-2009, 10:41 AM

Hi all,

Did anybody catch this on BBC4?.

Being a synth fan (and of a certain age), I really enjoyed it, obviously a few bands were missed out, but all in all very good, the same quality as the previous Britannia docs

Pecker · 22-10-2009, 11:41 AM

I put it on the planner and watched it the night before last. A very good programme with lots of great memories. It was good to see the topic being given a decent, extended running time (about 90 minutes, I think).

Altogether now:

TVOD

TVOD

TVOD

TVOD

TVOD

Steve W

soundstory · 22-10-2009, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pecker

I put it on the planner and watched it the night before last. A very good programme with lots of great memories. It was good to see the topic being given a decent, extended running time (about 90 minutes, I think).

Altogether now:

TVOD

TVOD

TVOD

TVOD

TVOD

Steve W

TVOD !!!!!!

Billo · 22-10-2009, 1:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundstory

TVOD !!!!!!

Mmmmmmm Warm Leatherette

Just one of several of my vinyl electronic offerings that will clear a room in seconds

**Curly99** · 22-10-2009, 3:33 PM

Excellent documentary, as already said it brought back the memories and I have been listening to the CDs from the likes of John Foxx, Fad Gadget, Human League..etc, some I already had and some I ordered, I already have a lot of them on vinyl.Anyway in a similar vain as in it covers the same ground, head on over to BBC 6 Music, there has been a 4 part documentary "The Great Beep Forward" that has been on since Monday, last part is tonight but you can listen to the other 3 half hour instalments via iPlayer.

Curly

soundstory · 22-10-2009, 4:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curly99

Excellent documentary, as already said it brought back the memories and I have been listening to the CDs from the likes of John Foxx, Fad Gadget, Human League..etc, some I already had and some I ordered, I already have a lot of them on vinyl.Anyway in a similar vain as in it covers the same ground, head on over to BBC 6 Music, there has been a 4 part documentary "The Great Beep Forward" that has been on since Monday, last part is tonight but you can listen to the other 3 half hour instalments via iPlayer.

Curly

Thaqnks for the heads-up, will check it out !

Dave Weystoner · 22-10-2009, 7:34 PM

Never got into that newfangled synth stuff: give me a Hammond with Leslie or a monophonic Moog and I right there in my loons and beads.

Dave

**Kieron** · 23-10-2009, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curly99

Excellent documentary, as already said it brought back the memories and I have been listening to the CDs from the likes of John Foxx, Fad Gadget, Human League..etc, some I already had and some I ordered, I already have a lot of them on vinyl.Anyway in a similar vain as in it covers the same ground, head on over to BBC 6 Music, there has been a 4 part documentary "The Great Beep Forward" that has been on since Monday, last part is tonight but you can listen to the other 3 half hour instalments via iPlayer.

Curly

Many thanks, just grabbed the first 3 episodes. Just awaiting ep 4 now on iplayer

**Kieron** · 23-10-2009, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundstory

Hi all,

Did anybody catch this on BBC4?.

Being a synth fan (and of a certain age), I really enjoyed it, obviously a few bands were missed out, but all in all very good, the same quality as the previous Britannia docs

Really enjoyed it. Left me wondering why no mention of Jean Michelle Jarre though.....

Could understand his omission had it just been British bands, but there was a lot of time devoted to the German band Kraftwerk.....

Great show though

soundstory · 23-10-2009, 7:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieron

Really enjoyed it. Left me wondering why no mention of Jean Michelle Jarre though.....

Could understand his omission had it just been British bands, but there was a lot of time devoted to the German band Kraftwerk.....

Great show though

You can add Vangelis to that as well.

But I'm convinced that neither of them were influential to the bands featured.

Not taking away however from the talents of either of course

evangelink · 23-10-2009, 1:02 PM

This was probably the most entertaining 90 minutes of TV I've seen in a long while! I was very young when half of these bands started so missed out, but was an interesting bit of history for me, and very inspiring. Went straight upstairs to beaver away on the synth!

**Kieron** · 23-10-2009, 4:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundstory

You can add Vangelis to that as well.

But I'm convinced that neither of them were influential to the bands featured.

Not taking away however from the talents of either of course

Yeah - good point about Vangelis. I'm convinced though that Vince Clarke took some of JMJ's styles and sounds - especially on his early Depeche Mode tracks.

Still, great show.

**Curly99** · 23-10-2009, 8:15 PM

Friday 23rd BBC4 10pm - 11pm Kraftwerk - Minimum/Maximum

Curly

DJT75 · 28-10-2009, 2:37 PM

Was an excellent programme, good to see Vince being so honest about his DM walk out for once & makes total sense now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curly99

Friday 23rd BBC4 10pm - 11pm Kraftwerk - Minimum/Maximum

Curly

Watched a bit of this but found it hard going. Kraftwerk live isn't exactly the wildest of gigs, made even more difficult watching it on TV, mostly from a still camera.

soundstory · 28-10-2009, 4:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJT75

Was an excellent programme, good to see Vince being so honest about his DM walk out for once & makes total sense now.

Watched a bit of this but found it hard going. Kraftwerk live isn't exactly the wildest of gigs, made even more difficult watching it on TV, mostly from a still camera.

I saw them at Bestival this year, I enjoyed them far more than I was expecting to.

evangelink · 28-10-2009, 8:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundstory

I saw them at Bestival this year, I enjoyed them far more than I was expecting to.

And I completely missed them!

I remember walking through the field trying to find mates and hearing an absolutely incredible song, that I now know is 'Radioactivity'. The sound and music were fantastic, and made me do a lot of listening when I got back.

The Minimum/Maximum show was very good, although I think some of their songs could do with a bit of a shorter live edit. Even my girlfriend was enjoying it.

Seeker_UK · 28-10-2009, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billo

Just one of several of my vinyl electronic offerings that will clear a room in seconds

I found that "Nag Nag nag" by Cabaret Voltaire or "Discipline" by TG did a better job

soundstory · 29-10-2009, 1:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evangelink

And I completely missed them!

I remember walking through the field trying to find mates and hearing an absolutely incredible song, that I now know is 'Radioactivity'. The sound and music were fantastic, and made me do a lot of listening when I got back.

The Minimum/Maximum show was very good, although I think some of their songs could do with a bit of a shorter live edit. Even my girlfriend was enjoying it.

You fool ! it was excellent, much better than Massice Attack's moody Friday night slot

**Curly99** · 29-10-2009, 1:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seeker_UK

I found that "Nag Nag nag" by Cabaret Voltaire or "Discipline" by TG did a better job

Does the same here, btw I have Nag Nag Nag as my ring tone I get some look when it goes off on the bus.

Curly

PJTX100 · 02-11-2009, 3:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieron

Really enjoyed it. Left me wondering why no mention of Jean Michelle Jarre though.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundstory

You can add Vangelis to that as well.

And Tangerine Dream only mentioned fleetingly.

Kraftwerk / Giorgio though were more rhythmic-oriented and more in line with the way synth-pop developed. Walter/Wendy Carlos though?

Giorgio's 'I Feel Love' really shone as ground-breaking and sounds still as good to this day.

Whereas (IMHO) a lot of that early UK synth stuff sounded exactly what it was - raw, and in many ways crude, with more nostalgia value than musical merit.