In 1975, the world was wearing "elephant bell-bottom" trousers, and a night out meant going to a discotheque, and dancing to funky rock music, i.e.: disco music ...

Silver Convention - Fly, Robin, Fly (1975)

By 1986, House Music had begun in America, and would soon jump to Ibiza and from there reach massive popularity in Europe, sparking Rave culture ...

Farley Jackmaster Funk - Love Can't Turn Around (1986)

But the music I love filled the decade in between. Some call it Techno Pop. Others call it Synth Pop, or Electro Pop, or late Space Rock, or Italo Disco. The advent of affordable analogue synthesizers, Space Invaders and Star Wars, all made this style of music possible. The advent of sampling synthesizers killed it (or rather transformed it from Techno Pop into plain Techno). 

Though the Techno Pop I love is a dead art, the old recordings are still as wonderful a listen as ever today. Maybe more wonderful: There’s a lot of charm in lyrics about what “the future” meant to people 30 years ago.

So let’s get in our time machine, and travel to 1975, a time when "EDM" meant "Education degree".

TECHNO POP, 1975-1985

1975

Kraftwerk - Antenna

Kraftwerk, along with Moroder and Vangelis, set the tone for the next ten years. There had been Space Rock, before they came along, but little in the way of catchy “synth only” pop music. Kraftwerk were different from the rest of the music scene. Even David Bowie was easier for the public to digest. At the time, Kraftwerk, with with their clean-cut appearance, and total absence of Rock music aggression, was hard to perceive as anything other than a novelty band (until that novelty swept the rest of the world, too)

1976

Vangelis - Albedo 0.39

I’m not sure if the main title of Blade Runner sounds impressive to young ears today. In 1982, it sounded like the future. The soundtrack of Blade Runner was already legendary in the 1980s, which is impressive considering a proper Soundtrack recording wasn’t released until 1994! If you wanted to hear it, you had to catch a showing at the movie theater.

1977

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene, Pt. 4

Jean-Michel Jarre didn’t have the staying power of Kraftwerk, but Oxygene was a massive hit in the 1980s. In the 1980s, the world was taken with JMJ, we loved him almost as much as he loved himself. 

Giorgio Moroder - From Here To Eternity

Giorgio is another giant of Synth Pop. More commercial than Kraftwerk, he (along with Donna Summer, and Casablanca records) had a huge hand in transforming Disco music. He turned it from guitar-based music, to an arpeggiated analogue celebration of technology. The music he produced in the mid seventies set the tone. It still amuses me that Kiss had him produce “Dynasty”. He was hardly an obvious choice to help create a heavy metal album. Recently, Daft Punk worked with Moroder, which has brought his name renewed attention. Moroder is also notable for releasing the world’s first album recorded, mastered and released entirely digitally (the album "E=MC²" from 1979)

1978

Rockets - On the Road Again

Rockets were a French “Space Rock” band. Gimmicky, but fun. 

Space Art - Nous Savons Tout

Great song, by another French artist. I don’t believe this was ever a big hit, but for 1978 it sounds so far ahead of its time. Also the title "WE KNOW ALL!"  is such a great sci-fi one-liner, so bad ass! Eat your heart out, Arthur C Clarke!

Dee D. Jackson - Automatic Lover

This was a huge disco hit. Very pop, very Moroder-inspired. Later in the 1990s, a few throw-away rave acts, like Messiah, borrowed the melody.

1979

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Rydeen

YMO was a prolific band from Japan; Asia’s answer to Kraftwerk. Check out their drummer - that guy is too cool for words.

Wolfgang Bock - Cycles

This is Vangelis type fare. Not a huge hit, not even pop music. It's worth including because it captures the spirit, and is so dreamy and timeless besides.

1980

Yello - Eternal Legs

A perfect song, by another giant of Techno Pop. Even before Ferris Bueller made them world-famous with “Oh Yeah” in 1986, they had already scored a minor hit with “Bostich.” Formed in Switzerland, the band is basically a collaboration between a nerdy musician, and a millionaire who sang and provided financing.

Krisma - Cathode Mamma

Chrisma/Krisma was an Italian band. They transitioned from Disco, to Goth/New Wave, to Techno Pop. They weren’t very successful at the time, but their reputation has grown and grown. Rumor has it Vangelis produced them.

Telex - We Are All Getting Old

This would be Belgium’s answer to Kraftwerk. Better known for their track "Moskow Diskow" which is also great fun.

1981

Data - Opera Electronica

Data was a Georg Kajanus project. Aside from being a rock star, in the band Sailor, his ancestors were Russian royalty. After the revolution, his family moved to Norway. He is also one of the most technically capable music composers in all of popular music. Check out his bio, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Kajanus

Trans-X - Living On Video

This one had a fair amount of commercial success. The style is Italo Disco, but the band was actually French Canadian. The video is a real blast. The girl looks like she stepped off the set of a John Hughes movie. The song inspired a lot of subsequent europop... mainly bad europop.

Kuruki - Crocodile Tears

Another Belgian artist. The singing is very 1980s "everything is serious" stuff. Nice tune, though.

1982

Patrick Cowley - Megatron Man

Cowley made underground gay disco. The production is superb. Equal parts futuristic cool, and commercial cheese. He was American, but his sound is very Italo/NRG Disco.

Yazoo - Situation

You've heard this one before, no doubt. Yazoo was the duo Vince Clarke formed after parting ways with Depeche Mode.

1983

Laid Back - White Horse   

Danish techno pop. "White Horse" was a quirky B-Side that ended up charting in several countries. The video looks like it had a decent budget considering the year it was made. 

Charlie - Spacer Woman

Not a huge hit, but such a charming tune. It sounds like they wanted a vocoder, but didn’t have access to one, and settled for a tremolo unit.

Lama - 1993

Very polished, commercial sound. If you lived through the eighties, the lyrics in the song will make you nostalgic: after all, we’re listening in 2016 to these lyrics recorded in 1983, envisioning what the future would be like in 1993. Ha! Sigh. 

Mr. Flagio - Take a Chance

Italo Disco. From Italy, appropriately enough.

Paul Hardcastle - King Tut

We’re reaching the end of our ten years now. At this point, we see the beginnings of synth-based music transforming into something else. Less analog, more influenced by rap music…

Paul Hardcastle hit it big a couple years after this with his anti-war hit “19.” His sound, jazzier and more soul-inspired than Kraftwerk, went on to influence House artists.

Midnight Star - Electricity

You can hear the influence of “Planet Rock”, Afrika Bambaataa’s hit from the previous year. “Planet Rock” itself was based on a Kraftwerk melody. European tech influence, fusing with American rap and soul.

1984

Depeche Mode - Master And Servant

And suddenly... FM synths, and samplers. Analog synths are destined to be "old technology".  This is awkward because it was still cheaper to buy a car than a Synclavier.

1985

Art of Noise - Legs

“Art of Noise” destroyed the sound of the previous ten years. For several years following “Legs”, it looked like it was over for analogue synths. Sampling synthesizers is where it was at.

And our journey is complete. I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll leave you with… end titles. Hit it, Evangelos!