Synth Jazzasist (yes, I just invented the word Jazzasist, deal with it) and funk futurist Herbie Hancock decided to blow people’s tiny minds in 1983 by releasing ‘Rockit’, a record with synthesizers, scratching and vocoding in it. Everyone was bewildered, it became a massive hit in the UK. Which meant that British video makers (and Pop cryers) Godley & Creme had to make a video that was even more bewildering.
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Van Go Lion are back with a brand new single, so soon after the release of ‘Body Moves’.
‘We Don’t Miss A Beat’ comes out on London label Aztec Records today and continues in VGL’s quest for ElectroPop dominance. Swapping ‘Body Moves’’ dancefloor sexuality for a feel-good party vibe this time around ‘We Don’t Miss A Beat’ shimmers and glides through, a perfect, three and a half minutes of electronic Pop at it’s finest.
♫ Van Go Lion – We Don’t Miss A Beat
‘We Don’t Miss A Beat’ is released today.
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Nottingham’s finest proponent of retro DiscoPop, Ronika, finally releases her ‘Forget Yourself’/’Wiyoo’ single next week.
We introduced you to the A-side early last month, now just ahead of the single release you can have a listen to the B-side, ‘Wiyoo’ (as in Why you?) cements her position as the Madonna of the midlands, only with more New York Disco authenticity and than Madge could ever muster. This track could quite easily be the theme tune and hit single to a 1984 edgy rom-com called Wiyoo, probably starring Ronika in her first major motion picture role, bringing some of the style and sass that allowed her to dominate the charts in ‘82-‘83 to the screen. If you get what I mean. The music, though, is pure early 80’s DiscoPop of the highest calibre. Many people try to emulate this sound but Ronika seems to be able to do it effortlessly and unlike many of her contemporaries does it without a hint of pastiche or novelty. ‘Wiyoo’ sounds totally authentic.
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Florrie’s ‘Experimenting With Rugs’ will be featured on her second EP. She explains in this blog post how she keeps independent, and why (although I’m sure working for Xenomania doesn’t really hurt her situation), which is pretty unusual for an artist, to explain where their money comes from in such detail. To be honest Florrie seems to have it really together and will probably make more from her music than if she was on a major.
Florrie’s ‘Experiments’ EP is out 14th June,
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I don’t know what to say about this really.
SaiR’s pretty much made my weekend re-editing Ray Parker Jr.’s ‘Ghostbusters’, he’s done a really good job too.
Just listen.
♫ Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters (SaiR Re-Edit)
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Legendary producer Martin Rushent passed away at the weekend aged 63. Marin was responsible for not only shaping the sound of SynthPop and ElectroPop but, with the The League Unlimited Orchestra’s ‘Love And Dancing’ was a pioneer of the reMix world. He also produced the greatest album of all time, The Human League’s ‘Dare’, in 1981. Here is ‘Love Action (I Believe In Love)’. The world is slightly worse off today.
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‘Shellshock’ is my favourite New Order song. For me it’s broken beats and use of sampling were so ahead of their time (well, the sampling not so much, but cool anyhow) in 1986. Just picture Duckie BMXing it around and around outside Iona’s house in Pretty In Pink if you don’t like the video.
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The mighty Howard jones is, despite being an absolute legend, shamefully underappreciated, to the extent that he gets a bad rap, even from so-called ElectroPop lovers. Don’t worry Howie, i got your back!
Here is 1985’s ‘Things Can Only Get Better’
Howard was mocked a lot for having a guy who did noting but dance and look like a bit if a tit with him. doesn’t that apply to 3/4 of The Prodigy too?
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Here’s Bronski Beat’s 1986 top ten hit ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’. The track contains one of the catchiest lead lines you will ever hear! The clips in the video come from the film Letter To Brezhnev, which features the song on it’s soundtrack.
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electronic rumors 