OMD made their return to the spiritual home of electronic music.
It was all in support of ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’, appropriately their most KRAFTWERK sounding album ever. In 2018, OMD will be celebrating forty years in as a live entity, so it would have been reasonable to be expect them to either rest on their laurels and turn into a pub blues band.
But with their new album ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys’ breadth of musicality, technological curiosity and lyrical wordplay has been as strong as ever. At Düsseldorf’s prestigious Mitsubishi Electric Halle, formally Der Philipshalle, the pair were accompanied by long standing keyboardist Martin Cooper and drummer Stuart Kershaw who had his first live stint with OMD in 1993.
On the equipment front, Humphreys and Cooper had shifted from their trusty Roland X8 work stations to Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol keyboards, while Kershaw came armed with an acoustic looking but very electronic drum-tec kit with a Roland TD20 brain.
Proceedings began in an elegant pastoral manner with ‘Ghost Star’, its VANGELIS overtones sounding epically European and easing the audience into an evening of high octane entertainment. The next five numbers were full-on electronic pop of varying vintages with the evergreen ‘Messages’ and bouncy ‘Tesla Girls’ representing the first phase of OMD, while ‘Isotype’ and ‘One More Time’ from the new album sat comfortably alongside a kaleidoscopic ‘History of Modern (Part 1)’, all under big blocks of light in the colours of the album artwork.
For this tour, OMD introduced a novel online vote idea where those attending could choose a song from three to be played at that evening’s performance. In the UK, this had backfired slightly as ‘If You Leave’ kept being chosen… tonight, McCluskey found time to joke about how “Merkel, Trump and Brexit” were examples of democracy gone wrong.
In Düsseldorf though, they chose wisely and ‘Genetic Engineering’ got the nod over ‘If You Leave’ and ‘She’s Leaving; but as the city that gave the world KRAFTWERK, DIE KRUPPS, NEU! and DAF, nothing less could have been expected 😉
As Paul Humphreys sang his pair of hits ‘(Forever) Live & Die’ and ‘Souvenir’, the ever energetic McCluskey didn’t go off for a lie down like DEPECHE MODE’s Dave Gahan does during Martin Gore’s piano noodling spot.
He remained firmly on stage, getting behind the keyboards for the former while just being a bass guitarist for the latter. The ‘Joan Of Arc’ biopic captivated the assembled crowd, and with The ‘Maid Of Orleans’ variant being Germany’s best-selling single of 1982, McCluskey gave it his all with flinging arms akimbo to Kershaw’s militaristic rolls and a barrage of strobe lighting.
And while McCluskey’s dad dancing and windmill moves may continue to polarise some observers, it is obvious that despite being several years older, he makes more effort than Gahan has done in 2017 and despite nursing a knee injury, one would be oblivious that the OMD frontman wasn’t physically 100%.
New material like ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ title song and ‘What Have We Done’ slotted in seamlessly next to the classic OMD material, with none of the awkwardness at 21st Century DEPECHE MODE concerts when the new songs often go down like farts in a spacesuit that ultimately kill momentum.
In fact on the ‘Global Spirit’ tour, there is no momentum at all until halfway through, but OMD’s show is a well-paced live presentation and even on more pedestrian tunes like ‘So In Love’ and ‘Locomotion’, McCluskey knows how to connect with the audience via his eye contact, gestures and enthusiasm. If OMD possess an arena stomper, then ‘Sailing On The Seven Seas’ is it, while ‘Enola Gay’ exuded the right balance of emotive melody and rhythmic tension.
Some have complained that OMD’s music is not dark enough, but if a song about 80,000 people being burnt alive isn’t dark, then what is? Only naming a bomber after your mother to do the dirty deed, as pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets did, is darker… and as the band left the stage, the Teutonic “ZU-GA-BE” chant from the audience in perfect time with the continuing drum machine pattern was simultaneously frightening and exhilarating!
The encore provided a recital of ‘Pandora’s Box’, a hit from the solo McCluskey era of OMD which has a similar chordal structure to ‘If You Leave’. But behind the pop, there has always been an intelligent if occasionally cryptic narrative behind OMD’s songs, whether the subject is silent film stars, telephone boxes, oil refineries, evangelism, French saints, emojis, the implosion of the universe, suicide, murder, economic corruption, girls who use electrical devices, letter writing, archaeology, biological research or sustainable fuel sources! And it was with this final topic that OMD closed with the “sehr schnell” ‘Electricity’.
In their 2017 tour programme, Paul Humphreys said: “As a band, we keep trying to forge ahead, pushing the band into the future, while respecting and embracing our past. This tour will be reflecting this. We are the type of band who embrace our hits, after all, we owe a 39 year career to them, they have enabled us to remain and to exist, still making records and touring the road…” – it’s a humble attitude that other acts, particularly one from Basildon, could benefit from adopting.
Releasing their first album in 2010, it’s been a steady path of progression for TINY MAGNETIC PETS.
It was helped along by an endorsement from The Blitz Club’s legendary DJ Rusty Egan, where the Numan-eqsue ‘Control Me’ and the dreampop of ‘We Shine’ were regular staples of his Electronic Family Tree radio show. But when ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK introduced TINY MAGNETIC PETS to Andy McCluskey in Düsseldorf at the 2015 Electri_City_Conference , little did anyone realise what it would lead to.
The end result was the charming Irish trio were invited to open for OMD on the UK leg of ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ tour. However, the sojourn actually began at home in Dublin; “we had a massive crowd and following there” remembered singer Paula Gilmer, “the reaction was incredible”. But to get to this point, months of logistical planning and rehearsal had been required.
The band’s gear was kept streamlined as they were using nothing more than a 4 door hatchback with a flux capacitor on their UK jaunt. Also, the band had just 30 minutes each night to make their impression.
“When you do a tour like this” drummer Eugene Somers says, “you have to be aware of your time slot and that you’re on / you’re off! With this tour, it was going to be electronics all the way. The kit is basically an SPD-SX, you have to compromise”. It looks like a tea tray, but cranked up through OMD’s sound system, it is mighty.
On the keyboard front, synthesist Sean Quinn has had to strip it all down to a Roland XP10 workstation and a Novation which he enthuses as being “a fantastic workhorse of a synth, it’s quick and easy and has Moog sounds, ARPs, string machines”.
This set-up makes things easier at soundchecks which can be tedious and frustrating affairs. At the Cambridge Corn Exchange, things go reasonably well but Eugene is not happy about a slapback on his bass drum.
After a quick discussion with sound engineer Chicky Reeves, a solution is offered and accepted. Luckily as the band are using an electronic kit, the adjustment is much more straightforward. Eugene could be referred to as a colours drummer, much like OMD sticksman Stuart Kershaw and the pair bond well during the tour.
A bit of a reggae fan, Eugene is heavily influenced by Stewart Copeland and his subtle style adds power when appropriate. He is a drummer that actually enhances an electronic band, unlike the numbskull antics of Christian Eigner, the polarising drumhead for DEPECHE MODE.
For Paula, things are less complicated with her not needing to set-up or clear-up equipment; “Mine’s easiest” she laughs, “just the tambourine”. But she works closely with the band’s manager Una Fagan on the business side and as the pretty face of the band, she is the first to go and meet the public after TMP’s and OMD’s performances.
While the soundcheck is in progress, Una is liaising with OMD’s tour manager about catering arrangements while also completing PRS forms.
A vital source of income for live acts, some bands don’t even bother registering and it’s a testament to TINY MAGNETIC PETS’ professionalism that they have taken this aspect seriously. At dinner, the band sit with the crew and OMD’s Martin Cooper. Sean gets distracted by an amusing conversation that Eugene and the crew are having about embarrassing albums in their collections.
Earlier, Sean and Eugene had a fierce but friendly discussion in the dressing room about whether being a fan of YES and MUSE was mutually exclusive! Paula doesn’t get involved, saving her voice and disappearing into her own space in preparation for the show after having her salad.
TINY MAGNETIC PETS are treated well by OMD and their crew. However, this is not always been the case with support acts on tours with other major acts. One artist wasn’t spoken to by the headliner, while the crew blanked them on the tour bus. They were even asked to reduce the number of items they had for sale on the merchandise stand.
Luckily, there’s no such issues for TINY MAGNETIC PETS; Una chats with the merchandise personnel about positioning their items to the right of the stand next to a lobby area where Paula, Sean and Eugene can meet and greet new fans. “It couldn’t be better. We’re really at ease and totally enjoying it” says Paula while Eugene is very happy that “They’re treating us like kings and queens”.
There is enthusiasm after TINY MAGNETIC PETS’ set at Cambridge. It has gone well and Paula’s Irish charm has won over people. “We’ve been selling a lot of CDs and vinyl” says Sean, “that’s been a surprise” while Paula adds “People have said that they’re not too into support acts but are loving us which is so lovely to hear” – even those who have chosen not to make a purchase come over to offer their positive feedback to the band.
Eugene enjoys the aftershow banter too, noting: “It’s so good to meet the fans and in turn, give it back to us. That is a key factor. There are people finding us for the first time on the day and it’s lovely compliments we’re getting”.
Between sets, a chance meeting with Paul Humphreys on the stairs backstage results in a conversation about TMP’s set. As a fan of KRAFTWERK and LA DÜSSELDORF, the OMD synth man is quite taken with ‘Semaphore’, especially its extended instrumental section which echoes ‘Europe Endless’ and ‘Rheinita’.
If SAINT ETIENNE collaborated with KRAFTWERK, TINY MAGNETIC PETS would probably be that composite end result.
But at 10 minutes long, ‘Semaphore’ takes up a third of the allotted set time but “it was always going in and it was unanimous” according to Eugene; “Apart from anything else” enthuses Sean, “it’s just a lot of fun to play live, there has to be a certain edge when you’re playing live”. ‘Semaphore’ certainly seems to be the track making the biggest impression; “People always come up to us and ask ‘what was that last song?’” says Sean, “that’s fascinating”.
Social media has picked up for TINY MAGNETIC PETS so prompt reciprocal engagement is important to build support. Twitter acts as the most straightforward live platform, while Facebook takes a bit more effort and is usually looked at after the show at the hotel. “The comments have been great on Twitter and Facebook” confirms Sean.
Throughout the tour, the all-important likes and follows come in with ease, but it’s the actual comments and feedback which make gauging reaction much easier.
TINY MAGNETIC PETS make efforts to take selfies and provide a pictorial travelogue to connect with the audience and potential media outlets. This is one aspect they have good hang of and something that other acts in the same position as them can learn from. The band usually watch OMD perform although this can be dependent on how far Una’s car has had to be parked from the venue.
A keen dancer, Paula likes to see as much of OMD performance as possible, almost as a way of unwinding; “We have watched OMD every night, it’s an amazing show. ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ and ‘What Have We Done’ are sounding fantastic live”. Meanwhile, Sean adds: “It’s wonderful hearing these records in a live setting. I love the new album”.
It was interesting to observe that even off duty, Paula is recognised by well-wishers who come up to her during the show to compliment her on the band’s performance and her fine voice.
But she is an experienced and charismatic performer who connects well with people; “When we’re performing” she confirmed, “we like to build it up so we started with the slow, chilled back stuff and build up to the climax. We’re pushing a lot of the new stuff and it’s going down a treat”.
Their new album ‘Deluxe/Debris’ builds on the momentum of ‘The NATO Alphabet’ EP from 2016 and fittingly features ex-KRAFTWERK percussionst Wolfgang Flür on two songs ‘Radio On’ and ‘Never Alone’ with the latter, an enticing highlight of the Cambridge set. The album has been released by Happy Robots Records, a small independent label run by Adam Cresswell. He’d enjoyed the first album and got chatting with the band online over a shared ability to quote ‘Spinal Tap’. “They were friendly, professional and seemed to be actual music fans, which is essential in my opinion” he remembered, “so at their next London gig, I stumbled over to the lads at the bar, and asked ‘who is putting out your next album?’. And it just fell into place. I had no idea Wolfgang was going to be on the album or that they would get the OMD tour, but clearly somebody up there likes me”.
But what was been selling more, vinyl or CD?: “The plan was always to put the album out on vinyl” said the label boss, “Although expensive, it was worth it for aesthetic reasons alone. On LP it looks, sounds and feels like a classic synth pop record. It was fan pressure that talked me into pressing a CD, and on tour the CD has been selling more and that is totally understandable – you can’t stick an LP in your back pocket. But no-one anticipated the numbers we would sell and that we would be repressing before we’d hit the halfway point. The LP is still selling nicely online too”.
As the tour progresses, TINY MAGNETIC PETS continue to impress. At Southampton Guild Hall, Lorraine Brown of My Music Passion observed: “it was really special to see TMP perform on a big stage to an audience of thousands. Their set went down incredibly well and, given that I was sat on the balcony, I could see the audience were well and truly engaged and seeing so many of the audience members congratulate them on the performance afterwards was a joy”.
Meanwhile in London, their longest standing champion Rusty Egan expressed his delight: “I was very pleased to see TINY MAGNETIC PETS who proved to me and the OMD audience at the Roundhouse that their simple melodic synthpop songs with a great vocalist are winning new fans”; he was also very pleased “they also thanked me for my small part in their success”.
‘Nuntius’ star Mr Normall also reported that: “TINY MAGNETIC PETS managed to fill the floor at the Roundhouse from the start of their set and that doesn’t happen too often with support bands. I believe all the audience were not there just to see Paula on stage but the band has gained a new following with their second album ‘Deluxe/Debris’ and the gig at the Roundhouse proved that the increased popularity is rightfully earned”.
In Guildford, Chris Payne who played in GARY NUMAN’s band comes backstage to give his best wishes to TINY MAGNETIC PETS. It is also the first time he has seen Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys since OMD opened for Numan on ‘The Touring Principle’ in 1979. With the reunion came hearty recollections of on tour practical jokes, like when Chris sabotaged Winston The Tape Recorder on the final night at Hammersmith Odeon and how Andy still owes him a fiver!
By the time the tour reaches Glasgow and its notoriously hard-to-please crowd, it was clear the band had hit their stride. Ian Ferguson of local synthpop duo RAINLAND noted that “everyone seated around me were asking the name of the support and were impressed both by the performance and that I was on their guest list…”
As the tour reaches its end via Birmingham and Gateshead, TINY MAGNETIC PETS don’t want to go home and even have a jokey photo taken of them trying to stowaway in the back of OMD’s truck.
Undoubtedly, the last four weeks have been a success. What happens next is up to them, but whatever TINY MAGNETIC PETS do now, there are undoubtedly more people interested than there were before. And it’s to OMD’s credit that they give new electronic acts an opportunity to play on a big stage with them.
TINY MAGNETIC PETS follow a fine tradition of acts like VILLA NAH, MIRRORS, METROLAND and VILE ELECTRODES who were all featured on ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK prior to being invited to open for OMD.
Long may that tradition continue 🙂
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to TINY MAGNETIC PETS and Una Fagan
Special thanks to Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Stuart Kershaw
In a strong year for albums, OMD have released one of the best of 2017 in ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ and the campaign continues with a new single and video for one of its highlights ‘What Have We Done’.
With a Synthanorma sequence that retains the essence of their KRAFTWERK inspired roots, ‘What Have We Done’ features Paul Humphreys on lead vocals. The life, love and loss lyrics for this waltzing lament came to him after having to put his dog Patsy to sleep.
However, this slice of passionate Modernen Industrielle Volksmusik could also act as symbolism for the end of any relationship, whether political or personal, and coupled to a beautifully sparkling melody recalling Ryuichi Sakamoto’s ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’, the song has deservedly become a live favourite on OMD’s current tour in support of ‘‘The Punishment Of Luxury’.
The observational video itself has a circle of life narrative that also recalls the ‘Powers Of Ten’ films directed by Charles and Ray Eames, where scenes are expanded out from the Earth.
Heading into their 40th anniversary as a performing unit when they played at Liverpool’s Eric’s in the Autumn of 1978 accompanied by Winston the tape recorder, the breadth of musicality, technological curiosity and lyrical wordplay of OMD is as strong as ever.
It’s a big lesson to those contemporaries of theirs, whose recent albums have not been particularly good, as to what spirit actually is…
OMD’s ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ 2017 UK tour with opening act TINY MAGNETIC PETS includes:
Bexhill Del La Warr Pavilion (15th November), Manchester Academy (17th November), York Barbican (18th November), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (19th November), Birmingham Symphony Hall (21st November), Gateshead Sage (22nd November)
2017 European dates with opening act HOLYGRAM include:
Erfut Traum Hits Festival (25th November), Hamburg Grosse Freiheit (26th November), Berlin Huxleys (28th November), Leipzig Haus Auenesse (29th November), Munich Tonhalle (30th November), Offenbach Stadthalle (2nd December), Düsseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Hall (3rd December), Tilburg 013 (5th December), Antwerp De Roma (6th December), Lausanne Les Docks (8th December)
2018 two man shows featuring Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys only include:
Stockholm Vasateatern (5th February), Gothenburg Pustervik (6th February), Oslo Rockefeller (7th February), Copenhagen DR Studie 2 (9th February), Warsaw Progresja (11th February), Paris Bataclan (12th February), Barcelona Razzmatazz (14th February), Madrid La Riviera (15th February),
Lisbon Aula Magna (16th February), Isle of Man Douglas Villa Marina Hall (20th February)
With ‘English Electric’ in 2013, OMD produced their finest album in thirty years with founder members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys successfully playing to their strengths.
Utilising McCluskey’s conceptual overview and cryptic lyricism covered in metaphor, coupled to Humphreys’ musical direction and melodic magic, the end result was a work of art to savour with songs like ‘Metroland’ and ‘Kissing The Machine’ fully exploiting their Synth-Werk seeds. Meanwhile, ‘Dresden’ and ‘Stay With Me’ were fine examples of their respective individual palettes adapted for the greater good of the band.
And this was without the magnificence of ‘Our System’, the pastel synthpop of ‘Night Café’ and the passionate glory of ‘Helen Of Troy’. ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is OMD’s thirteenth long player and could be considered a natural progression from ‘English Electric’. The album takes its name from an 1891 painting by Giovanni Segantini.
The long player begins with the title track and a mighty electro rhythm section enhanced by a bright infectious melody, robot harmonies and incessant chants. Reflecting on the dilemma of first world problems and its incumbent joyless hedonism, it’s a fabulous opener that captures elements of KRAFTWERK, THE ART OF NOISE and THE PRODIGY.
Using more treated vocals and Vox Humana voice generators, ‘Isotype’ is a blip fest that embraces glitch and techno, with wild siren sounds fluctuating to provide a human counterpoint to their synthesised derivation. A commentary on how society has been going backwards in its communication via emojis, the inspiration comes from the international picture language conceived in 1924.
So far so good with the concepts and the tunes, but two tracks which spring a major surprise are ‘Robot Man’ and ‘Art Eats Art’. Both are fine examples of modern robotic pop which will delight fans of OMD’s more directly electronic work, but perhaps will dismay those hoping for sax solos and an update of ‘If You Leave’.
‘Robot Man’ starts as a tone poem before a huge machine rhythm emerges to shape an electro-funk rumble like a slowed down ‘Warm Leatherette’ reimagined by PRINCE… but then, there’s also more than a resemblance to ‘Fembot’ by ROBYN!
Much weirder, ‘Art Eats Art’ bubbles to a metronomic dance tempo with a chorus of vocoders over an aggressive octave shift. Recalling the work of former Kling Klang incumbent Karl Bartos, despite all the strange noises, this is frantic technopop offset by pretty melodies and shopping list lyrics. But it’s not like how OMD have sounded before, yet it is still retains the essence of their roots.
Taking a Synthanorma sequence set to a 6/8 rhythm and a melody inspired by ‘Forbidden Colours’, ‘What Have We Done’ sees a confident vocal from Paul Humphreys on some passionate Modernen Industrielle Volksmusik that could be seen as a passing observation on the current political climate.
A slow pulsing sequence and real bass guitar combine to form the interlude that is ‘Precision & Decay’, which “from luxury to landfill”, reflects on the disposable nature of the modern world and concludes “there is no such thing as labour saving machinery”.
‘As We Open, So We Close’ is an oddball experience to start with, as glitchy buzzes attach themselves to a disjointed rhythm of claps and backward kicks before everything grows into something more melodic, with a superlative vocal ring to “take me to your fragile place”.
Compared to the some of the other tracks on ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’, ‘Kiss Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Bang’ is almost conventional, but as this is OMD, there’s a twist! Like KRAFTWERK meeting Johan Strauss, the beautiful melodic vibes are interrupted by McCluskey’s scathing expletive laden attacks on Uncle Sam, Mao Tse Tung, Dr Spock and the current political climate; it’s a beautiful electronic lullaby that is a thematic successor to ‘International’.
The excellent ‘One More Time’ is a classic bittersweet OMD stomper, where “everything you gave me didn’t last”. Using electronic percussion as opposed to drum machines, the enticing verse and uplifting bridge are set to a plethora of gorgeous textures and distorted synth just to weird things out. While McCluskey announces “you can break my heart just one more time”, the star again is Humphreys with his crystalline synth sounds laced with portamento bounce.
The thought-provoking intermission of ‘La Mitrailleuse’ is a “grapeshot” collage with militaristic gunshots forming the rhythm track. The unsettling mantra of “bend your body to the will of the machine!” is inversed by a falsettoed cry from McCluskey. A mid-19th Century volley gun, the fact that a Mitrailleuse was difficult to manage, as well as being highly inaccurate, makes this a fine slice of clever social-political commentary.
On the final straight, ‘Ghost Star’ with its wildlife ambience and dramatic VANGELIS-like intro is a sub-six minute number that could be ‘Stanlow’ for the 24th Century. Lovely emotive synthphonic sweeps provide a pretty electronic cascade that is epically European with no pandering to the Yankee Dollar. Meanwhile, the almost nursery rhyme feel of ‘The View From Here’ is elegiac, with orchestrations and even some guitar sounds.
Mature and reflective with a spirited vocal from McCluskey, this is a classic OMD sad ballad in the vein of ‘All That Glittters’. However, these two closing numbers do not sit as easily with the frenetic statements on the majority of ‘The Punishment of Luxury’. So for that reason, although the album IS strides ahead of ‘History Of Modern’ from 2010, it is maybe not quite as complete as ‘English Electric’ was.
But swathed in detuned synths and attached to a rigid percussive lattice, ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is an excellent OMD record with Germany still calling. The solos of Paul Humphreys are certainly something to savour while Andy McCluskey possibly delivers some of his best vocals, as the pair continue to push boundaries with their experimental but tuneful approach.
Compare that to the last three frankly dire DEPECHE MODE albums and OMD now take a two goal lead. Unlike the Basildon mob’s feeble fourteenth album, ‘The Punishment of Luxury’ actually HAS spirit and a sense of adventure, as well as a clever metaphoric narrative reflecting on issues that affect the human condition.
Nearly forty years on, OMD’s breadth of musicality, technological curiosity and lyrical wordplay is still something to be admired and lauded.
‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ is released by White Noise Ltd on 1st September 2017 in CD, CD+DVD, yellow vinyl LP, standard vinyl LP, cassette, digital and super-deluxe book formats from https://omd.pmstores.co/
OMD’s ‘The Punishment Of Luxury’ 2017 tour, Ireland + UK dates with special guests TINY MAGNETIC PETS include:
Dublin Vicar Street (23rd October), Belfast Mandela Hall (24th October), Liverpool Empire (29th October), Bristol Colston Hall (30th October) , Southend Cliffs Pavillion (1st November), Ipswich Regent (2nd November), Cambridge Corn Exchange (3rd November), Leicester De Montfort Hall (5th November), Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (6th November), Sheffield City Hall (7th November), Reading Hexagon (9th November), Southampton Guild Hall (10th November), Guildford G Live (11th November), London Roundhouse (13th November), Bexhill Del La Warr Pavillion (15th November), Manchester Academy (17th November), York Barbican (18th November), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (19th November), Birmingham Symphony Hall (21st November), Gateshead Sage (22nd November)
European dates with special guests HOLYGRAM include:
Erfut Traum Hits Festival (25th November), Hamburg Grosse Freiheit (26th November), Berlin Huxleys (28th November), Leipzig Haus Auenesse (29th November), Munich Tonhalle (30th November), Offenbach Stadthalle (2nd December), Düsseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Hall (3rd December), Tilburg 013 (5th December), Antwerp De Roma (6th December), Lausanne Les Docks (8th December)
While acts like THE ART OF NOISE and DEPECHE MODE pioneered the use of sampling found sounds to use as new virtual instrumentation, eventual improvements in the technology meant whole recognisable phrases could be cut, manipulated and looped to create new compositions and arrangements.
For those on a budget, some of the samples would have been replayed as a way of saving money and not having to pay mechanical royalties to the original artist.
Previously incongruous genre blends were now more straightforward for producers and DJs as easy listening and AOR would end up sitting on top of house tracks while significantly, a number of acts who made their name during Synth Britannia would feature in R’n’B and hip-hop.
So ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has put aside some of its snobbery to seek out 25 of the most inventive, and some would say, sacrilegious uses of classic synth samples in popular music. However in a wider context, this diverse selection of tracks acts as a popular culture record of Synth Britannia’s influence in particular, especially when the Musicians Union attempted to ban the synthesizer from studio work and live performance in 1982.
Presented in chronological and then alphabetical order with a limit of one track per artist moniker, here are the names that have gone on the list…
NEW ORDER Blue Monday (1983)
Once you delve into the background behind NEW ORDER’s ‘Blue Monday’, you will see that it is a real Frankenstein’s monster of a track including a sample of the neo-robotic Vako Orchestron choir sound from ‘Uranium’ by KRAFTWERK. And although not sampled, ‘Blue Monday’ took direct influence from a variety of sources including Ennio Morricone, Sylvester, Donna Summer and Klein + MBO.
Available on the NEW ORDER album ‘Singles’ via WEA Records
Mirroring the way in which KRAFTWERK had entered the urban community’s consciousness via Electro and Breakdancing, Thomas Dolby helped write and produced the single ‘Magic’s Wand’ for the Brooklyn hip-hop duo WHODINI. Centering around a superb synth riff and vocodered vocals, the track stood out from some of its contemporaries due its electronic production and TMDR himself ended up reworking elements of the song for himself on his own track ‘Puppet Theatre’.
Available on the THOMAS DOLBY album ‘The Flat Earth’ via EMI Music
One of ERASURE’s best known songs, ‘Blue Savannah’ had originally been inspired by Roy Orbison and for its single release, Mute Records commissioned a plethora of remixes. ‘Der Deutsche Mix I’ by Gareth Jones and leftfield house trio FISCHERMAN’S FRIEND took the novel step of using KRAFTWERK samples from ‘Computer World’ and ’Tour De France’ but in a more obvious fashion, as opposed to a few blips as THE KLF had done on ‘What Time Is Love?’.
Available on the ERASURE boxed set ‘3’ via Mute Records
BOMB THE BASS mainman Tim Simenon loved the Synth Britannia era, later working with John Foxx and DEPECHE MODE. ‘Winter In July’ featured a sample of the atmospheric Roland System 700 synth FX used in the intro to ‘Ghosts’ by JAPAN, while the rhythmic backbone of the track also owed a lot to the drum pattern from ‘Visions of China’. The song caught the eye of Sarah Brightman, who did her own cover for the ‘La Luna’ album in 2000.
U.S.U.R.A.’s ‘Open Your Mind’ centred around the opening polysynth part of SIMPLE MINDS ‘New Gold Dream (81 – 82 – 83 – 84)’ and took its title from a dialogue sample from the Kuato character played by actor Marshall Bell in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film ‘Total Recall’. The Italian dance trio responsible for the frantic club track also used a short female “oh” voice sample from Ashford & Simpson’s ‘Solid’ in this fast and furious techno romp as well.
Available on the USURA single ‘Open Your Mind’ via Deconstruction Records
UTAH SAINTS were serial samplers with Annie Lennox and Kate Bush being the dominant voices on their first two singles. ‘Believe In Me’ used significant chunks from THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Love Action’ as well as Sylvester’s ‘Do You Wanna Funk?’ and CROWN HEIGHTS AFFAIR’s ‘You Gave Me Love’. Central to the track was Phil Oakey’s mid-song chant which helped propel this immensely catchy club stomper to number 8 in the UK charts in 1993.
Available on the UTAH SAINTS album ‘Utah Saints’ via FFRR Records
Pivotal in pioneering the Big Beat genre, THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS looped a short section from the vocodered intro to KRAFTWERK’s ‘Ohm Sweet Ohm’ track for ‘Leave Home’. Aside from the beginning of the piece, the sample doesn’t appear elsewhere and the track relies more on the “Brothers gonna work it out” vocal by American singer / songwriter Willie Hutch and a live bass part played by John ‘Segs’ Jennings of the punk band THE RUTS.
Available on THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS album ‘Exit Planet Dust’ via Virgin Records
This big beat duo of Paul Daley and Neil Barnes were said to have been one of the loudest live acts ever. At Brixton Academy in 1996, the sound system caused dust and plaster to fall from the roof. For ‘The Beach’ soundtrack, LEFTFIELD contributed a thumping instrumental track for the beginning of the film. However, on closer scrutiny, the basis of ‘Snakeblood’ appeared to be the melody line from OMD’s ‘Almost’! When challenged, the duo fessed up amicably.
Available on the LEFTFIELD album ‘A Final Hit’ via Sony Music
Using a repetitive scratched one bar loop from Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’, ‘Koochy’ was one of several tracks around this period which sought influence from the synth icon. Also featuring a robotic KRAFTWERK-inspired vocal and 808 cowbells, the track went Top 5 in UK national charts, despite it frankly being a bit of a mess and unfufilled in its potential. It helped prompt the steady rebirth of the former Gary Webb.
Available on the ARMAND VAN HELDEN album ‘Killing Puritans’ via Southern Fried Records
Along with ‘Koochy’, ‘Where’s Your Head At?’ certainly did no harm in helping to rehabilitate the faltering career of Gary Numan; using the sped up central Minimoog bass riff of ‘M.E.’, the song also cleverly incorporated elements of ‘This Wreckage’ too. With a brilliant video to match, the song showed that it was possible to create a synth-oriented dance track that wasn’t cheesy and almost had a punk aesthetic to it.
Available on the BASEMENT JAXX album ‘Rooty’ via XL Records
FELIX DA HOUSECAT featuring MELISTAR Harlot (2001)
Blatantly sampling the rhythmic elements of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ without acknowledgement, nonchalant vocalist Melistar joined Felix Stallings Junior to ironically wax lyrical about the joys of using feminine charms to get by in life! With some great analogue riffage on this bridge linking past, present and future with an icy detachment, Stallings was very forward thinking and knew she was a feline… the European female’s here!
YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA’s hit cover of ‘Firecracker’ forms a significant element of this single by the actress / singer /dancer /model from The Block. Interestingly Mariah Carey made an enquiry to use the sample first for her song ‘Loverboy’, but as a result of involvement from her ex-husband and Sony label boss Tommy Mottola, the riff ended up with Lopez instead, prompting a war of words between the two parties.
Available on the JENNIFER LOPEZ album ‘J.Lo’ via Sony Music
‘Shoot the Dog’ was the late Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou’s protest song directed at the so-called special relationship between George W Bush and Tony Blair. Appearing a few years before PET SHOP BOYS’ ‘I’m With Stupid’, the more veiled ‘Shoot The Dog’ used the middle eight section of ‘Love Action’ by THE HUMAN LEAGUE including Phil Oakey’s vocal, while also borrowing from ABC’s ‘Be Near Me’ and his own ‘Fast Love’
Available on the GEORGE MICHAEL album ‘Twenty Five’ via Sony Music
GIRLS ON TOP mash-up merchant and producer Richard X dropped Adina Howard’s R’n’B number over ‘Are Friends Electric?’ by TUBEWAY ARMY as a bootleg. A crossover hit was waiting to be unleashed but Howard refused permission for her vocal to be used; enter SUGABABES, modern pop’s equivalent of ‘Charlie’s Angels’. This Diabolus In Musica urban hybrid helped bring Gary Numan to a curious new young audience.
Belgian domiciled Italian DJ Vito Lucente dabbled in house and Eurodisco. But his best known recording borrowed from the HI-NRG scene in New York, sampling ‘I’m So Hot For You’ by Bobby O that had borrowed its riff from THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’, which itself was inspired by ABBA’s ‘Eagle’. In amongst all this, he somehow persuaded THE CURE’s mainman to contribute some of his afflicted gothique to proceedings.
Available on the JUNIOR JACK album ‘Trust It’ via Defected Records
No stranger to delving into the mine of THE HUMAN LEAGUE, Richard X started his career in the underground club scene creating mash-ups. ‘Finest Dreams’ with KELIS was a reworking of ‘The Finest’ written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis which was made famous by THE SOS BAND. Using a similar trick to ‘Freak Like Me’, the musical structure was based around ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’ and became a Top 10 hit in the UK.
SOUL MEKANIK are the duo of Kelvin Andrews and Danny Spencer. Probably best known for co-writing Robbie Williams’ ‘Rock DJ’, the pair took most of the instrumental elements of ‘Visions of China’ by JAPAN and used it as a soundbed for a new female vocal and some added portamento synths. Surprisingly successful in its conception, it was a shame this effectively well-worked track didn’t reach a wider audience.
Available on the SOUL MEKANIK album ‘Eighty One’ via Rip Records
Using a sample from SOFT CELL’s iconic cover of the Northern Soul favourite by Gloria Jones, ‘S.O.S.’ co-writer JR Rotem said “I heard ‘Tainted Love’ and wanted to take the bass line and update it with a new swing”. Utilising pitch shifted vocals worked with compression software to increase the tonal spectrum, ‘S.O.S’ was effectively a musical cry for help that was to become the Barbadian singer’s first big hit. Swathed in synth riffs and machine beats, she was to use a similar template for ‘Umbrella’.
As if in a tit-for tat response to Jennifer Lopez’s YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA-sampling ‘I’m Real’, THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS’ Nicole Scherzinger’s ‘Steam’ sampled the central riff from KRAFTWERK’s ‘Numbers’. Sounding rather out of place, after the first four singles from the planned ‘Her Name Is Nicole’ album flopped, Scherzinger shelved the project and the track did not actually see the light of day.
HILARY DUFF featuring THE PROPHET Reach Out (2008)
There was a period when DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Personal Jesus’ was either being covered by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson or sampled for pop tunes by R’n’B starlets like Jamelia. Built around the voice samples, synth fuzzes and guitar riff from the original track, ‘Reach Out’ saw the one-time ‘Lizzie McGuire’ star attempt to sex up her previously goody two shoes image with an innuendo-laden Schaffel romp that included an obligatory rap as well!
Available on the HILARY DUFF album ‘Best Of’ via Hollywood Records
GZA featuring RZA & IRFANE KHAN-ACITO Life Is A Movie (2008)
Track number four in this listing that features a Gary Numan sample. This time WU-TANG CLAN member GZA takes elements from ‘Films’ off ‘The Pleasure Principle’ album and reworks it into a dark hip-hop track which recalled the vintage breakbeat of Da Clan. And it works largely thanks to the late Ced Sharpley’s live but solid drum breaks from the original, while Numan also makes a cameo appearance.
Available on the GZA/GENIUS album ‘Pro Tools’ via Babygrande
Former DEPECHE MODE member Alan Wilder occasionally relied on esoteric samples for his RECOIL project and on ‘Allelujah’, he paid homage to TANGERINE DREAM by using the hypnotic Moog sequencer pattern and electric piano part from ‘Rubycon’ for the second half of the nine minute track. Originally appearing on the ‘subHuman’ album, ‘Allelujah’ also featured as the B-side to the CD single release of ‘Prey’.
Available on the RECOIL album ‘subHuman’ via Mute Records
With the live reunion of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke, there was a brief period in the late-noughties when the template for a modern girl group was to utilise a YAZOO inspired backing track. RED BLOODED WOMEN took that literally with a little help from cult electronic trio TRADEMARK on this interpolation of ‘Don’t Go’. The feisty trio lterally sounded literally like GIRLS ALOUD produced by Daniel Miller!
Available on the RED BLOODED WOMEN promo CD EP ‘4 Track Sampler’, never officially released
Jake Williams was REX THE DOG and made his name with some superb remixes for artists such as Robyn, THE KNIFE, CLIENT, SOULWAX, RÖYKSOPP, DEPECHE MODE and THE PRODIGY. Released during the year of the YAZOO reunion, ‘Bubblicious’ saw him recycling a whole chunk of ‘Midnight’ from their debut album ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ and taking what was originally a sensitive synthetic torch song and turning it an uptempo banger.
At a time when the YAZOO songbook was being ripped left, right and centre, one pop act that became particularly joined at the hip with Vince Clarke were THE SATURDAYS. As well as lifting the synth riff off ‘Situation’ for their first single ‘If This Is Love’, Clarke remixed their third single ‘Issues’. And to cap it all, ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ was covered for Comic Relief as their fourth single release in 2009!
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from 2010, it is maybe not quite as complete as 
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