Die Mucke war doch geil in den 80igern - Aussies, die wie Briten klangen - ich erinnere mich zu gerne daran - wer von Euch kennt Real Life und die Songs?
My confession in the 1980ies
Synthi pop was a thing I loved in the 1980ies I have to confess - even i come from Rock / Metal. But I early learned to like different music styles - synthi helped me or paved the way for my later Techno DJ "career". Sure @steevc or @slobberchops remember them - more details about our guys from Australia in the following apart from @mattclarke can add local flavour.
While I never been a Depeche Mode fanboy (in contrary) I loved projects such as Yazoo (driven by ex Depeche Mode guy Vince Clark), Visage, Propaganda (the German band), New Order, Soft Cell and The Human League and Kraftwerk. They influenced my future view about music. Always been a fan of cross-over e.g. Techno with Metal - not many successful projects did that part from Eskimos and Egypt (listen here).
After some years I even appreciated some tracks by Depeche Mode - was probably a culture clash thing in school between the cool Metal guys vs the ugly, small Synthi idiots (usually bad in any male sport but good in maths with "we called them gay these days" hair style). They been boring and not part of our inner circle. BUT I learned - i still did not like these guys but Depecehe Mode developed further. (Apologies for hard words about our fellow school mates).
But topic is Real Life
When i am in the process of writing and listening I sometimes lose focus as here. Talking about synthi music and my youth. Aim was to write about a band from Australia that sounded totally british. Entry song you might have listend to in the meantime - if not, no worries. We have another one here - a single from 1983 I bought as 45er vinyl and totally loved. One of these songs I played probably 10 times a day (please note that was before internet, CD, video stuff, mobile phones was invented.):
Real Life - about them
A pretty short story as they just had their success in 1983/1984 but sounds I will never will forget. Band from Australia (Melbourne), sounding like Brit pop but cool - I loved their two singles posted here.
Interestingly as many bands they are still (or again) kind of active in studio or live but not really related to the original project (read more here).
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I liked some of the 80s synth stuff, but I've always been more into guitars. It seems that old tech will never die :)
I know but even Real life had some guitar sounds included in their synthi stuff - like a flog of seagulls
Kraftwerk an LP still have and always enjoyed, of the three here Real Life appealing to the ear. Not big into the way synthesizer came into too many bands, but hey grew up early. Every age there is a stage!
I understand this pretty well - via my Techno thing i still discover good new stuff these days while in Rock / Metal I simply miss the old days a lot.
So many of the originals songs still played in series, then to fathom out which song is playing! Yup always tend to go back to the old days.
I loved Depeche Mode even in the early days with Vince. When he left and Martin took over the song-writing.. it was even better with all that dark stuff they took too.
Thx mate - I am split in my view on what was better - Vince is to me the electronic music synthi guru amongst only a few in the music industry. Martin is also good but wehn DM started to use real guitar and people thought this is Rock I stopped listening again (as rock is to me something different - but Metallica also made a switch i never understood and liked :-)!)
Remember that as one of the early Martin sounds - and this was great (from 1982 it seems):
I remember it and purchased the 7'. I was being tormented at Kwiksave during those years, only music kept me sane.
Nice mate- no idea what "kwiksave" means but i am a non native English speaker :-)
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Loved reading this such a raw and honest reflection, It’s funny how music shapes our identity, especially in those early years when subcultures felt like everything, the synth vs metal "tribes" really were a thing, and I totally get that schoolyard clash vibe.
Also really appreciate your mention of Yazoo, Visage, and especially Propaganda such underrated influence! And it’s cool how your synth-pop phase helped pave the way for your techno DJ path, It’s proof that genres don’t have to be silos they can be stepping stones,
“Real Life” is such a great blast from the past too that British-sounding Aussie vibe really stood out, some songs just imprint on your soul vinyl, rewinds, and all.
Thanks for sharing this journey
#hive #posh