128-522: Altima were a three-member Japanese synthpop band that formed in 2011 and was signed to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment . The band consists of rapper Motsu (Mototaka Segawa) from Move , composer Sat (Satoshi Yaginuma) from fripSide and singer Maon ( Maon Kurosaki ). Altima released their debut single "I'll Believe" in December 2011, which is used as the first ending theme to the anime Shakugan no Shana Final . After initially becoming interested in
256-490: A 30-minute program of music videos called Video Jukebox , that first aired around the time of MTV's launch and lasted until late 1986. Also around this time, HBO, as well as other premium channels such as Cinemax , Showtime and The Movie Channel , occasionally played one or a few music videos between movies. SuperStation WTBS launched Night Tracks on June 3, 1983, with up to 14 hours of music video airplay each late night weekend by 1985. Its most noticeable difference
384-666: A Doughnut" in particular was an early techno-pop fusion track, which made early use of a music sequencer . Izitso reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the song "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" was a top 40 hit. That same month, the Beach Boys released their album Love You , performed almost entirely by bandleader Brian Wilson with Moog and ARP synthesizers, and with arrangements somewhat inspired by Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968). Although it
512-593: A VJ and the Video Music Awards . At the end of each year, MTV takes advantage of its home location in New York City to broadcast live coverage on New Year's Eve in Times Square . Several live music performances are featured alongside interviews with artists and bands that were influential throughout the year. For many years from the 1980s to the 2000s, the channel upheld a tradition of having
640-542: A background in musical theatre, released his own synth-driven re-imagining of Irving Berlin's " Puttin' On the Ritz "; resulting in a subsequent long-play, After Eight , a concept album that takes music of 1930s sensibilities as informed by the soundscape of 1980s technology. The proliferation of acts led to an anti-synth backlash, with groups including Spandau Ballet, Human League, Soft Cell and ABC incorporating more conventional influences and instruments into their sounds. In
768-717: A band perform a cover song at midnight immediately following the beginning of the new year. Throughout its history, MTV has covered global benefit concert series live. For most of July 13, 1985, MTV showed the Live Aid concerts, held in London and Philadelphia and organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. While the ABC network showed only selected highlights during primetime, MTV broadcast 16 hours of coverage. Along with VH1 , MTV broadcast
896-638: A duo where their partner played all the instrumentation. Although synth-pop in part arose from punk rock , it abandoned punk's emphasis on authenticity and often pursued a deliberate artificiality , drawing on the critically derided forms such as disco and glam rock . It owed relatively little to the foundations of early popular music in jazz , folk music or the blues , and instead of looking to America, in its early stages, it consciously focused on European and particularly Eastern European influences, which were reflected in band names like Spandau Ballet and songs like Ultravox's " Vienna ". Later synth-pop saw
1024-473: A high priority on showing so many acts, at the expense of airing complete sets by key artists." He also blamed the Pink Floyd interruption on a mandatory cable affiliate break. MTV averaged 1.4 million viewers for its original July 2 broadcast of Live 8. Consequently, MTV and VH1 aired five hours of uninterrupted Live 8 coverage on July 9, with each channel airing other blocks of artists. MTV's logo
1152-496: A hit with their debut single " The Promise ". Several German synth-pop acts of the late 1980s included Camouflage and Celebrate the Nun . Canadian duo Kon Kan had major success with their debut single, " I Beg Your Pardon " in 1989. An American backlash against European synth-pop has been seen as beginning in the mid-1980s with the rise of heartland rock and roots rock . In the UK
1280-430: A large number of acts, a number of them enjoying huge mainstream popularity in the country, like Beograd , Laki Pingvini , Denis & Denis , and Videosex . In the mid-1980s, key artists included solo performer Howard Jones , who S.T. Erlewine has stated to have "merged the technology-intensive sound of new wave with the cheery optimism of hippies and late-'60s pop", (although with notable exceptions including
1408-636: A major influence on subsequent synth rock. In 1971, the British film A Clockwork Orange was released with a synth soundtrack by American Wendy Carlos . It was the first time many in the United Kingdom had heard electronic music . Philip Oakey of the Human League and Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire , as well as music journalist Simon Reynolds, have cited the soundtrack as an inspiration. Electronic music made occasional moves into
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#17327877601451536-506: A major influence on the later synth-pop sound. David Bowie 's Berlin Trilogy , comprising the albums Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977), and Lodger (1979), all featuring Brian Eno, would also be highly influential. The Cat Stevens album Izitso , released in April 1977, updated his pop rock style with the extensive use of synthesizers, giving it a more synth-pop style; "Was Dog
1664-406: A member of the group, found a minimoog left behind in the studio by another band, and started experimenting with it. This led to a change in the album's sound to electronic new wave. Numan later described his work on this album as a guitarist playing keyboards, who turned "punk songs into electronic songs". A single from the second Tubeway Army album Replicas , " Are Friends Electric? ", topped
1792-523: A money-losing venture, Turner sold it to MTV, who redeveloped the channel into VH1. The founders of Financial News Network , Glenn Taylor and Karen Tyler tried to capitalize on the concept by launching Discovery Music Network, which was set to be a cable network, and has plans to set up the Discovery Broadcasting System, which consists of the aforementioned network, along with computer and business networks, but it never got off
1920-457: A more conventional drum sound. Lyrics were generally more optimistic, dealing with more traditional subject matter for pop music such as romance, escapism and aspiration. According to music writer Simon Reynolds , the hallmark of 1980s synth-pop was its "emotional, at times operatic singers" such as Marc Almond , Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox . Because synthesizers removed the need for large groups of musicians, these singers were often part of
2048-448: A revised logo in tandem with the 2010 version, doing away with the 3D effect inherited from its predecessors (much akin to the current MTV Video Music Awards variant). That logo is revealed to be an alternate variant of the current logo designed by the design agency Loyalkaspar, which pays homage to MTV of the past with the red-yellow-blue color combination and the 3D effect mainly inherited from its predecessor logo. The new logo's rollout
2176-428: A series of hit singles, beginning with their debut single " Planet Earth " and the UK top five hit " Girls on Film " in 1981. They would soon be followed into the British charts by a large number of bands utilising synthesizers to create catchy three-minute pop songs. In summer 1981 Depeche Mode had their first chart success with " New Life ", followed by the UK top ten hit " Just Can't Get Enough ". A new line-up for
2304-539: A series of landmark releases within the genre, including the 1980 hit singles " Messages " and " Enola Gay ". OMD became one of the most influential acts of the period, introducing the "synth duo" format to British music. Vince Clarke , who co-founded the popular synth-pop groups Depeche Mode , Erasure , Yazoo and the Assembly , has cited OMD as his inspiration to become an electronic musician. Bandleaders Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys have been described in
2432-633: A shift to a style more influenced by other genres, such as soul music . Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre. The Mellotron , an electro-mechanical , polyphonic sample-playback keyboard was overtaken by the Moog synthesizer , created by Robert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds. The portable Minimoog , which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance
2560-588: A statement later contradicted by CBS head of Business Affairs David Benjamin in Vanity Fair . According to The Austin Chronicle , Jackson's video for the song "Billie Jean" was "the video that broke the color barrier, even though the channel itself was responsible for erecting that barrier in the first place." But change was not immediate. "Billie Jean" was not added to MTV's "medium rotation" playlist (two to three airings per day) until it reached No. 1 on
2688-488: A style of electronic dance music influenced by synth-pop and funk that led to the emergence of Detroit techno in the mid-1980s. The continued influence of 1980s synth-pop could be seen in various incarnations of 1990s dance music, including trance . Hip hop artists such as Mobb Deep have sampled 1980s synth-pop songs. Popular artists such as Rihanna , UK stars Jay Sean and Taio Cruz , as well as British pop star Lily Allen on her second album, have also embraced
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#17327877601452816-621: A style that was highly successful on the US dance charts, but by the end of the decade, the synth-pop of bands such as A-ha and Alphaville was giving way to house music and techno . Interest in synth-pop began to revive in the indietronica and electroclash movements in the late 1990s, and in the 2000s synth-pop enjoyed a widespread revival and commercial success. The genre has received criticism for alleged lack of emotion and musicianship; prominent artists have spoken out against detractors who believed that synthesizers themselves composed and played
2944-600: A synthesizer, I’m going to have you. Video Killed the Radio Star is putting musicians out of business." 1980 also saw the release of where "Video Killed the Radio Star" came from, the Buggles' debut album The Age of Plastic , which some writers have labeled as the first landmark of another electropop era, as well as what for many is the defining album of Devo's career, the overtly synth-pop Freedom of Choice . The emergence of synth-pop has been described as "perhaps
3072-676: A synthwave song by the Weeknd, peaked at number one in 29 countries, including the United States, in early 2020; and later became the Billboard number-one greatest song of all time in November 2021. This wave of revival not only popularized established acts but also enabled new artists like Dua Lipa , whose retro-influenced album Future Nostalgia won multiple awards and was hailed for its energetic embrace of vintage pop sounds. Meanwhile, indie artists such as M83 continued to explore
3200-466: A target of criticism by different groups about programming choices, social issues, political correctness , sensitivity, censorship, and a perceived negative social influence on young people. Portions of the content of MTV's programs and productions have come under controversy in the general news media and among social groups that have taken offense. Some within the music industry criticized what they saw as MTV's homogenization of rock 'n' roll, including
3328-554: A trademark on the initials MTV , registered with the Hungarian copyright office, sued the American MTV (Music Television) network for trademark infringement when the Hungarian version of the music channel was launched in 2007. The suit is still ongoing. During the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, comedian Andrew Dice Clay did his usual "adult nursery rhymes" routine (which he had done in his stand-up acts), after which
3456-453: A week in March, broadcasting live eight hours per day. "Spring break is a youth culture event", MTV's vice president Doug Herzog said at the time. "We wanted to be part of it for that reason. It makes good sense for us to come down and go live from the center of it, because obviously the people there are the kinds of people who watch MTV." The channel later expanded its beach-themed events to
3584-527: Is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock , electronic , art rock , disco , and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk . It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of
3712-447: Is also a producer of films aimed at young adults through its production label, MTV Films, and has aired both its own theatrically released films and original made-for-television movies from MTV Studios in addition to acquired films. In 2010, a study by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found that of 207.5 hours of prime time programming on MTV, 42% included content reflecting
3840-436: Is also under Geneon. When Yaginuma received the request to create an ending theme for the 2011 anime television series Shakugan no Shana Final , he thought this was the perfect chance to collaborate with Segawa and Kurosaki. At the 2011 Animelo Summer Live concert on August 28, Altima officially announced their formation and performed their debut single "I'll Believe" as secret guest performers. The single for "I'll Believe"
3968-529: Is available to approximately 67,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2011 peak of 99,000,000 households. MTV was launched on Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m, under the ownership of the Warner - American Express Satellite Entertainment Company. On June 25, 1984, Warner Communications spun-off Nickelodeon , MTV into a new public corporation called MTV Networks . Warner would later acquire American Express' 50% stake
Altima (band) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4096-484: Is used as the second opening theme to the 2013 anime television Strike the Blood . Altima released their debut studio album Tryangle on March 26, 2014. Altima collaborated with the singer Kotoko in performing the song "Plasmic Fire" released on July 20, 2016; the song is used in the 2016 anime film Accel World: Infinite Burst . Synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop ; also called techno-pop )
4224-505: Is used worldwide, but not everywhere existentially. The new logo was first used on MTV Films logo with the 2010 film Jackass 3D . MTV's rebranding was overseen by Popkern. On June 25, 2015, MTV International rebranded its on-air look with a new vaporwave and seapunk -inspired graphics package. It included a series of new station IDs featuring 3D renderings of objects and people, much akin to vaporwave and seapunk "aesthetics". Many have derided MTV's choice of rebranding, insisting that
4352-526: The Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the final week of March, it was in "heavy rotation", one week before the MTV debut of Jackson's " Beat It " video. Prince's " Little Red Corvette " joined both videos in heavy rotation at the end of April. At the beginning of June, " Electric Avenue " by Eddy Grant joined "Billie Jean", which was still in heavy rotation until mid-June. At the end of August, " She Works Hard for
4480-527: The Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks in 2010. She also used the genre on her comeback single " Die Young ". Mainstream female recording artists who have dabbled in the genre in the 2010s include Madonna , Taylor Swift , Katy Perry , Jessie J , Christina Aguilera , and Beyoncé . In Japan, girl group Perfume , along with producer Yasutaka Nakata of Capsule , produced technopop music combining 1980s synth-pop with chiptunes and electro house from 2003. Their breakthrough came in 2008 with
4608-469: The Japanese Albums chart. Much like Japan, Korean pop music has also become dominated by synth-pop, particularly with girl groups such as f(x) , Girls' Generation and Wonder Girls . In 2020, the genre experienced a resurgence in popularity as 1980s-style synth-pop and synthwave songs from singers such as the Weeknd who gained success on international music charts. " Blinding Lights ",
4736-894: The Live 8 concerts, a series of concerts set in the G8 states and South Africa, on July 2, 2005. Live 8 preceded the 31st G8 summit and the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. MTV drew heavy criticism for its coverage of Live 8. The network cut to commercials, VJ commentary, or other performances during performances. Complaints surfaced on the Internet over MTV interrupting the reunion of Pink Floyd . In response, MTV president Van Toffler stated that he wanted to broadcast highlights from every venue of Live 8 on MTV and VH1, and clarified that network hosts talked over performances only in transition to commercials, informative segments or other musical performances. Toffler acknowledged that "MTV should not have placed such
4864-531: The New Romantic movement. Despite synth-pop's origins in the late 1970s among new wave bands like Tubeway Army and Devo, British journalists and music critics largely abandoned the term "new wave" in the early 1980s. This was in part due to the rise of new artists unaffiliated with the preceding punk/new wave era, as well as aesthetic changes associated with synth-pop's movement into the pop mainstream. According to authors Stuart Borthwick and Ron Moy, "After
4992-520: The TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music, and the band would be a major influence on early British synth-pop acts. The development of inexpensive polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI and the use of dance beats, led to a more commercial and accessible sound for synth-pop. This, its adoption by the style-conscious acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of MTV , led to success for large numbers of British synth-pop acts in
5120-509: The new wave movement of the late 1970s. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, and the mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians. After the breakthrough of Gary Numan in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s. In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra introduced
5248-409: The 1980s, the introduction of dance beats and more conventional rock instrumentation made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop. Synthesizers were increasingly used to imitate the conventional and clichéd sound of orchestras and horns. Thin, treble-dominant, synthesized melodies and simple drum programmes gave way to thick, and compressed production, and
Altima (band) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-578: The 1990s were Savage Garden , the Rentals and the Moog Cookbook . Electronic music was also explored from the early 1990s by indietronica bands like Stereolab , EMF , the Utah Saints , and Disco Inferno , who mixed a variety of indie and synthesizer sounds. Indietronica began to take off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed, with acts such as Broadcast from
5504-400: The 40th anniversary of the network's launch in 2021, current MTV Entertainment Group president Chris McCarthy acknowledged that "(o)ne of the bigger mistakes in the early years was not playing enough diverse music ... but the nice thing that I've always learned at MTV is we have no problem owning our mistakes, quickly correcting them and trying to do the right thing and always follow where
5632-501: The American cable channels available in other countries, eventually gained a massive cult following , becoming one of the major factors in cable programming's rise to fame and American corporations dominating the television economy in the 1990s. In the years since its inception, the channel significantly toned down its focus on music in favor of original reality programming for teenagers and young adults. As of November 2023 , MTV
5760-594: The Bravery and the Stills all left their synth-pop sound behind after their debut albums and began to explore classic 1970s rock, but the style was picked up by a large number of performers, particularly female solo artists. Following the breakthrough success of Lady Gaga with her single " Just Dance " (2008), the British and other media proclaimed a new era of female synth-pop stars, citing artists such as Little Boots , La Roux , and Ladyhawke . Male acts that emerged in
5888-521: The British music press of the late 1970s and early 1980s for their German influences and characterised by journalist Mick Farren as the " Adolf Hitler Memorial Space Patrol". In 1983, Morrissey of the Smiths stated that "there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer". During the decade, objections were raised to the quality of compositions and what was called the limited musicianship of artists. Gary Numan observed "hostility" and what he felt
6016-559: The Communards . The Communards' major hits were covers of disco classics " Don't Leave Me This Way " (1986) and " Never Can Say Goodbye " (1987). After adding other elements to their sound, and with the help of a gay audience, several synth-pop acts had success on the US dance charts. Among these were American acts Information Society (who had two top 10 singles in 1988), Anything Box , and Red Flag . British band When in Rome scored
6144-732: The Dark (OMD) – to 'throw away their guitars' and become a synth act. Kraftwerk had its first hit UK record later in the year with " Autobahn ", which reached number 11 in the British Singles Chart and number 12 in Canada. The group was described by the BBC Four program Synth Britannia as the key to synth-pop's future rise there. In 1977, Giorgio Moroder released the electronic Eurodisco song " I Feel Love " that he had produced for Donna Summer , and its programmed beats would be
6272-559: The Disney Channel and NBC . The program aired at several times between 1984 and 1999. In 2009, Disney Channel revived the DTV concept with a new series of short-form segments called Re-Micks . Hanna-Barbera created HBTV , similar to DTV in 1985 and in 1986. MTV has edited a number of music videos to remove nudity, references to drugs, sex, violence, weapons, racism, homophobia , and/or advertising. Many music videos aired on
6400-546: The Human League along with a new producer and a more commercial sound led to the album Dare (1981), which produced a series of hit singles. These included " Don't You Want Me ", which reached number one in the UK at the end of 1981. Synth-pop reached its commercial peak in the UK in the winter of 1981–2, with bands such as OMD , Japan , Ultravox , Soft Cell , Depeche Mode, Yazoo and even Kraftwerk , enjoying top ten hits. The Human League's and Soft Cell's UK number one singles "Don't You Want Me" and " Tainted Love " became
6528-461: The Money " by Donna Summer was in heavy rotation on the channel. Herbie Hancock's " Rockit " and Lionel Richie 's " All Night Long " were placed in heavy rotation at the end of October and the beginning of November respectively. In the final week of November, Donna Summer's " Unconditional Love " was in heavy rotation. When Jackson's elaborate video for " Thriller " was released late that year, raising
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#17327877601456656-459: The Police , Kiss , Culture Club , Billy Idol , Hall & Oates , Cyndi Lauper , Madonna , Lionel Richie , Ric Ocasek , John Mellencamp , Peter Wolf , Joe Elliott , Stevie Nicks , Rick Springfield , and Mick Jagger , interacting with the MTV logo on-air and encouraging viewers to call their pay television providers and request that MTV be added to their local channel lineups. Eventually,
6784-600: The UK and top 40 in the US. and Thompson Twins , whose popularity peaked in 1984 with the album Into the Gap , which reached No.1 in the UK and the US top ten and spawned several top ten singles. In 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (produced by Trevor Horn of the Buggles), with their first three singles, " Relax ", " Two Tribes " and " The Power of Love ", topping
6912-404: The UK chart. The music journalist Paul Lester reflected, "no band has dominated a 12-month period like Frankie ruled 1984". In January 1985, Tears for Fears' single " Shout ", written by Roland Orzabal in his "front room on just a small synthesizer and a drum machine", became their fourth top 5 UK hit; it would later top the charts in multiple countries including the US. Initially dismissed in
7040-415: The UK charts in the summer of 1979. The discovery that synthesizers could be employed in a different manner from that used in progressive rock or disco, prompted Numan to go solo. On his futuristic album The Pleasure Principle (1979), he played only synths, but retained a bass guitarist and a drummer for the rhythm section. A single from the album, " Cars " topped the charts. Numan's main influence at
7168-702: The UK, Justice from France, Lali Puna from Germany, and Ratatat and the Postal Service from the US, mixing a variety of indie sounds with electronic music, largely produced on small independent labels. Similarly, the electroclash subgenre began in New York at the end of the 1990s, combining synth-pop, techno, punk and performance art. It was pioneered by I-F with their track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1998), and pursued by artists including Felix da Housecat , Peaches , Chicks on Speed , and Fischerspooner . It gained international attention at
7296-504: The US (unlike the UK), where synth-pop is sometimes considered a "subgenre" of "new wave" and was described as "technopop" or "electropop" by the press at the time, the genre became popular due to the cable music channel MTV , which reached the media capitals of New York City and Los Angeles in 1982. It made heavy use of style-conscious New Romantic synth-pop acts, with " I Ran (So Far Away) " (1982) by A Flock of Seagulls generally considered
7424-569: The US during the Second British Invasion . The term "techno-pop" was coined by Yuzuru Agi in his critique of Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine in 1978 and is considered a case of multiple discovery of naming. Hence, the term can be used interchangeably with "synth-pop", but is more frequently used to describe the scene of Japan. The term "techno-pop" became also popular in Europe, where it started: German band Kraftwerk's 1986 album
7552-408: The US the following year. The success of synth-pop and other British acts would be seen as a Second British Invasion . In his early 1980s columns for The Village Voice , music critic Robert Christgau frequently referred to British synth-pop as "Anglodisco", suggesting a parallel to the contemporary genres of Eurodisco and Italo disco , both highly popular outside the US. Indeed, synth-pop
7680-459: The album Game , which led to a renewed interest in technopop within mainstream Japanese pop music. Other Japanese female technopop artists soon followed, including Aira Mitsuki , immi , Mizca , SAWA , Saori Rinne and Sweet Vacation . Model-singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu also shared the same success as Perfume's under Nakata 's production with the album Pamyu Pamyu Revolution in 2012, which topped electronic charts on iTunes as well as
7808-438: The all Prince theme on the channel back in the 90s. A few markets also launched music-only channels including Las Vegas' KRLR-TV (now KSNV ), which debuted in the summer of 1984 and branded as "Vusic 21". The first video played on that channel was "Video Killed the Radio Star", following in the footsteps of MTV. Shortly after TBS began Night Tracks , NBC launched a music video program called Friday Night Videos , which
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#17327877601457936-421: The arrival of indie rock bands, particularly the Smiths , has been seen as marking the end of synth-driven pop and the beginning of the guitar-based music that would dominate rock into the 1990s. By 1991, in the United States synth-pop was losing its commercial viability as alternative radio stations were responding to the popularity of grunge . Exceptions that continued to pursue forms of synth-pop or rock in
8064-401: The artistic style was centered on denouncing corporate capitalism (many aesthetic pieces heavily incorporate corporate logos of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, which coincidentally include MTV's original logo) rather than being embraced by major corporations like MTV. Many have also suggested that MTV made an attempt to be relevant in the modern entertainment world with the rebrand. In addition to this,
8192-448: The audience is going." Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled for MTV airtime. To resolve the struggle and finally "break the color barrier", the president of CBS Records , Walter Yetnikoff , denounced MTV in a strong, profane statement, threatening to take away its right to play any of the label's music. However, Les Garland, then acquisitions head, said he decided to air Jackson's " Billie Jean " video without pressure from CBS,
8320-558: The bar for what a video could be, the network's support for it was total; subsequently, more pop and R&B videos were played on MTV. Following Jackson's and Prince's breakthroughs on MTV, Rick James did several interviews where he brushed off the accomplishment as tokenism , saying in a 1983 interview, in an episode of Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus on James, that "any black artist that [had] their video played on MTV should pull their [videos] off MTV." HBO also had
8448-417: The beach house location each summer. MTV also held week-long music events that took over the presentation of the channel. Examples from the 1990s and 2000s include All Access Week , a week in the summer dedicated to live concerts and festivals; Spankin' New Music Week , a week in the fall dedicated to brand new music videos; and week-long specials that culminated in a particular live event, such as Wanna be
8576-414: The beginning of the new millennium and spread to scenes in London and Berlin, but rapidly faded as a recognizable genre as acts began to experiment with a variety of forms of music. In the new millennium, renewed interest in electronic music and nostalgia for the 1980s led to the beginnings of a synth-pop revival, with acts including Adult and Fischerspooner . Between 2003 and 2004, it began to move into
8704-615: The best selling singles in the UK in 1981. In early 1982 synthesizers were so dominant that the Musicians' Union attempted to limit their use. By the end of 1982, these acts had been joined in the charts by synth-based singles from Thomas Dolby , Blancmange , and Tears for Fears . Bands such as Simple Minds also adopted synth-pop into their music on their 1982 album New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) . ABC and Heaven 17 had commercial success mixing synth-pop with influences from funk and soul music . Dutch entertainer Taco , who has
8832-528: The boundaries of the genre, blending it with shoegaze and ambient music to create a complex, layered sound in their album Digital Shades Vol. 2 . The genre's adaptability and nostalgic appeal have contributed to its enduring presence and continued evolution in the music industry. Synth-pop has received considerable criticism and even prompted hostility among musicians and in the press. It has been described as "anaemic" and "soulless". Synth-pop's early steps, and Gary Numan in particular, were also disparaged in
8960-649: The channel were either censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel. In the 1980s, parent media watchdog groups such as the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) criticized MTV over certain music videos that were claimed to have explicit imagery of satanism . As a result, MTV developed a strict policy on refusal to air videos that may depict Satanism or anti-religious themes. This policy led MTV to ban music videos such as " Jesus Christ Pose " by Soundgarden in 1991 and " Megalomaniac " by Incubus in 2004; however,
9088-410: The channel. David Bowie also questioned MTV's lack of black artists during an on-air interview with VJ Mark Goodman in 1983. MTV's original head of talent and acquisition, Carolyn B. Baker, who was black, questioned why the definition of music had to be so narrow, as did a few others outside the network. Years later, Baker said, "The party line at MTV was that we weren't playing black music because of
9216-420: The commercial charts. "This is a finger, this is another... now write a song" —This quote is a take on the punk manifesto This is a chord, this is another, this is a third...now start a band celebrating the virtues of amateur musicianship first appeared in a fanzine in December 1976. British punk-influenced band Tubeway Army , intended their debut album to be guitar driven. In late 1978, Gary Numan ,
9344-468: The controversial band Marilyn Manson was among the most popular rock bands on MTV during the late 1990s and early 2000s. On September 28, 2016, on an AfterBuzz TV live stream, Scout Durwood said that MTV had a " no appropriation policy " that forbid her from wearing her hair in cornrows in an episode of Mary + Jane . She said, "I wanted to cornrow my hair, and they were like, 'That's racist.'" Magyar Televízió , Hungary's public broadcaster who has
9472-566: The early " dominatrix " image of the Eurythmics' Annie Lennox . In the U.S. this led to British synth-pop artists being characterised as "English haircut bands" or "art fag " music, though many British synth-pop artists were highly popular on both American radio and MTV . Although some audiences were overtly hostile to synth-pop, it achieved an appeal among those alienated from the dominant heterosexuality of mainstream rock culture, particularly among gay, female and introverted audiences. By
9600-491: The early 2000s, MTV updated its on-air appearance at the beginning of every year and each summer, creating a consistent brand across all of its music-related shows. This style of channel-wide branding came to an end as MTV drastically reduced its number of music-related shows in the early to mid 2000s. Around this time, MTV introduced a static and single color digital on-screen graphic mainly grey during on-air and some color to be shown during all of its programming. Starting with
9728-405: The first act with people of color to perform on MTV; their song "Rat Race" was the 58th video on the station's first broadcast day. MTV refused other black artists' videos, such as Rick James ' " Super Freak ", because they did not fit the channel's carefully selected album-oriented rock format at the time. The exclusion enraged James, who publicly advocated the addition of more black artists to
9856-502: The first band of the movement to have a hit single as the synth-driven " To Cut a Long Story Short " reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1980. Visage's " Fade to Grey ", characteristic of synth-pop and a major influence on the genre, reached the top ten a few weeks later. Duran Duran have been credited with incorporating dance beats into synth-pop to produce a catchier and warmer sound, which provided them with
9984-654: The first hit by a British act to enter the Billboard top ten as a result of exposure through video. The switch to a " new music " format in US radio stations was also significant in the success of British bands. Reaching No. 2 in the UK in March 1983 and No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later, Rolling Stone called Eurythmics' single " Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) " "a synth-pop masterpiece". Bananarama 's 1983 synth-pop song " Cruel Summer " became an instant UK hit before having similar success in
10112-458: The first landing on the Moon (with still images acquired directly from NASA ), which was a concept of Seibert's executed by Buzz Potamkin and Perpetual Motion Pictures . The ID then cut to the American flag planted on the Moon's surface changed to show the MTV logo on it, which rapidly changed into different colors and patterns several times per second as the network's original guitar-driven jingle
10240-515: The following year. From August 27, 1985 to May 20, 1986, Warner would sell 31%, and later, 69% of MTV Networks to Viacom . As MTV expanded, music videos and VJ-guided programming were no longer the centerpiece of its programming. The channel's programming has covered a wide variety of genres and formats aimed at adolescents and young adults . In addition to its original programming, MTV has also aired original and syndicated programs from Paramount-owned siblings and third-party networks. MTV
10368-431: The genre as diverse but "characterised by a broad set of values that eschewed rock playing styles, rhythms and structures", which were replaced by "synthetic textures" and "robotic rigidity", often defined by the limitations of the new technology, including monophonic synthesizers (only able to play one note at a time). Many synth-pop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce
10496-572: The genre. MTV MTV ( originally an initialism of Music Television ) is an American cable television channel. It was officially launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group , part of Paramount Media Networks , a division of Paramount Global . The channel originally aired music videos and related programming as guided by television personalities known as video jockeys , or VJs. MTV, as one of
10624-726: The ground. Shortly after its launch, the Disney Channel aired a program called DTV , a play on the MTV acronym. The program used music cuts, both from past and upcoming artists. Instead of music videos, the program used clips of various vintage Disney cartoons and animated films (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Fox and the Hound ) to go with the songs. The program aired in multiple formats, sometimes between shows, sometimes as its own program, and other times as one-off specials. The specials tended to air both on
10752-486: The lives of gay, bisexual and transgender people. This was the highest in the industry and the highest percentage ever. In 2018, MTV launched a new production unit under the MTV Studios name focused on producing new versions of MTV's library shows. It was later consolidated into MTV Entertainment Studios In 1984, the channel produced its first MTV Video Music Awards show, or VMAs. The first award show, in 1984,
10880-406: The lyrics of " What Is Love? " – "Does anybody love anybody anyway?") and Nik Kershaw , whose "well-crafted synth-pop" incorporated guitars and other more traditional pop influences that particularly appealed to a teen audience. Pursuing a more dance-orientated sound were Bronski Beat whose album The Age of Consent (1984), dealing with issues of homophobia and alienation, reached the top 20 in
11008-538: The mainstream with Ladytron , the Postal Service , Cut Copy , the Bravery and the Killers all producing records that incorporated vintage synthesizer sounds and styles that contrasted with the dominant genres of post-grunge and nu metal . In particular, the Killers enjoyed considerable airplay and exposure and their debut album Hot Fuss (2004) reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 . The Killers,
11136-781: The mainstream, with jazz musician Stan Free , under the pseudonym Hot Butter , having a top 10 hit in the United States and United Kingdom in 1972, with a cover of the 1969 Gershon Kingsley song " Popcorn " using a Moog synthesizer, which is recognised as a forerunner to synth-pop and disco . The mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians such as Jean Michel Jarre , Vangelis , and Tomita . Tomita's album Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock (1972) featured electronic renditions of contemporary rock and pop songs, while utilizing speech synthesis and analog music sequencers . In 1975, Kraftwerk played their first British show and inspired concert attendees Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys – who would later found Orchestral Manoeuvres in
11264-556: The media as "the Lennon–McCartney of synth-pop". Giorgio Moroder collaborated with the band Sparks on their album No. 1 In Heaven (1979). That same year in Japan, the synth-pop band P-Model made its debut with the album In a Model Room . Other Japanese synth-pop groups emerging around the same time included the Plastics and Hikashu . This zeitgeist of revolution in electronic music performance and recording/production
11392-609: The mid-1980s, synth-pop had helped establish the synthesizer as a primary instrument in mainstream pop music. It also influenced the sound of many mainstream rock acts, such as Bruce Springsteen , ZZ Top and Van Halen . It was a major influence on house music , which grew out of the post-disco dance club culture of the early 1980s as some DJs attempted to make the less pop-oriented music that also incorporated influences from Latin soul , dub , rap music , and jazz . American musicians such as Juan Atkins , using names including Model 500, Infinity and as part of Cybotron , developed
11520-533: The monochrome blacks and greys of punk/new wave, synthpop was promoted by a youth media interested in people who wanted to be pop stars, such as Boy George and Adam Ant ". The New Romantic scene had developed in the London nightclubs Billy's and the Blitz and was associated with bands such as Duran Duran, Visage , and Spandau Ballet . They adopted an elaborate visual style that combined elements of glam rock , science fiction and romanticism . Spandau Ballet were
11648-607: The music of the trance and pop duo fripSide , Mototaka Segawa of the band Move approached fripSide's Satoshi Yaginuma at the Animelo Summer Live concert in August 2010 wanting to collaborate with him. Around the same time, Segawa took notice of Maon Kurosaki , who at the time had just released her debut album H.O.T.D. under Geneon in September 2010. Segawa contacted Kurosaki through Yaginuma, because fripSide
11776-450: The music press as a "teeny bop sensation" were Norwegian band a-ha , whose use of guitars and real drums produced an accessible form of synth-pop, which, along with an MTV friendly video, took their 1985 single " Take On Me " to number two in the UK and number one in the US. Synth-pop continued into the late 1980s, with a format that moved closer to dance music, including the work of acts such as British duos Pet Shop Boys , Erasure and
11904-461: The music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were "typically woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic 'progression' to speak of". Early synth-pop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Common lyrical themes of synth-pop songs were isolation, urban anomie , and feelings of being emotionally cold and hollow. In its second phase in
12032-412: The network executives imposed a lifetime ban. Billy Idol 's music video for the song " Cradle of Love " originally had scenes from Clay's film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane when it was originally aired; scenes from the film were later excised. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards , Clay was in attendance where he confirmed that the channel lifted the ban. In the wake of controversy that involved
12160-513: The period 1976–77 was initially hostile to the "inauthentic" sound of the synthesizer, but many new wave and post-punk bands that emerged from the movement began to adopt it as a major part of their sound. British punk and new wave clubs were open to what was then considered an "alternative" sound. The do it yourself attitude of punk broke down the progressive rock era's norm of needing years of experience before getting up on stage to play synthesizers. The American duo Suicide , who arose from
12288-473: The post-punk scene in New York, utilised drum machines and synthesizers in a hybrid between electronics and post-punk on their eponymous 1977 album . Around this time, Ultravox member Warren Cann purchased a Roland TR-77 drum machine , which was first featured in their October 1977 single release " Hiroshima Mon Amour ". Be-Bop Deluxe released Drastic Plastic in February 1978, leading off with
12416-407: The premiere of the short-lived program FNMTV: Friday Night MTV in 2008, MTV started using a updated and cropped version of its original logo for the 30 years during most of its on-air programming. It became MTV's official logo on February 8, 2010, and officially debuted on its website. The channel's full text "MUSIC TELEVISION" was eliminated, with the revised and chopped down on the logo largely
12544-933: The punk band the Dead Kennedys , whose song "M.T.V. – Get Off the Air" was released on their 1985 album Frankenchrist , just as MTV's influence over the music industry was being solidified. MTV was also the major influence on the growth of music videos during the 1980s. During MTV's first few years, very few black artists were featured. The select few in MTV's rotation between 1981 and 1984 were Michael Jackson , Prince , Eddy Grant , Tina Turner , Donna Summer , Joan Armatrading , Musical Youth , The Specials , The Selecter , Grace Jones , John Butcher and Herbie Hancock . Mikey Craig of Culture Club , Joe Leeway of Thompson Twins and Tracy Wormworth of The Waitresses were also black. The Specials, which included black and white vocalists and musicians, were also
12672-480: The rebrand was made on exactly the same day that the social media site Tumblr introduced Tumblr TV, an animated GIF viewer which featured branding inspired by MTV's original 1980s on-air look. Tumblr has been cited as a prominent location of aesthetic art, and thus many have suggested MTV and Tumblr "switched identities". The rebrand also incorporated a modified version of MTV's classic "I Want My MTV!" slogan, changed to read "I Am My MTV". Vice has suggested that
12800-527: The release of UK band the Human League 's debut single " Being Boiled " and The Normal 's " Warm Leatherette ", which both are regarded as seminal works in early synth-pop. Sheffield band Cabaret Voltaire are also regarded as pioneers of the late 1970s that influenced the emerging synth-pop in Britain. In America, post-punk band Devo began moving towards a more electronic sound. At this point synth-pop gained some critical attention, but made little impact on
12928-485: The research – but the research was based on ignorance… We were young, we were cutting-edge. We didn't have to be on the cutting edge of racism." Nevertheless, it was Baker who rejected Rick James' "Super Freak" video "because there were half-naked women in it, and it was a piece of crap. As a black woman, I did not want that representing my people as the first black video on MTV." The network's director of music programming, Buzz Brindle, told an interviewer in 2006: "MTV
13056-501: The rules of the rock business." MTV senior executive vice president Les Garland complained decades later, "The worst thing was that 'racism' bullshit ... there were hardly any videos being made by black artists. Record companies weren't funding them. They never got charged with racism." However, critics of that defence pointed out that record companies were not funding videos for black artists because they knew they would have difficulty persuading MTV to play them. In celebrating
13184-413: The same as the original logo, but without the initialism, the bottom of the "M" being cropped and the "V" in "TV" no longer branching off. This change was most likely made to reflect MTV's more prominent focus on reality and comedy programming and less on music-related programming. However, much like the original logo, the new logo was designed to be filled in with a seemingly unlimited variety of images. It
13312-725: The same period include Calvin Harris , Empire of the Sun , Frankmusik , Hurts , Ou Est Le Swimming Pool , Kaskade , LMFAO , and Owl City , whose single " Fireflies " (2009) topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2009, an underground subgenre with direct stylistic origins to synth-pop became popular, chillwave . Other 2010s synth-pop acts include the Naked and Famous , Chvrches , M83 , and Shiny Toy Guns . American singer Kesha has also been described as an electropop artist, with her electropop debut single " Tik Tok " topping
13440-464: The single "Electrical Language" with Bill Nelson on guitar synthesizer and Andy Clark on synthesizers. Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) with their self-titled album (1978) and Solid State Survivor (1979), developed a "fun-loving and breezy" sound, with a strong emphasis on melody . They introduced the TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music , and the band would be a major influence on early British synth-pop acts. 1978 also saw
13568-421: The single most significant event in melodic music since Mersey-beat ". By the 1980s synthesizers had become much cheaper and easier to use. After the definition of MIDI in 1982 and the development of digital audio , the creation of purely electronic sounds and their manipulation became much simpler. Synthesizers came to dominate the pop music of the early 1980s, particularly through their adoption by bands of
13696-541: The slogan became so ubiquitous that it made an appearance as a lyric sung by Sting on the Dire Straits song " Money for Nothing ", whose music video aired in regular rotation on MTV when it was first released in 1985 and also served as the first video played on its European arm , and became the basis of the music used in the MTV Entertainment Studios production logo . The channel has been
13824-425: The slogan change represents "the current generation's movement towards self-examination, identity politics and apparent narcissism." MTV also introduced MTV Bump, a website that allows Instagram and Vine users to submit videos to be aired during commercial breaks, as well as MTV Canvas, an online program where users submit custom IDs to also be aired during commercial breaks. On February 5, 2021, MTV began to use
13952-466: The songs. Synth-pop music has established a place for the synthesizer as a major element of pop and rock music , directly influencing subsequent genres (including house music and Detroit techno ) and has indirectly influenced many other genres, as well as individual recordings. Synth-pop is defined by its primary use of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers , sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Borthwick and Moy have described
14080-527: The summer, dedicating most of each summer season to broadcasting live from a beach house at different locations away from New York City, eventually leading to channel-wide branding throughout the summer in the 1990s and early 2000s such as Motel California , Summer Share , Isle of MTV , SoCal Summer , Summer in the Keys , and Shore Thing . MTV VJs would host blocks of music videos, interview artists and bands, and introduce live performances and other programs from
14208-674: The tag line, not unlike his failed 'Maypo' revamp. His associate, and Seibert mentor Dale Pon, took over the campaign, both strategically and creatively. Pon was able to get the campaign greenlit when he laughed the tears out of the spots. From then on–with the exception of the closely logos on the first round of commercials–Pon was the primary creative force. All the commercials were produced by Buzz Potamkin and his new company Buzzco Productions, directed first by Thomas Schlamme and Alan Goodman and eventually by Candy Kugel. The campaign featured popular artists and celebrities, including Pete Townshend , Pat Benatar , Adam Ant , David Bowie ,
14336-464: The time was the John Foxx -led new wave band Ultravox who released the album Systems of Romance in 1978. Foxx left Ultravox the following year and scored a synth-pop hit with the single " Underpass " from his first solo album Metamatic in early 1980. In 1979, OMD released their debut single " Electricity ", which has been viewed as integral to the rise of synth-pop. This was followed by
14464-488: The time, the logo was constantly branded with different colors, patterns and images on a variety of station IDs. Examples include 1988's ID "Adam And Eve", where the "M" is an apple and the snake is the "TV". And for 1984's ID "Art History", the logo is shown in different art styles. The only constant aspects of MTV's logo at the time were its general shape and proportions, with everything else being dynamic. MTV launched on August 1, 1981, with an extended network ID featuring
14592-402: Was "ignorance" regarding synth-pop, such as his belief that people "thought machines did it". OMD frontman Andy McCluskey recalled a great many people "who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you", and asserted: "Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or a drum machine that said 'hit single', I would have pressed it as often as anybody else would have – but there isn't . It
14720-558: Was all written by real human beings". According to Simon Reynolds, in some quarters synthesizers were seen as instruments for "effete poseurs", in contrast to the phallic guitar. The association of synth-pop with an alternative sexuality was reinforced by the images projected by synth-pop stars, who were seen as gender bending , including Phil Oakey 's asymmetric hair and use of eyeliner, Marc Almond 's "pervy" leather jacket, skirt wearing by figures including Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and
14848-499: Was completed in time for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. The channel's iconic "I Want My MTV!" advertising campaign was launched in 1982. It was first developed by George Lois and was based on a cereal commercial from the 1950s with the slogan " I Want My Maypo !" that Lois adapted unsuccessfully from the original created by animator John Hubley . Lois's first pitch to the network was roundly rejected when Lois insisted that rock stars like Mick Jagger should be crying when they said
14976-487: Was considered network television's answer to MTV. Later renamed simply Friday Night , the program ran from 1983 to 2002. ABC's contribution to the music video program genre in 1984, ABC Rocks , was far less successful, lasting only a year. TBS founder Ted Turner started the Cable Music Channel in 1984, designed to play a broader mix of music videos than MTV's rock format allowed. But after one month as
15104-419: Was designed in 1981 by Manhattan Design (a collective formed by Frank Olinsky, Pat Gorman and Patty Rogoff) under the guidance of original creative director Fred Seibert . The block letter "M" was sketched by Rogoff, with the scribbled word "TV" spraypainted by Olinksky. The primary variant of MTV's logo at the time had the "M" in yellow and the "TV" in red. However, unlike most television networks' logos at
15232-626: Was encapsulated by then would-be record producer Trevor Horn of the Buggles in the single " Video Killed the Radio Star "; the song topped the UK charts in October 1979 and it also became an international hit; two years later it was the first song aired on MTV. Geoff Downes , keyboardist for the Buggles, states, "When we did a rerecorded version for Top of the Pops , the Musicians’ Union bloke said, "If I think you’re making strings sounds out of
15360-466: Was highly praised by some critics and musicians (including Patti Smith and Lester Bangs ), the album met with poor commercial reception. The album has been considered revolutionary in its use of synthesizers, while others described Wilson's extensive use of the Moog synthesizer as a "loopy funhouse ambience" and an early example of synth-pop. Early guitar-based punk rock that came to prominence in
15488-401: Was originally designed to be a rock music channel. It was difficult for MTV to find African American artists whose music fit the channel's format that leaned toward rock at the outset." Writers Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum noted that the channel "aired videos by plenty of white artists who didn't play rock." Andrew Goodwin later wrote: "[MTV] denied racism, on the grounds that it merely followed
15616-530: Was played for the first time. After MTV's launch, the "Moon landing" ID was edited to show only its ending, and was shown at the top of every hour until early 1986, when the ID was scrapped in light of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster . The ID ran "more than 75,000 times each year (48 times each day), at the top and bottom of every hour every day" according to Seibert. From the late 1990s to
15744-546: Was punctuated by a live performance by Madonna of " Like a Virgin ". The statuettes that are handed out at the Video Music Awards are of the MTV moonman, the channel's original image from its first broadcast in 1981. As of 2012 , the Video Music Awards were MTV's most watched annual event. MTV began its annual Spring Break coverage in 1986, setting up temporary operations in Daytona Beach, Florida , for
15872-532: Was released on December 7, 2011, which is used as the first ending theme to Shakugan no Shana Final . Altima's second single "One" was released on February 29, 2012, which is used as the second ending theme to Shakugan no Shana Final . Altima's third single "Burst the Gravity" was released on July 25, 2012, which is used as the second opening theme to the 2012 anime television Accel World . Altima released their fourth single "Fight 4 Real" on January 29, 2014, which
16000-457: Was taken up across the world alongside the continuing presence of disco , with international hits for German synth-pop as well as Eurodisco acts including Peter Schilling , Sandra , Modern Talking , Propaganda , and Alphaville . Other non-British groups scoring synth-pop hits were Men Without Hats and Trans-X from Canada, Telex from Belgium, Yello from Switzerland, and Azul y Negro from Spain. The synth-pop scene of Yugoslavia spawned
16128-419: Was that black artists that MTV initially ignored received airplay. The program ran until the end of May 1992. Playboy TV launched their own music video program called "Playboy's Hot Rocks" that premiered on July 15, 1983 featuring uncensored versions of music videos that were shown in nightclubs by artists from Duran Duran and Mötley Crüe to Nine Inch Nails and 2Pac. At times, they would do a certain theme like
16256-413: Was titled Techno Pop ; English band the Buggles has a song named "Technopop" and Spanish band Mecano described their style as tecno-pop. "Synth-pop" is sometimes used interchangeably with " electropop ", but "electropop" may also denote a variant of synth-pop that places more emphasis on a harder, more electronic sound. In the mid to late 1980s, duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted
16384-438: Was widely adopted by progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes . Instrumental prog rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , Can and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesizer-heavy " Kraut rock ", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music ), would be
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