History of Synthpop

The genre Synthpop also known as Electropop first came around in the early 1970’s. The dominant instrument used is the synthesizer which is where it gets its name from. The genre originated in Japan and Germany, with the bands Yellow Magic Orchestra and Kraftwerk. It arose in the United Kingdom during the post punk era during the late 1970’s early 80’s. Early on Synthpop was described as “eerie, sterile and vaguely menacing” later on dance beats were introduced to make the music more upbeat and warmers, to be contained within the conventions of three minute pop.

Synthpop uses very few instruments if only one which is the synthesizer which makes the music much more original. The very first synthesizer was built in the USA in 1955 but they were very expensive and they were hard to handle. The bands use very simple bold, bright colour schemes. The sort of things that make the genre unique is the way it’s very based on future, the sounds of music makes it futuristic and the way the bands dress.

There are a few key artists within this genre. Yellow Magic Orchestra originated in Japan and where one of the first Synthpop bands and Kraftwerk was a German band to use the Synthesizer. Then later on in the early 1980’s bands such a Soft Cell, Depeche Mode appeared. More current artists to come about would be La Roux and Owl City which have come around during the last few years.  Synthpop reached a peak within the UK in the winter 1981- 1982, with bands Soft Cell, Ultravox, Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk reaching top ten hits. Popular songs of the genre would be songs such as, Fireflies (Owl City), Sowing the seeds of love (Tears for Fears), Here comes the rain again (the Eurythmics) Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode) and Feel so close (Calvin Harris). These songs and artist are considered to be key because they are originals and stick to the conventions of the genre.   

This is the original Synthesizer