“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE
From Chart Toppers To Cult Classics When Music Ruled The Airwaves
In 1983, Stephen Morris from NEW ORDER said to Smash Hits: “If you believe in the charts, then you might as well believe in fairies” but occasionally, those fairies could sprinkle some magic dust.
‘Every UK Hit Single: 1980’ aims to tell “The story of 1980 – every hit, every memory, one unforgettable year in pop: 370 singles, 225 artists, 25 chart toppers!”. Putting things into wider perspective, those numbers are still small considering the amount of record releases in any given year during a time when there was no streaming, no downloading, no social media and even no CD!
Author Richard West has a lifelong fascination with popular music and realised his dream of chart entries as a member of progressive metal bands THRESHOLD and OBLIVION PROTOCOL with recognition across Europe and the UK’s specialist listings. He even published a memoir ‘Maybe A Writer: My Life in Threshold’ that traced his journey from his teenage years living by numbers following the charts to becoming a recording artist.
‘Every UK Hit Single: 1980’ is the first volume in a series documenting every Top 40 entry with the intention of covering 1981 and beyond. The format is chronological with two paragraphs on each single, one factual and one of trivia. What it does lack however is opinion, so this is more of a reference book.
Despite the popularity of Gary Numan in 1979, synth-based pop music was still fledgling as far as being a regular chart proposition was concerned. However, Japanese Technopop trio YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA would score a surprise No17 hit with their 1978 electronic cover of American composer Martin Denny’s 1959 exotica instrumental ‘Firecracker’, mistitled as ‘Computer Game (Theme From The Invader)’.
Although the original could be seen as an early form of cultural appropriation using every pentatonic cliché in the book, Haroumi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto took it back and gave the tune authenticity. Their treatment acted as a symbol of the Far East’s advancement in affordable technology which was crucial to the rise of the synth.
While 1980 would establish its own electronic legacy, the man born Gary Webb was already being seen as heading down the dumper with both ‘We Are Glass’ and ‘I Die: You Die’ failing to secure the top spot after ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and ‘Cars’ both hit No1 the year before.
Considered his nearest rival artistically at the time, Numan’s biggest influence John Foxx was fresh out of ULTRAVOX but the fact that his even more dystopian electro pieces like ‘Underpass’, ‘No-One Driving’ and ‘Burning Car’ were even entering the Top 40 was nothing short of amazing and indicative of the adventurous eclectic nature of 1980.
Meanwhile the newly regrouped ULTRAVOX now fronted by Midge Ure got the Top 40 entry that was not even close during their Foxx-era with ‘Sleepwalk’ but while it was a breakthrough, it wouldn’t be until the title track of the parent album ‘Vienna’ was a single in 1981 that they would become chart fixtures.
Despite the critical acclaim for the likes of THE HUMAN LEAGUE, JAPAN and SIMPLE MINDS, it was a young duo from Merseyside who would steal their thunder as far as the Top 40 was concerned; ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK were notable for being one of the rising wave of warmer synthesizer acts but while extremely melodic and rhythmic, their lyrics on ‘Messages’ and more significantly ‘Enola Gay’ had darker overtones. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys would end 1980 as the biggest selling artist in the Virgin Records group despite being signed to one of its subsidiaries Dindisc.
One often forgotten synth-driven band who actually managed three Top 40 single entries in 1980 was NEW MUSIK; led by Tony Mansfield, like a certain Trevor Horn with BUGGLES, he figured he would have more influence in the studio rather than being on ‘Top Of The Pops’. He would go on to produce a No 1 for Captain Sensible while also working with the likes of AZTEC CAMERA, NAKED EYES and A-HA. Meanwhile at the start of 1980, Vangelis debuted in the UK Top 40 with YES frontman Jon Anderson and the gorgeous ‘I Hear You Now’.
Sadly, Ian Curtis was never to have a Top 40 hit in his lifetime as ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ would posthumously get a No13 hit for JOY DIVISION. But surviving members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris with new member Gillian Gilbert would have that chart fairy dust sprinkled on them several times as NEW ORDER.
Although the New Romantics were being talked about as the rising youth movement, it would be the man who sold the world and seeded the whole party in the first place that would use it for an artistic renaissance; David Bowie was taken to The Blitz by club regular and RCA label assistant Jacqueline Bucknell to cast members of the clientele including its “face” Steve Strange for the video of his new single ‘Ashes To Ashes’.
While the song reached No1 and Bowie himself would move on, others from The Blitz knew their time had come. SPANDAU BALLET would release ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’ towards the end of year to herald a fresh aspirational mindset in pop while issued a few weeks later, ‘Fade To Grey’ by the Steve Strange-fronted VISAGE wouldn’t hit big until the start of 1981 but would become the biggest selling single in West Germany of that year.
1980 though was not really about the emergence of warmer and dancier synthesizer sounds. The year was dominated by ska with the likes of THE SPECIALS, THE BEAT and MADNESS scoring at least 4 Top 40 hits each but perhaps unbelievably and reflective of every generation needing its dose of imagined nostalgia, rockabilly band MATCHBOX scored 5 Top 40 hits!
1980 is often best remembered for 3 No1s for BLONDIE, 2 No1s for THE JAM and 2 No1s for ABBA, with consistent charts runs for the likes of THE POLICE, QUEEN and ROXY MUSIC while disco provided chart toppers for Fern Kinney and Kelly Marie. Without even mentioning Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, mods, rockers or the new wave of British heavy metal, this was a year of musical diversity and ‘Every UK Hit Single: 1980’ documents that.
It’s been 10 years since the last MESH album ‘Looking Skyward’…
The duo of Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn continue to be a live draw in Europe while the former has been busy with his BLACKCARBURNING solo project. But the world has changed considerably since ‘Looking Skyward’ and now ‘The Truth Doesn’t Matter’ in this is the age of post-factual lies.
As if to make up for their recorded absence of nearly a decade, the new MESH album contains a whopping 16 tracks which capture the dark undertone of muddled political viewpoints that allow fascism to be normalised and empathy to be treated as the enemy.
Photo by Guido Braun
On the opening title song, “The truth doesn’t matter if no-one gets hurt” could be a catchphrase from that vile orange Mussolini and the song provides a stark statement on the present state of geopolitical affairs. Fast and frantic as the heavens open with heavy rainfall, ‘A Storm Is Coming’ needs no explanation in the fierce tension expressed lyrically and musically. Moving onto something moodier and more personal, ‘I Lost a Friend Today’ reflects on loss…
With a determined stance, ‘Trying to Save You’ is a MESH banger with futurepop inflections that will become a live favourite while featuring the delectable voice of Mari Kattman, ‘Bury Me Again’ is a steadfast epic which gets an eerie angelic ending. ‘I Bleed Through You’ provides more emotive propulsion in another classic MESH anthem, as does ‘Kill Us With Silence’ which does electro rock far better than DEPECHE MODE have done in the last 20 years… there, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has said it AGAIN!
With stabbing synths and a rumbling triplet, the cut and thrust metaphors of ‘Exile’ could be seen on personal or political levels, but if taken as the latter, there are questions on the rise of far right extremism as the turmoil is observed in isolation. Following that rousing highlight, there is another as MESH get into an 808 STATE on the rousing ‘Everything As It Should Be’ with a simple but effective synth solo to boot in “the path of least resistance”.
The more sparsely orchestrated ‘Hey Stranger’ is offset by wonderfully bubbling arpeggios for one of those sad MESH ballads while with an acoustic strum amongst the sequences and string machines, ‘Not Everyone Is Lonely’ heads towards the home straight with the message to “don’t get left behind”. The closing mandate is to ‘Be Kind’ and “enjoy their success when you are not at your best”; this is Hockings’ clarion call to his ‘Friends Like These’ to avoid “the judgement of crowds”.
Every type of MESH track is gathered on ‘The Truth Doesn’t Matter’; there’s the fast ones, the anthemic stompers, the emotive slowies and the instrumental interludes ranging from the dramatic cinematics of ‘Polygraph’, the rhythmic computer speech-laden ‘1031030’ and the brooding spy drama of ‘Cipher’ which could be mistaken for present-day Gary Numan. There is a lot of MESH to take in on this new body of work, but fans will be extremely happy with what is on offer with the double opus that is ‘The Truth Doesn’t Matter’.
‘The Truth Doesn’t Matter’ is released by Dependent Records on 27th March 2026, formats include limited edition boxset signed by MESH, hardcover 2CD artbook including exclusive 9 track bonus CD The Full Truth, gatefold black vinyl double LP and standard CD – pre-order from https://spkr.store/collections/mesh
MESH 2026 live dates include:
Oberhausen Kulttempel (2nd April), Berlin Huxleys (3rd April), Hamburg Docks (4th April), Leipzig Felsenkeller (5th April), Prague Lucerna Music Bar (6th April), Munich Backstage (7th April), Frankfurt Batschkapp (9th April), Cologne Carlswerk Victoria (10th April), Hannover Pavillon (11th April), Bristol Trinity (1st May), London 229 (2nd May), Sheffield Corporation (3rd May), Malmö Plan B (14th May), Gothenburg Musikens Hus (15th May), Copenhagen Viften (16th May), Taunton Electric Summer (30th August with Howard Jones), Liberec Dům Kultury (11th November)
Karl Bartos needs no introduction to electronic music aficionados as a member of the classic KRAFTWERK line-up; he co-wrote acknowledged electronic classics such as ‘The Model’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Neon Lights’, ‘Computer World’, ‘Numbers’, ‘Computer Love’, ‘Tour De France’ and ‘The Telephone Call’.
As well as playing the iconic elektronisches schlagzeug pads first widely seen in the UK on the BBC show ‘Tomorrow’s World’, Bartos also used other customised electronic instruments such as the Vibrolux electronic vibraphone and the Triggersumme percussion sequencer.
Leaving KRAFTWERK after years of work on ‘The Mix’ for which he was not credited, he formed ELEKTRIC MUSIC, releasing the album ‘Esperanto’ in 1993 which featured the original version of the brilliant ‘Kissing The Machine’ with Andy McCluskey on lead vocals that was later included in reworked form on the 2013 OMD album ‘English Electric’.
Collaborations with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr for the ELECTRONIC album ‘Raise The Pressure’ and a psychedelic rock-infused number ‘The Moon & The Sun’ with OMD for their more conventional‘Universal’ long player followed in 1996; the various influences from these British sojourns led to the 1998 six string driven ‘Electric Music’ album which Bartos would describe as “guitar pop out of the computer”.
Photo by Gaby Gerster
But Bartos would return to electronics for his debut solo album proper ‘Communication’ in 2003. He acted as a guest professor in Auditory Media Design at the Berlin University of the Arts between 2004 to 2009 before formulating his second solo album ‘Off The Record’ which came out in 2013. His most recent music project has been a present day soundtrack to ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’, the 1920 German Expressionist silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene.
His autobiography ‘The Sound Of The Machine – My Life in KRAFTWERK & Beyond’ was published in English in 2022 by Omnibus Press and among the interesting factoids contained within was that the inspiration for the ‘Numbers’ beat was a Cliff Richard recording called ‘Do You Want To Dance?’; almost everything about the creative process at Kling Klang from an eyewitness point of view was contained in this book.
With a remastered version of ‘The Sound Of The Machine’ recently published with a new foreword by music academic Dr Leah Kardos, Karl Bartos kindly entertained a career spanning chat with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK
You have published a remastered edition of your book ‘The Sound Of The Machine’, are there any specific differences with this new version. How was it to write, from the original German transcript through to translation into English?
After the book’s publication in Germany, I began revising the text with the English translation in mind. Many sections had been cut and I’ve now reinserted them elsewhere. Meanwhile, I had also analysed my time with KRAFTWERK and, for example, added the paragraph ‘Progress as a Shining Promise’ to Chapter 16. Digitisation was one of the decisive reasons for the end of our creative community.
When we then worked on the translation with the fantastic Katy Derbyshire, several other things came to light that I had noticed in the other language. And my magnificent editor, David Buckley, brought another expertise. It wasn’t really work for me, but rather very educational and a great pleasure. Yes, I’m happy with Omnibus Press’ remastered edition. And, of course, I love the profound foreword. Dankeschön, Leah Kardos.
You are still performing your contemporary soundtrack to ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ live, what fascinated you about this film and how did you find composing to moving images and a storyline?
The industry of killing machines was invented then. For the first time, a war was fought with modern weapons: machine guns, tanks, airplanes, flamethrowers, chemical weapons, and much more – everything that scientists had developed. The film reflected the horrors of World War I. It was a sensation at its premiere in Berlin in 1920. It was considered a new art form. Reproducible – made for the masses. The new medium of film combined the expressionist worldview with psychoanalysis and the mystical ghost world of Romanticism.
Composing functional music was an enriching experience. But I didn’t just compose music, but also integrated all the sounds of the narrative world into the music. That’s why my partner, sound director Mathias Black, and I called it narrative film music.
Your debut solo album ‘Communication’ was reissued in 2025 by Bureau B, but it sort of got lost when it was first released in 2003. How was the reception to it 22 years later on its now prescient themes?
Yes, I’ve been living with this album for a while now. I can’t say much about the reactions to the reissue yet. A friend from England wrote to me that it’s difficult to determine the order of my music releases anyway. The events of September 11th deeply shook me at the time, and I wanted to focus on the power of images.
How do you look back on the making of 2013’s ‘Off The Record’ and how it brought some of your past into the present? Are there any more “secret acoustic diary” entries that can be developed?
During my professorship at the Berlin University of the Arts, the idea for an autobiography gradually matured. My pocket diaries, scores, and audio diary were all kept close together. Yes, I often write things down. Perhaps because I want to know how I think.
‘Ohm Sweet Ohm’ remains an underrated classic, it is very emotional and human in its realisation with your “knitting needle schlagzeug” being among the key components, how did your pop mind and classical training take to this new technology and sound when in the studio for the ‘Radio-Activity’ album?
The 1970s were a decade of avant-garde music. And Düsseldorf was an artistic centre for all directions of the avant-garde. As a student, one was very involved in experimentation. Compositions for percussion generated quite a lot of buzz. Steve Reich played at the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf in the early 1970s. That was an enlightening experience. I also studied Stockhausen’s ‘Zyklus for a Percussionist’ and, with the percussion ensemble, Carlos Chávez’s ‘Toccata for Percussion Instruments’. It was also around that period that I first heard pieces from John Cage’s ‘Imaginary Landscape series’. It was an amazing time, living and learning amidst the sounds of music.
But bear in mind: even in the 60s, THE BEATLES had one foot in the avant-garde of sound art. The recording sessions for ‘Radio-Activity’ were cool and the atmosphere was great. I remember thinking to myself that it was a good mix of pop and avant-garde. That was then.
In today’s capitalist, computerised world, however, many are more concerned with content management than with music. We once imagined this digital world and translated it into music. But yesterday’s future is now the past. Many people love this retro-futurism. That’s fine with me. Nostalgia is very potent. However, nostalgia should not degenerate into retro-perplexity. Because art, by its very nature, enters into a dialogue with the world. And as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently said in a different context in Davos: ‘Nostalgia is not a strategy.’
Before MIDI, you had the customised Vibrolux electronic vibraphone which you used on ‘The Hall Of Mirrors’, how did you find using to it compared to an acoustic one?
It was rather basic, but it could control a synthesizer, and that was the point.
You came up with the bassline of ‘Metropolis’ while the percussion was sequenced for the first time, how do you see your role as a musician changing at the time?
When I was young I‘d played in pop bands and in classical music, for example in modern ensembles and opera. From the beginning, I felt that composing came naturally to me. Since I never saw myself as a drummer in the traditional sense of pop music, I had no reservations about automating the rhythm. I somehow liked the anonymity of a formula. Similar to the bar lines in musical notation, which represent the pulse, it is the framework that holds the music together. After all, we wanted the quantification to aestheticise the logic of the machine. Essentially, I’m an artist who just happens to be a musician.
One of your new tools in the reconfigured Kling Klang for 1981 was the Triggersumme, what was that like to use and what possibilities did it open up?
It involved the automation of a beatbox with the ability to make variations ‘on the fly’. In fact, the synchronization of the analog sequencer and the Triggersumme for controlling percussive sounds was an ingenious unit. The engineer Hajo Wiechers has done an excellent job. Unfortunately, we weren’t aware of how beneficial this technique was for merging our creativity.
Isn’t it strange that after our 1981 world tour, we didn’t perform live again with our classic line-up until 1990. Progress was a shining promise, and our belief in technology clouded our vision. The digital hysteria of those years diverted our attention from people to machines, and the machines, in turn, blocked our view of what we should have been doing. Because up to that point, all our music had been created through the interplay of our creativity. And the creation was supported by a few music boxes.
Our group of artists then became a digital business model. It is really remarkable how many things we’ve experienced as a result of technological progress are now being repeated in information society worldwide. I view the invasion of artificial intelligence with great concern. I’m not afraid of technology, but of people and their intentions.
The ‘Computer World’ tour saw you playing more keyboards but do you have a favourite synthesizer of all time?
I still own two Minimoogs. Yes, this machine was truly brilliantly designed by Mr Bob Moog. I also have a digital plug-in. Most of the time, we end up with distortions in the digital hall of mirrors. But I think the Moog plug-in turned out well too.
What is your favourite drum machine or rhythm unit?
I’m afraid I can’t help you here. I believe the analog sequencer and Triggersumme of Hajo Wiechers had the ability to awaken creativity and be receptive to inspiration.
Digital synthesis and sampling entered the fray on ‘Tour De France’, how did you view these sonic developments?
Every work of art has two faces: one looks to the present, the other to eternity. I believe that we were too focused on the present during this phase. From a top-down perspective: Technology isn’t all that important for the creation of music. We know that with a few colourful building blocks, children can let their creativity run wild. But we can’t imagine life without technology either. The most important inventions for music were notation, the metronome tempered tuning and the circle of fifths, the fortepiano, and sound recording.
But there’s one more! The idea of automating music on a timeline has been around for a very long time. In the past, people used a cylinder to pluck a comb made of metal tongues of different lengths, thus producing sounds. Essentially, this very clever principle has been transferred to the computer. Anyway, what’s important is the emotion that the music contains and can communicate.
How did you come to sing the lead vocal on ‘The Telephone Call’, had you presented it as a complete song?
Yes, I came up with the lyrics and the melody, I seem to remember. That was a long time ago and isn’t so important to me anymore. I’d have to look that up in my autobiography…
Your music has been very influential and in 1992, you were asked to remix ‘Planet Rock’ which appropriated the ‘Numbers’ beat and brought things full circle… what was your reaction when you first heard it in 1982?
I forgot. I’d have to look that up in my autobiography too… meanwhile, the rhythm has been used over and over.
When you started ELEKTRIC MUSIK, you opted not to front it as such and left the lead vocals primarily to Lothar Manteuffel and guest Andy McCluskey, had your first lead vocal with ‘The Telephone Call’ not provided the confidence you needed?
That’s a good question. My main goal was to have a roof over my head. Others could be here too. That’s why I used the name of my music publishing company Electric Music for the band. By mistake it turned out as ELEKTRIC MUSIC. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether I should use my own name for the product. I have been working under my own name for a long time now, like in classical music.
When Andy showed up I gave him a little melody and a few chords, which were called ‘Loreley’ back then, and he turned it into a song ‘Kissing The Machine’. I certainly hadn’t expected lyrics about artificial intelligence in 1993. That was a blast, of course.
And I had written ‘TV’ in 1987, shortly after ‘Electric Café’ / ’Techno Pop’. At that time I was following the work of Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman because I felt that with ‘Radio-Activity’ we had missed the point regarding the topic of media. And when I finally got the record deal for ELEKTRIC MUSIC, I was forced to write the album in no time at all. Some days I’ve been working 16 hours. The guys where mixing one track at the studio and I was at our place, the Klangwerkstatt, composing / arranging the next song. So Lothar Manteuffel of RHEINGOLD was getting the job to sing ‘TV’. Because I worked overtime to compose and produce the album.
Was the cover of ‘Baby Come Back’ for the NME ‘Ruby Trax’ collection some fun and light relief from your past?
Yes, that’s true. Andy McCluskey suggested the title for our contribution during a dinner at Wolfgang’s place. Emil was there too and Lothar. We had a wonderful time; it was one of those nights.
How true is the legend that you inspired Andy McCluskey to conceive ATOMIC KITTEN?
Oh yeah, I don’t even remember where it was… Düsseldorf, Liverpool, Dublin, Los Angeles? We were just throwing some ideas for the next OMD album into the computer. Andy was in his element, and we tried out a few things that didn’t necessarily sound like OMD. At some point during the session, I asked him if he’d ever written music for other artists. I was thinking of the golden age of songwriting in Tin Pan Alley, or its modern-day counterpart, the Brill Building. I later learned that he’d looked into it. Andy is incredibly talented, but of course, everyone knows that.
You did productions for INFORMATION SOCIETY, THE MOBILE HOMES, VIENNA and FLATZ while among your collaborations were OMD and ELECTRONIC… do you ever wish you did more as a producer? Is there anyone you would have liked to have worked with?
That was a long time ago. The collaborations with Bernard and Johnny, or Andy, were outstanding and completely different.
Today I no longer feel the urge to produce music for other artists. I produce for myself when I compose. For me, nowadays much of the production process revolves around the measurable side of the world. It has a lot to do with technical applications and physics. My mindset is far too abstract for that. I achieve the best results when I play with the elements of music like a child, without any intention or goal. Just for the sake of playing. Sometimes I manage to get into that state…
Photo by Chi Ming Lai
An interesting by-product of working with Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner in ELECTRONIC was you returned to Germany “with a Rickenbacker strapped to your back” which took you into an unexpected direction?
The computer is an extremely powerful production tool. Unfortunately, the device itself, and the digital copy of the world, is very time-consuming. The Silicon Valley people have understood how they can shift a significant part of the work onto the customers. That happens everywhere. There’s a lot of fairy dust being sprinkled around. The business model of digital companies isn’t exactly in love with traditions. However, I’m an artist who feels at home in traditional European culture. We’ll see what the new world order will bring about in terms of art.
That’s why I’m glad I have a few old acoustic instruments in the house. No dirty tech, outdated operating systems, updates, algorithms, feedback loops, AI hallucinations and no looney tech billionaires with their feudal-sounding visions for human kind, the planet and even space.
While working on ‘Caligari’, I composed some of the music for my upcoming electronic album acoustically. As always, it’s primarily about listening, feeling, playing, and thinking. I didn’t record anything for a long time, but made handwritten notes, just like during my musical studies or at Kling Klang Studio. The golden trail, so to speak. That way my subconscious is constantly adding to what’s already there. Or it’s about reducing what’s already been achieved. When I then transfer the music to the computer’s timeline, the musical elements have already developed a life of their own. Music, after all, originates from life.
But of course, I sometimes start with a blank timeline. Ha, the void! I should really write a short piece about creativity sometime. It’s like this: inspiration doesn’t arise when you hope for it, but only during the work itself.
Which are your 5 favourite pieces of your own work?
I’m afraid I can’t answer that question. I don’t know. For me, life in music is like breathing.
Photo by Philipp Rathmer
What is next for you?
I hope that one day I will release my next electronic album. A long-cherished wish of mine, the re-recording of ‘Esperanto’ (1993) is also planned. There are so many unheard melodies and musical elements from the early 1990s and before that I would love to come to life.
Will you ever perform your KRAFTWERK co-writes and solo “pop” material live again, as it’s been a while since you’ve done that?
I don’t know yet. Igor Stravinsky once said, in essence, that music is a speculation with sound and time. The live music business is also about speculation – nothing is certain until the tickets are sold.
But my music is constantly being performed live. My former musician friend is touring the world with his show. He seems to be omnipresent. You know, I don’t regret anything. But I also don’t forget anything. And I’m really grateful and happy that people don’t stop listening to our songs. That means a lot to me. I believe our music will outlive us. And that’s not too bad, is it?
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its grateful thanks to Karl Bartos
Special thanks to Sean Newsham at Bureau B and Bettina Michael
Having thought about England before moving to Berlin and then relocating to Los Angeles, Chris Corner continues his unconventional creative public therapy as he embarks on another European tour as IAMX.
Following up 2025’s ‘Fault Lines²’ jaunt, IAMX will embark on the ‘Artificial Innocence’ tour with the title song now released to streaming platforms having originally been part of the tour-exclusive 4 track CD and vinyl EP ‘UNMASK’. It marks a transition towards Corner’s next chapter and his darker alternative electronic sounds.
With an exhilarating array of modular pulses acting as the backbone and penetrated by Corner’s signature soaring vocals, the ‘Artificial Innocence’ title plays on the term “AI”. Reflecting lyrically on submission, control and emotional emptiness in a number that is heavy yet also fragile, at the end Corner confesses “I have extraordinary needs!”
Evoking Corner’s DIY art punk spirit, ‘Artificial Innocence’ has a stark monochromatic video accompaniment made using an iPhone, transforming it from effectively a B-side into a tense darkwave anthem that stands as its own starring statement in varying shades of grey.
Filmed in the Southern California desert, it sees contortionist and performer Katy Mikelle with Corner on a journey that is sensual, visceral and intense in its deviant sexual hedonism with a series of fast cut cinematic lovebites.
‘Artificial Innocence’ is released on all the usual online platforms
IAMX 2026 live dates include:
Leipzig EoNLY Festival (14th March), Gdansk Parlament (16th March), Budapest Dürer Kert (18th March), Bucharest Control Club (20nd March), Belgrade Dorcól Platz (21st March), Zagreb Močvara (22nd March), Ljubljana Orto Bar (24th March), Milan Legend Club (25th March), Bratislava Trnko (27th March), Krems Stadtsaal (28th March), Eindhoven Effenaar (31st March), Cologne Die Kantine (1st April), Zurich Der Schwarze Ball (3rd April), Mannheim MS Connexion (4th April), Hildesheim M’era Luna (8th–9th August), Manchester Infest (21st–23rd August), Oberhausen UNITY Festival (18th–19th September), Berlin UNITY Festival (2nd–3rd October)
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK didn’t exist until March 2010 but one of the reasons for it coming into being was that synths had returned to the pop mainstream in 2009 with a vengeance.
Not only were there new acts dabbling with old school electronics getting into the charts, but the classic innovators were finally being recognised with the BBC documentary ‘Synth Britannia’ for their wider contribution to popular culture while PET SHOP BOYS were given an Outstanding Contribution To Music award at the BRITS.
‘Synth Britannia’ focussed on that exciting period between 1977-82 and deservedly elevated the synthesizer into being a cultural entity its own right, rather than being tagged as some kind of embarrassment which was how synthpop had been mockingly portrayed by TV shows in the past.
On ‘Synth Britannia’, in response to misconceptions on how the music was made, Andy McCluskey of OMD recalled: “The number of people who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you; ‘well anybody could do it with the same equipment that you’ve got’… F**K OFF! Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or drum machine that said ‘hit single’, I would have pressed it as often as anyone else would have… but there isn’t!”
Synth in 2009 was consolidated by female acts that had made initial impressions in 2008 like LADY GAGA, LITTLE BOOTS and LA ROUX while CLIENT and MARSHEAUX came back with new albums. To join the dots between the different generations of synth, Gary Numan took part in a BBC 6Music special at the end of the year with LITTLE BOOTS.
But the wider public remained a little confused about the newer electro stuff with lazy labels like “80s” or “retro” when attempting to describe anyone who preferred using a Korg over a Rickenbacker! Sexism and misogyny was still rife and reaction to these artists from those claiming to be synth music enthusiasts was not entirely positive. In a time before social media had taken its hold on society, several internet music forums started to look like that horrific right-wing comic The Daily Mail!
Wasn’t one of the original motivations for using the synthesizer to break down barriers and challenge convention? Some obviously forgotten level of the bile and disdain that greeted THE HUMAN LEAGUE, SOFT CELL and DEPECHE MODE when they first found fame… despite this, the boys were coming out to play again as HURTS, MIRRORS, DELPHIC and VILLA NAH premiered their modern day synthetically-assisted wares.
At this time, aspiring acts were uploading videos to YouTube as a launch pad and this was how ‘Wonderful Life’ by Manchester duo HURTS came to wider attention. Formed from the ashes of the horrendously attired DAGGERS, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson brought suits and a smarter sophistication to their pop sound which recalled the productions of Trevor Horn and his work with PROPAGANDA in particular. The traction would lead to a deal with Sony Music via RCA’s Major Label imprint for their music to be formally released in 2010.
Even established indie rock bands were getting in on the act and New York trio YEAH YEAH YEAHS utilised throbbing electronics alongside their usual guitars on ‘Zero’ to exude a fuzzy new wave aggressiveness for the dancefloor while Karen O’s soaring vocal lifted proceedings to a glorious crescendo.
Elsewhere, with a whole generation now never actually paid for entertainment due to MySpace, YouTube and illegal filesharing platforms like Napster and Bearshare, music retailer Zavvi collapsed not long after Woolworths did at the end of 2008. HMV were able to consolidate as a result and demanded exclusive editions to be sold through their stores. iTunes was reigning supreme but Spotify opened public registration for the free service tier in the UK, although its impact was not instant as its initial portfolio was limited. Meanwhile, there was a continuing surge in interest for live gigs of established acts although ticket prices became vastly inflated to account for the loss in music sales.
2009 was a very busy year of album releases and gigs. PET SHOP BOYS and DEPECHE MODE delivered deluxe packages with bonus discs containing superior material to their slightly disappointing parent albums but remained in demand for their concerts. A-HA got back to synthetically driven melodies and recorded their best album since their heyday before deciding to split up for good (or so it seemed) while the classic line-up of ULTRAVOX returned with a well-received reunion tour. As an interim project before their comeback album ‘History Of Modern’ in 2010, OMD went the art installation route with ‘The Energy Suite’ and a reconfigured KRAFTWERK performed alongside the Team GB at The Velodrome during the Manchester Arts Festival.
But this was a period where NEW ORDER, BLANCMANGE and VISAGE had yet to return while OMD and ULTRAVOX were still to release new music following their live reunions. Also at this point, HEAVEN 17 and CHINA CRISIS had not fully evolved into becoming regulars on the domestic live circuit.
From officially available purchased or free downloads with a restriction of one track per artist moniker and presented in alphabetical order, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK retrospectively selects its 30 SONGS OF 2009, a year of undoubted quality and transition…
A-HA Nothing Is Keeping You Here – Steve Osbourne UK radio edit
“Stunning return to form” is a horrifically overused phrase often applied to bands like REM, but on what was originally billed their swansong album, A-HA actually achieved that with ‘The Foot Of The Mountain’. Going back to their synthesized roots, this toughened up electro ballad had all the usual Nordic hallmarks of the haunting sadness and emotive melodicism that made Morten, Paul and Mags such favourites in their commercial heyday.
Norwegian songstress Annie had an ordeal with her ‘Don’t Stop’ album subject to a 12 month dispute with her former label Island Records. When it emerged, ‘Songs Remind Me Of You’ was a fantastic number on it filled with high octane electronic dance flavours. “How does it feel…to hear your songs on the radio?” she asked as an exquisite devenir a gris shift took its place amongst the spiky synthesized mix provided by Richard X.
Available on the ANNIE album ‘Don’t Stop’ via Totally / Smalltown Supersound
Conceived as a jokey publicity stunt for the Italo disco flavoured Annie single ‘Anthonio’, Richard X and Hannah Robinson used its backing track to create a brilliant tongue-in-cheek response to her tale of broken holiday romance. Sebastian Muravchik, the charismatic vocalist of modern Italo exponents HEARTBREAK amiably played the role of the disimpassioned Latin lover; he continues to make music as SNS SENSATION.
Available on the ANTHONIO single ‘Annie’ via Pleasure Masters
ARTHUR & MARTHA were Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley; their debut single ‘Autovia’ was the first release on Happy Robots Records in 2008. But when it came to recording the album ‘Navigation’, the incessant Dr Rhythm drum machine was given a more hypnotic Motorik makeover while there was an extended end section with some cosmic wig-outs like STEREOLAB meeting NEU!
Available on the ARTHUR & MARTHA album ‘Navigation’ via Happy Robots Records
Brooklyn trio AU REVOIR SIMONE formed in a mission to “to celebrate the keyboard” and stated that their main influences were Casio, Roland, Korg, Alesis, Rhythm Ace, Univox, Yamaha, Nord and Suzuki. ‘Another Likely Story’ encapsulated wistful melancholy in abundance. This was without mentioning the gorgeous string machine sounds, ringing counter-melodies, chattering rhythm units and angelic vocal harmonies.
The outsider musical vehicle of Natasha Khan, while the first single ‘Daniel’ from the second BAT FOR LASHES album ‘Two Suns’ may have marked her out as a kind of Gothic FLEETWOOD MAC, on the eerie ‘Pearl’s Dream’, she indulged in some Linn Drum programming accompanied by icy synth washes and an ULTRAVOX styled electronic bassline. BAT FOR LASHES would cover DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Strangelove’ in 2011.
Available on the BAT FOR LASHES album ‘Two Suns’ via Warner Music
With their lo-fi “8-bit Casiotone drone-disco”,CHEW LIPS quickly attracted the attention of hip tastemakers like BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq. With a melancholic edge amongst all the blips and blops, the impressive debut single ‘Salt Air’ showcased an accessible promise with pulsing sequencers and drum machines chugging away augmented by some octave shifting bass and occasional guitar like a female-fronted NEW ORDER.
Available on the CHEW LIPS single ‘Salt Air’ via Kitsuné Music
In an approach that more than suited their fourth album’s “brazenly bossy” title of ‘Command’, Client B and Client A covered Curtis Mayfield’s soultastic and groove laden ‘Make Me Believe In You’. Co-produced by Martin Glover aka Youth, the KILLING JOKE bassist added a more rhythmic energy. Proceedings were danced up while an icy edge coming from his frenetic guitar work took its place alongside the hypnotic pulse.
Available on the CLIENT album ‘Command’ via Out Of Line Music
Manchester band DELPHIC had a multi-instrumental set-up featuring a mix of synths, sequencers guitars, bass and electronic percussion accompanied by a funky live drummer in a manner that was like A CERTAIN RATIO gone right! Co-produced by Ewan Pearson, ‘Counterpoint’ crossed ORBITAL and NEW ORDER with James Cook’s vocals possessing a vulnerable tonal quality amongst all the vibrant tension.
Available on the DELPHIC single ‘Counterpoint’ via R&S Records
‘Oh Well’ was the first Martin Gore / Dave Gahan song collaboration and although their parts were written separately, it showed that DEPECHE MODE benefitted from creative tension. Sounding like ‘Supernature’ with a DAF fetish, this was a rare thing, a DM dancefloor number. It captured an energy that was seriously lacking on the lamely disappointing ‘Songs Of The Universe’ main feature.
EDITORS first became known for sombre JOY DIVISION aping guitar-driven indie hits like ‘Munich’ and ‘All Sparks’. With Flood at the production controls and Brad Fieldel’s theme for ‘The Terminator’ as an influence for their third album ‘In This Light & On This Evening’, the Birmingham band ventured into synths with the rhythmic and ominous ‘Papillon’, sounding like a cross between BLANCMANGE and NEW ORDER.
Having impressed with her first proper solo synth-based album ‘The Art & The Evil’ as EMMON away from her indie pop girl band PARIS, Emma Nylén’s sophomore offering ‘Closet Wanderings’ was a natural progression with more darker songs and instrumentals utilsing danceable energetics. ‘Secrets & Lies’ was a thrusting opening number that showed that Sweden had electronic pop acts following on from THE KNIFE.
Following his wider breakthrough with the appropriated named second IAMX album ‘The Alternative ‘, Chris Corner was hitting his stride post-SNEAKER PIMPS. Developing on his accessible electro-gothic grandeur, ‘Think Of England’ added some frantic rhythmic fervour tension with words of contradiction and confusion about his home country. Having relocated to Berlin, the ‘Kingdom of Welcome Addiction’ was his ode to the city.
After their 2008 self-titled EP, the alternative rock-rooted KITE were finding their feet in the world of synths with their second EP. Coming over like ERASURE meeting Vangelis, ‘Looking For Us’ also had Nicklas Stenemo’s vocals giving a growly passionate edge to contrast to Christian Berg’s synthpop backing. The ‘II’ EP would get a Swedish national record chart high of No58 but the best was yet to come from the Swedish duo.
There had been rumours that LADY GAGA would cover DEPECHE MODE’s ‘People Are People’ but while that didn’t happen, ‘Dance In The Dark’ saw Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta borrowing sonic elements of DEPECHE MODE and NEW ORDER. Highlighting the dangers of cosmetic surgery, this captured a new wave electronic pop feel that featured strong hints of ‘Strangelove’ and ‘True Faith’.
Available on the LADY GAGA album ‘The Fame Monster’ via Interscope Records
Comprising of Elly Jackson and silent partner Ben Langmaid, although it featured the UK No1 single ‘Bulletrproof’, the standout from the debut album by LA ROUX was the fierce ‘Tigerlily’. The crisp electro bossa-nova with its thudding synth toms was sweetened with a steel drum flavour to sound like a pop version of THE KNIFE. The middle eight featured ‘Thriller’ inspired monologue by Jackson’s actor father Kit only added to the tension.
Available on the LA ROUX album ‘La Roux’ via Polydor Records
LITTLE BOOTS had been named BBC Sound Of 2009 and her debut album ‘Hands’ was highly anticipated. At the time ‘Symmetry’ was unveiled as a duet with Phil Oakey, THE HUMAN LEAGUE had not released any new material since 2001. With a fabulous chorus and Victoria Hesketh doing her best Susanne Sulley impression, the end result was magic. “Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you all my fears” he dryly asserted, but this is Phil talking…
Available on the LITTLE BOOTS album ‘Hands’ via 679 Recordings
Having shown great promise with their previous albums ‘The E-Bay Queen’ and ‘Peek-A-Boo’, Greek duo MARSHEAUX raised their game and delivered their best album in ‘Lumineux Noir’. With a battle of squelchy synths taking place amongst the game jingles and syndrums, ‘Radial Emotion’ was the collection’s most immediate track with its thumping syncopated electro rhythms, noisy oscillations and rousing vocals.
Available on the MARSHEAUX album ‘Lumineux Noir’ via Undo Records
Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn found themselves slimmed down to a duo after the departure of Neil Taylor which provoked an understandable existential crisis with MESH close to calling it a day. This led to some darker thematic undertones on the next album ‘A Perfect Solution’. The delicate balance between bitterness and sweetness was exemplified by ‘Only Better’, a gritty offering that possessed a veiled hint of optimism.
“Bored of tradition”, James New met Ally Young and began formulating ideas “to do something that was considered from the ground up”. Joined by James Arguile who embraced the idea of making soulful electronic pop, the first fruit of labour was ‘Look At Me’; recorded on GarageBand with sonic distortion creeping in, it was released as a one sided red vinyl single on Pure Groove with the sleeve sticker outlining the MIRRORS manifesto.
Having trailblazed electroclash with tracks like ‘You & Us’, ‘Life On MTV’ and ‘Frank Sinatra’, Caroline Hervé and Michel Amato renewed their creative partnership on the imaginatively titled album ‘Two’ which included a cover of ‘Suspicious Minds’. But the highlight was the deep brooding ‘Ray Ban’ which captured an air of Gallic menace that more than suited Hervé’s persona as the nonchalant Miss Kittin.
Available on the MISS KITTIN & THE HACKER album ‘Two’ via Nobody’s Bizzness
A superb collection of soulful 21st century electronic disco, ‘Overpowered’ was the second solo album from Roísín Murphy who found fame with MOLOKO and struck big with the international club smash ‘Sing It Back’. The Richard X helmed ‘Parallel Lives’ penetrated with some steady and deep sub-bass, providing a nice bonus to an album where Murphy had gloriously sounded not unlike Lisa Stansfield fronting PET SHOP BOYS.
Available on the ROÍSÍN MURPHY album ‘Overpowered’ via EMI Records
Katy Perry kissed a girl and liked it, but behind all the shock tactics were some quality songs written by Cathy Dennis and in the case of ‘Hot ‘N’ Cold’, Swedish megapop producer Max Martin. Taking its cue from the PET SHOP BOYS remix of THE KILLERS’ ‘Read My Mind’, this superb reworking by MARSHEAUX was truly banging! When presented to Katy Perry’s management, they were none too pleased but the lady herself loved it and sanctioned its release.
Available on the KATY PERRY single ‘Hot ‘N’ Cold’ via EMI Minos
PET SHOP BOYS featuring PHILIP OAKEY This Used To Be The Future
‘This Used To Be The Future’ was a dream trioet that featured both PET SHOP BOYS and Philip Oakey of THE HUMAN LEAGUE, recorded as a bonus song for ‘Yes etc’. With Lowe actually singing albeit autotuned, as opposed to just speaking, this celebration of yesterday’s tomorrow saw Oakey deadpan that his utopian dream didn’t quite turn out as predicted on ‘Tomorrow’s World’!
The centrepiece of RÖYKSOPP’s third album ‘The Girl & The Robot’ was perhaps the culmination of Robyn’s steady rise as a truly independent female artist. Despite having gained success in 1997 with the R’n’B tinged ‘Show Me Love’, her superiors at BMG reacted negatively to her new electropop aspirations inspired by THE KNIFE. Frustrated, she bought herself out of her contract and set up her own Konichiwa Records, giving her the freedom to work with whoever she wanted.
Available on the RÖYKSOPP album ‘Junior’ via Wall Of Sound / PIAS
The Swedish duo of Johan Agebjörn and the anonymous singer taking the pseudonym of SALLY SHAPIRO had an unexpected cult success with their debut album ‘Disco Romance’ in 2006. ‘Looking At The Stars’ was a delightful nocturnal highlight from the second long player with a shuffled arpeggiated bass and lyrics by Roger Gunnarsson about his late grandmother. FM ATTACK later provided a remix.
POLLY SCATTERGOOD Other Too Endless – Vince Clarke Remix (2009)
Polly Scattergood was managed by former Mute plugger Neil Ferris and her self-titled debut came out on Mute in 2009. An intense organic collection of ethereal songs, Scattergood was a promising talent unafraid to express emotion and vulnerability. From it, ‘Other Too Endless’ was bolstered by a superb Vince Clarke remix and highlighted the compatibility of her sound within a synthesized pop environment.
Available on the POLLY SCATTERGOOD single ‘Other Too Endless’ via Mute Records
Writing, producing and playing the majority of her material, France’s Emilie Simon had actually studied at the Sorbonne and a star in her own country. In her attempt to break the international market, her third album proper ‘The Big Machine’ was her first entirely sung in English. ‘Dreamland’ was a delightful slice of Gallic electro-chanson weirdness that managed to combine elements of Kate Bush, Alison Goldfrapp and Björk.
Thanks to their self-made CGI assisted visual imagery, THE SOUND OF ARROWS were once described as resembling “Disney meets Brokeback Mountain”! Based in Stockholm, Oskar Gullstrand and Stefan Storm issued the dreamy widescreen synthpop of ‘Into The Clouds’. Swathed in that beautiful Nordic melancholy, the duo evoked a shimmering otherworld; it was the No1 in Popjustice’s 2009’s list of best pop singles.
Available on THE SOUND OF ARROWS single ‘Into The Clouds’ via Labrador Records
VILLA NAH launched themselves as a recording act with the ‘VN’ EP featuring 3 fantastic songs in ‘Ways To Be’, ‘Daylight’ and the crystalline ‘Envelope’. Juho Paalosmaa and Tomi Hyyppä took their name from the East Helsinki suburbs where they lived and teaming up with Jori Hulkkonen as co-producer, the songs were a taste of the debut album ‘Origin’ which impressed enough that the duo would open for OMD in 2010.
Available on the VILLA NAH album ‘Origin’ via Keys Of Life
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