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Sign upBritish and European synth-pop - relatives and neighbours of Italo Disco.
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December 1980: Steve Strange assembles a supergroup of Ultravox and Magazine members, brings in a Parisian model to count in French, and cuts “Fade to Grey” in three months. UK #8 but #1 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria - 1.2M copies and the start of New Romantic.
March 1983: a song about balloons mistaken for a missile strike. #2 Billboard in German, #1 UK in English. The first German-language song in the US top 10 since 1961; 5 million copies by 1984.
September 1984: German duo Alphaville release a ballad about fear of nuclear war. At release - #10 Germany, #65 US. Forty years on - 20M streams a month, lifted by Jay-Z, Stranger Things and Bob Dylan. A 60s chord progression dressed in 80s synths.
September 1982: Peter Schilling releases the German answer to Bowie's “Space Oddity”. Four months later - #1 in Germany for seven weeks; a year on, #14 US and #1 Canada. Cut at Union Studios Munich on a Prophet-5. The track hit the Cold War nerve; Bowie heard it on BBC Radio 1.
Explore the magic and energy of '80s and '90s retro music - its history, genres, sonic innovations, and lasting influence on culture today.
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