Unintentionally, this episode of the jukebox series developed into a somewhat thematic program. With tunes produced in Italy, the States, Switzerland, Japan, and the UK, it features music beyond rock and post-punk. Most tracks embrace a kind of glamour, energy, and irony characteristic of wave and synth pop. 43 minutes with works by Chris Carter, John Ruth, Judy Nylon and Crucial, Patrick Cowley, and others – realized between 1979 and ’85.
Featured cover art: John Ruth – I Am a Model
Piero Umiliani – Dolomiti
cosmic and introspective electronic sounds from the Italian composer who mainly worked for film and tv (1979, Omicron / RE: Four Flies Records)
Patrick Cowley – Nightcrawler
music for the gay porn movie School Daze, produced in Los Angeles by the famed Fox Studio (1980, Dark Entries)
Ghostwriters – Emotional Momentum
exploratory minimalist synth piece, recorded during winter in the childhood home of Don Buchla in the US, and released in the Netherlands (1981, Red Music)
Grauzone – Film 2
Swiss new wave from Bern (1981, Off Course Records)
Fad Gadget – Sleep (Electro-Induced Original)
having experimented with sound equipment he couldn’t handle properly, Fad Gadget is pioneering a blend of synth pop, electro and industrial music in the late seventies (1982, Mute)
Judy Nylon and Crucial – Live In A Lift
after collaborating with John Cale and Brian Eno in the seventies, the ex-glam punk and social samurai records her only solo album – produced with Adrian Sherwood (1982, On-U Sound)
John Ruth – 50 Mile Radius
introducing the next phase of new wave by reducing music to its strongest elements – thus making it a transcending, body-oriented experience (1982, Twenty-Two Records)
Chris Carter – Moonlight
being one half of Chris & Cosey and a co-inventor of Throbbing Gristle, this is from the synth wizard and graphic designer’s second solo album (1985, Conspiracy International)
Tom Tom Club – Lorelei
while on hiatus from Talking Heads, some of the bands’ members establish a side project without David Byrne and rehearse in a dancehall in the Bahamas – here, they’re praising the idea of letting intuition take the lead (1981, Sire)
Masumi Hara – Nejire
known for his unique falsetto, the Japanese multi-media artist, illustrator and painter melds electronic wave with Asian and African styles into a damaged steel drum dub (1984, Yupiteru Records / RE: Numero Group)
