What are some examples of bands who were the worst casualties of the late 70s-late 80s synth craze? I mean bands whose music was primarily driven by the guitar prior to the end of the 70s, who ended up becoming Synth based bands? For examples of what I'm talking about I mean the direction of Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door, or the way the band Rush went in the late 70s through most of the 80s--The guitar element diminished in favor of synth?

Also, what are some examples of rock bands who fell for the New Wave craze?

I love how rock blended with pop, dance, R&B and new wave music in the 80s. I'd say starting around 1982 and certainly by the mid-late 80s, almost all of the classic rockers and hard rockers were going more poppy and synthy, especially to get on MTV.

I'd say Van Halen, Chicago, Yes, Starship, Steve Winwood (he's not a band, but still) and even more traditional metal bands like Judas Priest went synthpop the most. Yeah, I think Zeppelin would've definitely gone in that direction of softer synth rock if they had stayed together.

JETHRO TULL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzJNTNR3_7U
Guitars still play lead, but JT's work in the early '80s was electronically processed with lots of synths.  "Under Wraps" album is all drum machine.  No live drummer.

PSYCHEDELIC FURS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLeSkRPp354
Keith Forsey helped transform the band from post-punk to synth-pop on the wonderful "Mirror Moves" album.

NEW ORDER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyoDbX1EkPQ
New Order picked up where Joy Division left off in 1980.  They were a rock group with a keyboard player.  New Order quickly went for an electronic sound.

I love how rock blended with pop, dance, R&B and new wave music in the 80s. I'd say starting around 1982 and certainly by the mid-late 80s, almost all of the classic rockers and hard rockers were going more poppy and synthy, especially to get on MTV.

I'd say Van Halen, Chicago, Yes, Starship, Steve Winwood (he's not a band, but still) and even more traditional metal bands like Judas Priest went synthpop the most.


All well and good - and deserving of examples - but what, no love for ZZ Top Sharp Dressed Man (WTF?), Gimme All Your Lovin (dammit!), and Legs? (Aaw, come on!)

1i6m6r--MmA

Despite RIAA's best efforts, I was able to find Legs, extended version with Spanish subtitles.  Whew.  After the three big singles of Eliminator, ZZ kept true to their blues roots on the rest of the album, as revealed in I Need You Tonight.  (It is indeed three o'clock in the morning somewhere, or damn close to it.)

By 1985, the trend had gotten so strong that even the classic 1933 Ford Coupe needed to be about 20% cooler, so they (outsmarted a monster truck, monster trucks were cool back then too!) and turned it into some sort of space shuttle or something for Afterburner...

F1Pp620yEOI

...which didn't just bring us Sleeping Bag (I GIVE UP! YOU WIN AT YOUTUBE TONIGHT, WMG, I'LL STOP TRYING TO ADVERTISE YOUR BACK CATALOGUE FOR YOU! but interested parties should still poke around for the 6:12ish 12" vinyl remix of Sleeping Bag, which I'm too drunk to can't find at this late hour, both off the album that marked the trend's zenith, or nadir, or a little bit of both.  (In lieu of that, I present, also from "Afterburner", Planet of Women.  Now aren't you glad I found that version of Legs with the Spanish subtitles?  See, I don't always take the easy way out.)

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I actually liked the trend and really liked the synth-heavy 12" 45RPM Sleeping Bag mix.  I'd have liked to have seen it evolve, and wished it had continued.  But the new-wavers thought it was hard-rockers trying to copy their style (which it was), and the blues/rock purists thought it was wannabe-wavers trying to copy their style (which it also was), and due to the forces of high-school trendoid cliques, never the twain would meet.  It wasn't keyboards-and-guitars, it was keyboards-vs-guitars for the next 20 years.

Can't believe I forgot ZZ. And I grew up liking some of their songs (at least in the early 90s several years later, when VH1 played their videos). In fact it really was unique since they were like synth blues rock! Especially on the Afterburner songs.

Can't believe I forgot ZZ. And I grew up liking some of their songs (at least in the early 90s several years later, when VH1 played their videos). In fact it really was unique since they were like synth blues rock! Especially on the Afterburner songs.


And ZZTop has been together for close to 35 years.

The legendary April Wine sort of did this.  In 1984, after their 11th album 'Animal Grace' had not performed as expected, they decided to call it quits, forgetting that they contractually owed Capitol Records one more album.  As they had already parted ways, members Myles Goodwyn and Brian Greenway hired session musicians and pieced together a new-wavish album titled 'Walking Through Fire' under the April Wine name.

The album did not click with audiences and failed to chart in Canada, and the lone single released 'Love Has Remembered Me' became the lowest charting song of their career in Canada only reaching #89.  However, it is probably the one April Wine song of the 80s that was and still is frequently heard on the radio.  I actually heard it yesterday ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FxE9iEPg7U

The Cars always used synthesizers, but the synth was the dominant instrument on "Heartbeat City."


1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5-rdr0qhWk

1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKIJVKzgoSc&feature=related

The legendary April Wine sort of did this.  In 1984, after their 11th album 'Animal Grace' had not performed as expected, they decided to call it quits, forgetting that they contractually owed Capitol Records one more album.  As they had already parted ways, members Myles Goodwyn and Brian Greenway hired session musicians and pieced together a new-wavish album titled 'Walking Through Fire' under the April Wine name.

Speaking of Animal Grace, I love that song Money Talks (I got the used CD years ago and forgot all about it until you mentioned that, lol).

JETHRO TULL

Guitars still play lead, but JT's work in the early '80s was electronically processed with lots of synths.  "Under Wraps" album is all drum machine.  No live drummer.


My favorite era of Jethro Tull!  Under Wraps is one of my all-time favorite albums as is A and, to a slightly lesser extent, Broadsword and the Beast.  Ian Anderson put out a solo album during that period called Walk Into Light that is also awesome in its synthesizer goodness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP7b4nLHYHg&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLFAEDDBA71D1F8828

I love how rock blended with pop, dance, R&B and new wave music in the 80s. I'd say starting around 1982 and certainly by the mid-late 80s, almost all of the classic rockers and hard rockers were going more poppy and synthy, especially to get on MTV.

I'd say Van Halen, Chicago, Yes, Starship, Steve Winwood (he's not a band, but still) and even more traditional metal bands like Judas Priest went synthpop the most. Yeah, I think Zeppelin would've definitely gone in that direction of softer synth rock if they had stayed together.



I'd say Van Halen, Chicago, Yes, Starship, Steve Winwood (he's not a band, but still) and even more traditional metal bands like Judas Priest went synthpop the most. Yeah, I think Zeppelin would've definitely gone in that direction of softer synth rock if they had stayed together.


Definitely Van Halen, Chicago, Starship and Steve Winwood. I'd probably stick the late Gary Moore in there too.

Two bands that weren't neccessarily rock but did make the progression to synth were Madness and UB40. They both started with a very organic sound. Madness turned to synth around 1985 before they broke up (lead singer Suggs mentioned their album Mad Not Mad was like 'a polished turd'). UB40 turned to synth after having 'organic' hits like One in Ten, Rat in mi Kitchen and Red, Red Wine.