THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

Not only for fellow synth-nerds, an enjoyable exploration of New Order's Blue Monday, and discovering the untold secret behind THAT choir sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_jrPon8bMg

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APL Champion 2018 + 2025
APL Hall of Fame Champion 2024 + 2025
140 grounds - 78/92

'Can I expect my team to stay in the Championship when they have to train at a school when the weather is bad?'
'Every year we’re in League 1 is a year too long'
Pete W

Firstly, thanks for posting.

My response to watching that is kinda multi-layered. Firstly, I'm the exact opposite of a synth geek (I couldn't tell Fairlight from a Wet Fart). And the punk sensibility in me initially makes me sneer at any muso types. But as I've aged, I've also found that I love to listen to people who are both deeply expert and wildly enthusiastic about their topic - literally ANY topic. Seriously, I sat through a two hour lecture on Management Accounting (I'm barely numerate) which was one of the most interesting two hours of my life. The fact that this video is about one of the greatest rekkids ever made just adds to that, so I really enjoyed it.

One thing I did reflect on - I suspect the impact of all that technology is lost on younger people who didn't live through it (and thus didn't experience that cultural shift in music that the technology enabled). A bit like when I listen to Telstar; I've read all the explanations about how innovative Joe Meek's work was but, to me, it just sounds like cheesy crap from my parents' era.

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I don't need your ill-informed, half-baked, idiotic opinions. I have plenty of those myself.

Glad you enoyed it - me too, and thought it would appeal to a wider audience as it's such an iconic tune with distinctive sounds that many are familiar with, and the presenter's expertise & enthusiasm is infectious.

I am a synth nerd, and having worked in that industry's technological evolution & cultural shift, doing my best to make it much more affordable & accessible to ordinary musicians that weren't Kate Bush or Peter Gabriel etc. to whom a synth that cost more than a house wasn't any problem, its lifelong impact on me is still reverberating.

_________________
APL Champion 2018 + 2025
APL Hall of Fame Champion 2024 + 2025
140 grounds - 78/92

'Can I expect my team to stay in the Championship when they have to train at a school when the weather is bad?'
'Every year we’re in League 1 is a year too long'
Pete W

I like the Mellotron myself.
Tony Banks played it especially well.
I believe the original ones had tapes that rewound after 7 seconds.....
Modern ones are electronic natch although are often still 'disguised' in the old image.

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Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Watch the video, and you'll see the connection between the Mellotron and why THAT sound which New Order & before them Kraftwerk used, first came to be recorded...

_________________
APL Champion 2018 + 2025
APL Hall of Fame Champion 2024 + 2025
140 grounds - 78/92

'Can I expect my team to stay in the Championship when they have to train at a school when the weather is bad?'
'Every year we’re in League 1 is a year too long'
Pete W

I got into synths about three or four years ago. I have a 32 track studio at the bottom of my garden. Which I could expand to 40 tracks if I hooked my old 8 track to it I suppose. I bought a Aurora MicroBrute first off. I love it. Doesn't come with any presets, but has a small patch bank. It’s a lovely little thing, and extremely well built. Robust in the extreme. You could gig with this. I’ve another couple that I can’t remember the make of, but they both come with presets, which of course are easy to manipulate. It’s a tremendous amount of fun fucking about with them. I love it, and I guess I have you to thank for the affordability.

Getting back to Blue Monday. I saw New Order tour Power Corruption And Lies just after Blue Monday had come out. They were surly in the extreme. Blue Monday was the last track that they played. I say played, but they just left the backing track playing and fucked off, leaving the roadies to start breaking the backline down. They were brilliant.

And a smashing piece of trivia that I discovered years later. The support was another Factory band called The Wake. Featuring a certain Bobby Gillespie on bass.

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.

Glad you enjoy messing around with synths too - endless fun
MicroBrute is an excellent value true analogue monosynth with sequencer - like an updated-for-today version of the old Roland SH-101 - great choice!
First saw NO as JD supporting Buzzcocks at the Rainbow in 79, and then again as NO in March 81 when they came to play in Bedford, with Gillian playing her ARP Quadra. I was right at the front luxuriating in Hooky's brilliance as they ran through the new tunes, ending with Ceremony which had just been released. Still got the photos and my autographed gig poster with Hooky's signature on it, now pride of place on my daughter's bedroom wall.
Fellow Factory band Section 25 were the support on that occasion, together with I.C.1.
And all for £2.50...

_________________
APL Champion 2018 + 2025
APL Hall of Fame Champion 2024 + 2025
140 grounds - 78/92

'Can I expect my team to stay in the Championship when they have to train at a school when the weather is bad?'
'Every year we’re in League 1 is a year too long'
Pete W

This is gonna raise some 'FFS' eyebrows BUT I'll say it anyway.
Being an ELP fan since me yoof I finally got to see them on that last date in Victoria Park (with one of the junior Ramones) in 2016.
That bl**dy great Moog BEAST (p*ss off Akinfenwa) was humped onto the stage by several swearing straining roadies just before their set.
Now that WAS a synth.

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Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

Released exactly 40 years ago yesterday. Piece from yesterday's Guardian...

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/ ... spirations

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They say don't kick a man when he's down. Show me a better time.