Music 80's (Synthpop\New Wave\Italo Disco\Electronica)

[BONES]

They have a great clanky sound that makes for a very clear but grunty bass in the mix (the guitars just jangle). Very popular in the 80s.

That's what I always figured but whenever I dared to venture such an opinion, I was very quickly told that there is nothing special about a Rickenbacker, that a Fender Precision could do the same thing. As a synth player, I didn't bother taking it any further.

[donkey tugger]

I was very quickly told that there is nothing special about a Rickenbacker, that a Fender Precision could do the same thing.

No.....

[AnX]

fender has better sustain

[Benedict]

The Precision is a very versatile beast. The way it sounds in Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) hands is very different from Pino Palladino (Paul Young, Don Henley etc). No doubt if you play a Rickenbacker up the neck it can sound a lot softer and rounder.

Guitars and basses are somewhat like synths in that some people act like they are radically different from each other. Some act like they are identical. Both are wrong.

[ShawnG]

The fender P is wonderful, but it does no a have a separate stereo output jack like the Rick does. Look up “rick o sound” on google, there be examples and vids. The rick sound also is a tad more “piano like” in sound than other basses if that makes sense, but it is a bass, and it sounds like a bass.

Always hated the handrest though.

[Forgotten]

The fender P is wonderful, but it does no a have a separate stereo output jack like the Rick does. Look up “rick o sound” on google, there be examples and vids. The rick sound also is a tad more “piano like” in sound than other basses if that makes sense, but it is a bass, and it sounds like a bass.

Always hated the handrest though.

Good call. Lemmy used the stereo outputs and ran each one through a different head. Not something you can do with a P Bass.

[deastman]

[jacqueslacouth]

I saw the Expression quite a few times....bloody great outfit (from WA if I remember). I never understood the need for the somewhat pedestrian US video. The original was an F'ing epic...It may have offended the yanks delicate sensibilities as I think it was around the time they were sticking their nose in Nicaragua backing a bunch of Fascists (shock, horror, couldn't imagine the USA doing such a thing these days )

[Benedict]

I saw the Expression quite a few times....bloody great outfit (from WA if I remember). I never understood the need for the somewhat pedestrian US video. The original was an F'ing epic...It may have offended the yanks delicate sensibilities as I think it was around the time they were sticking their nose in Nicaragua backing a bunch of Fascists (shock, horror, couldn't imagine the USA doing such a thing these days )

You're up on me by a few times then. I saw Real Life twice. Second time they were truly horrid with David Sterry trying to jam this god-awful Techno down our throats. Sad as the first time was 1990 and they were great even tho the room was mostly empty. Richard saw I knew all the words - and no doubt my magnificent "Steve Strange" hair - and smiled at me.

[BONES]

I saw the Expression quite a few times....bloody great outfit (from WA if I remember). I never understood the need for the somewhat pedestrian US video. The original was an F'ing epic...It may have offended the yanks delicate sensibilities as I think it was around the time they were sticking their nose in Nicaragua backing a bunch of Fascists (shock, horror, couldn't imagine the USA doing such a thing these days )

Great band! I used to see them at every opportunity. They were a Sydney band, with a couple of Sandgropers (people from Western Australia) thrown in for good measure, who deserved a lot more success than they had. I think they were just a little bit too serious for the mainstream to take to them. Here's another one, from their second album -



Another band I used to see regularly at about the same time were The Venetians. Their front-of-house guy must have been deaf as a post because they were the loudest band I have ever seen. When you listen to their music you will understand how stupid that was.



And as we're doing that, I suppose we have to do this, too -



Having done that, I need to cleanse my palette, so here are these -



I absolutely love this song and I was lucky enough to catch 'em live a few times (they were from the Gold Coast) -

[Benedict]

Ooh, I have never encountered that second Expression record. Their music wan never fully Pop like Pseudo Echo so it required more listens to get it. They just didn't have the singles to appeal to the charts.

The Venetians always seemed somewhat maligned. I have the later Calling Out The Lions record and it is a good un but by then people were laughing at them like they were Glass Tiger (who I think were also a decent band) as that sound was being abandoned in favor of more colorless stuff.

If you haven't already, find a copy of James Freud's autobiography. It is a simple read and ultimately sad.

Seven Ballerinas, I don't think I encountered. Pretty good stuff, even on first listen. Stuff from that time always seems so fresh and vital. Even 30+ years and several changes of fashion later.

[BONES]

Some US company re-released both Expression albums in 2007 or thereabouts. You can still get it second-hand - https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?sort= ... 1800&ev=mb

[deastman]

I’m ashamed to admit that I had a Pseudo Echo album in my collection.

[AnX]

did they do Funky Town?

[Benedict]

I have "Autumnal Park" which is great Dark(ish) Synth Pop with some of the feel of the first Duran Duran album. I also have "Love An Adventure" which is incredibly saccharine but because Brian C is clearly having fun with it, it is a really cute record. This is the one with "Funky Town", which if it wasn't so well done would be bloody awful. There is no shame in either of these records. Bear in mind these are the real Aussie albums as in the USA they released different material on one or both records.