Any fans? I'm not saying NM was tops at synth music, but they are and have been, hands down, not only my favorite synth band, but pop band - since 1981 when I heard Anywhere - specifically the first tune, Carving Knife, weird (brilliant) intro and all, in a Paris music store.
I was listening to Abba on my way home today, and while I think SOS is one of the greatest pop songs, it dawned on me that surely Mansfield was inspired by those 70's pickup ovation acoustic guitars that both SOS and New Musik used so well. But not only inspired by the guitars, but the excellent popness of SOS...and no, Abba is not at the top of my list of favorite bands - but you just have to recognize their/his ability to write good hooks...if that's your sort of thing.
But Tony Mansfield...genius pop tunes. And I always wondered if he was pissed off at the lack of prior commercial success with the recording of his swan song Warp. It was so disconnected from Anywhere or A to Z. Moments of his keen craft (Train on Twisted Tracks) but more of an...almost f**k you.
Tony Mansfield New Musik
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- KVRAF
- 25849 posts since 20 Jan, 2008 from a star near where you are
I got most of their records, but not really my cup of tea. It is a bit like XTC, they seem to play whatever is in vogue at the time, had they started out 10 years earlier, they would have been a glam band.Bodhisan wrote:Any fans?
To my ears they played new wave/synth-pop (or whatever how one would label their music) because it was fashionable at the time. I don't feel that they had any more interest in it than that, it was a framework.
As die-hard synth heads, it matters to me if I feel bands are band wagon jumpers.