Ever since the early days of MTV, Flock of Seagulls haircuts, and Spandau Ballet new romanticism, it's been widely accepted that synthesizer pop is a mostly British (or at its weirdest, continental European) phenomenon: "Glitter-disco-synthesizer night school, all that noble savage drum drum drum," the band X ranted in their 1983 anti-Anglo tirade "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts." Americans were just too gritty and guitar-loving for all that silliness, right? Well, not all of them. Lady Gaga is only the latest -- and potentially the biggest -- artist from U.S. shores to re-imagine Anglo/Euro technopop, fashion sense and all. Here's a rundown of electronically inclined Americans who preceded her.
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- Sparks: Ron and Russell Mael only seemed British; really, they were two L.A. brothers who moved to England in the mid-'70s to make some of the archest glam-rock around. But by the time Giorgio Moroder synthesized them starting with 1979's heavenly No. 1 In Heaven, they were back on American shores.
- Devo: These flowerpot-topped Ohioans' journey to the future ensured that their new wave jerked back and forth in a robotic fashion even when they were punks, so funking out with synth-beats on 1980's Freedom of Choice was a natural (and quite lucrative) devo-elopment.
- Missing Persons and Berlin: Respectively fronted by Dale Bozzio
and Terri Nunn, these kinky L.A. outfits both had a smattering of hits
in the '80s, and both directly presaged Lady Gaga's look to a probably
not-coincidental extent. How to tell them apart: Missing Persons had
fishbowl bras; Berlin had a No. 1 single ("Take My Breath Away," 1986.)
- Early Madonna: The only act here whose popularity Gaga hasn't eclipsed -- at least not yet. And though Madonna obviously did far more than just synth-pop, she also did "Into the Groove."
- Early Ministry: By the late '80s, this Chicago gang got a whole lot louder and angrier, incorporating dub, then industrial and then metal, and paving the way for Nine Inch Nails. But inititally -- on 1983's With Sympathy, especially -- they seemed to be aiming to be the American Depeche Mode.
- Information Society: Rarely mentioned now, these commendably rhythmic Minnesota techno-popsters actually had two Top 10 hits in 1988 -- "Walking Away," which went to No. 9, and "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)," which hit No. 3. (Trivia bonus: What Jewish Minneapolis proto-synth-popper had an even bigger hit in 1980? If you guessed Lipps, Inc.'s Steve Greenberg with "Funkytown," you win!)
- Book of Love: These shy-sounding late '80s/early '90s kids opened for Depeche Mode; they were on Erasure's label; they covered songs by Mike Oldfield and Swiss post-punks Kleenex/Liliput; they hit the Top 100 once. But they were from Philadelphia! Then they moved to ... New York. (For more hit Philly synth-pop, see Pretty Poison, of 1987's "Catch Me (I'm Falling)" fame.)
- Fischerspooner, Peaches, Adult: From New York, Toronto (OK, not the U.S., but close), and Detroit -- early '00s electroclash Americans wishing they were German (or wishing they were Lil' Kim, take your pick). The quasi-decadent fad was a fairly big commercial deal across the Atlantic and mere hipster cult fodder at home. But Gaga was probably taking notes.
- 3OH!3 and Breathe Carolina: And the synthbeat goes on, in the most emo-misogynist quarters of Colorado, of all places. It's not even worth complaining about. Might as well make like Helen Keller, and talk with your hips.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
Don't forget Eurythmics, Kate Bush, etc,
Paparazzi = BERLIN !!!!!!!!!!!! Terri R U Listening?
U Should B getting a check from GaGa !!!!