Big fat '80s synths!

[Soc Prof]

On the Boston--Third Stage liner notes, Tom Scholtz points out (proudly) that no synths or orchestral instruments were used.

As for Rush, Signals definitely had some fat Oberheims, as well as Minimoog and a bit of Jupiter 8. On Grace Under Pressure they added the PPG, which I believe was an analog/digital hybrid. The synths went totally digital on Power Windows, which was a HUGE disappointment for me.

Journey uses a Jupiter 8 on "Separate Ways."

[GuitarGeek]

What types of "fat synths" do they use?

Well, as I said above, Boston didn't use any. I think Bon Jovi's keyboardist David Bryan is shown with a Memorymoog in his keyboard rig in some of the videos. Not sure what else he had. Surely by the time of Lay Your Hands On Me, he was using digital synths (like everybody else), so that's probably a DX-7 or something like that you're hearing on that track.

Runaway could be the Memorymoog, or maybe an Oberheim or Prophet-5. I imagine just about any of the better polyphonic analog instruments could get those sounds.

[GuitarGeek]

Oh, crap! I forgot Nena!!!! Their first couple albums had lots of cool synth stuff on them. Somewhere around here I have an LP of their first American album, which was a comp of those first two German releases, with half the songs in German, and half them with re-recorded English vocals (with 99 Luftballoons delivered in both languages). I've also got the first German album, which was just called Nena. Never been able to find the second German album.

[Wisdomview]

Man, that scratches the itch! That's absolutely what I've been looking for! Rock star!

Glad to hear you dig.

You may know this classic, but it's still awesome!

[polmico]

^There's nothing wrong with that sometimes [referencing Scott's post re: ELPowell]. I think admitted its cheese is the saving grace. Man, I'm not lying when I say that Love Beach is a good album for me. I like Tormato more than GFTO and TGTO. I'm not sure if I'm drawn to the soullessness of it all or the hyped nonsense, but both of those albums really hit me right where I need to be hit sometimes.

So does Django Reinhardt (got him on now) and Magma and Henry Cow and--well, I guess I'm in danger of rambling, but limiting oneself because of perceived boundaries is a boring thing.

Thanks for the fun thread, guys!

[polmico]

Yep. Been meaning to get some Numan, too. I did order a Zombi album.

[Digital_Man]

Seriously? That joke is getting old. Prog musicians hate Asia. They think Asia isn't prog. Well, some of them are pretentious and pompus. They think that prog songs have to be twenty minutes long. So, what do they know?

It's called prog snobbery and yes I was basically making a joke but sometimes it feels like we have to apologize for liking certain things.

[Digital_Man]

80s AOR is full of fat synths - Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Boston, Journey, and on and on...

Ummmmmmm. Ok, I won't say it. You can read my mind. I'm such a bad boy tonight.


But this reminds me. I like that middle section where the synth comes in on the song "mr. Roboto." Not sure I would call it "fat" though. VH's "jump" is a good example though not to mention the first Van Hagar album.

[Wisdomview]

Yep. Been meaning to get some Numan, too. I did order a Zombi album.

[GuitarGeek]

Journey uses a Jupiter 8 on "Separate Ways."

Judging from the live footage on Youtube, it's both the Prophet-5 and Jupiter-8.

[JIF]

Well, as I said above, Boston didn't use any. I think Bon Jovi's keyboardist David Bryan is shown with a Memorymoog in his keyboard rig in some of the videos. Not sure what else he had. Surely by the time of Lay Your Hands On Me, he was using digital synths (like everybody else), so that's probably a DX-7 or something like that you're hearing on that track.

Runaway could be the Memorymoog, or maybe an Oberheim or Prophet-5. I imagine just about any of the better polyphonic analog instruments could get those sounds.

Did you know that Runaway was actually recorded before Bon Jovi formed? Roy Bittan from the E Street Band plays keyboards on that song. I remember seeing a Memorymoog in some early BJ vids. Also, an additional synth player is credited on Bon Jovi's second album.

^There's nothing wrong with that sometimes [referencing Scott's post re: ELPowell]. I think admitted its cheese is the saving grace. Man, I'm not lying when I say that Love Beach is a good album for me. I like Tormato more than GFTO and TGTO. I'm not sure if I'm drawn to the soullessness of it all or the hyped nonsense, but both of those albums really hit me right where I need to be hit sometimes.

So does Django Reinhardt (got him on now) and Magma and Henry Cow and--well, I guess I'm in danger of rambling, but limiting oneself because of perceived boundaries is a boring thing.

Thanks for the fun thread, guys!

Talk about something that you shouldn't say on a prog forum. LOL!! What do you like about Love Beach?

It's called prog snobbery and yes I was basically making a joke but sometimes it feels like we have to apologize for liking certain things.

Oh, I apologize. I don't apologize for liking anything. Except maybe Hanson and "hair bands".

Ummmmmmm. Ok, I won't say it. You can read my mind. I'm such a bad boy tonight.


But this reminds me. I like that middle section where the synth comes in on the song "mr. Roboto." Not sure I would call it "fat" though. VH's "jump" is a good example though not to mention the first Van Hagar album.

Did EVH used on OB on the Live Without A Net concert film?

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

Man, that scratches the itch! That's absolutely what I've been looking for! Rock star!

that is some *very* nice stuff!
is perchance all their stuff instrumental???

[GuitarGeek]

Did you know that Runaway was actually recorded before Bon Jovi formed? Roy Bittan from the E Street Band plays keyboards on that song. I remember seeing a Memorymoog in some early BJ vids. Also, an additional synth player is credited on Bon Jovi's second album.

I've forgotten who was credited with playing on which tracks on the first album, but you're right, some of the songs were recorded before the band that's in the video came into being (kinda like the deal with Whitesnake's self titled album, David Coverdale is the only person in any of those videos who actually performed on the album).

At any rate, if it's Roy Bittan than it could be a Yamaha CS-80, which I remember he used with Springsteen, at least on the Born In The USA tour.

Did EVH used on OB on the Live Without A Net concert film?

Onstage, he had a Kurzweil 250, which was MIDIed up to a Oberheim OB-8 hidden off stage. I vaguely remember reading that he had a couple of them, but I'm not sure if that was for backup or what. I think on later tours, he had a more extensive MIDI setup (and eventually, he just went to using a sequencer and/or tape, which I thought was a bummer, because one of the cool things on the Live Without A Net video is Sammy playing guitar on the keyboard songs...of course, Eddie was playing more keyboards on the records after awhile, and I imagine a lot of fans were getting pissed that they came to see Eddie play guitar and he's up there on a riser playing keyboards for half the show).

BTW, on the 1984 album, I believe Eddie used an OB-Xa, I think on all the songs that he plays synth on. I remember reading that he didn't like programming patches himself, so he used the stock patches that were on the synth. Apparently, 1984 itself was done with a stock setting, with the keyboard split, so that one half of the keyboard was doing the filter sweep bass sound, and the other half was doing the sort of string synth kind of sound.

And for the record, going back to Diver Down, on Dancing In The Streets, he's playing a Mini-Moog through a delay unit because "I didn't know about sequencers". And I believe I've read that on Intruder, the synth is a little Electro-Harmonix mini-synth, which was this small thing that had a touch keyboard (like the EDP Wasp or the EMS Synthi AKS), I believe one oscillator and a very basic filter set up. I think I read that it's David Lee Roth playing the synth on Intruder.

[JIF]

I've forgotten who was credited with playing on which tracks on the first album, but you're right, some of the songs were recorded before the band that's in the video came into being (kinda like the deal with Whitesnake's self titled album, David Coverdale is the only person in any of those videos who actually performed on the album).

At any rate, if it's Roy Bittan than it could be a Yamaha CS-80, which I remember he used with Springsteen, at least on the Born In The USA tour.



Onstage, he had a Kurzweil 250, which was MIDIed up to a Oberheim OB-8 hidden off stage. I vaguely remember reading that he had a couple of them, but I'm not sure if that was for backup or what. I think on later tours, he had a more extensive MIDI setup (and eventually, he just went to using a sequencer and/or tape, which I thought was a bummer, because one of the cool things on the Live Without A Net video is Sammy playing guitar on the keyboard songs...of course, Eddie was playing more keyboards on the records after awhile, and I imagine a lot of fans were getting pissed that they came to see Eddie play guitar and he's up there on a riser playing keyboards for half the show).

BTW, on the 1984 album, I believe Eddie used an OB-Xa, I think on all the songs that he plays synth on. I remember reading that he didn't like programming patches himself, so he used the stock patches that were on the synth. Apparently, 1984 itself was done with a stock setting, with the keyboard split, so that one half of the keyboard was doing the filter sweep bass sound, and the other half was doing the sort of string synth kind of sound.

And for the record, going back to Diver Down, on Dancing In The Streets, he's playing a Mini-Moog through a delay unit because "I didn't know about sequencers". And I believe I've read that on Intruder, the synth is a little Electro-Harmonix mini-synth, which was this small thing that had a touch keyboard (like the EDP Wasp or the EMS Synthi AKS), I believe one oscillator and a very basic filter set up. I think I read that it's David Lee Roth playing the synth on Intruder.

Only Runaway from the first Bon Jovi was with session musicians, credited as the New Jersey All-Stars. Yes, DRL plays synths on Intruder.

[iguana]

Thanks for the fun thread, guys!

seconded. just my bag, that. “cars” and “are ‘friends’ electric?” are more synthastic gems from numan. and he successfully carried his polymoog into the present:



john beck of iT BiTES created some nice synth textures in the latter part of the decade, which was already blemished by the DX-7...

[trurl]

Glad to hear you dig.

You may know this classic, but it's still awesome!

I've always wanted to do a cover of this song...

[Progbear]

There was nothing fat about the PolyMoog (remember Tormato? ) but the MEMORYMOOG- now there was one of the phattest synths in the history of mankind. The Oberhiem OB-X and Matrix series were also pretty jammin'. The Roland JX-3P also got a nice sound from inexpensive and simple architecture.

Truth spoken about the Polymoog (what a disappointment) and Memorymoog. The latter may have only offered a paltry six voices of polyphony, but it had THREE dedicated oscillators per voice! You could blow out all the windows of your house playing that thing in unison mode!

Roland’s JX series may not have been quite as nice as the earlier Jupiters (needing to buy a separate programmer to get knob functionality was a real drag) but they still sounded sweet. The JX-10 was one of the better synths of the later 80s.

Here’s “Worlds Away” by Strange Advance, which is sort of like the Canadian answer to “Vienna.” Glorious epic-length analog synth-pop bliss PLUS Mellotron! It’s like dying and going to Heaven.

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

N.P.:“Stories, Songs and Symphonies”-Wallenstein

[iguana]

Here’s “Worlds Away” by Strange Advance, which is sort of like the Canadian answer to “Vienna.” Glorious epic-length analog synth-pop bliss PLUS Mellotron! It’s like dying and going to Heaven.

enjoyed that! nice!

in that case > cue the first five SAGA-albums. poly-/memory-moog heaven.

[JIF]

enjoyed that! nice!

in that case > cue the first five SAGA-albums. poly-/memory-moog heaven.

I thought that Jim Gilmour brought the Ploy and Memorymoogs to Saga? He isn't on the first two Saga albums.

[iguana]

his predecessors peter rochon and greg chadd used plenty of them, as well as jim crichton. he is playing one on the old dortmund live video from 1981 (gilmour had just joined).

[JIF]

his predecessors peter rochon and greg chadd used plenty of them, as well as jim crichton. he is playing one on the old dortmund live video from 1981 (gilmour had just joined).

I believe that Jim Gilmour had joined in late '79/early '80 just in time to tour behind Images At Twilight. I watched a doc on a Saga DVD today, and "Daryl" said that he joined just as the second album was coming out. Did Peter and Greg have Polymoogs, or just Minimoogs? Just asking because the live pics I've seen of Saga from that time period only show some Minimoogs and some Roland synths.

[iguana]

I believe that Jim Gilmour had joined in late '79/early '80 just in time to tour behind Images At Twilight. I watched a doc on a Saga DVD today, and "Daryl" said that he joined just as the second album was coming out. Did Peter and Greg have Polymoogs, or just Minimoogs? Just asking because the live pics I've seen of Saga from that time period only show some Minimoogs and some Roland synths.

i think they’re actually credited as such in the sleeve, but i'll check again! “IaT” has a pic of sadler inside playing a hohner synth. chadd was the keyboard player on that one (alongside sadler & crichton). apparently they fell out badly and, thus, daryl was recruited.

[JIF]

i think they’re actually credited as such in the sleeve, but i'll check again! “IaT” has a pic of sadler inside playing a hohner synth. chadd was the keyboard player on that one (alongside sadler & crichton). apparently they fell out badly and, thus, daryl was recruited.

I didn't know that Hohner made synths?

[Progbear]

I didn't know that Hohner made synths?

Well, there’s this:



There’s also Hohner’s string synth, but that was apparently a re-branded Logan.

Saga apparently had a promotional deal with Moog; the Moog logo appearing prominently on the back cover of their debut album. Apparently, Moog had promotional deals with a few bands. Jim Alcivar of Gamma used exclusively Moog synths. More obscurely, the French-Canadian band Eclipse also struck a deal with Moog (tons of Moog all over their self-titled debut. I have still yet to hear the follow-up, Night and Day).

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I saw several species of Moog on Saga stage performances (Mini-, Poly- and either Micro- or Multimoog)

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

N.P.:nothing

[iguana]

Well, there’s this:



There’s also Hohner’s string synth, but that was apparently a re-branded Logan.

Saga apparently had a promotional deal with Moog; the Moog logo appearing prominently on the back cover of their debut album. Apparently, Moog had promotional deals with a few bands. Jim Alcivar of Gamma used exclusively Moog synths. More obscurely, the French-Canadian band Eclipse also struck a deal with Moog (tons of Moog all over their self-titled debut. I have still yet to hear the follow-up, Night and Day).

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I saw several species of Moog on Saga stage performances (Mini-, Poly- and either Micro- or Multimoog)

-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

"It is not an obscenity to be free. It is a divine right." --Annette Peacock

N.P.:nothing

plus, the keytar-type liberation!



interesting bit about the LOGAN ... there is a “logan string synth” credited on an old IQ album. is it this one on top of widge’s rig?