Watch It Online: Synth Britannia

Synth Britannia is a  documentary that aired on BBC Four in October 2009 and that follows the British synth pop movmement from its early and rather experimental stages in the late seventies to the eighties, when it all of a sudden had a major impact on Western pop culture. The inventors of synth-based pop music such a The Normal, The Human League or OMD where all influenced by computer music heroes such as Kraftwerk and Gorgio Moroder as well as the punk era in which making music was no longer perceived as a the privilege of trained musicians. Unfortunately the documentary focuses mostly on the technical side of this music and on the way it affected and was affected by society in general, the fact that this movement established a whole new style that e.g. allowed men to be androgynous and emotional isn’t really analysed here, it’s only superficially mentioned . Still the film is really worth watching if you like the music and the style of that time. I also posted some of my favourite artists and songs appearing in the film below.

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