The PopCulteer
October 8, 2021

Friday brings a brand-new episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat to The AIR. The AIR is PopCult’s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player at the top right column of this blog if you’re reading on a desktop.

At 3 PM, Sydney Fileen graces us with a very special mixtape episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat that salutes the modern instrument that became identified with the New Wave sound, the synthesizer. A necessary ingredient in what I call “blippy, farty music,” the synthesizer had evolved beyond the Moogs that dominated progressive rock, and became cheaper, lighter, less complicated and infinitely more colorful in terms of the sounds they produced.

Beyond making experimental sounds, these instruments were played on hit records, and in this special mixtape episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, you’ll hear a number of massive, worldwide number-one hit records. It’s cool to hear the synth before it evolved to the point where it’s used for almost every song you hear nowadays, and you can’t even tell. These were hits back in the day when new sounds were welcome, not just new technology sampling old sounds. It’s a pretty epic two-hour thrill-ride.

Just check out the playlist to see for yourself…

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Yaz “Don’t Go”
Depeche Mode “Enjoy The Silence”
New Order “Bizarre Love Triangle”
The Human League “Don’t You Want Me”
Tears For Fears “Pale Shelter”
The Cure “Let’s Go To Bed”
Heaven 17 “Temptation”
Rational Youth “Saturdays In Silesia”
Thompson Twins “In The Name of Love”
John Foxx “Underpass”
Kon Kan “I Beg Your Pardon”
Fad Gadget “Collapsing New People”
Kraftwerk “The Model”
Real Life “Send Me An Angel”
Gary Numan “Cars”
The Normal “Warm Leatherette”
Glass Candy “Digital Versicolor”
Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams”
The Postal Service “Such Great Heights”
The Associates “The Affectionate Punch”
Druan Duran “Planet Earth”
DEVO “Planet Earth”
The Units “Go”
Men Without Hats “Safety Dance”
Bronksi Beat “Smalltown Boy”
Erasure “A Little Respect”
A Flock of Seagulls “Wishing”
Thomas Dolby “She Blinded Me With Science”
Altered Images “Don’t Talk To Me About Love”
Orchestra Manoeuvres In The Dark “Enola Gay”
M “Pop Musik”

Rest assured that all the musicians you hear on this show are much more accomplished than this guy…

Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR.

That’s what’s on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer.   Check this blog for fresh content every single freakin’ day. I’m cool like that.