Few others: Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth - lead Depeche Mode - Strangelove - lead Berlin - Take My Breath Away - bass Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme - both lead and pads Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone - bass Kool and the Gang - Summer Madness - lead Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise - lead Toto - Africa - pads Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme - bass Scooter - How Much Is The Fish - lead Sash - Adelante - leads U96 - Das Boot - leads Robert Miles - Children - lead Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler - lead Bomfunk MC's - Uprocking Beats - lead ATB - 9 pm - lead Modern Talking - You're My Heart You're My Soul 98 - lead
The real and actual top 10 (or 100 synth riffs). Not many of the ones Dr. Mix put up here would make my list. Probably only Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" and Hancock's "Rockit."
@@rabarebra if u dont know, i suggest listen to oxygene once again, also, theres not one but more of oxygene, like 19 parts, or i dont know how many, but i think he means the 4th one, theres like 2 iconic riffs maybe even 3 in there, that repeats so if going by ur deffinition, wwhat a riff is, it does just that, but sure. Even like Equinoxe 5 is epic and great riff. sure its nowhere near probably the fame of these in this video, still i think so great. Also who cares JMJ is epic. Vangelis, well probably the piano riff but i dont think that would actually qualify as synth riff. only if as piano played on synth. still it is there. Go and listen. It is repeating and its i think quite iconic. But whatever. I like music, not just riffs.
My own top 10, in no particular order 1) Kraftwerk - The Model 2) Herbie Hancock - Chameleon (the bass synth made me pick up a dual osc synth similar to the Odyssey) 3) Hiromi Uehara - Return of Kung-Fu World Champion 4) Tycho - Awake 5) Cosmos - Spiral Dream 6) Nine Inch Nails - The Hand that Feeds (solo) 7) Yellow Magic Orchestra - Rydeen 8) Rammstein - Du Hast 9) Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone 10) Enya - Orinoco Flow And from your top 10, my favorite is Take On Me. Love playing the bass part on the DX7.
Excellent list - even when I don't know everything on it! Rydeen: absolutely! Orinoco flow: yess! From Alice Deejay I would choose Will I Ever, that oldskool pop trance lead with overly happy chord progression and synthpads... Okay I see it now, the trance lead is not so big alone :)
Since Vince is already in there with Yazoo I'd go with a Alan Wilder Era Depeche Mode song. Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth, or yeah World in my Eyes works as well.
Tubeway Army (Gary Numan) kicked it all off for me with "Are 'Friends' Electric?" Such a great riff running throughout that track, right from the opening bar.
And what's interesting is that I heard somewhere that Gary's original riff wasn't supposed to be the way it was recorded. There was actually a note played by mistake and he liked it and kept it. I'm guessing the second to last note in that riff.
The most influential riff of all time for me was Jean-Michel Jarre with Oxygene. I think that was 1975. Other than Kraftwerk this was my introduction to synths in the 70s and probably went on to inspire the majority of the tunes you listed.
JMJs Oxygen is a masterpiece. The song and the album. When I heard this song for the first time in 1984, at the age of 6, I was immediately "enthusiastic" about synthesizer music. A year later I got my first keyboard for Christmas. Christmas 1984 Santa left a C64 under the tree. So I had to wait another year. I still play today and have some nice devices in my "collection" I also loved "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield. And of course I like Kraftwerk. "Autobahn" as a 20+ minute version. brilliant
Outstanding list. Here's some of my picks for synth riffs and rhythms in no particular order. Gary Numan: Cars, Are Friends Electric ELP: Fanfare for the Common Man, Karn Evil 9 Genesis: Abacab, The Brazilian OMD: Messages, 2nd Thought, Stand Above Me, History of Modern Journey: Separate Ways Loverboy: Take Me To The Top. Truly Awesome synth into! Saga: On the Loose (synth solo) Styx: Fooling Yourself Alan Parsons Project: I Robot, The Raven (vocoder) The Cars: Let's Go, Moving in Stereo Kraftwerk: The Model, Metropolis, Electric Cafe Georgio Moroder: The Chase, I Feel Love with Donna Summer Benny Andersson of ABBA: The Visitors, Elaine, Me and I, Lay All Your Love on Me, I Am the City, The Day Before You Came, Under Attack, You Owe me One, Keep an Eye on Dan, No Doubt About It..... you can say I like ABBA just a little bit. ;-) Led Zeppelin: All My Love, In the Evening. In Through the Outdoor was recorded at ABBA's - Polar Music's then new state of the art studio.
Eggsacklee. LOVERBOY'S Take Me to the Top is one of the best synthesiser sounds and intros to a song EVER. In all honesty , it's my favourite. And I'm a huge fan of Isao Tomita. A Synthesiser Giant.
What an amazing well-thought-out list and credits for the comment additions. I too like ABBA just a little bit, now I think about it.... Some philistine killjoys might say "it's a sign of a misspent youth", but I think exactly the opposite - it's a sign of a well-spent life to have enjoyed so much great music. I'm sure you could spend hours expounding upon ALL of these songs, so I won't, but just mention that Aaron Copland's 'Fanfare For The Common Man' is positively hair-raising when heard from an orchestra. There is something EXTRA about real live music. We are lucky to live in a world with music.
Hardware-synths are so impressive... the technical creativity to get musical sounds out of essentially just a few basic electrical components and a bunch of wires, with no computers involved, is astounding
Cars by Gary Numan would be top 10 for me. It sounds amazing, instantly recognizable and is actually a very important piece of music that pushed synth use to the mainstream. It influenced so many artists and still does. It's just as important as Blue Monday in popularizing electronic music. Also: Blue Monday is definitely another top 10
@@paulshallbetter1080 there is no violin on single/album version of Cars. Moog, Polymoog, bass guitar, drums and a tambourine. It is true violin appears in a couple of tracks from the same album that Cars featured on.
WPLJ New York used to use Cars as their background music when doing the afternoon-evening traffic reports.. you could not have picked a more perfect piece of music for the task.
Sweet dreams for me. It's the whole package, those synths with Annie's amazing controlled, menacing, sweet sounding vocals, and then the look of her as well. Just amazing
I had no intention of listening to nearly 20 min of this, but as someone born in '77 with young parents & was exposed to good music, MTV & VH1 i fell in love with synthetic music. As some commenter said, 'what, no Depeche Mode?!" I think your list is spot on! As far as my favorite goes that's a hard one, Popcorn started it all & is brilliant, & Axel F is legendary, but the Final Countdown always gives me chills & I remember calling into the radio station at 7 or so & requesting it. Well done sir!
En la lista hay varios de mis riffs favoritos, pero aquí dejo otros 10: 1. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene 4 2. Vangelis -Blade Runner (End Titles) 3. Depeche Mode - Just can't get enough 4. The Human League - (Keep feeling) Fascinación 5. Ryan Paris - Dolce Vita 6. The Twins - Face to face, heart to heart 7. Yazoo - Situation 8. Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme 9. Falco - Rock me, Amadeus y 10. (El tono de llamada de mi smartphone 😂) Dire Straits - Walk of life
You're forgetting Tangerine Dream, Tim Blake and Astral Projection. I recommend listening to Love on a real Train by Tangerine dream ,Synthese Interpronel by Tim Blake and Nilaya by Astral Projection as the top 3 Electronic tracks of all time. If you haven't heard them, message me and I'll send you the links!
The Doctor Who theme predates synths - Delia Derbyshire recorded oscillator output onto tape, played it back at various speeds and recorded those onto tape, then literally cut and pasted to create the tune. Upon playing the final version to the composer, Ron Grainer, he allegedly asked "Did I really write that?!", to which Delia modestly replied, "Mostly."
An OB-Xa was used on „Jump“, as Eddie had told Guitar World (February 2014): „I wrote Jump on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 in my bedroom while the studio was being built. Everytime I got the sound that I wanted on the right-hand split section of the keyboard, it would start smoking and pop a fuse. I got another one and the same thing happened. A guy I knew said I should try an Oberheim OB-Xa, so I bought one of those and got the sound I wanted.“
If you mean 'The Motto', I feel like it's too early to tell though... obviously epic, especially with its multi-tiered simplicity, but top 10? Not sure at this time.
@@1norwood1 Europe Endless and Endless Endless are simply Franz Schubert with lyrics. I really like how one song was turned into three, though, like taking an idea and running with it.
Thanks for recreating all these iconic tunes, which many of us might have listened since childhood, but never would have imagined how they would have been made! Looking forward to more content - thanks a lot 😍🤩🥰
@@OregonDARRYL She is alright and it's alright but it's an well established fact that the Blue Man's Group Cover with Annette Strean and Venus Hum is the ultimate nerdgasm version of all time (after the original of course) BIIG period ⬤ video: th-cam.com/video/nFgIcD02Lxo/w-d-xo.html Live: th-cam.com/video/8zidmMlfEz8/w-d-xo.html 😁
@@mikemorris5817 Yeah,- Robert Fripp is a great guitarist and composer (My ringtone for incoming calls is "Elephant Talk" by King Crimson) but can you please elaborate your statement "Robert Fripp" in this context? Did he make a cover of "I Feel Love" I would love to here that? (Goggling and searching right now) Edit: Oh yeah he did. Search 9rVrVeeT6jA or "I Feel Love (with Robert Fripp) (Live 1980)". Cover with Blondie. Nice,- thanks Mike Morris for the hint 👍😁
It was a watershed moment, for sure, nothing like it before and almost nothing since, but a riff it wasn't. The whole solo was a single, gloriously evolving musical journey. A riff is a quick pirouette.
Nice list. Of course there are many other great synth riffs that are iconic. Some of my favorites in no particular order: 1. Don't you want me - Human League 2. Fool's overture - Super Tramp 3. Spiral - Vangelis 4. Arpegiator - Jean Michel Jarre 5. Cars - Gary Numan 6. Das Model - Kraftwerk 7. Crockett's theme - Jan Hammer 8. Vamos a la Playa - Righeira 9. Starlette - The B.B.&Q band 10. Dolce Vita - Ryan Paris 11. Heaven in my Hands - Level 42 12. Separate ways - Journey 13. I wear my sunglasses at night - Corey Hart 14. Magnetic fields Part 2 - Jean Michel Jarre 15. Abacab - Genesis
Donna Summer's 1977 hit "I feel love" got me hooked on synth. Of course, my fave synth artist from the 80s is Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, especially his work on Arcadia. Of course, can't rule out Howard Jones' hits or back home here in Canada, Kim Mitchell's "All We Are".
@@hindsighter @Kevin Tanaka Yes, I stand corrected. I looked it up properly to find out who actually "composed" the song. You both are right. I just learned its name by its singer and title when I was a child so I never followed up. But yes, a lot of famous singers, like Donna Summer, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, had songs written for them. I think Celine out of this group actually credits the composer when she performs the songs live whether it be Plamadon, James Horner, David Foster, etc. Giorgio Moroder - I probably heard of his work in the 70s/80s but I'd probably never know his name. At least, I know now so thank you both
Yes. Das Model is definitely iconic. As well as Trans Europe Express, Radioactivity, Autobahn and a whole slew of other songs. Modern electronic music owes its existence to Kraftwerk, as well as Hip Hop on account of Afrika Bambaata's Planet Rock
P.S: The Moog synthesiser was first used by: The Monkees, who bought the third commercially sold Moog synth. They put it to brilliant use and thus were the first ever band, to use the Moog Synth in most of their music..
Doctor, after watching your video in whole, I can tell you have the soul of a conductor, and the spirit of a madman. I'm impressed and appreciate your take on electro-synth music.
While I love quite a few of these for me it will always be Cars by Gary Numan as my favourite Synth riff. The haunting "wobbly sound" of the entire song is beyond anything.
If James Brown is the godfather of soul, Michael the king of pop and Elvis the king of rock n roll. Then without doubt Gary is the progenitor of synth.
@@tonygarratt5832 In a way yes but don't forget about Kraftwerk. Who where one of the biggest and earliest band to the Electronic music genre. A lot of the Synth-pop band/artist of the 80's like New Order, A-Ha, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Eurythmics, Giorgio Moroder, and many others where influenced by Kraftwerk. Also Kraftwerk was inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 for the Early influencers. But other than that Gary Numan hasn't really made a big impact for the Synth-pop genre. But with his major success and at the peak of his popularity in the early 80's he didn't have that many super popular single hits other than a few songs like Cars, Are Friends Electric, and a few others. But after that his popularity slowly declined.
@@michael1234252 You're quite right. This is why I chose the word progenitor rather than king or godfather, he paved the way. Showed many others who had more critical acclaim and commercial success, the power and possibility of synth music. Let us not forget where would any of the artists mentioned be without Bach for example, just for the record my favourite from that genre is and always will be Mozart.
Keith Emerson made the synthesizer a fundamental tool of rock when the Emerson Lake and Palmer single Lucky Man charted in the top 50 globally in 1970. It changed everything. By the time of the release of the Album Brain Salad Surgery he was the preeminent synthesizer keyboardist. A sin to exclude ELP.
Ya, Keith wasn't really writing riffs for a living. Half of what he did was interpreting and arranging other artists original works with his own flair and the pieces he did write were not riff driven like pop music is (although there is some of that in ELP's work, but much of that is Lake's guitar work.)
Thanks for having A-HA on this list criminally the most underrated, unappreciated band in the world but i love them and always will from the take on me days when i was 16 to present i’m 53 now. take care 🏴🇳🇴😘
Great comment Alison, I have followed them since I was 12 and now 50. Met them a few times and love the new stuff more than the old stuff, especially cast in steel and true north
Be fair, how can that be? They continue to get international recognition, whereas equally great band Alphaville, being German, never did. Most of my fave acts ARE what you say they are, but of them all, A-ha since around 2010 can not be termed underrated or underappreciated: this term is for people like Kim Wilde, who's the Queen of it, Sandra right behind her, and Alphaville, China Crisis and OMD and Cock Robin right there. Even Duran Duran, absurdly and outlandishly dissed, hated and misunderstood forever are probably a bit less feted than A-ha. Don't get me wrong, A-ha are a top band, but they are not alone in the department of being less celebrated than they should be. It only seems this way because as soon as music died in the 90s, critics disappeared and all anyone ever did was deal out noxious fake love to EVERYTHING that ever burped into a studio. Sad really.
@@Theoneandonlydramaqueen. No it isn't. In the best decade and only decade of biggest 80s song, it would make around No250 as there are just that MANY choices, and many bigger and better than this, and I say that as somebody who likes this song enough!
@@thebob3428 I so agree. I only started 5 starring their albums since they came back, but their last definitely seems their worst, one album too many I fear. "Lifelines", "Foot Of The Mountain" and "Cast In Steel" can't be beaten. Their 3 top masterpieces, none of which were done in their so-called heyday. Sometimes you need age and experience to make the best music, and once they'd left that dreary 1993 sound of "we don't wanna sound like A-ha any more, we're serious now" (and they had their 1st split, says it all!), they came back with their best stuff ever.
Thank you for bringing back my memories of my Electronic Music course at the Florida Junior College at Jacksonville in 1977 (now Florida State College at Jacksonville). After piano and trumpet and flute in grade school and high school and then college I had to quit because I needed time to study for electrical engineering at the University of Florida, where I designed a "scheduling synthesizer" with "Flight Of The Bumblebee" on a 12-foot Steinway as my exemplar of what I needed to minimize the voices and cost of the synthesis...
Jan Hammer Crockett's theme, Jean Michel Jarre Magnetic Fields Pt 2, or Oxygene Pt. 4, Vangelis Chariots of Fire or Blade Runner - End Titles, Yello The Race, New Order Confusion(long version), Joy Division Love will tear us Apart, KraftWerk The Model just to name few of the top of my head, that I think should be on Top synthesizer riff list :)
The intro for Elton John's Funeral for a Friend is my all time favorite synthesizer piece. He opened the show with it when I saw him live in 1980 in Dallas. A moment I'll never forget!
@@pablorozas1534 - I've never been sure either! It's definitely a synth _sound_ , but played like on a guitar! Maybe it's a guitar played through a guitar synth?!
One of my faves is Africa by Toto. Also, one of my fave Synthesizers is the Ensoniq ESQ-1. I used to play it almost every day for hours. I currently have a Yamaha Motif XS8.
The story goes that Keith had just gotten the Moog and after hearing the song decided to "experiment" with it while recording. This "experiment" is what we hear at the end of the song! Truth! RIP Keith and Greg and thanks for the music!
Hi Dr Mix. During COVID I watched you like everyday… for hours and hours.. and I don’t play music. It was just so fascinating to see how the music I loved was being made. I missed watching you the last year or so and seeing this video makes want to go back and watch the whole past year of videos. 😊 BTW Sandstorm is the sound of pregame hockey warmups, time just before face offs and anytime the ref might be talking to the scorekeepers !
I'm going to go with "Don't Go" as my favorite. I used to play the sequenced part by hand back in the 80s, because my old analog synth didn't have a sequencer. :)
I love synthesizers! This is a great Top 10, they're all Iconic. Here's some more I can think of: David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes Depeche Mode - Just Can't get Enough New Order - Confusion Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Souvenir Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay A Flock Of Seagulls - Wishing Duran Duran - Save A Prayer Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill The Prodigy - Voodoo People Bananarama - Cruel Summer Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme John Foxx - Underpass Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart Kraftwerk - Computer Love Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses Simple Minds - Theme For Great Cities Yazoo - Situation Yazoo - Nobody's Diary Yellow Magic Orchestra - Behind The Mask BBE - Seven Days And One Week The Beloved - Sweet Harmony Enya - Orinoco Flow Hall & Oates - Out Of Touch Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 4 Vangelis - Blade Runner End Titles Linkin Park - Numb Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise Van Halen - Why Can't This Be Love Berlin - Take My Breath Away Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night The Cars - Drive Irene Cara - Flashdance ... What A Feeling The Weeknd - Blinding Lights Rod Stewart - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy Roxette - Listen To Your Heart ABBA - Gimme Gimme Gimme The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It The Human League - Don't You Want Me Lipps Inc - Funkytown Daft Punk - Da Funk Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone Mike Oldfield - Foreign Affair Brad Fiedel - Terminator Theme John Carpenter - Escape From New York Theme Underworld - Born Slippy
I got to spend the day at MacWorld San Francisco with Herbie Hancock and his head engineer in 1993. He was just the nicest guy. Totally sweet personality and zero ego. Shaking his hand and realizing that hand played Rockit was a spiritual experience. As we walked around the floor, every music software maker went bananas when Herbie entered their booth.
Nice job recreating these. I just can NOT pick a single favorite. If you are a synth enthusiast, then you love them all. You can even add 99 Luftballons by Nena (either the German or English version is fine). The analog synths of the past were amazing at everything from cutting lead type sounds to "Phat" bass sounds. The Moog, Prophet, Jupiter, Oberheim, Korg, and so many more were just Power Synths that I feel will always still have their place in music no matter what era we are in.
This video is GOLD for synths and 80's music lovers like me. 9 of my favorite songs of that times. I just love it!!!! And.... as other users say... there should be a second part of this...!!
Ciao Claudio! The moment „im going to create this sound right now for you…“ you earned my thumbs up! THATs what we want! Thats Claudio and his Moog! My favorite would be: Giorgio Moroder - Chase!
I thought for sure that I would have heard the song Frankenstein by Edgar Winter. That whole song is crazy with synthensizer. Not to mention that Edgar is not only playing synth but he's also playing saxophone and a second drum part with the drummer on the song. The true definition of multi talented. Check out the live version if you really want to see something crazy.
Great list. From the comments you should definitely do a part 2. Suggestions: Send Me An Angel (Can’t believe this didn’t make it) Running Up That Hill Fade To Grey Sunglasses At Night White Horse Sex Dwarf This is just off the top of my head. These are iconic Synth lines from songs that electronic music lovers will know instantly. I tried to add songs instead of just the bands name. If you need the Artists, let me know. Thanks for the great vid!!!
1. Oxygene 2 (legendary riff at 1min 41secs) & Oxygene 4 2. Equinoxe, Pt. 4 & Equinoxe Pt. 5 3. The Eve Of The War 4. The Death of the Hero (Artemyev) 5. War & Training Montage (Vince DiCola) 6. Can't Get You Out Of My Head 7. Take My Breath Away 8. Cause You Are Young 9. You're My Heart, You're My Soul 10. Sounds Like A Melody 11. I'm So Excited 12. Torture (The Jacksons) 13. Big In Japan 14. Holiday (Madonna song) 15. Burn Rubber On Me
@@rabarebra Yeah, there's a lot of folks here who clearly don't know what "a riff" is. It has to be a short melodic phrase. A solo lead part. They are naming great synth parts - such as "I Feel Love" which, for sure, is majorly significant in the whole evolution of music - but, ah, it's not "a riff".
@@klaxoncow A riff can be a chord pattern hook. In the West End Girls thing, they mean it is a bass hook, but that would go under "greatest bass lines of all time" which it ain't.
The iconic Faithless Insomnia is definitely missing from this list! Just because it's from a decade later (not 80's but 90's) it is still one of the best sound character I ever heard on a synth.
Fantastic selection!!! Here are a couple of my favorites : DJ Professor & Zappalà - We gotta do it Nikita - Eterna divina Donna Summer - I feel love Saccoman - Pyramid soundwave 12:00 Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy The Wknd - Blinding lights on Web - Lovin' times Simple Minds - New gold dream Kraftwerk - Radioactivity Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Valerie Dore - The night Gazebo - I like Chopin Sash! - Ecuador B.B.E. - 7 days & one week Age Of Love - The age of love
Can't agree more, Joy division deserves the first place. And doing a show about synth riffs and not mentioning KRAFTWERK, just wrong. Fuck the final countdown
It’s important and Joy Division / New Order are my favorite band. But I would say that Love Will Tear Us Apart has Peter Hook leading on bass (in fact that is how the song started) with Bernard Sumner following the same notes on his ARP Omni (Solina string ensemble according to some other sources). And I generally admire Barney far more than Hooky but LWTUA is definitely driven more so by Hooky’s bass + Ian’s lyrics than by Barney’s synth.
'1984' as an intro to 'Jump' is awesome as well. Such a shame that the album degenerates suddenly straight after 'Jump' - 'Panama' is the worst non sequiteur I've ever encountered on an album. It's clear that David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen pulled the band in opposite directions. DLR-lovers can complain all they like, but VH best stuff for me was the two albums after DLR departed.
Obsession by Animotion has a legendary synth riff. It was used for many years as the intro music for the formula one commercial on eurosport channel. The song is great, and gives a heart beat from the very first seconds.
I was afraid that would be the number one. To choose one, Lipps Inc. - "Funkytown" is the riff. Bit trivia, the video for Yazoo's song was done in the Headley Grange Mansion, where Led Zeppelin famously recorded with a mobile studio built in a truck, not a lap top ;)
Jump, Axel F, Rokit, Ghost Busters, Sweet Dreams and The Final Countdown. I remember a lot of synth in music as I was coming of age in the 80's. A friend of mine was thrilled when his parents got him a synthesizer. I believe it was a Roland. I used to sit and listen to him as he explored what it could do. Fun times!
Goosebumps on The Final Countdown and Sweet Dreams. However, I am missing a couple here: * Kraftwerk - Autobahn (no synthesizer riff is complete without the absoute pioneers of synthesizer music ;-)) * Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough * Lipps Inc - Funkytown * The Human League - Don't You Want Me * Ultravox - Vienna * Visage - Fade to Grey As far as I am concerned, Popcorn should be higher up in the list, in the same ballpark as Axel F and Sweet Dreams.
Good enough top ten but there are too many good ones to keep it to ten Asia- Only Time Will Tell Journey - Separate Ways Head East - Never Been Any Reason Rush- Tom Sawyer Flock of Seagulls- I Ran The Who - Won’t Get Fooled Again Styx- Suite Madam Blue Ultravox -Vienna Gary Numan - Cars
The only other person I have ever heard dicuss how the sound is formed from differing shaped waves would have been an interview I once saw with Vince Clark (Depeche Mode, The Assembly, Yazoo and Eurasure) - the knig of synth pop. So enjoyable
I searched this up looking for 'Popcorn' since i've heard it under a gameplay in a game focused TV channel back before the YT gaming era. Glad i've found it-thought i wouldn't, thank you!
The intro synth line of "Another Day In Paradise" by Phil Collins will stay with me forever Honorable Mention: the Bass line on Kraftwerks "The Robots"
Tangerine Dream’s Berlin School! That is a mesmerising minefield! Just one riff after another. With Phaedra, Rubycon, and Ricochet, the riffs are constantly evolving!
Another Tangerine Dream fan!!!! Barbakane is awesome. Agree With Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet, plus Exit, Hyperborea, Tangram, Stratosphere, Le Parc. I better stop now...
From your list my favorite would be "Don't Go" with the amazing vocals of Alison Moyet. You left out many iconic riffs much better than Ghost Busters. From 13 years ago Alice Deejay riff to this date rocks the dance floors, with "better off alone". Then Eiffel 65 "Blue", or the recent Guetta remix "I"m good". Oh my God how could you forget "Cars" by Gary Numan? "Small town boy" Bronski Beat , "Don't you want me" Human League, Miami Vice theme - Jan Hammer, "Just can't get enough" Depeche mode, "Tainted Love" Soft Cell. I salute you for recreating the sounds from scratch, that was very cool specially"Sandstorm". Enjoyed the video. Thanks
No mention of either “Baba O’Riley” or “Won’t Get Fooled Again “, two of the widely acknowledged creative uses of synthesizer/keyboards ever….bookending the absolutely amazing “Who’s Next” album from 1971.
It's not a synth or a tape loop... It's a Lowery TBO organ with the arpeggiator on and not a synthesiser...i believe he used the same setting for the intro to "won't get fooled again "
My favorite synth riff of all time is easily the one from Sweet Dreams. It’s haunting. I am a little surprised that “Cars” by Gary Numan didn’t make the list!
@@litgamer6205 agreed, if you're meaning cars is most profound, sure there was electronic music before (kraftwerk, jean michelle jarre etc) but Gary Numans, Cars is the watermark for me where the synthesiser era really explodes into popular music.
That's not a riff. A riff is a short melodic phrase. A lead solo part. Like, you'd be right if this was just a list of iconic synth parts. But it's specifically about synth riffs, and "I Feel Love" doesn't have that, as the synths are the backing part... the lead role is squarely taken by Donna Summer's vocals.
Holy crap, this gives me a deeper appreciation of these pieces that I already love lol. How did I not find your channel sooner. Now I have to go listen to all these again! Subbed!
Light my Fire? The Moog in Heart's Magic man has me obsessed with the sound... Although there are truly too many incredible keyboard riffs to even name, but great beginning ❤❤
I like that video. This morning I tried to give you a Thumb Up, but I realized I already did it before, so I just want to tell you " You're The Best! " 😊
Few others:
Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth - lead
Depeche Mode - Strangelove - lead
Berlin - Take My Breath Away - bass
Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme - both lead and pads
Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone - bass
Kool and the Gang - Summer Madness - lead
Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise - lead
Toto - Africa - pads
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme - bass
Scooter - How Much Is The Fish - lead
Sash - Adelante - leads
U96 - Das Boot - leads
Robert Miles - Children - lead
Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler - lead
Bomfunk MC's - Uprocking Beats - lead
ATB - 9 pm - lead
Modern Talking - You're My Heart You're My Soul 98 - lead
Ecuador is his best imo
Save a Prayer by Duran Duran needs to be on this list.
Pet shop boys?
New order?
Anyone remember Ultima 6 intro on synths here?
The cure - a forest and the walk
I demand a second part of this. Kraftwerk, Queen, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Human League, etc, etc.
The real and actual top 10 (or 100 synth riffs). Not many of the ones Dr. Mix put up here would make my list. Probably only Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" and Hancock's "Rockit."
Kraftwerk: Autobahn, Gary Numan: Cars or even better Down In the Park....
Queen prided themselves on "no synthesisers".
Oxygène by Jean Michel Jarre
Dont forget Aurora by Nova
"Oxygene" (J. M. Jarre)
"Peter Gunn" (ELP)
"Pepper Box" (Peppers)
"Conquest of paradise" (Vangelis)
"I feel love" (Donna Summer)
"Fade to Grey" (Visage)
Please enlighten me, where is the repetitive synthesizer riff hook in Conquest of Paradise? and Oxygene? You guys don't know what a synth riff is.
What about the one that goes der derderder derrrr derderderder derrrr der der der der derrrr?
Isn't Peter Gunn actually a guitar riff?
@@rabarebra if u dont know, i suggest listen to oxygene once again, also, theres not one but more of oxygene, like 19 parts, or i dont know how many, but i think he means the 4th one, theres like 2 iconic riffs maybe even 3 in there, that repeats so if going by ur deffinition, wwhat a riff is, it does just that, but sure. Even like Equinoxe 5 is epic and great riff. sure its nowhere near probably the fame of these in this video, still i think so great. Also who cares JMJ is epic. Vangelis, well probably the piano riff but i dont think that would actually qualify as synth riff. only if as piano played on synth. still it is there. Go and listen. It is repeating and its i think quite iconic. But whatever. I like music, not just riffs.
Jean-Michel Jarre is truly the Godfather of Synthesizers!
I'm a 80's & 90's Kid. I was born 1977. I grew up with the Synthpop Classics.🙂👍
Best time ever😉👍
ok boomer
@salazam that's Gen x-er to you.
My man 🎹😎
OMG. The way you just 'created' the Sandstorm sound on that Moog was MAGIC.
was just gonna say, well explained
My own top 10, in no particular order
1) Kraftwerk - The Model
2) Herbie Hancock - Chameleon (the bass synth made me pick up a dual osc synth similar to the Odyssey)
3) Hiromi Uehara - Return of Kung-Fu World Champion
4) Tycho - Awake
5) Cosmos - Spiral Dream
6) Nine Inch Nails - The Hand that Feeds (solo)
7) Yellow Magic Orchestra - Rydeen
8) Rammstein - Du Hast
9) Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone
10) Enya - Orinoco Flow
And from your top 10, my favorite is Take On Me. Love playing the bass part on the DX7.
Who?
Tycho-Awake. Spurious, its mainly guitar and bass.
@@hurlockisgod quite aware of that, for sure. I like the end where it is played by a synth.
Excellent list - even when I don't know everything on it! Rydeen: absolutely! Orinoco flow: yess! From Alice Deejay I would choose Will I Ever, that oldskool pop trance lead with overly happy chord progression and synthpads... Okay I see it now, the trance lead is not so big alone :)
That riff from Du Hast was my ringtone for a while :D
Depeche Mode should absolutely be on this list. Like just can’t get enough.
Yes indeed. My pick for most recognizable song would be “World n My Eyes”.
You've got Vince Clarke in there with Yazoo.
Since Vince is already in there with Yazoo I'd go with a Alan Wilder Era Depeche Mode song. Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth, or yeah World in my Eyes works as well.
This guy doesn't like Depeche Mode
These are lots of artists known from one song.
DM - to pick up ONE most epic riff, or even song? Impossible... :)
Tubeway Army (Gary Numan) kicked it all off for me with "Are 'Friends' Electric?" Such a great riff running throughout that track, right from the opening bar.
I concur!
This is the comment.
And what's interesting is that I heard somewhere that Gary's original riff wasn't supposed to be the way it was recorded. There was actually a note played by mistake and he liked it and kept it. I'm guessing the second to last note in that riff.
Gary Numan has gone on record explaining that "Are 'Friends' Electric?" is actually two by then unfinished tracks mashed into one.
First single record I ever bought, now one of the finest synth tracks ever produced!
The most influential riff of all time for me was Jean-Michel Jarre with Oxygene. I think that was 1975. Other than Kraftwerk this was my introduction to synths in the 70s and probably went on to inspire the majority of the tunes you listed.
JMJs Oxygen is a masterpiece. The song and the album. When I heard this song for the first time in 1984, at the age of 6, I was immediately "enthusiastic" about synthesizer music. A year later I got my first keyboard for Christmas. Christmas 1984 Santa left a C64 under the tree. So I had to wait another year. I still play today and have some nice devices in my "collection"
I also loved "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield. And of course I like Kraftwerk. "Autobahn" as a 20+ minute version. brilliant
th-cam.com/video/Psna_xNlWrk/w-d-xo.html
That was not really a riff though, it was a melody.
For me Les Chants Magnétiques and Zoolook were always my favorites
But the theme in the video is Pop Music.
Outstanding list. Here's some of my picks for synth riffs and rhythms in no particular order.
Gary Numan: Cars, Are Friends Electric
ELP: Fanfare for the Common Man, Karn Evil 9
Genesis: Abacab, The Brazilian
OMD: Messages, 2nd Thought, Stand Above Me, History of Modern
Journey: Separate Ways
Loverboy: Take Me To The Top. Truly Awesome synth into!
Saga: On the Loose (synth solo)
Styx: Fooling Yourself
Alan Parsons Project: I Robot, The Raven (vocoder)
The Cars: Let's Go, Moving in Stereo
Kraftwerk: The Model, Metropolis, Electric Cafe
Georgio Moroder: The Chase, I Feel Love with Donna Summer
Benny Andersson of ABBA: The Visitors, Elaine, Me and I, Lay All Your Love on Me, I Am the City, The Day Before You Came, Under Attack, You Owe me One, Keep an Eye on Dan, No Doubt About It..... you can say I like ABBA just a little bit. ;-)
Led Zeppelin: All My Love, In the Evening. In Through the Outdoor was recorded at ABBA's - Polar Music's then new state of the art studio.
Good list too - made me do a bit of nostalgic listening. The only addition I would make is the David Whittaker/Zombie Nation 'Kerncraft 400' riff.
@@profpep Thanks! I'll go give it a listen!
Eggsacklee. LOVERBOY'S Take Me to the Top is one of the best synthesiser sounds and intros to a song EVER. In all honesty , it's my favourite. And I'm a huge fan of Isao Tomita. A Synthesiser Giant.
What an amazing well-thought-out list and credits for the comment additions. I too like ABBA just a little bit, now I think about it....
Some philistine killjoys might say "it's a sign of a misspent youth", but I think exactly the opposite - it's a sign of a well-spent life to have enjoyed so much great music. I'm sure you could spend hours expounding upon ALL of these songs, so I won't, but just mention that Aaron Copland's 'Fanfare For The Common Man' is positively hair-raising when heard from an orchestra. There is something EXTRA about real live music.
We are lucky to live in a world with music.
Ahh, never enough ABBA synth songs, is there?
Nobody mentioning Vangelis? R. I. P. Maestro. He had legendary riffs too.
Indeed, right here with you.
Vangelis, the best
Hardware-synths are so impressive... the technical creativity to get musical sounds out of essentially just a few basic electrical components and a bunch of wires, with no computers involved, is astounding
Shaping electricity into musical sounds.
@@BullyMaguire4everRead the history of electronic music,it goes back futher than most people think.
Cars by Gary Numan would be top 10 for me. It sounds amazing, instantly recognizable and is actually a very important piece of music that pushed synth use to the mainstream. It influenced so many artists and still does. It's just as important as Blue Monday in popularizing electronic music. Also: Blue Monday is definitely another top 10
A lot of listeners think that the high, sweet note in "Cars" is a synth, but in fact it was an electric violin.
@@paulshallbetter1080 there is no violin on single/album version of Cars. Moog, Polymoog, bass guitar, drums and a tambourine.
It is true violin appears in a couple of tracks from the same album that Cars featured on.
Definitely!
WPLJ New York used to use Cars as their background music when doing the afternoon-evening traffic reports.. you could not have picked a more perfect piece of music for the task.
Are Friends Electric is amazing as well
Sweet dreams for me. It's the whole package, those synths with Annie's amazing controlled, menacing, sweet sounding vocals, and then the look of her as well. Just amazing
No Depeche Mode? Seriously?
Yazoo is a little bit of Depeche Mode...
Criminal
I was thinking that! Like, "Just Can't Get Enough?"
Because Depeche mode is no real music?
@@Anoalekontrieger - You wish… DM still has a huge following worldwide.
I had no intention of listening to nearly 20 min of this, but as someone born in '77 with young parents & was exposed to good music, MTV & VH1 i fell in love with synthetic music.
As some commenter said, 'what, no Depeche Mode?!" I think your list is spot on!
As far as my favorite goes that's a hard one, Popcorn started it all & is brilliant, & Axel F is legendary, but the Final Countdown always gives me chills & I remember calling into the radio station at 7 or so & requesting it. Well done sir!
En la lista hay varios de mis riffs favoritos, pero aquí dejo otros 10:
1. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene 4
2. Vangelis -Blade Runner (End Titles)
3. Depeche Mode - Just can't get enough
4. The Human League - (Keep feeling) Fascinación
5. Ryan Paris - Dolce Vita
6. The Twins - Face to face, heart to heart
7. Yazoo - Situation
8. Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme
9. Falco - Rock me, Amadeus
y 10. (El tono de llamada de mi smartphone 😂) Dire Straits - Walk of life
Jean Michel Jarre 100%
Jan Hammer -Crockett's Theme should be one every top ten synth song list ever....
You're forgetting Tangerine Dream, Tim Blake and Astral Projection. I recommend listening to Love on a real Train by Tangerine dream ,Synthese Interpronel by Tim Blake and Nilaya by Astral Projection as the top 3 Electronic tracks of all time. If you haven't heard them, message me and I'll send you the links!
Kraftwerk - Computerliebe
A synthesizer top ten list without Kraftwerk is simply incomplete.
How about OMD, several rifs there...for one Electricity... or the famous Joan of arc.
Rush - Subdivisions is up there as a memorable one.
I would also put up the Doctor Who theme as a potential synth riff.
That one is really pretty. And a classic.
Subdivisions should have definitely made that list
The Doctor Who theme predates synths - Delia Derbyshire recorded oscillator output onto tape, played it back at various speeds and recorded those onto tape, then literally cut and pasted to create the tune. Upon playing the final version to the composer, Ron Grainer, he allegedly asked "Did I really write that?!", to which Delia modestly replied, "Mostly."
I love playing Subdivisions on a Juno 6. WItch hunt is a good one, too.
@@mittfh wow, like that's some nice niché trivia information, kudos! :)
An OB-Xa was used on „Jump“, as Eddie had told Guitar World (February 2014): „I wrote Jump on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 in my bedroom while the studio was being built. Everytime I got the sound that I wanted on the right-hand split section of the keyboard, it would start smoking and pop a fuse. I got another one and the same thing happened. A guy I knew said I should try an Oberheim OB-Xa, so I bought one of those and got the sound I wanted.“
cool!
There's just something about synthesizer riffs that makes me feel happy and positive. It's probably the classic 80's vibes. 🎵
At 55 ,still takes me back to my Depeche Mode days,love this site.
I'm astounded Jan Hammer didn't get a shout out. Crockett's Theme is just iconic.
I agree. He is my # 1
Yup
Keith Emerson, Emerson Lake and Palmer. Fanfare for the common man.
Crockett's theme is more than a riff, is a whole beautiful song done purely with Synths, is out of contest.
I was hoping for Blue Monday 88 What a vibe~
Autobahn by Kraftwerk is the #1 for me - the rhythmic delay on the bass line, plus the major third harmony on the main melody is so cool
Hell yeah trans Europe Express
I listened to Kraftwerk in the late 80s
@@patriotrob7066 Check out The Mix released in 1990 if you haven't.
Had a “quadrophonic” version of this in the late 70’s. Wish I still had it today. The entire Autobahn album is classic!
Autobahn is the greatest song of Kraftwerk in my book!!!
Hard to nail down the top 10 of all time... but this is a classic list of rifts that will stand the test of time. Great selection!
Visage - Fade to grey and Kraftwerk - The model should be added to that list. Maybe in a top 15 list
If you mean 'The Motto', I feel like it's too early to tell though... obviously epic, especially with its multi-tiered simplicity, but top 10? Not sure at this time.
Oh, you meant Kraftwerk, The Model... um, not agreeing. Great, but NOT top 10.
More of a bass line than a riff but I agree, Visage are oft forgotten in the scheme of things
Europe Endless is my favourite Kraftwerk riff it just sounds so majestic and sweeping.
@@1norwood1 Europe Endless and Endless Endless are simply Franz Schubert with lyrics. I really like how one song was turned into three, though, like taking an idea and running with it.
Thanks for recreating all these iconic tunes, which many of us might have listened since childhood, but never would have imagined how they would have been made! Looking forward to more content - thanks a lot 😍🤩🥰
Oh wow thank you!!! ❤🎉
not only plays the top 10 but gets the sound spot on..great job
The sounds yes, but not the notes - Popcorn is wrong
I love this man’s energy, you can feel his passion for the music and synths
Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love'... has a wicked synth running through the entire track.
You must like this version then. just look at the synth used there: th-cam.com/video/T9S2iDh1je4/w-d-xo.html
@@matthijshofman9549 Yeah, man! Sweet. And that chick is woww..
@@OregonDARRYL She is alright and it's alright but it's an well established fact that the Blue Man's Group Cover with Annette Strean and Venus Hum is the ultimate nerdgasm version of all time (after the original of course) BIIG period ⬤ video: th-cam.com/video/nFgIcD02Lxo/w-d-xo.html Live: th-cam.com/video/8zidmMlfEz8/w-d-xo.html
😁
Robert Fripp
@@mikemorris5817 Yeah,- Robert Fripp is a great guitarist and composer (My ringtone for incoming calls is "Elephant Talk" by King Crimson) but can you please elaborate your statement "Robert Fripp" in this context?
Did he make a cover of "I Feel Love" I would love to here that? (Goggling and searching right now)
Edit: Oh yeah he did. Search 9rVrVeeT6jA or "I Feel Love (with Robert Fripp) (Live 1980)". Cover with Blondie. Nice,- thanks Mike Morris for the hint 👍😁
Emerson Lake and Palmer ; "Lucky Man". 1970, mid teens, the sweep from mid to high to low, blew my melancholy mind away !!!
It was a watershed moment, for sure, nothing like it before and almost nothing since, but a riff it wasn't.
The whole solo was a single, gloriously evolving musical journey. A riff is a quick pirouette.
ELP Brain Salad Surgery. My first concert!
‘ENJOY THE SILENCE is the best synth riff ever. ‘Playing With Knives’ also springs to mind 😊
The riff in Enjoy the silence is on guitar
There we go, thank god there is a depeche mode fan to recognize this too. Never Let Me Down Again is another.
@@astropolia no, the response to the riff is on the guitar 😊
@@WARTV-dn5fk No. It's a guitar 🙂 th-cam.com/video/-1U2w08wLkg/w-d-xo.html
@@astropolia No, it’s a synth ‘stab’ then a guitar 😊
Nice list. Of course there are many other great synth riffs that are iconic. Some of my favorites in no particular order:
1. Don't you want me - Human League
2. Fool's overture - Super Tramp
3. Spiral - Vangelis
4. Arpegiator - Jean Michel Jarre
5. Cars - Gary Numan
6. Das Model - Kraftwerk
7. Crockett's theme - Jan Hammer
8. Vamos a la Playa - Righeira
9. Starlette - The B.B.&Q band
10. Dolce Vita - Ryan Paris
11. Heaven in my Hands - Level 42
12. Separate ways - Journey
13. I wear my sunglasses at night - Corey Hart
14. Magnetic fields Part 2 - Jean Michel Jarre
15. Abacab - Genesis
This makes a nice playlist.
@@Peter_S_ Thanks!
Lets throw some Ice House / Flower for good measure there too :) Awesome list
@@HarrySinanian Good one, I like it! I didn't know that track from them. I only knew "Hey little girl" and "Crazy".
@@MacXpert74 we can even stretch to Split Enz getting in on the synth act too... there's no end to the goodness :)
Donna Summer's 1977 hit "I feel love" got me hooked on synth. Of course, my fave synth artist from the 80s is Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, especially his work on Arcadia. Of course, can't rule out Howard Jones' hits or back home here in Canada, Kim Mitchell's "All We Are".
if Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco, IMO Giorgio Moroder was the godfather of EDM
Donna Summer??? You must've meant GIORGIO MORODER.
@@hindsighter @Kevin Tanaka Yes, I stand corrected. I looked it up properly to find out who actually "composed" the song. You both are right. I just learned its name by its singer and title when I was a child so I never followed up. But yes, a lot of famous singers, like Donna Summer, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, had songs written for them. I think Celine out of this group actually credits the composer when she performs the songs live whether it be Plamadon, James Horner, David Foster, etc.
Giorgio Moroder - I probably heard of his work in the 70s/80s but I'd probably never know his name. At least, I know now so thank you both
Exactly - “I feel love” was a huge hit because of .Giorgio Moroder’s genius
"Things Can Only Get Better" is still one of my favorite 80's synth wave songs.
Far too many great synth riffs to count, but I'd definitely say Fade to Grey by Visage and The Model by Kraftwerk are among my favourites.
Me too such great tunes in my top10 for sure
Yes. Das Model is definitely iconic. As well as Trans Europe Express, Radioactivity, Autobahn and a whole slew of other songs. Modern electronic music owes its existence to Kraftwerk, as well as Hip Hop on account of Afrika Bambaata's Planet Rock
Fade to Grey is stolen from Being Boiled by The Human League
th-cam.com/video/bRC9K7iLUAw/w-d-xo.html
The synth solo in the Model is one of the finest in synth music!
P.S:
The Moog synthesiser was first used by:
The Monkees, who bought the third commercially sold Moog synth.
They put it to brilliant use and thus were the first ever band, to use the Moog Synth in most of their music..
Just 10 is not enough. Almost every 80s synth song is awesome
Exactly. And Kim Wilde has most of them.
Doctor, after watching your video in whole, I can tell you have the soul of a conductor, and the spirit of a madman. I'm impressed and appreciate your take on electro-synth music.
Probably the one that is the most memorable for me is Gary Numan's Cars. That high, sweet synth note still just kills me! Great list!
Def up there IMO.
A minimoog i believe.
@@EphemeralProductions That was my understanding as well. I know that when he played with NiN he used a Polymoog for it. Great tune!
@@EphemeralProductions the main riff is a minimoog, the high sweet synth (string) note is a polymoog (on the vox humana preset :)
@@MmostlyRandom always thought THAT was a minimoog also. Now i know. :)
The very fact that there is no Thomas Dolby on this list dissapoints me.... but love the channel!
Or Ultravox!
While I love quite a few of these for me it will always be Cars by Gary Numan as my favourite Synth riff. The haunting "wobbly sound" of the entire song is beyond anything.
That's a good one as well.
Ah yes the song that sprung "New Wave" on an unsuspecting world. Great tune.
If James Brown is the godfather of soul, Michael the king of pop and Elvis the king of rock n roll. Then without doubt Gary is the progenitor of synth.
@@tonygarratt5832 In a way yes but don't forget about Kraftwerk. Who where one of the biggest and earliest band to the Electronic music genre. A lot of the Synth-pop band/artist of the 80's like New Order, A-Ha, Gary Numan, Ultravox, Eurythmics, Giorgio Moroder, and many others where influenced by Kraftwerk. Also Kraftwerk was inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 for the Early influencers. But other than that Gary Numan hasn't really made a big impact for the Synth-pop genre. But with his major success and at the peak of his popularity in the early 80's he didn't have that many super popular single hits other than a few songs like Cars, Are Friends Electric, and a few others. But after that his popularity slowly declined.
@@michael1234252 You're quite right. This is why I chose the word progenitor rather than king or godfather, he paved the way. Showed many others who had more critical acclaim and commercial success, the power and possibility of synth music. Let us not forget where would any of the artists mentioned be without Bach for example, just for the record my favourite from that genre is and always will be Mozart.
Keith Emerson made the synthesizer a fundamental tool of rock when the Emerson Lake and Palmer single Lucky Man charted in the top 50 globally in 1970. It changed everything. By the time of the release of the Album Brain Salad Surgery he was the preeminent synthesizer keyboardist. A sin to exclude ELP.
I was thinking the same ELP should be on the list.
Love ELP. But this is a list of pop earworms, so to speak. ELP, though great, doesn't fit here.
Ya, Keith wasn't really writing riffs for a living. Half of what he did was interpreting and arranging other artists original works with his own flair and the pieces he did write were not riff driven like pop music is (although there is some of that in ELP's work, but much of that is Lake's guitar work.)
Does not Kaen Evil 9 count for an earworm?
@@jamesvos4769 The vocal, maybe. Not the synth riff.
Thanks for having A-HA on this list criminally the most underrated, unappreciated band in the world but i love them and always will from the take on me days when i was 16 to present i’m 53 now. take care 🏴🇳🇴😘
Take on me is literally the biggest 80s song
Great comment Alison, I have followed them since I was 12 and now 50. Met them a few times and love the new stuff more than the old stuff, especially cast in steel and true north
Be fair, how can that be? They continue to get international recognition, whereas equally great band Alphaville, being German, never did. Most of my fave acts ARE what you say they are, but of them all, A-ha since around 2010 can not be termed underrated or underappreciated: this term is for people like Kim Wilde, who's the Queen of it, Sandra right behind her, and Alphaville, China Crisis and OMD and Cock Robin right there. Even Duran Duran, absurdly and outlandishly dissed, hated and misunderstood forever are probably a bit less feted than A-ha. Don't get me wrong, A-ha are a top band, but they are not alone in the department of being less celebrated than they should be. It only seems this way because as soon as music died in the 90s, critics disappeared and all anyone ever did was deal out noxious fake love to EVERYTHING that ever burped into a studio. Sad really.
@@Theoneandonlydramaqueen. No it isn't. In the best decade and only decade of biggest 80s song, it would make around No250 as there are just that MANY choices, and many bigger and better than this, and I say that as somebody who likes this song enough!
@@thebob3428 I so agree. I only started 5 starring their albums since they came back, but their last definitely seems their worst, one album too many I fear. "Lifelines", "Foot Of The Mountain" and "Cast In Steel" can't be beaten. Their 3 top masterpieces, none of which were done in their so-called heyday. Sometimes you need age and experience to make the best music, and once they'd left that dreary 1993 sound of "we don't wanna sound like A-ha any more, we're serious now" (and they had their 1st split, says it all!), they came back with their best stuff ever.
Thank you for bringing back my memories of my Electronic Music course at the Florida Junior College at Jacksonville in 1977 (now Florida State College at Jacksonville). After piano and trumpet and flute in grade school and high school and then college I had to quit because I needed time to study for electrical engineering at the University of Florida, where I designed a "scheduling synthesizer" with "Flight Of The Bumblebee" on a 12-foot Steinway as my exemplar of what I needed to minimize the voices and cost of the synthesis...
As a former classical pianist who majored in Music Theory, your videos are very illuminating to me.
Jan Hammer Crockett's theme, Jean Michel Jarre Magnetic Fields Pt 2, or Oxygene Pt. 4, Vangelis Chariots of Fire or Blade Runner - End Titles, Yello The Race, New Order Confusion(long version), Joy Division Love will tear us Apart, KraftWerk The Model just to name few of the top of my head, that I think should be on Top synthesizer riff list :)
Yello - Bostich :)
And of cource - Vangelis. I missed that one. 👌
The intro for Elton John's Funeral for a Friend is my all time favorite synthesizer piece. He opened the show with it when I saw him live in 1980 in Dallas. A moment I'll never forget!
Man that is a powerful piece of music! Thank you for the reminder
The final countdown is just so clever. Great video
Bette Davis Eyes was a huge hit and had that memorable synth intro
That's an electric guitar,,...... I think!
@@pablorozas1534 - I've never been sure either! It's definitely a synth _sound_ , but played like on a guitar! Maybe it's a guitar played through a guitar synth?!
Definitely needs Depeche Mode's Just Can't Get Enough - certainly one of the most catchy and world wide memorable riffs.
Please no, you did understand something wrong.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Lucky Man ! The Moog at the end !! Goosebumps !
Any ELP is the best synth of all time. Pictures at an exhibition and Tarkus are rediculous!
can never get enough of the end!
Goosebumps indeed.
Prince 1999 should be there. Instantly recognisable.
One of my faves is Africa by Toto. Also, one of my fave Synthesizers is the Ensoniq ESQ-1. I used to play it almost every day for hours. I currently have a Yamaha Motif XS8.
This was ridiculously FANTASTIC!!!! I never realized how complex that Eurythmics riff was…and I’m old! LOL Thank you Dr. Mix!!
Same here. Don't feel too bad. I didn't even know until I watched this video that the song was sung by Annie Lennox.
How you can leave off ELPs Lucky Man and it's synth outro solo is criminal. It was probably the first of it's kind and has never been duplicated.
The story goes that Keith had just gotten the Moog and after hearing the song decided to "experiment" with it while recording. This "experiment" is what we hear at the end of the song! Truth! RIP Keith and Greg and thanks for the music!
Hi Dr Mix. During COVID I watched you like everyday… for hours and hours.. and I don’t play music. It was just so fascinating to see how the music I loved was being made. I missed watching you the last year or so and seeing this video makes want to go back and watch the whole past year of videos. 😊
BTW Sandstorm is the sound of pregame hockey warmups, time just before face offs and anytime the ref might be talking to the scorekeepers !
I'm going to go with "Don't Go" as my favorite. I used to play the sequenced part by hand back in the 80s, because my old analog synth didn't have a sequencer. :)
As long as it’s the Todd Terry remix!
I have never liked "Don't Go", but Yazoo's "Sweet Thing" is one of the most incredible songs from 80s synth-pop era.
I concur. But anything Vince Clarke
I made a 45 minute tape cover of this for my brother because he wouldn't stop playing it. 😅
I love synthesizers! This is a great Top 10, they're all Iconic. Here's some more I can think of:
David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes
Depeche Mode - Just Can't get Enough
New Order - Confusion
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Souvenir
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Enola Gay
A Flock Of Seagulls - Wishing
Duran Duran - Save A Prayer
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
The Prodigy - Voodoo People
Bananarama - Cruel Summer
Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme
John Foxx - Underpass
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Kraftwerk - Computer Love
Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses
Simple Minds - Theme For Great Cities
Yazoo - Situation
Yazoo - Nobody's Diary
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Behind The Mask
BBE - Seven Days And One Week
The Beloved - Sweet Harmony
Enya - Orinoco Flow
Hall & Oates - Out Of Touch
Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 4
Vangelis - Blade Runner End Titles
Linkin Park - Numb
Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise
Van Halen - Why Can't This Be Love
Berlin - Take My Breath Away
Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy
Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night
The Cars - Drive
Irene Cara - Flashdance ... What A Feeling
The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
Rod Stewart - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
Roxette - Listen To Your Heart
ABBA - Gimme Gimme Gimme
The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It
The Human League - Don't You Want Me
Lipps Inc - Funkytown
Daft Punk - Da Funk
Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone
Mike Oldfield - Foreign Affair
Brad Fiedel - Terminator Theme
John Carpenter - Escape From New York Theme
Underworld - Born Slippy
Damn solid list.
Great, but no Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson??
Man, what a great list
Someone reply to this so I remember to come back and copy this lol
@@CleverMetaphor replied
I got to spend the day at MacWorld San Francisco with Herbie Hancock and his head engineer in 1993. He was just the nicest guy. Totally sweet personality and zero ego. Shaking his hand and realizing that hand played Rockit was a spiritual experience. As we walked around the floor, every music software maker went bananas when Herbie entered their booth.
Nice job recreating these. I just can NOT pick a single favorite. If you are a synth enthusiast, then you love them all. You can even add 99 Luftballons by Nena (either the German or English version is fine). The analog synths of the past were amazing at everything from cutting lead type sounds to "Phat" bass sounds. The Moog, Prophet, Jupiter, Oberheim, Korg, and so many more were just Power Synths that I feel will always still have their place in music no matter what era we are in.
This video is GOLD for synths and 80's music lovers like me. 9 of my favorite songs of that times. I just love it!!!! And.... as other users say... there should be a second part of this...!!
Ciao Claudio! The moment „im going to create this sound right now for you…“ you earned my thumbs up! THATs what we want! Thats Claudio and his Moog! My favorite would be: Giorgio Moroder - Chase!
I thought for sure that I would have heard the song Frankenstein by Edgar Winter. That whole song is crazy with synthensizer. Not to mention that Edgar is not only playing synth but he's also playing saxophone and a second drum part with the drummer on the song. The true definition of multi talented. Check out the live version if you really want to see something crazy.
Agreed. I watched a live version once while down a late-night TH-cam music rabbit hole and was blown away.
oh yeah! Forgot about that one!
Great list. From the comments you should definitely do a part 2. Suggestions:
Send Me An Angel (Can’t believe this didn’t make it)
Running Up That Hill
Fade To Grey
Sunglasses At Night
White Horse
Sex Dwarf
This is just off the top of my head. These are iconic Synth lines from songs that electronic music lovers will know instantly. I tried to add songs instead of just the bands name. If you need the Artists, let me know.
Thanks for the great vid!!!
1. Oxygene 2 (legendary riff at 1min 41secs) & Oxygene 4
2. Equinoxe, Pt. 4 & Equinoxe Pt. 5
3. The Eve Of The War
4. The Death of the Hero (Artemyev)
5. War & Training Montage (Vince DiCola)
6. Can't Get You Out Of My Head
7. Take My Breath Away
8. Cause You Are Young
9. You're My Heart, You're My Soul
10. Sounds Like A Melody
11. I'm So Excited
12. Torture (The Jacksons)
13. Big In Japan
14. Holiday (Madonna song)
15. Burn Rubber On Me
No.1 is Popcorn.
@@thedarkeminency I was just thinking about JM Jarre, great choice !
"Legendary riff" - So legendary that you don't know it's not by Jarre but some one-day-fly artist. It's "Popcorn".
@@Frontdesk99 It is not 1:41 of this video. It is 1:41 of Oxygene 2 :
th-cam.com/video/KRWlw0M-rdw/w-d-xo.html
@@thedarkeminency I mean 1:41 of the Oxygene 2
th-cam.com/video/KRWlw0M-rdw/w-d-xo.html
I would have moved ‘Jump’ to number one! Another suggestion - Faithless ‘Insomnia’. Can’t get a bigger more epic synth lead!
horrible
@@giannagiavelli5098 I suppose sandstorm is better? 🤣
@@giannagiavelli5098 YOU are
@@01ryan10 I posted my list of 5 much more important songs
Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls" should definitely be on the list. Thanks for sharing!
Where is the riff in that?
@@rabarebra Yeah, there's a lot of folks here who clearly don't know what "a riff" is.
It has to be a short melodic phrase. A solo lead part.
They are naming great synth parts - such as "I Feel Love" which, for sure, is majorly significant in the whole evolution of music - but, ah, it's not "a riff".
@@klaxoncow A riff can be a chord pattern hook. In the West End Girls thing, they mean it is a bass hook, but that would go under "greatest bass lines of all time" which it ain't.
Jarre is my favorite, and has been since 1977
Absolute genius
The iconic Faithless Insomnia is definitely missing from this list! Just because it's from a decade later (not 80's but 90's) it is still one of the best sound character I ever heard on a synth.
Finally! Insomnia flattens them all!
I was gonna post the same thing, and add snap, rhythm is a dancer and real McCoy runaway
I was expecting the first place 😕
Memories of 72hr long rave "recovery parties"
🤗
Sister Bliss
The best synth “riff” ever has got to be Are “Friends” Electric. Instantly recognizable.
True it really should be on here, I think “The Call Up” by the clash should also maybe be on here
''Metal' and 'Cars' have amazing riffs as well
Only riff I can actually play.
Fantastic selection!!!
Here are a couple of my favorites :
DJ Professor & Zappalà - We gotta do it
Nikita - Eterna divina
Donna Summer - I feel love
Saccoman - Pyramid soundwave 12:00
Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy
The Wknd - Blinding lights on
Web - Lovin' times
Simple Minds - New gold dream
Kraftwerk - Radioactivity
Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene
Valerie Dore - The night
Gazebo - I like Chopin
Sash! - Ecuador
B.B.E. - 7 days & one week
Age Of Love - The age of love
i just bought a mininova. its small but powerful , your channel lets me learn and enjoy the world of synths . ty
Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is fairly iconic for those of us who know it.
Can't agree more, Joy division deserves the first place. And doing a show about synth riffs and not mentioning KRAFTWERK, just wrong. Fuck the final countdown
It’s important and Joy Division / New Order are my favorite band. But I would say that Love Will Tear Us Apart has Peter Hook leading on bass (in fact that is how the song started) with Bernard Sumner following the same notes on his ARP Omni (Solina string ensemble according to some other sources). And I generally admire Barney far more than Hooky but LWTUA is definitely driven more so by Hooky’s bass + Ian’s lyrics than by Barney’s synth.
You can dance if you want to? Canadian genius.
that song is made on a template of 'strangers in the night'
@@sexypoetry I think Peter Hook was definitely inspired, even if he doesn't realize it himself.
For me, Depeche Mode riff on Just Can't Get Enough is very nice among your choices.
its not there but it's my favourite. 1st riff I ever learnt to play.
True! Unfortnitely it is missing from the list. Should have replaced #7...
Depeche Mode doesn´t exist for Doctor Mix :(
Vince Clarke is the riff god! At least Don't Go got a mention 👍
@@gabrieldm101 That's why he is just a doctor, not a professor ;)
Van Halen - Jump is my no. 1 mostly because this was the first riff i learned to play on my Korg M1. Will never forget this one!
I would change Final Countdown with Jump! Both great, but Jump is even more expressive!
horrible
@@giannagiavelli5098 YOU are.
'1984' as an intro to 'Jump' is awesome as well.
Such a shame that the album degenerates suddenly straight after 'Jump' - 'Panama' is the worst non sequiteur I've ever encountered on an album. It's clear that David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen pulled the band in opposite directions. DLR-lovers can complain all they like, but VH best stuff for me was the two albums after DLR departed.
What a gorgeous piece of kit, gives a flow to shaping sound
Obsession by Animotion has a legendary synth riff. It was used for many years as the intro music for the formula one commercial on eurosport channel. The song is great, and gives a heart beat from the very first seconds.
Nice thing I think about this song is that the vocals are really slow over the speed of the sequencer. And of course that synth riff 😉
definitely a top 5 riff, in my view
“Situation” from Yazoo is also a classic. And “Fascinated” from Company B. 😄
I was afraid that would be the number one.
To choose one, Lipps Inc. - "Funkytown" is the riff.
Bit trivia, the video for Yazoo's song was done in the Headley Grange Mansion, where Led Zeppelin famously recorded with a mobile studio built in a truck, not a lap top ;)
Jump, Axel F, Rokit, Ghost Busters, Sweet Dreams and The Final Countdown. I remember a lot of synth in music as I was coming of age in the 80's. A friend of mine was thrilled when his parents got him a synthesizer. I believe it was a Roland. I used to sit and listen to him as he explored what it could do. Fun times!
Goosebumps on The Final Countdown and Sweet Dreams. However, I am missing a couple here:
* Kraftwerk - Autobahn (no synthesizer riff is complete without the absoute pioneers of synthesizer music ;-))
* Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
* Lipps Inc - Funkytown
* The Human League - Don't You Want Me
* Ultravox - Vienna
* Visage - Fade to Grey
As far as I am concerned, Popcorn should be higher up in the list, in the same ballpark as Axel F and Sweet Dreams.
Good enough top ten but there are too many good ones to keep it to ten
Asia- Only Time Will Tell
Journey - Separate Ways
Head East - Never Been Any Reason
Rush- Tom Sawyer
Flock of Seagulls- I Ran
The Who - Won’t Get Fooled Again
Styx- Suite Madam Blue
Ultravox -Vienna
Gary Numan - Cars
The only other person I have ever heard dicuss how the sound is formed from differing shaped waves would have been an interview I once saw with Vince Clark (Depeche Mode, The Assembly, Yazoo and Eurasure) - the knig of synth pop. So enjoyable
Wow...chills! Thank you for explaining clearly how so many of those awesome 1980's riffs were created. Love it!
I searched this up looking for 'Popcorn' since i've heard it under a gameplay in a game focused TV channel back before the YT gaming era.
Glad i've found it-thought i wouldn't, thank you!
A lot of 80s here, still the greatest decade for synth bands..
The intro synth line of "Another Day In Paradise" by Phil Collins will stay with me forever
Honorable Mention: the Bass line on Kraftwerks "The Robots"
👌
Tangerine Dream’s Berlin School! That is a mesmerising minefield! Just one riff after another. With Phaedra, Rubycon, and Ricochet, the riffs are constantly evolving!
Another Tangerine Dream fan!!!! Barbakane is awesome. Agree With Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet, plus Exit, Hyperborea, Tangram, Stratosphere, Le Parc. I better stop now...
T. Dream still underrated af.
From your list my favorite would be "Don't Go" with the amazing vocals of Alison Moyet. You left out many iconic riffs much better than Ghost Busters. From 13 years ago Alice Deejay riff to this date rocks the dance floors, with "better off alone". Then Eiffel 65 "Blue", or the recent Guetta remix "I"m good". Oh my God how could you forget "Cars" by Gary Numan? "Small town boy" Bronski Beat , "Don't you want me" Human League,
Miami Vice theme - Jan Hammer, "Just can't get enough" Depeche mode, "Tainted Love" Soft Cell. I salute you for recreating the sounds from scratch, that was very cool specially"Sandstorm". Enjoyed the video. Thanks
No mention of either “Baba O’Riley” or “Won’t Get Fooled Again “, two of the widely acknowledged creative uses of synthesizer/keyboards ever….bookending the absolutely amazing “Who’s Next” album from 1971.
Came here to say this. Invalidates the list.
I dont think Baba O'Riley was done on a synth, it was a home made tape loop.
It's not a synth or a tape loop... It's a Lowery TBO organ with the arpeggiator on and not a synthesiser...i believe he used the same setting for the intro to "won't get fooled again "
AMEN. Who's Next has the BEST Synth performances.
>widely acknowledged creative uses
not if you recall raymond scott, see soothing sounds for baby, ten years earlier.
My favorite synth riff of all time is easily the one from Sweet Dreams. It’s haunting. I am a little surprised that “Cars” by Gary Numan didn’t make the list!
Absolutely cars should be there but we both agree there ard so many that should be there and are not.
It's probably the most timeless and profound 👍the others are more feel good
@@litgamer6205 agreed, if you're meaning cars is most profound, sure there was electronic music before (kraftwerk, jean michelle jarre etc) but Gary Numans, Cars is the watermark for me where the synthesiser era really explodes into popular music.
Gary Numan could have had two there.
somebody played Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
Enola Gay by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark is one of my favourite, if you make a part 2 that should definitely be there.
Electricity too
@@marcelopose Yes ,just been listening to that on Spotify
I does have a catchy riff not a popular song though
I love playing this one on my keyboard along with the song.
Talking Loud and Clear is another I'd say would be good enough to make the top 50
Nice,I would have added OMD Enola Gay,Gary Numan Cars ,Kraftwerk The Model and Human League Open Your Heart plus a few others too!
OMD's Electricity is probably my favourite that isn't by Vince Clarke or Martyn Ware, those guys could have a top 10 on their own.
Naah, "I feel Love" Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder is the most iconic synth riff of all time.
Giorgio Moroder "Chase"
Hawkwind - Assault and Battery/ The Golden Void th-cam.com/video/1UIYMxZRLf0/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=sobeknefru100
Making a top 10 synthesizer without Giorgio Moroder should be a sin
There is the most iconic rhythm part. This video is about solo riffs.
That's not a riff.
A riff is a short melodic phrase. A lead solo part.
Like, you'd be right if this was just a list of iconic synth parts. But it's specifically about synth riffs, and "I Feel Love" doesn't have that, as the synths are the backing part... the lead role is squarely taken by Donna Summer's vocals.
Holy crap, this gives me a deeper appreciation of these pieces that I already love lol. How did I not find your channel sooner. Now I have to go listen to all these again! Subbed!
Light my Fire? The Moog in Heart's Magic man has me obsessed with the sound...
Although there are truly too many incredible keyboard riffs to even name, but great beginning ❤❤
I love those riffs but also how well you explain how they were made! Great content!
All are beautiful, but " Don't Go" it's the most beautiful for me, i love those typically 80's Synth riffs and sounds 😊
Axel F is my favourite. Brings back 1980s memories. But there were so many amazing riffs in 1980s it's hard to single one out!
there are two types of people who like Axel F:
the beverly hills cops fans
and
the monsters vs aliens fans
I like that video. This morning I tried to give you a Thumb Up, but I realized I already did it before, so I just want to tell you " You're The Best! " 😊