Electropop

Electropop was a genre of synthesizer pop music which flourished during the early 1980s, although the first recordings were made in the late 1970s .

Electropop was often characterised by a cold, robotic, electronic sound, which was largely due to the limitations of what synthesizers could achieve at the time.

Electropop songs were old-fashioned pop songs at heart, with simple, catchy hooks and dance beats. But it differs from the later genres of electronic music it helped to inspire — techno, dub, house, etc. — in that strong songwriting was emphasized over simple danceability. Electropop was closely intertwined with the New Romantic movement of the early 80s.

Electropop musicians included:

• Blancmange
• Depeche Mode
• Thomas Dolby
• Erasure
• Eurythmics
• John Foxx
• Heaven 17
• Human League
• Japan
• Howard Jones
• Kraftwerk
• Men Without Hats
• Bill Nelson
• New Order
• Gary Numan
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
• Pet Shop Boys
• Soft Cell
• Tears for Fears
• Thompson Twins
• Ultravox
• Yazoo (Yaz in the US)
• Yellow Magic Orchestra