synth-pop treasures for Three Tune Tuesday .:. EN/RU

Silicon Dream is a hidden gem, almost secret name, not known to the general public - but it does tell a lot to those who did not sleep all the 90s in a cradle with a pacifier, but rocked their best years on at clubs and disco parties :D

This was a project of German DJ and producer Klaus Münzer. For music videos, TV appearances and live gigs it was 'fortified' with two professional dancers Angelo and Danny (you can see them in this clip). Inspired by the sound of Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode, Münzert played with sampling technologies and wanted to have some fun on stage, so his band was born.

The very first single 'Marcello The Mastroianni' (1987) caught on the charts (in Germany it rose up to #15) and made the band's name recognizable, it gained a fan-base in Europe and beyond. The following year the full LP 'Time Machine' was released. It included ten killer hits in synth-pop / italo-disco / eurodance style, and had some conceptual feeling about the whole selection. It maybe not a great timeless masterpiece of art, but definitelty an iconic LP and sign of its time, -- and A LOT OF FUN!

And then the 90s came, disco music began to lose popularity and many artists, including 'Silicon Dream', kinda evaporated... My friend introduced me to their music in the last grade of high school, I still keep the audio cassette with this album that I copied from his copy. In 1995, the compilation 'Greatest hits' was released. This was already CD hegemony era - when I came across this CD on the market, I jumped to the sky with excitement and, of course, grabbed it for my collection, just as a precious memory - nowadays I listen to the music as mp3 files, or youtube playback...

A real symphony for a disco party accompanied with an orchestra! under the supreme control of microphone controller Sergei Minaev - showman, parodist, arranger. In the 80-90s, he translated into Russian and popularized among the public a lot of Eurodance hits, which his audience (which became grown-up since then) appreciated a lot and still keeps in their hearts. Of course, for a non-Russian audience there is no point in listening to this stuff being masterly translated into Russian, for them there is no special value added, I have no illusions about it. Still a big, iconic name, and a masterly performance charged with a lot of parody.

Depeche Mode name is well-known all over the world, but not everyone is in the know the band was actually founded by Vince Clark, who left it immediately after DM big success, being afraid DM becoming a mainstream. After that this talented musician created other projects, one of them was Erasure - and I proudly declare that I became acquainted with their music already in 1990. Erasure is all about synth-pop and easy dance music.

A few words about this certain composition. I stumbled upon it by chance in a very indirect way way: a few years ago I came across this promotional photo at Steve Double's website - and ventured in some research about the project ... which I was totally unaware of. It turned up to became my fave! I liked all the ingredients that came together here: cross-processing, Steve Double's photography, Erasure's visual style and role playing, and of course ABBA's music too (are there anyone who will remain indifferent to it?)

So, this track is a cover version of the famous ABBA song. It was recorded specifically for 'Abba-esque' EP; it got Erasure to Number 1 in UK charts in June 1992 but more to it, it also spearheaded the Renaissance of Abba in a very sufficient way. Just watch this video and no arguments needed, it is damn convincing, haha! Soon after this ABBA Gold LP was released ... and the rest is history as they say.

Sad thing Erasure don’t get a proper credit for this they deserve. No questions, it is the best Abba cover ever, and Vince is the God of Synth-Pop. This song, performed by Erasure, brings me an ocean of emotions, laughter and great mood. I've seen it like million times and still never get bored of it. Let me share this treasure with you!