Smooth Sailing: Retro Wave, Soft Rock & Electro Pop

Duran Duran

We set sail for probably our last boat trip this summer. Enjoy!

Retro Wave (or synthwave) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominately on the music associated with action, science-fiction, and horror film soundtracks of the 1980s:

“The genre developed in the mid-2000s through French house producers, as well as younger artists who were inspired by the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It reached wider popularity after being featured in the soundtracks of the 2011 film Drive (which included some of the genre's best-known songs) and the 2010s Netflix series Stranger Things."

(Wikipedia)

To remix Hopium was part of a contest a few years back. The one I chose to play on this cloudcast was the first one I made. The second remix is on my Soundcloud page. I didn’t win anything, by the way… 😉

Mr. Mister

Nowadays known as a yacht rock phenomenon, the band Pages was disbanded after their third self-titled album in 1981, due to disappointing record sales. Main members Richard Page and Steve George returned to their session work. The idea for a new pop/rock band, Mr. Mister, came together while the duo was on tour with Andy Gibb. Although Page had turned down offers to join Toto and Chicago, Mr. Mister wasn’t an instant success. His faith finally paid off with the release of Broken Wings, the first single from their second album in 1985. The song was over 5 minutes, but the band didn’t want a shorter version to be released. So to get played on the radio, the record company changed the length of the song on the 7” single into a fictional 4:29 minutes, which worked, because it was picked up by several radio stations. Broken Wings, supported by a wonderful video, became a worldwide hit and is still a classic today.

Next up is part 5 of Songs In Soft Focus.

Tracklist:

Don Dellpiero Feat. Badison – Never Ending Summer (2020)
Hopium Feat. Phoebe Lou – Dreamers [Professor Eddy’s Extended Vocal Edit] (2014)
ABC Dialect – Magic (2019)
Brett – Lovers [Gangplans Zouma Beach Remix] (2016)
Washed Out – Hide (2020)
Poom – Adagio (2017)
Big Wild – Touch [Poolside Remix] (2020)
Blanks – Favorite Nightmare (2020)
Work Drugs – Prime (2020)
Night Traveler – I Still Love You (2020)
Mr. Mister – Broken Wings (1985)
Duran Duran – Rio (1982)
Daryl Hall & John Oates ‎– Say It Isn't So (1983)
Yehan Jehan – Swallow The Horizon (2017)
At 1980 (Feat. Josh Dally & Timecop 1983) – In The Air (2020)
Tuxedo – U Like It (2017)
Parallels – Magic Hour (2019)
Ice Choir – Unprepared (2016)
Jessie Ware – Spotlight (2020)