Professor Eddy

Unsplash Enjoy music mostly from and otherwise inspired by the 1980s! The majority of the tracks can be categorized as “sophisti-pop”. Many popular artists of the genre incorporated sweet pop-soul into their sound, which made it fit smooth jazz radio formats. The synthesized sound of sophisti-pop made it a typical product of the 1980s and by the beginning of the next decade, it had largely faded out, leaving us with quite a few really enjoyable songs. Electro pop band The Human League were very successful during the first part of the 1980s, but they seemed to have taken a dead end street in the mid-eighties. To get a fresh sound the record company hired R&B producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis who had just finished Janet Jackson’s album Control . The collaboration did not go well, because Jam & Lewis mainly used their own musicians and replaced vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley in favour of their studio singer Lisa Keith. The album Crash was based on two ideas t...

The other day I saw a documentary about Steve Strange, the frontman of eighties electro band Visage. He owned several extravagant clubs in London during the 1980s, most notably The Blitz. A night at one his clubs must have sounded something like this cloudcast. Enjoy eighties inspired synth-pop and club wave for subscribers only! 😊   I drew some inspiration from Musik Music Musique 2.0 (out now). This compilation album concentrates on 1981, the year synth pop broke into the mainstream: "From chart bothering, High Street nightclub anthems to self-pressed one-offs and cassette releases, this set provides an overview of the scene as it blossomed and an introduction to a wealth of fascinating, lesser known material." This Friday Metamatic Records will release two gatefold and limited edition versions of John Foxx’s classic 1981 album The Garden to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Europe After The Rain is one of the tracks. Last Friday electro pop duo Mothermary released thei...

Unsplash To celebrate my 600th cloudcast on Mixcloud and the beginning of summer, I made this sunny sophisti-pop mix. Enjoy! Many popular sophisti-pop artists incorporated sweet pop-soul into their songs, which made them perfect material to play on pop as well on smooth jazz radio stations. Especially the typical eighties synthesizer sound made sophisti-pop a product of its time and by the beginning of the next decade, it had largely faded away, leaving us with quite a few really enjoyable tracks. Well-known names in this sub-genre are (apart from the ones that I selected) Black, Simply Red, Sade, The Style Council, Swing Out Sister, Prefab Sprout, and Everything but the Girl. Tracklist: Bodyline – Tender (2020) Scritti Politti Feat. Miles Davis – Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry For Loverboy) (1988) DeBarge ‎– I Like It (1982) Jerry Corbetta – Caribbean Lady (1978) Nohelani Cypriano – Island Boy (1979) Matt Bianco ‎– More Than I Can Bear (1984) Priscilla – Juste Un ...

I’m a huge fan of disco music, but what kind of disco do you play when your life seems to go downhill? Most of the dance songs are about having fun, feeling good and making love. That's why I put together some dark (post) disco tracks, personal favourites and a few brand new tracks that will surely make you feel good, even when you're feeling as lucky as Kylie Minogue ;-) Don't worry about the lyrics, the songs have rays of hope as well, because of the uplifting beats and empathic words. The music makes you dance the heartache away, or something like that... The woman on the left is the multi-talented Ronika , who just released her great debut album 'Selectadisc: “She heavily mines eighties freestyle, disco-boogie and pop (and rocks a look that combines glam and dishevelment in a perfect balance evoking early, new wave Madonna), but there’s an immediacy and force of personality to her songwriting – and a club-honed directness to her production – that blows all that...

Picture: Joanne Catherall (Human League) In 1986 traditional disco and soul had turned into mainstream pop music. For instance, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson sang pop songs rather than R&B songs. Old school soul and disco did not exist anymore. House and hip hop took over in clubs, but not in the charts yet. The most successful R&B/pop producers were Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They wrote and produced not only hit songs for Janet Jackson, but for The SOS Band and The Human League as well. They were the forerunners of what later would become swingbeat (or new jack swing) and modern R&B. "First Circle were among the one-album wonders of '80s R&B; 1987's Boys' Night Out was their first album as well as their last. But had it not been for an unavoidable name change, it's quite possible that First Circle would have become much better known."  (Quote: Allmusic.com ) Enjoy this new episode of Eddy's 80s Grooves ! Tracklist: The Controller...

Look at all these rumours (to quote Timex Social Club) that have been circulating on the internet that Montreal duo Footprintz have gone their separate ways. If these are to be believed (and they certainly seem to be true), their debut album ‘Escape yourself’ could also be their swansong. If it is, then it's a fine way to go out. Assisted on production duties by the ever-reliable Ewan Pearson, the Canadian pair has delivered a tactile, touchy-feely collection of dream-pop (think Holy Ghost or Benoit & Sergio combined with eighties shoegaze). Woozy, warm and inviting, it should appeal to those who enjoy the early electro sound of bands like The Human League , Soft Cell and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The latter, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, released a nice new album as well, called ‘ Metroland ’). There will be a new double album from Miss Kittin, ' Calling from the stars ', on April 22. She's mostly known for her work with Felix da Housecat. Enjoy th...

Ever since the 1980s I love to hear electro music and especially electro or synth funk. Kraftwerk started the revolution in the 1970s and bands like the Human League went on with the electro sound in the early 1980s. Then it started to infect soul and disco music as well, as you can hear in this mix. I included the Club Clique For The Bad Girls Remix of ‘Video games’ from the wonderful Lana Del Rey too. It fits perfectly as the first track. If you want to hear some more old school electro, check out ‘ Elektro Diskow ’, a cool new compilation album from Mixmag Magazine. Enjoy! Picture below from FreeFoto.com Look out for part 5 of Groovy, sexy & soulful next week! Playlist: Lana Del Rey – Video Games [Club Clique For The Bad Girls Remix] (2011) Dimitri From Paris & DJ Rocca Present Erodiscotique – Downtown (2011) Roy Ayers – And Then We Were One (1983) Rashaan Patterson – If (2004) Wendy & Lisa – Are You My Baby? (1989) Beverley Knight – Mama Used To Sa...