Scottish act Aneka tops the charts with “Japanese Boy” in 1981

A major hit across Europe, “Japanese Boy” by Aneka failed to chart in Japan because the songwriters ignored a very important detail

Electronic music genius Jean-Michel Jarre turns 76

A pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age music, the French composer and musician Jean-Michel Jarre has been breaking world records since the 1970’s

Rod Stewart gets his last UK No.1 in 1983 with “Baby Jane”

During the 1980’s, Stewart left behind his Blues and Rock roots in favor of modern synth pop music, his most successful single was “Baby Jane”, released in 1983

Duran Duran founding member and keyboardist Nick Rhodes turns 62 today

Nick Rhodes founded Duran Duran in 1978 and together with John Taylor has been the only constant member on it

Tears For Fears score their first U.S No.1 in 1985 with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”

The No.1 hit remains one of the most popular from the 1980’s, it was a success worldwide when it was first released and together with “Shout” it’s one of Tears For Fears signature songs

Remembering the pioneer of electronic music Robert Moog

The Moog synthesizer gained widespread acclaim in the late 1960s and 1970s, thanks in part to its use by pioneering musicians and bands

Falco gets his first and only No.1 in the U.K with “Rock Me Amadeus” in 1986

“Rock Me Amadeus” it’s one of the most iconic songs of the 1980’s, it was a one of a kind success for Austrian singer Falco and reached No.1 on the hard English and American markets

Starship tops the charts worldwide in 1987 with the “Mannequin” theme “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”

By the 1980’s, several once popular artists from the 1960’s had either vanished, died or simply lost their popularity for good, but that wasn’t the case for Grace Slick who got another No.1 in 1987 with “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”

New Romantic band Spandau Ballet scores their biggest hit worldwide with “True” in 1983

“True” remains Spandau Ballet’s biggest hit and their only major hit in the U.S., reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the autumn of 1983

Duran Duran scores another No.1 in 1984 with “The Reflex”

Released as the third single of their 1984 album “Seven And The Ragged Tiger”, “The Reflex” peaked to No.1 on May 5 and gave Duran Duran their biggest international hit

The 1981 reissued electronic classic “The Model” by Kraftwerk peaks to No.1 on this day in 1982

Originally released as “Das Model” in 1978, the English version of this Kraftwerk classic was reissued in 1981 and climbed to No.1 in 1982 on the UK charts

Pet Shop Boys version of “Always On My Mind” was No.1 on this day in 1987

The surprising synth-pop version of the Country music classic “Always On My Mind”, popularized by Elvis Presley, gave Pet Shop Boys a worldwide hit, they peaked to No.1 on this day in 1987

“Take On Me” by A-ha reaches No.1 on U.S Hot 100 in 1985

It took two versions and three releases for the Norwegian band to deliver one of the most memorable 80’s hits, “Take On Me”, the success of the song was largely helped by the now iconic and innovative music video

Gary Numan’s Synth Classic “Cars” goes No.1 in 1979

The Synth Rock classic “Cars”reached the top of the charts in several countries, and today is regarded as a new wave staple in music history

Andy Fletcher 1961-2022. Remembering the Depeche Mode co-founder and keyboardist

As a co-founder and member of one of the world’s most popular and influential bands, Depeche Mode, Andy Fletcher’s career was filled with countless hit songs including “Just Can’t Enough”, “Strangelove”, “Enjoy The Silence”, “Personal Jesus”, “Dream On”, “Master and Servant” and “Everything Counts”. Fletcher died from natural causes at his home on 26 May 2022, aged 60. We look back at his career.