'80s Synthpop at Its Best

'80s Synthpop at Its Best: New Wave music in the 1980s can be characterized as a synth-revolution. Although synthesizers had been around since the late 19th century, it was not until the 1970s that they became compact enough to be used on a wide scale. These new synthesizers could synchronize with other electronic instruments and even tap into the developing world of computer software. For the most part, New Wave music originated from the British punk scene in the late 1970s. Bands like New Order and Soft Cell came to define the New Wave genre in the early 1980s. But by the mid-1980s, New Wave music had spawned a sub-genre called "synthpop." With its central focus on the synthesizer, synthpop first gained notoriety in underground music circles. In fact, New Order and Soft Cell scored their biggest hits, "Blue Monday" and "Tainted Love" (which was actually a cover) with a synthesizer at the center of each song. Synthpop, fortunately, continues to evolve even in today's watered-down pop scene, as bands like Ladytron and Justice are still pushing the sub-genre forward.