The Golden Age of Synths, as told by OMD

Ongoing History of New Music

Curiouscast

Music History, History, Music, Music Interviews, Music Commentary

4.8 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we dive into the Golden Age of Synthesizers, the period from the mid‑’70s to the mid‑’80s when synths became smaller, cheaper, and powerful enough to transform popular music forever. From early experimental machines that filled entire rooms, to the groundbreaking work of innovators like Bob Moog and Don Buchla, we trace how synthesizers moved from academic curiosity to pop‑culture force. Along the way, we hear key moments from artists who helped define the era: Wendy Carlos, Hot Butter, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, MGMT, and more. We explore how techno‑pop emerged alongside punk’s DIY spirit. Our guides through this electronic frontier are Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who were right at the center of the movement. They share insights into the gear, the sounds, and the creative mindset that shaped a generation of music, and still echoes through today’s electronic and alternative scenes. From Autobahn to Electricity, from Mellotrons to MIDI, this is the story of how machines rewired music, and how the studio itself became an instrument. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing
0:04.3	history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.
0:10.0	There have been many times of the last 100 years where technology has changed the way we make
0:15.0	music. Take the microphone, for example. Before it came along, singers had to be naturally louder
0:20.6	than the orchestra behind them.
0:22.7	They needed to have a voice that could reach the back rows of the theater. But when the
0:27.5	microphone came along, certain singers like Bing Crosby realized that you could use it to create a whole new
0:34.2	mood for singing by getting up close and personal. Kind of like this. Amplification
0:40.8	was another game changer. At one point, you needed a dozen or so people in a band just to fill
0:46.4	the room with music. With amps, you needed fewer people to make as much noise. Magnetic tape and
0:53.2	multi-track recording made it possible to create entirely new soundscapes,
0:57.0	the kind that you could never get in the real world.
1:00.3	The studio became an instrument for all these new sonic frontiers.
1:05.0	And then we had developments like the electric guitar,
1:07.7	and I don't think I need to tell you how much that changed everything.
1:10.8	This is how things
1:11.8	were for the late 50s, through the 60s, and into the 1970s. Amps and mics and electric guitars and
1:18.1	multi-track recording gear. Those were the tools for making modern music. But then there was another
1:24.5	change that started to be really felt in the mid-70s.
1:27.9	A new era featuring electronic machines that made sounds that had never been imagined anywhere in the universe.
1:35.5	So many new possibilities opened up during an era that became known as the golden age of synthesizers.
1:42.9	Everything changed and changed fast.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Curiouscast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Curiouscast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.