Synthpop Confessions

Oh. And I've had 3 vivid wet dreams about him to date. 2 were him in the Berserker era and 1 was his current Intruder era...

I first heard “The No #1 in Heaven” album at a shopping mall in Akron-Ohio in June of 1979.I was a short, chubby 13-year-old with glasses, acne and an ugly, bowl haircut. I was spending the summer with my Grandmother, and I was one month away from my 14th birthday. We were at the local shopping mall on a weekday, and I wandered into Camelot records as this album was playing.

The “No #1 In Heaven” album had just come out, and they were playing side two on the store stereo system. I walked into the store during “Beat The Clock.” Electronic synth music was still very rare in that era of drums, pianos and guitars. I was the only customer in the store, not including the two employees behind the front counter. I remember wondering who I was listening to while at the same time thinking: “this sounds a lot like Giorgio Moroder,”

And then the next song started. The backwards cymbal beat fading in from the speakers in the ceiling over my head, gradually dissolving into a mist of reverb and special effects. The complex, angelic vocals gradually fading in along with the rest of the instruments. Followed by a disembodied electronic voice chanting: “Listen to My Other Voice…”

I walked to the back of the store and found the record playing on a turntable, and I picked up the LP cover lying next to it on the counter. Sparks. No #1 In Heaven. Produced by Giorgio Moroder. I bought the album one month later for my 14th birthday, and I spent the rest of the summer listening to it on my headphones.