THIS IS THE WORLD OF SYNTHESIZER (Germany, 1989)
Vivo, imt 700.072/ 8006

Sometimes, the value of an item goes beyond its selling price! I have a perfect example of this phenomenon here today, a cassette that looks like something mildly ridiculous, which has its worth after all...

The cassette "This is The World of Synthesizer" looks like one of those archetypical 80s gas station releases: A compilation of cover versions by "unoriginal artists", one of those things that sort of had their heyday in the 70s and 80s, a quick buck for the producers, going for an impulse buy from someone who just wants something new to listen to in the car... Those cover version compilations would generally have country and western music, or chart pop like ABBA, but the novelty of the synthesizer invited lots of unknown musicians to record tapes like this, typically featuring film music, Vangelis, Jarre and the like... But in fact, this particular item is a re-issue of an album originally entitled "Danse Electronique", under the band name "Electro Phonique", from 1983, and on this album, the group record a handful of covers, mostly synth pop/ new wave songs, mostly done as instrumentals. 

And so what, you may ask? Well, it's interesting to me, because the people behind this album had many different musical projects, including a group called Poeme Electronique, who wrote their own songs, including some I find breath-takingly beautiful. There are two songs here that are not covers, they are written by D. Hewson and S. Abbott. The 1983 album had its own band name, though, so why this was later licenced as a more anonymous "hits" type cover version album... Well, someone offered someone a little money for it, probably. That was how they did it in the 80s!

The link to this blog, though, is that this cassette includes a cover version of The Model. Arguably Kraftwerk's most-covered hit, it will generally be treated with respect, even reverence, and most artists will keep the song structure and tempo and general mood, if you will... So also here, it's not done to radically alter the listeners perception of the original, but more likely so those who like the original will tolerate this cover.

The original Electro Phonique release was also available on cassette, but that version is so rare that Discogs doesn't list it. My later "World of" cassette is also a variant to those listed there, so maybe there are a lot of different editions... This has a 1-panel J-card, printed on both sides, and thankfully you get the song writing credits, so if you like a song you can shop for the original... The cassette is black with golden on-body print, and on mine, the print is a bit smudged.

I probably will not venture down the "anonymous cover version" route as a general rule, but I just couldn't resist this one!