(4.00 out of 5)
Celebrating one of the most influential pieces of electronic music making equipment ever, here is a varied and eclectic mix of songs, all featuring the Fairlight CMI. Sadly, certain prolific CMI users aren’t featured in Spotify yet, but this collection represents this instrument’s unquestionable impact on music. Some of the tracks will be instantly familiar, some not so, others will surprise you that they contain this instrument within their midst. Enjoy, and don’t forget to rate and leave your comments.
Playlist:
Jan Hammer – Miami Vice Theme
Peter Gabriel – San Jacinto
Tears For Fears – Mothers Talk - Beat Of The Drum Mix
Duran Duran – A View to a Kill
Jean Michel Jarre – Zoolokologie
Thomas Dolby – Hyperactive!
Yes – Owner of a Lonely Heart (extended remix)
Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Urban Mix
Love Art – Moments In Love
Tears For Fears – Shout - U.S. Remix
Jane Child – Don’t Wanna Fall in Love
Pet Shop Boys – Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money) (Original 12” Mix)
Jan Hammer – Crockett’s Theme
Arcadia – Election Day
Howard Jones – Things Can Only Get Better
Yes – Leave It
Scritti Politti – Perfect Way (Version) (Extended Mix)
Propaganda - Duel (Bittersweet)
Yello – Oh Yeah
Thomas Dolby – She Blinded Me With Science (extended version)
Mike Oldfield – Foreign Affair
Art of Noise – Paranoimia
Arcadia – El Diablo
Steve Winwood – Higher Love
Darren Hayes – On the Verge of Something Wonderful
Yes – Owner of a Lonely Heart
ABC – How to Be a Millionaire
Arcadia – Keep Me in the Dark
Daniel Balavoine – Tous Les Cris Les S.O.S.
Kate Bush – Babooshka
Duran Duran – The Reflex
Fleetwood Mac – Little Lies
George Michael – Careless Whisper
Coldplay – Viva la Vida
Arcadia – Rose Arcana
Godley & Creme – Cry
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Nik Kershaw – Radio Musicola
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Crush
Prefab Sprout – Appetite
Arcadia – The Flame
Public Image Limited – Rise
Robbie Nevil – C’est La Vie
U2 – The Unforgettable Fire
Wang Chung – Let’s Go
Yello – Angel No
Propaganda - Dr. Mabuse
ZZ Top – Sleeping Bag - Remastered LP Version
Thomas Leer – Heartbeat
Alain Souchon – Ballade de Jim
Arcadia – The Promise
John Farnham – A Touch Of Paradise
Corey Hart – Boy in the Box
The Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky
Duran Duran – Tiger Tiger
Malcolm McLaren – Duck for the Oyster
Freeez – I.O.U. (12″ Version)
Étienne Daho – Tombé pour la France (version maximum)
Fiorella Mannoia – Canzone Leggerissima
Kids In The Kitchen – Cynical
Matia Bazar – Dieci Piccoli Indiani
Nik Kershaw – Running Scared
Thomas Dolby – Cruel
Prefab Sprout – Bonny
Kate Bush – Egypt
Scritti Politti – Absolute (Version)
Tangerine Dream – Dolls in the Shadow
Tasmin Archer – Lords of the New Church
Malcolm McLaren – Obatala
The Blue Nile – The Downtown Lights
Thomas Leer – International (Global mix)
The Cars – Heartbeat City
Propaganda - Laughed!
Matia Bazar – Fiumi Di Parole
Thomas Dolby – Screen Kiss
Wally Badarou – Canyons
Heaven 17 – Sunset Now (12” Extended Version)
Whodini – Funky Beat
Nik Kershaw – Cowboys and Indians
Tasmin Archer – Arienne
Yello – The Race
The Alan Parsons Project – Sirius
Kate Bush – Army Dreamers
Jean Michel Jarre – Magnetic Fields, Part 1
Heaven 17 – Let Me Go (extended mix)
John Farnham – You’re The Voice
Wally Badarou – Endless Race
Afrika Bambaataa – Planet Rock
Malcolm McLaren – Buffalo Gals
Depeche Mode – Leave In Silence
Yello – Tied Up
Yazoo – Softly Over
Duran Duran – The Seventh Stranger
Herbie Hancock – Rockit
Heaven 17 – Come Live With Me (12″ version)
a-ha – The Sun Always Shines on T.V.
Darren Hayes – A Fear of Falling Under
Thomas Dolby – One of Our Submarines (extended version)
Thomas Leer – Chasing the Dragon
Sony PS3 winner announced, congratulations Alex Powell | Share Spotify Playlists at ShareMyPlaylists.com said:
[...] at Spotify also wanted to quickly mention another list that impressed them. The list featuring the Fairlight CMI was really nice, shows that Failed Muso really knows their [...]
May 13th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Failed Muso said:
Kind words indeed :o)
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
TW said:
not sure there’s any fairlight in “Leave in Silence” - great song though.
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Failed Muso said:
I know for a fact there was :o)
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
bigfunk said:
No Thomas Leer? Shocking. He was an early adopter among only a handful of uk artists to have one around the time. Check out The Scale of Ten from 1984 on Spotify.
June 15th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Failed Muso said:
Oops, FAIL on my part! :o) Indeed, I was aware of Thomas, just completely slipped my mind. I shall add a few tracks. Just a shame that Act aren’t on Spotify yet, just like other seminal ZTT artists, most of whom were prolific Fairlight users :o)
June 15th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
bad dancer said:
excellent stuff.
brings back so many memories & gives me much inspiration.
ignore the spotigeeks: it doesn’t have to be definitive and all-inclusive to be interesting, educational & enjoyable.
funny how this stuff sounded so dated a year or 2 back & now it’s so NOW.
whodathunkit?
nice work.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Failed Muso said:
Thanks for the kind words, Bad Dancer!
Spotigeeks!! Great word :o)
Yes, the Fairlight, and the music it made and inspired, is certainly enjoying a mini revival, although the influence and sound of it has never really gone away. There’s a fairly active Fairlight community on the net and with bands like Coldplay using it extensively on albums like Viva La Vida, it just shows the quite unique and hugely sought after character of it’s sound is still much in demand.
Peter Vogel, one half of the duo that founded Fairlight and invented the CMI has recently gone on record saying that he is considering creating a new Fairlight that can faithfully recreate the sound and features of the originals, using Fairlight’s current technology….
http://failedmuso.blogspot.com/2008/11/fairlight-cmi-iv.html
But thanks again for listening and check out and rate my other playlists too :o)
June 16th, 2009 at 9:25 am
kristien bell said:
The Fairlight has long been a dream machine ever since i first saw one on UK based-science programme ‘Tomorrows world’ in 1980, although at the time i was only 7 years old and couldn’t afford a Fairlight CMI as my pocket money was £1 at the time that the Fairlight CMI came out. I’m 37 now and still lust after anything CMI, be it a Series 1, 1X, 2, 2x or 3 and i know one day i WILL get that Fairlight in my very private bedroom studio so i can ditch the crappy home keyboards i have right now and just use the fairlight for composing music on - that’s my aim, that’s my dream and that’s something that WILL happen, believe me.
Some people such as the musicians unions winged and moaned about the Fairlight as they did when the Chamberlain and Mellotron were released, but at the end of the day, they were wrong in saying that these machines would put ‘Real musicians’ out of business, and as an added point, i think people that played the instrument were getting the realistic sounds (on the series 3) of Strings, Choirs and stuff without the premadonna attitudes of some classical musicians / conductors.
The Fairlight was the REAL start of proper sampling as the Mellotron was just a tape based machine that, unless u had custom tape banks built (like Klaus Schulze and Tangerine dream did) then you were limited to the mellotron archive sound banks, whereas on the Fairlight ANY Sound could be used, and i think my own personal favourites that used the fairlight CMI are Peter Gabriel, Pet Shop Boys, Vince Clarke of Yazzoo / Erasure fame, who used a Series IIX CMI On Yazzo’s hit ‘The other side of love’ on Top of the pops. I could name loads of my favourites but they all used the fairlight in some capacity. Even some real prog-rockkers used the Fairlight: Kieth Emmerson used one, Pink Floyd used one or more, Rick Wakeman used a Fairlight at one point as well as, famously, Art of Noise who’s sound owed a debt to Kim Ryrie / Peter Vogels invention. Some of us are diehard fans of the CMI Fairlight systems and i know for one that i am one of the many who love the machine, and i am sure on here a lot of you feel the same
August 14th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Failed Muso said:
Hear Hear Kristien!
I’m sure you have seen this….
http://www.fairlightinstruments.com/
The Fairlight CMI 30A
Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Model :o)
August 15th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
RichardM said:
Excellent, thanks! Spotify needs more Tony Mansfield productions for your addition!
September 28th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Neil said:
Don’t forget Propaganda’s A Secret Wish, another slick recording from ZTT. Fairlight, Synclavier and PPG all over that album. Favourite Fairlight moment for me is Nick Rhodes in the Duran Duran ‘Something I should Know’ live video doodling on stage on the Fairlight screen, pouting begins at 3:00 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2V-GcA10nE
January 3rd, 2010 at 5:58 am
Failed Muso said:
When I compiled this list, Propaganda hadn’t been added to the Spotify roster, but as soon as they had, they were added to it so should show up now if you download the list again :o)
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:04 pm