It's The Synthesizer Showdown Ala 1985 Grammys You Didn't Know You Needed Today! The Trophy Recognition For The Greatest 80s Thing Ever Feat Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby & Howard Jones.

It's The Synthesizer Showdown Ala 1985 Grammys You Didn't Know You Needed Today! The Trophy Recognition For The Greatest 80s Thing Ever Feat Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby & Howard Jones.

"37 years ago, the Grammys decided to throw in their entry for the award for The Most Fucking 80s Thing Ever when they brought together Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby (looking like an electrocuted Beethoven), and Howard Jones for a synthesizer showdown that was fuckery wrapped in awesomeness. The entire performance is what it sounds like when the 80s lets out a long synthesized orgasm.

The synthesizer orgy at the 1985 Grammys was presented by host John Denver who introduced Stevie Wonder as the artiste who helped bring the synth sound to pop music, Herbie Hancock as the artiste who brought the synth sound to jazz, and Thomas Dolby and Howard Jones as the artistes “whose exciting use of electronic technology is helping to shape the music of the ‘80s.” The performance started with Siri’s robot-voiced dad commanding each performer to identify himself. After that, they all delivered a synthesizer medley that included Rockit, She Blinded Me With Science, What Is Love?, Go Home, and more. It ended with a UFO-like light fixture lowering as Thomas Dolby took on the role of a mad maestro and conducted them during a patriotic medley. The full performance, including John Denver’s intro, is on YouTube, but here’s most of the synthesized fuckery extravaganza:

A couple of years ago, Howard Jones talked about the performance with Yahoo! and said that it came together because the Grammys wanted to showcase the NEW sound of electronic instruments:

Well, I think the Grammys really wanted to mark the arrival of electronic instruments and sort of give it, I don’t know, a bit of credibility. And they wanted to use great legends, like obviously Stevie Wonder, and some new voices as well, like me and Thomas Dolby. It was a kind of celebration of keyboard players using new technology and making great music with it. I think it was a great move, and I think it really did mark a sort of turning point for electronic music.

The most shocking part of that performance and clip is at the very, very end when the audience sits there clapping. Emphasis on “SITS” because they should’ve given it a standing ovation! Nowadays a ho will give a standing ovation for anything and everything (see: tonight’s Grammys when hos will probably stand up for anything and everything), but this beautiful weirdness didn’t get one?! For shame, 1985 Grammys audience!" - Dlised.com