Famous hit songs of the 1980s that were made with only a multitrack recorder, a drum machine and a keyboard.

"Theme From S-Express" by S-Express was apparently the cheapest UK #1 to make for ages. I guess they used more than one keyboard though.

- and a microphone

There couldn't be much more than that going on in White Horse could there?

Not hits really, but sorta famous: "Private Plane" by Thomas Leer and The Normal 7".

made for only 900$$ with only a drum machine, a fairlight keyboard and a multi-track
fairlights went for over $50K back then

u cd rent?

but a fairlight isn't exactly a "keyboard".

"Only You" by Yazoo [they were called Yaz in the US] - Sequential Circuits Pro One was the keyboard, it was used for the drum sounds as well.

Trio, "Da Da Da"?

Timmy-T, "One More Try"?

Wait, wasn't there some guitar in "Da Da Da"?

Just heard this on the radio, and yes.

I meant that Africa Bambatta had USE of a fairlight for only 900$

Not to derail the thread, but I'm kinda more interested in songs that just sound like they were made with only a multitrack recorder, a drum machine and a keyboard, whatever other wizardry is in play. "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" pretty much nails the vibe that this thread makes me think of, even though in reality there's a sax part and probably more. Similarly, I'm completely unable to determine whether "Gimme Hope Johanna" by Eddy Grant is using "real" instruments - I could imagine the whole thing being a layered, happy symphony of Yamaha sounds.

(This probably has a lot to do with keyboard manufacturers tapping into the sounds of the 80s than vice versa...)

Oh, and "Norman Bates" by Landscape (#40 in the UK).

Beat Dis by Bomb The Bass

and O Superman wins by doing it without the drum machine.

Possibly "Sad Songs" by Elton John?

and O Superman wins by doing it without the drum machine.

-- Jack Battery-Pack, Sunday, February 10, 2008 6:11 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

not a song though.

"Why can't we live together?"

What is O Superman if it isn't a song?

"O Superman" is a song because it is sung

everything on this one:

http://www.discogs.com/release/1948

Not really sure off hand what all their raw materials were, but how do Lipps Inc. and Nu Shooz fit into this?

Nu Shooz was done ghetto style (at least "I Can't Wait" was, though the most famous keyboard melody was added later by someone doing a remix for the major label release) iirc from something i read about it, Lipps Inc seems much more high budget since it has a band on most of the stuff i can think of as well as the synths and shit.

Lipps Inc were a regular band. And the strings on "Funkytown" are real, not keyboards.

What about "Set It Off" by Strafe?

Or, if "Planet Rock" fits the bill, what about any of the other early electro-rap hits (Fearless Four, Jonzun Crew, Planet Patrol, Newcleus), or even really early Latin freestyle hits (like, say, Debbie Deb)? (These could all be way off; I've never really paid that much attention to how they were made. Just some random ideas off the top of my head.)

Or "Flash To The Beat" by Granmaster Flash?

Juan Atkins' earliest stuff was done with a synth and cassette decks for overdubs, not even a multitrack.

I was wondering about the Cybotron stuff, too...

Or, if "Planet Rock" fits the bill, what about any of the other early electro-rap hits (Fearless Four, Jonzun Crew, Planet Patrol, Newcleus)

Planet Patrol used "real" bass guitars and percussion, I think, plus some of their tunes have electric guitar. My copy of Jonzun Crew's Lost in Space lists instruments like "space bass", "electro drums", and "syncussion". Those are quite vague terms though, but if Michael Jonzun did everything with keyboards and drum machines, why would he have needed those three other guys?

As for, "Planet Rock", doesn't it also use some sort of voice filter (dunno if it's a vocoder) in the "rock rock to the planet rock" bit?

Newcleus is definitely what came to my mind. Or maybe some early(=good) Human League.