Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983

Listening to the Music the Machines Make tells the revolutionary story of electronic pop from 1978 to 1983, a truly golden age for British music. This definitive account explores how krautrock, disco, glam rock, and punk inspired a new generation to discard the rulebook and venture into a fresh frontier of electronic music – one that laid the foundations for hip-hop, house, techno, and beyond.

Featuring an extensive collection of archive images, Richard Evans's kaleidoscopic narrative draws on years of research, a wealth of archive press materials, and input from key figures. These include Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure), Martyn Ware (The Human League, B.E.F., Heaven 17), and Daniel Miller (The Normal, Mute Records).

From the gritty and experimental to the camp and theatrical, this book charts the careers and impact of electronic pop's earliest innovators and luminaries, from Devo, The Normal, Telex, and Cabaret Voltaire to Soft Cell, Gary Numan, OMD, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode.