Electro wave: John Foxx – Mr. No
Everybody knows Kraftwerk as the Godfathers of electro funk. We all know the impact they had on early electro funk and old school rap in the 80s. But they weren’t the only ones producing electro before the world was blown away by Afrika Bambaataa‘s Planet Rock in 1982.
While maybe not as well known or commercially successful as Kraftwerk, new wave artist John Foxx is another highly influential pioneer of the electro sound. He may be better known to some for singing with earlier new wave band Ultravox! but John Foxx also came out with some pure electro heat! While most of his tracks of the time were more on the vocal heavy new wave tip, this track; Mr. No, released on the double 7″ No One Driving in 1980 (and later on the bonus disc of special re-released versions of his 1980 album Metamatic) is a killer early electro jam.
With a sound years ahead of it’s time, Mr. No is an obscure synth-pop track with a popping electro rhythm courtesy of early electro funk machine the Roland CR-78. With it’s deep strings and haunting but romantic synthesizer melodies, some people might consider it a bit too dark for the dancefloor, but you know what? Fuck ‘em.
It is a seldom acknowledged truth that John Foxx Ultravox is far superior to Midge Ure Ultravoxx.