Top 5 Must Listen Electronic Music Artists Of The 70’s

By: Melissa Russell

Electronic music artists from the 70’s are a completely different species from today’s genre. Many of them had to create their own musical instruments, in order to make noises that no one had ever heard before. It was a time where new technology took over and people were creating new sounds like never before. Here is a list of some of the most influential electronic music artists from the 1970’s.

1. Jean-Michel Jarre:

Jarre is best known for his live shows that feature grandiose laser displays, smoke effects and fireworks. He once set a world record for the largest concert audience with 3.5 million people in attendance at a show in Moscow in 1997. He has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide and holds six Guinness World Records for crowd sizes at his concerts and he was even honored as an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture in 1995. He has been playing concerts since the early days of electronic music and still tours today.

2. Isao Tomita:

Tomita was a Japanese composer, considered to be one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music

In the 1970s, electronic music was becoming a huge part of the music industry. A lot of subgenres were created and are still popular today. Here are some of the top 5 must listen electronic music artists from the 70s.

1. Klaus Schulze

Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer who was born in 1947. He is also an ambient and contemporary classical composer and was one of the first musicians to use synthesizers in his compositions. His albums include Cyborg, X, Timewind, Dune, Blackdance and many more.

2. Vangelis

Vangelis is a Greek composer born in 1943. His music has been featured in many films such as Chariots of Fire (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Antarctica (1983) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992).

With the 60’s came a whole new genre of music, rock and roll. From rock and roll, also came funk and soul. From funk and soul, came disco. And from disco, came electronic music.

Electronic music has been around for nearly a century, but it wasn’t until the 70’s that it began to take shape as an actual genre. With the help of synthesizers and other electronics, artists like Kraftwerk were able to create sounds that had never before been heard.

In this article we will be looking at some of the best electronic music artists of the 70’s, who helped pave the way for today’s electronic producers.

Kraftwerk

If you are familiar with electronic music, then you are already familiar with Kraftwerk. This German group was formed in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They were one of the first groups to make heavy use of synthesizers in their music, which would go on to influence many more artists in the years to come. In fact, many people consider them to be the pioneers of modern electronic music.

Tangerine Dream

Another great German band is Tangerine Dream, which was founded by Edgar

The 70’s saw major developments in the electronic music scene. The decade brought us some of the most influential and innovative sounds that still inspire the present day. In this blog, we will explore five of these pioneers: Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Giorgio Moroder, Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream.

Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk were a German electronic band from Düsseldorf who were formed in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They are credited as being among the first successful acts to popularise electronic music, and are often seen as innovators and pioneers of the genre.

Their 1974 album Autobahn was a top 20 hit across Europe, and is widely regarded as one of the most important records of all time. Tracks such as ‘Autobahn’ and ‘Trans-Europe Express’ have become dancefloor classics over the years gaining much praise from many DJs around the world.

Having created a blueprint for electronic pop, Kraftwerk’s influence can be heard in many modern artists such as Daft Punk, Moby, Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx and more recently Caribou and Four Tet.

The 70s was a pivotal time in the history of electronic music. The 70s saw the introduction of the first home synthesizers, the first use of sequencers and drum machines and also saw a huge push for new technologies in electronic music.

The synthesisers that were invented back then are still used today in almost every electronic song. I’m not gonna go into too much detail about these pieces of equipment, but I’ll just mention one or two bits about them.

The first ever commercially available home synthesizer was invented by Robert Moog and was called the Minimoog. This was released in 1970 and is still used today by artists such as Herbie Hancock who was an early adopter of this technology. The Minimoog has 3 oscillators and can produce any sound you like, from a bass synth to an arpeggio to an organ sound (hence why it is often called “the organ for people who don’t play organ”). It also has 2 LFOs which are used to create effects on your sounds, such as flanger and phaser effects.

The 70’s were a time of great musical innovation. There was the rise of glam rock and disco, but there was also the birth of electronic music. Artists like Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre were experimenting with synthesizers to create music that has never been heard before. This new genre of music was called electronic because it was made almost exclusively with electronic instruments, like synthesizers and drum machines.

They created this new kind of music because they wanted to do something different from the rock bands at the time. They wanted to create a sound that mirrored their futuristic vision of society, which can be heard in their albums “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk and “Oxygene” by Jarre. In these albums, they used synthesizers to create sounds that sounded like cars driving down an endless highway or oxygen being pumped into space. The music is very repetitive, which gives it an otherworldly feel; you can listen to it for hours without getting bored!

These two artists are considered pioneers of electronic music today because they paved the way for future generations with their experimental style. They were joined by many other great electronic artists from around Europe who also experimented with different sounds on synthesizers like Vangelis (Greece