Vintage synth guru David Baron on the first and last records he bought, and one he always returns to
FIRST
Joy Division
‘Closer’
(Factory, 1980)
“My dad was a recording engineer – he even had a reel-to-reel tape deck as part of his McIntosh system. It was super-cool. My parents loved classic rock music like The Beatles, Eagles, Queen, Allman Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon… I grew up around that sound. I think the first record I purchased was Joy Division’s ‘Closer’. They were long gone as a band by then, but that did not matter to me. ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ is still one of the best songs of all time, although it’s really depressing.”
LAST
Vince Clarke
‘The Lamentations Of Jeremiah’
(Mute, 2023)
“The last record I heard was a single by Vince Clarke called ‘The Lamentations Of Jeremiah’. My good friend Reed Hays wrote it with Vince and sent me a link to listen to. I have always been a Vince Clarke fan, but never expected him to wade into ambient/neoclassical territory. Vince has always struck me as being very economical with sounds and production. Nothing extra. Catchy melodies. This is a major departure in that it’s more about setting a dark mood.”
ALWAYS
Kraftwerk
‘Computer World
(Kling Klang, 1981)
“My favourite record of all time. For me, it’s the ‘Sgt Pepper’ of electronic music. I love the analogue sounds. The compositions are catchy, minimal, but always interesting. They had to work really hard to do what was easy to achieve just a few years later with MIDI and sequencers. But they did it by hand. I’ve owned many versions of the record and it never disappoints.”
