Issue 74

This month's Electronic Sound cover story details the highly entertaining exploits of Telex, the maverick Belgian trio whose early synthpop records were a major influence on the American and European club scenes that followed a decade or so later. And to accompany the magazine, we have an exclusive yellow vinyl seven-inch boasting two of the band's best-known tracks. 

With tracks like ’Moskow Diskow’, ‘Euro-Vision’ and their stripped-down version of 'Twist A Saint Tropez', Telex were at the forefront of the late 1970s electronic revolution. Marc Moulin, the journalist and label owner who came up with the original idea for the band in 1978, is sadly no longer with us, but we’re delighted to have spoken to the two surviving members, frontman Michel Moers and synth virtuoso Dan Lacksman. More than 40 years on from their biggest records, the pair have lost none of their love for all things electronic. Or their wry sense of humour. 

We've lots of other good stuff this month, including interviews with Sleaford Mods, whose latest album is a fitting soundtrack to these dystopian times, and Ralph Lundsten, the Swedish keyboard legend who held court at a 19th century pink palace near Stockholm for many decades, playing host to everybody from ABBA to Led Zeppelin. You will also find Blanck Mass, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Add N To (X), Hattie Cooke, Cristian Vogel, Ultramarine, Yuri Suzuki and Cobalt Chapel elsewhere in the magazine, plus Francis Castle from the ace Clay Pipe Music label. And that's without even mentioning all the pretty colours... 

Our exclusive yellow vinyl seven-inch features the English language versions of Telex's 'Moskow Diskow' and 'Euro-Vision'. The former rhymes "super-chic" with "fantastique" and namechecks Brigitte Bardot, but is probably most notable for its pacy locomotive-esque rhythm. “I remember thinking it sounded like a train, so we put the flanger on it and then made a whistle with a few cylinders and an envelope," says Dan Lacksman. 'Euro-Vision' is another superb synthpop track and was performed by Telex at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980, the group having agreed to represent Belgium with the intention of coming last. They weren’t happy when Portugal awarded them “dix points” as the event drew to a close, pushing them just ahead of Finland and Morocco at the last minute.