Editing Synth-pop (section)

==Criticism and controversy==
[[File:Depeche-mode-martin-gore2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Martin Gore]] of [[Depeche Mode]] in 1986, wearing some of the fashions that were criticised for [[gender bending]]]]
Synth-pop has received considerable criticism and even prompted hostility among musicians and in the press. It has been described as "anaemic"<ref>{{Citation |author=A. De Curtis |year=1992 |title=Present Tense: Rock and Roll and Culture |isbn=978-0-8223-1265-9 |page=9 |publisher=Duke University Press }}</ref> and "soulless".<ref>{{Citation |author=M. Ribowsky |year=2010 |title=Signed, Sealed, and Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder |isbn=978-0-470-48150-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/signedsealeddeli00ribo_0/page/245 245] |publisher=Wiley |url=https://archive.org/details/signedsealeddeli00ribo_0/page/245 }}</ref> Synth-pop's early steps, and Gary Numan in particular, were also disparaged in the British music press of the late 1970s and early 1980s for their German influences<ref name=SynthBritannia/> and characterised by journalist [[Mick Farren]] as the "[[Adolf Hitler]] Memorial Space Patrol".<ref>{{citation|title=Bill Nelson's Red Noise&nbsp;– Sound-On-Sound |author=The Seth Man |journal=Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage |date=June 2004 |url=http://www.headheritage.com/unsung/thebookofseth/1114 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804234017/http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/thebookofseth.php/1114 |archive-date=4 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1983, [[Morrissey]] of [[the Smiths]] stated that "there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer".<ref name=Cateforis2009/> During the decade, objections were raised to the quality of compositions<ref name="Reynolds2005p337"/> and what was called the limited musicianship of artists.<ref name=Cateforisp59/> Gary Numan observed "hostility" and what he felt was  "ignorance" regarding synth-pop, such as his belief that people "thought machines did it".<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Gary Numan interview|series=[[BBC Breakfast]]|network=[[BBC One]]|station=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=15 May 2012|time=8:56 am|quote=There was a certain amount of hostility to electronic music when it first came along. People didn't think it was real music; they thought machines did it. There was a lot of ignorance, to be honest.}}</ref>

[[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark|OMD]] frontman [[Andy McCluskey]] recalled a great many people "who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you", and asserted: "Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or a drum machine that said 'hit single', I would have pressed it as often as anybody else would have – ''but there isn't''. It was all written by real human beings".<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Synth Britannia (Part Two: Construction Time Again)|series=[[List of Britannia documentaries|Britannia]]|network=[[BBC Four]]|station=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]|airdate=16 October 2009|minutes=26}}</ref>

According to Simon Reynolds, in some quarters synthesizers were seen as instruments for "effete poseurs", in contrast to the phallic guitar.<ref name="Reynolds2005p337"/> The association of synth-pop with an alternative sexuality was reinforced by the images projected by synth-pop stars, who were seen as [[gender bending]], including [[Phil Oakey]]'s asymmetric hair and use of eyeliner, [[Marc Almond]]'s "pervy" leather jacket, skirt wearing by figures including [[Martin Gore]] of Depeche Mode and the early "[[dominatrix]]" image of the Eurythmics' [[Annie Lennox]]. In the U.S. this led to British synth-pop artists being characterised as "English haircut bands" or "art [[faggot (slang)|fag]]" music,<ref name="Reynolds2005p337"/> though many British synth-pop artists were highly popular on both American radio and [[MTV]]. Although some audiences were overtly hostile to synth-pop, it achieved an appeal among those alienated from the dominant heterosexuality of mainstream rock culture, particularly among gay, female and introverted audiences.<ref name="Reynolds2005p337">{{citation|title=Rip It Up and Start Again Postpunk 1978–1984 |author=S. Reynolds |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-571-21570-6 |page=337 |publisher=Faber & Faber |author-link=Simon Reynolds }}</ref><ref name=Cateforisp59>{{citation|title=Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s|author=T. Cateforis |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-472-03470-3 |page=59 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MVrM3zKrHQC&q=Are+We+Not+New+Wave&pg=PA51 }}</ref>