Songs Sequenced

Introduction

I was listening to a "Best Of" Nils Lofgren, and one of the final songs is "Secrets In The Street", which I have always loved. Lofgren is a brilliant guitarist and songwriter who has played extensively with Bruce Springsteen.

The album I am listening to is available on Discogs.

Sequencers play programmed repetitive motifs which are probably impossible for a human to play, so are we straying into today's demonic AI hell? At the time, it was fine, and a lot of work was put into these, and they are just part of the whole song, but they do enhance it. They are a major part of electronic music, some of which I covered in this piece about another electronic instrument:

I will leave that song to close this playlist and hope you find one or two songs to enjoy.

I am going to start with the oldest examples I can remember, both from the same album.

The Who - "Baba O'Riley" from "Who's Next"

This opens the album, and I seem to remember this was the "B" side of "Behind Blue Eyes", another stunning song from "Who's Next", which was salvaged from Pete Townshend's "Lifehouse" project, which introduced the concept of "The Grid", which connected everybody. You also get a great violin coda from Dave Arbus (from the band East of Eden, their "Jig A Jig" was the first single I ever bought).

This opens with a famous, swirling Lowrey organ part running through a repeating ARP sequencer.

The Who - "Won't Get Fooled Again" from "Who's Next"

The epic closer from the album, the sequencer goes all the way through the eight and a half minutes of this. I played it (bass, voice and scream) with Spoon (Newcastle version).

Paul McCartney - "Temporary Secretary" from McCartney II

This is where Paul first found what a sequencer could do. I still like this song.

Baxter Dury - "It's A Pleasure" Album title track

Ian Dury's lad, and this is gorgeous with a very simple sequence throughout.

ZZ Top - "Viva Las Vegas" from "Greatest Hits"

Although they probably didn't need the sequenced rhythm, it did beef up their excellent guitar sound and featured in most of the latter-day output. This is a great fun record, and we covered it when Keith Mole said goodbye to the UK at the Archer, Jesmond, sometime in the mid nineties.

Donna Summer - "I Feel Love" from "I Remember Yesterday"

When Giorgio Moroder programmed the sequence for this, it got slightly out of time, giving it a very distinctive sound and resulting in one of the most memorable electronic disco records ever.

New Order - "Blue Monday" - 12" Single

The 12" single of this cost more to produce than it sold for, not a great business model. The rhythm provided by a drum machine that went rogue, then had the sequencer added over the top of it.

I managed to get myself a copy of it.

Giorgio Moroder - "From Here To Eternity"

The title track of the solo album from the genius behind "I Feel Love"

Nils Lofgren - Secrets In The Street" from "Flip"

I always try to share from the artist's official YouTube channel, but Nils only had a live take on it, which is still absolutely brilliant. I have shared that, and take on the original, which has had over fifty-five thousand views, so hopefully you can check that out.

Conclusion

I haven't included the likes of Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream as I wanted to include some music that might not be as expected for this list.

Thank you so much for visiting and listening, and I hope you found something that you liked, as well as something new.