Mars by 1980 · The Story of Electronic Music

Electronic music is now ubiquitous, from mainstream pop hits to the furthest reaches of the avant garde. But how did we get here? In Mars by 1980, David Stubbs charts the evolution of synthesised tones, from the earliest mechanical experiments in the late nineteenth century, through the musique concrete of the Futurists and radical composers such as Pierre Schaeffer and Karl Stockhausen, to the gradual absorption of electronic instrumentation into the mainstream, be it through the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, grandiose prog rock or the DIY approach of electronica, house and techno.

Stubbs tells a tale of mavericks and future dreamers, malfunctioning devices and sonic mayhem. But above all, he describes an essential story of authenticity: is this music? Mars by 1980 is the definitive account that answers this question.

"Bewitching . . . fascinating"―New Statesman

"If you only buy one account of electronica, make it this" ―5* Record Collector

"Rarely dry, never boring [ ... ] a wise, humane guide to all these possible futures, all these possible worlds"―Sunday Times

"David Stubbs surveys a century of electronic music in discursive rather than encyclopedic fashion. It's an elegant, humorous, diligently researched labor of love, full of sharp connections"―Uncut 

David Stubbs is a British author and music journalist. Alongside

Simon Reynolds, he was one of the co-founders of the Oxford magazine

Monitor before going on to join the staff at Melody Maker. He later

worked for NME, Uncut and Vox, as well as the Wire. His work has

appeared in The Times, Sunday Times, Spin, Guardian, Quietus and GQ. He

has written a number of books, including a song-by-song profile of Jimi

Hendrix and Fear Of Music: Why People Get Rothko But Don't Get

Stockhausen, a comparative study of twentieth-century avant-garde music

and art. He lives in London.