Five famous tracks featuring Roland synth sounds

Duran Duran, Rio

This slinky slice of synth pop was utterly inescapable back in 82, not least because of keyboardist Nick Rhodes’ catchy, quirky sequence, courtesy of the first synth to carry the Jupiter subbrand. Often miscredited to the Jupiter-8, it was actually just a C major 7th chord played using the Jupiter-4’s random arpeggiator function. bit.ly/RioJupiter4

Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Relax

This groundbreaking slab of 80s innuendo had a difficult start in the studio, only coming to fruition once session muso Andy Richards was brought in to add chords from his Jupiter-8. Producer Trevor Horn was so impressed with Richards’ patches that he sampled the best of them into his beloved Fairlight, putting them to use on the rest of the album. bit.ly/FrankieJ8

Second Phase, Mentasm

Joey Beltram and Mundo Muzique’s riff was built entirely around a preset from the Alpha Juno 1. Designed by future Spectrasonics king Eric Persing, the preset was called ‘What the…’, but would be popularised as the Hoover sound. The same patch fuelled Dominator by seminal Dutch techno outfit Human Resource. bit.ly/MentasmAJ1

Mark Shreeve, Assassin

The title track from Mark Shreeve’s exemplary album of electronica instrumentals is a study in minimalism – just one guy and a mere three synthesisers, with the Juno-60 at the top of the list. Propelled by a restrained TR-808 beat, this cover of John Carpenter’s theme for

Assault on Precinct 13 takes its sweet time at over 11 minutes in length. bit.ly/ShreeveJuno60

Shriekback, Gunning For The Buddha

In 1986, Shriekback underwent a personnel shakeup that left keyboardist Barry Andrews taking over lead vocal duties, his sultry, sexy voice underpinned by his Jupiter-8. The second track from the band’s exquisite Big Night Music LP, Gunning For The Buddha is packed with the sort of smooth, understated timbres the Jupiter-8 is famous for. bit.ly/BuddhaJ8