Great Moments in WFMU History #26

Live Before the Acropolis - by Ken Freedman and Liz Berg

Back in the midst of WFMU’s halcyon prog years, DJ Richard Ginsburg went against the collective flow of airing 19-minute guitar journeys, hosting an electronic space jam show called “Synthetic Pleasure.” The program was wildly popular, as many New Jersey music fans had recently embraced the power of keytar, and it even went down in the books for being the first show on WFMU to play CDs. But perhaps Ginsburg’s most significant innovation was that he broke Yanni. Yes, that Yanni. In fact, Yanni used to visit WFMU fairly often to play his demo tapes and chat on-air. This was, of course, prior to his being widely recognized as an adult contemporary new age pimp.

Illustration by Matthew Thurber

Comments

[clueless in MI]

Ah, the glory days of Rich Ginsberg. Introduced me to Vangelis (prior to Chariots of Fire) and Larry Fast and Tangerine Dream.

[Murcury Vapor]

Great minds think (almost) alike:

From here: http://oxideradio.podomatic.com/

"Electronic music-primarily produced by synthesizer (and at this point in history the Fairlight CMI sampler) was known as such until some marketing genius came up with the moniker 'New Age' . This has probably put people off yoga, as the practice seems to be rife with inoffensive drones wherever you go.

This show starts off with-of all artists-Yanni. Yes, that Yanni. The pre-Linda Evans Yanni. In retrospect, the music from his album Optimystique is as grandiose as anything The Moody Blues put out, but has the repetitive figures and the innocuousness akin to a safety/industrial training film. One listen and you'll see what I mean.

There are other things that are enjoyable in this program that redeem the brittle Yanni moments. There must be, because I bothered to encode the tape in the DBX noise reduction format.

Even if the music is pallid, you can at least admire how well preserved the tape is.

[Dave K.]

Richard....
6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. right before Irwin...Synthetic Pleasure..His big coup, for me, was to play "The Hitchhikers Guide" every week. I stopped all activities to listen and tape, [since migrated to cd, and hence found an mp3 download..."ah" progress].
Cheese Louise, just found the original cassettes, chapters 1-12..I'm going to stop now or go into terminal 80's ism.......
Dave K.

[Dave K.]

Richard....
6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. right before Irwin...Synthetic Pleasure..His big coup, for me, was to play "The Hitchhikers Guide" every week. I stopped all activities to listen and tape, [since migrated to cd, and hence found an mp3 download..."ah" progress].
Cheese Louise, just found the original cassettes, chapters 1-12..I'm going to stop now or go into terminal 80's ism.......
Dave K.

[yazoo]

The very first Compact Disc I bought was because of Richard. Neil Nappe - July, on the out of print Albion record label. They were going under, and the discs were very cheap. I did not get to play the thing until a year later when I could afford one of those 'spensive cd players.

He was my gateway into the realm of dark ambient and drone music I love so much.

In hindsight, he was a real crank too. I remember a time when there was a scheduling change and he was pissed. He actually appealed to his listening audience to call and complain.

[yazoo]

The very first Compact Disc I bought was because of Richard. Neil Nappe - July, on the out of print Albion record label. They were going under, and the discs were very cheap. I did not get to play the thing until a year later when I could afford one of those 'spensive cd players.

He was my gateway into the realm of dark ambient and drone music I love so much.

In hindsight, he was a real crank too. I remember a time when there was a scheduling change and he was pissed. He actually appealed to his listening audience to call and complain.

[Krys O.]

The artist's rendering of Richard makes me chuckle as he looked absolutely nothing like that. Think part Furry Freak Brother and part David Berkowitz. A jolly mesomorph body type and a very sharp guy. I used to see him a lot when I was on schedule on Mondays. Never saw Yanni but heard about him endlessly.

[Sandy]

Couldn't help but comment on Yanni and the "old days". Being a personal friend, going back to the "chameleon" days, I knew Yanni before he was "Yanni" lol. and my Mother cursed me till the day she died for not goin out with him ;).
Charlie (Adams) gave me copies of all the demo tapes they made and sent out to record companies, I still have those cassettes, all but one still in the Original shrink wrap, with "Yanni demo tape" scrawled in black magic marker on the outside of the case. I broke down and opened one when my 2nd child was born and as a last resort used it to soothe him to sleep as a baby. Still works 19 years later ;) LOL.
Ahhh... the good ole days.
If anyone might be interested in those demo tapes.. let me know :)

[prog.fm]

Sandy, I am very interested in the Yanni demos. I still have an old original copy of The Prophecy, which I recently restored and made into mp3's. Would love to get some of the stuff in between Prophecy and Keys (namely the demo that had the song titled Epilogue on it). Also would love to get any of the Chameleon stuff if you have it. Please email me!

epsilon at prog dot fm

I was a die-hard Synthetic Pleasure fan back in the day, and I got a chance to talk to Yanni once when he visited the station. Richard also aired a couple of the songs I had written while Yanni was there. Very cool.

[Mongo]

Sandy, I too am interested in the Yanni demo tapes. I listened to these on my College radio station KBSU around '83 and I managed to record them. After 25 years the tape is not worth listening to anymore. I have been searching for Yanni's demo tape for forever. I even solicited Yanni's record company for a copy and they blew me off. I really liked this era of his music. I do also know that the song "To The One Who Knows" is actually his demo for the movie Terminator, although changed from the Synth sound (like the Magus) to piano. I'm also looking for Prophecy if anyone reading this has it.

Please contact me at mongo_fbs at hotmail dott com
Thanks

[Soylent Blue]

Hi all, I've enjoyed reading these stories, I used to love Synthetic Pleasure. I found Richard Ginsberg's website, aka "Ricky" Ginsberg, as he now goes by. Interesting website:
http://www.fawnridge.com/ricky/

[Mike]

I would also like a copy of Yanni's demo tape. I especially remember hearing The Prophecy. Although I am not an alumnus of Upsala College, I lived in upper Rockland County from 1983 - 1991. I couldn't wait to hear Richard and Synthetic Pleasure on Monday nights. Some of the music was very progressive and fun to listen to.
Please let me know how I can obtain a copy of Yanni's demo tape by contacting me at [email protected].
Thank you in advance.

[R]

Synthetic Pleasure on Monday nights from 6-9PM, was the one thing I always made sure I had time for. I was so happy to find a station that played the kind of music I so much loved. It was unusual in the early 80's to find a station that actually played electronic music. I thought I was the only person on Earth who listened to this kind of stuff. By the way, I still can't get used to the term, "New Age"; I'm a purist. Anyway, Richard Ginsberg made it happen. I remember he intoduced us all to Yanni. Back then he got a demo tape, and we all fell in love. We put out an SOS to other electronic music radio stations to find this guy. We found him playing in a garage in Minneapolis with a few of his friends. Some of us were able to get demo tapes from Charlie Adams. The rest is history. I was also lucky to have spoken to Yanni on the phone from the studio and joked with him about "belly-dancing" to his music. He said he'd like to see a video ,and we discussed some more about his music. I told him I did not like the vocals on Niki Nana. I guess I was wrong. He just completed a concert tour of his new CD, "Voices". In fact, he closes every concert with "Niki Nana". He also had a great sense of humor. Richard Ginsberg, wherever you are......thanks for giving us the pleasure of sharing some wonderful quality electronic music. I still have your newsletters. Many-a-times, when I clean out my desk, I hesitate to discard these old papers. They bring back good memories. I especially remember those concerts at the West Orange JCC. What ever happened to the musician, the "Mr. Peabody" looking one that used to compose? He used to be a regular. Besides him, I remember "The Night Crawlers". I think I still have some of their music around somewhere. Now, believe it or not, I am still carrying around a paper with the name of an instrument called (and I'm not sure about the spelling) "The Dar-buk-ka". It was the primary instrument in a piece of music entitled "Tapas Volant". Richard played it one Monday night, and I had to get it. To this day, I still can't find it. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please email me. Again, Richard, thanks for enriching my life with some beautiful music. Yes, of course, I volunteered at the egg-crated studio. It was my pleasure, in appreciation. Good memories.

[Neil Nappe]

I know this is an older thread, but I just stumbled on it. Heady times, those were. Last I'd heard, Richard was in Florida, but I've lost touch with him. If anyone is in contact with him, I'd sure appreciate any contact info. You can get me at:

[email protected]

remove the nines from the address. They are there to prevent spam.

Thanks

[Sandy]

To each of you interested in the Yanni & Chameleon demo tapes,
if you're reading this, I will email each of you.
Good Lord, I forgot all about this page and stumbled upon it again! Sorry about that!.
Sandy

[Jamallus]

Synthetic Pleasure opened up a new space in my head.... Had been listening to Alison Steele on WNEW till I found WFMU by accident, but never regretted the move....I even subscribed the newsletters, but lost them....Would love to find those old playlists, and artists work Richard used to play....If anyone has them, please postthem,or contact me.

[Jamallus]

Does anyone have recordings of the original shows?
I would love to get copies of them, or the "Synthetic Pleasure" contact lists/playlists for the show......
I've been looking for them for years!

[Jamallus]

I want so much for the "Synthetic Pleasure" Radio Show to be a part of the conversation of everyone who enjoys "Electronic Music" today!
The world need's to know of Richards efforts in popularizing the genre!
I've searched the internet for information on the show, and found little about it...
(even on WFMU!)
Here's where you guys come in.
I tried to find it on Wikipedia, to no avail.....but......and I mean BUT!......
Listener's to the program, can start a page on Wikipedia, about the show!
He had thousands of listeners back then, and at least 1000 subscribers to the "Synthetic Pleasure" playlist/program book! (I was one of them)
Come'on guys!
That show had me running home from work every Monday evening, in anticipation of escaping the dull-drums of my workday!
I don't have too many particulars about the show,(How long it was on the air, ect...) but some of you guys have insider information, that will shape the content of the article.
The information must be true, informative, and most of all, balanced!
We owe it to Richard, as fans of his show and electronic music, to start this page, as others will add to your words....
Will you guys help me?

[maxcavair]

Richard often called Yani "Man of a Thousand Nose Hairs." I guess he had a good sense of humor.