commodore64

The Commordore 64 at 25

DOWNLOAD: Ultravox – Vienna (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: C64 Radio Commercial 1 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: C64 Radio Commercial 2 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rob Hubbard – Commando (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Martin Galway – Street Hawk (unreleased) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Power Ups – Conan (Commodore 64) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Flvxxvm Florvm – Down in the Commodore 64 Dungeon (MP3)

Commodore 64

CNN’s website has a misty-eyed feature celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Commodore 64, perhaps the key home computer gaming platform of the early eighties….

Rob HubbardI’m certain a lot of the lasting appeal is down to the brilliant SID sound chip, which produced – through the talent of musicians such as Rob Hubbard and Martin Galway – the best audio of any platform at the time. Those memorable C64 soundtracks coincided with – and complimented – the rise of computerised music in popular culture, which saw the arrival (or at least mainstream success) of synth pop bands like Ultravox, Human League and Depeche Mode as well as electro pioneers like Africa Bambaataa, Man Parrish and Egyptian Lover. Unlike the Spectrum, which existed in its own nerdy ghetto, C64 felt like it connected with something larger in the ‘contemporary zeitgeist’ – many years before PlayStation came along and claimed to legitimise gaming. Music, like smell, is a powerful nostalgic trigger and perhaps it’s the one element of the eighties home computer experience that hasn’t been degraded by time. That’s why people are still playing Commodore music now, mashing it up for club nights or turning it into orchestral symphonies. [Keith Stuart]