Synths | Yamaha CS80 | Demo by Vangelis (1976)

Beloved by synthesizer collectors, and not just because of its alarmingly high second-hand price tag, the Yamaha CS-80 was Japan’s first truly outstanding contribution to the synthesizer marketplace.

Fathoms deep, alarmingly unusual (that ribbon controller?) and jam-packed with sounds that simply didn’t emanate from other, similar instruments, the CS-80 was a delightfully luxurious instrument. Even so, the high price tag and overwhelming weight of the CS-80 made it a hard sell, and like many synths of the era, it was also notoriously difficult to keep in tune.

Who used it?

- Vangelis ‘Blade Runner Blues’ (1982)

- Brian Eno ‘Julie With…’ (1977)

- Paul McCartney ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ (1979)

- Klaus Schulze ‘Silent Running’ (1981)

- Toto ‘Africa’ (1982)

- Stevie Wonder

Vangelis was a massive devotee, using it first on 1977’s Spiral and on most of his successive albums. In many ways it was his secret weapon – the unfathomably influential soundtrack to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was almost entirely made up of barely edited CS-80 presets (seriously), as was his chart-busting theme to Chariots of Fire.