<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Trans - Europe Express" Kraftwerk's "Trans - Europe Express" from the 1977 album Trans - Europe Express "Firecracker" Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Firecracker" from 1978 . It was later sampled by artists such as Afrika Bambaata and Jennifer Lopez . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing these files? See media help . </Td> </Tr> <P> Synth - pop (short for' synthesizer pop'; also called' techno - pop') is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument . It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the "Krautrock" of bands like Kraftwerk . It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s to the mid-1980s . </P> <P> Early synth - pop pioneers included Japanese group Yellow Magic Orchestra, and British bands Ultravox, the Human League and Berlin Blondes . the Human League used monophonic synthesizers to produce music with a simple and austere sound . After the breakthrough of Gary Numan in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer - based sound in the early 1980s, including late - 1970s debutants like Japan and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and newcomers such as Depeche Mode and Eurythmics . In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra's success opened the way for synth - pop bands such as P - Model, Plastics, and Hikashu . The development of inexpensive polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI and the use of dance beats, led to a more commercial and accessible sound for synth - pop . This, its adoption by the style - conscious acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of MTV, led to success for large numbers of British synth - pop acts (including Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet) in the United States . </P>

When was the first world dance party formed