The synth that you see above this text is a Roland Juno 6. It was a bit of a weird one because as soon as this one was released, then they released the 60 and then the 106 which had midi and presets (meaning you could run it through a computer and you could commit sounds to memory). I didn’t give a crap about either of those things because, in 1985, I didn’t have a computer and I didn’t care about memorizing sounds as I was too busy making new ones.
Actually, my cousin Nick (Foggin) had one of these before I did. In fact Nick is my musical inspiration, period (even though I’ve not seen him in 15 years!). He is a couple of years older than me and was very impressive (not least because his first band , The Doll Squad, were the only band ever to sing the lines “eating glass, drinking acid”). I used to go round his place in Stoke-on-Trent and he would dazzle me with brilliant kit and skill (he could also trampoline very well, there were no limits to his talent). The best part of my visit though was when he would let me play the arpegiator on his Juno 6. It was amazing. So, to cut a long story short, I bought one. I still own it (it’s back in London in storage) and I miss it. To give you an idea listen to this…
So raise your glasses ladies and gentlemen to an almost forgotten analogue synthesizer. It might not be digital, hell it might not even have presets or midi, but it could bust down an arpeggio like nobody’s business.
