School Daze Records releases compilation of rare synth pop on 27 June

All The Young Droids: Junkshop Synth Pop 1978–1985 is a forthcoming compilation assembled by Philip King, set for release on 27 June 2025 via School Daze Records, an imprint of Night School. The set arrives as a 2LP edition (500 copies on transparent pink vinyl and 500 on black) and a 2CD version, with a 7” sampler featuring Ian North and John Howard planned for Record Store Day 2025.

Title: All The Young Droids
Release Date: 2025-06-27
Genres: Electronica, New Wave, Post-punk, Synth Pop
Label: School Daze Records
Description: Early synth pop and DIY electronic music from 1978 to 1985 compiled by Philip King, out 27 June on School Daze Records.

The release focuses on a broad and often overlooked segment of early synth-driven music recorded between 1978 and 1985. Rather than documenting the canonised end of minimal synth or cold wave, the collection looks sideways—towards lesser-documented bedroom experiments, small-label obscurities, and ill-fated pop gestures made under the influence of cheaper analogue synths and the ripple effects of punk’s DIY ethos. Many tracks appear on compilation for the first time, some sourced from vinyl due to the loss of master tapes. All audio has been remastered by Simon Murphy, in-house engineer at RPM.

King, who previously curated All The Young Droogs, Glitterbest, and Boobs: The Junkshop Glam Discotheque, builds here on a long-standing interest in marginal zones of British pop history. His compilations tend to track the tensions between ambition, accident, and economy—documenting moments where amateur circuitry meets commercial aspiration. His liner notes accompany the release, along with a set of previously unpublished images.

Among the better-known names is Ian North (Neo, Milk ’n’ Cookies), whose 1980s track We’re Not Lonely—recorded on a Korg MS-20 with a tape machine—appears both here and on the sampler 7”. Harry Kakoulli, formerly of Squeeze, contributes I’m On A Rocket, from his 1979 solo LP. Andreas Dorau’s Fred Vom Jupiter, written and recorded at age 16 with classmates in Hamburg and later licensed to Mute, appears here in its rarer English-language version.

Elsewhere, the compilation assembles a range of marginal projects. Billy London (real name Ed Barth) appears with Woman, a camp, faltering attempt at synth-pop issued by a major label. John Springate, once of the Glitter Band, contributes My Life, an unusually structured pop track that shifts tempo and mood across its runtime.

Previously unreleased tracks are prominent. Dream Unit’s A Drop In The Ocean blends Joy Division-inspired instrumentation with early synth wave textures. Incandescent Luminaire’s Famous Names emerges from small-town ambition with a structure nodding to OMD and New Romantic gloom. Selwin Image, formed by ex-members of The Pushups in San Francisco, offer The Unknown, an unreleased cut bridging post-punk and power pop. Sole Sister, once featured on the Scaling Triangles compilation, appear here with a newly unearthed track. The feminist performance artist Peta Lilly resurfaces with I Am A Time Bomb, recorded with Michael Chance and originally released on a lost 7″.

There are several nods to proto-Hi-NRG, Euro synth, and electronic curiosities. Design’s Premonition and Vision’s Lucifer’s Friend revisit minimal synth territory, while The Warlord’s 1978 track The Ultimate Warlord later became a club hit in Canada via The Immortals. Disco Volante’s No Motion, previously reissued in 2012 by Medical Records, makes its first appearance on vinyl in a compilation. The Microbes, a trio from Gibraltar, imagined programmed dancefloor obedience on Computer Madness. Belgian label Stroom TV had previously issued Dee Jay Bert & Eagle’s I Am Your Master, also included here.

Also featured is Alan Burnham’s Science Fiction, produced by Daniel Miller of Mute, with a sonic debt to Bowie’s Low period.

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