> Imo, Vangelis brought the synthesizer from an experimental novelty to an instrument for composition. The two sounds I associate with him are the long brassy triangle with a steep envelope that we know from both Blade Runner and the accompaniment to the piano in the Chariots of Fire theme, and his effective use of chimes.

One of the most memorable parts of the Blade Runner soundtrack is the brass synth that casually tools around the blues scale. It sounds like an homage to old detective films and grounds the entire movie.

I wonder-- did that influence the intro to Dire Straits' Money for Nothing? It begins with a nice little synth bass and some arpeggiator bleeps and blorps, but there's a similar synth that similarly cruises around a blues scale for a bit.

Digression-- after listening to it again, I noticed that pentatonic synth business in Money for Nothing ends on a C two octaves above middle C which then does a quick upward glissando about an octave and a fourth. Did the keyboardist map the midi wheel to a perfect 11th to do that glissando? If so it sounds incredibly smooth: great job DX7, and/or early MIDI, and/or Alan Clark!

Edit: clarification