Proof That Herbie Hancock Is The Only Guy Ever To Look Cool Playing The Keytar

Sorry if this comes off harsh to all the male Synthtopia readers that play the keytar, but consider it tough love.

Give a woman a keytar, and she’ll kill you with her death glare:

Give a guy a keytar, and he’ll look like a mouth breather:

Moral of the story: Unless your name is Herbie Hancock, don’t expect to look cool playing the keytar.

Next up – the extra bonus picture: Can you find the keytarist?

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19 thoughts on “Proof That Herbie Hancock Is The Only Guy Ever To Look Cool Playing The Keytar”

  5. I was going to say Jan Hammer too. How’s this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilvance/2257418239/ and http://www.cbc.ca/arts/images/pics/miamivice2.jpg

    His Beyond the Mind’s Eye introduced me to playing synth as expressively like a guitar!

    Jordan Rudess and his near-white goatee has been pretty badass: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Dream_Theater_Live_in_Argentina_03-03-08.jpg/500px-Dream_Theater_Live_in_Argentina_03-03-08.jpg

  6. BlueBrat – nice! You may want to check out the keytar goddess posts.

    Josh – I considered Jan Hammer before coming up with this theory, but while he’s a transcendentally awesome keytarist, an important electronic musician and a tremendously nice guy (see our Jan Hammer interview), time has not been kind on 80’s keyboardist fashion. More photos may be needed to determine if Hammer can disprove the theory.

    Torley – I’m not sure if the Rudess image is relevant or not, since he’s clearly wielding not a run of the mill keytar, but a rare Krimellian Death Scimitar – but he does look pretty badass.

  7. Have you never heard of DEVO? They looked cool no matter what, and they used the heaviest of the ‘key-tar’s’, the Moog Liberation. (Most of these people are simply key-tards.) Now, Herbie is awesome, Jan was okay, but Devo had that extra edge that keyboardists sorely needed (this was before NIN, Skinny Puppy and Ministry) Somewhere in an old issue of Keyboard Magazine is a pic of Devo with their Liberations. I have searched and cannot find. Perhaps you will find that pic. Perhaps I will find it still, and since I am on the clock, it will be a worthwhile search. LOL.

  9. And let’s not forget Edger Winters (go look up that video of “Frankenstein”). And he’s still at it (although I’m not sure if a Roland JP-8000 counts as a keytar just because you hang it around your neck).

  11. Jennifer –

    I’ll leave it to you and the other Synthtopia readers of the better sex to decide if these guys deserve to be tagged – as babes, sexy or otherwise.

  12. True.
    I feel like I should also add having your picture taken while perfroming is kinda like people photographing you while you eat… the chances are higher than normal you could be caught looking like an idiot with your mouth hanging open…
    looking cool is a part style, part personality and a part performance art… the balance is always delicate

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