New York, London, Paris, Munich

The debut album by M is a curious beast in some respects, in that it’s very audibly the work of someone whose more singer-songwriter roots are on bemused, quizzical display, sometimes to a fault on songs like “Moderne Man/Satisfy Your Lust” and the deeply wry “Moonlight and Muzak.” But whatever the effect of the dabbling, on “Pop Muzik” in particular he hit a total bullseye, his style perfectly matched to the electronics to create not only a classic one-hit-wonder of a single but one that lasted, an early synthpop classic almost in spite of itself.