Canada's
Kon Kan scored with the engaging pop and club hit "I Beg Your Pardon" in 1989 and followed up the single with the consistently entertaining album
Move to Move. Vocalist
Kevin Wynne left the group shortly thereafter, leaving composer and multi-instrumentalist
Barry Harris the sole member of
Kon Kan.
Harris released
Syntonic in 1990, assuming lead vocal duties and using session musicians and background vocalists in an attempt to broaden
Kon Kan's synth-pop sound. Unfortunately, the irredeemable
Syntonic was a miserable failure, both artistically and commercially.
Syntonic starts out well enough with the catchy dance single "Liberty" and the irresistibly goofy "(Could've Said) I Told You So" (which cleverly uses a snippet of
Jimmy Soul's 1962 hit "If You Wanna Be Happy" in the same manner that "I Beg Your Pardon" incorporated the
Lynn Anderson hit "Rose Garden"). But the album goes downhill -- WAY downhill -- from there. Ridiculous attempts at contemporary soul in tunes like "Victorious" and "Victim" (which includes an appearance by former
Rough Trade vocalist
Carole Pope) showcase
Barry Harris' vocal limitations, "I'll Find Another Love" is an unintentionally funny stab at Latin dance pop, and "Time" is a hollow rewrite of the hit "I Beg Your Pardon." But even these songs are better than the horrendous ballad "Heaven Knows I'm Missing You," which sounds like it came from a karaoke bar, and the senseless "My Camera (Oh How I Wish)," which could qualify for the stupidest song of 1990.
Barry Harris wisely discontinued
Kon Kan after
Syntonic's failure, finding minor success as a member of the dance trio
Outta Control before forming the prolific remix team
Thunderpuss 2000. ~ William Cooper