| Dance-rock | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s – early 1980s |
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Dance-rock is adance-infusedgenre ofrock music.[2] It is apost-disco genre connected withpop rock andnew wave with fewerrhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of bothpunk and disco.[3]
Michael Campbell, in his bookPopular Music in America, defines the genre as "post-punk/post-disco fusion". Campbell also citedRobert Christgau, who described dance-oriented rock (or DOR) as an umbrella term used by various DJs in the 1980s.[4]
However,AllMusic defines "dance-rock" as 1980s and 1990s music practiced by rock musicians, influenced byPhilly soul, disco and funk, fusing those styles with rock and dance. Artists likethe Rolling Stones,David Bowie,Duran Duran,Simple Minds,INXS,Eurythmics,Depeche Mode,the Clash,New Order andDevo belong, according to AllMusic, to this genre. Dance-rock embraces some experimental funk acts likeA Certain Ratio,Gang of Four, and also mainstream musicians, for exampleRobert Palmer,Billy Idol andHall & Oates.[3]
Despite predictions that rock music would replace disco in the dance clubs, a mix of post-disco, new wave andpost-punk took its place instead. The first wave of artists arrived withNew Order,Prince,the Human League,Blondie,Tom Tom Club (consisting of two members fromTalking Heads) andDevo, followed byDaryl Hall & John Oates,Thompson Twins,Haircut 100,ABC,Depeche Mode andSpandau Ballet.[3] The scene also produced many crossovers, includingKraftwerk gettingR&B audiences with their 1981 influential albumComputer World, which paved the way forAfrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock"[5] andelectro in general. Reinstated interest in dance-rock and post-disco caused popularity of 12-inch singles and EPs around that era.[3][6]
Key influences of the genre includeNew Romantic,synth-pop actsHuman League andSpandau Ballet while, according toBillboard, the pivotal record of the genre is Human League's "Don't You Want Me".
Arthur Baker argued thatsynthesizers helped to shape the new music: "I'm into synthesizers right now. The options are limitless. It cuts costs and gives you more ultimate control, but it doesn't sound made up. It still has a human feel", while the sound, composed of electronicEurodisco influences, was generally regarded as "cold, anti-human and mechanical."[3]
This kind of dance-rock influenced suchalternative rock acts asGarbage,No Doubt,Robbie Williams,Scissor Sisters,[7]Young Love,Franz Ferdinand,Arctic Monkeys,Kasabian andthe Killers.[8]
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