| Post-disco | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s – early 1980s |
| Derivative forms | |
| Subgenres | |
| Other topics | |
Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash againstdisco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot inChicago known as theDisco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and indistinctly ending with the mainstream appearance ofnew wave in 1980.[1][contradictory] During its dying stage, disco displayed an increasingly electronic character that soon served as a stepping stone to new wave,old-school hip-hop,Euro disco, and was succeeded by an underground club music calledhi-NRG, which was its direct continuation.
An underground movement of disco music, which was simultaneously "stripped-down" and featured "radically different sounds,"[2] took place on theEast Coast that "was neither disco and neither R&B."[3] This scene, known as post-disco,[nb 1] catering to theNew York metropolitan area, was initially led byurban contemporary musical artists partially in response to the perceived over-commercialization and artistic downfall of disco culture. It was developed from therhythm and blues sound exemplified byParliament-Funkadelic,[6] the electronic side ofdisco,dub music techniques, and other genres. Post-disco was typified by New York City music groups like"D" Train[3] andUnlimited Touch[3] who followed a more urban approach while others, likeMaterial[7] andESG,[8] followed a more experimental one. Post-disco was, like disco, asingles-driven market[2] controlled mostly by independent record companies that generated across-over chart success all through the early-to-mid 1980s. Most creative control was in the hands of record producers and club DJs[2] which was a trend that outlived thedance-pop era.
The term post-disco is often conflated with individual styles of its era, such asboogie,[2][9]synth-funk, orelectro-funk.[10] Other musical styles that emerged in the post-disco era includedance-pop[11][12] andItalo disco, and the genre led to the development of the earlyalternative dance,[2] club-centeredhouse[11][13][14][15] andtechno music.[14][16][17][18][19]
Drum machines,synthesizers,sequencers were either partly or entirely dominant in a composition or mixed up with various acoustic instruments, depending on the artist and on the year. Electronic instruments became more and more prevalent for each year during the period and dominated the genre completely by the mid 1980s.
Darryl Payne argued about the minimal approach of post-disco, saying:
Producers are using a lot more sounds and a lot less instruments: the "Forget Me Nots" and "Don't Make Me Wait" tracks are really empty, but there's a sophistication people can get into.[20]
The main force in post-disco was mainly the 12" single format and short-lived collaborations (many of themone-hit wonders) while indie record producers were instrumental in the musical direction of what the scene was headed to. The music that mostly catered to dance and urban audiences later managed to influence morepopular and mainstream acts likeMadonna,New Order orPet Shop Boys.[1]
The music tended to be technology-centric, keyboard-laden, melodic, withfunk-oriented bass lines (often performed on aMinimoog), synth riffs, dub music aesthetics, and backgroundjazzy orblues-y piano layers.[1][2][21][22][23] For strings and brass sections, synthesizer sounds were preferred to the lushorchestration heard on many disco tracks, although such arrangements would later resurface in some house music.[citation needed]Soulful female vocals, however, remained an essence of post-disco.
Bridging the so-called death of disco and the birth of house, all this early-to-mid-'80s music lacks a name beyond drably functional and neutral terms like "dance" or "club music."
— Simon Reynolds,SPIN magazine[24]
The term "post-disco" was used as early as 1984 byCadence magazine when definingpost-disco soul as "disco without the loud bass-drum thump."[25]New York Magazine used the word in an article appearing in the December 1985 issue; it wasGregory Hines's introduction of post-disco and electronic funk to Russian-American dance choreographerMikhail Baryshnikov "who has never heard this kind of music."[26] AllMusic states that the term denotes amusic genre in the era between the indistinct "end" of disco music and the equally indistinct emergence of house music.[2]
In other historical instances the term had been used in a derisive manner.Spy implicitly mocked the usage of both the terms "post-punk" and "post-disco" in theirSpy's Rock Critic-o-Matic article, whereas spoofing various music reviews published byRolling Stone,The Village Voice andSpin.[27] Cuban-American writer Elías Miguel Muñoz in his 1989 novelCrazy Love, in a passage where musicians after moving to America discuss what their "style" may be, used the term in a satirical manner.[28]
Midwesterners didn't want that intimidating [disco] style shoved down their throats[29]
Shortly after the "Disco Sucks" movement of disco bashing throughout theUnited States, American radio stations began to pay attention to other popular formats of music such asreggae,punk rock ornew wave while top mainstream labels and record companies likeCasablanca,TK Records orRSO went bankrupt. Since disco music had been on the way of [its] electronic progression, it split itself into subscenes and styles likeHi-NRG,freestyle,Italo disco andboogie.[30][1][29] The last one is closely associated with post-disco more than any other offshoots of post-disco.[31][32]
Brazilian record producer and fusion jazz pioneerEumir Deodato, well aware of current trends in American underground music, turned around the career of a failing funk music groupKool & the Gang by adopting and pursuing a light pop–post-disco sound that not only revitalized the band's image but also turned out to be the most successful hits in their entire career.[23]B. B. & Q. Band (Capitol) andChange (Atlantic) acts' creatorJacques Fred Petrus, a French-Italian hi-NRG Italo disco music record producer, reflects on his decision to shift from conventional disco music to post-disco "[our] sound changed to more of a funky dance/R&B style to reflect the times."[33] French-born songwriting duoHenri Belolo andJacques Morali, creators of the successfulVillage People act, moved their former disco actRitchie Family toRCA Victor to release their next album co-produced by funk musicianFonzi Thornton and Petrus,I'll Do My Best, which mirrors their radical musical shift.[33] On the West Coast, especially inCalifornia, a different approach lead to a different sound.Dick Griffey andLeon Sylvers III ofSOLAR Records, who pioneered their own signature sound, produced Ohio-based groupLakeside's albumRough Riders which already displayed these new trends and, "instrumentally demonstrates economic arrangements (featuring brass, keyboards and guitar)," as noted byBillboard, praising the album.[34] A watershed album of post-disco wasMichael Jackson'sOff The Wall, produced byQuincy Jones, which helped establish a direction of R&B/dance music and influenced many young producers who were interested in this kind of new music.[35]
Other examples of early American artists drawing from post-disco areRick James, Change andTeena Marie.[20]
Disco in Europe remained relatively untouched by the events in the U.S., decreasing only in Britain, but this was mostly because of the emergence of the new wave andnew romantic movements around 1981,[36] and continued to flourish within theItalo disco scene although the interest for electronic music in general was indeed growing.
Unlike in the United States, where anti-disco backlash generated prominent effect on general perception of disco music, in Britain, the new wave movement initially drew heavily from disco music (although this association would be airbrushed out by the end of 1979) and took many elements from American post-disco and other genres, thus creating a characteristic scene.[20] According toBillboard, American post-disco was merely a crossover of different genres, while focusing on the electronic and R&B overtones, whereasjazz-funk was a crucial element of the British post-disco scene that generated musicians likeChaz Jankel,Central Line orImagination.
This section summary shows 1980s commercially successful records from the post-disco movement.
Compare "Jungle Boogie" (1974) with "Celebration" (1980) byKool & The Gang; "Boogie Wonderland" (1979) with "Let's Groove" (1981) byEarth, Wind & Fire; "Shame" (1978) with "Love Come Down" (1982) byEvelyn "Champagne" King; "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" (1976) with "Give It Up" (1982) byKC & the Sunshine Band; and "Machine Gun" (1974) with "Lady (You Bring Me Up)" byCommodores (1981).[37]
During the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s, electronic and, especially, house musicians were influenced by post-disco. Some of these musicians are:Daft Punk, a Frenchhouse music group, adopted elements of post-disco, disco and synth-pop intoDiscovery.[62] Another artist,Les Rythmes Digitales, released a post-disco/electro-influenced album,Darkdancer.[63]Canadian music groupChromeo debuted in 2004 with the albumShe's in Control.[64] SimilarLos Angeles-based musicianDâm-Funk recordedToeachizown, a boogie- and electro-influenced album released in 2009.[65]Another band calledEscort, who hails fromNew York City, surfaced on the post-disco andpost-punk revival scenes around 2006. The story about Escort appeared onNew York Times in November 2011.[66]Sampling disco and post-disco songs became a distinctive feature ofR&B music at the turn of the century. Artists such asMariah Carey andJanet Jackson incorporated strong post-disco elements in their work, with post-disco-influenced songs such asHeartbreaker,Honey,Fantasy andAll For You peaking at #1 on theBillboard Hot 100.
Contemporary compilation albums featuring post-disco and electro artists (e.g.Imagination,Level 42,Afrika Bambaataa) includeThe Perfect Beats series (volume 1–4).[67] Another compilation series areNighttime Lovers (volume 1-10) and the mixed-up album titledThe Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams.
"Thanks To You" and "Don't Make Me Wait" came out and started the whole dub thing in disco.[68]
Particular psychedelic soul artists likeSly and the Family Stone liked to push the boundaries of conventional music by employing what was to be a precursor to synthesizer,electronic organ. Multi-instrumentalistStevie Wonder was one of the early artists venturing into the realms of analog synthesizer after being impressed by the work ofT.O.N.T.O. Expanding Head Band, an influential multinational electronic music duo of sound designers. Wonder remarked, "How great it is at a time when technology and the science of music is at its highest point of evolution ... A toast to greatness, a toast to Zero Time, forever." With an increasing growth of personalized synthesizers on the market they were becoming more commercially available and easy-to-use, especially those produced byRoland Corporation. One of their first users was cutting-edge artistGeorge Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic collective project. Funk rhythms, psychedelic guitars, synthetic bass-rich lines, the particularly melodic endeavor and music minimalism ofP-Funk.Brooklyn Transit Express memberKashif, noted for his use ofbass synthesizer[69] during the group's tour, later went solo as a record producer and began craftingfunk-influenced songs forEvelyn "Champagne" King that showed aminimalism-akin approach, the disregard of disco music arrangements, and affiliation to the method of "one-man band" previously paved through by Wonder.[69] Other spheres of influence include the move by pioneering DJs and record producers to release alternative mixes of the same single, so-called dub mixes. DJLarry Levan implemented elements of dub music in his productions and mixes for various post-disco artists, including his own groupThe Peech Boys. Musically, there was a search for out-of-mainstream music to derive new ideas from, most commonlyblues, and other styles likereggae and so on, were also incorporated.
Sinnamon's "Thanks to You",D-Train's "You're the One for Me",[70]The Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait"—all these songs and its attributes and trends of post-disco later influenced a new "never-before-heard" music style which would become house music.[71][72]
The new post-disco sound was flourishing among predominately New York City record companies, includingWest End Records,Prelude Records,Tommy Boy Records,SAM Records, and others.[72][73] Most of them were independently owned and had their own distribution[74] but some particular mainstream labels, notably RCA Records,[33] were too, responsible for popularizing and capitalizing on the new sound.
Although there is no exact point when post-disco started, many synthpop and electronic musicians of that time continued to enhance the raw minimalist sound, while focusing on synthesizers, and keyboard instruments. As noted by Payne, drum machines also played an important part in theurban-oriented music in general.[20]
| # | Event[72][75][76][77][78][6][79][80][81] |
|---|---|
| 1977– 1979 | While disco music was in its heyday, the horn and string sections were a main component of disco and pop songs. This sound is also called disco orchestration. However, some of the musicians and producers dropped the lavish sound of orchestra completely, which attributed a new direction of dance music.
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| 1980– 1981 | After the success ofQuincy Jones-produced albumOff the Wall and other semi-mainstream urban-oriented music groups likeLakeside, other disco music groups either dissolved or adapted the new sounds (e.g.The Whispers,The SOS Band,Inner Life,Earth, Wind & Fire, andShalamar in the U.S.;Nick Straker Band, andFreeez in UK). Other musicians influenced by post-disco includeStacy Lattisaw,Kurtis Blow, andGeorge Duke.
|
| 1982 | Golden age post-disco era, where post-disco sound entered mainstream. However most of the musicians were mostly successful on the other charts, besideBillboard Hot 100. This era also spanned experimental No Wave-oriented post-disco acts likeMaterial,Liquid Liquid,Dinosaur L andWas (Not Was). The most significant post-disco album isMichael Jackson'sThriller, which also became the best-selling album of all time.[82]Larry Levan and theNYC Peech Boys recorded proto-house number "Don't Make Me Wait". New bands and musicians of the era appeared, includingImagination,D. Train,Skyy,Aurra,Komiko,Vicky D,Rockers Revenge,Dayton, andUnlimited Touch.
|
| 1983– 1984 | During this era, post-disco was at its highest peak. Meanwhile,Madonna's commercially successfuldebut album was released, which was produced byReggie Lucas of Mtume andJellybean, another producers of this movement. It also began to interfere with garage house and freestyle music, thus successfully shaping post-disco into electro. This change could be also heard in breakdancing- and hip-hop–themed movies likeBeat Street andBreakin'.
|
| 1985– 1987 | During this era, post-disco had been dissolved in various music fields and scenes, including
As the post-disco reached its climax, overdubbing techniques as recorded byPeech Boys and other early-1980s artists were almost omitted by then and replaced by synthpop variants instead. The movement survived as a post-disco–freestyle crossover music that spannedRaww,Hanson & Davis,Timex Social Club,Starpoint andMiami Sound Machine. |
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The 1980s post-disco sounds also inspired manyNorwegiandance music producers.[83] Somerappers such asIce Cube orEPMD built their careers on funk-oriented post-disco music (they were inspired for example by dance-floor favorites likeZapp andCameo).[84] AlsoSean "Puffy" Combs has been influenced by R&B-oriented post-disco music in an indirect way.[85]
Boogie (or electro-funk)[72][86] is a post-disco subgenre with funk and new wave influences that had a minor exposure in the early to mid-1980s. Sean P. described it as "largely been ignored, or regarded as disco's poor cousin – too slow, too electronic, too R&B ... too black, even."[87]
Another post-disco movement is merely connected withpost-punk/no wave genres with fewer R&B/funk influences. An example of this "post-disco" isGina X's "No G.D.M."[88] and artists likeLiquid Liquid,Polyrock,[89]Dinosaur L, and theDisco Not Disco (2000) compilation album.[90][91] This movement also connects withdance-oriented rock; Michael Campbell, in his bookPopular Music in America defines that genre as "post-punk/post-disco fusion."[92] Campbell also citedRobert Christgau, who described dance-oriented rock (or DOR) as umbrella term used by various DJs in the 1980s.[93]
Dance-pop is a dance-oriented pop music that appeared slightly after the demise of disco and the first appearance of "stripped-down" post-disco. One of the first dance-pop songs were "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" byIndeep and "Love Come Down" byEvelyn "Champagne" King, whereas the latter crossed over toBillboard charts includingAdult Contemporary, while peaking at number 17 on thepop chart in 1982.[94] Another crossover post-disco song was "Juicy Fruit" byMtume, peaking at number 45 on the Hot 100 in 1983.[95] Same year also saw the release of Madonna'seponymous album that incorporated post-disco, urban and club sounds. British variation of dance-pop, pioneered byStock Aitken Waterman, was more influenced by house and hi-NRG and sometimes was labeled as "eurobeat."[96]
Italo disco is a disco subgenre, influenced by post-disco, hi-NRG, electronic rock, and European music. Originally music mostly played byItalian musicians, but it soon made its way to Canada and United States. One of the earliest post–disco-oriented groups wereKlein + M.B.O. andKano, while New York-basedBobby Orlando was located abroad.[2]
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| Released | Album | Label | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | VA –Disco Not Disco | Strut | compilation |
| 2002 | VA –Disco Not Disco 2 | Strut | compilation |
| 2002–2008 | VA –Opération Funk Vol. 1–5 (mixed byKheops) | mix album, compilation | |
| 2004 | VA –Choice: A Collection of Classics (mixed byDanny Tenaglia) | Azuli | mix album, compilation |
| 2004–2009 | VA –Nighttime Lovers Vol. 1–10 | PTG | compilation |
| 2008 | VA –Disco Not Disco 3 | Strut | compilation |
| 2009 | VA – Night Dubbin' (mixed byDimitri from Paris) | BBE | mix album, compilation |
| 2009 | VA –The Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams (compiled byDJ Spinna) | BBE | mix album, compilation |
| 2010 | VA –Boogie's Gonna Getcha: '80s New York Boogie | BreakBeats | compilation |
By now 'dance' was a loaded word for me. The Disco Sucks backlash had given me a post-traumatic-stress–like disorder, and I'd vowed not to write any songs with that word in them for a long time. I was shamed out of using a word—'dance'.
House music is a form of post-disco dance music made popular in the mid-1980s in Chicago clubs ..."
"In terms of its song repertoire, DDR is rooted in disco and post-disco forms such as techno and house. But DDR can be read as the ultimate postmodern dance experience because the game displays various forms of dance imagery without stylistic or historical continuity (Harvey 1990, p. 62, ...)
Glossary:techno – post-disco dance music in which most or all of the sounds are electronically generated
Synthesizers of every description, drum machines, and plain old electric keyboards began making MFSB and other human rhythm sessions nonessential to the recording process. For producers, a control-oriented bunch, this was heaven. No more rehearsals. Low session fees. An artist who envisioned himself as a future Stevie Wonder—the first great one-man synthesizer band—could express his creativity in the basement or the bathroom.
{{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help){{cite journal}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)"In their first album since their eponymous effort of last year, Donald and the Vulgarians, without a doubt one of the best post-punk groups of the 1980s, return with their latest release,I Who Have Nothing and Other Songs for the Nineties. Filled with self-absorbed Trinidadian soca, the album screams post-punk/post-disco art-school pop with its use of guitar riff sawing".
*Julian: "Now we're going American. What's the name they've given this new thing we're doing?
- Joe: "Post-punk-post-new-wave-post-disco ..."
- Roli: "post-country -post-rapping - post-post- post-Beatles."
- Lucho: "Post-Elvis-post-Simon-and-Garfunkel-post-Billy-Idol-post-British-Invasion-post-Cyndi-Lauper-post-Blues-post-Soul-post-Michael-Jackson-post-Hustle-post-Donna-Summer-post-Gloria-Gaynor-post-Prince-post-Madonna."
— "Crazy Love" (Elías Miguel Muñoz, 1989)
Disco Business > An Art Unto Itself: Programming of Mobiles - Chicago
{{cite magazine}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)SOLAR ..., which grew out of an association between promoter Griffey and Soul Train host Don Cornelius, released a string of post-disco hits that included Shalamar's "The Second Time Around" and the Whispers' "And the Beat Goes On."
This sweetly sexy come-on was a perfect post-disco r&b smash landing at #3 on the pop chart.
Patrice Rushen's postdisco classic Forget Me Nots
"The band's -Peech Boys- ambient-tinged post-disco epics like "Don't Make Me Wait" and "Life is Something Special" are notable for their cavernous reverberance and dub-deep bass. Peech Boys were on the cutting edge of the early-eighties New York electro-funk sound like D-Train, Vicky D, Rocker's Revenge, Frances [sic] Joli, and Sharon Redd, labels like West End and Prelude, and producers like Arthur Baker, Francois Kevorkian, and John "Jellybean" Benitez.
Kurtis Blow may not have been 100 per cent proof Bronx hip hop, but his early records helped set the style inpost-disco dance music.
[Unlimited Touch] weren't disco, and they weren't exactly straight-up R&B; like their Prelude labelmates D Train, Unlimited Touch combined the two forms into what is often referred to aspost-disco.