Eurodance

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Eurodance
Stylistic origins: Hi-NRG, House music, Italo disco and Hip hop music
Cultural origins: Europe, Early 1990s
Typical instruments: Keyboard, Drum machine
Mainstream popularity: Large (Europe, Canada), Moderate (USA) 1990s
Derivative forms: Bubblegum dance
Other topics
List of Eurodance artists

Eurodance is a colloquial term for a type of European synthesizer-driven dance music which became popular worldwide in the early- to mid-1990s.

Contents

[edit] Definition

The term "Eurodance" was not strongly associated with this style during its ascendant years. This style of music was just as likely to be referred to as "Euro-NRG" or as a form of house music; in Europe it was often referred to as "Dancefloor". Conversely, the term "Eurodance" was not exclusively used for this style early on. For example, Google's USENET archive shows "eurodance" mentioned as early as 1989, but in this case it was used to refer to any European dance music, essentially synonymous to the related style Euro-pop.

However the name "Eurodance" was popularized by Logic Records' Good Time - Logic Euro-Dance Compilation (1995) and Interhit Records' DMA Dance: Eurodance series of compilation albums (1995-1997), and is now a generally understood name for this style of music.

The prefix "Euro" is still a common reference to the genre, despite the introduction of the Euro currency in 2002 and although in Europe itself this style is simply called dance music.

Essentially, Eurodance is nightclub-oriented music that is usually produced somewhere in Europe and sounds commercial enough to be played by radio stations and music television. Some of the more prominent Eurodance songs go international, especially if an act manages to score more than one hit.

[edit] Characteristics of the music

Most Eurodance is characterized by synthesizer riffs, female vocals with simple chorus, male rap parts, sampling, and a strong beat.

[edit] Vocals

Eurodance is often very positive and upbeat; the lyrics often involve issues of love and peace, dancing and partying, or expressing and overcoming difficult emotions. Eurodance vocals are frequently done by a duet consisting of a female singing and a usually male rapping. Several bands use a variation on this theme, such as European rappers (Real McCoy), or the substitution of reggae (Fun Factory) or scat singing (Scatman John) for rap. Lyrics are almost always in English, regardless of the artist's nationalities. However, some artists release their songs in both English and their native languages.

[edit] Percussion

Almost all Eurodance emphasizes percussion and rhythm. While the percussion is always done by synthesizers, it is a sound more typical of dance music and not the "drum machine" sound typical of rap music. The beats per minute varies from 110 to 150, but a BPM of about 135 is very typical.

[edit] Melody

Most Eurodance is also very melody-driven. Besides the contribution of the female vocals, there is often a noticeable use of synthesizer riffs. This is a very distinctive feature of Eurodance that separates it from Hi-NRG disco. The synthesizer often has a piano or barrel organ sound but sometimes mimics other instruments, such as calliope ( ex. Touch the Sky by Cartouche ). There is often a short, repetitive riff, while other times there is a whole tour de force of synthesizers ( ex. Close To You by Fun Factory ). Some songs have a second riff cycling in between verses.

[edit] Characteristics of the bands and business

Eurodance is widely commercialized. Some producers, like Max Martin or Larry Pignagnoli, have fronted dozens of bands. From thousands of records released, only a few bands have existed in the mainstream beyond two records. Many acts, like Captain Jack and Jonny Jakobsen (Dr. Bombay) had a carefully planned humoristic image. A group called E-rotic received attention with sexually provocative lyrics and music videos.

While Eurodance singles regularly went to Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum status, it had been more difficult to get a full length album to get to the same level of success. The culprit is usually the album tracks don't live up the strength of the singles, the performers are not charismatic enough to hold the attention of millions of people or weak or lax promotion after the singles have become hits.

[edit] History

Eurodance is a fusion of several styles of music, primarily house and rap with the Hi-NRG variant of disco.

[edit] Hi-NRG disco

Hi-NRG started in the United States as an underground, faster form of disco after disco had lost mainstream popularity. In the late 1980s it became associated with British record producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and by the early 1990s bands such as Masterboy were producing a European version of Hi-NRG.

Eurodance shows a strong Hi-NRG influence, such as the high BPM and the strong use of female vocals. The influence of Masterboy is readily seen in Eurodance music that does not feature a duet, such as It's My Life by Dr. Alban and What Is Love by Haddaway, never mind that Masterboy themselves are often considered Eurodance artists.

Italian-produced Eurodance artists, such as Alexia and Double You, show a strong Italo-Disco influence. Eurodance can also be seen as a more technologically advanced form of Italo Disco or Euro disco, just as Hi-NRG is the more technologically advanced form of Disco.

[edit] House music

House music, also an underground genre in the United States, had come to the UK and continental Europe around the same time as Hi-NRG. With the rise of "acid" house and "rave" techno, house had become associated with Belgium and the Netherlands by the early 1990s.

Some of the first songs with elements of what would later be called Eurodance are house music. For instance Strike It Up by Black Box (1990) and Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap! (1992) both have the duet characteristic of Eurodance.

[edit] Rap

While Eurodance makes use of rap vocals it does not make use of many of the other elements or rap, such as "gangster" lyrics or scratching records.

It did however popularize rap music in Europe. While rap had been made in Europe at least as far back as Falco's Einzelhaft album (1982), but the American variety only gained a more widespread acceptance when Technotronic landed their hit "Pump Up the Jam", followed by Snap's "The Power".

In the early nineties, the American group C+C Music Factory, and presented a successful equivalent of the European sound of the time that was well-received in Europe. The group was/is fronted by rapper Freedom Williams and veteran dance music artist, Martha Wash. This helped pave the way for Vanilla Ice's and MC Hammer's success in Europe. The songs also enabled previously club-bound techno music to begin a continual rise in most of Europe.

[edit] In Europe

Some examples of Eurodance acts are Cappella, Culture Beat, Jam & Spoon, E-Type, MAXX, La Bouche, Pharao (music), Real McCoy, Ice MC, 2 Unlimited, Dr. Alban, Masterboy, Mr. President and Snap!.

These bands included emphasis of the combo female chorus together with male rap performances. Hence, the duo revival. Each group featured their own signature sound, persona, visual imagery and vocal approach.

Solo artists who performed Eurodance include Amber, Corona, Haddaway. Rozalla supported Michael Jackson during his European "Dangerous" tour. In 1994, Amber made history becoming the first singer in Eurodance history to be signed to a label as a solo artist, not a singer who is bound to a producer. Mostly, producers are the ones signed to the label, not the singer or rapper themselves. Amber parted ways with Tommy Boy Records in 2003 over artistic differences.

Furthermore, the popularity of Eurodance music was enhanced by the Deep Dance and Deep Magic Dance mixes in the late 1980's and 1990s created by DJ Deep, one of the most famous dance music DJs.

[edit] In America

In the United States, several Eurodance artists made the Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100 (radio) between 1993 and 1998. However, it tended to be the more house- and rap-oriented artists that received airplay. For instance, Snap! received quite a bit of airplay early on.

The more Hi-NRG-oriented artists were typically played during special "mix" shows if at all, and it was often necessary to go to a club to hear Eurodance music. Radio stations in the U.S. were cautious about playing anything that sounded too much like disco during most of the 1980s and 1990s. However, Eurodance did become popular with club DJ's in the United States.

In America sales reached into the hundreds of thousands for the compilation series DMA Dance: Eurodance released by the U.S. independent dance label Interhit (formed by Jeff Johnson and Chris Cox of Thunderpuss). This, in conjunction with support from Dance Music Authority magazine, was to further fuel popularity of the eurodance sound in the USA and Canada.

[edit] 2000s

Techno always had an important influence on Eurodance music, which at times was basically its more commercial counterpart (2 Unlimited). From the late 1990s onwards Trance/Euro-Trance began to take more influence from Eurodance as well, while techno music was in decline since the late 90's. By 2006, Trance started slowly losing popularity as quality releases that lived up to the early 2000's sound declined. Interest in Eurodance reignited. Although, this would be considered the second generation of Eurodance, (the third generation if you include Eurodisco), the 2000's saw renewed interest in Eurodance.

Such groups as Milk Inc., Groove Coverage, Cascada, Sylver, Danijay, Colonia, T.M.-Joy, and solo artists such as Kate Ryan, Ashley Jade, Mark Ashley (artist), Lucas Prata, Tina Ann, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Janice Robinson, Mario Lopez, Luca Zeta & Jessy among others, represent some of the best of the second generation of Eurodance artists. Most of them have released hit singles and/or albums stateside.

In the new millennium musicians have increasingly used repeating, manipulated snippets of existing music as the basis of their tracks, something which was eventually picked up by Madonna when she used a song by ABBA to supplement her world hit "Hung Up" (2006).

[edit] Notable Eurodance Artists

main article: List of Eurodance artists

[edit] Related and influential styles

  • Synthpop - This style emerged during the mid 1980's. Exclusively performed by male singers which is rare within other similar styles & sub genres. A type of dance music with futuristic synths and resembling rock music. Synth-Pop did lose its popularity in the mainstream by the early-90's but has never been dormant. It continues to be a popular style seeing a resurgence in the early 2000's.
  • Hi-NRG - A variation of Disco that emerged during the early 1980's. It is pop, classic eurodance, and trance combined, usually sped up. Has pop sensibilities but is not mainstream Pop music. It is a commercially viable music style that can exist successfully outside of a Discotheque. Substantial vocals and infectious synthesized arrangements. Some singers feature strong charisma & vocal personality while others are faceless vocalists who are difficult to tell one vocalist from another if you are not familiar the artists' music.
  • Italo Disco and its modern evolution, Eurobeat, are often thought to be sub-genres of Eurodance, but this is in fact incorrect. They are offshoots of Hi-NRG, with Italo-Disco evolving into Eurobeat sometime in the early 1990s. Although, it is probably true that the bubblegum pop/happy hardcore has shaped the sound.
  • Italo-Dance - Has its roots from 1980s groups like Valerie Dore, Savage, Sabrina, Miko Mission and Radio Rama. Italo in the 1990s took a Eurodance form. Artists like Cappella, Alexia, Spagna, Taleesa, Mollella, CO.RO, DA Blitz, and Double You burst into the scene with success. The newer Italo style today has a sort of a marching beat to it. Some claim Eiffel 65 and Gigi D'Agostino were the fathers of this style.
  • Euro-pop - Popular music related to Dance-pop with elements of classic Eurodance or Trance but is not a lot like one or the other. Chorus and verse structure prevalent. Nearly always incessantly catchy and infectious melodies, synths and beats.
  • Euro-Techno - Tends to use more sound effects and chord hit type sounds with minimal vocals; Crazy keyboard synths; Loud and powerful. Somewhat similar to a style known as Rave.
  • Euro-House - Similar to eurotrance, but contains less vocals; often very few lyrics. Uses harder synth and often has longer, slowly changing and growing songs at a slower tempo. The current trend has been 'Tek-house' style, similar to Benassi Bros. and Benny Benassi.

[edit] Subgenres

As of 2006, Eurodance music has split into several subgenres:

  • "Classic" Eurodance - As noted, often a female vocalist and a male rapper. Synths are catchy and generally not bombastic. The music features thicker production because it is slightly slower than most Eurodance that appeared afterward. Features arrangements, production touches, synths, and bassline unique to the early-mid 1990's. This sound is strongly favored by previously novice, casual and hardcore Eurodance fans.
  • Bubblegum Dance - Essentially the Danish Eurodance version of bubblegum pop. While the instrumental style is similar to "classic" Eurodance, the lyrics tend towards a tongue-in-cheek humor very different from typical "disco" lyrics. Topics tend to be such things as toys, cartoons or video games, double-entendres, and fairytale motifs ( ex. Magic Love by Me and My ). Bubblegum may use either a chorus or a male rapper/female singer duet, though it tends not to make use of American rappers as classic Eurodance does. This style has become very popular in Japan, China, etc., finding an audience with Anime, a kind of Asian cartoon artform such as Pokémon and Initial D.[citation needed] See also Happy Hardcore, which is the "hardcore" techno version of bubblegum pop.
  • Euro-Trance - Often vocal and sometimes rap; structure is without verse or chorus; often vague or repetitive; simple lyrics; a lot of effects and echoes on the vocals; Driving percussion and ethereal chords; often has a strong synth line with addicting rhythm. This style became popular during the 2000's featuring kick drums and Trance-like synths. Is not as timeless or classy in production style as classic Eurodance. It has made an impression in the American mainstream but is not as strong or as memorable as classic Eurodance's effect in the American mainstream Dance & Pop worlds.

[edit] Notable internet radio stations

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Eurodance-related

[edit] General music resources

[edit] Specific bands

See List of Eurodance artists

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