Euro disco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term Euro disco refers to a collection of styles and genres of electronic dance music that had emerged from Europe by the early 1980s, incorporating elements of electropop and disco into new hybrids such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, Eurohouse, British Pop and others. The term is also commonly written as Eurodisco and Euro-disco. A typical Euro disco song has a contrasting verse-chorus form, a synthesizer-based accompaniment, and lyrics sung in English. Of course, the term has never been used in Europe, where such music was and is simply considered pop or disco music.
One of the early representors of the genre was a British group Imagination, with their series of hits throughout 1981 and 1982. In 1982 Euro disco began to develop in Italy by groups like Gazebo, Kano and Lectric Workers. During the late 80' Italian disco artists Spagna and Sabrina became popular in Europe with disco songs entering top charts in every major European country.
The influence of Euro disco had infiltrated dance and pop in the U.S. by 1983, as European producers and songwriters inspired a new generation of American performer eager to breathe new life into dance music otherwise abandoned by US radio. While disco had been declared "dead" due to a backlash there in 1979, subsequent Euro-flavored successes crossing the boundaries of rock, pop, and dance, such as "Call Me" by Blondie and "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, ushered in a new era of American-fronted dance music often forgotten in favor of, or considered a subgenre within the "Second British Invasion" happening concurrently. Branigan (produced by German producer Jack White) moved deeper into the Euro disco style for further hits, alongside Giorgio Moroder-produced US acts Berlin and Irene Cara.
By 1984, musicians from many countries had begun to produce Euro disco songs. In Germany, notable practitioners of the sound included Modern Talking, Sandra, and Alphaville. Austria had Falco, although he was also heavily influenced by rap and rock music. Britain's most famous contributors to disco music in the mid-80's were the Pet Shop Boys until Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced singers such as Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue conquered the airwaves.
Some note that the same elements which were later embraced in greater measure as Euro disco had already come together cohesively as early as the mid- to late-1970s in certain tracks by artists such as the Swedish group ABBA, and the American singer Donna Summer.
By the early 1990s, its mainstream popularity having waned in Europe, Euro disco developed into Eurodance.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Euro-Flash.net - an article on euro disco
- scheul.de - contains info about chart positions of Euro disco artists in the world.
- Webdjsitalodisco.Ch - contains info about Italo-Disco and its artists, including interviews.
- Eurodisco video on DVD - Selling, trading videos from the 80s (Italo, Euro disco)
| Disco |
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| Bright disco - Dance-punk - Disco polo - Euro disco - Hi-NRG - House - Italo disco - Spacesynth |
| Artists - Discothèque - Nightclub - Orchestration - Other electronic music genres |
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