Boogie (genre)

Boogie (sometimes called post-disco)^[1][2][3] is a rhythm and blues genre of electronic dance music with close ties to the post-disco style, that first emerged in the United States during the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The sound of boogie defined by bridging acoustic and electronic musical instruments with emphasis on vocals and miscellaneous effects later evolved into electro and house music.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Characteristics

Boogie, following the example of post-disco, lacks the four-on-the-floor beat (however there are examples of exceptions where some tracks will include the four-on-the-floor beat), which is a "traditional" rhythm of disco music,^[9] has a strong accent on the second and fourth beats and generally is located in the 110 to 116 beats-per-minute range.^[2] Aside from applying certain technological and promotional aspects of new wave music and having been fairly exposed to its subgenre synthpop, boogie is, however, R&B-rooted^[10] and predominantly draws from funk music. Other influences from a completely different music landscape include jazz.^[6] Typical boogie track can be characterized by mid-tempo rhythm, prominent use of slap bass (electric—in the early ‘80s—and/or synthetic—mid-80s onwards), loud clapping sound, melodic chords and, obviously, synthesizers.^{[4][5][11][12]}

The term, coined by British DJs Norman Jay and Dez Parkes, is nowadays used on eBay to refer a specific form of early-1980s dance music of African-American origin.^[4]

History

1920s–1930s: etymology

The first documented use of the word boogie is dated back to 1929.^{[nb 1]} Boogie, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is an occasion for dancing to the strongly rhythmic rock music that encourage people to dance.^[13] Earliest association of the word boogie was with blues and later rock and roll and rockabilly genres.

1970s–1980s: current meaning

In the 1970s, the term was revitalized for disco and later post-disco subcultures. The term "boogie" was used in London to describe a form of African-American dance/funk music from the 1980s. The name boogie tended to be used as, although essentially used to describe disco records, the word disco had gained bad connotations by the early 1980s.

Originally the word boogie could be found in 1970s funk and disco records, most notably "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey and "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth Wind and Fire,^[2] but tracks like "Give Me the Night" (George Benson, 1980), "Boogie's Gonna Get Ya" (Rafael Cameron, 1981), "I'm in Love" (Evelyn "Champagne" King, 1981), "You're the One for Me" (D. Train, 1981), "Don't Make Me Wait" (Peech Boys, 1982) or "Break Dancin' - Electric Boogie" (West Street Mob, 1984) helped define the musical style of boogie.^[3][4]

Throughout the 1980s, various New York City-based boogie groups began experimenting with the dub-infused bass which anticipated the sounds of house. One of these groups was Peech Boys, followed by D. Train, Vicky D, and Sharon Redd. While some record producers, such as François Kevorkian and Larry Levan, were polishing and extending the limits of urban-oriented boogie, others like Arthur Baker and John "Jellybean" Benitez drew their influences from European and Japanese technopop music. The latter approach paved the way for electro, and subsequently, freestyle music.^[14]

Boogie had a popular following within London's underground scene, often based around nightclubs and club DJs due to a lack of mainstream radio support. Boogie records were mostly imported from the United States and were sometimes regarded as "electro-funk" or "disco-funk".^[3]

1980s: evolution of electro

The instrument that built electro, the Roland TR-808 drum machine.

Among electro-boogie (later shortened to electro) pioneers include Zapp,^[15] D. Train,^[16] Sinnamon and other post-disco/boogie musicians; especially those influenced by new wave and synthpop acts like Human League or Gary Numan, combined with the R&B sound of Herbie Hancock and George Clinton.^[16] As the electronic progression continued, acoustic instruments such as bass guitar were replaced by Japanese-made synthesizers and most notably by iconic drum machines like Roland TR-808. Early uses of this drum machine include several Yellow Magic Orchestra tracks in 1980-1981, the 1982 track "Planet Rock" by Afrikaa Bambaataa, and the 1982 song "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye.^[17]

About electro origins, Greg Wilson argues:

2000s–2010s: revitalization

Much later in the 2000s (decade) and early 2010s, indietronica groups and artists such as James Pants, Juice Aleem, Sa-Ra Creative Partners are being influenced by the sounds of boogie and 1980s electronic music in general.^[18][19][20]

Chromeo, a Canadian duo, published a boogie-oriented album called She's in Control in 2004.^[21] Dâm-Funk is another boogie-influenced artist hailing from Los Angeles. He published an album called Toeachizown in 2009.^[22]

Various Myspace and blogosphere musical acts publish boogie- and electro-influenced indie music on their blogs.

Other scenes

Brazil

A still-undocumented boogie scene happened in Rio de Janeiro, where R&B, funk and disco were warmly welcome. Acts like Banda Black Rio and producers Lincoln Olivetti and Robson Jorge tried mixing those North American sounds - they were influenced by Quincy Jones's productions and artists like Seawind, The Brothers Johnson and the Doobie Brothers - with samba and African Brazilian sounds. The first boogie tracks were cut for soap opera soundtracks and, little by little, mainstream artists like Rita Lee and Guilherme Arantes started to flirt with boogie. As synthesizers and up-to-date recording equipment were very expensive due to market reserve policies, only a limited number of artists had access to the best facilities and there was no underground or independent scene.

A significant Brazilian boogie artist is Marcos Valle. He lived for five years in Los Angeles and worked with Leon Ware and Chicago. Deeply influenced by disco and boogie, he returned to Brazil in late 1980 and released the upbeat album Vontade de rever você, inspired "on the dancefloors of Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon and Barra beaches". Two years later Valle released "Estrelar", another celebration of Carioca mood, followed by a whole boogie album, Marcos Valle (1983), and another notable single: "Bicicleta" (1984). Aside from Valle, other prominent Rio Boogie artists were Sandra de Sa, Emilio Santiago, Jon Lucien (who was living in Rio at the time), Almir Ricardi and actor Mário Gomes (who recorded "O dono da bola" as the theme song for a character he was playing at a soap opera). Lincoln Olivetti and Robson Jorge's mostly-instrumental LP from 1982 is another example.

Artists

American and British boogie and/or at some point boogie-influenced artists include:

International artists include:

Contemporary artists influenced by boogie include:

Compilations

See also

• Electro music
• Old school hip hop

Notes

1. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary states that the term was used as early as 1913.

References

External links

• The dictionary definition of boogie at Wiktionary