Post-disco is a term to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and indistinctly ending with the mainstream appearance of new 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 called hi-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 the East Coast that "was neither disco and neither R&B."[3] This scene, known as post-disco,[nb 1] catering to the New York metropolitan area, was initially led by urban contemporary artists partially in response to the perceived over-commercialization and artistic downfall of disco culture. It was developed from the rhythm and blues sound exemplified by Parliament-Funkadelic,[6] the electronic side of disco, dub music techniques, and other genres. Post-disco was typified by New York City music groups like "D" Train[3] and Unlimited Touch[3] who followed a more urban approach while others, like Material[7] and ESG,[8] followed a more experimental one. Post-disco was, like disco, a singles-driven market[2] controlled mostly by independent record companies that generated a cross-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 the dance-pop era.
Synthesizers played a crucial part in the development of post-disco.
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 them one-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 more popular and mainstream acts like Madonna, New Order or Pet Shop Boys.[1]
Musical elements
The music tended to be technology-centric, keyboard-laden, melodic, with funk-oriented bass lines (often performed on a Minimoog), synth riffs, dub music aesthetics, and background jazzy or blues-y piano layers.[1][2][21][22][23] For strings and brass sections, synthesizer sounds were preferred to the lush orchestration 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.
Term usage
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."
The term "post-disco" was used as early as 1984 by Cadence magazine when defining post-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 was Gregory Hines's introduction of post-disco and electronic funk to Russian-American dance choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov "who has never heard this kind of music."[26] AllMusic states that the term denotes a music 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 their Spy's Rock Critic-o-Matic article, whereas spoofing various music reviews published by Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and Spin.[27] Cuban-American writer Elías Miguel Muñoz in his 1989 novel Crazy Love, in a passage where musicians after moving to America discuss what their "style" may be, used the term in a satirical manner.[28]
History
Background events
Disco music backlash had started around 1977.
United States
Midwesterners didn't want that intimidating [disco] style shoved down their throats[29]
Shortly after the "Disco Sucks" movement of disco bashing throughout the United States, American radio stations began to pay attention to other popular formats of music such as reggae, punk rock or new wave while top mainstream labels and record companies like Casablanca, TK Records or RSO went bankrupt. Since disco music had been on the way of [its] electronic progression, it split itself into subscenes and styles like Hi-NRG, freestyle, Italo disco and boogie.[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 pioneer Eumir Deodato, well aware of current trends in American underground music, turned around the career of a failing funk music group Kool & 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) and Change (Atlantic) acts' creator Jacques 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 duo Henri Belolo and Jacques Morali, creators of the successful Village People act, moved their former disco act Ritchie Family to RCA Victor to release their next album co-produced by funk musician Fonzi Thornton and Petrus, I'll Do My Best, which mirrors their radical musical shift.[33] On the West Coast, especially in California, a different approach lead to a different sound. Dick Griffey and Leon Sylvers III of SOLAR Records, who pioneered their own signature sound, produced Ohio-based group Lakeside's album Rough Riders which already displayed these new trends and, "instrumentally demonstrates economic arrangements (featuring brass, keyboards and guitar)," as noted by Billboard, praising the album.[34] A watershed album of post-disco was Michael Jackson's Off The Wall, produced by Quincy 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 are Rick James, Change and Teena Marie.[20]
Europe
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 and new romantic movements around 1981,[36] and continued to flourish within the Italo disco scene although the interest for electronic music in general was indeed growing.
United Kingdom
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 to Billboard, American post-disco was merely a crossover of different genres, while focusing on the electronic and R&B overtones, whereas jazz-funk was a crucial element of the British post-disco scene that generated musicians like Chaz Jankel, Central Line or Imagination.
1980s: Golden age
This section summary shows 80s commercially successful records from the post-disco movement.
Contemporary compilation albums featuring post-disco and electro artists (e.g. Imagination, Level 42, Afrika Bambaataa) include The Perfect Beats series (volume 1–4).[67] Another compilation series are Nighttime Lovers (volume 1-10) and the mixed-up album titled The Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams.
Pioneers and followers
"Thanks To You" and "Don't Make Me Wait" came out and started the whole dub thing in disco.[68]
Particular psychedelic soul artists like Sly 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-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder was one of the early artists venturing into the realms of analog synthesizer after being impressed by the work of T.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 by Roland Corporation. One of their first users was cutting-edge artist George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic collective project. Funk rhythms, psychedelic guitars, synthetic bass-rich lines, the particularly melodic endeavor and music minimalism of P-Funk. Brooklyn Transit Express member Kashif, noted for his use of bass synthesizer[69] during the group's tour, later went solo as a record producer and began crafting funk-influenced songs for Evelyn "Champagne" King that shown a minimalism-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. DJ Larry Levan implemented elements of dub music in his productions and mixes for various post-disco artists, including his own group The Peech Boys. Musically, there was a search for out-of-mainstream music to derive new ideas from, most commonly blues, and other styles like reggae and so on, were also incorporated.
The new post-disco sound was flourishing among predominately New York City record companies, including West 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.
Timeline
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 the urban-oriented music in general.[20]
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.
Remixers, DJs and other personalities influential on post-disco include Nick Martinelli, Ron Hardy and Larry Levan.
1982
Golden age post-disco era, where post-disco sound entered mainstream. However most of the musicians were mostly successful on the other charts, beside Billboard Hot 100.
During this era, post-disco was at its highest peak. Meanwhile, Madonna's commercially successful debut album was released, which was produced by Reggie Lucas of Mtume and Jellybean, 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 like Beat Street and Breakin'.
As the post-disco reached its climax, overdubbing techniques as recorded by Peech 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 spanned Raww, Hanson & Davis, Timex Social Club, Starpoint and Miami Sound Machine.
The 1980s post-disco sounds also inspired many Norwegiandance music producers.[83] Some rappers such as Ice Cube or EPMD built their careers on funk-oriented post-disco music (they were inspired for example by dance-floor favorites like Zapp and Cameo).[84] Also Sean "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 with post-punk/no wave genres with fewer R&B/funk influences. An example of this "post-disco" is Gina X's "No G.D.M."[88] and artists like Liquid Liquid, Polyrock,[89]Dinosaur L, and the Disco Not Disco (2000) compilation album.[90][91] This movement also connects with dance-oriented rock; Michael Campbell, in his book Popular Music in America defines that genre as "post-punk/post-disco fusion."[92] Campbell also cited Robert 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" by Indeep and "Love Come Down" by Evelyn "Champagne" King, whereas the latter crossed over to Billboard charts including Adult Contemporary, while peaking at number 17 on the pop chart in 1982.[94] Another crossover post-disco song was "Juicy Fruit" by Mtume, peaking at number 45 on the Hot 100 in 1983.[95] Same year also saw the release of Madonna's eponymous album that incorporated post-disco, urban and club sounds. British variation of dance-pop, pioneered by Stock 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 by Italian musicians, but it soon made its way to Canada and United States. One of the earliest post–disco-oriented groups were Klein + M.B.O. and Kano, while New York-based Bobby Orlando was located abroad.[2]
^Various terms to describe the sound of what seemed to be post-disco were introduced, such as, but not limited to, "dance", "club music", "R&B", and "disco". The last, however, become an unfashionable term, hence the increasing use of "dance"[4][5] vis-à-vis the word "disco".
^Rodgers, Nile (2011). Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny. Random House LLC. p. 42. ISBN978-0679644033. 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'.
^ abParliament/Funkadelic. (2009). In Student's EncyclopædiaArchived 2009-04-21 at the Wayback Machine: "Combining funk rhythms, psychedelic guitar, and group harmonies with jazzed-up horns, Clinton and his ever-evolving bands set the tone for many post-disco and post-punk groups of the 1980s and 1990s.". Retrieved August 15, 2009, from Britannica Student Encyclopædia.
^Smay, David & Cooper, Kim (2001). Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth: The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop, from the Banana Splits to Britney Spears: "... think about Stock-Aitken-Waterman and Kylie Minogue. Dance pop, that's what they call it now — Post-Disco, post-new wave and incorporating elements of both." Feral House: Publisher, p. 327. ISBN0-922915-69-5.
^ abDemers, Joanna (2006). "Dancing Machines: 'Dance Dance Revolution', Cybernetic Dance, and Musical Taste". Popular Music. 25 (3). Cambridge University Press: 25, 401–414. doi:10.1017/S0261143006001012. S2CID162637991. "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, ...)
^Campbell, Michael (2008). Popular Music in America. Cengage Learning. p. 352. ISBN978-0-495-50530-3. Glossary: techno – post-disco dance music in which most or all of the sounds are electronically generated
^AllMusic - explore music ...House: "House music grew out of the post-disco dance club culture of the early '80s." Retrieved on 12-27-2009
^St. John, Graham
George Michael, (2004), Rave Culture and Religion, p. 50, ISBN0-415-31449-6, " [sic] house music. As a post-disco party music, house features a repetitive 4/4 beat and a speed of 120 or more beats per minute ..."
^"Though it makes sense to classify any form of dance music made since disco as post-disco, each successive movement has had its own characteristics to make it significantly different from the initial post-disco era, whether it's dance-pop or techno or trance." — Allmusic
^Nelson, George (2003). The Death of Rhythm and Blues. Penguin. ISBN1101160675. 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.
^New York (New York Media, LLC). 18: 121. 2 December 1985. ISSN0028-7369. ((cite journal)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
^"That's the Way (Uh-huh, Uh-huh) I Like It - introducing SPY'S ROCK-CRITIC-o-MATIC (by David Bourgeois)". Spy. Sussex Publishers, LLC: 33. May 1992. ISSN0890-1759. "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".
^Billboard. No. 92. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 18 Jul 1980. ISSN0006-2510. Disco Business > An Art Unto Itself: Programming of Mobiles - Chicago((cite magazine)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
^Serwer, Jesse (2009) XLR8R: Jesse Serwer in an interview with Dam-Funk. Retrieved on 2-2-2010.
^Webber, Stephen (2007). DJ Skills: The Essential Guide to Mixing and Scratching. Focal Press, 2007. p. 25. ISBN978-0-240-52069-8.
^ abcAerna, James (2013). First Ladies of Disco: 32 Stars Discuss the Era and Their Singing Careers. Penguin. pp. 186–87. ISBN978-1476603322.
^"Billboard's Top Album Picks (1979). Billboard SPECIAL SURVEY For Week Ending 10/13/79". Billboard. No. 91. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Oct 13, 1979. ISSN0006-2510.
^Ro, Ronin (1999). Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records. Broadway Books. p. 40. ISBN978-0-3854-9135-8. 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."
^Soul > LP > Earth Wind & Fire: Raise!: Earth Wind & Fire hits the 80s -- and never misses a beat! Turns out that the group's older style of jazzy funk was a perfect fit for the boogie-styled rhythms of the post-disco era". Dusty Groove. Retrieved on August 12, 2009.
^Lester, Paul (11 March 2014). "Yumi Zouma (No 1,717)". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2014. Patrice Rushen's postdisco classic Forget Me Nots
^Grow, Kory (May 2008). Revolver Magazine article: Why The Most Dangerous Band Of The Decade, True Norwegian, Black Metallers, Gorgoroth, Turned On Itself - "When the post-disco classic "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" by early-'80s New York crew Indeep comes on, King asks what the singer means by the bizarre titular statement.". No. 68. ISSN 1527-408X.
^Hoffmann, W. Frank & Ferstler, Howard (2005). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound (Publication no. 2): "He [Harry Casey] briefly returned to the public eye billed as KC with the release of KC Ten (Meca 8301; 1984: #93), featuring the post-disco single 'Give It Up' (Meca 1001; 1984; #18), before fading back into obscurity". p. 566. ISBN0-415-93835-X
^ abThe Eighties Club: The Politics and Pop Culture of the 1980s: "On the dance floor, David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" defined the post-disco beat." Retrieved on August 11, 2009.
^ abOne Hit Wonder Center - One-Hit Wonder Music of the 50s~90s: "There are also tracks to represent the rise of post-disco club/dance trend, such as Laid Back's "White Horse", New Edition's "Cool It Now", and Timex Social Club's " Rumors" ". Retrieved on August 12, 2009.
^ abMorales, Ed (2002). Living in Spanglish: the search for Latino identity in America: ""With their group, Miami Sound Machine, ..."Doctor Beat," manages to fuse elements of Latin percussion with the electric hass heats of the post-disco era". p. 244. ISBN0-312-26232-9.
^"Youngest Pointer Sister Loses Cancer Battle at 52". IMDb.com, Inc. 13 April 2006. Retrieved 10 July 2013. "The Pointer Sisters ... really found their niche in the post-disco world, recording smooth tunes like "Slow Hand" and dance floor fillers such as "I'm So Excited.""
^(2001) CMJ New Music Monthly - Best New Music - Daft Punk (Discovery): "Although it's only fair to credit Chicago with the post-disco dance style's paternal rights, the French [Daft Punk] have (at the very least) earned covered weekend privilegies." Publisher: CMJ Network, Inc. No. 93. p. 71. ISSN 1074-6978
^Paoletta, Michael (1999). Billboard Magazine: Reviews & Previews: Spotlight (Les Rythmes Digitales - Darkdancer): "[about funky and British synth-pop] two musical styles steeped in the post-disco/electro scene of New York in the early '80s". p. 30. ISSN 0006-2510
^New York Times (November 2011) Jessica Reedy's Album, 'From the Heart' / Escort. "Escort has been hovering around New York City's postpunk and post-disco revival scenes for years, and always felt a bit out of place." Retrieved on 2012-16-01.
^[Post-disco at AllMusic The Perfect Beats, Vol. 1] by Allmusic. Retrieved on 1-28-2010
^ abcdReynolds, Simon (Jul 16, 1999). Generation ecstasy: into the world of techno and rave culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 35. ISBN0-415-92373-5. "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.
^Broughton, Frank & Brewster, Bill (2000). Larry Levan's Paradise Garage | DJhistory.comArchived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine - Disco's revenge: " [sic] But by the turn of the eighties, he was experimenting with drum machines and synthesizers and, like François Kevorkian around the same time, forging a new electronic, post-disco sound". Retrieved on 1-4-2010.
^[Post-disco at AllMusic allmusic] > ((( Bobby Orlando - Overview ))): "Genre: Electronic, Styles: Hi-NRG, Club/Dance, R&B, Post-disco". Retrieved on 12-27-2009.
^Toop, David (1984). The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip-Hop. Pluto Press. p. 93. Kurtis Blow may not have been 100 per cent proof Bronx hip hop, but his early records helped set the style in post-disco dance music.
^Bogdanov, Vladimir (2003). All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 709. ISBN978-0-87930-744-8. [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 as post-disco.
^Heyliger, M., Music - Help - Web - ReviewArchived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine - A State-of-the-Art Pop Album (Thriller by Michael Jackson): "Not many artists could pull off such a variety of styles (funk, post-disco, rock, easy listening, ballads) back then ...". Retrieved on August 12, 2009
^Ham, Anthony & Roddis, Miles and Lundgren, Kari (2008). Norway: Discover Norway - (The Culture) Interview with Bernt Erik Pedersen, music editor, Dagsavisen: "A lot of current dance music producers are influenced by the post-disco sound of the early 80s". Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications. p. 53. ISBN1-74104-579-7.
^Light, Alan (November 1993). V I B E - Funk Masters article: "It's no wonder that rappers such as EPMD and Ice Cube, striving for that perfect mind-body fusion, have built careers out of fragments from these fathers of funk (as well as the post-disco wave they inspired - dance-floor favourites like Zapp and Cameo)". p. 51?, ISSN 1070-4701
^Schoonmaker, Trevor (2003). Fela: from West Africa to West Broadway: "Puffy's consistent pilfering of pop coffers from a certain time period shows undoubtedly that he is influenced by the post-disco R&B bounce of the late 1970s and early 1980s". Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 4. ISBN1-4039-6210-3.
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