It's Raining Men
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The transition from the late-1970s disco styles to the early-1980s dance styles was marked primarily by the change from complex arrangements performed by large ensembles of studio session musicians (including a horn section and an orchestral string section), to a leaner sound, in which one or two singers would perform to the accompaniment of synthesizer keyboards and drum machines.
In addition, dance music during the 1981–83 period borrowed elements from blues and jazz, creating a style different from the disco of the 1970s. This emerging music was still known as disco for a short time, as the word had become associated with any kind of dance music played in discothèques. Examples of early 1980s dance sound performers include D. Train, Kashif, and Patrice Rushen. These changes were influenced by some of the notable R&B and jazz musicians of the 1970s, such as Stevie Wonder, Kashif and Herbie Hancock, who had pioneered "one-man-band"-type keyboard techniques. Some of these influences had already begun to emerge during the mid-1970s, at the height of disco’s popularity.
Songs such as Gloria Gaynor’s "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1974), Thelma Houston’s "Don't Leave Me This Way" (1976), Donna Summer’s "Spring Affair" (1977), Rod Stewart’s "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1978), Donna Summer’s "Bad Girls" (1979), and The Bee Gees’ "Love You Inside Out" (1979) foreshadowed the dramatic change in dance music styles which was to follow in the 1980s.
During the first years of the 1980s, the "disco sound" began to be phased out, and faster tempos and synthesized effects, accompanied by guitar and simplified backgrounds, moved dance music toward the funk and pop genres. This trend can be seen in singer Billy Ocean's recordings between 1979 and 1981. Whereas Ocean's 1979 song American Hearts was backed with an orchestral arrangement played by the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, his 1981 song "One of Those Nights (Feel Like Gettin' Down)" had a more bare, stripped-down sound, with no orchestration or symphonic arrangements. This drift from the original disco sound is called post-disco. In this music scene there are rooted sub-genres, such as italo-disco, techno, house, dance-pop, boogie, and early alternative dance.
During the early 1980s, dance music dropped the complicated melodic structure and orchestration which typified the "disco sound". Examples of well-known songs which illustrate this difference include Kool & the Gang’s "Celebration" (1980), Rick James’ "Super Freak" (1981), Grace Jones's "Pull Up to the Bumper" (1981), Carol Jiani's "Hit N' Run Lover" (1981), Laura Branigan's "Gloria" (1982), The Pointer Sisters’ "I'm So Excited" (1982), Prince’s "1999" (1982), The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men" (1982), Madonna’s "Holiday" (1983), Irene Cara's "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" (1983), Angela Bofill's "Too Tough" (1983), Miquel Brown's "So Many Men, So Little Time" (1983), Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" (1983), Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back" (1983), Cerrone's "Back Track" (1984), Jocelyn Brown's "Somebody Else's Guy" (1984), and Klymaxx's "Meeting in the Ladies Room" (1984).
Post-disco
Later in the 2000s, Daft Punk, a house musical group, adopted post-disco, disco and synthpop sounds of early 1980s to their album Discovery, another artist Les Rythmes Digitales was influenced by post-disco/electro scene of the early 1980s.
Canadian musical group called Chromeo debuted in 2004 by 80s-influenced electrofunk/boogie album She's in Control. The Perfect Beats series (Vol. 1-4) are post-disco compilations of various artists (e.g. Imagination, Level 42, Afrika Bambaataa). Another compilation series are Nighttime lovers (Vol. 1-10) and mixed-up album The Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams.
