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Hi-NRG

April 08, 2023

Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy")[1] is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Hi-NRG
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1970s – early 1980s, United States
Derivative forms
Regional scenes
  • London
  • New York
  • San Francisco
Other topics
List of artists and songs

As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-floor pattern), reverberated "intense" vocals and "pulsating" octave basslines, it was particularly influential on the disco scene. Its earliest association was with Italo disco.

Characteristics

Whether hi-NRG is more rock-oriented[2] than standard disco music is a matter of opinion. Hi-NRG can be heavily synthesized but it is not a prerequisite, and whether it is devoid of "funkiness" is, again, in the ear of the beholder. Certainly, many artists perform their vocals in R&B and soul styles on hi-NRG tracks. [2] The genre's tempo ranges between 120 and 140 beats per minute.[3] The tempos cited here do not represent the full range of beats (BPM) of hi-NRG tracks; rather the tempos are retrieved from one source which is not an expert musical reference, but a sociological study of dance culture. Lyrics tend to be overtly camp, kitschy, tongue-in-cheek, sexually suggestive with double entendres[4] but also occasionally sentimental or maudlin.[5]

The sound of high energy dance tracks, particularly electronic dance or disco, is immediately identifiable by its iconic basslines, pioneered by producer Giorgio Moroder, often programmed in repeating bass sequences, particularly 16th notes, which is characteristic of the hi-NRG electronic dance sound as in "I Feel Love" performed by Donna Summer and produced by Moroder.[6] The rhythm is characterized by an energetic, staccato, sequenced synthesizer sound of octave basslines or/and where the bass often takes the place of the hi-hat, alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record.[7][8] There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines.

One form of hi-NRG, as performed by Megatone Records artists and Ian Levine, is any uptempo disco and dance music, whether containing octave basslines or not, that often features covers of "classic" Motown hits (Boys Town Gang) and torch songs, and is often "theatrical" in performance, featuring female (and male) musicians with facetious diva[9] personas and male musicians sometimes in "drag" (Sylvester, Divine), cabarets/musical theater (Vicki Sue Robinson, Sharon Redd). This style, that Stock Aitken Waterman were influenced by,[10] had a large cult following among LGBT club-goers in the 1980s, especially San Franciscan black and white gay men.[9]

A second form, a precursor of Italian/Japanese "Eurobeat", with influences of techno[11] and early Chicago house, primarily focuses on its characteristic sequenced "octave-jumping basslines" above anything else and in this form hi-NRG managed to surge into the mainstream with Stacey Q, Kim Wilde, and Laura Branigan. The octave basslines are also found in electroclash and in both cases may be traced to synthpop[12] and even further back to Giorgio Moroder ("I Feel Love").[13]

Terminology

Donna Summer was interviewed about her single "I Feel Love", which was a mostly electronic, relatively high-tempo Euro disco song without a strong funk component. In the interview, she said "this song became a hit because it has a high-energy vibe".[14] Following that interview, the description "high-energy" was increasingly applied to high-tempo disco music, especially songs dominated by electronic timbres.[14] The tempo threshold for high-energy disco was around 130 to 140 BPM. In the 1980s, the term "high-energy" was stylized as "hi-NRG". Eurobeat, dance-pop and freestyle artists such as Shannon, Stock Aitken & Waterman, Taylor Dayne, Freeez and Michael Sembello were also labeled as "hi-NRG" when sold in the United States.

In the 1980s, "hi-NRG" referred not just to any high-tempo disco/dance music, but to a specific genre, only somewhat disco-like.

Ian Levine, a hi-NRG DJ, the in-house DJ at London's Heaven nightclub in its early years and subsequently a record producer, defines hi-NRG as "melodic, straightforward dance music that's not too funky."[15] Music journalist Simon Reynolds adds "The nonfunkiness was crucial. Slamming rather than swinging, hi-NRG's white European feel was accentuated by butt-bumping bass twangs at the end of each bar."[15]

History

High-tempo disco music dates back to the mid-1970s. Early examples include several British disco songs by Biddu and Tina Charles in 1976 and Patrick Hernandez ("Born to Be Alive") in 1979.[16][17]

Examples of high energy disco acts include Claudja Barry, Miquel Brown, Amanda Lear, France Joli, Sylvester, Divine, Amii Stewart, the Pointer Sisters, Lime, Lisa, and the Weather Girls. San Francisco-based Patrick Cowley and New York producer and composer Bobby Orlando were behind a number of high energy hits in this period. Orlando acts include Divine, the Flirts, and Claudja Barry.

In the early 1980s, high energy music found moderate mainstream popularity in Europe, while opposing both Euro disco and electro on the dance scene and it became mainstream in the gay community in the United States. Hi-NRG was reliant on technology and was all about "unfeasibly athletic dancing, bionic sex, and superhuman stamina".[18] The freedom associated with it seemed to be embodied by a literal escape from human embodiment and synchrony with technology. However, this was generally limited to the bodies of men as evidenced by songs titled "Menergy", and "So Many Men, So Little Time". Producers such as Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley created "an aural fantasy of a futuristic club populated entirely by Tom of Finland studs."[18]

During the same period, a genre of music styled as "hi-NRG" (EDM) became popular in Canada and the UK. The most popular groups of this style are Trans-X and Lime. The genre is also closely related to space disco; bands of this genre include Koto, Laserdance, and Cerrone. The hi-NRG sound also influenced techno and house music.[citation needed]

Commercial success

In 1983 in the UK, music magazine Record Mirror began publishing a weekly hi-NRG chart. Hi-NRG entered the mainstream with hits in the UK pop and dance charts (and the US dance charts), such as Hazell Dean's "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)" and Evelyn Thomas's "High Energy".[19][20]

In the mid-1980s, hi-NRG producers in the dance and pop charts included Ian Levine and Stock Aitken Waterman, both of whom worked with many different artists. Stock Aitken Waterman had two of the most successful hi-NRG singles ever with their productions of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (UK #1, CAN #1, US #11 in 1985) and Bananarama's "Venus" (US #1, CAN #1, UK #8 in 1986).[21] They also brought the genre full circle, in a sense, by writing and producing Donna Summer's 1989 hit "This Time I Know It's for Real" (UK #3, CAN #7, US #7).

American music magazine Dance Music Report published hi-NRG charts and related industry news in the mid to late 1980s as the genre reached its peak.[22] By 1990, however, techno and rave had superseded hi-NRG in popularity in many dance clubs. Despite this, hi-NRG music is still being produced and played in various forms, including many remixed versions of mainstream pop hits, some with re-recorded vocals. Later in the 1990s, nu-NRG music, a form of trance music, evolved from hi-NRG was born.[23]

Artists

Main article: List of hi-NRG artists and songs

References

  1. ^ "Explore music...Genre: Hi-NRG". AllMusic. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Greene, Doyle (March 10, 2014). The Rock Cover Song: Culture, History, Politics. McFarland. p. 106. ISBN 9780786478095.
  3. ^ Depta, Klaus (December 10, 2015). Rock- und Popmusik als Chance: Impulse für die praktische Theologie. p.284. Springer-Verlag. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  4. ^ e.g. lyrics of Stacey Q "We Connect" (W. Wilcox), Atlantic Records, 1986. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  5. ^ Loza, Susana Ilma (2004). Global Rhetoric, Transnational Markets: The (post)modern Trajectories of Electronic Dance Music. Page ix. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  6. ^ Roey Ixhaki “Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools” page 202-204
  7. ^ Top 10 Electronic Music Genres you probably haven't heard of. February 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine | Boy in a Band. Retrieved July 2, 2010
  8. ^ Fritz, Jimi (1999). Rave Culture: An Insider's Overview: "Hi-NRG is an early evolution of new-style disco. Simple, fast, danceable early house where the bass often takes the place of the high hat". Publisher: SmallFry Press, p. 94. ISBN 0-9685721-0-3
  9. ^ a b Butler, Mark Jonathan (2012). Electronica, Dance and Club Music. Ashgate. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-7546-2965-8.
  10. ^ Brewster, Bill & Broughton, Frank (April 12, 2011). The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries. Page 81. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  11. ^ AllMusic about Hi-NRG influence on techno music: "techno expanded with the mechanical beats of Hi-NRG."
  12. ^ Collins, Nick; Collins, Nicholas; Schedel, Margaret; Wilson, Scott (May 9, 2013). Electronic Music. Cambridge University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-107-01093-2.
  13. ^ Ahlers, Michael; Jacke, Christoph (2017). Perspectives on German Popular Music. London & New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Ltd. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-4724-7962-4.
  14. ^ a b Jones, Alan and Kantonen, Jussi (1999) Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco. Chicago, Illinois: A Cappella Books. ISBN 1-55652-411-0.
  15. ^ a b Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-14-303672-2.
  16. ^ I Love to Love: Tina Charles at AllMusic
  17. ^ Dance Little Lady: Tina Charles at AllMusic
  18. ^ a b Shapiro, Peter, and Iara Lee. Modulations: a History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound. Caipirinha Productions, 2000.
  19. ^ "Hazell Dean – Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  20. ^ "Evelyn Thomas – Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  21. ^ AllMusic – Stock Aitken Waterman
  22. ^ "USA Hi-NRG chart, December 1986 *20 years ago*". DiscoMusic.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2012.
  23. ^ Electronic Music Styles – NU NRG TRANCE March 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. July 2, 2010.

External links

  • Dance Music Report's Hi-NRG Top 200 of the 1980s
  • Eurodance Magazine

April 08, 2023
pronounced, high, energy, genre, uptempo, disco, electronic, dance, music, that, originated, united, states, during, late, 1970s, early, 1980s, stylistic, originselectronic, discocultural, originslate, 1970s, early, 1980s, united, statesderivative, formseurobe. Hi NRG pronounced high energy 1 is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music EDM that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s Hi NRGStylistic originsElectronic discoCultural originsLate 1970s early 1980s United StatesDerivative formsEurobeat Eurodance Italo disco hard house hard NRG new beatRegional scenesLondon New York San FranciscoOther topicsList of artists and songsAs a music genre typified by fast tempo staccato hi hat rhythms and the four on the floor pattern reverberated intense vocals and pulsating octave basslines it was particularly influential on the disco scene Its earliest association was with Italo disco Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Terminology 3 History 3 1 Commercial success 4 Artists 5 References 6 External linksCharacteristics EditWhether hi NRG is more rock oriented 2 than standard disco music is a matter of opinion Hi NRG can be heavily synthesized but it is not a prerequisite and whether it is devoid of funkiness is again in the ear of the beholder Certainly many artists perform their vocals in R amp B and soul styles on hi NRG tracks 2 The genre s tempo ranges between 120 and 140 beats per minute 3 The tempos cited here do not represent the full range of beats BPM of hi NRG tracks rather the tempos are retrieved from one source which is not an expert musical reference but a sociological study of dance culture Lyrics tend to be overtly camp kitschy tongue in cheek sexually suggestive with double entendres 4 but also occasionally sentimental or maudlin 5 The sound of high energy dance tracks particularly electronic dance or disco is immediately identifiable by its iconic basslines pioneered by producer Giorgio Moroder often programmed in repeating bass sequences particularly 16th notes which is characteristic of the hi NRG electronic dance sound as in I Feel Love performed by Donna Summer and produced by Moroder 6 The rhythm is characterized by an energetic staccato sequenced synthesizer sound of octave basslines or and where the bass often takes the place of the hi hat alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record 7 8 There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines One form of hi NRG as performed by Megatone Records artists and Ian Levine is any uptempo disco and dance music whether containing octave basslines or not that often features covers of classic Motown hits Boys Town Gang and torch songs and is often theatrical in performance featuring female and male musicians with facetious diva 9 personas and male musicians sometimes in drag Sylvester Divine cabarets musical theater Vicki Sue Robinson Sharon Redd This style that Stock Aitken Waterman were influenced by 10 had a large cult following among LGBT club goers in the 1980s especially San Franciscan black and white gay men 9 A second form a precursor of Italian Japanese Eurobeat with influences of techno 11 and early Chicago house primarily focuses on its characteristic sequenced octave jumping basslines above anything else and in this form hi NRG managed to surge into the mainstream with Stacey Q Kim Wilde and Laura Branigan The octave basslines are also found in electroclash and in both cases may be traced to synthpop 12 and even further back to Giorgio Moroder I Feel Love 13 Terminology EditDonna Summer was interviewed about her single I Feel Love which was a mostly electronic relatively high tempo Euro disco song without a strong funk component In the interview she said this song became a hit because it has a high energy vibe 14 Following that interview the description high energy was increasingly applied to high tempo disco music especially songs dominated by electronic timbres 14 The tempo threshold for high energy disco was around 130 to 140 BPM In the 1980s the term high energy was stylized as hi NRG Eurobeat dance pop and freestyle artists such as Shannon Stock Aitken amp Waterman Taylor Dayne Freeez and Michael Sembello were also labeled as hi NRG when sold in the United States In the 1980s hi NRG referred not just to any high tempo disco dance music but to a specific genre only somewhat disco like Ian Levine a hi NRG DJ the in house DJ at London s Heaven nightclub in its early years and subsequently a record producer defines hi NRG as melodic straightforward dance music that s not too funky 15 Music journalist Simon Reynolds adds The nonfunkiness was crucial Slamming rather than swinging hi NRG s white European feel was accentuated by butt bumping bass twangs at the end of each bar 15 History EditHigh tempo disco music dates back to the mid 1970s Early examples include several British disco songs by Biddu and Tina Charles in 1976 and Patrick Hernandez Born to Be Alive in 1979 16 17 Examples of high energy disco acts include Claudja Barry Miquel Brown Amanda Lear France Joli Sylvester Divine Amii Stewart the Pointer Sisters Lime Lisa and the Weather Girls San Francisco based Patrick Cowley and New York producer and composer Bobby Orlando were behind a number of high energy hits in this period Orlando acts include Divine the Flirts and Claudja Barry In the early 1980s high energy music found moderate mainstream popularity in Europe while opposing both Euro disco and electro on the dance scene and it became mainstream in the gay community in the United States Hi NRG was reliant on technology and was all about unfeasibly athletic dancing bionic sex and superhuman stamina 18 The freedom associated with it seemed to be embodied by a literal escape from human embodiment and synchrony with technology However this was generally limited to the bodies of men as evidenced by songs titled Menergy and So Many Men So Little Time Producers such as Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley created an aural fantasy of a futuristic club populated entirely by Tom of Finland studs 18 During the same period a genre of music styled as hi NRG EDM became popular in Canada and the UK The most popular groups of this style are Trans X and Lime The genre is also closely related to space disco bands of this genre include Koto Laserdance and Cerrone The hi NRG sound also influenced techno and house music citation needed Commercial success Edit In 1983 in the UK music magazine Record Mirror began publishing a weekly hi NRG chart Hi NRG entered the mainstream with hits in the UK pop and dance charts and the US dance charts such as Hazell Dean s Searchin I Gotta Find a Man and Evelyn Thomas s High Energy 19 20 In the mid 1980s hi NRG producers in the dance and pop charts included Ian Levine and Stock Aitken Waterman both of whom worked with many different artists Stock Aitken Waterman had two of the most successful hi NRG singles ever with their productions of Dead or Alive s You Spin Me Round Like a Record UK 1 CAN 1 US 11 in 1985 and Bananarama s Venus US 1 CAN 1 UK 8 in 1986 21 They also brought the genre full circle in a sense by writing and producing Donna Summer s 1989 hit This Time I Know It s for Real UK 3 CAN 7 US 7 American music magazine Dance Music Report published hi NRG charts and related industry news in the mid to late 1980s as the genre reached its peak 22 By 1990 however techno and rave had superseded hi NRG in popularity in many dance clubs Despite this hi NRG music is still being produced and played in various forms including many remixed versions of mainstream pop hits some with re recorded vocals Later in the 1990s nu NRG music a form of trance music evolved from hi NRG was born 23 Artists EditMain article List of hi NRG artists and songsReferences Edit Explore music Genre Hi NRG AllMusic Retrieved July 20 2009 a b Greene Doyle March 10 2014 The Rock Cover Song Culture History Politics McFarland p 106 ISBN 9780786478095 Depta Klaus December 10 2015 Rock und Popmusik als Chance Impulse fur die praktische Theologie p 284 Springer Verlag Retrieved June 30 2018 e g lyrics of Stacey Q We Connect W Wilcox Atlantic Records 1986 Retrieved June 30 2018 Loza Susana Ilma 2004 Global Rhetoric Transnational Markets The post modern Trajectories of Electronic Dance Music Page ix University of California Berkeley Retrieved June 30 2018 Roey Ixhaki Mixing Audio Concepts Practices and Tools page 202 204 Top 10 Electronic Music Genres you probably haven t heard of Archived February 3 2010 at the Wayback Machine Boy in a Band Retrieved July 2 2010 Fritz Jimi 1999 Rave Culture An Insider s Overview Hi NRG is an early evolution of new style disco Simple fast danceable early house where the bass often takes the place of the high hat Publisher SmallFry Press p 94 ISBN 0 9685721 0 3 a b Butler Mark Jonathan 2012 Electronica Dance and Club Music Ashgate p 156 ISBN 978 0 7546 2965 8 Brewster Bill amp Broughton Frank April 12 2011 The Record Players DJ Revolutionaries Page 81 Grove Atlantic Inc Retrieved June 30 2018 AllMusic about Hi NRG influence on techno music techno expanded with the mechanical beats of Hi NRG Collins Nick Collins Nicholas Schedel Margaret Wilson Scott May 9 2013 Electronic Music Cambridge University Press p 95 ISBN 978 1 107 01093 2 Ahlers Michael Jacke Christoph 2017 Perspectives on German Popular Music London amp New York Routledge Taylor amp Francis Ltd p 81 ISBN 978 1 4724 7962 4 a b Jones Alan and Kantonen Jussi 1999 Saturday Night Forever The Story of Disco Chicago Illinois A Cappella Books ISBN 1 55652 411 0 a b Reynolds Simon 2006 Rip It Up and Start Again Postpunk 1978 1984 p 380 ISBN 978 0 14 303672 2 I Love to Love Tina Charles at AllMusic Dance Little Lady Tina Charles at AllMusic a b Shapiro Peter and Iara Lee Modulations a History of Electronic Music Throbbing Words on Sound Caipirinha Productions 2000 Hazell Dean Full Official Chart History Official Charts Company Official Charts Company Retrieved January 19 2016 Evelyn Thomas Full Official Chart History Official Charts Company Official Charts Company Retrieved January 19 2016 AllMusic Stock Aitken Waterman USA Hi NRG chart December 1986 20 years ago DiscoMusic com Archived from the original on July 3 2012 Electronic Music Styles NU NRG TRANCE Archived March 28 2010 at the Wayback Machine July 2 2010 External links Edit 1980s portalDance Music Report s Hi NRG Top 200 of the 1980s Hazell Dean interview on hi NRG Record Mirror August 1984 Eurodance Magazine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hi NRG amp oldid 1147219721, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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