Influence upon Electronic Music : James Brown, Jamaican Dub, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Acid House, Jungle DrumNBass

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Influence upon Electronic Music : James Brown, Jamaican Dub, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Acid House, Jungle DrumNBass

Post by tea for two »

https://www.soundonsound.com/people/hou ... on-podcast

After SoS drew attention to Marshall Jefferson podcast, one of the Pioneers of House music, that influences an aspect of Electronic music up to now

Here is a very brief summary i prepared.

*1965 James Brown : Funk.
Daddy of  Electro Funk bass beats of Kraftwerk, Electro Funk of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Techno.

Any JB  album from 1965 onwards.
The first album of Funk :
James Brown plays James Brown Today & Yesterday.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF ... w8eTkPcK7K

Funk bass and rhythms Kraftwerk synthesised simplified :
Karl Bartos was the one Kraftwerk member to admit James Brown was an influence.
Autobahn 1974 title track rhythm bass is Funky Drummer 1970 synthesised simplified;
Antenna from Radioactivity 1975;
nearly every track on Trans Europe Express album 1977,  with title track Trans Europe Express the most stark example of what James Brown named The One on the Beat; 
Man Machine track from Man Machine album 1978;
all of Computer World album 1981;
Tour De France 1983;
all of Electric Cafe album 1986.

Yellow Magic Orchestra were more obvious synthesised Electro Funk : several tracks on each album from their self titled debut album Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 to Service 1983.

Funk and these synthesised Funk bass rhythms were one of the influences upon Detroit Techno 1981.
Influence upon Techno in its various forms up to now.

*1960s 1970s R&B, Funk of Funkadelic Parliament Sly and the Family Stone, AfroPop, Jamaican Sound System Jamaican Dance Hall
Birthed :
Synth Disco, Techno, House, AcidHouse, Jungle, DrumNBass, BreakBeat, BigBeat, TripHop, Garage.

Every Electronic musician from 1970 to 2020 with danceable body moving bass and rhythm borrowed from, were influenced by
R&B, Funk, Jamaican DanceHall  :
Kraftwerk, Moroder, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Yello, Art of Noise, Depeche Mode, Enigma, Aphex Twin, The Orb, Prodigy, Future Sound of London, Leftfield, Chemical Brothers, Goldie, Underworld, Daft Punk, Burial, Royksopp, Four Tet, Bonobo to name a few.

*1968, 1971 King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock : Remix and Dub 
1968 King Tubby birthed the Remix found in Electronic music, Dance music, Pop music, across several genres of music as a staple of modern music.

1971 Birthed Dub  found on 1990s ChillOut, Progressive Ambient as The Orb, Global Communication, Future Sound of London.
Found on various Electronica upto now.
Ambient Dub, DubStep are genres in Electronic music.
Jah Wobble very influenced by Dub.

King Tubby built his own units echo and reverb as well as modified and designed mixing desks to facilitate his Dub.
1974 Ital Dub.  one of the early Dub albums.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE ... 0oXz2csQDy

*1981 Detroit Techno
Variations of Techno is perhaps the most borrowed form of Electronic Music even upto now amongst other Electronic musicians, Pop hit songs, Advertising jingles.
Possibly very probably because of it's simplicity, danceability.

Early Detroit Techno is really what is termed Electro. Electro is Electronic versions of Funk, R&B, early SynthPop.

1988 Juan Atkins would name this style Detroit Techno with his track Techno Music.

The term Technology from Greek Techne, existed in English language since mid 19th Century.
Juan Atkins said he borrowed the term from Techno Rebels in Alvin Toffler and his uncredited wife Heidi Toffler's 1970 book Future Shock.
1979 British band named Techno Pop.

Foundations of Detroit Techno :
Funk of James Brown, Funkadelic, Parliament;
Electro Funk synthesised by Kraftwerk, YelloMagic Orchestra as we noted;
Synth Disco of Donna Summer,  Moroder;
AfroFuturism of Sun Ra; Futurism of Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler;
StarWars;
Technology becoming affordable Roland TR808 drum machine, Analog synths as ARP Odyssey, MiniMoog, Sequential Prophet5;
Trying to uplift oppressed poor youths in ghettos, hoods,
Trying to uplift people to transcend their Earthly mental personal prisons
as we hear on the lyrics of the First Detroit Techno.

Cybotron Juan Atkins (19years) and Richard Davis : Alleys of Your Mind. *
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kMHNhJJnve4

"Go cry from barren land, Lost without a chance.
Go fight it till it see, Don't tell what you see.
Alleys of your mind, Paranoia right behind.
Stars will hear calls your mind.
There's a beast 'hind your dreams,
Pop your mind at the seams.
Take your fate in your hands. "

The Belleville (high school) Three : Juan Atkins 19 when Alleys of Your Mind released, Derrick May 18 and Kevin Saunderson 17 were the pioneers of Detroit Techno.
 
Alleys of Your Mind instrumentation sounds very similar to 1980 Ultravox song Mr. X.
Nearly every 1970s Electronic pioneers records sounds as someone else's Electronica, borrows from someone else's Electronica andor other musicians.

*1981 A Number of Names Paul Lesley and Sterling Jones : Sharevari.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IeF0xTdHPfA
is also considered first Detroit Techno.

Detroit Techno and Techno in various future forms influenced Kraftwerk up to now as we hear on The Mix 1991 album, in their reworking of their tracks for concerts upto now.
Even though variations of various Kraftwerk melodies sequences appear on early Detroit Techno tracks.

It is mistakenly held by some online articles, youtube videos that Kraftwerk were the first to make a type of proto Techno on their 1970 track Von Himmel Von Hoch.

Kraftwerk borrowed proto Techno made by :
1959 Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan Dick Raiijmaker's tracks Syncopation, Vibration;
1969 Michael Czajkowski : People the Sky album;
1969 Cecil Leuter, Nino Nardini tracks Rhythm in Rock, Crocker Beat on their Pop Electronique album.

There are several forms of Techno : Industrial, Hardcore, Ambient, Dub, Minimal.
Therefore no one artist, not even The Belleville Three, can lay claim to all of Techno.

*1984 Chicago House
Influenced Electronic  musicians upto now in various forms.
Influenced num1 chart hit singles, top 10 chart singles 1986 to 1992.

We tend to associate House with syncopated Bluesy Jazzy piano, Soul vocals, Electronic beats.
This is just one type of House.
There are several genres of house :
Italo, Latino, French, Acid, Dream, Progressive, Deep, Hard House.

1984 Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence : On and On
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qUeMFG4wjJwIs considered first Chicago House.
Early Chicago House initially mostly influenced by Disco, Synth Disco.

Thereafter
1985 the late Ron Hardy : Sensation
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WSpNvS5fa_E

1986 Mr Fingers Larry Heard : Can you Feel It
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tFuujExs03AAdded Jazz chords, this would be termed Deep House due to deepness of Jazz.
"Let there be House and House music was born. "

Hit singles : Move Your Body by Marshall Jefferson 1986; Love Can't Turn Around by Farley Jackmaster Funk 1986, Jack Your Body by Steve Silk Hurley 1987 the first num1 Chi House.

Frankie Knuckles, a DJ, was responsible for getting some House tunes composed by others onto Vinyl adding his name as co-collaborator, producer, presenter, for instance on Your Love by Jamie Principle 1987.

*1987 Acid House Phuture : Acid Tracks
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=igNBeo3QSqc
DJ Spank-Spank Earl Smith Jnr, DJ Pierre
Nathaniel Pierre Jones
Named the genre Acid House.
Phuture's Acid Tracks influenced  Aphex Twin, 808 State, KLF, LFO, Orbital, The Orb, The Prodigy, Leftfield, Future Sound of London, Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Robert Miles.

1982 Charanjit Singh : Synthesising Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD ... fpNKpeiCJ2
Birth of Acid House with its Roland TB303 squelchy bass, Roland TR808 drum programming.
TB303 is the quintessential Acid House instrument.

*1989 Jungle, DrumNBass
1927 Duke Ellington's Jazz fusion of African Latin rhythms in Harlem's Cotton Club was termed Jungle.
London Dance Club named Jungle (inspired from Duke Ellington) gave this Electronic style the name.
Junglists the term for Jungle musicians. 

1970s King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock  referred to his Dub instrumental versions of Reggae songs as Drum N Bass.

1969 The Winston's  Amen Brother Soul R&B  drum solo by GC Coleman
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GxZuq57_bYM a 7second drum break 1min27 to 1min34 known as the AmenBreak (BreakBeat) became the bedrock of Jungle, DrumNBass, BreakBeat, BigBeat.
5K times estimated use of GC Coleman's drum break on various records across various genres Electronic and NonElectronic.

Formation of Jungle :
1989 Success-N-Effect DJ Felix Sama : Roll It Up
Miami DJ Felix Sama  added a Roland TR808 kick to the Amen BreakBeat, sped it up to brutal effect on the track Roll It Up.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8DTUk-rUhEI

1989/90 Meat Beat Manifesto : Radio Babylon
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ak169_XCiXsConsidered the first Jungle track as it included Ragga, Reggae and fast Amen BreakBeat from Roll It Up : three ingredients of Jungle.
These three ingredients together differentiates Jungle from DrumNBass, BreakBeat, BigBeat.

Formation of DrumNBass
*1989 Renegade Soundwave : The Phantom (It's In there).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6d5fU4aO4WI
The Phantom the first DrumNBass as it didn't include Ragga, Reggae.
Although it had the speeded up beats of Jungle.
Speeded up BreakBeats, programmed fast drums, are a feature of DrumNBass.
Jazz, Soul, Funk, Jamaican Sound Systems influences are also upon Drum n Bass.

Following Roll It Up, Radio Babylon, and The Phantom:  
DJ Excel, Wots My Code, C. M. C., Lennie De Ice, Noise Factory,
Carl Cox, Demon Boyz, Potential Bad Boy, Pseudo3, Ragga Twins,  Dillinja, D-Livin, M-Beat, General Levy, ShyFx & T-Power,
Goldie, Genaside II, SL2, DRS, DJ Focus, Slipmat produced their Jungle, DrumNBsss tracks.

The Prodigy, Aphex Twin, Authecre, Squarepusher, Photek, amongst  many Electronic musicians then included the Amen BreakBeat into their tracks.

Kickin' and Shut up & Dance record labels hosted several Jungle DrumNBass musicians.

Notable mainstream DrumNBass albums :
1995 Goldie Timeless;
1996 LTJ Bukem Logical Progression;
1997 Roni Size & Reprazent New Forms;
1998 Talvin Singh OK;
1998 Madonna Ray of Light;
1999 Art of Noise Seduction of Claude Debussy.
tea for two
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Re: Influence upon Electronic Music : James Brown, Jamaican Dub, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Acid House, Jungle DrumN

Post by Guest »

Nice post :thumbup:
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Re: Influence upon Electronic Music : James Brown, Jamaican Dub, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Acid House, Jungle DrumN

Post by olifreke »

Cool stuff.

I think the main gap is the influence of Disco on house; disco orignated the 'boots and hats' groove and post-electro, the house movement replicated it with their drum machines and synths. Having had their disco movement partly crushed by homophobia and racism (cf: Disco Demolition Derby), but also due to commercialisation of the sound.

I did a poster about this, funnily enough: Dance Music History Poster

(It's a talking point - nothing like that can be completely accurate or indeed complete, of course!)
olifreke
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Posts: 13 Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:19 pm

Re: Influence upon Electronic Music : James Brown, Jamaican Dub, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Acid House, Jungle DrumN

Post by tea for two »

olifreke wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 11:22 am

I did a poster about this, funnily enough: Dance Music History Poster

(It's a talking point - nothing like that can be completely accurate or indeed complete, of course!)

Oli your poster is Stunning. It's waaay more detailed than what I wrote. And faaaar more easier to grasp.

I hope SoS would consider including your poster in a magazine article.

I just read on your site SoS glowingly reviewed your very recent book
https://www.synthevolution.net/synth-evolution-book

https://velocitypress.uk/product/synthe ... tion-book/

"When the author’s passion for synths combines with his artistic talent the result is a book with a difference. The hand-sketched illustration style sets this book apart helping turn the technical facts and figures into a visual feast insightfully embellished with interesting anecdotes. This book is a joy to look at and a delight to read.” – Sound On Sound magazine.

"synthesizers (over 400) and has separate chapters for samplers, drum machines and a selection of pre-modern instruments. There are introductory sections discussing the evolution and impact of the synthesizer (and sampler and drum machine), and the majority of the book comprises over 500 illustrations of the instruments with all their vital stats and facts."

[ACCOUNT DELETED] wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:03 am Nice post :thumbup:

Appreciated Bob. :thumbup:
It was something to do during last month of lockdown. Mainly becuase I realised my woeful awareness of origins chronology of Electronica as a whole.
tea for two
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Re: Influence upon Electronic Music : James Brown, Jamaican Dub, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, Acid House, Jungle DrumN

Post by olifreke »

Thanks for the kind words Tea for Two - glad you like the poster!

Like you, I find the history of this stuff absolutely fascinating and seeing how cultures influence each other and evolve in parallel. If there was ever an argument for why we should celebrate other cultures, diversity and human creativity - this is it!
olifreke
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Posts: 13 Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:19 pm
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