Before Techno and Eurodance was New Beat
The 80s were particularly multifaceted in one musical aspect. The synthesizers, which were becoming more and more affordable, allowed many artists to experiment with music. As a result, the most diverse music genres developed in a short time. Among others New Beat or also Acid House. I can imagine how all the haters want to tear the list apart with phrases like "This is not a New Beat you fool" or "This track has nothing to do with Acid House". However, it has to be said that the transitions between these two genres, without any technical gimmickry, are very fluent and almost seamless.
A definition of New Beat
Wikipedia to New Beat: "New Beat is a style of Belgian underground music and subculture that fused techno and acid genres that flourished in Western Europe during the late-1980s. It is a type of electronic dance music and electronic body music that was played at a slower speed and influenced the evolution of industrial dance music.". Read the full Wikipedia article to New Beat.
Wikipedia to Acid House: "Acid House (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style was defined primarily by the "squelching" sounds and deep basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesizer-sequencer. Acid House spread to the United Kingdom and continental Europe, where it was played by DJs in the Acid House and later rave scenes. By the late 1980s, Acid House had moved into the British mainstream, where it had some influence on pop and dance styles.". Read the full Wikipedia article to Acid House.
My personal past with New Beat music
I came into contact with electronic music at an early age. At that time I always moved somewhere between Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and The Cure. But especially as a teenager you're not really musically established yet and of course you're quickly musically impressed and influenced by new impressions. So it happened that from the mid 80s to the early 90s electronic music with cool samples and new sonic mixes of the genres fascinated me. And I'm not ashamed to say that I also bought some Singles and Maxis of the music videos listed below.
The older visitors might know some tracks from the list, at least I hope so. The younger ones get lessons in the "cool scene" of club music of that time. Even if I liked some tracks, I never belonged to this scene. Therefore the songs were never dark and serious enough for me. But it was new and so different and for a short time it feels like the future of music.
Let's go on with the list "A flashback to New Beat"
1. Krush – House Arrest (1987)
Official music video 'House Arrest' performed by 'Krush' released on the Single 'House Arrest (The Beat Is The Law)' (1987).
The single climbed to number 3 in the UK and spent two weeks at number 1 in Switzerland in early 1988. Behind Krush stood the Sheffield producers Mark Brydon and Robert Gordon. Brydon later found far bigger success as the producer of Moloko with Róisín Murphy, while Gordon co-founded Warp Records, which makes “House Arrest” the one and only big Krush hit.
2. Coldcut – Doctorin' the House (Feat. Yazz & The Plastic Population) (1988)
Official music video 'Doctorin' the House (Feat. Yazz & The Plastic Population)' performed by 'Coldcut' taken from the album 'What's That Noise?' (1989).
The track reached number 6 in the UK in March 1988 and introduced the singer Yazz to a wider audience, only months before Coldcut produced her chart-topper “The Only Way Is Up”. In 1990 Matt Black and Jonathan More founded their own label Ninja Tune to escape the creative control of the majors, and the label is still signing acts like Bicep and Helena Hauff today.
3. Taste Of Sugar - Hmm Hmm (1989)
Official music video 'Hmm Hmm' performed by 'Taste Of Sugar' taken from the album 'Tuut..!' (1989). This track was also part on the compilation 'Belgian Dance Classix 2'.
Taste Of Sugar were a Belgian New Beat group formed in 1987 by Roland Beelen, Johan Casters and Herman Gillis, and “Hmm Hmm” remained their best-known track. S’Express mastermind Mark Moore once noted that they used some of the same sounds and samples as his own band, including the Karen Finley sample. The same trio also worked as the producer team Morton, Sherman and Bellucci, which you will meet again at number 17.
4. S'Express – Theme from S'Express (1988)
Official music video 'Theme from S'Express' performed by 'S'Express' taken from the album 'Original Soundtrack' (1989).
Written and produced by Mark Moore and Pascal Gabriel, the single topped the UK chart for two weeks in April 1988 and reached number 2 in West Germany, France and the Netherlands. The track is built on elements of Rose Royce’s “Is It Love You’re After” and counts as one of the earliest hits of the new sampling culture. Moore even recorded his own homage to Belgian New Beat with the 1989 B‑side “Have a Nice Day”.
5. OK – Okay (1987)
Official music video 'Okay' by German band 'OK'. The track is taken from the album 'Bang!' (1989). The band from Frankfurt, sometimes also spelt O.K., reached number 2 in Germany in 1988 with “Okay!” and topped the Austrian chart. Follow-up singles like “E‑D-U-C-A-T-I-O‑N” and “The Wild, Wild, Western” never came close, so for me this is a textbook one-hit wonder of the late 80s.
6. Bruce & Bongo – Geil (1986)
Official music video 'Geil' performed by 'Bruce & Bongo' taken from the album 'The Geil Album' (1986).
Despite the German title, Bruce & Bongo were two Englishmen based in Germany, Bruce Hammond Earlam and Douglas “Bongo” Wilgrove. “Geil” topped the Austrian chart in 1986, while The Geil Album was a commercial failure by comparison. Internationally they are regarded as a one-hit wonder, and in 1994 Hammond co-founded a production company that helped create several European hits, including the Mark’Oh project.
7. M|A|R|R|S – Pump Up The Volume (1987)
Official music video 'Pump Up The Volume' by 'M|A|R|R|S' taken from the Single 'Pump Up The Volume' (1987).
M|A|R|R|S was a one-off collaboration between the 4AD acts A.R. Kane and Colourbox, and the name is an acronym of the people involved. The track spent two weeks at number 1 in October 1987, even after Stock Aitken Waterman obtained an injunction over a sample from their hit “Roadblock”. The litigation that followed effectively ruined Colourbox’s career, which turned “Pump Up The Volume” into the only single the project ever released.
8. Mysterious Art – Das Omen (1989)
Official music video 'Das Omen' performed by 'Mysterious Art' taken from the album 'Omen – The Story' (1989). The single was first released on 13 May 1989 and stayed at number 1 in West Germany for nine weeks straight. With more than 400,000 copies sold it was the most successful single in Germany that year, and the band toured as the opening act for Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour in Germany. Producer Mike Staab later continued the story with “Omen III”, which went to number 1 in Germany again.
9. Confetti’s – The Sound Of C (1988)
Official music video 'The Sound Of C' performed by 'Confetti’s' taken from the album '92…Our First Album' (1989).
The “C” stands for the club Confetti’s in Brasschaat near Antwerp, and the song started as a marketing stunt for the venue with barman Peter Renkens as the face of the campaign. The video was shot on Antwerp’s main shopping street De Meir in front of passers-by. The single sold 165,000 copies in Belgium and 500,000 in France. Unfortunately, Renkens passed away in February 2023 at the age of 55.
10. Bomb The Bass – Beat Dis (1987)
Official music video 'Beat Dis' by 'Bomb The Bass' taken from the album 'Into The Dragon' (1988).
Tim Simenon and Pascal Gabriel used pseudonyms to make the record look like an American import, and it peaked at number 2 in the UK in February 1988. The track is a collage of more than 50 samples over a programmed drum pattern and bassline. Simenon went on to co-produce Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance” and Seal’s “Crazy” and, after Dave Gahan and Martin Gore asked him on board, the Depeche Mode album Ultra in 1997. Side note: This is my first self bought Vinyl Single.
11. Silicon Dream – Albert Einstein (1987)
Musical performance of 'Albert Einstein' by 'Silicon Dream'. The track is taken from the album 'Time Machine' (1988).
Silicon Dream was the project of Munich producer Klaus Munzert, founded in 1987, and the single carried the subtitle “Everything is Relative”. His biggest hit was “Marcello the Mastroianni”, and the sound was close to OFF (Electrica Salsa) and 16 Bit, with whom Silicon Dream even performed live. That makes this the perfect bridge to number 18 on this list.
12. Yello – The Race (1988)
Official music video 'The Race' performed by 'Yello' taken from the album 'Flag' (1988). I guess, this is the most famous track in this list, right? Otherwise let me know in the comments.
Released on 11 April 1988, the single reached number 7 in the UK, and the video was directed by Dieter Meier himself. Meier also directed Alphaville’s “Big In Japan”, and German viewers will know the track as the theme tune of the TV show Formel Eins from 1988 onward. The Swiss duo became a Top Ten act in seven countries with this song and released their 14th studio album in 2020.
13. The KLF – America What Time is Love (1991)
Official music video 'America What Time is Love' performed by 'The KLF' taken from the same-titled Single 'America What Time is Love' (1991). This reworking reached number 4 in the UK and was the KLF’s final UK retail release, appearing there in February 1992, four months after its US release. Bill Drummond later revealed that Axl Rose was originally booked for the session but never turned up, which is how Glenn Hughes got the job. Hughes remembers the video, shot on a boat at Pinewood Studios, as mind-blowing.
14. The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode (1992)
Official music video 'Ebeneezer Goode' performed by 'The Shamen' taken from the album 'Boss Drum' (1991).
The single entered the UK chart at number 6 in September 1992 and reached number 1 two weeks later, ironically during the BBC’s drug awareness week, staying there for four weeks. The BBC initially banned it because the chorus sounds like “E’s are good”. It was the joining of rapper Mr C that took the Scottish band from underground acid house to international commercial success.
15. Nomad – Devotion (1990)
Official music video 'Devotion' performed by 'Nomad' taken from the album 'Changing Cabins' (1991).
The band name is simply Damon spelled backwards, after producer Damon Rochefort, and the single credited as Nomad featuring MC Mikee Freedom reached number 2 in the UK and number 1 on the US Dance chart. The music video was directed by Jerome Redfarn. Rochefort later moved into television and presented the dance show BPM on ITV for two years.
16. Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam (1989)
Official music video 'Pump Up The Jam' performed by 'Technotronic' taken from the same-titled album 'Pump Up the Jam: The Album' (1989).
The track opens the debut album Pump Up the Jam: The Album, but the woman you see in the video is the Congolese model Felly Kilingi, lip-syncing as a marketing tactic. The real voice and lyrics came from Ya Kid K, who made her video debut with the follow-up “Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)”. Belgian producer Jo Bogaert had already scored a few hits at home before this track finally took him international.
17. Erotic Dissidents – Move Your Ass (1989)
Musical performance of 'Move Your Ass' by 'Erotic Dissidents'. The track is taken from the album 'Naked Angel' (1989).
Erotic Dissidents were once more the trio Morton, Sherman and Bellucci, this time with Nikkie Van Lierop, and both “Move Your Ass And Feel The Beat” and “Shake Your Hips” charted in many countries. Van Lierop later released music as Jade 4U. Their live shows were notorious, as the singer reportedly used a sex toy instead of a microphone.
18. 16BIT – Where are you (1986)
Official music video 'Where Are You' performed by '16BIT' taken from the album 'Inaxycvgtgb' (1987).
Behind 16 Bit were Luca Anzilotti and Michael Münzing, bandmates of Sven Väth in OFF, and it is Väth himself who dances through the medieval-looking video. Münzing and Anzilotti later formed Snap!, so this track is a small piece of Eurodance prehistory. Väth, of course, became one of the most famous techno DJs in the world.
19. Man 2 Man Meet Man Parrish – Male Stripper (1986)
Official music video 'Male Stripper' performed by 'Man 2 Man Meet Man Parrish' (1987).
Brothers Miki and Paul Zone came from the New York glam punk band The Fast and teamed up with electro producer Man Parrish for this Hi-NRG classic. After a modest first run in 1986, the single returned in early 1987 and spent five weeks in the UK Top 10, peaking at number 4, followed by a Top of the Pops appearance in March. Miki did not live to see that success, as he died on 31 December 1986, and Paul continued as Man to Man with a Grace Jones cover.
The path for Techno and Eurodance is paved
The early 90s was the end of New Beat and Acid House. The electronic music of the 90s was overtaken and dominated by Techno and Eurodance. I also think that the 90s was a dark decade for dark Synth Pop and Dark Wave. It degenerated more into a fun society where serious issues played a minor role. There are many reasons for this. Probably the opening of the East, the German reunification, the rejection of the 'No Future' movement of the 80s and many more. But to philosophize about this would go beyond the scope of this article.
Help us to make the next list
If you were inspired by this article and know also some New Beat or Acid House songs that I don't mentioned here, let us know and use comment section below or get in touch with us via E‑Mail!
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