Chapter 16- Dance Music
The Music Video
 Transformed the music industry in the 1980s
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From the mid-1950s on, the radio and recording industry
promoted rock
In the 1960s and 1970s, variety shows began featuring and
promoting rock, but shows like these were more common in
England than in the U.S.
Nickelodeon experimented with a show called Popclips
which featured a “veejay” running a series of music videos
performed by the original artists
The idea of transforming Top 40 radio format to TV was
inevitable
MTV (Music Television) was debuted on August 1, 1981
as an all-rock television channel
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Artists/companies created imaginative and technically
innovative videos to go along with new releases
The Music Video (cont)
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MTV had competition
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WTBS produced Night Tracks – 6 hours of video on
weeknights
USA launched Night Flight in 1990
NBC ran Friday Night Videos
CMT, Nashville Network, pay-per-view The Box, and
VH1 challenged MTV’s music video monopoly
MTV’s detractors
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The network emphasized white rock and almost
excluded black rock (due to programming for the
popular audience) until Michael Jackson became a
superstar
Frequently emphasized sex and violence
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56.6% contained violent acts
75.9% represented sexual activities
The Music Video (cont)
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Music videos meant there was an overemphasis
on the image of rock artists since you could see
and hear the artist
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By late 1980s, the pop charts were dominated by
pretty faces and well-shaped bodies
There were lawsuits filed against Arista Records for
using dancers/models/gymnasts who lip-synched in
music videos for other not-so-attractive artists
Artists performing on tour resorted to lip-synching
portions of their tour in order to perform the
choreography, theatrics, and vocal parts to
perfection expected by the MTV generation
The Music Video (cont)
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MTV Programming
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In the mid-1980s, MTV broadcasting included a game
show, animated adventures, MTV News, and political
coverage in order to appeal to a larger audience
By 2004, it was difficult to find music playing on MTV
MTV expanded current trends and influenced the
direction of the musical evolution
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Popularized rap with Yo! MTV Raps
Sponsored Unplugged series
Network TV began programming shows that
documented the creating of musical groups
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ABC’s Making the Band in 2000- O’Tpwn
WB’s Popstars –Eden’s Crush
VH1’s Bands on the Run
The Compact Disc
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1950s- 7-inch single
1960s- 12-inch LP album
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1970s- cassette tapes
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1983- 50% of total recorded music profit was from
cassettes sales
1991- the first real decline in cassette sales
1980s- CDs & small portable cassette players
(Walkman)
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In 1981- 295 million shipped
By 1991, only 5 million shipped
1983- 800,000 CDs shipped
1991- 333 million CDs shipped
1990s- the Discmans (for CDs)
Rock Music Soundtracks
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The movie soundtracks provided record companies
and the motion picture industry to advertise their
products
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Example: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used
“Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” (#1 in 1969)
Broadway shows: The King and I, Around the World in
80 Days, South Pacific, Gigi, West Side Story
The music is chosen to fit the specific mood of the
movie
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Pop songs, rock songs, orchestral scores, etc.
The Return of Dance Music
The Philadelphia Sound
 Kenneth Gamble and Leon Hoff formed
Philadelphia International Records which created
competition for Motown Records
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Ex: “Love Train” by O’Jays
Gamble & Hoff’s style of music in the 1970s is often
cited as a precursor for disco
Disco
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Discotheque- a type of dance hall that began in
France in the early 1960s
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Artists wrote specifically for this style:
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Was much cheaper to hire one disc jockey than to
hire live bands
It faded out in the 1960s but reemerged with music
designed for dancing: disco
The style played increasingly leaned towards the
Philadelphia, danceable black sound
KC and the Sunshine Band
“The Hustle” by Van McCoy
By 1975, Studio 54 in NYC led the explosion of the
disco style
Disco (cont)
Donna Summer
 LaDonna Gaines was born in Boston in 1948
 “Love to Love You Baby” (#2 in 1976)
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Originally 4 minutes long but was extended to a 17minute version for disco
“Last Dance” (#3 in 1978)
“MacArthur Park” (#1)
She died May 12, 2012.
Disco (cont)
The Bee Gees
 Born in England in 1946 and 1949
 “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?” (#1)
 They began fading away until disco was created
 “Jive Talkin” (#1 in 1975)
 Saturday Night Fever (1977)
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They sang 6 songs; 3 became #1
“Stayin’ Alive”
Disco died around 1980 because it became the
target of intense ridicule by the rock community.
Motown
Michael Jackson
 Born in Indiana in 1958
 The Jackson Five (the 5 Jackson brothers) released 3
albums under Berry Gordy Jr in 1970 which contained
four #1 hits and one #2 hit.
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In 1976 they switched to Columbia Records and became
The Jacksons, adding their 2 sisters and younger brother
Michael’s solo career became huge with Thriller (1982)
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“The Girl Is Mine” (1st hit single reaching at #2, recorded
with Paul McCartney)
“Billie Jean” (#1 in 1983)
“Beat It” (his updated version of West Side Story with Eddie
Van Halen on guitar)
“Thriller” (#4 in 1984)
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This video was trendsetting; it established an entire new
level for music videos
Motown
Michael Jackson (cont)
 Bad (released in 1987 and debuted at #1)
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Produced 7 hit singles, including five #1 hits- the most
ever drawn from one album
Follows the general style of Thriller except “I Can’t
Stop Loving You”
He died June 25, 2009.
Other Music for Dancing
Madonna
 Born Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone in Detroit in
1959
 1st album: Madonna (1983)
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Like A Virgin (#1 in 1984)
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“Papa Don’t Preach”
Like A Prayer (1989)
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“Material Girl”
True Blue (1986)
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“Borderline” (Top 10) - helped set the style for 80s dance
music
“Express Yourself”
She modeled herself after Marilyn Monroe and intended
to be the female sex icon of the 1980s
Other Music for Dancing (cont)
Prince
 Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis in 1960
 The one overt factor in all of his music: sex
 Prince **1999** ( released in 1982)
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Purple Rain (#1 in 1984) (movie soundtrack)
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“Little Red Corvette” (#6)
“When Doves Cry” (#1)
Parade (1986)
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“Kiss” (#1)
Dancing Through the 1990s and Beyond
Pop Dance
N*SYNC
 2 members worked at Universal Studios, 2 were on
the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club, and one
toured with a national children’s choir
 “I Want You Back” (#13)
 “Music of My Heart” (#2 in 1999) was recorded with
Gloria Estefan
 No Strings Attached (#1 in 2000)
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“Bye Bye Bye” (#4)
“It’s Gonna Be Me” (#1)
Dancing Through the 1990s and Beyond (cont)
Pop Dance (cont)
Spice Girls
 From Britain
 Spice (#1 in Great Britain and was the first ever
debut album to enter the US charts at #1)
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“Wannabe”
“Say You’ll Be There” (#3)
“2 Become 1” (#4)
Spiceworld (#3 in 1997)
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“Spice Up Your Life” (#18)
Dancing Through the 1990s and Beyond (cont)
Pop Dance (cont)
Destiny’s Child
 The Writing’s On The Wall (#6 in 1999)
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“Bills, Bills, Bills” (#1)
“Bug a Boo” (#33)
“Say My Name” (#1)
“Jumpin’ Jumpin’” (#3)
Survivor (#1 in 2001)
Dancing Through the 1990s and Beyond (cont)
Rave Dance Music
 Techno
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Technology played an integral role in creating this
music
It blended the disco beat with the high energy of
punk
It was intentionally repetitive and noisy
House Music
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Not a song-based form
Consisted of a repetitive drum machine rhythm track
with a drum pounding every beat
Dancing Through the 1990s and Beyond (cont)
The Latin Invasion
Gloria Estefan
The lead vocalist for the Miami Sound Machine who performed
a mixture of dance and salsa music
 Primitive Love (1984)
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“Conga” (#10)
“Bad Boy” (#8)
Let It Loose (1987)
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“Anything For You” (#1)
As a solo artist:
 Cuts Both Ways (1989)
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Into the Light (1991- released after her tour bus accident)
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“Get On Your Feet” (#11)
“Coming Out of the Dark” (#1)
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (1994)
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“Turn the Beat Around” (#13)
Dancing Through the 1990s and Beyond (cont)
The Latin Invasion
Ricky Martin
 Born Enrique Martin Morales
 His primary career was an actor on the soap opera
General Hospital
 Then he performed in Les Miserables on Broadway
 He released 4 Spanish-language albums
 Ricky Martin was his first album in English (1999)
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“Livin’ la Vida Loca” #1)
Sound Loaded (#4)
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“She Bangs” (#12)
The Anatomy of Disco
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The primary musical element in disco: Rhythm
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A wide variety of tempos was considered
inappropriate
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All 4 beats are hit equally and are typically 16th notes
The secondary factor: timbre
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A DJ could easily flow from one song to the next if it had
the same tempo- roughly 120-130 bpm
Singer, drums, electric bass, rhythm guitar, strings, and
sometimes brass
Forms and textures vary widely