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A history of electro

Parent categories: dance music - electronic dance music - electronic music

Related: drum machines - electro-funk - electronica - electroclash - electropop - freestyle - Miami bass - techno

Discography: Brian Chin presents: Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. 1-4 (1992-1994) - Various artists - Greg Wilson presents: Classic Electro (1994) - Brian Chin presents: Perfect Beats (1998)

Articles: The A to Z of Electro - David Toop (1998) - Electro-funk - Greg Wilson (2002)

Connoisseurs: Brian Chin - Greg Wilson - David Toop - Tim Haslett

Influenced by: Malcolm McLaren - Kraftwerk

Electro was black science fiction teleported to the dancefloors of New York, Miami and LA; a super-stoopid fusion of video games, techno-pop, graffiti art, silver space suits and cyborg funk. Now that Electro is back, David Toop provides a thumbnail guide to the music that posed the eternal question: 'Watupski, bug byte?' --The A to Z of Electro - David Toop (1998)

Mastercuts presents: Classic Electro (1994) - Various artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Computer World (1981) - Kraftwerk [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Trans-Europe Express (1977) - Kraftwerk [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The two Kraftwerk albums above inspired Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982), using elements of Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express" and "Numbers".

Terminology

Electro is short for electronic. As a musical genre electro-funk, before it was shortened to electro is an early 1980s UK-coined term to denote African-American dance music which made use of electronic instruments. The term is also encountered in electropop (also called technopop), denoting mostly European synthesizer pop music in the Kraftwerk style. In the early 2000s the prefix electro came again to prominence in the electroclash genre. [Jan 2006]

Morgan Khan of Street Sounds

Street Sound logo

Street Sounds, which was a compilation label set up by Morgan Khan who published compilations of electro, hip hop, jazz and rare groove.

Morgan Khan
Meanwhile, in the UK, Morgan Khan made a developing genre of music financially accessible to an entire generation with his Streetsounds Electro series of compilation albums. --David Toop, 1998

By the end of 1983 Morgan Khan’s era defining ‘Street Sounds Electro’ compilations had hooked in the mainstream audience and now white kids in the suburbs, many of whom had never even come into contact with black people, were tuning into the b-boy vibe. The ‘Electro’ series provided the soundtrack for this new British breakdance generation and the UK dance scene would never look back as the seeds were well and truly sown for the clubbing boom that followed later in the decade. --Greg Wilson, 2003

Shannon

Shannon (born May 12, 1958 as Brenda Shannon Greene in Washington D.C.), is well known for her 1983 smash dance/freestyle record, "Let The Music Play". The record redefined the electro funk sound that Arthur Baker and John Rocca (who produced "I.O.U" by Freeez and "One More Shot/Get Wet" by C-Bank) developed in 1982. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_%28singer%29 [Jan 2006]

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