Hi-NRG

Hi-NRG
Stylistic origins	electronic, synthpop, disco, dance, glam rock, pop
Cultural origins	Late 1970s United States
Typical instruments	Keyboard • synthesizer • drum machine • sequencer
Mainstream popularity	Moderate worldwide early to mid-1980s
Derivative forms	Synthpop • Electropop • Eurodance • House • Downtempo (ambient)
Fusion genres
Hard NRG • New Beat • Eurobeat • Techno[1]
Regional scenes
New York City · San Francisco · London · Tokyo
Other topics
Artists and songs

Hi-NRG (short for High-Energy)^[2] desribes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music appearing in Canada (Trans-X), USA (Bobby Orlando) and United Kingdom (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) in the early 1980s. The genre consists of high-tempo four-to-the-floor beats usually accompanied by a steady bassline and tremolos or keytar riffs.

Starting late 1980s, hi-NRG (along with electrofunk) also served as basis for the more popular house music genre.

Terminology

In 1977, Donna Summer was interviewed about her single "I Feel Love", which was a mostly electronic, relatively high-tempo disco song without a strong funk component. In the interview, she said "this song became a hit because it has a high-energy vibe".^[3] Following that interview, the description "high-energy" was increasingly applied to high-tempo disco music, especially songs dominated by electronic timbres.^{[citation needed]} 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 like Shannon, Stock Aitken Waterman, Taylor Dayne, Freeez or Michael Sembello were also labeled as "Hi-NRG" when sold in the United States.^[4]

In the 1980s "Hi-NRG" referred not just to any high-tempo disco/dance music, but to a specific genre, only somewhat disco-like. Hi-NRG is, however, typified 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.^[5][6] There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines.

Ian Levine, one of Hi-NRG's pioneering DJs & producers in the UK, defines Hi-NRG as "melodic, straightforward dance music that's not too funky."^[7] 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."^[7]

History

High Energy Disco

High-tempo disco music dates back to the mid-1970s. Early examples include several British disco songs by Biddu and Tina Charles in 1976.^[8][9] From 1979 to 1987, unlabeled high-tempo disco music was especially popular among LGBT communities in American coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco^{[citation needed]}. In particular, DJ/producer Patrick Cowley helped popularize this kind of music at the The EndUp club in San Francisco. The genre knew moderate mainstream popularity in Europe, despite being the icon of British and American LGBT communities around 1983-85, while opposing both eurodisco and electro on the dance scene. Examples of hi-energy disco acts include Claudja Barry, Miquel Brown, Amanda Lear, France Joli, Sylvester, Divine, and The Weather Girls.

Electronic genre

In the same period, a form of Hi-NRG (EDM) became popular in Canada and UK. The most popular groups of this style are Trans-X and Lime. The genre is closely related to space disco. Bands include Koto, Laserdance and Cerrone. Hi-NRG sound also influenced techno and house music.^[2]

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 and US pop and dance charts, such as Hazell Dean's "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)" and Evelyn Thomas's "High Energy".^[10][11] In the mid-1980s, Hi-NRG producers in the dance and pop charts included Ian Levine and trio 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 & US #11 in 1985) and Bananarama's "Venus" (US #1 & UK #8 in 1986).^[12] They also brought the genre full circle, in a sense, by writing and producing Donna Summer's 1989 UK and US hit "This Time I Know It's For Real" (UK #3 and 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.^[13] By 1990, however, house music and eurodance have superseded Hi-NRG in popularity in many danceclubs. 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 fusion of Hi-NRG and trance, was born.^[14]

Artists

Main article: List of Hi-NRG artists and songs

See also

• House music
  • Garage house
• Europop
• Rave music
• Acid house
• Italodisco
• Eurodisco

References

1. ^ Allmusic about Hi-NRG influence on Techno music: "techno expanded with the mechanical beats of Hi-NRG."
2. ^ ^{a b} "Explore music…Genre: Hi-NRG". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/d409. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
3. ^ Jones, Alan and Kantonen, Jussi (1999) Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco. Chicago, Illinois: A Cappella Books. ISBN 1-55652-411-0.
4. ^ Jahsonic (2007) Hi-NRG article. Retrieved on 2-7-2010
5. ^ Top 10 Electronic Music Genres you probably haven't heard of. | Boy in a Band. Retrieved on 2-7-2010
6. ^ 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 0968572103
7. ^ ^{a b} Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. p. 380. ISBN 9780143036722. 
8. ^ I Love to Love: Tina Charles at Allmusic
9. ^ Dance Little Lady: Tina Charles at Allmusic
10. ^ Chartstats.com - Hazell Dean "Searchin'"
11. ^ Chartstats.com - Evelyn Thomas "High Energy"
12. ^ Allmusic.com - Stock Aitken Waterman
13. ^ Discomusic.com - Forum post relating to Hi-NRG charts, december 1986
14. ^ Electronic Music Styles - NU NRG TRANCE. 2-7-2010.

External links

• Dance Music Report's Hi-NRG Top 200 of the 1980s
• Hazell Dean interview on Hi-NRG, Record Mirror, August 1984