Space disco
Encyclopedia
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an disco scene around 1976–77,.
Space disco was the merging of disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
music and sci-fi, both of which became international pop culture phenomenons in the mid-late 1970s. The main idea behind the genre is that of an exploration of the wonders of outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
by humans, and many bands often included robotic shapes, laser illumination and computer screens sequence in their live performances. The artists themselves often dressed in a manner inspired by glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
and somewhat futuristic fashion.
Upon reaching Eastern Europe after 1980, the futuristic act was mainly dropped as many socialist state
Socialist state
A socialist state generally refers to any state constitutionally dedicated to the construction of a socialist society. It is closely related to the political strategy of "state socialism", a set of ideologies and policies that believe a socialist economy can be established through government...
authorities often denied access to the stage for "inappropriately" dressed artists. Many bands have then began performing at free, open-music events, festivals and formations to avoid political suppression, and the genre itself was slowly assimilated into purely instrumental, almost orchestral form.
Popularity
Space Disco was very popular in Europe between 1977–1979. Relatively popular artists that contributed to this music style include MecoMeco
Meco is an American record producer and musician, as well as the name of a band or production team based around him...
("Theme from Star Wars") (which was also a no.1 hit in the U.S.), Cerrone
Cerrone
Marc Cerrone is a French disco drummer, singer-songwriter and record producer.Marc Cerrone has sold over thirty million albums and has often performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people at huge concerts and events such as The 2005 Dance Party Live in Versailles and The 2000 Los Angeles...
("Supernature"), Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
("I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper
I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper
"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", sometimes cited as " Starship Trooper", is a 1978 single written by Jeff Calvert and Max West of Typically Tropical and performed by Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip...
"), Didier Marouani & Space ("Magic Fly") and Sheila B. Devotion ("Spacer"). The German-based band Boney M. also adopted a space disco look for the cover artwork of their 1978 album, Nightflight to Venus
Nightflight to Venus
Nightflight to Venus is the third album by the band Boney M, and was released in July 1978.The album became a major success in continental Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada, topping most of the album charts during the second half of 1978 and also became their first UK number one album...
, and the title track of the album typifies the genre with its robotic voice and futuristic theme.
Space disco spread fast in Germany with the help of Musikladen
Musikladen
Der Musikladen was a West German music television programme that ran from December 13, 1972 to November 29, 1984. The show continued the 1960s Beat-Club under a new name, and in turn was replaced by Extratour.-History:...
, a music show produced by the German channel NDR
NDR
NDR may refer to:* Numalian Democratic Republic a Micronation within the borders of Malaysia.* Nador International Airport — IATA code Morocan airport* National Derby Rallies...
. Disco
Disco (TV series)
Disco was a pop music program that aired in Germany on the ZDF network from 1971 to 1982. It generally aired on the first Saturday of each month at 7:30PM, each show running 45 minutes. 133 shows were produced. The show was hosted by German actor and comedian Ilja Richter...
, another popular music show produced by ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
, also hosted some Space Disco artists.
Around 1979, just before Space Disco faded, Dee D. Jackson
Dee D. Jackson
Dee D. Jackson is a musician and singer. In the 1970s, she worked as a film producer in Munich, Germany, before moving into music, working with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.-Career:...
brought it to Latin America (mainly Brazil and Argentina) with the success there of her 1978 album Cosmic Curves. Jackson was British, but worked in Germany, and with the help of Italian producer Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
, managed to score a hit in the global charts of the time with "Automatic Lover".
Etymology
At least one modern history of space disco traces the genre's origins to science fiction themes (outer space, robots, and the future) in the titles, lyrics and cover artwork of dance music in the late 1970s. Plausible associations are drawn between the popularity of Star WarsStar Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
(released mid-1977), the subsequent surge in interest in science fiction themes in popular culture, and the release of a number of science fiction themed and "futuristic"-sounding (synthesizer and arpeggiator-infused) disco music worldwide.
In modern histories, examples of the first space disco usually include the music of the French band Space,, although the term "space disco" isn't definitively or singularly linked to this group.
Space Disco and P-Funk
P-FunkP-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
somehow became related with Space Disco, at least for a short while. The main reason for this, could be that during the very early 1980s, the discothèques in France used to market P-Funk as the continuation of USA's disco after the Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event that took place on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, during which a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field. It was held during the twi-night doubleheader baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and...
that took place in USA on 1979. Also, the USA's disco band Chic
Chic (band)
Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...
produced Sheila B. Devotion's biggest hit, "Spacer", which was a milestone of the Space Disco style, so it was natural to tell to the euro disco fans that P-Funk was Space Disco Related. The stage (and first video) appearances of the P-Funk artists, helped a lot in that direction.
Space Disco and Canadian disco
Space Disco had a presence in Canada because of the French-speaking population. In the very early 1980s, it inspired Canadian artists and producers to create their own Hi-NRG disco-like music style. In Europe, this style became known as "Canadian Disco". The best known groups of this music style are Trans-XTrans-X
Trans-X is a Canadian 1980s synth band formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are known for their hit song "Living on Video" which charted world wide.-History:...
and Lime
Lime (band)
Lime was a synth-pop group from Montréal, Canada, during the 1980s. The group was composed of husband and wife Denis and Denyse LePage, although two younger and more attractive singers, Joy Dorris and Chris Marsh, were chosen to tour and appear as the act. They are most noted for their songs "Angel...
. Canadian Disco integrated with the Italo-Disco scene in Europe, while it became a small part of Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
Disco in the U.S.A.
Space Disco and Italo-Disco
There are many Italo-Disco hits that have sci-fi themes and sound effects that were previously used in Space Disco. Many instrumental Italo-Disco remixes sounded very "space disco" like and some Italo-Disco artists and groups (most notable KotoKoto (band)
Koto is an Italian synth pop group that originally consisted of Anfrando Maiola and Stefano Cundari, later with the Dutch composer Michiel van der Kuy.- History :...
and Laserdance
Laserdance
Laserdance is a Dutch spacesynth-project that was popular in the 1980s with hits such as "Laserdance", "Power Run" and "Humanoid Invasion". Laserdance was the project of the Dutch producers Michiel Van der Kuy and Erik van Vliet...
) had space disco elements in their music until the late 1980s. The hybrid between Space Disco and Italo Disco created after 1986 mostly in Eastern Europe is called "Synthesizer Dance" by some fans, and "Spacesynth" by Americans.
Another crossover between Space Disco and Italo Disco was made by Italians producers and DJs in the early 1980s. They used to remix European hits in a "space disco" style. That was the case with the hit "Der Kommissar" by Falco
Falco (musician)
Johann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home " and posthumously, "Out Of The Dark"...
.
Space Disco and Cosmo-rock
The term "cosmo-rock" was first coined by the LatviaLatvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n space disco performance band Zodiac in 1981. This was rather a name misunderstanding since Zodiac based their compositions on Didier Marouani's Space, not yet knowing the exact term for the genre. In the later years "space opera" or "disco opera" was also implied when both bands were touring in USSR and featured both terms on their posters (such as "cosmo-rock, space disco and opera performers", for example).
Zodiac knew a slight revival in the early 2000s when some of their songs were remixed by the Russian progressive house duo PPK
PPK (group)
PPK is a notable Russian trance duo that was based primarily in Rostov-on-Don.The group consisted of Sergei Pimenov and Alexander Polyakov. PPK name is the acronym of founding members' initials, K was for short-time member DJ Kordj ....
.
Space Disco and French House
Space Disco became the main influence and inspiration for the 1990s French houseFrench house
French house is a catch-all term for house music by many French artists, a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance music scene and a form of Euro disco. The genre has also been referred to as "neu-disco" , "French touch", "filter house" and "tekfunk" over the years...
scene, the last of the Euro disco music styles.
Selected Space Disco artists
- CerroneCerroneMarc Cerrone is a French disco drummer, singer-songwriter and record producer.Marc Cerrone has sold over thirty million albums and has often performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people at huge concerts and events such as The 2005 Dance Party Live in Versailles and The 2000 Los Angeles...
- Space
- Sarah BrightmanSarah BrightmanSarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
(during her days with Hot GossipHot Gossip-Formation:Arlene Phillips came to London to learn and teach developing American Jazz dance routines. Employed as a dance teacher, she taught at locations including the Pineapple Dance Studios and the Italia Conti Stage School. In 1974, Phillips started forming the core of a troupe; Italia Conti...
) - Sheila B. Devotion (Spacer)
- Dee D. JacksonDee D. JacksonDee D. Jackson is a musician and singer. In the 1970s, she worked as a film producer in Munich, Germany, before moving into music, working with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.-Career:...
(Automatic Lover) - GanymedGanymed (band)Ganymed was an Austrian/German space disco band founded in 1977.In 1978, they released their biggest hit, “It Takes Me Higher”, which hit #5 on the Austrian charts for four weeks and also hit #23 on the German charts...
- Zodiac
1977
- CerroneCerroneMarc Cerrone is a French disco drummer, singer-songwriter and record producer.Marc Cerrone has sold over thirty million albums and has often performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people at huge concerts and events such as The 2005 Dance Party Live in Versailles and The 2000 Los Angeles...
- "Supernature" - Droids - "The Force"
- Kebekelektrik - "Magic Fly"
- MecoMecoMeco is an American record producer and musician, as well as the name of a band or production team based around him...
- "Star Wars: Title Theme" - RocketsRockets (band)Rockets were a French space rock band that formed in Paris in 1974. Some of the former members had played together since 1970 in a local band called Crystal...
- "Space Rock" - Space - "Magic Fly"
- Space Project - "Conquest of the Stars"
- Universal Robot Band - "Space Disco"
1978
- Chromium - "Fly on UFO"
- Automat - "Droid"
- Sarah BrightmanSarah BrightmanSarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
- "(I Lost My Heart To a) Starship Trooper" - Galactic Force Band - "Theme from Star Trek"
- Dee D. JacksonDee D. JacksonDee D. Jackson is a musician and singer. In the 1970s, she worked as a film producer in Munich, Germany, before moving into music, working with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.-Career:...
- "Automatic Lover" - Amanda LearAmanda LearAmanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
- "Black Holes" - Laurie Marshall - "Disco Spaceship"
- GanymedGanymed (band)Ganymed was an Austrian/German space disco band founded in 1977.In 1978, they released their biggest hit, “It Takes Me Higher”, which hit #5 on the Austrian charts for four weeks and also hit #23 on the German charts...
- "Saturn" - Mistral - "Starship 109"
- Giorgio MoroderGiorgio MoroderHansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
- "Battlestar Galactica" - Plastic BertrandPlastic BertrandPlastic Bertrand is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi".-Early life and bands:...
- "Tout Petit La Planete" - Boney M. - "Nightflight To Venus"
1979
- Funny Stuff - "Disco Space Invaders"
- Player One - "Space Invaders"
- Sheila & B. Devotion - "Spacer"
- Sylvia Love - "Extraterrestrial Lover"