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Space disco

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Space Disco
Stylistic originsDisco music
Sci-fi music and films
Euro disco
Glam (in fashion)
Pop (later compositions)
Cultural origins1970s Europe (with notable US influence)
Typical instrumentsSynthesizers • Strings • Keyboard • Drums • Vocals
Derivative formsSpacesynth, UK Synthpop, Eurodance, Hi-NRG
File:Mecoband.JPG
The "Sci-Fi Disco Band Meco" in 1977 in costumes typical of the Space Disco genre.

Space disco, also known as cosmo-rock (Russian: космо-рок) inside USSR and former Eastern Bloc countries, is a short-lived subgenre of eurodisco music that first became prominent on European scene around 1976—77, before considerably losing in popularity and morphing into an Eastern European cult movement by the early-1980s.

As a genre, space disco was inspired by both disco music and notable work of sci-fi film directors such as George Lucas (the Star Wars saga), Andrei Tarkovsky (both Solaris and Stalker) and Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind). The main idea behind the genre is that of a technological progress of society 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 and somewhat futuristic fashion, including cosmonaut and alien-like costumes, glowing belts, pistol dummies, etc.

Upon reaching Eastern Europe after 1980, the futuristic act was mainly dropped as many socialist state authorities often denied access to the stage for "inappropriately" dressed artists. Many bands have then carried out their sound into free open music events, festivals and formations to avoid political suppression, and the genre itself was slowly assimilated into purely instrumental, almost orchestral composure.

Popularity

Space Disco was very popular in France and parts of Germany in 1977–1979. Relatively popular artists that contributed to this music style include Meco ("Theme from Star Wars"), Cerrone ("Supernature"), Sarah Brightman ("I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper"), Didier Marouani & Space ("Magic Fly") and Sheila B. Devotion ("Spacer").

Space disco spread fast in Germany with the help of Musikladen, a music show produced by the German channel NDR. Disco, another popular music show produced by ZDF, also hosted some Space Disco artists. From Germany, space disco spread to Italy and parts of Greece, and influenced the Italo disco music scene.

Around 1979, just before Space Disco faded, Dee D. Jackson 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, 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.[1] Plausible associations are drawn between the popularity of Star Wars (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.[1]

In modern histories, examples of the first space disco usually include the music of the French band Space,[1], although the term "space disco" isn't definitively or singularly linked to this group.

Regional scenes and derivatives

Space Disco and P-Funk

P-Funk 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 that took place in USA on 1979. Also, the USA's disco band Chic 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-X and Lime. Canadian Disco integrated with the Italo-Disco scene in Europe, while it became a small part of Hi-NRG 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 Koto and Laserdance) 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.

Space Disco and Cosmo-rock

The term "cosmo-rock" was first coined by the Latvian 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.

Space Disco and French House

Space Disco became the main influence and inspiration for the 1990s French house scene, the last of the Euro disco music styles.

Selected Space Disco artists

Selected Space Disco hits

1977

1978

1979

  • Player One - "Space Invaders"
  • Sheila & B. Devotion - "Spacer"
  • Sylvia Love - "Extraterrestrial Lover"

1980

1985

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Kantonen, Jussi (2006-11-10). "Dance Music 101: Space Disco". DiscoStyle.com. Retrieved 2008-10-07]]. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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