Eurobeat
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Summary of Eurobeat
The music genre Eurobeat is closely related to Disco and Hi-NRG. It is also closed related to the Japanese dance Para Para.
Eurobeat is, as the name implies, a European genre of music. It is generally held to have originated in Italy in the late '70s and early '80s. However, no one knows exactly how Eurobeat originated. Early Eurobeat had a tempo of around 120BPM.
Beginning in the 1990s, a mix of Eurobeat and Happy Hardcore called "Super Eurobeat" became the mainstay of Para Para dance nightclub events in Tokyo and around Japan. Tempo increased to 150BPM or sometimes even higher (so-called "Hyper Techno" in Para Para culture) In around 2002 this was mixed with '90s-style trance music and re-named "Cyber Trance".
Although highly popular in Japan, Eurobeat has been becoming more and more popular in the United States in the past few years. The anime Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno uses Eurobeat music regularly in it's episodes during racing scenes between the characters, and because of this it has brought popular attention to many people from very young ages to people of older ages.
The Eurobeat Genre
Eurobeat can create a number of different genres, while still keeping it's own originality intact. In the the late 1970s and early 1980s there were many new genres emerging from the creation of electronic music. Disco was the beginning of a whole new era in music, with popular artists such as George Clinton and Earth, Wind, and Fire, to name a few. However, when disco music died out in the states, its flame still continued to burn in Europe.
And that's where eurobeat comes in.
While modern music is often recognized by its lyrics, Eurobeat is recognized not only by its lyrics but by its Saiba, the main harmony created by a synthesizer. This broad genre can create a great number of different "sub-genres" within it because of this fantastic combination of harmony and rhythm. Sometimes it can still sound like the old disco music we've come to know and love, some may be very "fast and happy" like Happy Hardcore or Speed music , and it sometimes even uses guitars as a method of Saiba.
One of the many unique things about Eurobeat is the fact that each of the hundreds and hundreds of "artists" are actually a small number of eurobeat artists. For instance, the artists Vicky Vale, Leslie Parrish, Cherry, and Clara Moroni are all in fact Clara Moroni, only with a different name. However, the reason Eurobeat labels do this is rather unknown. It may be to keep Eurobeat "fresh" with "new" artists emerging onto the scene every so often, or it may have something to do with the way the music sounds or who created the lyrics. A popular theory is since Eurobeat is often produced by the same people (for example, Andrea Leonardi and Giancarlo Pasquini, who are the two largest Eurobeat producers), they often manufacture the same acts under many different names in order to "compete with themselves." (Compare to legendary House producer Thomas Bangalter, who is infamous for the practice)
Whatever the reason, Eurobeat has been a steady and powerful genre for more than ten years, and its fans still yearn for more music from it's talented creators.
EuroBeat Production
On unusual thing about Eurobeat artist, is that many usualy live in Italy or some other European country. While the artist and music are usualy produced in Europe, most (if any) are send and sold in Japan. Although many Europeans and Americans have heard Eurodance, Eurobeat is still a unknown genre in Europe where other types of music are dominent. However, Dave Rodgers claims that his new CD is being recorded in studios all over the world.
Top Eurobeat Artists
- Dave Rodgers
- Domino
- Franz Tornado
- Niko
- Bazooka Girl
- Mega NRG Man
- Nuage
- Lolita
- Virginelle
- Cherry
- D.Essex
- Doki Doki
- Overload
- Fastway
- Norma Sheffield
- King & Queen
- Denise
- Helena
- Big Brother
- King & Queen
- Ace
- Denise
- Matt Land
- Manuel
- Go Go Girls
- Karen
- Leslie Parrish
- Dusty
- Kevin Johnson
Eurobeat Compilations
Eurobeat Labels
- Delta Dance (http://www.deltadance.com) - Delta Dance Website
- SCP (http://www.scp-music.com) - SCP Website
- Hi NRG Attack (http://www.livemusicstudio.com) - Hi NRG Attack Website
- A Beat C (http://www.rodgersmusic.com) - A Beat C Website
- Time Records (http://www.timerec.it/indexfscale.htm) - Time Records Website
- Boom Boom Beat (http://www.saifam.com/) Boom Boom Beat Website
External links
- Avex Japan Eurobeat (http://www.avexnet.or.jp/eurobeat) - Avex Japan Eurobeat Link
- NRG Express (http://www.nrgexpress.com) - Eurobeat information from Japan
- Eurobeat Prime (http://www.eurobeat-prime.com/) - Eurobeat info and database
- Eurobeat Evolution (http://www.eurobeatevolution.com/)