I have a theory that I want to share with you. The basis of this theory is that every decade during the 20th Century there was an explosion of new music. I look at the 1940s and see the Big Bands like Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. In the 50s it was Rock 'n' Roll from Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and so on. When the 60s came round the explosion came form the British Isles when the music of the youth in those dark time after the war saw bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and may more invade the USA taking the American music back to its homeland. Once again in the 70s the disaffected youth of the UK gave us Punk, and unleashed a torrent of independent record labels, and bands that did it all themselves. The 80s was again a time for the young of Britain to make their mark this time they did it with keyboards, synthesizers, and drum machines heralding in the Second Summer of Love in 1988. And that is what brings us to this new 4 CD collection of Dance music from the era of the raves. It is called Burn It Up - The Rise of British Dance Music 1986-1991
The roots of this music, often refereed to as EDM, can be traced back to bands such as 60s US electronic pioneers Silver Apples, possibly the Dr Who Theme from the BBC, the synth based 70s electronic disco from Giorgio Moroder, David Bowie's Berlin album trio, House music from Chicago and New York, and most definitely Kraftwerk.
This compilation of 50 tracks taking a whopping 4 and 1/4 hours to play all the way through was compiled by Bill Brewster and Richard Anderson, and comes with extensive sleevenotes by Bill Brewster. I particularly like the photos of press cuttings from the UK tabloid press that went bananas over the raves, and the drugs, that accompanied the music.
The wealth of music on the 4 CDs is a little overwhelming. There are tracks from the usual suspects, Adamski, Bomb The Bass, Cabaret Voltaire, Coldcut, S-Express, The KLF and The Beatmasters provide the title track Burn It Up. Then there is The Cure with the extended remix of Lullaby, Orbital with Chime, Judge Dread with Jerk Your Body and Samantha Fox with The Black Pyramid Mix of Love House. I could go on, but just check the track list at link below.
Mix these CDs with the ones from the Extended Stimulation - 12” Pop Adventures on the Dancefloor 1983 – 1988 and The Greatest Soul / Funk & Disco 12” Inch Singles of The 70s & 80s and what a great party you are going to have.
To hear some tracks from the collection in visit The Groove Yard visit 190
And for a full track listing, and other information, go to the Cherry Red Records website.
Footnote: In the 90s there was Britpop with a resurgence of the 60s/70s pop sounds updated for the times by bands like Oasis and Blur.
Yes I know there were other genres emerging in these decades. I haven't forgotten Reggae, Glam Rock, Heavy Metal, Grunge, and Disco I was,in my mind, emphasizing the major influential genres.