Post-Disco and Post-Punk

Disco and Punk, the two most powerfully innovative segments of popular music in the late 1970's, both imploded by the end of the decade in terms of artistic and financial power in the music industry. Their influence, however, reached far beyond the end of 1979. Each gave way to periods frequently referred to as Post-Disco and Post-Punk. Although the Disco and Punk styles seemed on the surface to be far apart musically and stylistically, the grassroots of both shared a do-it-yourself attitude about innovation that would bridge many of the sonic differences. A signficant number of Post-Disco and Post-Punk artists would find a home in the dance clubs of the early 80's.

In the immediate aftermath of the Disco backlash, a significant part of the Dance music world turned back toward R&B as a primary source of inspiration, much like a decade earlier before Disco made its appearance. One of the key figures in developing an R&B-influenced Post-Disco sound for the 80's was producer/performer Narada Michael Walden. He originally came to prominence as a drummer in the Jazz-Fusion group Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 70's. By the late 70's he was releasing solo albums with some minor success on the R&B charts. With his The Dance Of Life album Walden took a turn to the dancefloor. The effervescent I Shoulda Loved Ya became his first top ten Dance single in 1980. It's light, breezy danceable style would be featured in a number of Dance hits of the early 80's. One of his initial steps into producing records in 1980 gave Stacy Lattisaw her first major Dance hit, another breezy R&B track Dynamite!

Another key direction of Post-Disco music was a push toward greater use of the synthesizer as a base for quickening beats and sweeping chords. Patrick Cowley, producer and synthesizer player for Sylvester, was a key figure in the development of synthesized Dance music. Cowley was instrumental in putting together Sylvester's signature You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) as well as his first Dance hit of 1980 Can't Stop Dancing. In 1981 and 1982 Cowley would go on to create his own major Dance hit recordings and be cited as a key influence for the groups New Order, a uniter of Post-Disco and Post-Punk aesthetics, and the Pet Shop Boys.

While the downfall of Disco in the U.S. produced a strongly negative attitude among Rock audiences toward Dance music in any form, the effect in the U.K. was much less significant. As Punk began to fade, influences of Disco and Reggae started to appear in the music of a number of British Punk-influenced bands. The Clash, Joy Division, The Cure, and Psychedelic Furs, among others, began to release Rock-oriented but highly danceable singles. When imported to the U.S., these songs were played in what soon became known as Rock-oriented dance clubs. In order to maintain credibility with target audiences any association with Disco was vehemently denied, but Dance beats were encouraged.

The Clash's monumental album London Calling included the hit Train In Vain which reached the top 30 on American Dance charts. Joy Division's doom-laden Love Will Tear Us Apart broke into the top 50 on American Dance charts. This would be Joy Division's only appearance on any American single charts. As they emerged out of Punk debris, the Cure also scored minor hits in American dance clubs. Although they sported a number of major non-Dance influences such as the Velvet Underground and Punk, Psychedelic Furs also were aware of the value of the beat in filling a dancefloor. Their first album even included a nod to early rapping on one cut.

To some observers, Dance music in 1980 had scattered across a nearly incoherent range of musical styles. To some degree this is true. For some, the Disco 'last hurrah' of Lipps Inc.'s Funky Town bears little resemblance to the robotic Post-Punk aesthetic of Devo's Whip It. A closer examination notices the shared Dance beats, idiosyncratic innovation in sound, and determination to take music forward away from the old patterns of the previous decade.