User:KrikIDDQD/SandBox

= Interesting links =

Eurobeat (original sense)

 * https://80shinrgeurobeat.com - Jamiej80sdisco blog about Hi-NRG charts from the 80s. These two articles are particularly noteworthy:
 * https://80shinrgeurobeat.com/2021/12/17/january-june-1985-hi-nrg-goes-euro/
 * https://80shinrgeurobeat.com/2022/04/25/1985-a-melting-pot-of-hi-nrg-pop-rock-italo-disco-euro-disco-turns-into-eurobeat/
 * Magazine: "Record Mirror - Dec 14, 1985" - The very first issue of the British magazine Record Mirror with "Eurobeat" chart (the chart would later be renamed back to "Hi-NRG" in mid-1987). Apparently this is the very first public use of the term "Eurobeat", which replaced "Hi-NRG", for which a replacement had previously been sought because it no longer reflected the music that was played in British gay-clubs. Page 54: "EUROBEAT is the new name by which gay club DJs are calling the now outmoded and not strictly accurate Hi-NRG, although the criteria behind this chart remain the same."
 * https://www.discogs.com/label/21968-Eurobeat-Records - one of Bobby Orlando's countless labels specifically for Eurobeat.
 * https://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/19288.pdf
 * https://archive.org/details/Dmr19901007LG/page/n13/mode/2up
 * https://archive.org/details/the-wire-magazine-1993-06-cbz/page/n37/mode/2up?q=eurobeat
 * Book: "The Last Post - Music After Modernism" (1993) - a section introductory paragraph, listing the various forms of Hi-NRG. It is also very noteworthy that among the listed genres, in addition to “Eurobeat” (which is clearly used in the original meaning), there is also “Italobeat”, although it is not clear what is meant by this, except that this is some of the Hi-NRG subgenres. Page 115: "Before looking at the specifics of gay disco music, some definition of the genre must be made. Gay disco music, as a discrete analysable unit, is rather difficult to pin down. However, there are certain types of disco music which are aimed at the gay market and which are particularly popular, and as such these are particularly relevant for this essay. These types come under the generic heading of High Energy (usually shortened to Hi-Energy or Hi-NRG) and they include Boystown, Italobeat, Balearic beat, Eurobeat among others. In this essay I shall be using the generic term Hi-NRG to describe, albeit rather simplistically, all these various forms."
 * Magazine: "The Boston Phoenix - Jan 10-16, 1997" - use of the term in the USA in the late 90s (that is, shortly before the release of Initial D), where the term Eurobeat was by then used in relation to Eurohouse and Eurodance (apparently on approximately the same principle as the term Euro-NRG, originally from the term used for late Eurodisco, came to be used in relation to Eurodance, since one genre evolved into another).
 * Book: "Energy Flash: A Journey through Rave Music and Dance Culture", Simon Reynolds (1998) - The quote is in the context of the development of House music in British clubs of the 80s: "House music seemed to be a fad that had been and gone, at least as far as London clubland was concerned. ‘House never kicked off the way we thought,’ remembers Mark Moore, one of the few DJs who played Chicago and Detroit tracks. ‘I remember spinning Derrick May’s “Strings of Life” at the Mud Club and clearing the entire floor.’ House did have a toe-hold in the gay scene, at clubs like Jungle and Pyramid, where Moore spun alongside other house crusaders like Colin Faver and Eddie Richards. But most gay clubbers still preferred Eurobeat and Hi-NRG, - says Moore, and reckoned the arty Pyramid crowd were ‘weirdos’."

The Japanese use of the term actually reflects the original state:

 * https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ユーロビート
 * http://kayokyokuplus.blogspot.com/2013/12/marcos-vs-80s-playlist-eurobeat-edition.html
 * http://www.nrgexpress.com/whats/history.htm

British Eurobeat
= Italobeat = 1111

Structure
Relative to modern Eurobeat, Italobeat already has the structure characteristic of later Eurobeat, but does it in the context of Italo-disco production of the 80s. The main feature of Italobeat, which distinguishes it from classic Italo, is a strong rushing groove rhythm, consisting of a straight punchy bassline combined with powerful and rich 4-on-the-floor percussion, as well as a rich arrangement, usually built on syncopated melodies, played on contrasts between short and long notes.

The average tempo of Italobeat is slightly faster than classic Italo, being around 130±5 BPM. At the same time, the tempo is not a fundamental feature of the genre (which is also true for all Eurobeat in general, however) and fluctuates in a very wide range from a very slow 105 BPM to a fast 140 BPM, the main thing is that the melody continues to maintain its groove (which becomes increasingly difficult to do as the speed decreases).

Italobeat is in many ways extremely similar to Spacesynth, a related genre also derived from Italo-disco and Hi-NRG (and partly from Italobeat) and being a predominantly instrumental progressive form of Italo-disco with a futuristic aesthetics. The structure and emphases of the two genres are similar to such an extent that introducing a classic song form with regular vocals into Spacesynth will most often turn a tune into the odd-sounding Italobeat that was often heard in the works of Made Up Records. Italobeat is also somewhat similar to Sleaze-energy - a kind of slow and calm antonym of Eurobeat, represented in particular by the works of Savage, Gazebo and Valerie Dore, which, like Italobeat, also focuses on monotonous bass with pronounced drums, but does it in a very minimalistic melancholic form.

Rhythm
The needed groove is usually achieved by focusing not on the downbeat (like in Funk and the most of Disco music before), but on the third beat with an upstroke (similar to Reggae), which creates a kind of question-answer relationship within one bar between drums and bass: one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and-.

Bass

 * Octave

The first most common type of bass, where one note is played by each onbeat alternately in two different octaves, and is closely associated with Italo-disco in general. Song examples: Rose - "Perfect Time", Alphatown - "The Power of My Love", Norma Sheffield - "Your Body Lies"

The second most common type of bass, where one note is played on three out of four beats (usually the first, third and fourth), thereby creating a swift rhythm, reminiscent of a galloping horse. Usually octave, but can also be simply monotonous. The downbeat is generally emphasized by something - for example, a different octave or volume. The most common variation is A3/--/A4/A4. Song examples: Chip Chip - "So Close to Heaven", Robert Camero - "Deep in Love", F.C.F. - "Bad Desire" The heritage of Hi-NRG, for which it is the hallmark. A variation of an octave, where each note is repeated one more time (i.e., it doesn't look like A3/--/A4/--, but A3/A3/A4/A4), which makes the bass seem to roll across the entire octave back and forth. It is not very common in Eurobeat, but is very characteristic of related Spacesynth, where this is the most common variant. Song examples: Silver Pozzoli - "Love is the Best", Green Olives ‎– "Jive Into the Night", Fred Ventura - "One Day"
 * Gallop
 * Double octave (aka Rolling)

The most simple bassline, where the bass plays just one single note every onbeat. Since there is no difference between downbeat and upbeat, it is extremely rare in early Eurobeat, because the groove suffers greatly from this. Song examples: Max Coveri - "Bye Bye Baby", Ciao Ciao - "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Lou Grant - "What Kind of Cure"
 * Flat

A short octave or flat repetitive pattern occupying no more than two bars. It's usually interspersed with some other type (as for example in Wild Reputation, where a regular octave bass sounds in the verses, and a pattern in the chorus and riff). It is not very common in Italobeat, but is more widespread in later Italian Eurobeat forms. Song examples: Aleph - "Big Brother", D. Essex - "Love & Celebration"
 * Pattern

The bassline does not have to be one and can either be interspersed with others (for example, in the verses one type, in the chorus another) or be multi-layered, combining different basses with different types at the same time. As an influence of British Eurobeat, sometimes there can also be a secondary jumping bassline - a syncopated bass (most often presented as slap bass or DX7 electro bass) jumping up and down disorderly over two octaves, adding a swing element. It comes as an addition to one of the above bassline types: even if this bass is brought to the front, there will always be another straightforward bass layer that emphasizes the rushing groove. Song examples: King Kong & D'Jungle Girls - "Boom Boom Dollar", Mike Hammer - "Divine", Gipsy & Queen - "Energy"



Percussion
This percussion system, having finally settled down by the end of the 1980s, will be inherited by the early 90s Eurobeat almost without any changes and will be characteristic of all Eurobeat until the mid-90s, where early Eurobeat will begin to be replaced by the modern form.