NRG or Hi-NRG

[NickNack]

I don't seem to have a full grasp on what this actually means. I say that because of the comments and songs listed by Bernie and Move2This on another thread. So, could some of you explain what the letters mean to you and perhaps list one or two examples? I took it to mean up-tempo (128 bpm +) music catering to us gay-boyz. How far off am I? Bernie has Fancy's "Slice Me Nice" on his list. I don't remember it being that fast (could be wrong). And, sadly, Bernie is not gay. Anyway, what's your scoop on 'NRG' music.

[BrunoRepublic]

Well, I'm not exactly an authority on this, but to me, Hi-NRG refers to that fast early 80s, mostly-synthesized beat... the song structure is still very much like a pop song, but the production is almost entirely electronic aside from vocals. The productions of Bobby O and the late great Patrick Cowley probably sum it up best.

[Move2This]

According to my understanding, the sound we call Hi-NRG came about as a fusion between soul music and the more mechanical, synthesised approach to dance music that sprang up in Europe during the 70s – e.g. Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Silver Convention. As such it was a direct descendent of disco. A good example of this fusion is perhaps Carol Jiani – a singer with a great soul voice – but usually singing over a heavily synthesised backing e.g. Hit’n’Run Lover (1981). Bobby O, as mentioned earlier in this thread, is another example.



Other Hi-NRG sounds were not particularly soulful, but really capitalised on the synthesised beat as exemplified by the group Lime, whose music was very influential in developing the classic 80s Hi-NRG sound.



Hi-NRG probably lasted as a sound from about 1977-1993, reaching a peak in the mid-80s. Certainly in the UK, a typical Hi-NRG track would have little chart success and little exposure outside gay clubs (I sometimes used to wonder how those involved in the recordings made any money!). There were crossover successes which did chart, e.g. Dead or Alive (You Turn Me Around), The Weather Girls (It’s Raining Men).



Between about 1984-86 it was hard to find any other type of music played in gay venues in London and, in the years that followed, a backlash against the music inevitably began with some clubs starting to advertise themselves as “Hi-NRG free zones”! However, its demise was delayed by the whole sound going mainstream in a big way due to the success of the Stock Aitken and Waterman production team, who took the basic Hi-NRG sound and turned it into a huge commercial success. Donna Summer’s career was given a new lease of life, and they even scored a hit for Cliff Richard with I Just Don’t Have the Heart (1989).



A closely related genre was Eurodisco e.g. Yello, Rofo, singers like Steve Allen.



Paradoxically, Hi-NRG was not always particularly fast – the range was usually 120-130bpm, and some tracks didn’t even have a particularly energetic feel e.g. American Love by Rose Laurens.



Much of the music seemed strongly gay-targeted, with much talk in the lyrics of “men” in general, “hunting/searching for love”, “midnight lovers” etc. It was all rather over-the-top and seems slightly preposterous now that the club scene seems to be less divided on grounds of sexuality.



This is only my own experience of the genre based on what was going on in the UK. I understand Hi-NRG always had more commercial appeal in continental Europe, but am unsure how it fared in North America. Anyone care to carry on the story?

[jpp]

move2this hit the nail on head in many respects, but do not want to have Evelyn Thomas's "High Energy" and the production team of Ian Levine / Fiachara Trench / Nightmare records go unnoticed...they are responsible for many of the London hits in this genre.

[JussiK]

The first time I came face to face with the term Hi-Nrg was while reading Billboard magazine - they called the Boots clemens single GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY that and also referred to Meco's limp POP GOES THE MOVIES. This must have been what, 1982? Those were the days when Britain's Record Mirror had a gay club chart called BOYSTOWN, which was after that called yet something else before being properly named Hi-Nrg.- So, is Hi-Nrg originally an American expression?

[Paulo]

Hello everybody:

Move2this spoke about a hi-nrg backlash in the 80's. The same thing happened in the late 70's against disco music. It seems the world cannot stand music designed for dancing. I think the rock community is to be blame for that (in part at least). The main reason may be homophobia, as disco and hi-nrg are closely related to the gay lifestyle. I think the only style that the world pigeon-hole is disco. It's unfair, because we don't go saying: let's go out tonight to watch a heterossexual Bruce Springsteen show, but almost whenever I read something about Neil Tennant, there it is: the gay Pet Shop Boys.



A question for move2this: as I live in another country, I would like to know what kind of music was played in those "high-nrg free" clubs?



Thank you all and take care

Paulo

[Move2This]

I’ve responded to the interesting points Paulo has raised above in the new thread he started.



I’m very interested in how Hi-NRG fared in the US and Canada. I remember mentioning this type of music to a Canadian friend in 1990 and he claimed he’d never heard the term. So, did it have another name, was it less popular, or was it as all-pervading as in the UK?

[NickNack]

Hi Guys,



Thanks to all of you for the responses, especially Move2This. Very informative and an awakening to me. It seems I not only did not have a grasp on the term, I didn't have a clue! Your explanations now make clear to me why certain groups/artists are in this category. Also why some songs which I considered "too slow" also fit.



So, now that I know what I've been playing and listening to all this time, I have to say I like the majority of it. But, I'm going to take a clue from Maarten and not pidgeon-hole it in its genre. ("No more labels", right, Maarten?) For all this time 'NRG' meant 'ENERGY' to me and I think I'll just hold on to that. It's all great to dance to and that's all I really care about.



_________________

Dancin' All Over It!

Nicky

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: NickNack on 2001-10-26 17:01 ]</font>

[sirius]

Here some typical HI-NRG-Trax:

Everything from the great DIVINE!

BOBBY O"I´m So Hot For You"/"She Has A Way"

FLIRTS"Passion"

MIQUEL BROWN"So Many Men, So Little Time"

Everything from DEAD OR ALIVE

BOYTRONIC"You"/"Man In A Uniform"

MAN PARRISH"Heartstroke"

MAN 2 MAN"Male Stripper"

Everything from EVELYN THOMAS in the 80ies

Certainly DONNA SUMMER´s "I Feel Love"...

it´s for me the 1st HI-NRG-Track ever!

FANCY"Slice Me Nice"/"Chinese Eyes"

GLORIA GAYNOR"I Am What I Am"

BERLIN"Sex(I´m A...)"

BRONSKI BEAT"Why"/"Hit That Perfect Beat"

Everything from PATRICK COWLEY

SYLVESTER"Do Ya Wanna Funk"/"Be With You"/

"Take Me To Heaven", etc.

RONI GRIFFITH"Desire"

BONNIE FOREMAN"I Want A Man"

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLWOOD"Relax"/"Two Tribes"

NINA HAGEN"Zarah"

PAUL HARDCASTLE"19"

HOT STREAK"Body Work"

RHETTA HUGHES"Angel Man"

IMMORTALS"The Ultimate Warlord"

CAROL JIANI"Hit´n´Run Lover"/"Mercy"

Everything from LIME

KLEIN & MBO"Dirty Talk"

LOVERDE "Backstreet Romance"/"Die Hard Lover"

MIKE MAREEN"Dancing In The Dark"/"Love Spy"

Certainly PET SHOP BOYS

Try YELLO´s "Bostich" or "I Love You"

FREDDIE MERCURY"Love Kills"

BONNIE TYLER"Holding Out For A Hero"

LIZA MINNELLI"Losing My Mind"

NATIVE LOVE"Megatron Woman"

BOBBY O"Reputation"/"Whisper To A Scream"

with Claudja Barry

CLAUDJA BARRY"Work Me Over"

OFF"Electrica Salsa"=DJ SVEN VAETH

AND SO MANY MORE...



Love & Cosmic Kisses from SIRIUS & DARKTUNES

[analoguesque]

Originally Posted by Move2This

I’m very interested in how Hi-NRG fared in the US and Canada. I remember mentioning this type of music to a Canadian friend in 1990 and he claimed he’d never heard the term. So, did it have another name, was it less popular, or was it as all-pervading as in the UK?

As I remember, it was pretty pervasive in Canada compared to the States. Even today any synth-based music is still a no-no on American music charts, unless it's rap or hip-hop. :evil:

Some good stuff came out of Canada, including Tapps (Runaway, Hurricane) and Trans-X (Living on Video). 8)

As for it's name, it is referred to in several different ways :
In the US it's just called DISCO, which is completely wrong. Elsewhere it is called Eurobeat, Eurodance, Italo-Disco, Eurodisco, Hi-NRG ... etc.

[SandraDee]

Alot of 'trendy' gay clubbers always said that hi-nrg meant that gay clubs were stuck in a schlocky 'back-water' but i disagree really because hi-energy was carrying on that pure 'disco' sound made big by Boris Midney & Giorgio moroder in the 70's & I was always grateful to the likes of Bobby O & Patrick Cowley for this. This type of disco music is always popular with gays & straights alike (look at the success of Bananarama, Pet Shop Boys etc.etc.) but nobody EVER admits to liking it (with the exception of you guyz here); why is this? :evil:

[QUINNY]

It's quite stange how things developed without having any particular handle, only to be given one at some later date.
As a DJ I played records by Bobby 'O', Cowley, Sylvester and others in 81/82/83 long before they were given any category. For me personally, many of these records just carried on the Disco tradition and were good to dance to. Yes, I was aware that they were played in Gay clubs, but in the UK these were still very few and far between outside of a few large cities.
Hi NRG hit us with a bang in '84, when Record Shack became the Gay label of choice almost overnight (or so it seemed) and started to score minor hits. It was at this point that I thought that whole scene became rather formularised and so, surprise, surprise I didn't like it that much from then on. It did however score a moderate success with my average audience so I always had to sequence a few of them to keep everyone happy. It's Raining Men by the Weather Girls was, for example, an absolute giant with the mainstream UK Disco crowd and to this day will fill a dance floor of non regular club goers. I'm not so sure it wasn't dropped like a brick by the Gay community once it crossed over. Anyone enlighten me on this?
Most of the Hi NRG I played was at 122 -128 BPM, which was just too fast compared with what was the prevailing dance music of the day ( 110 -120 ).
Sirius's list is pretty thorough, although I'd have to take exception to a few titles if prodded with a BIG stick, although I know they have been claimed by the boyz as their own.

[DISCODISK]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

Yes, I was aware that they were played in Gay clubs, but in the UK these were still very few and far between outside of a few large cities.

quinny ALL u.k cities have gay clubs just as they did in the 90s,80s 70s its probibly safe to say some cities had more clubs in the 70s/80s than they do now, sure they wernt on main street or had flashing lights outside but theyve always been there,or is it that youre getting confused with the 50s :roll:

[bobbchap]

I can't speak for all gay clubs, but in regards to wether or not the gay clubs dropped "It's Raining men" because it crossed over to straight clubs....all I can say is when ever that song comes on here in the clubs I go to, it still packs the floors. I personally don't think that effects "song play" in the gay clubs. If the songs are good...then the gay community doesn't care. Dance, dance, dance...if the straight people like those songs....hell... we all dance together. :D

[QUINNY]

DiscoDisk: I was talking in the past tense. You'd be more aware than I, maybe, but I have to tell you that to me the Gay influence wasn't overly apparent until 1984. Whether or not that was down to small numbers, non recognition by the straights, non assertiveness by Gays I couldn't say. Most Gays were still 'in the closet' weren't they, until the mid '80s?