Similarities and Differences between The Northern Soul movement and The 1980s Dance era
There were various similarities and differences when comparing the two musical eras, the 1970s and the 1980s. The two main influences of these eras in a musical sense included The Northern Soul movement and 1980s dance genres. There are four main topics that act as focal points of these eras. These topics include the cultural and historical influences that helped the 70s and the 80s progress; each of their audience expectations and perceptions of these time eras; the technological and production developments of the genres consistent with these specific decades and finally how the media perceived and presented the music that was introduced within these time eras.
Whilst the 70s and 80s have a strong contrast between each other culturally, there are also some similarities including the ‘Live for the weekend’ attitude in which the music portrayed and therefore reflected on the audience’s expectations and perceptions of the music. Both of these decades were a very rich time for musical developments. In the 1970s we see the progression of disco, funk, soul, EDM and Hip-Hop. These genres are further progressed in the 1980s as more instruments are easily accessible and the use of technology enhanced these specific genres in the 1980s.
Another similarity of these two genres is that the club scene was most prominent. The Northern Soul movement had many supporters of the genre at the time and their club scene was based in Manchester at a club called The Twisted Wheel. It was a very popular club and highly respected by the Northern Soul supporters. The reason for this was the all-nighters where people could dance all night to their favourite Northern Soul classics. Amphetamines were easily accessible in The Twisted Wheel which fuelled the Northern Soul supporters dance moves and their all-nighters. Even in the year of 2012, the Manchester council acknowledged "the Twisted Wheel club has played an important and pivotal role in developing Manchester's cultural and musical history". It has also been named “The birthplace of Northern Soul” by The Guardian. Therefore, The Twisted Wheel is a clear example of the prominent club scene in the 1970s. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/27/twisted-wheel-northern-soul-venue-manchester
Similarly, as previously mentioned, the 1980s was also known for it’s prominent club scene era. Studio 54 somewhat links both of the eras together as the club was highly influential in the late 70s and early 80s. Ran originally by Rhubell and Schrager, the club was the perfect representation of the 80s dance era. Studio 54 was filled with drugs and prostitution as well as a popular hedonistic scene. By 1981 celebrities such as: Andy Warhol, Calvin Klein, Madonna, Duran Duran etc were either seen performing or partying in Studio 54. An interview with a young Michael Jackson explains how, similar to the 70s club scene, the 80s club scene was prominent through his personal opinion of Studio 54. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQAFmYGjaU4
On the other hand, there are strong contrasts between the two eras. An example of this would be the cultural and historical influences. The Northern Soul Movement was born out of a time in England where a recession had occurred. It affected places like Liverpool and Manchester the hardest. The 70s could be considered as a rough time particularly for youths ages 16-25. This is because many teenagers knew that after they’d leave school they’d continue to work in the factories they already do now just to make ends meat. The typical jobs they would do are blue collar factory work and working in steel mines. Most of these jobs were very dull and repetitive. The lifestyle of the young was to go to school and then once finished, head over to work in one of those factories without any hopes of a future or leaving their towns. A journalist from the BBC News Magazine who wrote an article on the 70s described the era as, “the end of something - the tired, miserable hangover after the long party of the Swinging Sixties” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17703483)
The 70s is known to be a horrific time due to the political issues going on in those days. These include: The VIetnam War and sending soldiers out to the front line from as young as 19; Women, Lesbians and Gays continuing to fight for equality; poverty and the recession because of the war; the local protests that became violent on some occasions and many more. These political issues were also happening the USA. Equal rights was a major political issue in the 1970s. The history website on the 1970s quote that, “Suffragist Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923. It was introduced to Congress every year until 1972, when it finally passed but was not ratified. It has been reintroduced to Congress every year since 1982” http://www.history.com/topics/1970s
These heavy political issues affected the musical output of this era. Many young people of the 70s did not want to hear about these political issues during their ‘live for the weekend’ attitude and therefore listened to songs with the lyrical content of love and heartbreak etc.
However, many people who were teenagers in the 70s have fond memories and rather personal accounts on their view of the 70s. An interview with Elaine, a film and book maker who interviewed many people on the Northern Soul Movement descibes how many teenagers percieved the Northern Soul Movement: http://www.hungertv.com/feature/northern-soul/ the majority of people would reflect on their lives as a teenager in the 70s and describe it as a positive and lively time in their lives.
On the contrary, the 1980s could be considered as a celebration of the end of the 70s recession. Both Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan promoted conservatism and materialism. Margaret Thatcher doubled house prices in order to make people richer and therefore people had more money to spend. Similarly, the Americans embraced this new materialistic view of life characterised by Ronald Reagan. The ‘Yuppies’ were created in the 80s era. Yuppies were young professionals who were driven by money and were highly career focused. The history website on the 1980s quote that, “The populist conservative movement known as the New Right enjoyed unprecedented growth in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It appealed to a diverse assortment of Americans, including evangelical Christians; anti-tax crusaders; advocates of deregulation and smaller markets; advocates of a more powerful American presence abroad; disaffected white liberals; and defenders of an unrestricted free market.” http://www.history.com/topics/1980s
As many youths were celebrating their riches and the end of the recession, the lyrical content of the 80s included: materialism, sex, partying, clubbing etc. The music harmonised with the 80s dance era whereas the Northern Soul movement contradicted the political issues of the 70s. The 80s was a rather progressive time for the media due to MTV being launched as well as TVs and music being more accessible. The consistent use of the MIDI keyboard in many songs, reflects the technological evolution of the 1980s as live instruments did not have to be used, you could now create realistic sounding instruments with a MIDI keyboard. However, the Northern Soul movement completely contrasts the political issues of the 70s. The chart music in the 70s was very slow and laid back, however the Northern Soul movement consisted of lively disco funk and soul sounds that were originally considered to be too old for the American lifestyle at the time. However, it enabled people to forget about their problems including poverty with a strong four on the floor beat, which enabled people to dance all night.
This shows that there was a distinct contrast between the cultural and historical influences of the 70s and the 80s. The 1970s were considered to be a miserable time due to the underlying political issues that framed the public’s overview of the 70s, whereas, the 1980s is a reflection of coming out of the recession and the promotion of conservatism creating a rather bustling and thriving time period of the 80s. However, my personal opinion is that many youths enjoyed the 70s and The Northern Soul era, as the music took them away to happier places where they could dance all night and meet new people.
Although the 70s and the 80s consisted of dance music and culture, their technological and production developments were very different. The Northern Soul movement came from a group of people who felt that black music best reflected their lifestyle. The chart music at the time, was too easy going and mainstream for the Northern Soul movement. Psychedelia (which was popular in America) was too chilled out for the Northern Soul movement and Funk did not represent their difficult lifestyle. However, the old soul tracks that never really made it to the charts was very appealing to the Northern Soul movement as the music was very upbeat but the lyrics consisted of emotional topics such as oppression and heartbreak etc however the most common theme was love.. An example of is in chuck wood’s- 7 days too long .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eTor8RRBbU Technologically all of the characteristics of this song represents what was expected from the northern soul movement in 1970s, both musically and lyrically.
The four four drum beat and time signature reflected the “live for the weekend” attitude, which was common in the youths from the northern soul movement.The four four signature enabled simple and straightforward dance moves such as “twirls, splits, strong leg movements ect.” furthermore when listening to the track it is evident that the instruments are played by live musicians. This is easy to tell, because the natural positioning of each musician/vocalist has not been divided into a modern day studio audio map. The vocals are sat behind the instruments and the brass section is slightly louder than the vocals. This is also evidence of a recording studio which may not have the advanced recording equipment as the 1980’s recording studio. On the other hand in the 1980’s there was a consistent
theme of controversy in the lyrics mainly politically and culturally, an example of this is Madonna “like a virgin” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eTor8RRBbU. This song represents the highly controversial topic of sex.similar to the northern soul track the time signature is four four making it easier to dance to in the clubs of the time. However there is a strong contrast between this song and the chuck wood. there is evidence of computerised instruments, the sounds effect of church bells and the main riff is played by a “midi” keyboard. The drums sound synthetic and programmed, as there is signs of looping. Compared to chuck woods track, this has been equalized meaning that the vocals and the instrumental are played at the same dynamic level.
To conclude, there are many similarities and differences within the 1970s and 1980s eras. My personal opinion is that the Northern Soul Movement had more of an impact in our history than the 1980s as there is evidence to support that the 1980s dance era was influenced by Northern Soul itself. This would explain the strong direct similarities between the two eras which cannot be helped as they are only a decade apart. However, the research that I have conducted suggests a progressive timeline of how the music developed as well as the people’s attitude to their lifestyles. A major similarity between the two eras is the youth’s attitude, the living for the weekend and the prominent club scene.
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