| Electro songs, also known as electro-boogie, electro | | | | talk boxes and the use of more distinctive, heavier |
| dance or electro funk, is a genre of music that was | | | | beats. Afrika Bambaataa, an electro producer from |
| heavily influenced by funk music and the use of the | | | | the Bronx, caused quite a stir in 1982 with the |
| TR-808 (one of the very first drum machines). An | | | | release of a track called 'Planet Rock'. This featured |
| electro songs electronic vocals and sounds, more | | | | the basics of Kraftwerk's 'Numbers' and the |
| often than not, are performed in a mechanical, | | | | Trans-Europe Express. |
| synthetic way, fed through electronically created | | | | Planet Rock truly was the dawning of a new era in |
| distortion, or via a vocoder (a device to produce | | | | electro music and electro songs in general. The |
| unusual synthesized vocals). | | | | electro inspired 'Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)' created by |
| Originally, the drum machines provided the main | | | | Hashim in 1983 was the first release by the Cutting |
| rhythm of a track, but with the advent of | | | | Record company. Hashim was greatly influenced by |
| computers, drum machines became redundant. They | | | | 'She Blinded Me With Science' (Thomas Dolby), 'Hip |
| made way for break beats which sounded more like | | | | Hop, Be Bop' (Man Parrish) and 'Planet Rock'. That |
| live drummers. The TR-808 which was made in 1980 | | | | same year Herbie Hancock collaborated with Grand |
| has a sound that is instantly recognizable. To this day, | | | | Mixer D.ST and they produced the epic electro hit |
| it is still used to create electro music. | | | | 'Rockit'. |
| Synthesizers are used to generate additional electro | | | | Planet Patrol and groups like Bambaataa, Mantronix, |
| instrumentation which includes bass lines, analog | | | | Jonzun Crew, Juan Atkins' Cybotron, and Newcleus |
| synthesis, atonal effects, and arpeggiated or | | | | were a great influence on the musical genres of |
| sequenced riffs. To achieve suitable sounds for | | | | ghettotech, Detroit techno, electroclash, drum and |
| futuristic or science fiction music, effects such as | | | | base, and break beat. John Robie, Shep Pettibone |
| delays, reverbs, phasers and choruses, combined with | | | | and Arthur Baker, all of whom were electro |
| eerie sounding strings, are used. | | | | producers, prominently featured in the 'freestyle' |
| Electro is mainly instrumental but if voices are used | | | | movement. |
| they are put through a vocoder. Alternatively, a | | | | In the late 1980s this genre of music divorced itself |
| speech synthesis can be used to make mechanical or | | | | from its original funk influence. Pettibone and Baker |
| robotic sounding lyrics. Very early electro featured | | | | continued to enjoy lucrative careers that extended |
| rapping but, since the 1990s, rapping has faded in | | | | to the 'house' era. But both escaped the 'genre snare' |
| popularity with this genre of music. | | | | to produce successful mainstream artists. So there |
| When disco died in the 1970s, some electro funk | | | | you have it, the history of electro songs. |
| artists like Zapp & Roger started to experiment with | | | | |