Pioneers of Dance Music: Detroit

Pioneers of Dance Music: Detroit

24 September, 2010 | 5.04AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: detroit, pioneers

In the annals of electronic dance music, there’s no place more iconic than Detroit. Detroit was the crucible and the cradle: a collision of social, economic, technological and (of course) musical factors that launched a new movement worldwide. Without the efforts of a small group of mostly African-American youth from Detroit and its surroundings in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, dance music would be very different today.

Of course, it’s not entirely that simple: the history of electronic dance music is a gloriously messy one, and it can’t be neatly summed up in any single, linear narrative. Focusing too narrowly on Detroit leaves out many other crucial elements, from the birth of Chicago house and the legacy of New York disco to other scenes and sounds around the world (Japanese synth-pop, Italo disco, European EBM, UK acid house, and so on).

Nevertheless, Detroit deserves its status; it provided the catalyst for electronic dance music’s rapid evolution in the ‘90s, and the city’s influence remains powerful, from globe-trotting legends like Derrick May to new-school talents like Omar S and Kyle Hall. Today, the very name of the place is a kind of mystical totem, invoked by artists from all over the globe like a magic word. (Consider everything from Even Tuell’s untitled “Detroit, Detroit” track for Workshop to Fedde le Grand’s ”Put Your Hands Up for Detroit” to Germany’s Motor City Drum Ensemble.)

For the latest installment of our Pioneers of Dance Music series, then, we turn our attentions to Detroit—its proto-techno innovators, first-wave icons, and successive generations of talent, as well as a host of musicians from around the world whose productions owe an obvious debt to the sound of the Motor City.

Explore 60 tracks from artists like A Number of Names, Cybotron, Model 500, Kenny Larkin, Robert Hood, Kevin Saunderson, Dopplereffekt, Moodymann, Theo Parrish, Inner City, Jeff Mills, Daniel Bell, and many more, and from labels like KMS, Planet E, Underground Resistance, FXHE, M-Plant, Moods & Grooves, Echospace, and 430 West. Read on for all the tracks: whether you’re a Detroit fanatic or just beginning to dig into dance-music history, you’re guaranteed to find something here to move you.

Pioneers Of Dance Music - Detroit Techno 1

Unforgettable classics, old-school anthems and groundbreaking tracks from Detroit.

Pioneers Of Dance Music - Detroit Techno 2

Unforgettable Detroit classics, continued.

Pioneers Of Dance Music - Detroit Techno 3

Still more essential Detroit anthems.

Pioneers Of Dance Music - Detroit Techno 4

Current Detroit techno hits and future classics.

Pioneers Of Dance Music - Detroit Techno 5

A deeper, dubbier side of Detroit.

Pioneers Of Dance Music – Inspired By Detroit

Tracks produced by people outside of Detroit with a clear inspiration from Motor City

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