uzibee
11-13-2003, 06:20 AM
Hi,
I haven't started a thread in almost two years, but all this talk about the death of house is making me dizzy.
The problem is quite simple.
House music used to be the "Club" music of choice. Club remixes were strickly house remixes.If you wanted to listen to House music, you had to be in a club, or be on your way to a club (by listening to the numerous house music evening radio shows). Keep that in mind.
People used to go out strickly to dance. Clubbing=Dancing (thanks to the disco legacy). People even used to practice their dancesteps before going out. Not anymore.
Along the way, the clubs vocation changed (It all started with the commercial release of the "Chronic" by DR Dre...) It became a big money making industry. Club owners don't want to see you dance anymore, they want you at the bar drinking Courvoisier and smoking Montecristo cigares.Hip-Pop makes people drink and spend a whole lot money. It is the ultimate vehicule for capitalism. All the club remixes are now Hip-Pop or trance, therefore,House music is not club music anymore. We have to stop kidding ourselves.
The proper dancefloors are gone from most cities. House cannot survive without dancefloors. It is that simple.
There is hope. Dancing is making a come back in a big way. Dancing schools (Salsa, African, Urban, Capoiera, Tango and others) are full and they keep poping up everywhere. It is an epidemic, even worse than when Flashdance and footloose came out.
The only problem is that most of these people (almost 100%)have no idea that there is a form of dance music called house. Soulful music that you can actually dance to. It is incredible but true.
Most of these people are young profesionals with money.Beleive me when I say that this market is huge. I went to a Salsa night the other day, and there was easily 1000 people in there and every single one of them was dancing. The cover charge was 20$ and the DJ was playing some commercial Cd's.
There are at least 10 weekly Salsa nights in my hometown. People are still dancing. Dancing is not dead.
Solution:
We all got it wrong from the beggining. Instead of desperatly trying to reach the mainstream , we have to make dancing fashionable again and the mainstream will come to us. We have to create a demand for dancefloors again.
It might be too late for us older folks to go back and start over again, but it isn't too late to lay the foundation for the younger generation.
We have to invent a scene that doesn't exist yet.
House or dance music will never die as long as there will be a need to dance. We have to reach the next generation of "real" dancers...again. Stop looking in the clubs because they're just not there. Dancers in nowadays Clubs is a dying breed.
[ November 13, 2003, 09:31 AM: Message edited by: uzibee ]
I haven't started a thread in almost two years, but all this talk about the death of house is making me dizzy.
The problem is quite simple.
House music used to be the "Club" music of choice. Club remixes were strickly house remixes.If you wanted to listen to House music, you had to be in a club, or be on your way to a club (by listening to the numerous house music evening radio shows). Keep that in mind.
People used to go out strickly to dance. Clubbing=Dancing (thanks to the disco legacy). People even used to practice their dancesteps before going out. Not anymore.
Along the way, the clubs vocation changed (It all started with the commercial release of the "Chronic" by DR Dre...) It became a big money making industry. Club owners don't want to see you dance anymore, they want you at the bar drinking Courvoisier and smoking Montecristo cigares.Hip-Pop makes people drink and spend a whole lot money. It is the ultimate vehicule for capitalism. All the club remixes are now Hip-Pop or trance, therefore,House music is not club music anymore. We have to stop kidding ourselves.
The proper dancefloors are gone from most cities. House cannot survive without dancefloors. It is that simple.
There is hope. Dancing is making a come back in a big way. Dancing schools (Salsa, African, Urban, Capoiera, Tango and others) are full and they keep poping up everywhere. It is an epidemic, even worse than when Flashdance and footloose came out.
The only problem is that most of these people (almost 100%)have no idea that there is a form of dance music called house. Soulful music that you can actually dance to. It is incredible but true.
Most of these people are young profesionals with money.Beleive me when I say that this market is huge. I went to a Salsa night the other day, and there was easily 1000 people in there and every single one of them was dancing. The cover charge was 20$ and the DJ was playing some commercial Cd's.
There are at least 10 weekly Salsa nights in my hometown. People are still dancing. Dancing is not dead.
Solution:
We all got it wrong from the beggining. Instead of desperatly trying to reach the mainstream , we have to make dancing fashionable again and the mainstream will come to us. We have to create a demand for dancefloors again.
It might be too late for us older folks to go back and start over again, but it isn't too late to lay the foundation for the younger generation.
We have to invent a scene that doesn't exist yet.
House or dance music will never die as long as there will be a need to dance. We have to reach the next generation of "real" dancers...again. Stop looking in the clubs because they're just not there. Dancers in nowadays Clubs is a dying breed.
[ November 13, 2003, 09:31 AM: Message edited by: uzibee ]