Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit  

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Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit (1988) is a music compilation of Detroit techno, compiled by Neil Rushton. It was this recording that established the term techno.

Background

The music's producers were using the word "techno" in a general sense as early as 1982 (Man Parrish, "Techno Trax") and 1984 (Cybotron's seminal classic "Techno City"), and sporadic references to an ill-defined "techno-pop" could be found in the music press in the mid-1980s. However, it was not until Neil Rushton assembled the compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit for Virgin Records (UK) in 1988 that the word came to formally describe a genre of music.

The explosion of interest in EDM during the late 1980s provided a context for the development of techno as an identifiable genre. The mid-1988 UK release of Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit,, an album compiled by ex-Northern Soul DJ and Kool Kat Records boss Neil Rushton (at the time an A&R scout for Virgin's "10 Records" imprint) and Derrick May, was an important milestone and marked the introduction of the word techno in reference to a specific genre of music. In fact, the compilation's working title had been The House Sound of Detroit until the addition of Atkins' song "Techno Music" prompted reconsideration. Rushton was later quoted as saying he, Atkins, May, and Saunderson came up with the compilation's final name together, and that the Belleville Three voted down calling the music some kind of regional brand of house; they instead favored a term they were already using, techno.

Derrick May views this as one of his busiest times and recalls that it was a period where he "was working with Carl Craig, helping Kevin, helping Juan, trying to put Neil Rushton in the right position to meet everybody, trying to get Blake Baxter endorsed so that everyone liked him, trying to convince Shake (Anthony Shakir) that he should be more assertive...and keep making music as well as do the Mayday mix (for the show Street Beat on Detroit's WJLB radio station) and run Transmat records."

Despite Virgin Records' disappointment with the poor sales of Rushton's compilation, the record was successful in establishing an identity for techno and was instrumental in establishing a platform in Europe for the music and its producers. Ultimately, the release served to distinguish the Detroit sound from Chicago house and other forms of EDM that were emerging during the rave era of the late 1980s and early '90s, a period during which techno became more adventurous and distinct.

Tracklisting

  1. It Is What It Is - Rhythim Is Rhythim
  2. Forever And A Day - Blake Baxter
  3. Time To Express - Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes
  4. Electronic Dance - K.S. Experience
  5. Share This House (Radio Mix) - Members Of The House
  6. Feel Surreal - A Tongue & D Groove
  7. Spark - Mia Hesterley
  8. Techno Music - Juan Atkins
  9. Big Fun - Inner City
  10. Ride Em Boy - Blake Baxter
  11. Sequence 10 - Anthony Shakir
  12. Un, Deux, Trois - Idol Making




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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