Dance Bands

Dance Bands

Dansband ("dance band") is a Swedish term for a band that plays dansbandsmusik ("dance band music"). Dansbandsmusik is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by swing, schlager, country, jazz, and rock. The main influence for rock-oriented bands is the rock music of the 1950s and 1960s.

The terms dansband and dansbandsmusik were coined around 1970, when Swedish popular music developed a signature style. The genre developed primarily in Sweden, but has spread to neighbouring countries Denmark, Norway and the Swedish speaking regions of Finland. When the music came to Norway it was first called "Svensktoppar" (from the Swedish radio music chart Svensktoppen, which was a major arena for dansband music before its rules changed in January 2003).

A dansband often travels by bus, performing several times every week year-round, outdoors in the summertime and indoors in the wintertime. Performances may also be held on a boat.

Several dansbands are named after their lead singer (whose name is sometimes shortened), followed by orkester. The tradition origins from the old dance orchestras, often named after their Kapellmeister. Many times, the possessive suffix "s" is replaced by "z" in dansband names. Some dansbands are named after earlier members.

The main audience for dansband music is middle-aged adults. The music is often performed live by the bands at venues where the main interest of the audience is dancing, rather than watching the performance on stage. However, many dansbands also record albums and singles.