Definition
The New Beat sound originated in Belgium in the late 1980s, especially in 1987 and 1988.
The Belgian New Beat was an underground danceable music style, well known at clubs and discos in Europe. It is a local crossover of EBM, acid and mid-80s underground house music. The 80s Dark Wave also became an aesthetic influence (for example Depeche Mode's videos from 1985–1989). At the time, EBM was popular in German speaking countries and The Netherlands, acid/acid trance was popular in the UK, and house music (in an 80s Eurodisco French twist) was popular in France. Belgium created this unique music sound, with huge underground success all over Europe.
Legend has it that the Belgian New Beat genre was invented in the nightclub Boccaccio in Destelbergen near Ghent when DJ Marc Grouls played a 45 rpm EBM record at 33 rpm, with the pitch control set to +8. The track in question was Flesh by A Split-Second.
In addition to A Split-Second, the genre was also heavily influenced by other Industrial and EBM acts such as Front 242 and The Neon Judgement, as well as New Wave, and Dark Wave acts such as the likes of Fad Gadget, Gary Numan and Anne Clark.
In 1989–1990, the genre spawned some short-lived sub-genres or successor genres Hard Beat and Schizzo - the latter being a techno-influenced style, considerably faster than the original slow new beat style.
The most commercially successful New Beat groups were Confetti's and The Lords of Acid, which had heavy airplay on the MTV Europe show "Party Zone". MTV Europe's VJ Steve Blame was a great fan of New Beat and through his position on MTV News, promoted the Belgium's New Beat sound through his reports.
Many Europeans consider New Beat as a forerunner of European House (Euro-House). Others consider "New Beat" to have been the first true European dance music style that had no Euro disco (Italo Disco - Eurobeat) influences. New Beat incorporated more Techno and Acid house influences, as opposed to Euro House incorporating disco.
Read more about this topic: New Beat
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