View source for Hi-NRG

{{short description|Genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Hi-NRG
| stylistic_origins = <!--Verified entries only-->
* [[Electronic music|Electronic]]
* [[disco]]
| cultural_origins  = The late 1970s and the early 1980s in the United Kingdom and the United States
| instruments       = * [[Synthesizer]]
* [[drum machine]]
* [[electronic keyboards]]
* [[music sequencer]]
* [[electronic drums]]
| derivatives       = * [[Eurobeat]]
* [[Eurodance]]
* [[Italo disco]]
* [[techno]]<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Not stated--> |editor-last1=Bogdanov |editor-first1=Vladimir |editor-last2=Woodstra |editor-first2=Chris |editor-last3=Erlewine |editor-first3=Stephen Thomas |date=2001 |title=All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music |page=3 |quote=Hi-Nrg is a predecessor to techno and house, which drew from its beats in decidedly different ways. House has a funkier, soulful rhythm while techno expanded with the mechanical beats of Hi- Nrg |publisher=Backbeat Books/All Media Guide |isbn=0879306270}}</ref>
* [[hard house]]
* [[Trance music|trance]]
* [[hard NRG]]
* [[new beat]]
| regional_scenes   = * London
* New York
* San Francisco
| local_scenes      = 
| other_topics      = [[List of hi-NRG artists and songs|List of artists and songs]]
}}

'''Hi-NRG''' (pronounced "high energy")<ref name=AMG1>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=explore|id=style/d409|pure_url=yes}}|title=Explore music...Genre: Hi-NRG|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=July 20, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> is a genre of uptempo [[disco]] or [[electronic dance music]] (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, [[staccato]] hi-hat rhythms (and the [[Four on the floor (music)|four-on-the-floor]] pattern), [[Reverberation|reverberated]] "intense" vocals and "pulsating" octave basslines, it was particularly influential on the disco scene.

== Characteristics ==
Whether hi-NRG is more [[Rock music|rock-oriented]]<ref name=Doyle>{{cite book |last=Greene|first= Doyle |date=March 10, 2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FCQXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 |title=The Rock Cover Song: Culture, History, Politics|publisher= McFarland|page=106|isbn= 9780786478095 }}</ref> than standard disco music is a matter of opinion. Hi-NRG can be heavily [[Synthesizer|synthesized]] but it is not a prerequisite, and whether it is devoid of "[[funk]]iness" is, again, in the ear of the beholder.  Certainly, many artists perform their vocals in R&B and soul styles on hi-NRG tracks.
<ref name=Doyle /> The genre's tempo ranges between 120 and 140 beats per minute.<ref>Depta, Klaus (December 10, 2015). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=VMEvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 Rock- und Popmusik als Chance: Impulse für die praktische Theologie]''. p.284. Springer-Verlag. Retrieved June 30, 2018.</ref> The tempos cited here do not represent the full range of beats (BPM) of hi-NRG tracks; rather the tempos are retrieved from one source which is not an expert musical reference, but a sociological study of dance culture. Lyrics tend to be overtly [[Camp (style)|camp]], kitschy, tongue-in-cheek, sexually suggestive with double entendres<ref>e.g. lyrics of Stacey Q "We Connect" (W. Wilcox), Atlantic Records, 1986. Retrieved June 30, 2018.</ref> but also occasionally sentimental or maudlin.<ref>Loza, Susana Ilma (2004). ''Global Rhetoric, Transnational Markets: The (post)modern Trajectories of Electronic Dance Music''. Page ix. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved June 30, 2018.</ref> 

The sound of high energy dance tracks, particularly electronic dance or disco, is immediately identifiable by its iconic basslines, pioneered by producer [[Giorgio Moroder]], often programmed in repeating bass sequences, particularly 16th notes, which is characteristic of the hi-NRG electronic dance sound as in "[[I Feel Love]]" performed by [[Donna Summer]] and produced by Moroder.<ref> Roey Ixhaki “Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools” page 202-204 </ref>
The rhythm is characterized by an energetic, staccato, sequenced synthesizer sound of [[octave]] [[bassline]]s or/and where the bass often takes the place of the hi-hat, alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record.<ref>[http://www.boyinaband.com/2009/10/top-10-electronic-music-genres-you-probably-havent-heard-of/ Top 10 Electronic Music Genres you probably haven't heard of.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203125044/http://www.boyinaband.com/2009/10/top-10-electronic-music-genres-you-probably-havent-heard-of/ |date=February 3, 2010 }} | Boy in a Band. Retrieved July 2, 2010</ref><ref>Fritz, Jimi (1999). ''Rave Culture: An Insider's Overview'': "Hi-NRG is an early evolution of new-style disco. Simple, fast, danceable early house where the bass often takes the place of the high hat". Publisher: SmallFry Press, p. 94. {{ISBN|0-9685721-0-3}}</ref> There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines.

One form of hi-NRG, as performed by [[Megatone Records]] artists and [[Ian Levine]], is any uptempo disco and dance music, whether containing octave basslines or not, that often features covers of "classic" [[Motown]] hits ([[Boys Town Gang]]) and [[torch song]]s, and is often "theatrical" in performance, featuring female (and male) musicians with facetious diva<ref name=butler>{{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Mark Jonathan |title=Electronica, Dance and Club Music |date=2012 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-2965-8 |page=156 |language=en}}</ref> personas and male musicians sometimes in "[[Drag (clothing)|drag]]" ([[Sylvester (singer)|Sylvester]], [[Divine (performer)|Divine]]), cabarets/[[musical theater]] ([[Vicki Sue Robinson]], [[Sharon Redd]]). This style, that [[Stock Aitken Waterman]] were influenced by,<ref>Brewster, Bill & Broughton, Frank (April 12, 2011). ''The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries. Page 81. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. Retrieved June 30, 2018.</ref> had a large cult following among gay club-goers in the 1980s, especially San Franciscan black and white gay men.<ref name=butler />

A second form, a precursor of Italian/Japanese "[[Eurobeat]]", with influences of [[techno]]<ref>[[AllMusic]] about Hi-NRG influence on techno music: "''techno expanded with the mechanical beats of Hi-NRG.''"</ref> and early [[Chicago house]], primarily focuses on its characteristic sequenced "octave-jumping basslines" above anything else and in this form hi-NRG managed to surge into the mainstream with [[Stacey Q]], [[Kim Wilde]], and [[Laura Branigan]]. The octave basslines are also found in [[electroclash]] and in both cases may be traced to [[synth-pop]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Nick |last2=Collins |first2=Nicholas |last3=Schedel |first3=Margaret |last4=Wilson |first4=Scott |title=Electronic Music |date=9 May 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01093-2 |page=95 |language=en}}</ref> and even further back to [[Giorgio Moroder]] ("[[I Feel Love]]").<ref name=Teutonic>{{cite book |last1= Ahlers |last2= Jacke |first1= Michael |first2= Christoph |date= 2017 |title= Perspectives on German Popular Music |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BjklDwAAQBAJ |location= London & New York |publisher= Routledge, Taylor & Francis Ltd|page= 81 |isbn= 978-1-4724-7962-4 }}</ref>

== Terminology ==
[[Donna Summer]] was interviewed about her single "[[I Feel Love]]", which was a mostly electronic, relatively high-tempo [[Euro disco]] song without a strong [[funk]] component. In the interview, she said "this song became a hit because it has a high-energy vibe".<ref name="auto">Jones, Alan and Kantonen, Jussi (1999) ''Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco''. Chicago, Illinois: A Cappella Books. {{ISBN|1-55652-411-0}}.</ref> Following that interview, the description "high-energy" was increasingly applied to high-tempo disco music, especially songs dominated by electronic timbres.<ref name="auto" /> The tempo threshold for high-energy disco was around 130 to 140 [[Beats per minute|BPM]]. In the 1980s, the term "high-energy" was stylized as "hi-NRG". [[Eurobeat]], [[dance-pop]] and [[freestyle music|freestyle]] artists such as [[Shannon (American singer)|Shannon]], Stock Aitken & Waterman, [[Taylor Dayne]], [[Freeez]] and [[Michael Sembello]] were also labeled as "hi-NRG" when sold in the United States.

In the 1980s, "hi-NRG" referred not just to any high-tempo disco/dance music, but to a specific genre, only somewhat disco-like.

[[Ian Levine]], a hi-NRG DJ, the in-house DJ at London's [[Heaven (nightclub)|Heaven nightclub]] in its early years and later a record producer, defines hi-NRG as "melodic, straightforward dance music that's not too funky."<ref name="ripitup">{{cite book|title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984|last=Reynolds|first=Simon|page=[https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyno/page/380 380]|year=2006|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-303672-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyno/page/380}}</ref> Music journalist [[Simon Reynolds]] adds "The nonfunkiness was crucial. Slamming rather than swinging, hi-NRG's white European feel was accentuated by butt-bumping bass twangs at the end of each bar."<ref name="ripitup" />

== History ==
High-tempo disco music dates back to the mid-1970s. The first hi-NRG song was [[Donna Summer]]'s "[[I Feel Love]]" from 1977.<ref>{{cite book|title= The People's Music |first= Ian |last= MacDonald |author-link= Ian MacDonald |publisher= Pimlico |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-1-8441-3093-1 |page= 151 |quote= Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love', a vocal topline ad-libbed over a simple chord-shifted sequence, inaugurated Hi-NRG, anticipating the galloping bass line of much post-House software-sequenced music}}</ref> Other early examples include several British disco songs by [[Biddu]] and [[Patrick Hernandez]] ("[[Born to Be Alive (album)|Born to Be Alive]]") in 1979.

In the early 1980s, high energy music found moderate mainstream popularity in Europe; while opposing both Euro disco and [[electro (music)|electro]] on the dance scene, it became mainstream in the gay community in the United States. Hi-NRG was reliant on technology and was all about "unfeasibly athletic dancing, bionic sex, and superhuman stamina".<ref name="Shapiro">Shapiro, Peter, and Iara Lee. Modulations: a History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound. Caipirinha Productions, 2000.</ref> The freedom associated with it seemed to be embodied by a literal escape from human embodiment, and synchrony with technology. However, this was generally limited to the bodies of men as evidenced by songs titled "Menergy", and "So Many Men, So Little Time". Producers such as [[Bobby Orlando]] and [[Patrick Cowley]] created "an aural fantasy of a futuristic club populated entirely by [[Tom of Finland]] studs."<ref name="Shapiro" />

During the same period, a genre of music styled as "hi-NRG" (EDM) became popular in Canada and the UK. The most popular groups of this style are [[Trans-X]] and [[Lime (band)|Lime]]. The genre is also closely related to [[space disco]]; bands of this genre include [[Koto (band)|Koto]], [[Laserdance]], and [[Cerrone]]. The hi-NRG sound also influenced [[techno]] and [[house music]].{{Source?|date=February 2023}}

=== Commercial success ===
In 1983 in the UK, music magazine ''[[Record Mirror]]'' began publishing a weekly hi-NRG chart. The style entered the British mainstream, with hits on the UK pop and dance charts (followed by the US dance charts), such as [[Hazell Dean]]'s "[[Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)]]" and [[Evelyn Thomas]]'s "[[High Energy (Evelyn Thomas song)|High Energy]]".<ref name=occhazell>{{cite web|title=Hazell Dean – Full Official Chart History|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/20678/hazell-dean/|website=Official Charts Company|access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref><ref name=occevelyn>{{cite web|title=Evelyn Thomas – Full Official Chart History|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/15609/evelyn-thomas/|website=Official Charts Company|access-date=January 19, 2016}}</ref>

In the mid-1980s, hi-NRG producers in the dance and pop charts included [[Ian Levine]] and [[Stock Aitken Waterman]], both of whom worked with many different artists. Stock Aitken Waterman had two of the most successful hi-NRG singles ever with their productions of [[Dead or Alive (band)|Dead or Alive]]'s "[[You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)]]" (UK #1, CAN #1, US #11 in 1985) and [[Bananarama]]'s "[[Venus (Shocking Blue song)#Bananarama version|Venus]]" (US #1, CAN #1, UK #8 in 1986).<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p128854/biography|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic – Stock Aitken Waterman]</ref>  They also brought the genre full-circle, in a sense, by writing and producing Donna Summer's 1989 hit "[[This Time I Know It's for Real]]" (UK #3, CAN #7, US #7).

American music magazine ''[[Dance Music Report]]'' published hi-NRG charts (and related industry news) in the mid- to late 1980s, as the genre reached its peak.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discomusic.com/forums/euro-hi-nrg-italo-disco/22607-usa-hi-nrg-chart-december-1986-a.html|title=USA Hi-NRG chart, December 1986 *20 years ago*|work=DiscoMusic.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120703025436/http://www.discomusic.com/forums/euro-hi-nrg-italo-disco/22607-usa-hi-nrg-chart-december-1986-a.html|archive-date=July 3, 2012}}</ref> By 1990, however, [[techno]] and [[rave music]] had superseded hi-NRG in popularity in many dance clubs. Despite this, hi-NRG music is still being produced and played in various forms, including many remixed versions of mainstream pop hits, some with re-recorded vocals. Later in the 1990s, [[Hard NRG|nu-NRG]] music, a form of [[trance music]] evolved from hi-NRG, was born.<ref>[http://www.electronicmusicstyles.com/trance_nu_nrg.html Electronic Music Styles – NU NRG TRANCE] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328181651/http://www.electronicmusicstyles.com/trance_nu_nrg.html |date=March 28, 2010 }}. July 2, 2010.</ref>

== Artists ==
{{Main|List of hi-NRG artists and songs}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|1980s}}
* [http://www.hotdiscomix.de/charts/hinrg_top200.htm ''Dance Music Report''{{'}}s Hi-NRG Top 200 of the 1980s]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091026221349/http://geocities.com/hazelldean2000/mirror84.htm  Hazell Dean interview on hi-NRG, ''Record Mirror'', August 1984]
* [http://eurodancemagazine.blogger.ba/ ''Eurodance Magazine'']

{{Disco music-footer}}
{{Electronica}}

[[Category:Hi-NRG| ]]
[[Category:1980s in music]]
[[Category:American styles of music]]
[[Category:British styles of music]]
[[Category:Disco music genres]]
[[Category:Electronic dance music genres]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-related music]]