WMPH

Through the years dance music has led to a variety of genres that blend a pounding dance mentality with other musical themes. You’ll hear some of them on the radio more often than others, but they’re definitely all worth checking out. You’ll also notice a distinct timeline, as each genre segues into the next. For obvious reasons, this is not a complete list, but it does give a general idea of the evolution of dance music over the ages.Disco: Dance music combined with funk, soul, psychedelic, and Latin styles that originated in the late 1960s and declined in popularity in the 1980s. Early Artists: Isaac Hayes, M.F.S.B., The SupremesLeads ToSynthpop: Based around the synthesizer, this genre stemmed from disco with glam rock and electronic influences. It arose shortly after disco in the early 1970s and is still popular today. Early Artists: The Human League, Gary Numan, The BugglesLeads ToDance Punk: It’s not too hard to guess the origins of this potent blend. The first wave came in the 1970s, but more modern artists have eclipsed their inspirations in terms of popularity. Early Artists: Gang of Four, New Order, Killing JokeLeads ToHi-NRG: Basically disco played at a much higher tempo, and with a heavy pop basis. It became popular in the late 1970s and helped set the stage for the house music revolution of the 1980s. Early Artists: Stock Aitken Waterman, Taylor Dayne, FreeezLeads ToHouse: House is an electronic dance style that also includes elements of synthpop and electro. Its popularity began in the early 1980s. Early Artists: Ron Hardy (DJ), Lil Louis (DJ), Marshall JeffersonLeads ToNew Jack Swing: Hip-hop and dance-pop rhythms with an R&B twist characterize this sound. I was popular starting in the mid-1980s and continues to this day. Early Artists: Babyface, Teddy RileyLeads ToEurodance: Modern musicians like Rihanna often reference hits from this genre, a steamy blend of house, Hi-NRG, and early hip-hop that began in the early 1990s. Its starting point was Europe, hence the name. It often featured rapping males and female choruses. Early Artists: Eiffel 65, Alcazar, Culture BeatLeads toElectronicaThe modern conception of dance music usually means electronic dance music. Many of those genres are included in this catch-all term. A list of all of those subgenres would be too extensive to include here, but you can easily find more information with just a little digging online.