I believe a debate could be waged that Prince started what is known today as techno music.

If he didn't, he sure pushed the genre into existence, imo. Who was churning out stuff like DMSR and Erotic City at the time? You may have had bands like the Cars and Devo around, but Erotic City sounds as fresh today as a techno song as it did in 83-84, don't you think? Who else was programming computers back then that became skeletal designs for modern-day techno?

Also, do you think the vault contains a techno album or two?
[This message was edited Fri Apr 23 6:29:50 2004 by digitalelectric]

digitalelectric said:

Erm, Yazoo? Depeche Mode? OMD? New Order?

Eh? There were lots of bands doing the early incarnation of techno and EBM at the time. Besides Prince's first real excursion into such a style was the unreleased Partyman remix (from 1989).

PANDURITO said:

.... and let's not forget Kraftwerk

I heard "The Human Body" from Emancipation for the first time recently and thought it had the makings of a Chemical Brothers song ....

Erm....arn't u frogeting the brilliant "Loose" from the come album! The remix off crystal ball is worth a listen too!

Kraftwerk came before: DM, OMD, The Human League, Gary Numan, etc.... These artists were heavily influenced by Kraftwerk, which are one of the founders of the techno era.

I thought some consider "Controversy" to be an ancestor of the techno direction... I read it on someone's interview...

'Eye Wanna Melt With U' I thought was the closest he ever got 2 it, but let's not go there...

PANDURITO said:

Juan Atkins and Rick Davis (= CYBOTRON)

The seminal electro group Cybotron provided the first home for the recordings of techno godfather Juan Atkins. With partner Rick Davis (aka 3070), Atkins recorded several of electro's best moments. The singles "Alleys of Your Mind," "Enter" and "Clear", were dark dystopias of the post-industrial steel city within tight Kraftwerk-inspired funk. Their success prompted Fantasy Records to sign the group, and release 1983's Enter LP. Atkins left soon after due to artistic differences (specifically, Davis' defined pop slant), and later defined early Detroit techno with his recordings as Model 500. Davis continued to release albums as Cybotron into the mid-'90s, though the mystical R&B direction of efforts like Empathy and Cyber Ghetto were quite a turn from the group's beginnings. For fans of electro and techno, Cybotron ended when Juan Atkins left.

Ok Prince was doing synth stuff too but don't forget the electronic music scene was going on long before Prince! I could name a numerous artists from 7ties or older!

Prince didn't exactly start it but he got in on the ground floor.

freakebear said:

well i know for sure that the first league of Chicago house and Detroit techno djs were playing records like Sexy Dancer and Controversy. so he was and still is well-respected by the electronic scenes but also the hip hop and rock/pop scenes. so yeah he's always been influential.

I used to frequent underground dance parties where all styles of techno were spun. The most worked up I ever saw a crowd get was when a DJ played a homegrown remix of "All the Critics Love U in New York". It started with just a few bars with the drum beat and synth bass looped, percolating for a few minutes. Then the vocal sample kicked in- "U can dance if U want 2." I mean, the whole place went so apeshit that it's hard to descibe the reaction. Folks came out of every nook and cranny to get moving on the floor, people I'd seen hugging the walls at a dozen parties were out there for the first time. Everybody was dancing and ecstatic, screaming like straight up fools. It was like the whole place peaked at once. Of all the raves I attended, it's my happiest memory. It never occurred to me before that night that Prince is an electronic music artist, and one of the true innovators.

freakebear said:

that sounds AWESOME!

I was just comin on here to say that All the Critics Love You was, IMO, leagues ahead of it's time

I never really heard people refer to the above listed groups as "techno", but rather "new wave".

thesexofit said:

mmm yes I do. And I melt with u from symbol. I am a techno fan and I think that those were P attempts at doing Techno. attempts. he was ok at it. i am surprised he actually hasn't tried other genres...definitely down tempo or drum and bass.that said I did like both of those songs.

I really don't think he started or even pushed the envelope for techno. nope. there were PLENTY of other bands doing it better and earlier (Kraftwerk, Depeche, Nitzer ebb, front 242, heck even devo). Techno was being followed and coming out of Germany... not out of Minneapolis. Meaning no one was looking to Prince for this kind of output..as it was a different sound altogether and most techno bands were not looking at his music for inspiration. He was never in the equation even though his music was programmed.

Granted he was programming drum machines etc...but he was getting his own sound out of them. More funk and house...in his own way of course...than techno. I think because of the electronic sound of his drums was certaqinly something no one had ever heard before.

I think the house music movement was more influenced by him than techno. But then what is techno music...the word is a little vague in and of itself these days.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 23 19:48:40 2004 by superspaceboy]

Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk

prince fans are hilarious. they think he invented everything. lol.

brian eno, kraftwerk, all these guys were going before prince. prince has been cited as influential to a lot of electronica and dance artists, but he definitely didnt invent it!

PaisleyPark nailed it with Cybotron

Prince didn't come close to inventing or starting 'techno'. It would be more like disco>house>techno. Also deserving of mention would be Kevin Saunderson and Ron Hardy's Music Box in Chicago.

ufoclub said:

That'd be 'House' not 'techno'. There's a difference apparently. Don't ask me what though. It could be one is slightly less shit than the other.

Not to sound pretentious, but there is a difference. House started basically as a new name slapped on disco after the whole "disco sucks" days. Techno was more like Detroit's answer to house, focusing more on evolution of the sound. I would say 'Controversy' falls kind of in the middle leaning toward techno, but with a little bit of the soul of disco.