OK let me be clear. This History of trance post is not going to be short, or perfect. Your comment will help me to improve it.
My definition of trance
Why only up to 2005?
For the definition above trance music in 2005 has been dead and buried… Yes some stuff came out here and there, but it’s too few and sparse for me to discover it.
Also for the definition above the “dutch wave” (and all that singed songs you like) cannot be considered proper trance, and where possible I keep it out of it.
Pre-Trance Trance
The 60’s
While we can crawl back to prehistory time let’s fix the 60’s as the beginning of trancy stuff. Jean Michel Jarre first record is released in 69 and so is the famous Popcorn song. JMJ worked with Karlheinz Stockhausen, a pioneer of electronic music, but I don’t feel like considering his stuff Trancy.
Tracks to listen to
[one-half-first] Gershon Kingsley – Popcorn
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[one-half]Jean Michel Jarre – La Cage.
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The 70’s
Kraftwerk,Jean michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield and Giorgio Moroder, Tangerine dreams and Vangelis… those are The big Name in melodic, tech trancy stuff of the 90s. Each of the above can be considered the father of a specific niche in electronic
Tracks to listen to
[one-third-first]Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene (1976)
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[one-third]Jean Michel Jarre – Equinoxe (1978)
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[one-third]Giorgio Moroder – Chase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViN2bRGrBx8[/one-third]
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[one-third-first]Automat – Droid (1978).
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[one-third]Cybotron – Colossus – (1978) – (Australia)
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Eduard Artemyev – Siberiade theme (1979) – This will be remixed and become PPK – resurrection
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[clearfix]
[one-third-first]Gianni Rossi – Star Vehicle
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[one-third]Vangelis – Pulstar (1979)
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[one-third]Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express (Full Album + Bonus Tracks) (1977)
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The 80’s
Te 80s were great for electronic music! New Beat, Space rock and italo-disco were huge on chart and left a mark to future generation. Not only that, but they also see the light of house music and techno, and in UK the Rave scene was moving its first steps.
Trance music as I mean it is the melodic son of techno.
Big names of the decade
Notable mentions
- Doris Norton – Female electronic artist, who is also the mother of Rex Anthony (we will meet him in the 90s)
- Suck me Plasma Label – has been created in 1989 by Andreas Tomalla (Talla2xlc) and produced the very fist proper trance record
Listen to 80s trancy stuff:
ZODIAK – Zodiak (Latvian space rock)
Doris Norton Lab (1980)
Laser – Laser (1981)
Jean Michel Jarre – Les Chants Magnétiques / Magnetic Field (1981)
Pink Project – Amama (1982)
Romanelli – Connecting Flight (1982)
Meanwhile in India…
Goa in the late 1960s and early 1970s started to grow as an hippie nexus, with a very distinguish genre of rock, italo disco,industrial music and EBM (electronic body music). The Goa music development is a different ecosystem than
The KLF: an Out of Time artifact in trance
The KLF – What Time Is Love? (1988 Pure Trance Original) – feature the name Trance in the title and is already “techno”. Many consider this as the first trance track. Personally i love it, but i can’t feel the trancy feeling. nevertheless, KLF are geniuses and this track is 3-4 years in advance on the world
The KLF – What Time Is Love? (1988 Pure Trance Original)
Trance per Year
The 90s in general
This Decade will be remembered in Eternity. In 10 years the music evolved, spawned, reach to top and fell down hard. For this very reason I ve decided to describe the 90s by year, by Country and by Subgenre (born, dead, transformed)
Dance to trance, Jam and Spoon
1990
Dance 2 Trance is a project by Dag Lerner Dj Dag and Rolf Ellmer (Jam el Mar / 50% of Jam and Spoon). They use the name Trance, but also dance and in Italy – where i live – it was mainly considered “dance / House” music, but the time were ripe for the next big wave.
- Dj Dag: “DJ DAG” is known as the “Godfather of Trance”, he gave “the child’s name” when he start in 1991 with his Project “Dance 2 Trance”. Since that point, he was his definition of Trance always remained faithful. His sound is unique and its reputation is legendary. Dag’s DJ career began in 1985 in the “Music Hall” in Frankfurt, other important milestones in his career were the “Club UK /Complex” in London, “1015 Folsom” in San Francisco, the legendary Underground Club “Omen”, the “Dorian Gray”, “U60311” and “Cocoon” in Frankfurt. All german attention he gained by his early sets at the “HR3 Clubnight”, he belongs to their resident DJ´s since 1993. His international „breakthrough” came with the track “P.ower of A.merican N.atives” (Gold Record Award), countless other productions and remixes with his projects, “Dance 2 Trance”, “Peyote”, “Crazy Malamute”, “DJ Dag” and many more followed, since he produced with different partners on different labels, worldwide. DAG is currently with his newest project “The Flowmasterz” at his own label “Mato Music” and as “DJ DAG” himself to be present. Planet Bass Records is proud and looks forward to many new joint projects and tracks and a successful cooperation with the “Godfather of Trance”. Dj Dag Youtube channel
Dance 2 Trance – We Came In Peace (Original)
[one-third-first]Place your content for the first column here.[/one-third-first]
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Techno Bert – Neue Dimensionen 1990
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[one-third]Place your content for the third column here.[/one-third]
1991
1992
Universally we can consider
1993
1994
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
The 90s
Trance is Getting ill
2001
2002
2003
2004
Trance per Country
Germany
France
Italy
Italy – Tuscany
UK
Belgium
Netherlands
USA
Spain
Ibiza
India
Israel
The death of trance
I call it dead in 2004. And Tiesto killed it
Trance after 2004: The 00’s an 10’s
EDM
Useful Links:
- http://www.toucanmusic.co.uk/articles/trance.php
- What happened to Trance after 2004: http://www.edmtunes.com/2014/01/brief-history-trance/
