Boogie Electro
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Boogie Electro is the smooth funk side of electro: drum machines, slap bass, synth brass, talkbox or vocoder color, and R&B vocals arranged for club 12-inches. It is less robotic than pure electro and less guitar-driven than older funk, but it shares electro's machine groove. The mood is roller-rink, radio mix-show, and dance-floor soul.
History
The sound came from early-1980s boogie, post-disco, synth funk, and electro production tools. D-Train, The System, Zapp, Midnight Star, The SOS Band, Dazz Band, Freeez, Change, Kashif, Mtume, and Cherrelle made electronic funk feel polished and vocal-led, while electro-funk producers borrowed the same synth-bass and drum-machine vocabulary for harder tracks. It later became a collector/DJ category connecting boogie reissues, modern funk, electro, and house.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- You're the One for Me(1981) — D-TrainSpotifyYouTube
- You Are in My System(1982) — The SystemSpotifyYouTube
- More Bounce to the Ounce(1980) — ZappSpotifyYouTube
- No Parking on the Dance Floor(1983) — Midnight StarSpotifyYouTube
- Just Be Good to Me(1983) — The SOS BandSpotifyYouTube
- Joystick(1983) — Dazz BandSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- boogie and synth-funk histories
- Discogs release listings
- funk/electro collector guides
- AllMusic artist histories