What is Modern Soul?

LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
edited August 2014 in Strut Central
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_soul

Wikipedia defines it as pre-disco 70s souls.

I was under the impression that it referred to post disco 80s soul, with drum machines, synth lines and Jheri curls defining the music.

What is Modern Soul?

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  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    Jeebus, not again?

    It is ABSOLUTELY pre-disco 70s soul.
    There are a few outliers in the early 80s (Grady Harrell's "Wrong side of love" springs to mind) but anyone who says different is unclued up.

    YMD

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    skel said:
    Jeebus, not again?

    It is ABSOLUTELY pre-disco 70s soul.

    If Soul "ends" at the late 60's and Disco starts in the early 70's.

    Modern Soul is '67-71???

    Im sure there are threads on this shit already.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    What came between disco and boogie?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:
    What came between disco and boogie?

    Disco: (late 60's Proto)Early 70 - Early 80s

    Boogie: ??? I though was an extension of Disco or a Mid-Tempo Disco w/ Vocals from mid 70s to early 80's.

    Soul became "R&B" somewhere during the Disco era IIRC.

    Isnt Modern Soul up until R&B became the definitive term?......Soul(throwback/tradional) during the Disco era and past it up through the mid 80's. I still heard the term Disco in the very early 80's which then became Club and House.

    Post Modern Soul ┬® - 84-88-ish until New Jack Swing takes over.


    blah blah blah

    Personally Modern Soul seems like regular ass R&B but I like the ERA game on SS.

    Fuckin Whispers - Keep On Lovin' Me is called Modern Soul & Boogie here at SS, but its just fucking R&B on Soul Train and Black Radio.

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    batmon said:
    its just fucking R&B on Soul Train and Black Radio.

    Yup.

  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    I always thought that Modern Soul was Disco-Boogie era Soul.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    batmon said:
    its just fucking R&B on Soul Train and Black Radio.

    Yup.

    Obviously it's just R&B or just soul, or better yet, just music.
    Musicians rarely use confining labels to describe their music.
    Record companies and journalists came up with most the labels.

    Record collectors/djs have created most of the micro-genres, like modern soul and spiritual jazz.

    I am not a fan of genres, but I do sell records. Right now I am listening to scads of 80s library records and trying to figure out how to describe this Beverly Hills Cops sounding synth stuff. I am sure someone wants this sound, I just don't know what it is called.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    HarveyCanal said:
    batmon said:
    its just fucking R&B on Soul Train and Black Radio.

    Yup.

    Obviously it's just R&B or just soul, or better yet, just music.
    Musicians rarely use confining labels to describe their music.
    Record companies and journalists came up with most the labels.

    Record collectors/djs have created most of the micro-genres, like modern soul and spiritual jazz.

    I am not a fan of genres, but I do sell records. Right now I am listening to scads of 80s library records and trying to figure out how to describe this Beverly Hills Cops sounding synth stuff. I am sure someone wants this sound, I just don't know what it is called.

    Neutron Dance and New Attitude is R&B.
    Modern Soul/Boogie has a minor midtempo Funk element to it it seems.
    Patti and Pointer Sisters production is some fast shit....both by artists from originally from the Soul era.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I meant the theme.



    I just listened to one that is called Dance Break (Walter Murphy) that sounds like electro-boogie.
    But what do you call this cheesy synth stuff?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    I meant the theme.



    I just listened to one that is called Dance Break (Walter Murphy) that sounds like electro-boogie.
    But what do you call this cheesy synth stuff?

    Reminds me more of Herbie Hancocks Rockit and Jan Hammers Miami Vice Theme more so than Rene & Angela/Whispers.
    The Electric is there but the Boogie aint.

    Jheri Curled Black Woman aint dancin with u to that.

    Check out the tecent Boogie thread and would u blend that theme with that stuff?
    Its too slick...IMO.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    What you see on a flyer and what is actually played, has changed over the years. So some acts are easy to label, some not. Especially when they have had long careers.

    I'd say there was a point in the mid-80s when you had boogie and modern fighting for the adult market with the likes of Shalimar and Anita Baker while the kids wigged out to LL.

    I will stick my head on the block and say "Off The Wall" is modern and "Thriller" is boogie.

    YMMV.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    batmon said:
    LaserWolf said:
    I meant the theme.



    I just listened to one that is called Dance Break (Walter Murphy) that sounds like electro-boogie.
    But what do you call this cheesy synth stuff?

    Reminds me more of Herbie Hancocks Rockit and Jan Hammers Miami Vice Theme more so than Rene & Angela/Whispers.
    The Electric is there but the Boogie aint.

    Jheri Curled Black Woman aint dancin with u to that.

    Check out the tecent Boogie thread and would u blend that theme with that stuff?
    Its too slick...IMO.

    It's the kind of thing coked execs would hang out to, in clubs called "Tech-noir".

    DJ be in a chrome jumpsuit. Jewfro. Mirrored Slat Shades.

    Lasers. Smoke. Chains. Blue Cocktails. White Testarossas.

    Just before The Terminator busts in.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    J i m s t e r said:
    I will stick my head on the block and say "Off The Wall" is modern and "Thriller" is boogie.

    YMMV.



    Boogie......Off The Wall/Rod Temperton/Rufus.....Human Funk Feel + Synth.




    Post-Boogie ┬® .....Stripped down and monotonous and less Funk than OTW type.

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    For me, Modern as a term/subgenre is as much about a particular aesthetic as it is about where the music fits into any sort of timeline. The term's widely come to mean that kind of Kashif/Jam & Lewis sound that dominated much of the 80s, as well as the more low-budget copies thereof. To briefly digress, I find it quite funny how eBay/popsike search term politics has resulted in the market for the cheaper knock-offs now being subject to Northern-style "rarity over quality" value judgements. Sure, it may be rare, but a lot of it simply isn't much good (and not that soulful either, if we're being honest). But hey, more Greg Perry and Prince Phillip Mitchell records for the rest of us.

    I've heard this described as both "modern" and "boogie" before now, and I've even heard it played at Northern sessions. I'd say Modern was typically quite a bit slower than this tempo-wise, and maybe not so Philly/disco-influenced with the euphoric string flourishes and chord changes, but this is the kind of song that blurs the lines. An all-time favourite too, for what that's worth.


  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Now im confused....



    Moder Soul?

    vs



    Boogie?


    Both are 1982

    OOPS

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    The D.A. has a strong case to convict Larry of "BOOGIE."

    The irrefutable evidence: Cheddar keys

    Sentenced to be disconnected for 20 years.

    Man was collected from penitentiary in someone's daddy's thunderbird.

    A white, rag '67.

    So glam it's absurd.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I'm glad I'm not the only one confused.

    Everything I know about genres I learned from ebay.

  • sticky_dojahsticky_dojah New York City. 2,136 Posts
    A "Northern Soul" dj once explained to me that - within the Northern scene - "Modern Soul" is anything past 1974. It was reported that "Northern Soul" Dj's were looked bad upon when they were playing a "Modern" tune on the "Northern" floor at allnighters. Oh well...

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    batmon said:
    OOPS

    I thought you were being ironic.

    The elephant in the room is TRENCHCOAT.


    ;)

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    That moment when wacko Jacko appears in a modern soul discussion though.

    The shark is jumped.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    skel said:
    That moment when wacko Jacko appears in a modern soul discussion though.

    The shark is jumped.

    You cannot ride for :off_the_wall: ?

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    I'm not a fan.

    Can dig RWY but his ish largely leaves me cold.

    The moddun track I can always come back to is 'Independent Woman' by Jan Jones.

    So uplifting, so mellow, so good.

  • Wikipedia summary is correct as far as the original term.

    modern soul now covers a period from the start of the 70's through to the present, so it can be Love Affair 'I can't stop loving you' or the latest Eric Benet or whatever.

    did someone mention crossover ...

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    soulcitizen said:
    Wikipedia summary is correct as far as the original term.

    modern soul now covers a period from the start of the 70's through to the present, so it can be Love Affair 'I can't stop loving you' or the latest Eric Benet or whatever.

    did someone mention crossover ...

    Im not cool w/ extending the Genre throughout the 90/00/10....

    At some point R&B gets so fragmented and mixed up I call bullshit on extending an already Bullshit Fantasy through:

    Philly Soul
    Neo-Soul
    New Jack Swing
    Retro Soul
    Hip Hop Soul
    Rock N Soul

    And in my ears 60s Soul has a Gospel element. You could still hear those elements in the 70's.
    Many of the young cats emerging in the 80's werent carrying those traditions.
    Keith Sweat is doing modern R&B, singing but w/out the gospel feel, and a leader in singing over Hip Hop- type production.
    The cadences are different compared to a Pebro Bryson trying to get modern synth beats.

    To me the lineage stops and its either old R&B artists carrying on thru the decades or goin' full on contemporary.

    Coffee Ramblin'......

    I'd love to hear a DJ mix w/ Modern Soul from 85 - to now.
    I bet a lot of the shit would fall under Neo-Soul or it would be Rennaissance Fair R&B acts trying to emulate 1983.
    I wanna hear a natural progression from 1983 from an artist during NJS and NEo Soul.....

    Post-Modern Soul ┬®


  • Hi Batmon

    The modern soul scene in the UK covers all periods of soul music from 1970-now. The DJ's and listeners pick the soul content from different genres people have made up over the years, as modern soul nowadays is more of a style than a genre (if you get me). Whether someone doesn't like that definition, well, that IS what happens at modern soul events in the UK. You can check the forum i've owned since 1999 for an idea of what I mean, although it's a little sleepy nowadays as it's not the most trendy or popular style of music on earth, but that's never been the point, it's not about popularity, it's about passion. Or check the facebook extension Essential Modern Soul, or just type 'modern soul' into google and we've been the first hit for a decade.

    www.essentialmodernsoul.co.nr

    there are links to shows and podcasts on there that cover most bases of the broad modern soul church you can check should it be your desire

  • I could have saved all that typing I guess, & instead just say, like the age old question 'what is northern soul', the 'what is modern soul' definition is the same - it is any music that is played on the northern or modern soul scene, and both those scenes can encompass many styles.

  • ostost Montreal 1,375 Posts
    skel said:
    The moddun track I can always come back to is 'Independent Woman' by Jan Jones.

    Yup, that's the kind of sound I associate with Modern Soul. Same goes for tracks like Minnie Riperton - Here we go

    To me it boils down to soul music from roughly '75 to '81 that's more polished than the '60's and '70's classic sound from Motown, Stax, Hi, etc... Essentially, I would describe it as disco era soul music. Anything past that is either boogie, funk, or 80's r&b.
    I would draw a parallel between that and the difference between funk music pre disco era and post. If you say you play funk and it turns out you're playing Brass Construction and Cameo type stuff or mid to late 70's it might be misleading for people expecting to hear stuff like Third Guitar, Meters, early Kool & The Gang, and so forth. The sound just isn't the same.

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    WELL I NEVER! I thought you were going to play 60's Sissy Strut Meters, but you are playing 70's Just Kissed My Baby Meters. YOU SIR, HAVE RUINED MY NIGHT!

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    soulcitizen said:
    Hi Batmon

    The modern soul scene in the UK covers all periods of soul music from 1970-now. The DJ's and listeners pick the soul content from different genres people have made up over the years, as modern soul nowadays is more of a style than a genre (if you get me). Whether someone doesn't like that definition, well, that IS what happens at modern soul events in the UK. You can check the forum i've owned since 1999 for an idea of what I mean, although it's a little sleepy nowadays as it's not the most trendy or popular style of music on earth, but that's never been the point, it's not about popularity, it's about passion. Or check the facebook extension Essential Modern Soul, or just type 'modern soul' into google and we've been the first hit for a decade.

    www.essentialmodernsoul.co.nr

    there are links to shows and podcasts on there that cover most bases of the broad modern soul church you can check should it be your desire

    Cool

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    ost said:


    To me it boils down to Soul music from roughly '75 to '81 that's more polished than the '60's & '70's classic sound from Motown, Stax, Hi, etc... Essentially, I would describe it as Disco era Soul music. Anything past that is either Boogie, Funk, or 80's R&B

    Alright. Clarity.
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