In my memory, the dominant style in pop music during the 1990s in Germany where I was growing up was called Eurodance - it relied heavily on synthesized beats similar to techno and had somewhat rap-style vocals, but sounded more melodic und upbeat than “pure” techno and hip-hop. The leading artists of the genre were all from various European countries (Sweden and Italy seemed to be particularly well-represented), which no doubt is behind the name.
The Wikipedia article on Eurodance states that it was not particularly successful in America, and that artists who were topping European charts at the time performed badly commercially on the other side of the Atlantic. This made me wonder: Were there American artists doing the same style of music at the same time? What was it called there? It couldn’t be just “dance music”, that sounds a bit generic.
I’m not American, but I’ve always followed pop music on each side of the pond. I don’t think there was an equivalent genre in the US for eurodance, which was always characterized as kind of trashy and cheaply produced, hence the also common term eurotrash. I think the commercial role of eurotrash in the US was occupied by pop singers like Madonna (who sometimes incorporated European influences) and Maria Carey, teenie stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, boybands like the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, pop rap like MC Hammer and R&B groups like TLC.
Another aspect: much of eurodance was based on house and techno (watered down and commercialized), but techno and house in the US mostly remained underground and club genres and didn’t penetrate the mainstream like in Europe. There were some exceptions like Moby, but they were scarce.
No real name for it other than generic 90s dance music. Not a lot of American artists but people were familiar with plenty of the songs usually through advertisements or played at some club during spring break or occasionally on a radio station. Full albums weren’t that popular and if someone liked that kind of music they were more likely to find it through commercial compilation albums like “Dance Mix USA vol.x”.
We heard stuff like Venga Boys- We like to Party, Eiffel 65- Blue, 2 Unlimited- No Limits, Aqua- Barbie Girl, Technotronic- Pump Up the Jam, etc.
From Europe, Ace of Base was sort of popular, I guess? Just to be clear, the time frame is from like 1990 to 1996 or so, maybe extending further, but Wikipedia seems to think it was blended? It would’ve been “pop” but I don’t think it’s the same thing. Michael Jackson was still going strong, and a little before he got really weird. As in the article, some European songs, mostly one-hit wonders, came out, but not as much overlapping from the US or even UK.
Would Cher’s “Believe” fit in this discussion? Or Celine Dion’s version of “I Drove All Night”? Even in cases when I can think of North American singers, they’re working with non-American producers - see also No Mercy, which consisted of three American singers and had a big US hit with “Where Do You Go”, but they were based in Germany.
Yeah, I think the American equivalent of Eurodance is basically “Eurodance”. Maybe “House” music. Or just “90s Dance Pop” or “Club Music” (a collection of one hit wonders of Eurodance, House, Freestyle, New Jack Swing, R&B, etc). As you implied, very few people would go out and buy an entire CD of C+C Music Factory or 2 Unlimited. They would go buy a compilation like Jock Jams or Now This is Dance.
Thanks for people’s views. I find it interesting to see how much dominant trends in pop music can differ even among countries that are culturally tied together as closely as Europe and the US. Eurodance was certainly a big thing here, but it seems it did not gain much traction in America.