Big-beat (also called 'big beat' or bigbit) is a term used in
Eastern Bloc countries in the 1960s to cover
rock and roll and related genres, as the original name was not approved by authorities in those nations (the
USSR and its satellite states in the
Warsaw Pact).
Background
Genres of American origin, such as
jazz,
twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
, and especially rock and roll were banned or at least hardly tolerated in Eastern Bloc countries in the mid-20th century. Such music was considered to be an element of American imperialism.
Despite the official attitude, a number of jazz bands formed in the Eastern Bloc. In the 1950s, these bands included rock and roll elements in their performances. The first Polish band that officially played rock and roll was Rhythm and Blues, formed in 1959, and they were forced by the authorities to disband a year later. The manager of Rhythm and Blues,
Franciszek Walicki
Franciszek Walicki (20 July 1921 – 3 October 2015) was a Polish journalist. He was considered the father of Polish beat and rock music, calling them big-beat as rock and roll was unacceptable name for the authorities of the Polish People's Rep ...
, to avoid the term ''rock and roll'', coined the term "big-beat" to refer to the band's music. In Walicki's intention, it was a pure synonym of rock and roll,
but the name became widely used in reference to any
popular music with a strong rhythm and a simple melodic structure, such as
rhythm and blues,
madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, or twist.
Walicki went on to form new bands, including
Niebiesko-Czarni
Niebiesko-Czarni (Blue-Blacks) were one of the most popular Polish big-beat and rock groups of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was founded by Franciszek Walicki.
Czesław Niemen played in the band for several years.
Throughout their 14 years ...
, and rock and roll under the name "big-beat" became popular in Poland from the early 1960s. In Czechoslovakia and Hungary, it happened in the middle of that decade. The first rock and roll concert in the Soviet Union was performed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1966.
However, in the USSR, rock was performed without a specific genre name, and rock groups were called "vocal and instrumental bands" (
VIA (music)
VIA ( Russian: ''ВИА'') is an abbreviation for Vocal- usicInstrumental-Ensemble (russian: Вокально-инструментальный ансамбль, ''Vokalno-instrumentalny ansambl''). It is the general name used for pop and rock b ...
). In Poland and Czechoslovakia, the term "big beat" or "bigbit" was mostly used,
while in Hungary, it was called "beat".
In 1970s Poland, rock became called "young generation music", and it changed as
progressive rock or
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means (electroac ...
emerged. In the 1980s, the name "rock" was already accepted by the authorities.
Later uses of the term
After genre names such as rock and roll were finally allowed in the Eastern Bloc, the term "big-beat" fell into obscurity. However, it made a return in the 1990s, this time on the international sphere. Rather than referring to rock genres, it became the name for
a new style of
electronic dance music pioneered by artists such as
the Prodigy and
Fatboy Slim, among others.
References
{{reflist
Rock music genres
20th century in Europe
Censorship in the Eastern Bloc
Eastern Bloc
European political history
History of Eastern Europe