Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and moderate degrees of appreciation also in the 2000s and the 2010s.

History

During the 1970s and early 1980s, such groups were primarily popular in continental countries, with the exception of

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

(1972–1983).
ABBA The History
', Billboard, 8 September 1979. Retrieved 3 June 2022 The Swedish four-person band achieved great success in the UK, where they scored twenty top 10 singles and nine chart-topping albums, and in North America and Australia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Europop became very popular. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Italian dance group Eiffel 65 were highly active in this genre. In the 2000s, one of the most popular representatives of Europop music was Swedish pop group Alcazar. In the 1990s, pop groups like the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and ...

, Aqua, Steps, Right Said Fred, Modern Talking, Backstreet Boys and singer

DJ BoBo Peter René Baumann (born 5 January 1968), better known under his stage name DJ BoBo, is a Swiss singer-songwriter, rapper, dancer, and music producer. He has sold 14 million records worldwide and has released 12 studio albums as well as several ...

were strongly influenced by Europop. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second ...

and Ace of Base led Europop in American mainstream audiences. One of the main differences between

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and European pop is that Europop is generally more

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

and

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

oriented. In central Europe, Italo disco (also known as 1980s Euro disco) and Euro house were the predominant attempts by young musicians to have a hit record in and beyond the borders of their own country.

Notes

References

*Paul Simpson: ''The Rough Guide to Cult Pop: The Songs, the Artists, the Genres, the Dubious Fashions''. Rough Guides 2003, , p. 56
restricted online version (Google Books)

''Europop''
- entry at the

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

* Simon Frith: ''Heard it before? You can blame it on the boogie.'' The Scotsman, 19 January 2000, ECM Publishers, Inc. 2000. HighBeam Research. 9 December 2013 (https://web.archive.org/web/20020331041952/http://highbeam.com/) {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Pop music genres 1980s in music 1990s in music European music genres 1970s in music

History

See also

Notes

References