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.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

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 in the 2000s. It is characterized by catchy beats, slick songs and frothy lyrics. Swedish group

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

is often credited for popularizing the genre. Modern Europop overlaps with

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

, however the latter is more club and

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

leaning.

History

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

(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.

Roxette Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...

and

Ace of Base Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group formed in 1987, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn, and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg. They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album, '' Happy Nation'', in 1992. L ...

led Europop in American mainstream audiences. In the 1990s, pop groups like the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. As such, it is often used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (Chicago), an 82-story resid ...

, Steps,

Right Said Fred Right Said Fred are an English pop band formed by brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass in 1989. They are best known for the hit 1991 song " I'm Too Sexy". History 1989–1991: Formation Prior to forming Right Said Fred, the Fairbra ...

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

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 severa ...

were strongly influenced by Europop. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Italian dance group

Eiffel 65 Eiffel 65 are an Italian Eurodance group formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin based record company Bliss Corporation. The group consists of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina, and formerly Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their ...

were highly active in this genre. In the 2000s, one of the most popular representatives of Europop music was Swedish pop group Alcazar. In central Europe,

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

(also known as 1980s

Euro disco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is a genre of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the middle 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco compositions featur ...

) and

Euro house Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use of rich ...

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 is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

Simon Frith Simon Webster Frith (born 1946) is a British sociomusicologist and rock critic who specializes in popular music culture. He is professor emeritus of Music at University of Edinburgh.Frith has written a number of sociological analyses of popul ...

: ''Heard it before? You can blame it on the boogie.'' The Scotsman, 19 January 2000, ECM Publishers, Inc. 2000. {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Pop music genres 1970s in music 1980s in music 1990s in music 2000s in music European music genres

History

See also

Notes

References