Do you want to know more about EBM (Electronic Body Music), its origin, influences, and pioneers? Then keep reading.

5 minutes on the history of EBM, electronic body music

What Is EBM (Electronic Body Music)?

Electronic Body Music, also known as Aggrepo or industrial dance, it is an electronic music genre derived from mixing dance music components with industrial music. This music genre was created in the early eighties in Belgium and Germany and become popular in the late 80s.

Electronic Body Music is predominantly part of the post-punk movement and European new wave scene. One of the first genres that mixed synthesized sounds with a euphoric dancing style (e.g., pogo Dance). In the mid-80s, an Electronic Body music youth-cultural scene arose, whose adherents referred to themselves as rivet heads or simply EBM-heads. (These days, you see more of Beliebers, Barbz, and Katy-Cats)

The Characteristics of a Typical EBM Song

EBM elements are harsh, often sparse danceable electronic beats, repetitive sequencer lines, growls/shouts with echo effects, reverberation, and clear, undistorted vocals.

During this era, the critical synthesizers used were Yamaha DX7, Korg MS-20, Oberheim Matrix, or the Emulator II. A classic Electronic Body Music rhythm is on four on the floor beats, mainly with some slight syncopation to convey rock music's rhythm structure.

The origin of the term 'Electronic Body Music.'

In 1978, Kraftwerk's lead singer Ralf Hütter coined the term Electronic Music body, which he used to define a more physical sound of Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine album. Earlier in 1972, American music journalist and essayist Robert Christgau used the term "body music" to describe the art-rock element and the amplified beat of hard rock bands such as Mott the Hoople, Led Zeppelin, Slade, and Black Sabbath.

In 1980 the German band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF) described their danceable electronic punk sound as "Körpermusik," which translates to "Body music." Later in 1984, Front 242, a Belgian electronic music group, also used the term Electronic body music to define their album No Comment's music.

The precursors of electronic body music

Electronic Body Music sound stems from the fusion of the post-punk scene and inspiration from Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire's industrial music. The extended rhythmic disco and Eurodisco dance sound of Giorgio Moroder; the synthesizer-based tracks of Killing Joke and New Order; and Kraftwerk and DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft), with additional influences from Die Krupps, Portion Control, Liaisons Dangereuses.

Daniel Bressanutti, one of the founding members of Front 242, cited the synthesizer music of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream with the addition of Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk, the punk scene the and "extended rhythmic disco of Moroder," as being additional influences behind Electronic Body Music.

Typical examples of records from electronic body music genre include Front 242's U-Men and Body to Body, Liaisons Dangereuses' El Macho y la Nena and Etre assis ou danser, Die Krupps' Für einen Augenblick and Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn and Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft's Der Mussolini and Verschwende Deine Jugend. (Hope you didn't bite your tongue trying to pronounce those words, lol)

The EBM European Culture and Scene

Many factors and scenes of the '80s are directly connected with the origin of EBM: The Cold War, the increasing unemployment due to technical progress, the Chernobyl disaster and the constant danger of an atomic war between the countries of the first world, the musical style emerged with the appearance of Punk and German New-Wave (Neuen Deutschen Welle).

The scenes and nightclub for meeting and enjoying EBM songs in Germany was Frankfurt's the Dorian Gray night club and Music Hall and Berlin's Tresor and Cisch Club. These locations later became the mecca of the Techno House scene in the '90s.

Fashion styles associated with the EBM music scene

The typical fashion style -black clothes-, the wave fashion style (Mohawk-style hair, spiky shoes, and boots, oversized garments, mostly a martial image) the fetish fashion style -sexually provocative, latex and often incorporating a sexualized Nazi aesthetic- and medieval/romantic fashion style -clothes inspired by Victorian and Edwardian fashion(You don't see much of that these days)-. The most common fashion style among the fans of this genre are things such as

Flat cut (Military haircut)

Sweatshirts

Suspenders

Leather belts

Camouflage military pants

Dr. Martens Military type boots

Polo shirts (Influence of the Skinhead culture)

Leather jackets and bomber jackets (Flight Jackets)

The Popularity of the Electronic Body Music

By the late eighties, electronic body music gained popularity. It influenced different music groups in other countries like Schnitt Acht, Revolting Cocks and Ministry in the US, the Swedish band Cat Rape Dog, Pouppée Fabrikk, and Inside Treatment, the Canadian group Front Line Assembly; as well as DRP and 2nd Communication in Japan.

North American music groups began to use typical European Electronic body music components and fused them with Industrial metal and punk's abrasiveness. The American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails continued the fusion between rock music and Electronic body music, which birthed the Pretty Hate Machine album released in 1989.

Simultaneously, electronic body music became prominent in the underground nightclub scene, specifically in Europe. During this era, the major record labels include; the North American Wax Trax! Records, German Zoth Ommog, the Swedish Energy Rekords, and the Belgian Antler-Subway and Play It Again Sam.

The popular music groups and artists of this era include Vomito Negro, Armageddon Dildos, Borghesia, Orange Sector, The Neon Judgement, Scapa Flow, GRUMH..., Bigod 20, A Split-Second, Oil In The Eye, The Invincible Spirit, And One, Insekt, and Attrition.

Decline in Popularity

While EBM gained popularity in the mid-late 80s, by the early 90s to mid-90s, most electronic body music groups separated or switched genres, exploring the more distorted components of industrial or elements of metal or rock.

The Electronic body music pioneers Front 242's highest charting (#95 on the Billboard 200) album "Tyranny (For You)" released in 1991 marked the end of the EBM era of the 80s. The British music group Nitzer Ebb, one of the popular Electronic body music groups, switched to alternative rock. In the mid-90s, due to the split up and the changing of genre and musical styles from its pioneers, Electronic body music in its original form faded. (All Good Things. Must Come to an End)

Revival Of the EBM music genre

After the rapid decline of electronic body music in the mid-90s, German, Swedish, and Belgian groups such as Tyske Ludder, Spetsnaz, and Ionic Vision revived the EBM music style late 1990s. During this time, several artists and producers from the European techno scene started implementing more electronic body music elements in their sound.

This trend started around the time electroclash was created. When the genre began to decline, most producers and artists associated with the electroclash music genre, such as Black Strobe, DJ Hell, Green Velvet, and The Hacker, leaned towards the techno/EBM fusion style. From the 2000s to 2012, different bands and artist has incorporated the electronic body music genre in their sound.