Dance is the New Rock
Michael Jackson recently released a special 25th anniversary edition of his masterpiece “Thriller”. The lasting legacy of that album is more than it’s over-the-top title music video where MJ revealed his desire to be more than human. No, when wolfed-out Jacko cut a rug with zombies he didn’t re-animate human corpses, he was metaphorically bringing the dead sounds of disco back to listeners ears. “Thriller” built a bridge between rock and dance music and the ghosts of disco have continued to haunt mainstream rock ever since.
It seems unlikely but Radiohead seems to have picked up where “Thriller” left off almost thirty years ago. Through the crucible of New Wave, underground DJs, and dance clubs disco re-emerged in the eclectic pop beats of Yorke/Greenwood and company. Other bands such as LCD Soundsystem, Justice, and Hot Chip have contributed their talents to the dance revival.
With Radiohead serving as the vanguard of maintream rock/dance fusion, Seattle venues which were once exclusively host to rock bands have followed suit by becoming home to regular dance events like Broken Disco. This transition has been made all the more poignant by the gradual closing of the grunge clubs of the 90’s with a strong punctuation made by the shuttering of The Crocodile. It seems that dance is the new rock.
