History of Techno?

[MARK ANXIOUS]

This could be disputed as techno was already in europe before 88 as electronic dance music had been gaining interest since the late 70`s with throbbing gristle up to the early 80`s, when clock DVA and other more dance based industrial acts carried things on.
Then came the EBM movement from people like (Belgian) front 242 who in 1984 were already banging out 909 and drum machine based 4 to the floor tracks dance tracks with an abstract futuristic edge. They toured the States that year and arguably had an influence on electronic music there, along with other EBM acts.
Tracks such as Commando, No Shuffle, Special Forces, techno was already alive and well in Europe.

IT is very difficult to trace techno reliably, as everyone likes to take credit, with the Detroit guys having the loudest voices, the only thing that could possibly be traced definitively is the word techno being used to describe electronic dance music.
Electronic music history in europe is very complicated and web like. The american side is much simpler.

yes i see what you mean. i never really thought of it like that. to alot of people in europe they wouldnt have given 2 hoots about detroit and the 'soul/futurism' aspect and then suddenly stumbled across a more defined and driving front 242 sound. i've interviewed alot of the early artists over the years and many of the european ones have always quoted those guys. if you think about it, detroit techno and belgian techno are miles apart, whereas front 242 and belgian techno are not. and at the end of the day, it's been the loop based, driving sound that has influenced the majority of modern day 'techno'. so really, like you say, its the word that originated from detroit, whereas the major of modern day 'techno' originates from europe. very interesting eh.

but that's why we love techno!!! it means such different things to so many different people.

:)

[The_Laughing_Man]

yes i see what you mean. i never really thought of it like that. to alot of people in europe they wouldnt have given 2 hoots about detroit and the 'soul/futurism' aspect and then suddenly stumbled across a more defined and driving front 242 sound. i've interviewed alot of the early artists over the years and many of the european ones have always quoted those guys. if you think about it, detroit techno and belgian techno are miles apart, whereas front 242 and belgian techno are not. and at the end of the day, it's been the loop based, driving sound that has influenced the majority of modern day 'techno'. so really, like you say, its the word that originated from detroit, whereas the major of modern day 'techno' originates from europe. very interesting eh.

but that's why we love techno!!! it means such different things to so many different people.

:)

Yeah, the diverse influences are what (should) keep it interesting. IF it originated from a single source, it wouldn`t have lasted like it has.
I hope it keeps changing and moving forwards.
Where next after the minimal movement?