If not… (or even if yes haha) a French friend from south of France (Occitanie), JEAN BRUCE write a New Beat guide it’s available in English, it’s cheap (10 bucks + shipment), it’s hard work as he remaster 60 New Beat tracks that he consider as “incontournable”
He spoke with nearly all the Belgian artists featured in the book and uncovered incredible, exclusive stories from the very roots of the scene.
Excellent.
Didn’t know it had a name (I was sheltered). Kind of what I remember listening to when I was, umm… much younger (still a mid-teen kid). Along with Xymox (not Belgian but next door anyway) and the like.
Wow, this took me way back! As a young teenager I was on vacation in Cannes in the late 80s, there was a great record shop there and I stumbled over the “C in China” single by chance. I think I’d heard the track on the radio. I took it home and listened to it, but never heard anything more about the band or the genre. Until now I still have that 7".
I used to listen to Front 242 and the like back then, were they in the same circles? (Someone mentioned Patrick Codenys further up in the thread).
Didn‘t know this nice reduced track yet. Would have said Amnesia-Ibiza, but actually prefer the kick of the 2002 club remix ( as mixed by Dj hell with f242)
Verry cool: Miss Nicky Trax-acid in the house
very funny: Mac Sample-house inspector
Split Second-Flesh seems to have been a hit as ebm original and a bit slower for new beat
Some include F242 when they talk about New Beat, and it’s not an association they play down at all either, they’re big fans themselves. They know quite a few folks from the same circles, it was very organic - if you watch some of the videos of the time, like say Rhythm Device’s “Acid Rock” video - they were shot at the same clubs they would dance and perform at. A lot of cliques developed that way. Some New Beat folks made it really big (F242 being an example, but also folks like Patrick De Meyer who had mega hits like Pump Up the Jam and Praga Khan/Lords of Acid/The Immortals - Mortal Kombat theme and Acid Queen.)
Front 242 definitely still has connections with a lot of these folks, for instance Jean Marc Lederman of The Weathermen or Dirk Ivens from Dive/A Split Second or Parade Ground…while not specifically New Beat there’s a lot of cross-pollination for sure.
@William_WiLD Thanks for posting this book! I do not really know the story but love the sound and will pick it up for additional research (and maybe inspiration future visits to the country!)
Here are some of my favorite videos:
Rhythm Device - Acid Rock (the lead now runs a successful video production company)
Major Problem - Acid Queen (I think this is a Praga Khan pseudonym)
Tragic Error - Tanzen (this guy made Pump Up the Jam! - also Klatsche in die Hände is a big hit by Tragic Error)
Too many to choose but these are close to the essence of the genre! As you can probably see a lot of it is straight playback, so there was a lot of backlash at the time “are they even playing their instruments?!?” Etc, etc. New Beat is about dancing and being absurd with some acid sounds. Very much my thing haha
I still have that 7".
