talking about belgian new beat ..

[@JEANBRUCEnocturbulous]

Always happy when young people are interrested in the Old School scene. so refreshing.

[@ErickTiki]

Just found this....some of us kids who were DJs went on to other things not all music oriented...but we have never forgotten the music or the dancing....wish I had a time machine to go back to those days.

[@Top_Lad]

Hi, I'm a Belgian and I can inform you with pleasure that the Cherry Moon and Boccaccio life recently reopened in the original buildings (Boccaccio as recent as 1st October 2022!), they cleaned them up and rebuild where needed but the original aesthetic has been respected, they look and sound great! Now that the pandemic is over you can come over and party once again at these great tempels if you want (like you said in the video). Some more info: there is a small revival of the scene going on in the country right now, it must be because of people having been locked inside for two-three years due to you know what.

[@girlytragedy]

wow this is the best news i've heard all year ! that makes me so happy ! is there an official website or social media account for either clubs that showcase any photos or updates on the new renovations ?? weirdly enough, there has been some good outcomes from the lockdown for music in general. people have been collecting more and delving more into expanding musical taste, etc. thank you for sharing this great news. i hope to one day visit soon and now it can be an actual reality to visit/dance in these clubs :' )

[@Top_Lad]

@@girlytragedy For some reason YT is deleting my reply over and over again, I will see what I can do to answer.

[@girlytragedy]

@@Top_Lad that’s odd, i know that yt deletes any comment with target words or if there is a long link attached, because it assumes it’s spam. just to be safe, you can tell me the name of the website or on which platform to find it. thank you again for letting us know !

[@Top_Lad]

@@girlytragedy Look up Boccaccio East Halen and Cherry Moon now goes by the name Radar.

[@boaudiomanboris3177]

The Boccaccio has been sold in October 2018...and will never reopen as a disco... The burgemeester van Destelbergen has signed a treatee that will never allow a disco to open on the Destelbergen area... And the Former Cherry Moon is now a polyvalent party room, not a disco anymore since the burmeesteer gave no permission to make it a disco anymore

[@ianlab4]

We were tuned in to NUEU BEAT here in the UK via a couple of London Pirate Radio stations. I still have all my vinyl collection, 242 too. Amazing Belgians that made their own sound, completely off from mainstream music,:saw them first in 1989... Legends!!

[@michaelg3395]

another forgotten classic : MAJOR PROBLEM - Acid Queen (they later became lords of acid)

[@jamesdeansghost5531]

My two favorite kinds of music...New Beat and 70's Metal/Hard Rock

[@ExAstris]

Super cool to se someone even making a video on the topic. Cheers!

[@productofbelgium]

I live at 3 kilometers from Cherry Moon . It's abandoned now i think . The building is still there . My father was a waiter in Cherry Moon when new beat was hot . And a few times on week evenings he took me with him and i played with the disco lights on the dancefloor as a young kid . You surely could feel the new beat atmosphere . I feel so nostalgic writing about it .

[@girlytragedy]

thank you so much for sharing & the update. i’m glad it’s still there & hasn’t been demolished. what a beautiful memory too. at least you can always hold on to that.

[@productofbelgium]

@@girlytragedy Thanks . New beat & the retro dance from the early nineties is also dear to me. Not the later commercial stuff on tv. The club where it all started in the heart ofAntwerp, the AB club , is a clothing store now :-) . Nice to see people that love new beat . It was only a few years but had a great impact on music.

[@darkq9762]

New-Beat always reserves a special place in my heart. Me being from Belgium it was the first genre that introduced me to electronic dance music (back in the day). There are different versions of the origin story and I happen to know one of the biggest New-Beat collectors and specialist. He claims it originates more from Aalst. I myself released some new-beat & belgian EBM inspired music on bandcamp, so feel free to check it out : kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqC4dn-YhZtnqsk The Belgian club scene was not shut down at the end of the new-beat era. They switched to Belgian techno & trance music in the early/mid 90s. I went to Cherry Moon regularly in the late 1990s & early 2000s. Cherry Moon was closed in the late 2000s because people were mere interested in their smartphones than going to clubs ;)

[@alicemilton8756]

You made it sound really good and interesting. I’m going to try to find a playlist 💛

[@sheldoncl]

New Beat was amazing around 1988 second summer of love.

[@IdoSchacham]

Thank you so much for sharing your musical passion

[@_H_Y_S_]

The New Beat is real underground music which has a unique charm of mysticism, noir, energy and vivacity at the same time. Composers of the New Beat such as Nikkie van Lierop, Moorice Engelen, Jos Borremas, Oliver Adams are comparable in their influence on the development of electronic music with Kraftwerk. It is a pity that the peak of its heyday was not long and I could not find it and is located where there was a real rave party.

[@girlytragedy]

honestly, well said

[@_H_Y_S_]

girlytragedy, the only minus from such underground is the difficulty of finding such music. Moreover, I live in a country where this music is unknown to absolutely no one. The Internet certainly helps a lot, but here, as a rule, the recording quality is poor, there isn’t anything at all, or something that I’ve already listened to for a long time. Nevertheless, according to Discogs, there are still quite a few New Beat tracks, but I do not have a vinyl player and funds to buy these records.

[@B1SCOOP]

@@_H_Y_S_ If you're out of options you can always look for New Beat stuff on Soulseek. It's probably the biggest archive of obscure music on internet.

[@Fuerte-Claro]

Beautiful Girl & Music

[@michaelg3395]

to me Amnesia - Hysteria was & still is No1. I was going to marry batgirl lol. remember the clip? i still play new beat in my car at max volume, like snowy red - breakdown, fatal error - fatal error, IN D - virgin in d sky's ..... AND of course AMNESIA HYSTERIA !!!!!! like on endless repeat ......& some newer ones like magnus itineribus - dusty idols (2020), ruben montesco- trip to the moon (2018), randolph and mortimer (UK) - apply yourself (2020).

[@timchromecast]

It was an incredible time to grow up. I was about 9 years old, and everyone at school was wearing smiley pins (still have them), t-shirts and scarfs. Nowadays at that age they're listening to children's music and US prefab pop. It had something mysterious because it was completely boycotted by mainstream media. There was a lot of amateurism involved, so it didn't last for a long time. But most 'electronic' clubs have been succesful until around 2000. Some legendary clubs lasted longer (La Rocca, Café d'Anvers), but also vanished recently. New generation no longer interested in underground music, clubbing,... Many key members of the scene passed away at an early age (eric b, teecee, rembert de smet,...). There have been many attempts to organise retro-events, but it's nothing like the original I guess, you can't turn back time. Do you have a list of your vinyl / cd collection on discogs? I would hardly recommend the Belgian New Beat-book although it's only available in Dutch, it contains loads of pictures, music playlists of (local) radio shows, tracks that defined certain clubs,...

[@daturagirl]

Tim Chromecast lucky ! that’s amazing and thank you for your insight. i imagine it being such an incredible time, something i fantasize experiencing. i tend to vicariously live through a lot of the club videos, just love how youth oriented it was and these kids didn’t know they were a part of something really special, now seen as a historical document. i really wish there were more info about it, i’m sure there’s loads of archived video and photos hidden and tons more by the club goers themselves that have them stashed away. one little doc doesn’t really do it justice. that’s a shame ! would love to know the name of that book by any chance? i’d be interested to own it if only for the photos and those playlists so i can seek them out. I tend to use discogs more these days just to get wantlists in order and notifications when something on my list is posted at a better price. i used to archive all my stuff in my older account but now that’s defunct unfortunately.

[@timchromecast]

@@daturagirl book title is Belgian New Beat by Kristof Vandenhende. Lay-out is the same as the 'Belgian New Beat' cd's. I will send a playlist / links this weekend.

[@timchromecast]

@@daturagirl possible to get your e-mail, to send some links (electronic/wave by mid march/april) and probably a copy of the book? The book will be sent from Belgium, so it's possible there will be a small import fee by customs of your country (I don't know how things work over there)... at your own risk. KZbin-playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLUjk_IRmhdKxlmvZIJPdXfTB4OC3LOs3v

[@daturagirl]

@@timchromecast i'd greatly appreciate that ! i tried to look up the book, but not even amazon had it available. no rush on the links, let me know when you have them. thank you!

[@timchromecast]

The book is only available on bandcamp and a few bookshops in dutch speaking part of Belgium. Nobody really doesn't understand why they didn't choose English.

[@kennethpratt805]

What some of "these kids" are up to now is being old farts like me and my boyfriend (you've seen him briefly, dancing in Boccaccio since you've seen 'The Sound of Belgium'). I don't agree with everything you say, but I'm also impressed by your excellent research. Don't knock your video: it's authentic and you come over very well. Frankly, it's a little boost to see someone as young as you showing an interest in this after all these years. Yes, it was a fantastic time with fantastic music and legendary nights out, but it's equally great for me to see you showing such a passion for its heritage. Keep going. Hopefully one day you will visit Belgium. Some of these places are entirely gone, but others have had many reincarnations and are still there.

[@girlytragedy]

thank you for the lovely comment ! i appreciate you ! and yes, one day ! that is the plan ~~

[@heyalfonso]

Thanks for the great description of this music, I went to a club in Louisiana that had this music, it was many years later that I became aware of its actual name, there is going to be a bar in Texas next weekend playing this genre of music.

[@Weareonenation303]

I'm mostly into early 90s and mid 90s trance but have heard some New Beat, it seems to have definitely faded around 1991-92, have some singles on CD. Some of my fav new beat tracks are: Amnesia - Ibiza, Major Problem - Acid Queen and Dr Zarkhow - Interplanetary Adventures. Speaking of Discogs, sellers SUCK at grading, I've been buying there since 2011 and grading hasn't gotten much better over the years.

[@joir2000]

I remember when i was on a fair somewhere in the late 80's That was the moment that i discovered New Beat. Still loving it

[@RenniefosterRF]

It's great that a young person is interested in the history of dance music I love that. So many great new beat records to discover. It wasn't all great tho, a lot of quick commercial cash grab records completely tanked the popularity of the movement and by 1990 the good stuff was fully integrated into underground techno and house. It's a nostalgic vibe for sure, love the tracks. But also a cautionary tale for producers and labels. P.S. love the beret!

[@StijnV-e3b]

Very cool to see you have taken an interest in new beat. I have lived for 27 years in the city where Cherry Moon was. Building still exists but they operate under the name Radar now and it is more like an event location. Every once in a while they do organise a Cherry Moon Retro party though. When you refer to the Flesh track you mention it is 33BPM + 8% but that is of course RPM (rounds per minute), the speed that vinyl is spinning on a turntable. The DJ was Marc Grouls. .

[@girlytragedy]

you're amazing! thank you for the update + correction. have you attended one of those cherry moon throwback parties?

[@StijnV-e3b]

@@girlytragedy Cherry Moon Traxx, the DJ collective that was born there still travels to festivals with their music. Haven't been in the actual building but seen them on our annual festival in the town centre. I have moved to another country so can't really travel for "just a party"

[@Coraspect]

I really appreciated this video. I'm intrigued by New Beat.

[@vivi_nguyenxx]

just a random connection but New Beat and Belgium 80's subcultures are heavily referenced by famous Belgian designer Raf Simons

[@KrakenSoundscapes]

Glad i experienced this short period as a teenager in the 80s, fantastic time.

[@averagejoe7145]

I do remember when this stuff came out in the late 80s. This style was used in and out of a few Nightclub's In Dallas/Houston, Texas back in the day. At the time the sound was so surreal to me, lots of naughty sexual moans & words over a hypnotic dance rhythm. Sometimes they used alot of WWII speech related material in the recordings. The genre doesn't get enough respect for its very early contribution to techno.

[@zsazsalaboum]

It's great to see youngsters discovering the lost classics. I loved New Beat back in the day and still play it regularly when I can. Just a minor correction...it was 45 rpm played at 33rpm plus 8 not 45bpm, otherwise well done for doing the digging! :-)

[@girlytragedy]

ooops !! thank you so much for the correction, i appreciate that ! these classics deserve to be recognized, we're lucky these days to have resources to easily access it now, but i recognize and respect those that had to crate dig / go to the clubs to discover these. wish i could have ! thanks for sharing.

[@JerryZard]

Very interesting and well-articulated... I had never heard of New Beat until now, but I will definitely have to check it out. Thanks!

[@ADSX_303]

Incredible Video! Thank You so much from Germany ……………………

[@kikil793]

Acid in the House from Miss Nicky trax (1988) was her best tune, in the same time there was "i sit on Acid" by Lord of Acid and of course Zsa Zsa La boum, when New Beat turned on Acid.

[@sebastienstultiens9453]

Hi, a great respect from belgium for your video ^^

[@vsuarezp]

Def Def Def con Imp imp imp Impact. loved that music.

[@panayotisharalabopoulos4809]

New Beat is such an underrated genre. Not only inspired quite a bit of late 80s EBM, but its influence even reached Acid House, Goa Trance and many many well known DJs and artists. Hell, even Tiesto has remixed Flesh by A Split-Second I believe. Oh, and for those looking for more New Beat-esque beats (slow and sexy) turn your favourite Psychedelic Trance to 0.75 speed. You thank me later. As for the video, well done. Kudos for speaking about a genre that opened a whole new world for me music wise.

[@girlytragedy]

@@panayotisharalabopoulos4809 thank you so much for your comment!

[@Daniel_Delayne]

Jade 4 U and Miss Nicky Trax were the queens of New Beat 🙌🏻

[@videoflex6328]

it was not only dance music, it was a cult filled with love also without XTC. Im glad i was part of it.

[@betosaavedra4300]

Beutiful Girl, Greetings from Argentina. NEW BEAT FOREVER.

[@ronnys3436]

Do You want some DETAILS about New Beat ? Because my name is Ronny Harmsen and i whas one off the DJ's who did it ..... !!!

[@Pakrac]

Yes, this is 'dikke Ronny'. ;-)

[@matthews.3812]

I'm huge New Beat Fanatic! Great Video!

[@Nicolas-kd5ni]

Nice to see young people like you speaking of new beat, i'm born in 1972 in Belgium and my music is so influenced by new beat and yes we stole VW signs ;-) that was so great time ;-)

[@girlytragedy]

lucky you !!! thank you ~

[@geevee5815]

or a Mercedes star. damn thing was kind of spring chained so hard to pull off ;) and people wearing those metal tip protection shoes where they cut off the leather so that you saw the metal plate which ofcourse had to be polished. the feet bling bling of the 80s LOL.

[@ibuprofen-noodles]

as a belgian, i hope for the best for your future trip. over here land is scarce and we have a tendency to tear down nice buildings in order to build stupid new stuff :(

[@girlytragedy]

@@ibuprofen-noodles :’ ( that’s sad! I realize it’s like that everywhere too. a lot of mid century style buildings in main streets all over America are getting a makeover in the worst way possible. In Japan, I see so many showa era buildings get torn down and replaced with ugly modern buildings in their place, it’s such a shame. also thank you!

[@Dathom1986]

No one ever used that term ' New Beat' .. but everybody was saying Acid!!!

[@blackraven5389]

New Beat is reborn in form of midtempo bass today. It's not the same though, it has lost its acid and hedonistic aesthetics from rave and a lot of it have been absorbed by darker techno, synthwave and cyberpunk styles. It's very EBM-ish in tone today. Historically some of it still can be heard within modern electro-industrial and goa trance music. As classic new beat can get really stupid and cheesy I still like it mostly for atmosphere and of course EBM and acid sound influences. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIK5dmVva7miisk

[@kurtwaldheim4048]

New beat style slow drum still made, also in some gothic industrial whatever it is called (Edit: I guess I was thinking of cyberpunk style, as some calls it), it's near pure new beat. Here's an example of modern new beat: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5m3eIB4qbxppqM

[@mrglasses8953]

New Beat and EBM fused with sped up / cut up Hip-Hop breaks and gave rise to "Breakbeat" Hardcore in the UK (it was just called Hardcore back in the early 90s) and then fused with Reggae/Dub creating Jungle/D&B.

[@B1SCOOP]

Don't forget about Detroit Techno inspired UK Bleep'n'Bass style that started emphasizing on heavy subbass and computer beeping sounds in BBHC and later Jungle.

[@sandrodellisanti1139]

Happy New Year 2023 to you all.. my first New Beat CD was in 1988 Confettis with their Sound of c..many greetings from Brunswick in Germany and please stay safe :)

[@girlytragedy]

thank you so much! you too!

[@NeQoUX]

I'm for Belgium, and Cherry Moon is still alive (now called Radar), but Boccacio has been demolished last week....

[@silvananivis9867]

As a 20-something Belgian who moved abroad and always struggled to feel a sense of national pride, I definitely feel like my love for the New Beat, EBM, etc. made me feel closer to my heritage. One of my fav tracks is Eighty Eight by Piblkc Relation as it never fails to tickle my brain. Puts my raging adhd brain into instant focus mode 💖🌸 Ps. You're so pretty 😭🌸

[@linoyedri666]

I found this video accidentally.as EBM fan I discovered this genre.I really looking for pieces and pieces to learn about it.thank you for this video is very informative.as a "goth" in her early 20.for me ebm and dark electronic is a precious thing to me especially when everyone into post punk.and new beat for me is like my colorful "guilty pleasure " I love this genre that's it :)

[@girlytragedy]

aww thank you ! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I wish I did a better job. It’s hard to encapsulate the genre as a whole in a little video. I wish I could add track samples or video clips, but didn’t want to get a copyright strike or something ! I already had my account terminated twice !! Very cool ~ the cold season is coming soon which is the perfect time to listen to some new beat (and post-punk). cheers ~

[@B1SCOOP]

Check out the Radio Soulwax video mix on New Beat, it covers most of New Beat history with cleverly inserted captions.

[@48045]

I was 18 year's old in 1988 and this period of the beginning was fantastic ; in Paris I went in plenty of New Beat parties ! I makes me pleasure that nowaday a young american likes this style of music.

[@girlytragedy]

thank you for sharing ! and also I envy you ! I’m sure that was great time to be alive, would’ve loved to be at those parties or see what they were like. cheers !

[@klinkske]

Did you watch the YT Newbeat special the Dewaele brothers did? Aka Soulwax aka 2 many dj’s. and Sherman (Herman Gillis) is a newbeat maker that made 100 newbeat songs with different band names to fool the media with Morton and Belluci, Herman started to make the Sherman filterbank, used by the Chemical Brothers… and Nicky worked with Maurice and Oliver… later MNO - God of Abraham Rave kinda stuff… Maurice still tours USA with Lords Of Acid… Maurice (Engelen) also did the music in the Movie, during the club scene, called Basic Instinct… Kids also stole stuff at the cemetery unfortunately, like old pictures of the deceased people. These thing are also printed on some clothes from the time.

[@richardburdett7410]

There was a lot of mixing of music/culture at the time. The UK/US had Acid House but Europe had New Beat, but they merged. Belgian Techno was big. The VW badges you mention was from Hip Hop...Run DMC I think. New Beat was great and it lived on, e.g. Age Of Love.

[@ShortSweetTarot]

New Beat wasnt and will never be underrated or overlooked. That time WE put this onto the world, acid and the rest comes out of our New Beat.... En trots erop een Belgische te zijn die het meegemaakt heeft

[@girlytragedy]

thanks for you comment! to Belgians who grew up with the music, it’s not underrated, but as an American who didn’t grow up with the music or never learned about it until maybe about 10 years ago, it’s underrated! i’m speaking only for myself. I wish more parts of the world know about new beat! Cheers

[@ShortSweetTarot]

@@girlytragedy I wish so too, alltho you had to life in that era to understand the full meaning of it.... I can tell whole stories but it would be boring :) Have a great day, and please, don't stop exploring our New-Beat x

[@ianlab4]

NEUE BEAT.... Who did the track called EJECTOR....?

[@alleygh0st]

Première Classe amazing! La fille qui rit!

[@photek9319]

Front 242 stillz rulez 🤘

[@mr-dbs]

hi girl tragedy nice newbeat collection

[@MorenoJ1973]

Yes it was a good time for new beat. But the commercial groups have screwed up. Stupid ridiculous tunes and used Flemish lyrics.

[@B1SCOOP]

You mean the "Nougat Beat"? The genre itself didn't die out, it rather transformed over the influence of outside scenes, like EBM, Chicago Hip-House, Detroit Techno. If you browse through New Beat compilations on Discogs, after 1989 numerous Belgian dance releases have shift in tone, with new labels appearing like Hard Beat, then Skizzo and finally Techno/Rave.

[@B1SCOOP]

@@zogwort1522 I agree that New Beat tracks weren't highest form of art, but they didn't aim at charts either. Up until Confetti's breakthrough, they weren't known outside clubbing circles. After that point New Beat sound slowly started shifting more into Techno direction, while more and more outsider producers were making bastardized "Nougat Beat".

[@JACarter]

What a beautiful girl you are!

[@TheLordMeowMeow]

pretty cool!

[@johnpuga1982]

This rocks 🤘🏼

[@MOOD303]

Genres originating from new beat: eurodance, edm, trance, goa, futurepop, synthwave, etc...

[@lightofchicagoproductionz9012]

Wrong ..wrong wrong .... Chicago Started and Originated all House Music .... All those sounds are House Music young Laydee 🤔 dont you forget it .... Chi Town!!

[@girlytragedy]

I never said that house music originated in Belgium. I just said that new beat did. Chicago & Detroit started house, but Belgium just created a sub-genre from it.

[@zakoalax]

New beat is from Belgium. Not Chicago.