Americans owe Detroit!

[detroitlove]

Originally Posted by us66

(This is aimed at those reading this that are not from southeastern Michigan.)

Hardly anyone in SE MI knows the difference. If you were to survey folks from metropolitan Detroit, I'd guess at least half have never heard of either term, techno or house. I know I can't tell the difference. There is a large festival in downtown Detroit, held every year, called the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. It attracts a worldwide audience yet the average metro Detroiter has never heard of it. Techno DJs who are revered as rock stars in places like Germany toil in complete anonymity in Detroit. I can't name a single one, but I might be able to recognize a name if you told me one. That said, I know more about techno than the average metro Detroiter. America doesn't owe Detroit one red cent for being the American capital of techno music. There isn't even a techno radio station here.

I don't know what SE people you are talking about but ask any random Detroiter whats the difference and I'm willing to bet someone will know. For instance, house music is majority bass rooted while techno has a very, I guess you could say, "space" type of feel. Think "Jetsons" (I know terrible comparison but its the only way I could explain it lol). House music also tends to have singers over a beat while most Techno does not (unless you're talking about ghetto tech which is just sped up Techno with raunchy lyrics). Techno has also been known to throw in sounds related to the auto industry, like what you would here on the line in the plants. There is definitely a difference. Chicagoans and Detroiters often argue about which is better and Chicagoans will also almost jump down your throat for calling a house track a techno track.

and I didn't say America owes Detroit anything because of Techno music. Also, is it really a surprise most "Metro" Detroiters don't know about something going on in the city?

[detroitlove]

and honestly jitters and techno DJs being invited to do shows overseas kind of blows the Metro area being big on Techno out of the water, just saying.

it being internationally a "big thing" is the reason why Hart Plaza is packed during DEMF, more so than any even downtown, which brings money to the city

[Slappy san]

I listen to electronic music and honestly I could care less about Detroit's techno history or whatever. I lived a short walk from the festival and never bothered to check it out. Motown is known for well...Motown.

[ForStarters]

Originally Posted by Slappy san

I listen to electronic music and honestly I could care less about Detroit's techno history or whatever. I lived a short walk from the festival and never bothered to check it out. Motown is known for well...Motown.

True, Motown is definitely Detroit's signature sound, but when considering the influence of a city, it would be disingenuous to leave Detroit Techno out of the conversation. Electronic music doesn't have nearly the cultural "footprint" that other genres do, but nonetheless, Detroit techno was an important musical contribution that is recognized by many people globally.

Nobody "owes" Detroit anything for contributions that emerged from the city, but recognition for such things should be given where due. In time, I think history will also reflect Detroit's contributions to rock music, especially in the origins of Punk Rock (think MC-5, Iggy Pop, etc) and also rap music. Certainly Eminem and Kid Rock along with their ties to Detroit will be memorialized on jukeboxes for years to come.

[us66]

[quote=ForStarters;19274721] Electronic music doesn't have nearly the cultural "footprint" that other genres do, but nonetheless, Detroit techno was an important musical contribution that is recognized by many people globally.

Yes! Yes! You said what I was trying to say! Strangely though, it doesn't have near as much of a "cultural footprint" here. That's why I was trying to draw the comparison with Nashville. Nashville=country music. Detroit(not=)techno, at least to most Americans, whose understanding of techno comes from an occasional Katy Perry remix heard on the radio (and that stupid song they playes on the radio..."like a G6, like a G6...").