Musical genres that flourish in a specific region but never beyond it

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What prompted me to ask this question was a conversation that I had with a co-worker that involved the infamous Washington DC Go-Go Scene. This scene was huge when I was living in the area many moons ago and it still can pack venues there (or so I am told) yet aside from the novelty that was "Da Butt," Go-Go is a completely insulated phenomenon - yet one that does fairly brisk business especially when you consider the cumulative numbers from the long time the genre has existed).

Are there any other areas who produced genres like microbrews - huge locally but that never really migrates no matter how long the brewery is spitting out kegs?

― NYCNative, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 05:17 (eighteen years ago)

pretty sure it's been talked about tons here, but baltimore club and chicago steppin' aren't too well known out of their areas and the internut

― jaxon, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 05:32 (eighteen years ago)

The kind of pop-country that has existed since Garth Brooks appeared on the scene in the early 90s rarely sells a lot outside the Bible Belt, does it?

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

mention of Grime and Dubstep in before anyone else

― blueski, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 13:14 (eighteen years ago)

xp - no, it sold and sells plenty all over the united states, and is pretty popular in other countries as well (australia for one)

― pretzel walrus, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 13:23 (eighteen years ago)

Trip-hop innit. Nowhere but Brizzle fo' shizzle.

― Uptoeleven, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:20 (eighteen years ago)

Although, obviously everywhere else likes it, nowhere else seems to have produced it. I'm probably wrong.

― Uptoeleven, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:21 (eighteen years ago)

― That one guy that quit, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

DJ Krush, DJ Cam, the Asphodel dudes (Illbient lol) and other West Coasters (Shadow obv.)...as ever it depends what is meant by trip-hop.

― blueski, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:35 (eighteen years ago)

Hardcore (Holland + some isolated pockets in Germany & France), Hardstyle (Italy + Holland), Jump (Belgium + Holland), Italo Dance (Italy + Eastern Europe)

― Siegbran, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:38 (eighteen years ago)

The kind of pop-country that has existed since Garth Brooks appeared on the scene in the early 90s rarely sells a lot outside the Bible Belt, does it?

-- Geir Hongro, Wednesday, April 11, 2007 8:51 AM (1 hour ago)

― modestmickey, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:50 (eighteen years ago)

Zydeco -- though it has a cult in America/Europe/maybe Japan, is a lifestyle to a good chunk of the black community in SW Louisiana/SE Texas.

Brass band music in New Orleans...The Texas country of people like Robert Earl Keen, Gary P. Nunn, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Guy Clark, the Robison brothers, etc...Houston rap from about 1992 to 2004 (it was only distributed regionally)...Latin rap...Polka in the midwest and parts of Texas...Tejano...You could argue for bluegrass and old-time string band music...That stoner mountaingrass crap is big in Colorado only, it seems

― novamax, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:27 (eighteen years ago)

Hardcore (Holland + some isolated pockets in Germany & France)

wait what

― river wolf, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

geir, i'm not sure if that's true, but if it is i don't think it really qualifies for this thread. the bible belt is a huge portion of the country. it's kind of like saying norwegian pop rarely flourishes outside scandinavia - shockah!!

New country (hell, old country, too) also sells by the (pickup) truckload in Canada.

It's a smalltown blue-collar thang.

― Tantrum The Cat, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:35 (eighteen years ago)

Happy Hardcore, innit?

― Dom Passantino, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:41 (eighteen years ago)

Latin rap

?

This doesn't seem focused on one narrow geographic area to me.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:41 (eighteen years ago)

I meant to type "various forms of Latin rap." Fat Joe's style is not the same as Juan Gotti's borderlands stuff, both of which is different from East LA/San Diego Mexican-American rap.

― novamax, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

Brass band music in New Orleans...

2x

― Jordan, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 15:57 (eighteen years ago)

pretty sure it's been talked about tons here, but baltimore club and chicago steppin' aren't too well known out of their areas and the internut

I would argue that turntable lab has sold a shitload of bmore club records. I am not going to say that it is a gigantic international scene like "techno" is, bit it isn't like those guys are selling records to 50 people in bmore exclusively.

mention of Grime and Dubstep in before anyone else

I will not argue about grime, but dubstep isn't a UK only thing. There are scenes in NYC and LA, and oddly enough this scene is huge in Texas. Bob Grommit is doing a show on Sub.fm that is getting the best ratings on the station. There is a monthly at Plush that packs out every time and there was a dubstep showdown in Austin with DJ's from Houston and Dallas that had lines outside the door for a 500 person club. Parson's was written up in Pfork as being one of the best US dubstep producers.

If there is one dance music scene that is happening in Texas, it is dubstep. It isn't my scene, but I know that those guys are making records and their gigs are going off right now.

― Display Name, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

Happy Hardcore, innit?

No, Hardcore as in this, this, this, this . Happy Hardcore is pretty much dead, no? Completely wiped out by Jump in the Lowlands. Still surviving in Scotland?

― Siegbran, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

Now "free-form hardcore". Yes, still surviving in Scotland. It 's the music you hear coming from kids' mobile phones up the back of the bus. There is a tendency for the tunes they play to be Power of Love '97 and things like that though.

― jim, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

There is also a pirate radio station called Kickin' Fm that you can hear in some parts of the east end of Glasgow. I have a tape of it, they play some Spanish hardcore and give shout-outs to local young-teams.

― jim, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 18:44 (eighteen years ago)

Y!S!I!

― zappi, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 18:49 (eighteen years ago)

No example here as good as Go-Go -- for example, you can find a Cajun/Zydeco section in a Borders.

― Mark Rich@rdson, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 18:58 (eighteen years ago)

Uh, yeah, but they won't have brass band cds (Dirty Dozen doesn't count, yo). You also won't find a second-line anywhere else in the world.

― Jordan, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:04 (eighteen years ago)

country is popular EVERYWHERE...the burbs, every region, small towns, etc etc

― M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 19:08 (eighteen years ago)

The only place I've seen go go CDs outside of DC is in some hipster record store in North Carolina. Which I thought was rather odd.

― leavethecapital, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 20:59 (eighteen years ago)

What are jump and chicago steppin'? I'm really curious.

― 31g, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:14 (eighteen years ago)

Cleveland and its love for polka!
http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/UltimateGrammyBox/gfx/Photos/14.jpg

― QuantumNoise, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:15 (eighteen years ago)

― erganom, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:17 (eighteen years ago)

Ha, well the tape is a few years old despite the fact that the station is still going. I can YSI but it'll take a while as I don't have the facilities in my house. My friend (who recorded the tape in the first place) will be able to do it though.

― jim, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:25 (eighteen years ago)

What are jump and chicago steppin'? I'm really curious.

Steppin is like the Chicago version of Detroit Jit. The music is called Juke these days, and the music itself is kind of a hold over from the 90's chi ghetto house scene. It is alright, but the music and the dancing isn't as interesting as what is going on in Detroit right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrftqT5pPg4

― Display Name, Thursday, 12 April 2007 01:13 (eighteen years ago)

Jump

― Siegbran, Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:38 (eighteen years ago)

North Carolina "beach music"/shag dancing to thread. Still alive and well as of 2002, iirc.

― La Lechera, Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:44 (eighteen years ago)

Thx guys.

― 31g, Thursday, 12 April 2007 12:58 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, Beach Music is a good example, I think.

― NYCNative, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:29 (eighteen years ago)

Has fife-and-drum-corps blues (a la Otha Turner) ever migrated out of the North Mississippi - Memphis area?

― Vornado, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:04 (eighteen years ago)

Beach music, however, is based on soul records that were national hits; without the Drifters, the Temptations, etc., there wouldn't be much going there. Even "niche" beach acts like Bill Deal and the Rhondels and the Showmen/Chairmen of the Board had huge Billboard hits. And General Johnson, of the Showmen and Chairmen, hates the term.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:14 (eighteen years ago)

Though it's true that in Virginia and North Carolina, people will find a way to shag to anything. It's a little like when suburban kids discovered slam dancing.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:15 (eighteen years ago)

Is Beach Music our Northern Soul?

― Mark Rich@rdson, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:21 (eighteen years ago)

A little bit like that, yeah. There's a little crate-digging going on.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:43 (eighteen years ago)

steppin =/ juke

― deej, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:51 (eighteen years ago)

at all

― deej, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:52 (eighteen years ago)

It's also an extremely white scene in terms of audience, and often bands.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)

That's an xpost about beach music.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 12 April 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)

"The kind of pop-country that has existed since Garth Brooks appeared on the scene in the early 90s rarely sells a lot outside the Bible Belt, does it?"

NPR had a story about the popularity of country music in Kenya last weekend, especially stuff like Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9450072

― earlnash, Thursday, 12 April 2007 22:21 (eighteen years ago)

We had Deeon & Slugo in the house (sic) here yesterday. Dancemania reborn...

and this interesting quote:

Juke has been the "next thing" in the hipster world for probably about a year now and hasn't really caught on. I think it's for a couple reasons: 1) it's VERY regional and there hasn't been a "tastemaker" from outside of Chicago that's really gotten behind it yet. The Flosstradamus dudes play it some. 2) it's a weird tempo for mixing in with other stuff. it's all like 150 beats per minute, which is too fast for dance music & to double time it from hip hop puts it at around 75 BPM which is generally not a great place to get in or out of hip hop.

from one of the Hollertonix DJs...

― factcheckr, Thursday, 12 April 2007 22:58 (eighteen years ago)

eleven years pass...

beach music is weirdly unsettling to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BFPvBy03U0

― cr.ht (crüt), Saturday, 7 July 2018 00:34 (six years ago)

Arrrrrrrggggggh bad memories there. Reminds me of my family and gatherings where this shit played constantly.

― Jeff, Saturday, 7 July 2018 00:38 (six years ago)

also the shag is the lamest dance ever

― mookieproof, Saturday, 7 July 2018 00:49 (six years ago)

Nothing wrong with Sixty Minute Man

― that's not my post, Saturday, 7 July 2018 04:08 (six years ago)

does anyone who participated in the recording session for "brenda" remember anything at all. it seems so generic that everyone just produced it like automatons without a single neuron firing

― Karl Malone, Saturday, 7 July 2018 05:40 (six years ago)

With the OP's example of Gogo I know taht Troublefunk were popular at certain times in other places. I have a great set from them in the then Town & Country club in London in 1986 but not sure how well known they've been since.
I was surprised by how much of their stuff is on Spotify though when i was looking to play them a coupole of months ago.
Haven't looked up other artists or seen who else got to travel.
Was it all Troublefunk taht got the acclaim from elsewhere at the time. Or were acts like EU also getting recognition.

THe NME put out a Gogo compilation lp couple d with a soundtrack lp to a film starring somebody like Art Garfunkel that utilised some bits of music related to the scene in 1986ish.

I know there was some overlap with teh DC punk scene back when both scenes were getting going in the late 70s. Bands from bioth scenes playing on the same bills etc.
I thought i heard it was an influence that Henry Rollins brought with him into Black Flag though the only place i think I've heard it echoed was in one version of Damaged I. I think he reissued a Live lp by Troublefunk on his label though.

― Stevolende, Saturday, 7 July 2018 10:58 (six years ago)

Go-go music is a paradoxical example because tons of people have heard of it, know where it’s from, and it’s really distinct sounding (vs a lot of other urban club musics that are not so readily discernible from dance music or hip hop generally) so even casual listeners can recognize go-go beats when they do crop up occasionally in mainstream hits.

The ideal example for this thread would be some weird shit only one poster has heard of.

― El Tomboto, Saturday, 7 July 2018 13:10 (six years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagoya_kei

― El Tomboto, Saturday, 7 July 2018 13:11 (six years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_pop

― obvious, Saturday, 7 July 2018 14:46 (six years ago)

Swamp pop was being popularised by that by the Bayou series last year i thought. But I think that would leave it as a retro curio rather than something other people were playing. Might get to be another flavour in a wider mix of influences or something.

― Stevolende, Saturday, 7 July 2018 19:03 (six years ago)

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