No UFO's

Last updated
"No UFO's"
Model-500-no-ufos-disc.jpg
Single by Model 500
B-side "Future"
ReleasedApril 1985 (1985-04)
Studio Metroplex Soundworks [1]
Genre Techno
Label Metroplex
Composer(s) M500
Producer(s) M500

"No UFO's" is a 1985 techno song by Juan Atkins under the alias of Model 500. It was released on Atkins own label Metroplex. The song was the first track released after the split of Atkins' previous group Cybotron. The music followed similar themes of the previous group with science fiction and alienation but featured less of a song structure than Cybotron's music leading the track to be often identified as one of the earliest techno songs.

Contents

On its release, the track was sold in Chicago where it grew to the popularity that was larger than that in Detroit. When music labels from England investigated the dance music in Chicago, they eventually mapped it back to Detroit leading to Atkins and his related musicians to agreeing to release a compilation baring the song "Techno Music" by Atkins on Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit . The song was re-released in 2017 with remixes from contemporary artists such as Moodymann.

Production

Background

Atkins performing as Model 500 at DEMF in 2007. Model 500.jpg
Atkins performing as Model 500 at DEMF in 2007.

Prior to recording "No UFO's", Juan Atkins grew up in a musical family with his father being a music promoter. [2] Atkins first began playing music with friends on his street initially playing bass and guitar until he became 14 or 15 years old, and his family moved to Belleville, Michigan near Atkins' grandmother. [2] When moving to Belleville, Atkins started playing the keyboard and convinced his grandmother to buy him a synthesizer. [2] Atkins became entranced with the sound of the machine and making electronic music demos by the time he was starting his college education. [2] Atkins was influenced by radio host The Electrifying Mojo, that aired between 1977 and 1985 and played a wide variety of music ranging from funk artists like Parliament, Prince and James Brown as well as Kraftwerk, Peter Frampton and New wave music. [2] [3] [4]

In College, Atkins met Rik Davis who was ten years older than Atkins. [2] Atkins later described Davis as being "like a father figure to me. He taught me a lot. We didn’t have so much in common. I was in awe of him. My father was in jail at the time." [2] The two formed a group Cybotron in 1981. [4] Their singles released were "Alley of Your Mind" in 1981 which was played by The Electrifying Mojo regularly, and followed it up with "Cosmic Cars" in 1982. [5] The group then signed to the California-based Fantasy Records and released the album Enter and the single "Clear" which became a hit on Billboard's Black Singles chart spending nine weeks there. [5] [6] The group broke up shortly after with Davis wanting to pursue a more rock-based approach to music, leading Atkins to develop his own solo project as Model 500. [4] [6]

Development

As Model 500, Atkins created his own music label called Metroplex to release what he described as "more funk and bass-heavy electro tracks." [2] The tracks for the first Model 500 release were done in the basement of Atkins mother's home on the East side of Detroit. As Atkins was taking an audio engineering course at The Recording Institute of Detroit, he would return home to apply the skills he learned on his own recordings. They were recorded with an 8-track tape recorder and a 16 channel mixing board and using a Roland TR-909 for the drum track sequence. Atkins recollected that it took about two days to finish the track "Future". [7]

Atkins felt strongly in his style of music and said that "setting up Metroplex was the only way to get it out there." [2] [8] Atkins had previously attempted to send "No UFO's" to other music labels who turned it down. [8]

Style

Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg
"No UFO's (Vocal)"
"No UFO's" has no verse/chorus structure, with lyrics that chanted rather than sung that are first heard nearly two minutes within the song.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Mark Jonathan Butler, in his book on the history of electronic dance music, stated that "No UFO's" was "frequently described as the first techno record." stating that unlike similar earlier tracks like Cybotron's "Alleys of Your Mind" and "Sharevari", the song had "no obvious relationship to rock or pop music. [9] The instrumentation is entirely electronic with Butler describing it having stark drum machine rhythms as its prominent feature. [9]

The song has no verse/chorus structure, with lyrics that chanted rather than sung that are first heard nearly two minutes within the song. [9] Atkins spoke about the lyrics in the song as "The government always tries to cover up the fact that there could be other life in the galaxy. To me, the system is bent on keeping people in despair, hopeless, not wanting to achieve anything, so if you keep your head up high maybe you'll start realizing things that you never thought possible and seeing a UFO is probably the ultimate possibly." [9] Like in Cybotron, Atkins and Davis were both interested in technology and the future and spent significant time discussing them philosophically and read works such as Alvin Toffler's 1980 book The Third Wave . [4] These themes were also reflected in Cybotron's previous singles such as "Cosmic Cars" and "Industrial Lies". [9]

Release

"No UFO's" was released in April 1985 on Metroplex. [10] "‘No UFO’s’ was popular in Detroit, with Atkins noting that it was released to the radio when Jeff Mills was hosting, and "as soon as [Mills] got his hands on it, he put it in heavy rotation in his mixes, and it became an instant smash hit in his radio show. Also, this was the time of house music in Chicago, so DJs like Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Bad Boy Bill, Ralphi Rosario, Julian Jumpin Perez, and Fast Eddie, among others, [played it]; therefore the record also became a smash hit in Chicago." [6] Carl Craig reflected on hearing "No UFO's" for the first time at 5pm on the radio on a weekday, noting that "It was drive time, so it really gave me the opportunity to hear this music as being more than just club music." [11]

According to Atkins, the song was more popular in Chicago than Detroit. [6] The song reached Chicago by when Atkins' associates Derrick May and Blake Baxter drove Baxter's pickup truck full of records to sell in Chicago, and then these records were exported to the United Kingdom. [6] This led to record companies in England travelling to the United States to research the music, initially starting in Chicago where they were told the music was coming from Detroit. [6] Arriving in Detroit, Neil Rushton suggested to do a compilation album for Virgin Records and call it The House Sound of Detroit which was later renamed to Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit based on the Model 500 song that was included on the compilation called "Techno Music". [6]

The song was re-released by Metroplex in 2017 with remixes from Moodymann and Luciano. [6] Atkins stated that idea behind these remixes was "why reinvent the wheel when we can get the source material that created the wheel in first place and reworked?" and that he "wanted to incorporate collaborations with some major players nowadays, like Moodymann and Luciano. That will make it possible to reach a newer, wider, and more diverse audience." [6]

Reception

In a 1992 article on Atkins, Kris Needs wrote in the NME that Atkins tracks "Ocean to Ocean" and "No UFO's" as "timeless classics." [12] Stuart Maconie also discussed "No UFO's" along with "Big Fun", "When We Used to Play", "Nude Photo" and "Goodbye Kiss" as the recordings that "embodied the new sound of Detroit, a sound synonymous with the new labels Transmat and Metroplex." [13]

Track listing

12" single (M-001) [1]

  1. "No UFO's (Vocal)" – 4:17
  2. "No UFO's (Instrumental)" – 6:55
  3. "Future (Vocal)" – 4:45
  4. "Future (Instrumental)" – 5:01

Credits

Credits are adapted from the vinyl release sticker of "No UFO's". [1]

Related Research Articles

House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture that consisted of Black gay men and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, house became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tresor (club)</span> Techno club in Berlin, Germany

Tresor is a techno nightclub in Berlin and a record label.

Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Drexciya, Mike Banks, James Pennington and Robert Hood. Artists like Terrence Parker and his lead vocalist, Nicole Gregory, set the tone for Detroit's piano techno house sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Atkins</span> American musician

Juan Atkins, also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. Mixmag has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of the Belleville Three, Cybotron, and Borderland.

Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, with an immediate origin in early hip hop and funk genres. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals; if vocals are present, they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick May (musician)</span> Musical artist

Derrick May, also known as Mayday and Rhythim Is Rhythim, is an American electronic musician from Belleville, Michigan, United States. May is credited with pioneering techno music in the 1980s along with collaborators Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, commonly known as The Belleville Three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Craig</span> American electronic music producer and DJ

Carl Craig is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He has recorded under his given name in addition to a variety of aliases, including Psyche, BFC, and Innerzone Orchestra.

Cybotron is an American electro music group formed in 1980 by Juan Atkins and Richard "3070" Davis in Detroit. Cybotron had a number of singles now considered classics and style-defining works of the electro genre, particularly "Clear" and the group's debut, "Alleys of Your Mind", as well as "Cosmic Cars" and "R-9". "Techno City" is also considered an early Detroit techno track.

Kevin Maurice Saunderson is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as the Belleville Three, who are often credited to being among the pioneers and originators of techno: in particular this act helped define Detroit techno, the earliest style of this music genre. Born in New York, at the age of nine he moved to Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, where at Belleville High School he befriended the other members of the trio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground Resistance</span> American techno musical collective

Underground Resistance is an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant political and anti-corporate ethos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moodymann</span> American musician

Kenny Dixon Jr., better known by his stage name Moodymann, is an American musician based in Detroit, Michigan. He released his 1997 debut album Silentintroduction on the label Planet E Communications. He is the owner of the record labels Mahogani Music and KDJ Records. He is also a member of the group 3 Chairs.

Metroplex is an American techno record label in Detroit, Michigan, United States, founded in 1985 by techno pioneer Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins did most of his work for the label under the pseudonyms Model 500 and Infiniti, and will occasionally use such names for live acts.

Richard Davis is an American electronic music composer and producer, hailing from Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Belleville Three</span> Three musicians from Detroit

The Belleville Three are three American musicians, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson, who are credited with inventing the Detroit techno genre in Belleville, Michigan.

Eddie Fowlkes is an American techno and house DJ. He was influential to the early Detroit techno scene.

Techno is a genre of electronic dance music which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (BPM). The central rhythm is typically in common time and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.

Aaron-Carl Ragland, better known simply as Aaron-Carl, was an American electronic dance musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Detroit</span> Music traditions in Detroit, Michigan, US

Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock, and techno.

<i>Classics</i> (Model 500 album) 1993 compilation album by Model 500

Classics is a compilation album by Juan Atkins under the alias of Model 500. It was released in 1993 by R&S Records.

<i>Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit</i> Compilation album by various artists

Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit is a 1988 compilation of early Detroit techno tracks released on the Virgin Records UK imprint 10 Records. The compilation's title helped establish the term "techno" as the name for electronic dance music emerging out of Detroit in the 1980s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 No UFO's (label). M500. Metroplex Records. 1985. M-001.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ferguson 2017.
  3. ↑ Butler 2006, p. 41.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Butler 2006, p. 42.
  5. 1 2 Collins & Crawford 2006, p. 129.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Palmer 2018.
  7. ↑ Mannix 2019.
  8. 1 2 Ferguson, Ben (June 15, 2010). "Label of love: Metroplex". The Guardian . Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Butler 2006, p. 43.
  10. ↑ "No UFO's - Model 500". AllMusic . Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Get Familiar With Detroit Techno: 10 Essential Songs". NPR. May 27, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  12. ↑ Needs 1992.
  13. ↑ Maconie 1992.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.