Between Sleaze and Cosmic Longing: Themes of Love and Sensuality in the Early Techno Underground

The early techno scene is a bit of an oddity in the continuum of "dance" music in a wider sense. The disco era had many songs of a graphic or explicit nature (sometimes more veiled, sometimes less veiled), the 80s disco / dance era had a lot of sleaze and graphic affairs, too (Karen Finley, anyone?)... but the Techno sound?
There was almost none of that to be found there; the aesthetics were pure, clean, almost virginal...
Very strange for a sub-genre born out of LGBTQIA+, "free love" and similar sub-subcultures.

I guess part of it is the whole 60s, psychedelia, cyberdelia concept that runs through this sound... the initial acid house boom was called "second summer of love" for a reason (a reference to the first "summer of love", the zenith of the hippie movement in the Bay Area).
"We are cosmic dancers now, we move upwards to the sky, we leave our bodies behind... and our bodily needs, too".
And yeah, the heavy drug use associated with that scene means that, most of the time (and contrary to popular belief), they did not want to get it on.

And then there is the whole "future" vibe... original techno sounds like "alien music from planet alien"... it's tracks about hexadecimal dimensions, interstellar signals, journeys to the seven stars...
Too abstract, too nerdy, too brainiac to think about skin2skin action.

And the fallout of that is that 99 out of 100 early techno tracks are not about intimacy. (To put this into perspective; look up the regular pop/rap/dance top 100 charts and ponder how many of these tracks are about it...)

Now let's look at the few "unicorns" inside this group that are different in that regard.

1. Model 500 - Night Drive (Thru-Babylon) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5kKUtTX0yU

Woah! That's a sleaze-bomb right there. Juan Atkins, what were you thinking?
If you try to decipher the lyrics, it's about him driving his Porsche through Detroit until he meets... his girlfriend? a stranger? a sex worker?
And then... well, as the lyrics go, "she turns it... all the way"

2. LaTour - People Are Still Having Sex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ImRyPymRAM

actually one of the first true techno hits and classics.
a witty satire and almost political commentary on human intimacy.
very direct, but also polite and modest enough to leave a lot to the imagination.
reverts the trope of the "sexual revolution" by saying "we didn't change anything, it was always here and will always be here".

3. LFO - Tied Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEB6NsqSsk

LFO were the heroes of bleep techno right? Warp records, warehouse raves.
And then they drop this one, many years later. A hymn to BDSM culture. Very heavy stuff.
If you still have a bit of innocence in your mind, listening to this track might haunt you forever.

4. Culture Trance - La Revolución Del Sexo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHQBg-MJHVM

This is what I wrote about earlier. Cosmic longing, cosmic trance, dancing under the night sky.
The "sexo" in this track feels very new age like too... hippies, gurus, shamans... unity with the stars. Bodily unity.

5. Marusha - Whatever Turns You On https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOHliHwJAu4

An early hit for "queen of hard trance" marusha... sound is a bit rougher than her later tracks.
Not very graphic or explicit at all, still, the sounds, vocals, and drums make you feel the ecstasy...

6. Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo - Ultimate Sextrack (Remix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StGstOcIfSw

Gabber producers never beat around the bush when it comes to any topic, and the track is exactly what the title says.
and now... "my favorite fantasy is..."

7. Lords Of Acid - Rough Sex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6C9XQ0VoEU

Lords of Acid were probably the most sexual themed act of the rave scene... or in the history of music.
This track pushes back the "comic longing for love" aspect I mentioned earlier... and sports a more rough and hard outlook on the whole subject matter.

8. Legend B - Lost In Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27AXunGRo5E

The acid-trance vibes, the mood of the track, and the vocal samples ("Remember when we played together?") evoke a mystical, pure, almost innocent form of intimacy.

9. Moby - Everytime You Touch Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoewKAOz1sU

Moby went from being a depressed rocker to being a depressed raver and finally to being a depressed producer of world-famous electronica-pop.
This is not to put him down, not at all; his music is pure and genius in its melancholy and infinite sadness.
But I guess this track was the closest he ever got to feeling happy.

10. ''O'' - Another Orgasm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJrLINKxP2A

Little nasty early EBM-Electro track.
Its author later became one of the most prolific producers in all the world of electronic music.

Ca. 1996/1997, the cosmic, new age mood of techno began to wane, and with it, the association with happiness, euphoria and ecstasy.
Now, the mood in electronica and dance music was more disillusioned, apocalyptic and pessimist; and this gave rise to a lot of very sleazy tracks.
The former "odd" period of almost bodiless electronic music was over.

Looking back at music history: the raunchy/spicy New Wave of German music 1977 - 1983

[Warning: mature themes throughout the text]

When people think about the New Wave era, the eye usually wanders towards the UK and, to a lesser degree, Northern America.
Rightfully so, because both countries had the most important and best known output regarding this music (Just think about Visage, The Human League, Blondie, Talking Heads...)
Germany is mostly off the radar, and again, rightfully so.

The new wave of signals were heard in Germany, yes, and it led to a huge wave of new music on its own, yes, that dominated the German and sometimes worldwide charts (Major Tom, Der Kommissar[1], 99 Red Balloons...), but... there is a big *but* here.
Because somehow the signals must have been splintered or fractured, as there was a strange, surreal mutation in sounds.
Or to describe it in more "sober" words: the influence of british new wave music gave rise to the so called "Neue Deutsche Welle" - 'German new wave' - *but* it sounded quite different to its British counterpart.
Much more so than, say, Belgian Techno did sound different from French Techno.
In fact, many "Neue Deutsche Welle" songs (I will call it "NDW" from now on) would not fit to the "New Wave" term, and vice versa.

Now that this intro is over, let's cut to the point.

The NDW scene had a huge and varied output that is of increased interest to international (and German) collectors and music fans in general.
There are a lot of gems, oddities, rarities and obscurities to be found; and this time, we will look at NSFW NDW songs.

These songs are of highly cultural (and maybe even sociological and political) interest, as they came into existence when various, sometimes completely opposed societal groups collided in the NDW scene, trend, and market.
"Raunchy" or "offensive" songs were, for example, done by ex-punk bands that tried to create an outrage, middle aged business men that wanted to generate easy money (by creating an outrage, too), feminist bands trying to stir up the male-centered cultural discourse, art projects that sought an outlet for highly intellectual, academicized, post-modern and post-cultural views on sex and nudity (and also wanted to create an outrage).

so, essentially, you had everything, from drunk gutter punks (of all genders) yelling particularly vulgar and obscene words for perfectly natural human body parts and activities, to chic, upper crust and high brow art school type people yelling particularly vulgar and obscene words for perfectly natural human body parts and activities.

The common thread behind all this indeed seems to have been the desire to create an outrage - and maybe to have some fun (and make easy money).

Did they succeed? Well, yes and no. The raunchy hits rarely became *official* hits, but, as expected, a lot of them spread in the underground and subcultures.

How did the public react? Nudity and other topics that were considered to be "no-no" in countries like the USA shocked Europeans and Germans to a much lesser degree. And playing the "art card" (which most bands could credibly do) usually meant that you could do whatever you want in Europe.
So, yes, there was some scandal and debates, but on a much smaller scale than one might expect when looking back at this.

The NDW unexpectedly faltered some time after 1983. "Over-saturation" of markets and "over-stupefaction" of songs is often cited as the reason.
So, this part of "raunchy" German music history ceased to exist, too.

And then, less than a decade later, the German Techno scene came around, and with it subcultures that were much more "risqué", but that's a wholly different matter.

Footnotes: [1] The media and most people refer usually refer to all songs of this movement as NDW or "Neue Deutsche Welle", even though a lot of it is actually of Austrian, Swiss, and other origin.

Examples of raunchy NDW / German new wave songs.

Note: don't expect driving disco music with luscious voices. The music is really like I described it above; somewhere between cringe and art, surrealism and synthesizers. I guess some of it won't be a "turn on", especially if you look back with today's eyes. Unless you are a drunk punk or art nerd, maybe.

Note 2: If you ain't fluent in German language, I suggest you get a dictionary and look up the song lyrics.
Because otherwise you might be entirely missing the point.

The Pinups - New Wave Lover (1980) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEQjpd8GgjY

Zaza - Zauberstab (1982) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmGaJ-6o3MI
guy sings about his "magic wand"

Die Chefs - Oberficker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkYlDK0eWcI

Spider Murphy Gang - Skandal Im Sperrbezirk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oESfa8jt0p8
about people allegedly having to resort to specialty telephone operators due to a ban of sex work in Munich.

Hans-a-Plast - Sex Sex Sex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICNTwrj_nzc

Extrabreit - Annemarie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRDW1JwjL_g
the singer wants to have sex with Annemarie (also slight allusions towards BDSM and fetishism)

Trio - Anna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8H0EUIq6Fs
the singer asks Anna to let him "in and out".

Falco - Der Kommissar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtxkmrXfgTM
sex drugs and rocknroll in the underground night life, basically - while paying attention to not get busted by the cops

Kiz - Die Sennerin vom Königsee (1982) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtxkmrXfgTM
young men from all over the nation visit a Bavarian dairymaid in order to "yodel" with her.

Bärchen und die Milchbubis - Schweinekram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZS5qKZO3Fo
"Bärchen" can't stop thinking about sex

Hans-a-Plast - Lederhosentyp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGfUTsaglc8
about wanting to have sex with guys in lederhosen

Autofick - The deutsche girls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPGju05kjy0

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Sex Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiA6x4tjDwg

Ixi - Detlef (1983) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvNMBiNnL8
a girl wants to pimp her boyfriend and send him off to work the streets

Schaltkreis Wassermann - Sex Is Out, Ich Bin Geklont (1981) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWovS806lyI
about the future of being a sexless clone

Strassenjungs - Jeder Mensch ist mal alleine (1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe6QUZKmWj8
justification and instructions for solo-sex

Producer Q&A: Do I think it's okay when people masturbate to my music?

For this article, we're having guest author Low Entropy over here in our magazine.

Hello friends and strangers,
It's another round of my producer's Q&A.
For this time, I want to focus on a quite special topic:

Last year, a rather unusual feedback regarding my music reached me:
A fan told me he got "addicted" to 'touching himself' while listening to my tracks; and he turned it into a little ritual where he would "overdub" movies of an explicit nature with my sound and then go on a very private session.
(It should be noted, it was not just my tracks that had this effect on him; but he noted my tracks are amongst those that 'worked best' for this purpose).

So, what do I think of this? How did it made me feel to be the recipient of such "candid" details?
Well, what I think and feel is that when it comes to topics of sexuality, the discourse in western society is often rather childish and silly. Let's try to have a more mature, rational take on this.

I don't think these "incidents" are related to any kind of attraction or "horniness" towards me or my music, maybe not even related to "sexuality" as it is understood by the laymen.

Due to my very personal history, the main theme of music has always been "healing": the healing of issues on a mental or emotional level, helping to cope with traumas or inner conflicts, and generally liberation and empowerment of the mind and the psyche (I make no claim that I'm always successful at that, though!).

Now, the reproductive system, and sexuality in general, are a huge part of a person's health, no matter if man, woman, or any other gender (or even agender). This is all very natural.
Reproductive and sexual well-being is just as much an important issue as well-being of one's digestive system, heart, lungs, and so on (maybe even more important).

So, I think what happened is that my tracks maybe helped undo / fix a mental blockade, that in turn led to this sexual improvement.
My music is about *release* after all, release of pent-up emotions such as anger, frustration, fury, sadness, melancholy. This release is often joined with a physical activity, such as intensive dancing in a club.
Now if my music leads to a release of pent-up emotions of a sexual nature, and is accompanied by a very special "physical movement", this is all fine with me. please go for it.

If someone went to a "real doctor" because of an issue regarding the reproductive system, the doctor tries to fix in, and in a follow up the person told him that sex / pleasure has improved by a lot now, this would not be weird or strange or unusual either, but part of the doctor's profession.

Thus, such "unusual" feedback does make me feel uneasy or uncomfortable.

Masturbation is good and healthy, and if my music is a help there, then this is all the better.

Music to get tied up to: BDSM and Fetish tracks in the Hardcore Techno genre

Hardcore Techno is - more or less - a non-erotic audio variant of BDSM; as the listening experience is usually described as pain, torture, torment, an ordeal for the mind and the senses by those outside its circle; yet its fans feel pleasure, joy, fulfillment, ecstasy, while listening and celebrating Hardcore Techno.

Despite these similarities, Hardcore tracks whose definite theme is BDSM are actually quite rare.
So here is a list of tracks (in no particular order) that can be associated with BDSM and related fetish topics; directly or indirectly, through track title, vocal sample, or sentiment, serious or not-so-serious. And in some cases just through a mental relation.

Because of this, we do not want to imply that any of these tracks or artists actually did want to send a BDSM message with their tracks; we don't know the artists' intent. It could be so, yes, but it could also be just a gimmick, or a completely random connection (though many cases seem to suggest either the former or the latter).

We hope these tracks evoke feelings of pain&pleasure amongst our audience, too, and, who knows, maybe some of them are suitable for your next session with a special person?

1. LFO - Tied Up
2. No Name - Latex
3. Neuwerk - Black Domina
4. Phoenix - Dominated
5. Hanin Elias - Tie Me To The Wall

6. Human Resource - Dominator
7. Lords Of Acid – Rough Sex (Beltram Whip Mix)
8. Formalities - Submission
9. The Shizit - Gak Bitch
10. Senical - Wanna Beat my Lover

11. Random Rampage - Submission
12. Sieste - Kitty Whip
13. Rave Creator - Me, The Master
14. Masters Of Rave - Pump It (Like A Master)
15. Inferno Bros - Slaves To The Rave

16. Lenny Dee & Ralphie Dee - Power Dominion
17. E-De Cologne - Slaves
18. DJ Alex - In Control
19. Masters of Torture - Power of Yoga
20. Nasenbluten - Feel Disciple

21. The Prophet - Dominatin
22. Noface - Torment
23. Titanium Steel - Slam!
24. DJ Buzz Fuzz - Power Punch
25. The Kotzaak Klan - Locked Inside

If you're in the mood to add your own favorite tracks on this topic - then please don't hold back in this regard!

New E-zine

Our fanzine is now mostly defunct.
But why not check the new E-zine "The Hardcore Overdogs" with a similar concept / content?

https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/

Beyond the penis: An alternative look at sexuality expressed in Hardcore and Gabber tracks of the 90s

One of the many things that has often been criticized about the hardcore and gabber scene of the 90s is the sexism, misogynism, queerphobia expressed in some of the tracks of that era, both in well and lesser known ones.

Lyrics like "Bitch, do you wanna be my mistress?" or "Happy is for homos!" can be seen as very problematic today. This resulted in some very heated debates, with some claiming this was just pure provocation or nonsense from a drug-fueled era, with minds being completely hazy all the time anyway, and that one shouldn't look for any deeper meaning in this, while others say these lyrics are meant to be taken at face value.

We will not get into this particular discussion here. Let's just say that if tracks with lyrics like this will not be produced anymore, we don't think there is a lot that the world would miss about them.

We will sidestep this debate, and take a look at - and try to uncover - something different, that is often blotted out by the aforementioned debate.

Which is that there were indeed tracks with a subtext or content related to human intimacy (aka sexuality) that don't come from a male-dominated, misogynist perspective.

And, if one looks closely, there were a lot of tracks and releases like that!

So here, we will feature some of them.

Just a word of warning here. These tracks can be interpreted in many ways, we don't know what the artist had in mind, their true intents, and so on.

Maybe some were serious, others tongue-in-cheek, or had no real meaning connected to them at all.

We don't want to suggest that the artists we mention had this or that intent, or whatever.

We are just giving examples of how these tracks can be interpreted, without saying our interpretation is the right one.

We don't want to imply the artists here are queer or activists or into BDSM or something else. Not least because, honestly, we don't know it.

You catch our drift?

But let us begin.

Female Empowerment

Let's not forget that in the very male and machismo dominated world of 90s gabber, there indeed were female artists, and they truly had something to say, too!

Cumshot - Urogenital Groove

This duo had only very few tracks out, but they were superb nonetheless.

This is a quite noisy early breakcore affair here. 

Hanin Elias - Tie Me To The Wall

Hanin needs to be mentioned here, of course. If I remember correctly, she stated that the intent of the track (and video) was to criticize sexism, objectification and attempted subjugation of women in the music industry (and the techno underground).

Brides Make Acid - Fucked All Night

The queens of acidcore chanting "... I just wanna get fucked all night". This can be interpreted in two ways, of course. Getting completely wasted and / or high in a hardcore rave party context. Or, well, as in having sex.

But it's a bold, provocative track and concept, in both ways.

Mouse - Lick My Pussy E.P. (Underground Perversions Records)

Stella Michelson with a very clear instruction. I see this title as a clever subversion of all the "Suck my cock, bitch!" track variations by all-too-male gabber producers.

No Name - Kamasutra

It's not clear to me how the title relates to the track, apart from that the sound is very twisted and contorted, too. But it's a great piece of music.

Conclusion

A common theme in the above-mentioned tracks seems to be a very hardcore, provocative, defiant take on human intimacy (aka sex), at times mingled with a bit of BDSM.

Non-misogynous

Not all male tracks have to be misogynist, either.

Marble Cybos - I'd rather get fucked by a vibrator

Very early hardcore track on the "Influence Recordings" label.

I always liked the "I'd rather get fucked by a vibrator than your cock" sample, as it reverses the usual gabber machismo by degrading and insulting males, not females, instead. 

Phoenix - Dominate

Titled "dominate" and featuring a "female dominatrix sample" (more or less. It's a female vocal taken from a BDSM themed track.), the males are definitely not in power here, and have to be content with being subs for the moment.
Well, yeah, that's one possible interpretation. but either way, it's a sex-themed sample that is not macho or against women again, and this is what we wanted to point out.

Gender and roles

One might think the 90s scene was very hetero-normative and binary, "gender solid" instead of fluid. It was not. And it seems it's not easy to find tracks that are beyond these concepts. But then, there were many of them.
Here are just two examples.

Deadly Buda - Themes For Androgenous Super Heroes

The intent or thought behind this track and EP are unknown to us. But, well, it's an example of a more androgynous-themed title, isn't it?

Chicks With Dicks - Musik Ohne Eier EP

While this is not really gabber, it's done by a very well known hardcore producer.
"Ohne eier" translates to "without balls" (aka testicles).

(Again, we don't want to imply the artists mentioned here are androgenous or transgender / transsexual in real life, etc.. Not that this would be a problem, though.)

Asexual

The Stunned Guys - Love Really Sucks

Apart from music that doesn't come from a macho perspective, or is critical of it, there were also tracks that expressed a dislike or disinterest towards human intimacy (aka sex) in general.
We don't think this is really the case here, but the lyrics of the tracks are witty and at least go in that direction.
"...please don't make me fuck you, honey!".

Lbgtqia+ spectrum

Slab - Anoint Me With The Black Sperm Of Beleth

Is it "gay" to be anointed with sperm provided by a demon in a ritual? What if you say "no homo" afterwards?
Aleister would probably approve!

Various Artists - Join The Queercorps EP

One of the only "openly queer" projects of the 90s it seems. I don't have much information on this venture. It's amazing music, though!

Summary

So, these were just some examples of tracks which show that the history of hardcore techno is not made up just of angry bald-heads on too much amphetamines, coke and testosterone, and that take a refreshing view on human intimacy (sex).
This was our little trip beyond the "penis perspective".

Did you like our picks? Do you know more tracks? let us know!

Anarchist Techno

there have been attempts to strip techno, hardcore, and similiar music, of all politics in the last years. while techno in the beginning had strong roots in the working class, in countercultural movements, in freaks and outsiders, and in many cases in overt politics, this had tried to be removed eventually. and totally.
politics, anarchism, are now despised in techno. most people who listen to it don't want to hear anything about it. they hate it, it annoys them, they dislike it. if it's any politics related to "the left" or anarchism, though - right wing politics are accepted in the hardcore mileu, and eagerly passed on. it is said that "the music" and "the party" should be enjoyed for what it is, and not be about "politics". as if music could exist in a vacuum! you won't solve the troubles of society, or of your live, by merely escaping into music - not in this way, at least. and apart from that, politics and these escapees have a common goal - anarchism shows you how to escape your troubles and those of the social, and not just for an hour by an ecstasy fueled high, but permanently.
but we also see a typical 20th century dichotomy here; that of party, fun, fulfillment, highs vs boring grey "politics" - but this should be left in the 20th century. dreams, social reality, politics, and thrills don't have to be opposites, contradictionary terms anymore.
so leave the unpolitical dancefloorhead behind - on to the future!
so the situation right now is, that techno is indeed a completely depoliticised scene (apart from the right wing politics i mentioned). it's funny that in rock, punk, guitar hardcore it is still possible to put a political message across, and people accept it and appreciate it and receive it, and in techno this is almost impossible anymore, in a genre that used to be so ahead of the others.
so, let's get active. switch this. create political techno again. create anarchist hardcore again.
i know a lot of you are out there. there is a lot you can do. first, realise that we anarchist types are not some isolated flakes in the electronic / hardcore world. spread the message. get involved. do some tracks, do vocals, start a zine, anarchist techno parties, whatever. the possibilites are plenty. your imagination is the only limit. so let's get up! take a stand for our beliefs.
create anarchist techno.
the "unpolitical dancefloorheads" can stay in their consumer techno amphetamine hole for a while longer. we don't care. but we want to create political, social and - dreamer music again.