21/11/2020
If you dig into black music of the 1940s to 1960s, you’ll meet the term “Popcorn” sooner or later. When I did research for our series of “Stay-at-home blues” parties, the word came up more and more. The mostly medium tempi, the heavy grooves, and the swing of this music are perfect for blues dancers dancing alone at home. Until lately I was not aware where the name of this genre came from. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a discotheque in a small village in Belgium called Popcorn and the local DJs defined this sound between Soul, Jazz, R&B, and a pinch of Ska. So Popcorn is the music that was played at The Popcorn – pretty simple. It reminds me a lot of Northern Soul which got its name from being popular in northern England first.
Here’s a short documentary worth watching: https://vimeo.com/24079101
And more to read: https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/feb/05/belgium-popcorn-underground-music-scene-europe-northern-soul - you could listen to this compilation while doing so: https://jazzmanalbums.bandcamp.com/album/follow-me-to-the-popcorn-the-untold-history-of-the-belgium-popcorn-scene
Belgium, 1970. While most radio stations and discotheques are playing the pop and rock hits of the day, a new venue opens in the small village of Vrasene, near Sint-Niklaas.…
