Oct 6

Oct 6 Ride on Time, by Blackbox

Buckle up for a heavy metal dance ride!

A trip back to the late 1980s with this one. Ride on Time by Italian dance group, Black Box, topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and was the UK’s bestselling single of 1989. Mired in controversy at the time for not correctly acknowledging the vocal sample of Loleatta Holloway, the sample sections were subsequently re-recorded by, what sounds like and is generally accepted as, Heather Small, although she doesn’t get a credit either. For me this is another feel good, get up on the dancefloor piece that I never tire of hearing.

How do they do that?

According to band member Daniele Davoli, "Ride on Time" was the group's attempt to "do a song with the power of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but with a dance beat." So what is going on in this music and can we identify those elements?

From the outset we are presented with a punchy piano chord rhythm, typical of late 80s, early 90s dance music and placing it firmly in that genre. We are in a minor key, which is not that unusual, but which does give a slightly darker edge to the jaunty dance beat. The drum and bass do their job to drive the music and hold it together structurally.

So, we definitely hear the hallmarks of a dance track of the late eighties. But what of heavy rock? Well, it is most obviously present in the extraordinary vocal sample. But, interestingly, that didn’t come from a rock song, but a seventies disco number. It is another example of what I call ‘voice violence’ where the vocal chords are really ripped about (see my post about Nirvana’s Smells like teen spirit for more about this vocal effect: https://www.jenxlovesmusic.com/home-1/2021/smells-like-teen-spirit-by-nirvana?rq=nirvana As much shouted as sung, it’s a vocal style present in both heavy metal and punk music, and is unexpectedly brutal and powerful in this dance track setting. The choice of that sample may well therefore have been an attempt by its creators to replicate something of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant or rock singing style of a band like Deep Purple.

Other Led Zeppelin/Deep Purple influences are perhaps less in your face, but I think there may be something in the insistent, relentlessness of the beat that references them. For example, consider the rhythmic drive of a piece like Kashmir (which I wrote about here: https://www.jenxlovesmusic.com/home-1/2021/kashmir-led-zeppelin ) or the aggressive onslaught that can often be found in heavy metal and note how in Ride on Time there are no breaks. The drums are persistent with no let up at all. A lot of dance tracks include some change up or a pause in the drums for both effect and to catch your breath (often a trigger for some strobe lighting and tension building before they re-enter). Not so with this track - it’s full on drive, power and volume throughout.

I know this song really well and have always heard it simply as a great dance record. But if I try to hear Led Zeppelin in it, there do seem to be comparisons, so perhaps its creators had some success with what they set out to achieve. Certainly, it is different to your average dance song, which made it stand out from the crowd at the time and still gives it power and appeal today. And those vocals sure are loud!

Hope you enjoy it or feel inspired to listen to something new today.

Featured