Top Dubstep Songs From the 1970s
The gritty, bass-rattling sonics of dubstep may seem distinctly modern, but the roots of the genre stretch back to pioneering artists across genres in the 1970s.
While stylistically disparate, many 70s musicians were deconstructing traditional songwriting to forge a more physical, visceral approach prioritizing rhythms, bass frequencies, and minimalism.
From Kraftwerk’s mechanized grooves to King Tubby’s dub remixes to the proto-punk textures of Pere Ubu, pockets of experimentalism foreshadowed dubstep’s core essence – reducing composition to primal rhythms and sub-bass weight.
Though built on different foundations, this drive toward sonic deconstruction and low-end physicality provided an unlikely through-line to dubstep’s later revolution.
This article explores 7 pivotal 70s tracks that embodied the stripped-down, bass-centric aesthetics dubstep would push to radical extremes.
1. “Trans-Europe Express” by Kraftwerk (1977)
The pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk was hugely influential across many genres, but their cold, robotic minimalism particularly foreshadowed the aesthetics of dubstep and other bass music styles. “
Trans-Europe Express” features chugging, pulsing basslines created through oscillating synthesizers rather than traditional bass guitars. The stripped-back rhythms are driven by the metronomic precision of drum machines and sequencers rather than live drumming.
This mechanical, hypnotic approach to rhythm and emphasis on low, resonant frequencies was highly influential on the half-step grooves of dubstep. The dubstep track’s futuristic, industrial atmosphere also aligned with the darker tones that became prevalent in dubstep.
Kraftwerk’s innovative melding of synths and percussion helped pioneer the sort of hybrid electronic/dancefloor aesthetic that dubstep producers would expand upon.
2. “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang (1979)
While stylistically far removed from dubstep’s sound, this landmark hip-hop track helped popularize and bring mainstream exposure to the concept of reciting rapid-fire vocals over a sparse, beat-driven instrumental – an approach that became commonplace in dubstep.
The pounding, funk-influenced bassline, and breakbeat rhythms share some sonic DNA with the propulsive, bottom-heavy beats favored by dubstep producers.
Additionally, the track’s historic success demonstrated how electronic dance music could effectively incorporate rap vocals, paving the way for dubstep’s embrace of MCs and vocalists.
“Rapper’s Delight” expanded possibilities for poly-rhythmic interplay between syncopated rap flow and asymmetrical, syncopated rhythms that would be extrapolated in genres like dubstep.
3. “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” by Augustus Pablo (1976)
Pioneering Jamaican producer King Tubby was one of the original innovators of the dub genre, remixing existing reggae tracks by removing the vocals and emphasizing the drums and bass while applying liberal use of studio effects.
This hugely influential dub album showcased Tubby’s mastery of stripping away elements to create hypnotic, atmospheric versions focused intensely on the low-end frequencies and percussive elements.
Techniques like double-time kick drums, reverb-drenched ambient spaces, and accentuated basslines created a template that would inform dubstep’s similar exploration of cavernous, bass-dominated sonic environments decades later.
The immersive quality of dub’s separated channels, emphasis on groove over melody, and non-traditional song structures were pivotal precursors to dubstep’s experimental deconstructions.
4. “Dub Housing” by Pere Ubu (1978)
This avant-garde post-punk track by the highly unconventional band Pere Ubu delved into some of the darker, more abrasive textures that would resurface in the dubstep movement.
The raw, distorted bassline has an aggressive, industrial-tinged quality, coupled with tribal-sounding drumming and sparse instrumentation that creates a sinister, foreboding atmosphere.
Eerie production effects like reverb, delay, and stuttering add to the creepy, claustrophobic vibe.
Pere Ubu’s deconstructed approach to rock songwriting, favoring unsettling moods and trance-inducing grooves over traditional structures, paralleled dubstep’s experimental ethos.
The low, churning frequencies and mechanical rhythms explored a similar aesthetic territory as the darker, heavier strains of dubstep that would emerge.
5. “She’s Gone” by Kraftwerk (1974)
Another landmark electronic track by Kraftwerk that demonstrated their pivotal influence on the bass music genres that followed, including dubstep.
The song’s sparse rhythmic template is essentially just a steady, metronomic drum machine beat accentuated by pulsing wave-sequence basslines. This hypnotic, almost trance-inducing quality created through the interplay of machine rhythms and oscillating low-end synths was hugely impactful.
The mechanized groove prioritized physical, visceral impact over melodic elements in a way that presaged the physicality and subwoofer-rattling intentions of dubstep’s sound system culture.
By stripping the songwriting back to these elemental components of rhythm and bass weight, Kraftwerk’s pioneering minimalism cleared the way for genres like dubstep to continue deconstructing form and focusing on primal sonic impact.
6. “Warm Leatherette” by The Normal (1978)
Created by Daniel Miller of Mute Records, “Warm Leatherette” has a supremely stripped-down and raw aesthetic, built around a throbbing synthetic bassline, sparse machine-created percussion hits, and little else in terms of instrumentation.
The hollow, metallic tones and lack of melodic elements create an eerie, foreboding atmosphere that feels skeletal and minimalist compared to traditional rock/pop songwriting.
Miller’s experimental approach explored slowing down tempos to a sluggish, viscous pace while retaining a propulsive groove – a technique that would become central to the “wobble” bass sound of dubstep.
The bare-bones combination of weighty sub-bass frequencies and negative space laid the blueprint for dubstep’s return to a pure, primal essence of rhythm and bass weight.
7. “Heart of Glass” by Blondie (1978)
While stylistically a hybrid of new wave, disco, and pop, Blondie’s biggest hit “Heart of Glass” demonstrated the increasing influence dub reggae rhythms were having on Western pop music by the late 1970s.
The song’s co-writer Chris Stein cited Jamaican dub and reggae as key inspirations for the track’s solid bassline, shuffle-like groove, and angular rhythmic phrasing.
This cross-pollination of reggae’s dub-inspired aesthetics into the pop mainstream paved the way for genres like dubstep to carry that torch further into the experimental deconstructions of rhythm, space, and bass.
The way “Heart of Glass” strips away excess instrumentation during the verse sections to let the undulating bassline and spare percussion create a trance-like vibe was an early indicator of pop’s move toward more bass-focused minimalism.