One of my idle curiosity questions.

[MikeL]

How many of you are old enough to remember disco, and what did you think of it?  Please allow me a moment to get behind some shelter before people start throwing things at me.  I'm also curious to know if anyone here has any amusing anecdotes to share.

 

I'm asking you this because of this article I just came across.  I'm a Sirius subscriber, and I might give this channel a listen...

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/got-to-boogie-on-the-d...

 

Speaking for myself, I actually do like some of the songs from that era, and I do like watching "Saturday Night Fever" whenever I can catch it on cable.  However, I also understand why there was such a backlash against disco.  

 

Anyway, just another case of me having too much time on my hands.

[Joanie Lindstrom]

I certainly remember it and was fairly anti disco.  Living in Kenmore Sq. Boston, there was the legendary Rat on one side of the street and Narcissus on the other and it wasn't a happy mix.  But I always liked a few songs (i.e. Love Hangover - Diana Ross) and loved Sat. Nite Fever, both way back and now.   Disco has become kind of a cool thing to play these days (some friends spin it out around town and on local radio) but for me, a little goes a long way.

[kopper]

[anarchistwood]

i loves disco - good music is good music - doesn't matter what genre - there's shite disco, there's shite garage - but when it's GOOD it's GOOD. and I love dancing too....

I was introduced to disco at 'school discos' in the late 1970s when i lived in West 'by God' Virginia in the good ol' USA. I was a weird skinny Londoner, and my American school mates used to ask me if I knew the Beatles and could I talk Engerland Talk, which did used to freak me out a lot.

I got SO into dancing in 1978 - Freak Out! So Chic, Jackson 5, ... please don't talk about love to night.... and danced to the very late hour of NINE PEE-EMM! I dressed in terry toweling yellow shorts with go faster stripes and a rainbow boob tube. not that i had any boobs at that point. they made a (startling) appearance a bit later.

being from a girls convent school in Bromley, which is practically a suburb(ish) of South London, and being the only non Catholic at the place meant i was used to being a bit different and a batting for the 'other side'. At the school in the Eastern Pan Handle of West Virginia there were fairly strict divisions in seating it seemed between the white kids and black kids. I was fairly oblivious to this when i first joined the class and sat with anyone. it seemed rather strange now i look back that this arrangement was so strict and i am happy that in London at least these boundaries are not as obvious in most of the schools I have taught in over the last 20 odd years... is it still the same in the USA?

about the disco - having been hanging out with african-american kids in lessons (myself being mixed celtic/judaic and of pale skin) i easily joined my friends at the disco, whereupon i learned that they had the best dance moves and learned to shake my bootie in many new and fabulous ways... i think this tutelage held me in good stead as in later years i did stage dancing in London at big raves - and i owe it all to the 8th grade moves of my pals like Leroy Brown & Loretta Washington, Saturday Night Fever and multiculturalism.

 

[MikeL]

A lot of stuff ends up becoming amusing later on:)  I know how you feel.

rocknpunkdad said:

I hated it back then, but find it amusing nowadays.

[MikeL]

I liked a lot of the songs from the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, especially "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees.  I also liked "Last Chance" by Donna Summer and "Disco Round" by Alicia Bridges.

Joanie Lindstrom said:

I certainly remember it and was fairly anti disco.  Living in Kenmore Sq. Boston, there was the legendary Rat on one side of the street and Narcissus on the other and it wasn't a happy mix.  But I always liked a few songs (i.e. Love Hangover - Diana Ross) and loved Sat. Nite Fever, both way back and now.   Disco has become kind of a cool thing to play these days (some friends spin it out around town and on local radio) but for me, a little goes a long way.

[MikeL]

Cool picture:)  It really sums up a moment in pop culture history.

kopper said:

[MikeL]

That is a very cool story you just shared with us:)  Thanks.

anarchistwood said:

i loves disco - good music is good music - doesn't matter what genre - there's shite disco, there's shite garage - but when it's GOOD it's GOOD. and I love dancing too....

I was introduced to disco at 'school discos' in the late 1970s when i lived in West 'by God' Virginia in the good ol' USA. I was a weird skinny Londoner, and my American school mates used to ask me if I knew the Beatles and could I talk Engerland Talk, which did used to freak me out a lot.

I got SO into dancing in 1978 - Freak Out! So Chic, Jackson 5, ... please don't talk about love to night.... and danced to the very late hour of NINE PEE-EMM! I dressed in terry toweling yellow shorts with go faster stripes and a rainbow boob tube. not that i had any boobs at that point. they made a (startling) appearance a bit later.

being from a girls convent school in Bromley, which is practically a suburb(ish) of South London, and being the only non Catholic at the place meant i was used to being a bit different and a batting for the 'other side'. At the school in the Eastern Pan Handle of West Virginia there were fairly strict divisions in seating it seemed between the white kids and black kids. I was fairly oblivious to this when i first joined the class and sat with anyone. it seemed rather strange now i look back that this arrangement was so strict and i am happy that in London at least these boundaries are not as obvious in most of the schools I have taught in over the last 20 odd years... is it still the same in the USA?

about the disco - having been hanging out with african-american kids in lessons (myself being mixed celtic/judaic and of pale skin) i easily joined my friends at the disco, whereupon i learned that they had the best dance moves and learned to shake my bootie in many new and fabulous ways... i think this tutelage held me in good stead as in later years i did stage dancing in London at big raves - and i owe it all to the 8th grade moves of my pals like Leroy Brown & Loretta Washington, Saturday Night Fever and multiculturalism.

 

[Lil' Pete]

I'm too young to appreciate disco's hey day but from what I've read, a lot of anti-disco mentality at the time had to do with society being rather racists and homophobic since disco was born of the two subcultures in America.

[MikeL]

That's part of it.  Of course, a lot of people also hated it because they just thought the music was horrible.  One friend of mine complained that he thought it had no soul to it.

 

That reminds me...one of the things I find amusing about "Saturday Night Fever" is that John Travolta and his little gang come across as so tough and macho, and they're all rather racist and homophobic, and yet they dance to music comes from both black and gay subculture.  Go figure.  Another funny moment was in the movie "Detroit Rock City," in which those kids on their way to a KISS concert in 1978 have a run-in with a couple of macho disco guys, and the KISS kids beat them up and put KISS make-up on them, and once disco guy says to the other, "You got the fag make-up on."  I wonder if any disco fans who were like that back then ever noticed the irony.

Lil' Pete said:

I'm too young to appreciate disco's hey day but from what I've read, a lot of anti-disco mentality at the time had to do with society being rather racists and homophobic since disco was born of the two subcultures in America.

[Drew Smith]

Probably not, most people like that don't seem to understand irony.

 

I enjoy disco culture for the inherent hilarity of the movies, the fashion, the music; some of it is good music, but even the horrible stuff has some Narmy charm, you know?  And Skatetown U.S.A. might be one of the best bad movies ever made.  But then it was after my time, so maybe not living through it helped with that.

MikeL said:

That's part of it.  Of course, a lot of people also hated it because they just thought the music was horrible.  One friend of mine complained that he thought it had no soul to it.

 

That reminds me...one of the things I find amusing about "Saturday Night Fever" is that John Travolta and his little gang come across as so tough and macho, and they're all rather racist and homophobic, and yet they dance to music comes from both black and gay subculture.  Go figure.  Another funny moment was in the movie "Detroit Rock City," in which those kids on their way to a KISS concert in 1978 have a run-in with a couple of macho disco guys, and the KISS kids beat them up and put KISS make-up on them, and once disco guy says to the other, "You got the fag make-up on."  I wonder if any disco fans who were like that back then ever noticed the irony.

[John Battles]

Unfortunately , when he blew up all those Disco Records , all he could think of to say was "PARRRRRRRRR - TEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!!!!!!".
 
kopper said:

[John Battles]

OK , to be fair , I never liked  Disco , but , it was more because that's what the popular kids liked than a backlash in my mind against Blacks or Gays. I also did'nt like , or sometimes merely tolerated, what passed for Country , Pop and Rock , also . Some of the early Disco stuff was not that far removed from Soul , so I did'nt mind it so much. But , overall , it smacked of elitism. Go to a dance , ask a girl to dance , ANY girl , get turned down . I know , boo hoo hoo.  They still played Rock music at our school dances , even had live bands , but Disco was for the well - adjusted , good looking , self - satisfied crowd. I did'nt relate to it. I visited Chicago in the summer of '79 , right after The Disco Demolition (Please see Kopper's photo of annoying Talk Radio Jock , Steve Dahl.). It was an exciting time . People were pissed , wanting to reclaim Rock'n'Roll , even though The Loop , the station that sponsored the Disco Demolition , was fair to middlin'at best.....I met a kid who told me he bought $10 worth of Disco records , just to run them over with his bicycle. Sure , I said some things I should'nt have , regarding the likes of The Bee Gees and The Village People. On the other hand , their fans said the same about The Stones.......Movies usually get that tension all  wrong . Especially the Studio 54 schlong - bulgin' white slacks and chains crowd coming up against the CBGB Punk Rockers in Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam". I guess the macho , macho men looked authentic enuff , but the Punk Rockers had 7" high green GBH mohawks. IN 1977 !!!! IN NEW YORK !!!!!

I asked my Sister - in - law , who went to CB's , Max's , Mudd Clubb , Hurrah (And also Studio 54.), if anyone even had a mohawk in New York , in 1977. She said Richie Stotts from The Plasmatics MIGHT have been working his first Travis Bickle job , a flat , military mo' , but , otherwise , HELL, no. My friends and I would go to the skating rink , and they'd play enough Rock to keep us at bay , but , you were guaranteed a LOT of Disco , and WE'D SIT THOSE NUMBERS OUT. I REALIZED THEY WERE TRYING TOO PLEASE EVERYBODY. The music got on my nerves , tho' I KNEW A LOT OF MUSIC I LIKED , AND STILL DO , GOT ON A LOT OF PEOPLE'S NERVES. Disco was getting more minimal , so was Funk , both morphing into Rap , and , by then , there were barely any instruments involved. I tried , I just could'nt dig it.....Early Grandmaster Flash and Whodini , some of that , I thought was OK , BRIEFLY.

i COULD'NT DANCE TO NON - BEATS. that's just me , though. When I found out about Punk (Not that I had'nt read and heard about it.),I FOUND SOMETHING i COULD DANCE TO , MY OWN WAY , WITHOUT TAKING LESSONS. and , generally , people used to be more friendly. If I asked a girl to dance , I was almost never turned down. It was'nt about violence or exclusion , it was about having fun , something I could'nt find in Disco , not even on a "Camp" level. But , for me , it was'nt about persecuting other groups. Anyone could participate (See "Black Punk Time" at www.roctober.com  ) . Did Disco ever go away ? To me , it became Rap , Hip Hop , House Music , Industrial Dance music ......Not all the same thing , but bound by superficiality. But , If I dared to say anything contrary about that stuff, people would call me "Closed minded". I don't make people listen to music I like , but , as I've said , I've gotta hear Rap and Hip Hop every day.  Tim Warren said , the squares have heard about 10% of my world , and I've heard 90% of theirs. It's so true. Disco , I went thru it , I have no desire to go back. I guess it does'nt bug me , now , as much as it did , then. For me , it's over. If other people like it , I'm not out to convert them or put them down. We all have our choices to go to or not go to certain vnues. We have no control over people blasting their SHIT music in public.