Cassettes have the whole package. All around best medium, all things considered. Tape is a natural medium. It breathes.
Disco...yep, I'm going there
We've all read the comments about disco music, most seem to heavily weigh on the side of "it sucks". I cannot say how many times I've read that two word remark......yet, without any explanation. One thing for sure, that era defined our consciousness and is an important part of our musical history.
Frankly, I love listening to several artists from that era ... Bee Gees, Donna Summer, KC & The Sunshine Band...………..
I really can't understand how anyone can listen to these artists and not be moved to get up and dance. That IS an emotional connection. The exact connection most of us long for. So, what's the problem?
Frankly, I love listening to several artists from that era ... Bee Gees, Donna Summer, KC & The Sunshine Band...………..
I really can't understand how anyone can listen to these artists and not be moved to get up and dance. That IS an emotional connection. The exact connection most of us long for. So, what's the problem?
111 responses Add your response
I forgot that the Eagles had a Disco song..... I listened to The Long Run album on Vinyl this afternoon. Side One The Disco Strangler Lyrics Lookin' for the good life Songwriters: Don Henley / Don Felder / Glenn Lewis Frey |
chrisoshea - LCDSS weak background music, wow! Despite this specific and very large difference in opinion/taste, I do like Kraftwerk and TG - I have fond memories of blissing out to TG back in the day. These days I am more likely to pull up Vangelis or even Hans Zimmer soundtracks as background music. Your wise sayings are right on tho. |
I think as correctly stated it's not an us vs. them mentality. At the time music upheavals were treated with scorn and suspicion, as the music executives told us what we were going to like. Call it a polar opposite of what we see today, but Disco was not without cultural influence. And we may not have accepted it had it been something out of nowhere. Rock and Roll had been going super strong since Elvis and was experiencing upheavals and issues of its own. We were coming out of a great rock run spanning multiple decades, which was the epicenter of the anti-war movement. America was tired. We as a country were the product of Vietnam, Watergate, a slowing economy, growth of rampant drug use, death of Hendrix, Morrison, etc. All told, this created a music void in the early 70's- no more Vietnam, the aftermath of the deaths, etc. We just didn't feel good about ourselves, and this went on into the Disco era, while at the same time paving the way for disco. Disco was fast, good sounding, catchy, and sang by talented performers- many saw the era unfolding in front of them and adapted. Most of all, it brought people together for the first time in a long time through the discos, dancing, etc, which is what this country was ready for. The music execs had it right and correctly predicted the confluence of events leading to the rise of disco. It definitely was NOT shoved down our throats but more of a product of a confluence of events. I think to cast aspersions on it doesn't do music evolution justice and even more so decades after the fact. Today, rock, pop, and disco are lumped into great sounding music. I went to get tickets for a Bee Gees cover and they were sold out. One ticket on SH was $100. To me, it's not as much disco vs. rock vs. punk, etc. but more of today's (all synthesizers, sound the same, full of bass) music vs. that of yesteryear. I think this is the real dividing line. Cheers! |
- I still enjoy disco, but I find that it often sounds flat on many audiophile approved systems. - I may be mistaken, but Disco music has got to be one of the earliest representations of music completely created and played electronically in a studio. I'm talkin drum machines, synth bass, and heavy computerized keyboards (I know these were used in other genres but IMO not as heavily as Disco). Early computer-generated music was not audiophile quality! As always, there may be exceptions but.... |
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Okay, so disco sucks. We all know that. But what about this? Is this disco? Sure sounds like it. But its .... good! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109045/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 |
ha ha ha @lILCHRIS9 "If you love disco, check out The Disco Biscuits!" Aquatic Ape - never really understood those lyrics. Interesting song to dance too. Just Last night I caught a little of Saturday Night fever by chance after the Sixers/Nets game - Wow what a great movie that was and brought back some fine memories . In the late 70’s I said Disco Sucks over and over - but still had a wonderful time dancing to the music . Never bought a single Disco Album but my wife had a few and they are still in our collection - yet - rarely ever see playing time. Personally I preferred funk and still do . Had some George Duke on just the other day . Right after Snarky Puppy and before Mt. Joy . Where did those good times go - Don’t know but busy making more . Still dancing at 60 and don’t intend to stop . |
Glupson. I did consider offering up that song on that thread but decided it was just a little trite and obvious for that. Besides my memories of it from EVERY darn disco I ever attended do not need to be contaminated with thoughts of death! Trust me the floor could have been near empty but as soon as the first strains of Spirit wafted over the PA it was a heaving mass of bodies! And that is the memory I prefer to keep. And some after disco ones but that's for another forum entirely..... |
In the late 70's I had just turned drinking age in Canada. Still vividly remember going to The Ports in North Toronto. It was a night club with two sections - Rock and Disco - side by side. We would stay in the Rock section till - say 11:00 pm . Then we would mosey along over to the Disco section, because that's where the dancing girls were. In those days the girls never asked the guys to dance 8^( - not like today But there was a better chance in the disco section. lol. Remember a GF trying to get me to buy and wear Jordache jeans instead of my Levis. Just for one night. The Jeans were a strong symbol of the era. ************************** The other strong memory is when a cousin came here from Europe, and I had to buy some records he would enjoy. Disco was big there he told me. So I headed to Sam the Record Man in downtown Toronto. The Madonna album was recommended to me, along with a couple others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThHz9wlBeLU This rocker was new to it all. I liked the Bee Gees best. |
Tlong 1958 Were you looking for intulectual music or music that was beautiful and made you feel good? If an artist could do both, good for them. Perhaps those such as yourself threatened because disco was the biggest genere to come out of the music scene since rock music was invented. Some of your favoririte rock bands had good disco success. A couple of examples. Rod Stewart passion December 1980Blondie heart of glass 1979 call me Feb 1980 rapture December 1980 - the bands biggest and most successful songs of their career The bee geesKylie Minogue can't get you outta my head Feb 2002 I can go on with a few more. And if I were to look into your music catalogue, I be willing to bet you have a couple of village people songs in your stash. Disco never died. It still lives on. |
I've always liked the best from all genres of music. I was big into the blues based rock of late 60's into early 70's. Growing up in Ann Arbor I got to see bands like Stooges, Rationals, Mitch Ryder, MC5, etc. as a young adolescent. Later on weekly trips into Detroit, saw most all the big name acts. And then disco came on the scene. I had one set of friends and various relatives who loved it, kinda of a regular at various Ann Arbor venues and the Roostertail in Detroit. Also trips to Florida and New York City would always entail Disco nights. I remember some awesome times completely exhausting yourself with what seemed liked endless dancing till the end of time! On the other hand I had a set of friends who despised disco, rock remained their sole interest. While I continued to enjoy rock, I also thought it had grown stale, arena rock was taking over and I was still attached to the early more blues based rock of the earlier era. I still love the earlier rock, probably into mid 70's, kind of blah about everything later. When new wave replaced disco I was again happy, disco was wearing thin. And then there have always been other less popular or more regional genres, classical, blues, jazz, country, I love the best of all these. Don't forget pop music, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, etc. and easy listening, Percy Faith, Mantovani, etc., love all the best of these genres as well. And now we have 90's up new genres and sub-genres of music, regular new finds on Tidal and Qobuz. I listen and enjoy the best of probably every genre of music ever conceived, my playlists reflect that. Right now is the best time ever to be an audiophile and music lover! |
The night the Chicago White Sox decided to hold a disco sucks night in 1979 was a shameful time in America. For all you disco challenged people who never got why disco became so popular is because of the political era of the 60s an 70s. Yes, I am talking about the Vietnam and johnson-nixon era. A very dark and bitter time in us history. People were rightfully angry at the political climate that came about in that era. If you can understand the times of that era, then you can understand why Disco was such a popular movement in the late 70s. Disco was the perfect music that came at the perfect time. It gave people a chance to be free, or at least a chance to relax and listen to music that makes you feel good. I don't think rock could ever give that kind of feeling that disco brings. One person explained it to me long ago what disco music was all about. Beautiful music. That is what the anti-disco and the disco-sucks movement never understood. I hope this helps them out. |
Late to the party... Well in this era anyway. I have to admit discos were very popular in England back in the 70,s and I attended many. Some good tunes out from my sketchy hazed memory banks. Probably the most famous tune played at every disco ever in England. Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum. Tell me that song does not move you! Now I am going to bring the level down to my level... Lol. Why did we all attend the disco on Sat night's ( Elton John, Saturday Nights alright for fighting). Nope not for fighting although it did happen for sure. Well let's face it, you did not go to see Black Sabbath in the hopes of scoring a hot girl for the night now did you! 😇😇😇😇 |
I have to disagree with the post that disco was all about electronica. That happened with the rise of freestyle and the late disco era of 1980 forward. The Disco era was a fusion of electronica and real instruments. It was displayed masterfully on the alec r. Costandionos and his band love and kisses. Anyone remember those long 15 minute songs like Romeo and juliete, I’ve found love and accidental lover? I love the disco era although I came late into that era, but thankfully I did. Had it not been for disco, I would not be into music, not have a record collection to speak of, or be the audiophile that I am today. I am not just an audiophile, I am a Disco-phile as well. What is a disco-phile? Someone who knows disco better than anyone else. Yes, I am that good folks!!! And yes, I have great gems that most have not heard of before. If anyone has a disco question about a song artist or group, chances are I know it. My friends are impressed. |
For some reason, people often say "disco sucks" instead of saying "I dislike disco". And the reason is usually imo, the bitterness left from disco having such a impact on rock music at a time when it had become imho incredibly pretentious, borish, and frankly quite silly. "Rock is dead" many said at the time. Of course it did survive in the end - but only because of the back to basics underground music scenes of New York and London. At the end of the day, popular music is democratic in that consumers of it vote with their wallets. The pompous dinosaur bands of the seventies had their run. But the only constant is that there is no constant. It’s time to get over it. |
Therein lies the problem, " . . . it defined our consciousness . . . " and not everybody wanted to have that definition of who and what they were required to be in order to conform and to fit in by a simplistic linear drum beat on the level of kindergarten nursery rhymes. Disco was something forced down peoples' throats by making it a part of everybody's environment, playing it in passing cars, putting in on every television station including PBS when Ronald Regan ordered the dumbing down expedient of replacing concert music with more commercial pop culture, and the surplus civil right to play it so your neighbors had to hear it violating the privacy of our back yards. That is why everybody rebelled against its cultural tyranny by back-lashing against it with intolerance. |
I was only 12 at the peak of Disco in '77, but even then I thought it was cool to blend rock drums, funk bass, and an orchestral string section to create dance music. I've always been a fan of well produced music, and Disco had some amazing productions..... sure a lot of it was horribly repetitive and went nowhere musically, but the sound quality and production quality was top notch. I'm still amazed at the string arrangements and performance quality of that time.... and that was pre-computer and digital editing. I don't hear that kind of quality in any of today's modern music, outside of Hollywood soundtracks. |
Wow this post took me back to the beginning of my musical coming-of-age time period, when I would argue with friends and siblings about what was acceptable to play on the boombox while we played bball or foursquare in the driveway. Girls all loved pop and disco tunes, guys preferred rock, the more anthemic, the better. I think if I would have caught on to the link between girls and their love of music they can dance to, my high school experience would have been very different. Instead, I spent years in my bedroom listening to "real music" on my "real stereo" and feeling very superior. Luckily, eventually, I found there were girls who liked The Cure, Talking Heads, New Order. Dance music that wasn't disco....or was it? And of course my young adult daughters and middle age wife still prefer Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Abba to Talking Heads, Jonathon Richman, Steely Dan. I guess I need to try Daft Punk rather than LCDSS while we are doing the dishes? Thanks OP! |
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Disco and Funk fan signing in here! I played in a local disco/funk band for many years (ironically, well after disco died). Just received an album I purchased on discogs: Meco’s disco version of the Star Trek Movie and The Black Hole themes. It’s terrific. All hail disco!!!! And ignore the stick I’m the muds who never learned to dance :) |
First, I do enjoy some disco and I have a large collection of disco. I also really enjoy Jazz, EDM, Classical, Classic Rock, some Pop, Blues, Celtic and R&B. But not country, most punk, most heavy metal and some others I cannot think of at the moment. I took part quite heavily in the whole disco scene (not the drugs too expensive). I have always enjoyed dancing (no I am not gay) and learned the Hustle and Salsa as a result. Met a lot of girls, one became my wife and a lot of great people. I will say only two or three of the groups mentioned would I say were good disco; they were Chic, Donna Summers and Giorgio Morodor. Most of the good disco IMO was european disco or club music such as Cerrone, Voyage, Amant, Gino Soccio, Change, Sylvester, and many more. I agree that the beat is pretty monotonous, but it is pretty hard to dance to something that does not have a steady beat. As far as musicallity goes listen to Voyage or Change, I think it is great music for the genre. I try not to compare music from one genre to the next and then make a distinction on which is better, I think it is an apple and orange comparison. What I will say in support of disco, for some, it gets your feet moving and your heart pumping and that's good. If your looking for something cerebral or meditative the disco genre is not it but neither is Punk, Grunge or Swing. It was made to dance to and not much else. |
Speaking of Bee Gees, they truly had a split personality, in some musical sense. Compare Odessa with Saturday Night Fever and it cannot be more different. The only consistency is that, I think, both are brilliant in their own right. To add to tyray’s post above, all of you girls/guys have nice systems. Get Al Green’s Let’s stay together album (vinyl, if you can, but anything will do), dim the lights, play How can you mend a broken heart, and come back here and make fun of Bee Gees. If you can, that is. As a bonus, you could also try Rod Stewart (with Booker T.) and To love somebody. You will be treated to a performance by the man who sang Da ya think I’m sexy singing song written by Bee Gees. Double whammy. |
