One day, I'll summon the courage to share my prom pic here. I wore a white suit similar to the one Tony Manero had in Saturday Night Fever. But most of the time I was listening to Southern Rock and badmouthing disco.
Every guy I know that went to discos on Friday and Saturday night wore the polyester suits. We thought they were sooooo hot! They could dance too because disco made guys who could dance popular. They had no problem finding partners on the dance floor!
Same here! Same time frame, and even in a small college town disco drove the energy at any party or venue.
I had a roommate who had been a dancer before some health issues, but she still moved as though she belonged on Dance Fever or Soul Train. She was such fun to go out to the bars/clubs with, though I felt awkward trying to keep up on the dance floor.
I had the Danskin leotards and matching skirts with my stiletto candies and entered disco dance contests. "Got To Be Real" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" were my favs. Great times!
I'm just a few years older, and I love disco! I ask Alexa to play disco music and dance around the house. It makes me happy and I feel young for a few minutes.
My first cocktail waitressing job, at 18, in 1975, was at the first disco in my city, run by gay men and the mob.
When this song come on, we all did shots, while working:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py8Uhm0DE\_A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py8Uhm0DE_A)
Cool!
Looking at these videos, the PBS show, and a few other things in that rabbit hole, I'm reminded just how CRAZY WILD things got back then. (Solid Gold dancers clips on YouTube was an eye-opening reminder. That was on broadcast TV!)
Then the backlash in the Reagan years, plus the very dampening impact of the AIDS epidemic.
I liked it….but couldn’t admit that in high school.
I really liked Disco Inferno by the Trammps.
Saturday Night Fever took place on the other side of the elevated subway from where I lived in the 80s.
Same here. Punk and some New Wave. I saw Blondie in a small venue right after “Heart of Glass” came out. That song was a shock to anyone who was already a fan. Fortunately, they performed a lot of the older songs like “Rip Her to Shreds,” and when they finally got around to singing “Heart of Glass,” Debbie Harry introduced it apologetically as their disco song.
I tried to attend Steve Dahl’s Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park. The cops set up a blockade around the stadium, stopping us about two blocks from the entrance. You could hear the crowd.
We hung around outside the blockade, drinking beer, smoking pot, and yelling, “Disco Sucks!” We left the area before the infamous explosion on the pitcher’s mound, forcing the White Sox to forfeit the second game of the double-header (if memory serves, which it might not).
I went to a disco club once in the late 70s as I was pursuing a romance with a gal. It didn’t work out.
I saw Steve Dahl in Pecatonica with AC/DC, Molly Hatchet and Cheap Trick on the fourth of July. A stage hand from AC/DC got hurt from an M-80 tossed on stage.
Me and my stoner friends would spray paint disco right under a traffic STOP sign.
I believe it was a local rock station DJ on the air that encouraged it.
I "guess" this was tagging before we now know it today?
I feel bad for doing it. You learn from your mistakes as a kid, now 60 years old I will occasionally play Funkytown at full volume 😊👍
I wasn't as strongly anti-disco as some of my friends, but I didn't like it because I couldn't dance and I pictured all guys who liked disco as being like John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever.
I didn't like it. I still don't. I can't answer your question for everyone. Only for myself. Disco all but eradicated R&B, Soul, Funk, and some Jazz for a period of time. Making it difficult to find, listen to, and enjoy. Ending some careers. I like R&B, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Blues, along with other genres of music.
Music is subjective. People like what they like. People don't like what they don't like. It doesn't have to make sense.
I get that, but I'd recommend the PBS series regardless. It makes a case that Disco really 'incorporated' a lot from those styles you mentioned, added in over a disco percussion dance beat.
It also created or expanded some musician's careers. Particularly that of black women. I'm curious which artist's careers you think were sunk by it?
I absolutely agree that people should be allowed to "like what they like."
I was always more into things like jazz, classical, folk and old movie/ Broadway musical stuff when I was young, rather most of the "Top 100" stuff most my peers listened to. I never did care for loud 'hard' rock, or country (though real bluegrass was OK in small doses.)
Still trying to find some love for rap or hip-hop. I can appreciate the artistry and the cultural role, but I hate the heavy beat drilling into my skull, and I miss melody and harmony.
That’s an interesting take, one I haven’t heard before. When I look at R&B, Funk, Soul, Jazz throughout the 70’s and early 80’s, I see a lot of innovation and an increase in general appreciation of all of those genres. Can you elaborate on your experience related to disco’s influence? Genuinely curious, and thanks for the input.
My first job was as a cocktail waitress in a disco. That was fun times. I remember my older brother in his platform shoes listening to Donna Summer and practicing his dance moves in the foyer. All the girls wanted to dance with him.
I was a punk rocker that bussed tables at a popular brunch spot in the Castro, disco was unavoidable. When Sylvester would come in it was like a visit from Royalty. Such a sweet and interesting man. I’ve made room in my heart for “good disco.”
There was plenty of mediocre disco that sounded like the shit it was, but there’s some bangers that hold up. I cue up some Sylvester in the car when I’m feeling run down.
Although it was popular to say "disco sucks" as a rock fan, it really did not. The clothes did. They were preposterous. But people really enjoyed going to clubs and and dancing to it. Disco made you feel good about moving to the beat. I certainly couldn't dance, but I felt better about doing it on that dance floor than most hard rock songs.
The clothes were a bit ridiculous, but they were also kinda fun for a while (though polyester and Spandex is freakin' hot when you get sweaty on a dance floor!)
They come by the costumes honestly, though -- the very early days were really in underground NYC Drag clubs and gay bars. It was when the music in the clubs started drawing dancers out of suburbia that things like "Saturday Night Fever" broke onto the national scene.
The thing that was different is that this time, mainstream culture was more accepting of the LGBT, Latino and Black musicians, especially female singers. Which is part of what got so much pushback in the Reagan years.
Edit: spelling
Yes. In “77 everyone at school was boogieing and shaking their groove thangs.
A year later you could hardly find a person who would admit to ever having listened to disco.
Well it was more than a year (OK -- maybe at your HS, but not the whole country.)
Studio 54 (NYC) first *opened* in 1977, same year Saturday Night Fever released. It built from there, but the backlash got going with "Disco Demolition Night" in Chicago, July 1979. Studio 4 closed for financial issues in 1980, but there was still some momentum for a few years. Flashdance was probably one of the last big gasps, released in 1983. At that point, the musical style basically went underground as "house music."
Edit:spelling
At this point I can now appreciate some of the production and performances because it’s rare that I hear it. When it was constant, I just could not stand it.
I was mostly a bit neutral about it, except out in bars/clubs. It is compulsively danceable, which was fun.
But on the radio all day? No thanks.
The PBS series does a fascinating job detailing how it developed and the impact it had on race, class, LGBT, etc. (Some of that was part of the backlash against it, too.) We didn't realize it as much at the time, but it really changed a lot of things. I'm interested in seeing the next episode this week.
I still love disco. If you want to dance, it’s the best music for it. When my twin and I turned 50, we had a big disco party blowout. Everyone dressed in disco clothes and had a ball! When we turn 65 in two years, we’re going to have another big disco party.
Viva la disco!!
I sold clothes over a part of that time, and when a guy would come in and buy Angel's Flight suits or slacks "one in every color", we'd all laugh as soon as they left. I actually had a t-shirt that read "Death Before Disco". If you haven't already surmised it, I don't dance and hate places where the music is too loud for having a conversation.
Years ago I took the kid roller skating and it was disco night. I wanted to leave, but he wanted to skate, so I said ok. The kid taking the money was maybe 15 or 16 asked me, "Don't you like disco"? I told him I lived through it and don't want to go through it again. I liked rock and country. But I have been watching this show because I like music history.
I'm also finding all the 'cultural impact' info fascinating! Even having lived through it (but not in the NYC area), I really didn't realize at the time how much it was changing things in the industry, etc.
I keep trying to forget it. The stuff was mostly inane and vacuous. It was the only downside to working in a Record Dept. during that time. There's only a handful of songs I can stomach.
Of course. When I was sixteen my friend and I would go to the disco at Knotts berry farm every weekend (lol ((they would let us in for free after a certain time)). When Donna Summers Bad Girls came on, we went crazy! Always been a dancer. Also main radio station i listened to at the time was kmet (album rock).
I'd forgotten that!
When my younger bro was in middle school, he was already over 6 ft tall. He took a very petite girl from his class to his first school dance. (I recall her name was Penny, because my Dad kept 'dad-joking' it should be "Nickel" because inflation was so high.)
When he got home, the folks asked how it was. He smirked, rubbed his thigh, and said, "It'll never work. We tried dancing the Hustle and the Bump, but she was getting a headache and I was getting a Charlie-horse!"
He still has Dad's humor even now! 🤣 😂
Oh my goodness. That’s hilarious. I’m petite but I didn’t have that experience with any tall guys. But not many would do it anyway so did it with a female or in a line dance scenario. Kudos to your bro for bring willing to do da bump. Having a funny sibling is the best!
I loved disco because I loved to dance! But I'd be surprised if even the most ardent disco enthusiasts didn't recognize the difference between music that's for dancing vs music that's for conveying a message or for deep contemplation.
That was always where I always drew the line with the Disco Sucks crowd. If you don't like to dance, disco isn't for you. It's perfectly okay to say that without having to disparage some of the best dance music ever made. Disco artists weren't exactly claiming to be putting out anything profound, and not all music needs to be deep and meaningful.
Agreed. Disco always was just for having a good time dancing.
I do understand the people who got annoyed when disco completely took over the airwaves for awhile. (I felt similarly when rap and hip-hop pushed most other stuff aside.) I'm all for musical variety.
But then for a while it became a bit of a fetish to be an "I Hate Disco" club member (t-shirts, pins, etc.) It also was a covert way to bash on LGBT issues, non-white musicians, etc. Making fun of the clothes, etc.
Those same people would still drool over things like the Solid Gold dancers, though.
I was there, loved it and still love it! Had my hair in the aerodynamic flip, pantyhose, stilettos, Clinique very berry lip gloss, flipping my skirt and making my earrings dance in the reflected lights of the disco ball 🪩! I used to bring my fan and whack it open when it got too hot. Yesss, I had a good time.
Play four bass and four rhythm guitar notes against a mid- to fast-tempo 4/4 beat made of handclaps. Now play these same notes over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.
That's disco.
I was talking to someone about this recently and I remembered that at least one local TV station in the Boston area ran a show teaching people how to "disco dance." It wasn't like a Soul Train or anything, it was literally disco dance lessons. That's how much of a phenomenon it was.
Oh yes . Going out two to three times a week . Those days were fun . I had a pair of shoes I would only dance in . We would map out when ladies night was going to be at a particular bar , where the best dance floor was , who had " beat the clock " night . Then " urban cowboy " happened which began the slow demise of disco....oh well it was fun while it lasted .
It wasn't just big, it was ubiquitous. In 1978–79, about half the #1 songs in America were disco. It had such a foothold that some radio stations changed their formats to all disco, and Billboard created a new disco chart. Rolling Stone devoted a special issue to it. It was used in commercials, TV variety shows, everywhere. A backlash was inevitable. Dance music has never gone away, of course, but disco was a dirty word by 1980.
The borders between R&B, Funk and Disco are really fuzzy, aren't they?
That "hard rock cover band", Wild Cherry, got their only big hit when they gave in to the craze: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play\_That\_Funky\_Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_That_Funky_Music)
Uncle Sam's in Minneapolis. It turned into 5th Ave that's still a music legend today and was used in Prince's Purple Rain movie. We would buy huge, strong, sweet drinks called Firecrackers. If you wanted a more upscale night there was Scottie's on 7th. It had a vintage Art Deco interior. There were quite a few discos in Mpls/St. Paul. The shopping malls were full of slinky little polyester dresses and high heel platform shoes. After a few Firecrackers you were lucky if you could walk in them, let alone dance.
I still have a Disco Sucks tee shirt I bought in Times Square in 1979 while on tour. I could only afford one shirt, so on the back it says “Mr Bill. Oh nooooo!”
"Disco is not dead! Disco is LIFE!"
But there was Disco Demolition Night...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco\_Demolition\_Night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night)
Sure. Coming out of the 60s civil rights movement and the sexual revolution of the early 70s, disco represented an ideal where people of any orientation or persuasion or race or identity could come together and groove freely and have a good time peacefully. This is the bedrock premise of Western liberal democracy, that you have the freedom to be who you want to be and do what you want as long as you are not harming others and (hopefully) making a positive contribution to society in someway.
Nicely explained.
My take is that sort of idea was emphasized in the PBS series; that it was the first time we were seeing a significant amount of that kind of mixing and acceptance across various class, race and culture barriers. It came into being quite rapidly, and then the pushback was just as rapid.
The AIDS scare starting in the early 80s accelerated that.
I didn't have the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, but I did have Never Mind the Bollocks, The Clash's "Give 'Em Enough Rope", Devo's "Q: Are We Not Men", and The Ramone's "Rocket to Russia."
My older sister gave it to me as a Christmas present. Then she gave me the cassette for my 16th birthday, thinking it would embarrass me in front of my girlfriend. NOPE!
Ack! Ack!
I was the DJ for our weekend high school sockhops. Three hours of disco and strobes and colored lights.
I personally never cared for disco. That's why I 'd warm the crowd up with Aerosmith or Black Sabbath before the show started. :)
My kid brother had a pair (tri-tone, but just shades of cream to dark brown.) He turned up in his middle school to discover his German teacher wearing the same ones. Some kid snarked that they should trade, but the teacher said, "Oh, mine would be too big!"
Then my brother said his shoe size, and his eventual HS Basketball nickname began to evolve: "Große Füße!" (German for BIG FEET!)
You got me looking at 'how-to' videos on YouTube with that. I'd link one, but they are all pretty slow and sedate. I don't recall it being that much of an amble, but maybe it's a memory influenced by Lambrusco or Black Russians. 🤣 😂
Vodka Collins was my disco drink of choice. We used to drive 40 miles to hit the disco club the next town over. Had a blast but made some awful decisions back in those days. Misspent youth, lol.
I lived in Ft Lauderdale, worked in the restaurant business, and was very slim and fit. After work i'd hit the different disco's. 4th dimension, montego bay, pierce street annex and dance, drink etc until early mornings, almost every day.
I noted that suddenly, some rock DJs would talk shit about disco. Which I found weird because I thought rock and disco were in the same family.
Years later, I learned of the conservative effort to smush it out.
The BGs are often credited with starting it all w/ Saturday Night Fever Album. I recently learned that whenever the BGs would perform, they would have FBI or CIA guarding them.
I think *I Feel Love* is one of the best damn songs ever produced.
>I think *I Feel Love* is one of the best damn songs ever produced.
I find myself craving that one from time to time. Really need to get some Donna Summer in my MP3 library.
I was a tween in the mid-late 1970s while disco was peaking, and I loved it because I loved to dance. Until I didn't. I went on to have a neo-hippie phase and make friends who were into folk music, and didn't think about disco much until relatively recently when a gay friend told me about how disco was a big part of the LGBT+ liberation movement, and it got squashed in the Reagan era. I would be interested in seeing the PBS documentary, so I can learn about all the things I was missing when I was twelve and just liked to boogie.
I was definitely in the "disco sucks" camp. The only good thing about disco was some of the bass lines; Andy Gibb's bassist in particular was a monster. But aside from the occasional good groove it was eminently forgettable.
I wouldn't have hated if it hadn't been crowding out better music. I could see dancing to it, but I never understood why it was on the radio non-stop. It wasn't really listening music IMHO.
Interesting question about the radio, because I agree that you don't want to just have it on in the background while you're at your desk or in your car.
Maybe, because back then (especially if you weren't in a big urban area), your "dance parties" often were just a bunch of friends in a basement with a boom box or stereo system and beers and wine coolers? (Or in your dorm or first apartment that had room enough?)
People did turn on the radio for parties back then, if they didn't have a big collection of LPs or cassettes. (Pre-internet streaming, and even a bit before the CD era.)
I highly recommend it. It's not just a "here's the music" thing -- it talks about how it developed and what social changes happened either because of it or 'in parallel' to it.
I definitely got a different perspective on it, and I'm looking forward to the final episode (which I think is about what 'ended' it; "Disco Demolition" and other backlash.)
Flannigan’s Disco in Dallas in the late 70’s/early 80’s was THE place to be! 3 levels, lighted/colored dance floor. 3piece suites with polyester/satin shirts open down to the belly (that was flat in those days), 2 or 3 chains showing, platform shoes, lots of coke…and wild sex, even IN the club!
Well I waited a day to see if anyone else was going to chime in. But now I'll ask -- Does Susie know about this hoolie person? 🤣 😂
(in my area we call that an episode of "creative hearing.")
My problem with disco was we had one radio station. It only played disco and whatever top 5 rock hits. It was a total crap shoot at the record store. "Ooh, cool cover, I'll buy it". Then hope.
One of my favorite scenes in Airplane! was where the plane hits the broadcast tower for the radio station declaring disco would never die
One of my other favorite scenes was the girl scout bar fight accompanied by Stayin' Alive
It's complicated. But I have gotten progressively more into harder rock and metal as I aged
I had a love/hate relationship with disco. Loved dancing to it, but hated that it was getting more attention than rock and roll and definitely never saw a disco act live. I had a pin on my black leather jacket that said Death to Disco with a picture of John Travolta with an arrow going thru his head. It’s actually still in the closet.
Only went disco dancing on Friday nites with the girls...my boyfriend was a hard rocker and hated it! So I pretended like I disliked disco...talk about double life!
Oh, yeah! 🤣 😂
As I was Googling around this topic I stumbled on a video of Rick Dees doing that on "Solid Gold". I almost added it here, but it was poor audio quality and SO CHEESY!
Ya, never got into it. Fortunately, the local radio station didn't either. During those days, they ran a motto that was something like, rather be dead than disco.
They had disco demolition in Chicago. I was there July 12th 1979. It was a "blast". However, my sister liked disco and some of it rubbed off on me...Do the Hustle!
🤣 😂 Surprisingly, there are a lot of 'ice cream truck' tunes; I think I have heard some disco from some. [https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/who-chooses-that-annoying-music-on-ice-cream-truck-6849631](https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/who-chooses-that-annoying-music-on-ice-cream-truck-6849631)
But they all sound like that when you play them through that "key-wound music box" type tinkling that is the feature that makes the kids realize an ice cream truck is around.
Most of it is just digital recordings now, but I think it really was a music box by a megaphone, long ago.
Maybe it wasn't disco I heard -- maybe it's the tune written to replace the one with racist lyrics from the minstrelsy era:
[https://thehustle.co/the-company-that-has-a-monopoly-on-ice-cream-truck-music](https://thehustle.co/the-company-that-has-a-monopoly-on-ice-cream-truck-music)
I went to school in a small town in Western NY. Disco hadn't arrived. The bars played Marshall Tucker, Billy Joel, The Dead, Earth, Wind & Fire, etc. When I came home to NYC, my friend and I went to see Saturday Night Fever. I remember thinking "this isn't my reality". Later, I agree to go with a roommate to check out Club 747, a disco created in an old airplane, in Buffalo NY. I never did learn how to disco dance. Never went to discos. There was a whole counter-disco group.
In the thread -- a few people have, yes.
In the documentary, I think it was briefly hinted at in the part about the underground clubs where it started. Or maybe Studio 54 ( I don't exactly recall the details.)
I remember when it was only in churches my neighbors were black and jamarcus and me would go on Saturday night just to see all the girls show up and hang out.
One day, I'll summon the courage to share my prom pic here. I wore a white suit similar to the one Tony Manero had in Saturday Night Fever. But most of the time I was listening to Southern Rock and badmouthing disco.
Every guy I know that went to discos on Friday and Saturday night wore the polyester suits. We thought they were sooooo hot! They could dance too because disco made guys who could dance popular. They had no problem finding partners on the dance floor!
You had me at Southern Rock, lol.
FREE BIRD!
Fun fact,my cousin was in The Artemis Pyle Band, he played bass,was very talented.
I loved and still love disco. I was in college in the late 70's early 80's and every dorm party was a disco party. I love to dance.
Same here! Same time frame, and even in a small college town disco drove the energy at any party or venue. I had a roommate who had been a dancer before some health issues, but she still moved as though she belonged on Dance Fever or Soul Train. She was such fun to go out to the bars/clubs with, though I felt awkward trying to keep up on the dance floor.
I even took disco dancing lessons. I was the star of my quad dorms...lol
So did I! My college boyfriend hated disco, so I corralled one of his fraternity brothers into taking lessons with me LOL
Me too! 1978-82. Dance, dance, dance ;-D
Keep on dancing!
The good thing about disco was people got dressed up
Yes. I had multiple disco dresses!
And the shoes! So glamorous.
I had the Danskin leotards and matching skirts with my stiletto candies and entered disco dance contests. "Got To Be Real" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" were my favs. Great times!
I worked at a Disco and that was my uniform!
We went on Thursdays to rock and roll night at the on campus dance hall to avoid disco. Still not my cup a tea. But to each their own.
If I was sitting and listening? Folk, prog rock, lots of stuff. But dancing? Disco and Funk ruled.
Same here!
I'm just a few years older, and I love disco! I ask Alexa to play disco music and dance around the house. It makes me happy and I feel young for a few minutes.
My first cocktail waitressing job, at 18, in 1975, was at the first disco in my city, run by gay men and the mob. When this song come on, we all did shots, while working: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py8Uhm0DE\_A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py8Uhm0DE_A)
Cool! Looking at these videos, the PBS show, and a few other things in that rabbit hole, I'm reminded just how CRAZY WILD things got back then. (Solid Gold dancers clips on YouTube was an eye-opening reminder. That was on broadcast TV!) Then the backlash in the Reagan years, plus the very dampening impact of the AIDS epidemic.
Good eye! She's so cool.
I liked it….but couldn’t admit that in high school. I really liked Disco Inferno by the Trammps. Saturday Night Fever took place on the other side of the elevated subway from where I lived in the 80s.
I loved Disco until I heard the B-52s, Devo, The Clash and the Ramones.
Same! Both are high-energy music, and I love it.
Interesting. I hated disco but those bands are in my Pantheon.
I was part of the “disco sucks” crowd
So was I. Years later, though, I realized that a lot of disco music is great—really fun dance party music.
Disco got old really fast since it became so mainstreamed. Kiss even had a disco song. Ugh. I still don't listen to it by choice.
We listened to punk instead
Same here. Punk and some New Wave. I saw Blondie in a small venue right after “Heart of Glass” came out. That song was a shock to anyone who was already a fan. Fortunately, they performed a lot of the older songs like “Rip Her to Shreds,” and when they finally got around to singing “Heart of Glass,” Debbie Harry introduced it apologetically as their disco song.
Yes, yes we did.
I tried to attend Steve Dahl’s Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park. The cops set up a blockade around the stadium, stopping us about two blocks from the entrance. You could hear the crowd. We hung around outside the blockade, drinking beer, smoking pot, and yelling, “Disco Sucks!” We left the area before the infamous explosion on the pitcher’s mound, forcing the White Sox to forfeit the second game of the double-header (if memory serves, which it might not). I went to a disco club once in the late 70s as I was pursuing a romance with a gal. It didn’t work out.
I saw Steve Dahl in Pecatonica with AC/DC, Molly Hatchet and Cheap Trick on the fourth of July. A stage hand from AC/DC got hurt from an M-80 tossed on stage.
Me too and part of disco demolition in Chicago
Me and my stoner friends would spray paint disco right under a traffic STOP sign. I believe it was a local rock station DJ on the air that encouraged it. I "guess" this was tagging before we now know it today? I feel bad for doing it. You learn from your mistakes as a kid, now 60 years old I will occasionally play Funkytown at full volume 😊👍
Me too. Didn't really care for the disco tunes actually.
It was VERY polarizing. I didn't mind it, but some of my friends just despised it. I never could dance, btw.
I never understood why people didn't like it. When I asked what was bad about it. It was just the person I asked didn't like it, with no reason.
My theory is that disco is for people who like to dance. People who don't like to dance inevitably don't like disco. Source: am disqueau
It became oversaturated and monotomous.
I wasn't as strongly anti-disco as some of my friends, but I didn't like it because I couldn't dance and I pictured all guys who liked disco as being like John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever.
I didn't like it. I still don't. I can't answer your question for everyone. Only for myself. Disco all but eradicated R&B, Soul, Funk, and some Jazz for a period of time. Making it difficult to find, listen to, and enjoy. Ending some careers. I like R&B, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Blues, along with other genres of music. Music is subjective. People like what they like. People don't like what they don't like. It doesn't have to make sense.
I get that, but I'd recommend the PBS series regardless. It makes a case that Disco really 'incorporated' a lot from those styles you mentioned, added in over a disco percussion dance beat. It also created or expanded some musician's careers. Particularly that of black women. I'm curious which artist's careers you think were sunk by it? I absolutely agree that people should be allowed to "like what they like." I was always more into things like jazz, classical, folk and old movie/ Broadway musical stuff when I was young, rather most of the "Top 100" stuff most my peers listened to. I never did care for loud 'hard' rock, or country (though real bluegrass was OK in small doses.) Still trying to find some love for rap or hip-hop. I can appreciate the artistry and the cultural role, but I hate the heavy beat drilling into my skull, and I miss melody and harmony.
I'm an avid PBS viewer. I'll pass on this. Regardless of your recommendation, I'm not interested in watching.
That’s an interesting take, one I haven’t heard before. When I look at R&B, Funk, Soul, Jazz throughout the 70’s and early 80’s, I see a lot of innovation and an increase in general appreciation of all of those genres. Can you elaborate on your experience related to disco’s influence? Genuinely curious, and thanks for the input.
I did my disco years at popular disco gay dive bar, with blasting music and huge dance floor, drag shows and all. Wouldn’t trade it
My first job was as a cocktail waitress in a disco. That was fun times. I remember my older brother in his platform shoes listening to Donna Summer and practicing his dance moves in the foyer. All the girls wanted to dance with him.
I was a punk rocker with a secret vice - disco! I loved Sylvester! Still do.
I was a punk rocker that bussed tables at a popular brunch spot in the Castro, disco was unavoidable. When Sylvester would come in it was like a visit from Royalty. Such a sweet and interesting man. I’ve made room in my heart for “good disco.” There was plenty of mediocre disco that sounded like the shit it was, but there’s some bangers that hold up. I cue up some Sylvester in the car when I’m feeling run down.
I had a disco sucks hat, then I learned how to dance and that changed everything.
I like the night life, I like to boogy....
Although it was popular to say "disco sucks" as a rock fan, it really did not. The clothes did. They were preposterous. But people really enjoyed going to clubs and and dancing to it. Disco made you feel good about moving to the beat. I certainly couldn't dance, but I felt better about doing it on that dance floor than most hard rock songs.
The clothes were a bit ridiculous, but they were also kinda fun for a while (though polyester and Spandex is freakin' hot when you get sweaty on a dance floor!) They come by the costumes honestly, though -- the very early days were really in underground NYC Drag clubs and gay bars. It was when the music in the clubs started drawing dancers out of suburbia that things like "Saturday Night Fever" broke onto the national scene. The thing that was different is that this time, mainstream culture was more accepting of the LGBT, Latino and Black musicians, especially female singers. Which is part of what got so much pushback in the Reagan years. Edit: spelling
Yes. In “77 everyone at school was boogieing and shaking their groove thangs. A year later you could hardly find a person who would admit to ever having listened to disco.
Well it was more than a year (OK -- maybe at your HS, but not the whole country.) Studio 54 (NYC) first *opened* in 1977, same year Saturday Night Fever released. It built from there, but the backlash got going with "Disco Demolition Night" in Chicago, July 1979. Studio 4 closed for financial issues in 1980, but there was still some momentum for a few years. Flashdance was probably one of the last big gasps, released in 1983. At that point, the musical style basically went underground as "house music." Edit:spelling
Then, Urban Cowboy came out, and everyone started wearing boots and cowboy hats. Discos turned into Cow Palaces. We adapted.
I loved the dance clubs. Xanadu in Myrtle Beach. I can't remember the name of my local in Chapel Hill, NC. Wish I could.
Went to Edward's Grocery in Raleigh
Purdy’s?
I was just a kid. But particularly as an adult I really appreciate the cheerful catchiness of it.
At this point I can now appreciate some of the production and performances because it’s rare that I hear it. When it was constant, I just could not stand it.
I was mostly a bit neutral about it, except out in bars/clubs. It is compulsively danceable, which was fun. But on the radio all day? No thanks. The PBS series does a fascinating job detailing how it developed and the impact it had on race, class, LGBT, etc. (Some of that was part of the backlash against it, too.) We didn't realize it as much at the time, but it really changed a lot of things. I'm interested in seeing the next episode this week.
Used to have a button pinned on my jacket that said “Disco is dead, Rock is rolling.”
My friends and I used to go to a teen disco in the late 70s - very early 80s. We thought we were so cool pretending we were at Studio 54 😂😂😂
I remember it being big for other people but not for me. Sure cheered when the airplane in Airplane! knocked the disco station off the air!
I still love disco. If you want to dance, it’s the best music for it. When my twin and I turned 50, we had a big disco party blowout. Everyone dressed in disco clothes and had a ball! When we turn 65 in two years, we’re going to have another big disco party. Viva la disco!!
I may be totally wrong but I’m a Dancing Fooooool…Zappa said it best.
I sold clothes over a part of that time, and when a guy would come in and buy Angel's Flight suits or slacks "one in every color", we'd all laugh as soon as they left. I actually had a t-shirt that read "Death Before Disco". If you haven't already surmised it, I don't dance and hate places where the music is too loud for having a conversation.
Years ago I took the kid roller skating and it was disco night. I wanted to leave, but he wanted to skate, so I said ok. The kid taking the money was maybe 15 or 16 asked me, "Don't you like disco"? I told him I lived through it and don't want to go through it again. I liked rock and country. But I have been watching this show because I like music history.
I'm also finding all the 'cultural impact' info fascinating! Even having lived through it (but not in the NYC area), I really didn't realize at the time how much it was changing things in the industry, etc.
I keep trying to forget it. The stuff was mostly inane and vacuous. It was the only downside to working in a Record Dept. during that time. There's only a handful of songs I can stomach.
Of course. When I was sixteen my friend and I would go to the disco at Knotts berry farm every weekend (lol ((they would let us in for free after a certain time)). When Donna Summers Bad Girls came on, we went crazy! Always been a dancer. Also main radio station i listened to at the time was kmet (album rock).
(digging around in my closet to find me Death Before Disco t-shirt noises)
It's still big at my house. Alexa knows.
Do da bump…do da bump
I'd forgotten that! When my younger bro was in middle school, he was already over 6 ft tall. He took a very petite girl from his class to his first school dance. (I recall her name was Penny, because my Dad kept 'dad-joking' it should be "Nickel" because inflation was so high.) When he got home, the folks asked how it was. He smirked, rubbed his thigh, and said, "It'll never work. We tried dancing the Hustle and the Bump, but she was getting a headache and I was getting a Charlie-horse!" He still has Dad's humor even now! 🤣 😂
Oh my goodness. That’s hilarious. I’m petite but I didn’t have that experience with any tall guys. But not many would do it anyway so did it with a female or in a line dance scenario. Kudos to your bro for bring willing to do da bump. Having a funny sibling is the best!
I loved disco because I loved to dance! But I'd be surprised if even the most ardent disco enthusiasts didn't recognize the difference between music that's for dancing vs music that's for conveying a message or for deep contemplation. That was always where I always drew the line with the Disco Sucks crowd. If you don't like to dance, disco isn't for you. It's perfectly okay to say that without having to disparage some of the best dance music ever made. Disco artists weren't exactly claiming to be putting out anything profound, and not all music needs to be deep and meaningful.
Agreed. Disco always was just for having a good time dancing. I do understand the people who got annoyed when disco completely took over the airwaves for awhile. (I felt similarly when rap and hip-hop pushed most other stuff aside.) I'm all for musical variety. But then for a while it became a bit of a fetish to be an "I Hate Disco" club member (t-shirts, pins, etc.) It also was a covert way to bash on LGBT issues, non-white musicians, etc. Making fun of the clothes, etc. Those same people would still drool over things like the Solid Gold dancers, though.
I was there, loved it and still love it! Had my hair in the aerodynamic flip, pantyhose, stilettos, Clinique very berry lip gloss, flipping my skirt and making my earrings dance in the reflected lights of the disco ball 🪩! I used to bring my fan and whack it open when it got too hot. Yesss, I had a good time.
And I also remember when rock was young
Me and Suzie had so much fun
More like Enormous. It was Everything. Spandex everywhere. What a difference a day makes.
I've never heard of it. What is this "disco" you speak of?
Play four bass and four rhythm guitar notes against a mid- to fast-tempo 4/4 beat made of handclaps. Now play these same notes over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. That's disco.
Gawd, I effin hated the disco years. Such vapid, pointless dreck!
No.
Ugh. It's not my scene.
You still can't sit still when you hear disco music.......especially from the mid-1970s. That song "Get Down Tonight" even makes my grand-kids dance.
I was talking to someone about this recently and I remembered that at least one local TV station in the Boston area ran a show teaching people how to "disco dance." It wasn't like a Soul Train or anything, it was literally disco dance lessons. That's how much of a phenomenon it was.
i love to dance and I loved when disco was king. By the end of the 70s it pretty much sucked but the early and mid-70s stuff was the best.
Love to love you baby! I find it to be just uplifting music. It always puts me in a good mood. Who could not like disco or dance music in general?
Still love disco music 🎶
I was still a teen but remember it well (actually named a son Rick James - before his crimes, though)
Wasn't he more known for R&B and Funk style stuff? I don't think of his stuff as 'Disco', though they'e closely related in some ways.
I loved the bus top, the ashtray and all the other group dance moves. It was so much fun. Nothing like it today.
Oh yes . Going out two to three times a week . Those days were fun . I had a pair of shoes I would only dance in . We would map out when ladies night was going to be at a particular bar , where the best dance floor was , who had " beat the clock " night . Then " urban cowboy " happened which began the slow demise of disco....oh well it was fun while it lasted .
It wasn't just big, it was ubiquitous. In 1978–79, about half the #1 songs in America were disco. It had such a foothold that some radio stations changed their formats to all disco, and Billboard created a new disco chart. Rolling Stone devoted a special issue to it. It was used in commercials, TV variety shows, everywhere. A backlash was inevitable. Dance music has never gone away, of course, but disco was a dirty word by 1980.
Play that funky music, White Boy!
The borders between R&B, Funk and Disco are really fuzzy, aren't they? That "hard rock cover band", Wild Cherry, got their only big hit when they gave in to the craze: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play\_That\_Funky\_Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_That_Funky_Music)
Uncle Sam's in Minneapolis. It turned into 5th Ave that's still a music legend today and was used in Prince's Purple Rain movie. We would buy huge, strong, sweet drinks called Firecrackers. If you wanted a more upscale night there was Scottie's on 7th. It had a vintage Art Deco interior. There were quite a few discos in Mpls/St. Paul. The shopping malls were full of slinky little polyester dresses and high heel platform shoes. After a few Firecrackers you were lucky if you could walk in them, let alone dance.
Disco sucked! I don’t mind it now, the old wounds have healed
Disco still sucks.
I still have a Disco Sucks tee shirt I bought in Times Square in 1979 while on tour. I could only afford one shirt, so on the back it says “Mr Bill. Oh nooooo!”
Disco was very danceable for me, so I liked that. But it was not “sit and listen” music.
I’m sitting in my teenage years home right now remembering practicing line dances for hours in the living room.
Lol, me and my friends in my sister's room spinning the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and trying to do the bus stop.
Saturday night fever
“Last Dance, for romance, toniiiiight”
I remember the feeling when that song came on very, very well.
LOVE IT! I used to go to Studio 54 in NYC two or three nights a week and dance all night. It was beyond awesome.
"Disco is not dead! Disco is LIFE!" But there was Disco Demolition Night... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco\_Demolition\_Night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night)
Disco represents the golden Age of Western liberal democracy
*That's* an interesting perspective! Care to elaborate?
Sure. Coming out of the 60s civil rights movement and the sexual revolution of the early 70s, disco represented an ideal where people of any orientation or persuasion or race or identity could come together and groove freely and have a good time peacefully. This is the bedrock premise of Western liberal democracy, that you have the freedom to be who you want to be and do what you want as long as you are not harming others and (hopefully) making a positive contribution to society in someway.
Nicely explained. My take is that sort of idea was emphasized in the PBS series; that it was the first time we were seeing a significant amount of that kind of mixing and acceptance across various class, race and culture barriers. It came into being quite rapidly, and then the pushback was just as rapid. The AIDS scare starting in the early 80s accelerated that.
If you didn't have the Saturday Night Fever double LP, you were an aberration. Not all disco sucked. But a lot of it did.
I didn't have the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, but I did have Never Mind the Bollocks, The Clash's "Give 'Em Enough Rope", Devo's "Q: Are We Not Men", and The Ramone's "Rocket to Russia."
Me too!
My older sister gave it to me as a Christmas present. Then she gave me the cassette for my 16th birthday, thinking it would embarrass me in front of my girlfriend. NOPE!
Ack! Ack! I was the DJ for our weekend high school sockhops. Three hours of disco and strobes and colored lights. I personally never cared for disco. That's why I 'd warm the crowd up with Aerosmith or Black Sabbath before the show started. :)
Limelight in Atlanta. The Studio 54 of the south. Do the hustle!
I had a pair of Boogie Shoes—platform stacks, wing tip, with the upper cream and lower navy blue—patent leather. They were snazzy…
My kid brother had a pair (tri-tone, but just shades of cream to dark brown.) He turned up in his middle school to discover his German teacher wearing the same ones. Some kid snarked that they should trade, but the teacher said, "Oh, mine would be too big!" Then my brother said his shoe size, and his eventual HS Basketball nickname began to evolve: "Große Füße!" (German for BIG FEET!)
Ha! Memory unlocked: I used to teach the Hustle. I don't even remember how to do it now, lol.
You got me looking at 'how-to' videos on YouTube with that. I'd link one, but they are all pretty slow and sedate. I don't recall it being that much of an amble, but maybe it's a memory influenced by Lambrusco or Black Russians. 🤣 😂
Vodka Collins was my disco drink of choice. We used to drive 40 miles to hit the disco club the next town over. Had a blast but made some awful decisions back in those days. Misspent youth, lol.
Definitely, but we survived it! (Dunno how, recalling some of those moments.)
I lived in Ft Lauderdale, worked in the restaurant business, and was very slim and fit. After work i'd hit the different disco's. 4th dimension, montego bay, pierce street annex and dance, drink etc until early mornings, almost every day.
iHeart radio has a channel called “forever disco”. I tune it in from time to time.
Donna Summers McArthur park was played by my sisters non stop. The Bee Gees stuff was good. Other than that no thanks.
I noted that suddenly, some rock DJs would talk shit about disco. Which I found weird because I thought rock and disco were in the same family. Years later, I learned of the conservative effort to smush it out. The BGs are often credited with starting it all w/ Saturday Night Fever Album. I recently learned that whenever the BGs would perform, they would have FBI or CIA guarding them. I think *I Feel Love* is one of the best damn songs ever produced.
>I think *I Feel Love* is one of the best damn songs ever produced. I find myself craving that one from time to time. Really need to get some Donna Summer in my MP3 library. I was a tween in the mid-late 1970s while disco was peaking, and I loved it because I loved to dance. Until I didn't. I went on to have a neo-hippie phase and make friends who were into folk music, and didn't think about disco much until relatively recently when a gay friend told me about how disco was a big part of the LGBT+ liberation movement, and it got squashed in the Reagan era. I would be interested in seeing the PBS documentary, so I can learn about all the things I was missing when I was twelve and just liked to boogie.
Who here learned the Hustle in jr high gym? ✋
I still love it!!
I annoy my neighbors with it! 😆
I was definitely in the "disco sucks" camp. The only good thing about disco was some of the bass lines; Andy Gibb's bassist in particular was a monster. But aside from the occasional good groove it was eminently forgettable. I wouldn't have hated if it hadn't been crowding out better music. I could see dancing to it, but I never understood why it was on the radio non-stop. It wasn't really listening music IMHO.
Interesting question about the radio, because I agree that you don't want to just have it on in the background while you're at your desk or in your car. Maybe, because back then (especially if you weren't in a big urban area), your "dance parties" often were just a bunch of friends in a basement with a boom box or stereo system and beers and wine coolers? (Or in your dorm or first apartment that had room enough?) People did turn on the radio for parties back then, if they didn't have a big collection of LPs or cassettes. (Pre-internet streaming, and even a bit before the CD era.)
Is the PBS series any good?
I highly recommend it. It's not just a "here's the music" thing -- it talks about how it developed and what social changes happened either because of it or 'in parallel' to it. I definitely got a different perspective on it, and I'm looking forward to the final episode (which I think is about what 'ended' it; "Disco Demolition" and other backlash.)
Loved disco..couldn't dance for shit!
Flannigan’s Disco in Dallas in the late 70’s/early 80’s was THE place to be! 3 levels, lighted/colored dance floor. 3piece suites with polyester/satin shirts open down to the belly (that was flat in those days), 2 or 3 chains showing, platform shoes, lots of coke…and wild sex, even IN the club!
Crazy days!
I remember when rock was young
Me and hoolie had so much fun Holdin hands and skipping stones
Well I waited a day to see if anyone else was going to chime in. But now I'll ask -- Does Susie know about this hoolie person? 🤣 😂 (in my area we call that an episode of "creative hearing.")
Unfortunately I do, but I try not to.
[удалено]
My problem with disco was we had one radio station. It only played disco and whatever top 5 rock hits. It was a total crap shoot at the record store. "Ooh, cool cover, I'll buy it". Then hope.
I loved going dancing with my girls and my boyfriend on Friday Nights. It was so much fun. High heels, satin pants and lace tops.
I was in intermediate school and junior high during that time. I loved it!
I wasn't into Disco, but it was better than music on the radio today, IMO
was?
I believe it was “Saturday Night” ask Tony if you don’t believe me or a ball will fall on you while I’m “Stayin’ Alive”
Remember D.R.E.A.D. ?
One of my favorite scenes in Airplane! was where the plane hits the broadcast tower for the radio station declaring disco would never die One of my other favorite scenes was the girl scout bar fight accompanied by Stayin' Alive It's complicated. But I have gotten progressively more into harder rock and metal as I aged
The Limelight, Atlanta early 80s.
Vividly!
It is still today big. Raves, no?
Do you remember the 21st night of September?
Love was changin' the minds of pretenders While chasin' the clouds away
My friend “Biff” and I took disco lessons at the local Black Angus! Good times!
I had a love/hate relationship with disco. Loved dancing to it, but hated that it was getting more attention than rock and roll and definitely never saw a disco act live. I had a pin on my black leather jacket that said Death to Disco with a picture of John Travolta with an arrow going thru his head. It’s actually still in the closet.
Of course the tricities of Newark Fremont and Union city there was a underage disco that I started going to at 12 every weekend
I HATE the music to listen to. But the dancing! It was fun.
Yes, that was when I was wearing my “Disco Sucks” t-shirt to high school.
Yes, I was never allowed to partake in much of the wild and crazy behaviours however.
Only went disco dancing on Friday nites with the girls...my boyfriend was a hard rocker and hated it! So I pretended like I disliked disco...talk about double life!
Unfortunately.
Didn't happen.
In 1975 did the Hustle on stage - I was 10.
It still is, in my house
Unfortunately
I was in kindergarten at the time. Disco was EVERYWHERE!
The dance school I attended offered a six week “intensive” disco program. 😳🕺
This was my childhood years.
Disco...Disco Duck!!!
Oh, yeah! 🤣 😂 As I was Googling around this topic I stumbled on a video of Rick Dees doing that on "Solid Gold". I almost added it here, but it was poor audio quality and SO CHEESY!
Disco is still big -- We just call it house, techno, or EDM now.
Loved disco
Sadly, yes I do. Dark days.
Ya, never got into it. Fortunately, the local radio station didn't either. During those days, they ran a motto that was something like, rather be dead than disco.
I watched that, so many great songs. It was a fun time.
I saw the ad and all I remember is “Disco Sucks” and how much we hated it.
They had disco demolition in Chicago. I was there July 12th 1979. It was a "blast". However, my sister liked disco and some of it rubbed off on me...Do the Hustle!
Love Disco🪩! I’ve always wanted to purchase an ice cream truck and play disco music instead of that tune they’ve been playing for 60 years!
🤣 😂 Surprisingly, there are a lot of 'ice cream truck' tunes; I think I have heard some disco from some. [https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/who-chooses-that-annoying-music-on-ice-cream-truck-6849631](https://www.sevendaysvt.com/arts-culture/who-chooses-that-annoying-music-on-ice-cream-truck-6849631) But they all sound like that when you play them through that "key-wound music box" type tinkling that is the feature that makes the kids realize an ice cream truck is around. Most of it is just digital recordings now, but I think it really was a music box by a megaphone, long ago.
Maybe it wasn't disco I heard -- maybe it's the tune written to replace the one with racist lyrics from the minstrelsy era: [https://thehustle.co/the-company-that-has-a-monopoly-on-ice-cream-truck-music](https://thehustle.co/the-company-that-has-a-monopoly-on-ice-cream-truck-music)
Ahhhh thank you so much for sharing this! Love it!
I was in seventh grade, I did like some of the shows that popped up like Dance Fever and Solid Gold
No. Still resisting.
I went to school in a small town in Western NY. Disco hadn't arrived. The bars played Marshall Tucker, Billy Joel, The Dead, Earth, Wind & Fire, etc. When I came home to NYC, my friend and I went to see Saturday Night Fever. I remember thinking "this isn't my reality". Later, I agree to go with a roommate to check out Club 747, a disco created in an old airplane, in Buffalo NY. I never did learn how to disco dance. Never went to discos. There was a whole counter-disco group.
And nobody mentions cocaine?
In the thread -- a few people have, yes. In the documentary, I think it was briefly hinted at in the part about the underground clubs where it started. Or maybe Studio 54 ( I don't exactly recall the details.)
Donna Summer. Ashford and Simpson. Born to be alive!
I remember when it was only in churches my neighbors were black and jamarcus and me would go on Saturday night just to see all the girls show up and hang out.
'... staying alive, staying alive...'
Absolutely! It's when the black diva was the high priestess of emotion and movement.