Publication date: 19 April 2013Album: Random Access MemoriesLabel: Daft Life, ColumbiaSongwriter(s): Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Nile Rodg...
Official video for The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight.Rapper’s Delight was the first single released on Sugarhill Records on 16th September 1979. The reco...
Disco was for dancing and staying in shape. After disco died, the country turned into a fat haven. Just take a look at old American band stand and Soul train videos. No fat lazy Americans there.
Was the popularity of disco just that it was tolerated so you could take drugs and score with intoxicated women or did anyone actually enjoy the music? I don’t get it at all.
Yes then and yes now. Like any music genre it has specific songs that did not stand up well and others that continue to be enjoyed.
Just because you do not enjoy it really has no effect on whether I enjoy it or not.
Was the popularity of disco just that it was tolerated so you could take drugs and score with intoxicated women or did anyone actually enjoy the music? I don’t get it at all.
If I could play any scene in moviedom history, this is it.
Scene from the film AIRPLANE! (1980) starring Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty, featuring music from The Bee Gees in a parody of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)
Where you lived had a lot to do with your experience with disco. In the NY area we were very much exposed to it. In the mid 70s the new trends were disco and punk rock and many of us were in one camp or the other (our version of mods vs rockers).
Now when my 60+ relatives and friends get together at weddings we love to dance to Earth Wind and Fire, Gloria Gaynor etc...you could tell who was into disco and who wasn't.
Disco music was around for a few years earlier than some think in NYC other major cities...perhaps as early as 1973....however it was only played in clubs. When it really hit the mainstream and then exploded it was through the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever.
As others mention, much like any genre it had its plusses and minuses. The DaftPunk song mentioned above has Nile Rodgers involved and he was one of the forces behind Chic which was probably the best of the pure Disco bands. Earth Wind and Fire was a multi genre band and one should check out some old EWF to get a grasp on some real Funk.
I was born in '74 so I didn't experience disco directly, but I know that the Rolling Stones song "Miss you" was some sort of disco influenced song and it's one of my favorites of all time. Also, maybe Abba isn't exactly disco but there are a couple of good tunes to be found there. The dancing, well I don't like any dancing so that's a wash for me.
The Stones also tried disco with Hot Stuff (on Black and Blue) and Dance Pt. 1 and Emotional Rescue (on Emotional Rescue album).
As with every genre the Stones tried out, they did it better than the originators.
Even the Dead had Shakedown Street (I believe their only mainstream hit) which had a disco beat. Not a great era for music, although punk was making inroads it was not at all widespread at the time. We had dinosaur bands past their prime, mega bands, and disco. Things got better ca. 1980.
I try to remind myself that there is no such thing as bad music, there's just the wrong music for the wrong situation.
So maybe you love Cat Stevens. That's great, but you wouldn't play that at a party. Maybe you're a heavy metal guy, but that's not what you're playing in the back ground of a family get together.
IMO different situations call for different music, so "good" is just relative to the situation.
I wasn't really around for it but some of that stuff is great.
EWF, Chic, Donna Summer, Kool and the Gang.
Blondie even had some "disco" songs.
And to be fair, a lot of it is forgettable.
I listen to Studio54 on Sirius now and then, its some good stuff.
I am thinking the station has curated the best and left out the bad.
Of course. The bad stuff is long forgotten. When people go that 80/90s music is good they are talking about the stuff we remember not all the garbage that was also played...
Disco wasn't my thing even though I was around in its heyday.
Some of the dumbest songs ever are disco songs. Carwash for one. Man, that song sucks hard.
I will say though that some Bee Gees stuff was pretty good. The groove in Stayin' Alive is pretty great. You Should be Dancing is pretty good. Still, I prefer classic rock and even a lot of pop over disco.
New thoughts of car wash as real disco.
One of my playlists is of disco music and I like to run or lift with it. Great under appreciated music.
Ha, these are two of the songs I was going to mention that had disco sensibilities, but were from a rock band.
Disco was so prevalent that the bass rhythms were suddenly taking what would otherwise be a rock song or a contemporary rock song and make it disco and a simplified beat.
Rod Stewart is another example. He was more disco in terms of glam than McCartney or the Stones were. Do You Think I'm Sexy was full throttle disco.
If you can get past the schtick (like other genres) the music was good. Some of it was dumb, but so is some country, hip hop, pop and rock dumb.....
....a really good bass player can make disco sound infectious. That is why Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters 40 years on will play Bee Gees music live.
Disco at a discoteque was like Studio 54, sex and glam and coke et al. Kinda gross. But saying that you can like Kendrick Lamar and Jayzee or Willy Nelson or Brothers Osborne and not dress like them.....it was very popular.
So was wearing t-shirts that read: Bomb a disco. Rockers f'n hated the schtick. Punk Rockers - the original punk movement encouraged violence sometimes.....lifestyle.....punk....I ended up in a couple of punk rock parties and the kids (I was a teen) were perfectly nice....I have ended up in rocker parties and saw lots of fights. Can't judge a book by its cover.
Was the popularity of disco just that it was tolerated so you could take drugs and score with intoxicated women or did anyone actually enjoy the music? I don’t get it at all.