Worried Man
Super Member
Atomic by Blondie is one of my favorite disco-rock songs.
Why The Vitriol On Disco?
- Thread starter Shominy
- Start date
Always listened to Disco along with the Rock stuff! Here are two Disco albums you must have! 
Sharpstik
Stuck in the 70's
[QUOTE="Sandy G, post: 12375719, member: 733. '76-'77 broke all kinds of records, I think a number still stand.[/QUOTE]
You remember that winter, too ? So do I.
The temperature never made it above 32 around here for nearly 50 days and the bays in New Jersey were frozen, with piling planks from boat moorings encased in the ice in the bays. They all floated out to sea later in the spring along with some expensive boats.
You remember that winter, too ? So do I.
The temperature never made it above 32 around here for nearly 50 days and the bays in New Jersey were frozen, with piling planks from boat moorings encased in the ice in the bays. They all floated out to sea later in the spring along with some expensive boats.
Sandy G
Retired Member
Aww, it was TERRIBLE in the RVA. I remember listening to my radio in my car going back to school after Christmas, & this dude said the temperate weather N. America had enjoyed for the past 40-50 years was coming to an end, that we were gonna see a lot of hotter than normal summers, colder than normal winters, lotsa extreme weather patterns, droughts, floods, the whole schmear. I remembered that, & by Jove, he was right ! I moved back to NE Tenessee in '79, our weather hasn't been that bad overall, but I dunno about the RVA.... During that Bad winter Virginia's governor got on all the Bitchmond radio/TV stations one day & really raised hell about people keeping their thermostats on 68 or lower, & restaurants & businesses had to keep 'em even colder... They cheated a little on campus, our dorms stayed pretty warm, but not in the hallways & "Common Rooms" they turned the heat almost off in there... I remember when school was over 1st of May, there were still big ice chunks floating in the pond that separated the girls' campus from the guys'..
David_NC
Super Member
This is what I've always heard and read about Disco - that it started in black, Hispanic, and gay clubs and was a place for these groups to escape and have fun. Many of the artists were minorities, which isn't surprising considering disco's funk roots. I've looked at many pictures from the infamous Disco Demolition Night, and the people in those pictures do not include much representation of the people from these groups. Like many things that start out sort of 'underground', such as drag shows back in the day and Pride events, they become fairly mainstream over time, though there are still protestors at every Pride event I've ever attended. Live and let live applies to music as well, I think. Mostly, I suppose the disco inferno just burned too hot too quickly to last.
I loved disco back in the day, though I was too young to do anything other than listen to it. I still own and occasionally listen to records I bought back then and tapes I made. Much of early disco is pretty amazing... full on symphonies with a dance beat! Many of the vocals are really impressive, too. I had a great time listening to a Donna Summer album a few days ago - I Remember Yesterday. It was considered a concept album at the time, which I didn't realize. It's a really good album and isn't really a full-on disco album, though I Feel Love still sounds as good to me as it ever did. Disco is fun music to me. Sure, some of it really does suck, but much of it is really good. I was listening to a House station on Slacker recently with a younger friend. He asked about a song that had just played and said how much he really liked it. I had to literally laugh out loud; it was a remix of a disco track, and still sounded like disco to me!
I've always enjoyed many types of music and go through phases of listening to various artists and genres. I'll listen to The Beatles, then I'll play a bit of Sylvester. Next, a track or two of Johnny Cash, and then perhaps some Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd seem to fit right in along with some Led Zeppelin and Judy Collins. After that, it wouldn't be surprising for me to play some Berlin, Steely Dan, Blondie, and then some Linda Ronstadt. I play music I like and ignore the rest. I generally despise hair bands / glam metal and many of the more intense heavy metal bands, but I'd never see any reason to destroy those albums.
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70's Rockfan
Rough N Ready
I didn't like the music at all. when our first disco bar
opened in the area my drinking buddy said you have
to come check out this disco joint. I said why would I
want to do that. he said I was there last night , come on.
ok so off we go. he had the dumbest grin on his face all
the way there. we walked in and he started laughing.
the girls out numbered the guys about 10 to 1
we had a lot of fun in that place
opened in the area my drinking buddy said you have
to come check out this disco joint. I said why would I
want to do that. he said I was there last night , come on.
ok so off we go. he had the dumbest grin on his face all
the way there. we walked in and he started laughing.
the girls out numbered the guys about 10 to 1
we had a lot of fun in that place
Me thinks Rick Dee's killed the genre. I remember guys who used to play this song continuously on the jukebox .. just to piss people off (juvenile prank). 
That’s the cool thing about revisionist history: you can take the parts you like and ignore the parts you don’t.
And there was a *lot* of truly awful disco. ‘Fly Robin Fly’, ‘Disco Duck’ and so much other crap I’ve blocked it out. At this same time in history you have Roxy Music, Berlin era Bowie. Your choice of course, but in my opinion the passage of time has not improved the genre.
Poultrygeist
Lunatic Member
If you walked down the street in 1977 and were old enough "Staying Alive" probably played in your head. Saturday Night Fever ( the movie and album ) started an era I'll never forget.
Disco was full of romance and if you were around then, you and your girl probably danced to this.
Disco was full of romance and if you were around then, you and your girl probably danced to this.
IIRC SNF was inspired by a magazine article about teens in Bay Ridge. I lived in Bay Ridge. It was NOT cheesy. It was probably the only place I've ever lived where I was wondering if I was qualified to be there from a cool standpoint.
David_NC
Super Member
I suppose it's fair to say that there's a lot of truly awful examples of every genre of music, and these shouldn't be allowed to taint the rest. I'm curious as to how often Disco Duck was actually played at discos. I know we've never played it at 70's or disco parties, and it's never been requested. It was a novelty song... most of which seem to be thankfully products of the 70's. Regardless, it did suck, but I don't think it's representative of disco as a whole.
It was actually number 1 for a week on billboard 100. I can remember it being played .... not so much at discos and all too often on the radio. we agree, no matter its place it seemed like a novelty song to me as well.
parman
Music Junkie
find a girl that liked Foghat and weed, problem solved
BobbyBluz
Super Member
Hearing this tune for the first time around 1972 began an adventure I'm still on. The first really great (at the time) sound system I ever heard was 4 Altec VOT's fed by two huge MacIntosh power amps. The owner was a friend of a friend I went to grade school with. He was also a major blow dealer who had the money for such pricey toys. He put Dennis Coffey on, not the 45 but the whole LP, and I was amazed. While Coffey was known to few Whites at the time he had a huge following in the Black community. As I began hanging around with that crowd I discovered a world of music that was never played on the radio but dominated Black after-hours clubs in the area. Stellar musicians, great beat and the perfect accompaniment for a scene that stayed up all night and slept all day.
A few years later I left the big city for the quiet & tranquility of the Colorado Mountains. I ended up living directly next to Caribou Ranch recording studio. Clandestine unauthorized visits to the studio brought a fascination with the process of recording and the gear involved. In late 1978 I moved back to the big city and took a job as a Porsche mechanic at a dealership. Always looking for ways to supplement my income I talked my way into helping install the sound system at large Black nightclub I hung out at not far from where I lived at the time. One thing led to another and I ended up getting hired by the lighting & sound company doing the installation plus as a part-time DJ at the club.
Back in those days DJ booths were highly elevated above the dance floor and we couldn't be seen by dancers. There was nearly always a double take and a look of surprise when I'd open the door to take requests (I was usually the only White person in the club). That led to forming friendships with owners of other clubs plus a few nice side benefits. Then I injured my back at my legit job and during physical rehab worked at the club at night. After a somewhat successful recovery I returned to fixing Porsches but had lost all interest in doing so. I then began working full time for the lighting and sound company building night clubs, discos and doing Pro audio installations in homes and bars. It didn't pay very well but the huge perk was I could buy anything I wanted through work at cost plus shipping. DJ'ing and a few other hustles gave me the money to buy things from work I could have never afforded. BGW power amps, big JBL speakers plus other odds and ends.
The worlds of Black and White dance clubs didn't have much in common. Some of the music may have been the same but the mindsets were worlds apart. The music was the glue that held everything together in the places I spun records. White clubs didn't have kitchens that offered fried catfish, chicken and other soul food delights. They didn't have NBA and pro baseball players doing things in secret that'd get them fired today. I have stories but as back then what happened in the club stayed in the club. The background soundtrack was the greatest dance music, Funk, R&B and Soul of the era. It wasn't just music it was a private community anybody could be part of if they knew how to carry themselves.
I have an interview I did with Melba Moore about 7 years ago when I was still in radio. In part of it we discussed those times good and bad. Being an audio junkie my money went into equipment instead of up my nose. Sadly some weren't thusly inclined and became casualties of cocaine and later crack. I inherited the entire vinyl collection of my DJ mentor after he died 10 years ago following decades of cocaine abuse. There are some extremely rare discs in it. He used to go to a record shop in downtown Chicago that specialized in the latest dance remixes and club-only releases. These were on the bleeding edge of the scene at the time and few copies exist today. So many LP's from bands that never got airplay but should have. There's also some that would best be used as coasters or Frisbees. It's a music of a culture gone today. To simply dismiss that great music as "disco" is an act of ignorance and those who do it are missing out on some astounding musical treats and treasures.
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