32 - DISCO

DiscoFor the first sixty years of the century, social dancing for the most part was executed partner style. However, by the early 1960's, with the emergence of the twist and several other highly energetic dance styles, partners seldom touched. Contact occurred only during slow numbers. Then by the end of the 1960's, heavy rock dominated the charts and dancing had lost its power except in the black and Latino communities. White kids were sitting down, spending more time watching concerts rather than participating.

By the mid 1970's, with the end of the war in Vietnam, the baby boomers and the flower children were going mainstream and becoming the "me generation." Sixties ideals were abandoned for hedonism. Status was the new name of the game. Clothing became less casual and the overall look was upscale. Faded denim bellbottoms gave way to designer jeans. Unkempt hair was coiffed into highly styled cuts. Fashion was important regardless of expense.

Dancing started to make a comeback. Big city clubs began featuring DJ's spinning specially mixed recordings dominated by emphasized beat tracks. Originally homemade recordings, the trend caught on so quickly that record companies responded with extended dance mixes marketed via big singles. Almost immediately, the most important factor on the social scene was once again dancing.

In Hispanic clubs, hip young Latinos had created an exotic new dance called the hustle where the partners actually touched. It also became immediately popular in the underground gay bars. The idea of dancing touch-style with a partner even when the music was up-tempo became a novelty. Another new dance called the bus stop, executed in line formation took hold and a whole new crop of dance fads began. Each area developed its own particular styles and local dance competitions became the rage.

Disco dancing was simply a resurgence of the ballroom phenomenon of the early part of the century and the non stop discotheque dancing of the mid 1960's. The trend was clearly a revolt against the heavy music scene.

THE HUSTLE

Earlier Latin ballroom dance trends such as the tango, the mambo, the rumba, the conga and the cha-cha had come from south of the border, but the hustle was the very first Latin dance indigenous to North America. It first cropped up in the blue collar district on the northern border of Manhattan's upper east side called El Barrio. It was a graceful sexy dance based on a refined lindy and featuring distinct Latin movements. The music which spawned the hustle was salsa (which in its purest form, enjoyed a brief period of commercial popularity in the 1980's). The hustle soon became the rage. Van McCoy quickly released a dance recording titled "The Hustle," giving it a recognizable theme. Numerous variations on the dance followed along with several other disco dance crazes such as the bus stop and the bump (a dance executed by bumping derrieres).

THE DISCO

Unlike the discotheques of the previous decade, the new discos featured recorded music only. Elaborate sound equipment and spectacular lighting systems were utilized. The mirrored crystal balls once associated with the great dance palaces of the 1920's made a comeback and trendsetting clubs became elegant and glamourous in decor. Dress codes came into effect. Looks were extremely important and everyone wanted to make the scene. There were waiting lines at club entrances, patrolled by doormen who had the power to select patrons according to their status, appearance, uniqueness and dancing ability. The clientele was expected to be as cool as the reputation of the club. In the larger more elite venues, celebrities were often in attendance. The most famous of all the clubs were Regine's in Paris and Studio 54 in New York City. The latter, situated on West 54th Street opened to grand fanfare in April, 1977. "Get up and boogie" became the new catch phrase of the day. TV's "American Bandstand" regained its popularity for a brief moment and "Soul Train" emerged as the major showcase for black dance music. Choreographer/dancer Denny Terrio hosted a weekly TV dance competition called "Dance Fever."

Instructors in dance studios worked full time to accommodate the growing number of aspiring discophiles. All ages participated. Old smoothies danced defiantly next to the young. That particular factor alone predicted eventual doom for disco. Any form of music which is accessible to the older generation is immediately scorned by the young.

DISCO ELEMENTS

  1. A big thumping bass drum sound, emphasizing the 4/4 beat. Everything else, melody and lyrics were secondary to the beat. Even white kids could dance to it.

  2. Vocals were reduced to sparse catchy repetitive themes although there were exceptions. Lyrics were generally concerned with dancing and the current social scene.

  3. Slick brass and string sections were often incorporated, sometimes in the reworkings of well known standards.

  4. The music was non-stop, each piece expertly blended onto the previous selection.

BREAK DANCING

An innovative black dance troupe called The Lockers, sometimes with the assistance of choreographer/dancer/singer/actress Toni Basil invented and promoted an athletic dance form featuring street level posturings and outlandish gymnastics. Originally termed "shuckin' and jivin'," it later developed and surfaced as breakdancing. The free form routines included strenuous leaps, kicks and gyrations and a curious back-spinning motion executed while lying on the floor. Later, these dances served as a partial basis for the more stylized dancing performed to hip-hop, rap and house music.

THE DEATH OF DISCO

The disco explosion reached its dizzying peak in popularity with the success of the 1977 film, "Saturday Night Fever" starring John Travolta and featuring the music of The Bee Gees. The film rejuvenated The Bee Gees' sagging career and made disco a household word. By Jan., 1979, the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack album had topped the 25 million mark in sales. Other such films followed including the much maligned "Thank God It's Friday" starring disco diva Donna Summer and The Commodores. Soon, everyone was jumping on the disco bandwagon. Established entertainers like Charo, Ann-Margret and even the unstoppable Ethel Merman began cutting dance recordings. Ultimately anything set to the relentless bottom-heavy drum sound was labelled disco. The new extended 12" dance singles, previously designed exclusively for disc jockey use were released domestically.

Rock fans hated disco with a passion, citing its plasticity, a shallow platform based on money, social status and looks. For anyone listening rather than dancing, the music often seemed colourless, one recording quite indistinguishable from another. Most rock enthusiasts had aligned themselves with heavy metal, progressive rock or the new rebellious punk movement. Consequently, disco became somewhat a dirty word, immediately reviled in rock circles. Anti-disco sentiment was rampant, as heard in The Incinerators' "Disco's In The Garbage"(Jan., 1980). T-shirts hit the market bearing the slogan, "Disco Sucks" and discophiles became known as "disco ducks." Several rallies were organized where disco records were ceremonially burned.

Strangely enough, although the term disco was eventually terminated, the music style resurfaced full force in the 1980's after all of the hostilities had died down. The so-called dance music of the 1980's and 1990's was nothing more than glorified high tech disco sans the appellation.

As a point of interest, disco's fate was permanently sealed on Jan. 18, 1980, when Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell (d.1989) and Ian Schrager were fined $20,000 and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for income tax evasion. Some claim the day disco died was when Studio 54 lost its directors.

Punk rock as a trend ran precariously parallel to disco, mainly as a defiant reaction to its sterility, later merging with dance music giving birth to new wave, techno-pop and several other alternative styles. Dance music, including rap, house, hip-hop and hi-energy has flourished well into the nineties as a dominant music force.

The popularity of disco was the undeniable proof that the public loved to dance, and if any music form, bad or good is expected to survive commercially, it must indeed be danceable. The disco era did produce many excellent recordings. However, the majority of the music was neither as creative nor exciting as the scene it generated.

In 1987, an attempt of sorts to re-establish disco came with the brief yet startling success of the movie, "Dirty Dancing" and its accompanying hype. This time around, retro dance music from the early 1960's was glamourized with a new, sexy, partner style of dance. Dirty dancing's charm was short lived, the public's interest remaining steadfastly in the present. Another fad which quickly fizzled out was salsa dancing, remaining firmly entrenched in the Latin community where it originated.

DISCO PIONEERS

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE

SYLVIA

MANU DIBANGO

GLORIA GAYNOR

THE HUES CORPORATION

GEORGE McCRAE

GWEN McCRAE

VAN McCOY

THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA

THE BIDDU ORCHESTRA

THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA

In 1964, songwriter/musician/producers Kenny Gamble (1941 – ) and Leon Huff formed a group called The Romeos, having little success. Then in 1967, they once again joined forces, initially making a name for themselves as producers working with soul singer Jerry Butler. In 1971, they formed their own company, Philadelphia International. And by 1974, it was second only to Motown as the top black enterprise in North America. In fact, Gamble & Huff had adapted the basic Motown hitmaking formula and given it a new streamlined seventies treatment by incorporating elaborate orchestrations and a funkier, more contemporary rhythm track. The resulting glossy sophisticated style dominated by the arrangements of Thom Bell came to be considered the definitive sound of Philadelphia, serving as an exemplary pattern for many of the disco recordings of the mid to late 1970's. Artists such as The Three Degrees, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and The O'Jays benefitted greatly from the slick Gamble & Huff production, although it was continually dismissed by critics as creampuff soul.

HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES

MFSB

THE THREE DEGREES

MAJOR DISCO ARTISTS

THE BEE GEES

KOOL AND THE GANG

YVONNE ELLIMAN

THE TRAMMPS

BARRY WHITE

LOVE UNLIMITED

LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA

SISTER SLEDGE

KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND

TAVARES

THE RITCHIE FAMILY

DONNA SUMMER

SILVER CONVENTION

PENNY McLEAN

THE SYLVERS

RICK DEES & HIS CAST OF IDIOTS

ROSE ROYCE

GIORGIO

VILLAGE PEOPLE

CHIC

MECO

SHALAMAR

SANTA ESMERALDA

IRENE CARA

EVELYN "CHAMPAGNE" KING

A TASTE OF HONEY

SYLVESTER

BLONDIE

THE O'JAYS

LIPPS INC.

STARS ON 45

A SELECTED LISTING OF OTHER DISCO RECORDINGS

ALSO SEE

BIBLIOGRAPHY