Episode 1: Disco Doesn't Suck
PLAY LIST
Rock the Boat by The Hues Corporation (1973)
Rock Your Baby by George McCrae (1974)
Never Can Say Goodbye by Gloria Gaynor (1974)
I Feel Love by Donna Summer (1977)
You Should Be Dancing by The Bee Gees (1976)
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester (1978)
You Should Be Dancing by The Dee Gees (2021)
SHOW NOTES
The narrative “disco sucks” was borne out of a variety of factors, none of which really equated to the genre of disco music being horrific enough to merit blowing up records at baseball games or printing t-shirts with slogan that proclaim that you did, indeed, think disco sucked. What are those factors? Much of it was rooted in homophobia as disco was the soundtrack of many dance clubs that catered to the LGBTQ community. Keep in mind that in the early 70s, it was still illegal for gay people to engage in sex with someone of the same gender. In the 60s, it was not unusual at all for undercover police officers to go to gay clubs and bait gay people into making a move, then arresting them for doing so. In the beginning of disco’s hey day, it was largely contained to clubs and, therefore, easy for a rock fan to ignore.
Disco became more difficult to ignore as the 70s moved forward. It went from an underground form of music to a fad and a fad that was a multi-billion dollar industry. It is when disco was in full-blown fad status, complete with The Village People’s “YMCA” inundating us all at every turn of the radio dial, wedding, and visit to the roller rink, that the backlash became the strongest.
But this episode is (primarily) about why disco did NOT suck. It do not suck because it was, in fact, a means of expression for people who felt oppressed. By that, we mean gay people, non-white people, and a lot of women. It did not suck because it was hot music that offered escapism from the chaos and turmoil of the economy and political shenanigans of the 70s. Disco the fad was a different story. Nobody can make a credible excuse for “Disco Duck” by Rick Dees but that is disco the fad, not disco the music.
Disco never died, either. It lives on in hip hop, dance music, and it was a preview of what was to come in the New Wave era of the 1980s. It is also not insignificant that Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, The Foo Fighters, paid homage to The Bee Gees and their little brother, Andy, with their 2021 release of “Hail Satin.” Dave Grohl, child of the 70s, freely admits that as the Nirvana drummer, he routinely ripped off disco drummers. So, it is time, once and for all to put the notion that disco ever sucked to rest.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Philly Sound: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/forty-years-of-philadelphia-sound-326818/
Stonewall: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/stonewall/
“Y.M.C.A.”: https://www.spin.com/2008/05/ymca-oral-history/
SOURCES
Aletti, Vince. The Disco Files 1973 - 1978. New York: D.A.P. 2018.
Barber, Beth. “New York Disco Fever Dances to Capital.” The Tallahassee Democrat. July 25, 1976.
Beta, Andy. “10 Classic Songs from the Loft, David Mancuso’s Influential Dance Party.” Pitchfork. November 15, 2016. https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1365-10-classic-songs-from-the-loft-david-mancusos-influential-dance-party/
Echols, Alice. Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2010.
Gamson, Joshua. The Fabulous Sylvester. Holt: New York. 2005
Hsu, Hua. “The First Days of Disco.” The New Yorker. January 29, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-first-days-of-disco
Kopkind, Andrew. “The Dialectic of Disco: Gay Music Goes Straight.” The Village Voice. February 12, 1979.
Lawrence, Tim. Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979. Durham and London: Duke University Press. 2004.
Parker, Lyndsey. “Let’s Blow Up this Black Music!: The Ugliness and Unrest of 1979’s Disco Demolition Night.” Yahoo Music. July 11, 2019. https://www.yahoo.com/now/lets-blow-up-this-black-music-the-ugliness-and-unrest-of-1979-s-disco-demolition-night-212310331.html
Schulman, Bruce J. The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. 2001.
Spin Staff. “Dave Grohl Admits He was ‘Ripping Off
Disco Drummers While Recording Nevermind.” Spin. July 3, 2021. https://www.spin.com/2021/07/dave-grohl-nirvana-nevermind-disco-drummers/
Stock, Craig. “Disco— Alive and Thriving.” The Wichita Eagle. December 26, 1976.
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