Disco...yep, I'm going there

I own 'Saturday Night Fever' as part of my collection, you really can't talk about the '70s and not include that particular piece of music. Its as definitive a work as DSOTM. It defines the era. I play it for my kids who are in their mid 20s. They get a big kick out of it. Now, back then I wouldn't have owned it, but today its a relic of an era and still stands up.  

ray

(c)rap sucks

I lived thru the disco years. Being a rock ’n roller and a drummer, I hated the music. My friends would drag me to discos which were formerly live rock venues. What bothered me more than the thumping formula music was the disco lifestyle; platform shoes, silk shirts exposing mounds of chest hair, coke spoon necklaces.

So in 1977 I welcomed the punk invasion and the British new wave. In England it was a political movement and a revolt against the establishment and "dinosaur rock." For the US, it was a great movement against disco. Many punk clubs sprung up in NYC and it was a welcome relief to a stagnant time in music and culture.
If you’d like to understand that period of time, watch the film "Summer of Sam." It is accurate and hits close to home since I lived in the Bronx. In addition to the Son of Sam murders, there was a divide between friends over the disco movement.

Regarding the music, there were a couple of standout acts, Nile Roger’s and Chic being one.

Problem with Disco was it followed on the heels of some very historic, groundbreaking musical trends from the 60's. It was an obvious money grab that corporate music completely embraced and basically shoved down the throat of the American public. And we ate it up! You have to understand, it wasn't just the music, it was a complete social overhaul. Picture the prototypical hippy from Woodstock, we went from THAT to John Travolta in Saturday Night fever!

Yup.

Seems to me there is some music that is a solitary experience. Much like reading a book. And there is some music that is a social/group experience, like dancing.

Right again.

So what you got with Disco was a corporate profits driven music conglomerate suddenly becoming incredibly socially powerful. Before disco we had Clapton, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, a list of talent so long its futile even trying to pick a few examples. Aerosmith, Gerry Rafferty, Journey. The one thing they all had in common, talent. Styx, The Doobie Brothers, Credence. Talent for lyrics, melodies, songwriting, performing. Tom Petty. The music, incredibly varied. Steely Dan. Look at the talent! Look at the range!

The one thing they did not have, glamorous good looks. Simon and Garfunkel were of course the gold standard, but they all were to some extent making music for all us totally average kids to listen to alone in our rooms. We were (are) all like that, and with so much to choose from you could be sure to find something that reached deep inside and helped you find meaning. Meaning you share with your friends when you share that music.

Into this came Disco, which is dance music, which is fast dance or slow dance. Not a whole lot of variety. Either way, got to be a steady beat at a tempo you can dance to. Which being dance, you are out in public, so you better look good. And dancing: Not done alone. Kinda hard without a girl. Which a lot of guys sad to say don't have. Which the music we had before disco, a lot of it was about. Us not having a girl. Trying to get a girl. Heart being broken by a girl. Archetypal stuff.

And yeah I know there are disco songs about these same things. Except, listening in your room, or car, or with your friends, versus all dressed up with a bunch of strangers on a crowded dance floor. Probably don't even know the girl you're dancing with. Not even remotely the same thing.

So really, when you think about it, we went from music based on meaning and experience we all have in common to commercialism for the beautiful popular people. We all (well, a lot of us) want to dream of being the beautiful people. So a lot bought into it. But reality we never are. Its why they're beautiful, after all: they're not average. If you wanted to breed resentment, hard to think of a better way.

Intellectually, emotionally, musically, artistically, there is no comparison. The one thing disco had going for it was commercialism. Fleetwood Mac might fill ten 15k seat venues a year, with all the money going to them. Disco can fill ten THOUSAND clubs with 300 people a hundred nights a year, with all the money going to those ten thousand club owners. 

And really: Fleetwood Mac. Bee Gee's. Seriously???!

So you asked, now you know. Although for most people, "disco sucks" will do just fine.

"I remember wishing that the rest of them would jump off the bridge also, so that the movie would be over sooner."

You could not find the exit from the theatre before the lights turned on again?