Disco
From LOLCwiki
Contents |
Definition
Disco is a genre of music that was invented in the New York nightclub scene of the 1970's.
History
The 1970's saw Disco music rise from the inner city neighbourhoods of America, to become the most popular form of music in the world [1]. The name Disco comes from the French word discotheque, meaning nightclub. The first discotheque opened in Paris during World War Two, when the Nazi’s banned jazz and dance venues. The music ban led illicit clubbers to gather in underground cellars to listen to music. The success of these illegal nightclubs with the people of Paris creted the beginnings of a club scene, which would become hugely popular in the 1960's. Paul Pacine, a Parisian nightclub owner,is often thought to have been responsible for inspiring jet setting Americans to start their own version of the Parisian club scene in New York. Pancine opened his own club, 'Le Club', in New York in 1960. By 1970 the Disco scene was beginning to bubble under the surface. The phrase discotheque music was a term used by clubbers who listened to funk and soul inspired records, at New York’s trendy loft apartment after club parties [2].
Disco music, as we know it today, began in the inner-city neighbourhoods of New York. A Disco party would involve hundreds of people gathering together in an old warehouse or an disused restaurant, anywhere with a large open area, so they could dance [3]. One of the first Disco music hits was Gloria Gaynor’s ‘Never Say Goodbye’, which charted in 1974. The philosophy of Disco was to dance and let the beat take over the movement of your body. Such a philosophy led to song titles such as, ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ by Chic, and ‘Dance Yourself Dizzy’ by Liquid Gold.
In the early seventies, the 12” single, the same format as a standard album, was invented by Tom Moulton. He decided that the standard 3 minute song was not long enough to really feel the music and dance, so he began to mix longer ‘Disco Mix’ records. However, they would not fit on the standard 7” record so a larger size had to be made to accommodate his new sound.
Disco songs were greatly inspired by funk music and this was also reflected in the fashion of disco, girls wore sheer flowing Halston dresses and men wore shiny polyester Qiana shirts with pointy collars, open chests, and flared suits [4].
The release of the film Saturday Night Fever in 1978 contributed to Disco’s gaining popularity. In fact the music had become so popular that New York actually declared a National Disco Week.
Disco dancing has strong roots in Swing, Samba and Mambo styles of dance. A classic Disco move is The Hustle. The dance was first seen in the early 1970's in New York. Over the years there have been many variations of this dance move, including the Basic Hustle, Latin, Street, Rope, West Coast and Tango Hustle. The move involves a lady almost constantly spinning while the man draws her to and from himself [5].
Studio 54 is probably the most famous name associated with Disco. The nightclub was a hedonistic, sophisticated and sexually charged discotheque in Manhattan, New York. It was located in an old TV studio owned by CBS. The studio was originally named Studio 52, as it was CBS's 52nd studio. When the nightclub opened it was originally going to be called The Studio, but given the history of the CBS name and the fact it was located on W. 54th Street the nightclub was named Studio 54.
Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were owners of the club and for opening night they employed party planner Carmen D’Alessio to make sure the right people were invited to the grand opening. It was the strict guest list of Studio 54 that made it the most famous club in the New York Disco scene. The club owners strived to get the perfect mix of people through the doors, leading them to become notoriously known for selecting who gets in and who doesn’t, solely based on looks. Even well known celebrities such as Grace Jones were turned down at the door. Once inside the club partgoers could visit the infamous Rubber Room. It was decorated from floor to ceiling in rubber so it could be washed down at the end of each night.
In 1979, Studio 54’s owners were both arrested for tax evasion and the club was closed down. The final party was called ‘The End of Modern-Day Gomorrah’. It re-opened in 1981 but was not as successful and closed again in 1986. It now houses offices, a theatre and an educational facility [6].
As soon as Television companies saw the popularity of Disco they jumped on the bandwagon and introduced shows such as Soul Train, Dance Fever and The Gong Show [7]. Television soon became saturated with Disco shows and people began staying in to watch other people dance rather than go out and try it themsleves. Disco dance moves also became more and more competitive and too complicated for the average person to bother trying, defeating the philiosophy of Disco.
The saturation of Disco into the mainstream music market is often seen as its downfall. The 12th July 1979, is a date referred to as ‘the day disco died’. Radio DJ’s Steve Dahl and Garry Meier staged ‘Disco Demolition Night’ in Chicago. It was held at the White Sox stadium and involved many disgruntled rock fans destroying thousands of Disco records. It soon turned into a riot causing thousands of dollars of damage. The ‘Disco Sucks’ campaign created waves with the general public and the reaction against disco saw the creation of new styles of music such as Punk Rock and New Wave. The decline of Dicso also saw the closure of many nightclubs [8].
Links
1. http://www.disco-disco.com/disco/history.shtml
2. http://www.jahsonic.com/Disco.html
3. http://www.soul-patrol.com/funk/disco1.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco#_note-6
5. http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/disco.htm
6. http://www.disco-disco.com/clubs/studio54.shtml
7. http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3disco1.htm
8. http://www.geocities.com/jahsonic/DiscoSucks.html
Further Reading
Jones, A and Kantonen, J., 2005. Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco. London: Mainstream Publishing
This book looks at the rise and decline of the Disco era.
http://www.disco-disco.com/clubs/studio54.shtml
This website shows a detailed look into the rise and fall of Studio 54, including resident DJ’s, interior design and the owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.
http://www.disco-disco.com/disco/history.shtml
A website dedicated to the history of Disco. It main focus is the artists and musical styles seen in the era.
Stella’s Take on Disco
Some popular music I the 1970’s was highly ‘intellectual’, Lyrics had become obscure and challenging. This was courtesy of stars like Bob Dylan, and with the assistance of mind altering drugs. But Disco came along like a breath of fresh air- you could appreciate its primal simplicity at any age, anywhere in (at least) the western world, and without using a dictionary or going into any kind of trance. Disco was for movers and shakers. The shared experience of a hot dance floor, with flashing lights (an essential ingredient- and always called Disco Lights) was mind expanding in its own right.
Discos could be held anywhere, very cheaply. Before their invention dances had always been held in halls with stages and live musicians. My school (in common with many others) held disco’s with the aid of half a dozen 45 rpm singles and a Dansette record player. We didn’t have the lights, admittedly but we all hoped our skills at dancing to move on to the real thing without shame.
The word itself we knew to be of European origin, being a shortened form of the French Discotheque- but the style attached to the whole scene was American. Saturday nights were hung with mirrored twirling balls, lit with flashing coloured lights, and got to be very much fevered.
