Idea Transcript
A Dsico Fanzine
Best before -
DSICO Here´s what to expect on the following pages, translated into three different languages:
Disco. So heisst man seit das mitende neunzehnjahrehundert der tunz-tanz vier-zu-den-boden samstags pimmelparty. Was ist mit den Disco passiert? Ist es wirklich passierte oder was? Die antwort ist nicht etwas anderes: tanzst du oder sonst? Dazu - seit ihr deutsch, fremd-deutsch oder was - ihr seit bescheid wissen. Wenn sie ein leckerer Buerger maultaschen paeckchen kaufen wollen, lesen sie den mindestenshaltbar oder nicht? Ich mach´s nicht und es schmeckt gut normalerweise. Keine sorgen, die maultaschen sind immer das gute von menschen. Wieso ist Disco? Siebzigste, Achtzigste oder Neunzigste. Das war die zeit wo maenner ohne schamroete tanzen koennen. Aber heute, was steht mehr? Eine uebel faelschung von was war langjaehrig? Oder sonst etwas radioaktives heiss? Ihr seid hier um das zu erfinden.
Dsico. A freeing of either body and soul. Or is it only one music? Clear and hollow like plastic bottles on the mountain trashs? No sprite, no spirit. Seems like everynow like it anyhow and it`s assshaking danceable for all fags or faginas. Yes, yes. I heard some people say Disco is best. But thats we talk about. Talk about a music changing generations. Talk about lightfigures. We got deep in it. Really deep just touched the real. We asked the internet and our parents. And it´s annoying but more interesting. So just get inspired of this cool (the new meaning) fanzine. You will find out why you still dance to this music and whats the scence behind great tunes. Plus some great Top 69 list to checking out for, the dsico classics. Best before baby. If you like the zine just drop me some lines.
Disco. Non e solo un coso rotondo che si butta ma anche la musichetta. E vecchia ma funziona ancora abbastanze bene, dappertutto era morto. E diventata fiume principale (mainstream), poi sembrava merda! Meglio prima vuole dire che c´era un tempo quando la musica disco era fenomenale. Ma meglio prima anche sta scritto normalmente sobra il latte, ma per disco non esiste la data precisa. Non si sa quando il gusto sara burro; gli anni settanta gia sono passati, giovanotto. Negli anni ottanta Italia era il posto di nascita per un tipo di disco plastico ginnastico. Oggi, che bello, madonna mia, disco piace la gente si balla uno due. Questo fumetto tifoso (fan zine) scrive la storia di sabato notte febre, di nuovo. Anche la nonna quando balla in cucina dice che siamo bravi e ci da un extra poco di carna.
Pierlo from Rome likes Germany and of course: Disco.
Mito from Tokyo is a DJ.
Harald from Germany is a friend of Pierlo and us.
Sorry Hipsters, This fanzine doesn´t contain triangles
Disco describes a musical style which became popular in the mid 1970s. Influenced by Funk and Soul, Disco music also includes Latin percussion and symphonic elements such as strings or horns. Most significant is the steady rhythm that makes it easily danceable: a ´four-tothe-floor´ beat, often with an open hi-hat on the off-beat. Thanks to catchy melodies and repetitive vocals the sound became popular extremely fast, and by the
Bert knows how to Disco.
end of the 1970s most of the Western world was infected with Disco fever. The Discotheque plays a key role in the movement; it´s where the music became a life-style. Everything revolves around DJs and club culture - doing the hustle, doing the bus stop, doing the bump. Following planned steps doesn´t appear as cool nowadays, but it set the whole world dancing, and today Disco is still the best club music. Word!
Stereotypical Disco Beat: Eighth Notes
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HiHATS (open) HiHATS (closed)
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Snare BASSDRUM
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Legendary Minimoog
X The use of the synthesizer created the sensual feel that is characteristic for Disco and paved the way for Donna Summer´s landmark hit ´I Feel Love´ in 1977.
Steve at work.
It´s time for the next prohibition: Disco. Guitars jitter in the background instead of wailing self-confidently, masculinity is a joke. But they get all the air-time on the radio! I can´t listen to those soft synthefeizer sounds any more! Rock is bad-ass, Disco is just bad! And look at those sellouts: Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Queen, KISS - they all made a Disco song!
Disco stamp, 1999
Hedonistic life style
Excerpt from ´Discotheque Rock 72: Paaaarty!´ by Vince Aletti, Rolling Stone Mag, 13.09.1973
„Paar-ty! Paar-ty! [...] You hear the chant at concerts, rising like a tribal rallying cry on a shrill wave of whistles and hard-beaten tambourines. It‘s at once a call to get down and party, a statement that there‘s a party going on and an indication that discotheques, where the chant originated, are back in force... ... in the last year they‘ve returned not only as a rapidly spreading social phenomenon (via juice bars, after-hours clubs, private lofts open on weekends to members only, floating groups of party-givers who take over the ballrooms of old hotels from midnight to dawn) but as a strong influence on the music people listen to and buy. The best discotheque DJs are underground stars, discovering previously ignored albums, foreign imports, album cuts and obscure singles with the power to make the crowd scream and playing them overlapped, non-stop so you dance until you drop. One of the most spectacular discotheque records in recent months is a perfect example of the genre: Manu Dibango‘s „Soul Makossa. [...] its hypnotic beat and mysterious African vocals drove people crazy. (Vince Aletti)
The massive quantities of drugs ingested in discotheques produced the next cultural phenomenon of the disco era: rampant promiscuity and public sex. While the dance floor was the central arena of seduction, actual sex usually took place in the nether regions of the disco: bathroom stalls, exit stairwells, and so on.
Anita Bryant
What a difference a gay makes.
O
Hi, my name is Anita Bryant. I would like to tell you the truth about Disco: it is a complete sin to live that hedonistic ´life-style´ as many call it, and god will never forgive you for listening to that sex music! It´s wrong to think Disco is fun. And by the way, as a mother I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children! That´s why I say: Ban Disco! Save our children.
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haracterized by a strong bass, a simple melody, and tense repetitive lyrics. “Disco“, as this music is called...is becoming increasingly popular on AM and FM
Bill
It´s not that I wouldn´t get in or anything, I just don´t wanna go. Discotheques are for hypocrits, all that happy fuss is so superficial. Who cares if you can´t dance or how you look, I´m leading the Space Invaders highscore in all Ohio. I heard they´re doing drugs like all the time; I once tried Champagne on New Year´s and it was aweful. Iuhhh.
The Diskjockey In 1969, American club DJ Francis Grasso popularized beatmatching at New York´s Sanctuary nightclub. Beatmatching is the technique of creating seamless transitions between records with matching tempos. This allowed people to keep dancing without a break inbetween songs.
The first NY clubs in the early 70s must have been the shit! Electryfying temples of dancemusic: The Loft, The Gallery, Paradise Garage or Studio 78. Larry Levan is one of my favorite DJs and Remixers; just bought his ´Ladybug´ Remix on Discogs for only $210. All my friends envy me for having it! My favorite artists of today are LCD Soundsystem, Hercules & LA and stuff by label Gomma. Nu Disco!
Xavier of Justice made a collage out of his 8 favorite new Dsico labels - do you know them all? (p.49)
iscodie in d live and s rd o use c o re th „ otic ho , like ex theques tti,1973 Vince Ale flowers.“
radio stations. WPIXFM recently switched several hours of its nightly programming over to „Disco“ and leaned Disco the rest of the day. (1975)
DJ Francis Grasso (Sanctuary)
DJ Nicky Siano (The Gallery) & DJ Larry Levan (Paradise Garage)
Hey Xavier. You forgot me: Jellybean. Famous Funhouse DJ and Madonna`s first lover. John ´Jellybean´ Benitez
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A Excerpt from „The Disco Handbook / Chapter 2 - Disco Lingo“ by Bruce Pollack: „Any new craze worth the hysteria that disco has created must have its own specialized language–a slang vocabulary known only to insiders, making them feel more in. The disco craze is no exception, coming equipped with an assortment of colorful words and expressions to match the colorful, high-gloss fabrics worn at the discothèque.“
BROTHER: 1) A kindred spirit in the night 2) Anyone who can demonstrate a handshake of more than four separate movements.
FOX: This year‘s version of the Old Lady, who was last year‘s edition of the Chick, who replaced Bird, who is a Chick or an Old Lady in England.
CONVERSATION: An outmoded preoccupation at the disco, which many lead to things like exchanging phone numbers or agreeing to meet outside for a breath of fresh air.
TURKEY: Anyone who refers to women as Foxes, Chicks, Old Ladies, Birds, or Broads.
DISCOTHEQUE: What the French, who invented it, call the disco. Literally, a record library. ROLLER DISCO: Disco on roller skates.
David Mancuso (The Loft)
FUNKY: 1) The kind of rhythm and blues designed to cause one to break out in cold sweats. 2) The collected aroma of the disco - with sweat, tears, makeup, hairspray, and perfume mingling with the moisture of bodies all gasping for breath in the darkness.
KINETIC ENERGY: A substance produced by the nervous system when it interacts with the myriad effects of the disco. MOBILE DISCO: A commercial enterprise which com es to your house, school, or neighbor hood arena equipped with records, lights, speakers, turntables, mixers, deejay, and good vibes, to set up a one-night disco extravaganza. NERD: 1) Anyone who wears socks with cowboys and Indians on them. 2) Someone whose mother takes them to the disco and then waits outside in the car with the motor running.
THE BOX STEP: 1) An old-fashioned notion of danc ing which will only get you in trouble at the disco. 2) That four-cornered signal you mak e over your shoulder to friends, to warn them that you‘re with the kind of square who is still hopelessly in the dark ages, at least as far as dancing is concerned. HOT: Cool COOL: Hot BAD: Good
t i n a r gI r a
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A story featuring Charles Manson, Jimmy Carter, Timothy Leary, Michael Jackson, Zsa Zsa Gabor and many more
Disco is commonly associated with two different things: the location, discotheque, and Disco music. The term discotheque is a hybrid (neologism) between disc and bibliotheque, it was coined in occupied Paris during the early 1940s by the pioneering nightclub ´´La Discotheque´´, whereas Disco music - as we know it today - first emerged in the early 1970s. Forced by the official ban of so-called ´´jungle music´´ and other restrictions during the Nazi-occupation, little Jazz clubs in France would no longer dare to set up a whole live band, so they were simply playing recorded music via gramophones, instead. However, the crucial point is not just that the band was replaced by a gramophone but, as music journalist Peter Shapiro argues, ´´that a disc jockey played music of his own choosing and not necessarily what was in the hit parade, tailored to a specific crowd of dancers in a nondomestic setting´´. The first disc-jockeys appeared in conjunction with the new mass medium radio in the early 20th century, they quickly played an important and powerful role as style-innovators and promoters. While most clubs still had live music, piano rolls, or jukeboxes where the playlists were determined by the distributors, the concept of the disc jockey transferred into the club scenery enabled a more distinctive sound and interactive approach (at least in theory). Despite the end of the occupation and the associated repression after 1945, the discotheques remained very popular in France. Though, the formerly shady venues became glamorous celebrity hangouts for the likes of Zsa-Zsa Gabor, Omar Sharif or Louise Malle. Due to that prehistory, most clubs in NY (and elsewhere in the United States) that labeled themselves as discothèques in the 1960s
were strongly committed to their European origin, a conservative class-consciousness, and a rather strict dress code. It seems that such places could not provide what a thriving underground scene of gays, slackers, bohemians, ex-hippies, young immigrants and notorious partyheads was looking for - unique celebration and excessive dancing. Many contemporary witnesses and music journalists stress that these desires implied much more than just the longing for a good party, namely, the shared desire to escape into an egalitarian, liberated space without sexual or racial discrimination. Even though this might sound like a stereotypical phrase from the fading decade of the highly politicized 60s, the tempting promise of Disco was certainly not the liberation of the masses but the liberation of the individual, instead. When teach-ins and demonstrations did not help, one could overcome the persistent social borders at least for a single night through the universal language of dancing. The decisive influence of the late 60s sociopolitical climate on the emergence of Disco is a fix part of its historiography. In his book ´´Turn The Beat Around - The Secret History of Disco´´ Peter Shapiro describes its climate as an ideology hangover that was demonstrated through simple slogans like ´´I´m OK, You´re OK´´ and a general return to rather individual concerns. Part of that setting is that many civil rights activists, especially Afro-Americans, were frustrated and disillusioned because the liberal establishment didn´t seem to be capable or willing to grant the hard-won concessions, while the hippies had to face the fact that drugs could expand ones mind but not society. Only the gay community was encouraged - by the Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall Inn was a
I´m just an outlaw my name is desire. Tasha Thomas “Shoot Me“
gay bar on Christopher Street in New York that was, like many other gay venues, raided by the police frequently because selling alcohol to homosexuals was supposedly prohibited. In the night of June 17th, 1969, when 8 police officers entered to stop the party, the patrons and staff decided to finally stand up against the police harassment, which lead to a proper streetfight or as the New York Daily Mail put it; ´´Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad´´. Although it hardly put an end to the police harassment, this incident is considered to be the kick-start for the gayrights movement, it stands for New York´s status as the gay metropolis where thousands of homosexuals from the US and the rest of the world came ´´to learn how to live openly, honestly and without shame´´. Although the precedent remarks might suggest so, Disco was not the inevitable consequence of social determinants or even cultural constraint. Critics stress that despite the chronological connection the linkage between nightlife and politics is rather overrated; ´´I really don´t think that many of the activists went to the discotheques, and I don´t think many of the people going to discotheques were into the political thing´´ says sound-engineer and DJ Bob Casey, while the Stonewall regular Jorge La Torre frankly admits,´´I wasn´t politically enlightened at the time. All I was interested in was having fun, going out dancing, and getting high´´. They argue that Disco is the creative work of enthusiastic individuals who shared a passion for dance music and happened to live in the same town, NYC. David Mancuso was one of those enthusiasts. He set up a loose series of semi-private house parties, later known as ´´The Loft´´. Mancuso´s events were part of a whole network of
clandestine parties around that time, they were certainly not the only ones but they gained a legendary status due to their groundbreaking style. Mancuso, born 1944, was a runaway who stranded in NY in the mid 1960s. He was engaged with all kinds of scenes; the gay-rights movement, LSD fueled hippie gatherings with Timothy Leary, or Afro-American rent parties in Harlem. Mancuso, looking like Charles Manson after a wellness trip with his big beard, scraggly hair and piercing eyes, is often portrayed as the icon of the real Disco culture that is opposed to the greasy Tony Manero, John Travolta´s character in Saturday Night Fever. Many of Disco´s legendary DJs like Frankie Knuckles, Francis Grasso, or Larry Levan were regular guests at The Loft and they all acknowledged the unique intimate atmosphere which made the parties so different from the average uptown clubnight. Mancuso tried to create a Disco lab with perfect conditions, he was concerned about everything from excellent sound over nutritious catering to an extravagant decoration, but the most important thing remained the music itself. Thanks to years of experience in the scene, he knew exactly what kind of music people would dance to. Mancuso recruited a crowd that was ambitious and willing at the same time. He reminisces; ´´When a plane takes off there´s a moment when the pilot decides that the speed is right, he pulls back and - boom! - you leave the ground. The party was like that. There was a point at which it just went up. It didn´t happen right away. It took time. But it happened.´´ The first Loft party, set up at Valentine´s Day 1970, was entitled ´´Love Saves The Day´´, a title that illustrates Mancuso´s escapist notion. In 1970 there was no such thing as ´´Disco music´´, neither spe-
cific files in record shops, nor radio shows. Like in the pioneer period of Hip Hop a couple of years later, DJs were looking for suitable tracks on all kinds of records. The playlists of the early 1970s DJs featured songs that would hardly appear on any Time Life Double CD anthology among Donna Summer or the Bee Gees. Mancuso, for instance, played Babe Ruth´s ´´The Mexican´´ (later a B-Boy classic) followed by Manu Dibango´s driving afro-beat tune ´´Soul Makossa´´ and Eddie Kendricks protoDisco track ´´Girl You Need a Change of Mind´´, others blended Cymande´s percussive ´´Bra´´ into The Door´s ´´Roadhouse Blues´´. As long as there was a steady and dominant groove, everything could be played, it was all up to the DJ. The trailblazing innovation of that time was certainly not finding single tunes with driving beats, but to mix them into one steady flow. Beatmixing! While Mancuso was first of all famous for his selection, his mixing skills were rather poor, all he did was blending during the last fading seconds of a song. As claimed by popular history, Francis Grasso was the one who really enhanced this new technique. He was the resident at the Sanctuary, a former baptist church that turned into a gay hot spot, where the DJ was placed in the pulpit. In this sinful setting, Grasso performed his pioneering beat-mixing experiments: by using his headphones, he cued the unheard track, let it go just in the right moment and then played the two records simultaneously with the beats synchronized ´´for two David Mancuso „Godfather of Disco“
minutes or more´´. What appears as a commonplace to contemporary clubgoers was quite an advanced skill back then. Considering the fact that the record players at that time had no pitch function and the drumbeats on the records were played live, it seems almost impossible to keep two rhythms running with the
„Every man wants to be a macho macho man to have the kind of body, always in demand Jogging in the mornings, go man go works out in the health spa, muscles glow You can best believe that, he‘s a macho man ready to get down with, anyone he can“ Village People “Macho Man“
same tempo for such a long time, whereas Grasso simply boasted: ´´to me it was like nature.I did it like I walk my dog´´. Interestingly enough, his signature mix was not beat-matched. He layered Chicago´s ´´I´m A Man´´ over the vocal break of Led Zeppelin´s ´´Whole Lotta Love´´, because ´´You really couldn´t dance to the Zeppelin once it went into the orgasmic tripping stuff, but if you mixed it with Chicago you could.´´ The people went nuts. Supported by strobe light, massive sound, a passionate crowd and of course drugs, Grasso´s DJ sets created this unique atmosphere, that club culture since then is committed to; a synergetic experience of ´´call and response´´ that could not be reproduced anywhere else. It was especially the Sanctuary´s gay audience, often fueled with poppers, that was eager to follow the DJs journey and functioned as party catalyst. Besides clubs like the Sanctuary and semi-private parties like The Loft, there was a third sort
of venue that played a crucial role in the early days of Disco, the baths. Some of New York´s bathhouses were no longer only dedicated to sexual interaction, they had become pleasure domes. The Continental Baths for instance featured a restaurant, private apartments and a disco, where the guys would wear nothing but a towel around the neck. Attracted by such a grecoroman spirit and a very sophisticated entertainment program (performances by Bette Middler & Barry Manilow, Patti LaBelle), more and more straight people wanted to join the party. And through the support of the two DJ rookies Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, the Continental Baths became one of the hottest nightspots. They provided the pulsating rhythm for its x-rated scenery that is probably the worst nightmare of Steve Dahl or any other Disco hater. Both had a strong preference for soulful music, but while Knuckles was more into mixing, Levan, inspired by his Loft adventures, focused on the atmosphere. In 1974 Levan, who already had a name, left the Baths to spin at a black gay club called Read Street and from then on until the closure Knuckles was the resident. The Loft, The Sanctuary and The Continental Baths were only three of dozens of venues that were involved in the emergence of Disco culture in New York during the early 1970s, but they stand in an exemplary fashion for crucial contributions; the intimate atmosphere of a private party, the DJ as powerful master opposed to the insane crowd as willing servant and the club as an orgiastic setting. Although the DJs picked several obscure & novelty records in the early 1970s, the predominant style was Soul & Funk music, anyway. Artists that appeared on almost every playlist were James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Booker T. & The M.G.´s or Diana Ross.
Whereas ´´Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose´´ by James Brown and other rough funk tunes slowly disappeared from the playlists, DJs began to increasingly spin records by The O´Jays, MFSB and The Intruders, the so-called Phillysoul from Philadelphia International Records. It was characterized by its highly-orchestrated sound; sweeping strings, rich instrumental arrangements and sweet horn sets. This corporate sound was the congenial cooperation of the innovative production teams Gamble & Huff and McFadden & Whitehead and the label´s house band, which consisted of creative session musicians such as the vibraphonist Vincent Montana Jr. and the Trammps´ drummer Earl Young. Thanks to his distinctive snare pattern and hi-hat work, Young is supposed to be the inventor of the stereotypical Disco drum, exemplified in the song ´´Disco Inferno´´ by The Trammps. Another signature tune is MFSB´s epos ´´Love Is The Message´´ that starts like a sleazy sitcom trailer and ends with Montana´s extensive vibraphone jamming. Besides the lush production and the uptempo drumbeat, it were the powerful but universal messages that made Phillysoul the most influential aesthetic of Disco´s heyday. Everybody could easily appropriate and sing along phrases like ´´Wake Up Everybody´´ by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes or ´´Ain´t No Stoppin Us Now´´ by McFadden & Whitehead, which became a gay anthem. By the summer of 1973 hundreds of discotheques popped up in the Big Apple. There, the DJs and dancers had developed a specific taste for dance music together and as a result the tunes that were played in clubs resembled each other increasingly. Once it became a corporate sound, record labels slowly started producing Disco music. Shapiro calls it ´´the beginning of the codification of disco as a style rather than the taste of whatever DJ
happened to be playing at that time´´. In order to match the sound that was demanded, Salsoul Records for instance drafted almost the complete house band of Philadelphia International. Salsoul was actually a Salsa label, but as the money-driven owners realized the financial potential of the it-sound, they were looking for renowned professionals like Montana and Young, who could embed their Latin-influenced style in proper Disco arrangements. The New York label marked its status with the release of Double Exposure´s ´´Ten Percent´´, the very first 12-inch single that was commercially available. It was remixed by the Ice Palace resident DJ Walter Gibbons, who deconstructed the three minuteoriginal and extended it into a 10-minute percussive masterpiece. Through that release, the world was introduced to two innovations that are crucial elements of modern DJ culture, the remix and the 12´´. In 1975, Van McCoy´s #1 hit ´´The Hustle´´ with its earworm melody, lame rhythm, and sleazy symphonic arrangement introduced Disco to the masses. Via radio the new sound was transmitted into the living rooms from Charlotte to Seattle, to people who would probably never do the hustle. Anyway, Disco was already more than just a subcultural phenomenon of nightlife, it had become mainstream. Due to nationwide popularity, the term Disco turned into a universal promotional affix, which was attached to almost everything; Discobowling, Roller Disco, Kinder Disco... Even president Jimmy Carter´s inaugural ball at the White House had a mobile-Disco featuring two dancers in peanut costumes. The hype reached its peak by 1977, when Saturday Night Fever delivered the urban fairy tale of Tony Manero, the Italo-stud who tries to escape his frustrating 9 to 5 by beco-
ming a dancing-star. By completely ignoring the gay subtext of Manhattan´s club culture and depicting Disco as a modern ballroom scenery, the movie visualized a family-friendly notion of Disco. A year later, however, the queer face returned to the public in a silly disguise, the Village People. Now, family-dads all over the country were dancing polonaise accompanied by the ridiculous lyrics of ´´Macho Man´´. Revenge? Maybe that was the last straw that led to the backlash of Steve Dahl´s Disco Demolition Day in 1979, where thousands of drunk troglodytes expressed their concern about the threat to real Rock music, gayness and superficiality by burning Disco records in a base-
BIRTH Of The First 12inch Single Tom Moulton, famous for his early Disco mix-tapes at Sandpiper Bar (Long Island, NY), started making remixes for the music industry in 1974. Club culture was growing and so was the demand for longer records with breaks and builds. Some time in 1975, Moulton took a mix for Al Dowing to New York Media Sound to have it mastered onto a seven-inch metal blank which was the standard format for singles. But they were out. The engineer José Rodriguez used a ten-inch blank, instead. In order to avoid having it look like the rest of the record was blank, they spread the grooves apart. „Oh my God! Boy, was that hot“, Moulton says, „it just made the regular forty-five sound like such shit. The levels were incredible... the dynamics, the bass...“. Tom Moulton pressed a new, bigger, 12‘‘ promo (an edit of Moment of Truth‘s „So Much For Love“ ) to give it to DJ Richie Kaczor and DJ David Rodriguez. It was the very first 12inch single. Some months later in 1976, Walter Gibbon‘s remake for Double Exposure‘s „Ten Percent“ was the first commercially available twelve-inch single on Salsoul Records. „The Super Sound Single“ became a term in industry/advertising. However, isn‘t it strange that they „invented“ it late in the 70s? Shouldn‘t the physical rules of „more space, more data/range“ be obvious to every soundengineer?!?
ball stadium. (More about Disco Demolition Day in the following article ´´The Art of DiscoBashing´´) With the mass-popularity of Disco since the mid 1970s, New York´s club culture changed and headed in two different directions. While a lot of underground gay venues and shady clubs just continued business without being bothered by any celebrities or straight suburbians, a few other places became the glossy temples of elitism, which attracted all the
Welcome To The Studio54! Grace Jones arriving naked so many times it became tiresome; Margaret Trudeau, wife of the Canadian Prime Minister, caught on camera with her muff getting some air; a famous fashion designer buying sex from a busboy; Bianca Jagger riding in on a white stallion lead by a man wearing nothing more than a coat of paint; Liz Taylor photographed having something placed on her tongue; Liza Minelli chewing the fat (and her inner cheeks) on a banquette. Someone dying in an air vent trying to get inside; Sly Stallone ordering at the bar next to John Travolta while a child-like Michael Jackson sits on a sofa in between Woody Allen and Truman Capote, with Andy Warhol over to the side, Jerry Hall next to him deep-throating a bottle of Moet & Chandon...
public intention. ´´It was time to polish the fittings so the society folk felt comfortable jumping aboard´´, and the club that paved the way for this new commitment was ´´Le Jardin´´. When Diana Ross´ appearance at the opening caused an enormous promotional stir through the press, many clubowners tried to follow that simple but effective principle. Certainly, chatty socializing has always been a part of clubbing, but it now seemed that everything was about ´´look who´s here´´, big limousines, the guest list - and less the music. Welcome to the Studio54! In contrast, a club that had nothing to do with celebrities riding on horses on the dancefloor was the ´´Paradise Garage´´, home of DJ Larry Levan. It was dedicated to the underground spirit of The Loft, where the young Larry had been fascinated by Mancuso´s gift to create that certain intimacy. Nevertheless, the former parking garage was ten times The Loft, it had a huge dancefloor and supposedly the best p.a. in town. The whole straightforward setting was feeding only one purpose - dancing. Levan was not very good at mixing, but he had an obsession to control all of his clubbers´ senses. Therefore he personally took care of every medium in the Garage; he screened movies (´´Altered States´´, ´´The Wizard of OZ´´), he leveled the soundsystem during the day, he had his own control set for the light and eventually he played wonderful dance music. Like in the early days of Disco, the selection was very eclectic and featured all kinds of records; Grandmaster Flash, MFSB or the Talking Heads. Mel Cheren, the co-owner of the Garage, remembers that once ´´he had the whole club dancing to nothing more than a few keyboard doodles, unaware that the record he was accompanying had finished minutes ago´´. What gave Levan such an outstanding position apart
from his atmospheric DJ skills, was the sort of cross-marketing process that was going on between him both as a DJ and remixer on one and the record labels on the other side. Thanks to the thousands of people (and especially other DJs) dancing every weekend in the Paradise Garage, the ´´Larry Levan Dance Mix´´ button on a sleeve could give a Disco record the final boost. Think of Gwen Guthries ´´Ain´t Nothing Goin On But The Rent´´ or Tanaa Gardner´s ´´Heartbeat´´, both Garage classics. Since 1992 when Larry Levan died at the age of only 38, he was turned into a mythical figure of pop-history as a godlike DJ. Whether he was really that genius or he simply ´´had an attitude´´ is irrelevant. Fact is that Levan and the Paradise Garage, where he performed from 1977 until its closure in 1987, stand for the continuum of Disco. The 1970s had already known subgenres of Disco, but the new decade marked a sweeping fragmentation that brought out a vast variety of styles and eventually fully emancipated descendants. The Sugarhill Gang rapped over the sample of Chic´s ´´Good Times´´ and introduced Hip Hop,
The Clash showed Punks how to dance and Madonna made it Pop. While these derivates only referred to the aesthetics of sound and ignored the indispensable setting of the nightclub, House music emerged from the same synergetic energy of dance music and the dancefloor. So it´s no coincidence that the new sound was named after the club where it had been distilled ´´the Warehouse´´ in Chicago (residency of Frankie Knuckles). Here, Frankie Knuckles and his audience reduced Disco to the max. After the masses had already turned their back on Disco in 1979, the final death notice was announced when the HI virus appeared on the set in 1981. Initially nicknamed the ´´Saint´s Disease´´ - referring to a gay club that popularized the vocal-dominated subgenre Hi-NRG and whose members were about the first to die - the virus took the life of thousands of dance maniacs and many pioneers like Patrick Cowley (see our ´´Disco Heaven´´). The impact on the clubscene was dramatic. In those days Disco might have lost its carelessness, but opposed to a popular narrative it didn´t die. It grew up!
Bibliography:
Sesame Disco! The 70s kids‘ shows Sesame Street and The Muppet Show by Jim Henson had many sketches about Disco, a fact that perfectly reflects how omnipresent mainstream Disco was. Plus, the songs were easy to remember! Disco as a genre wasn‘t culturally challenging at all, and with its world of bizzare celebrity characters and comical glamor it seemed a suitable subject for kids. Today, many new Disco musicians who probably watched the shows as kids are still inspired by the Muppet style. Andy of Hercules & Love Affair says he loves the Muppets, and that their song „True False / Fake Real“ is highly inspired by them. The Puppetmastaz are to HipHop what the Muppets were to Disco. When Gonzales raps he sounds like Mr. Snuffleupagus, and Escort just had a YouTube hit with their muppet Disco video „All Through The Night“. Check dsico-fanzine.com for some videos...
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Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton. ´´Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey´´. London: Headline, 1999. Lawrence, Tim. ´´Love Saves The Day: A History of American Dance Music, 1970-1979´´. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2003. Shapiro, Peter. ´´Turn the Beat Around: A Secret History of Disco´´. NY: Faber and Faber, 2005.
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Kathy Sled ge USA
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Success in Million Dolla rs Cup Size Lovers Gay-Diva Fa ctor Dance Mov es Lyrics
41 210 Matches
TOP VERB: to can -> 44 Matches
Uses of ´Up´ or ´Down´ in Song Titles
Uses of ´God´ or ´Devil´ in Song Titles
Up 31
Devil 6 Down 16
God 3
More cool words: Superman, Superstar, Heartbreaker, Skydiver, Drummer, Friday, Saturday, Disco Circus, Discolypso, Dynamite, Stimulation, Sensation, Space, Boogie, Baby, Fun, Magic, Ooh, Burning, Kiss, Touch, Moonlight, Moonboots, Fire, Flight, Bass, Busstop, Hustle, Nasty, Mad, Roller Skating, Waterbed, Lipstick, Celebrate
Research III: The Disco explosion We counted the Disco releases of each year between 1974-1986. Based on 1127 Disco records (same as on the left side...)
284
173
129 116
121
117
73
48 31 18
12 3
2
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
Examples from 1979: Kiss ´I Was Made For Lovin` You´, Lipps Inc. ´Funkytown´, Michael Jackson ´Don´t Stop ´Til You Get Enough´, Dan Hartman ´Relight My Fire´, Chicago ´Street Player´, Anita Ward ´Ring My Bell´. Danceclassics: Martin Circus ´Disco Circus´, Bumblebee Unlimited ´Lady Bug´, Inner Life ´I`m caught up´. Leftfielded: Telex ´Moskow Diskow´, James White & The Blacks ´Contort Yourself´, Dinosaur ´Kiss me again´, PIL ´Death Disco´
1986
20 19 15 14 16
13
17
12 11
18
10 1
5 4
2
9
6 7
8
3
New York CITY 1. Paradise Garage, Club by Michael Brody and Mel Cheren; 84 King St. 2. When hearing Barry White‘s „Love Theme“ at an exclusive party on a boat Aaron Spelling got the idea for the famous TV series „Love Boat“; West Pier 3. Neil Bogart of Casablanca Records met Paul Stanley and then signed KISS whose most succesful hit would later be the Disco song „I Was Made For Loving You Baby“; 5 Hudson St. 4. The Loft, Club by David Mancuso (first location); 147 Mercer St. 5. Greenwich Village, or just „The Village“ - gay quarter that gave the „Village People“ their name. 6. The Gallery, Club by Nicky Siano (second location);172 Mercer St 7. „Lombardi‘s“: John Travolta‘s favorite Pizza place. 32 Spring St. 8. In 1979 Harry „KC“ Wayne Casey of KC & The Sunshine Band was beaten up by some anti-Disco kids in front of Katz Deli; 205 East
Houston St. 9. The Saint, Legendary Gay-Club; 2nd Ave & 6th St. 10. Besides Cheesburgers „Big-Q“ also sold Quaaludes Burgers; 52 East 10th St. 11. Danceteria, Club of Disco Punk; 30 East 30th St. (third location) 12. Office of Sal Soul Records; 240 Madison Avenue 13. Grace Jones walked down 5th Avenue completely naked in 1983 14. Office of Prelude Records; 200 West 57 St. 15. Studio 54, Club by Steven Rubell & Ian Schrager; 254 West 54th St. 16. The Sanctuary, Club with Dj Francis Grasso; 407 West 43th St. 17. Funhouse, Club by Joe Monk; 526 West 26th St. 18. Roxy, originally Roller Disco; 515 West 18th St. 19. Village People‘s Victor Willis (the police officer) was found passed out in a monkey cage; NY Central Park Zoo 20. Legendary roof top pool party by „The Discoghosts“; 702 Park Avenue
90-minute-riot. Is it pure coincidence that disco was slaughtered in a baseball stadium, the traditional American playground for proving one´s masculinity? Probably not. This riot, though unintended, somehow resembled the fascist book burnings and marked the most violent expression of a widely spread antipathy towards disco-culture. In 1979 disco had turned into a four-billion-dollar-industry and had dominated the mainstream culture. There were 20,000 discos all over the country and the commercial potential of disco was heavily exploited. It was no surprise that Dahl didn´t remain the only persecutor of ´´wimpy´´ disco-culture: there were others like D.R.E.A.D. (Detroit Rockers Engaged in the Abolition of Disco), KGON-DJ Bob Anchetta, who sawed up stacks of disco records with a chainsaw, KROQ-DJ ´´Insane´´ Darrell Wayne, who organized a disco funeral at Ventura Beach or Dennis Erectus, who destroyed disco records in his radio show ´´Erectus wrecks a record´´. According to Dahl´s imagery, disco did not just lose the battle, but the whole war. Disco was turned into dance-music and descended into oblivion. In the end, western masculinity had prevailed, thanks to Steve.
DISCO VS ROCK
White three-piece-suits never seemed to fit Steve Dahl, a slightly overweight 24-year-old Radio-DJ from Chicago. He also didn´t´t like pina coladas because he was allergic to coconut and, to top it all off, he couldn´t dance. This justification for his anti-disco-crusade, explained on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder in 1979, was actually more reasonable and less sarcastic than one might think in the first place. It actually showed why the average white American guy seemed to prefer Kiss to Chic, because something deep inside of him couldn´t deal with this sexually explicit, too glamorous, too gay and maybe too black sort of subculture. Compared with Rock, disco simply didn´t have any balls! Dahl´s crusade, fueled by his offbeat and white trash sense of humor, resulted in the so-called Disco Demolition Night which took place on the 12th of July in 1979 and is usually referred to as ´´the day that disco died´´. After Dahl got sacked from his job at WDAI earlier in´79, because the radio station had switched it´s program from rock to disco, Dahl, now with WLUP, dedicated himself to wiping out disco. He founded his own army, the Insane Coho Lips (coho salmon had been released into the great lakes to kill the lamprey eel, a parasite), took over disco-clubs and produced the antidisco-hymn ´´Do you think I´m disco?´´. And what was originally intended as promotion for a baseball match between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers at Chicago´s Comiskey Park, turned into a riot and a beacon for the downfall of disco. The Disco Demolition Derby was a twi-night doubleheader: two matches were set up on one evening. Since the White Sox had played a rather poor season, the idea was to let everybody in for only 98 cents, who showed up with a disco record to demolish. As a result the stadium was full packed with 50,000 fans and another 15,000 waiting outside. The atmosphere was heated up due to the aggressive promotion and people were chanting ´´disco sucks´´, starting fireworks and throwing their records like frisbees on the playing field. Beer consumption was three times higher than usual and when Dahl finally showed up in between the matches, fully equipped with army outfit, army jeep and some blonde bombshells, the audience was waiting for some blood to be spilled. After Dahl blew up a big box with 10,000 disco records, hundreds of people started to make a run on the field and devastate the playing field, stealing the bases and setting parts of the lawn on fire. Only massive police force ended the
Bass and Snare used to be best friends.
Together they rocked every discothèque while Hihat just stood there in awe, with her mouth open...
Bum Tsss Chack Tsss
Until, one day Bass would only hang out in the VIP area...
She got very sad because nobody seemed to want her anymore (there`s no snare drum in most of Techno and House).
...and Snare didn‘t seem to fit in any more.
That‘s when she started taking drugs and got into Jungle, Drum ‚n‘ Bass und Ragga..
Dumdumchack diggidiggibumchack! (Pitched up breakbeats)
...while Bass was sniffing snow at exclusive glam parties.
One day, Snare had a vision:
„Snare, I am your great grandfather! Stop embarassing yourself, where‘s your pride? When I was your age I was leading marches; the straight rythm was my idea! You gotta pull yourselves together, guys!“
You‘re right! We invented the BPM! The beat is only complete with both of us! Disco-jogging only works with Bum AND Chack!
...and so they got back to working the discothèques - together!
By that time, Bass had also realized they can‘t live without each other...
Will Smith is performing ´And The Beat Goes On´ by The Whispers
Will Smith is performing ´Forget Me Nots´ by Patrice Rushen
Will Smith is performing ´Greatest Dancer´ by Sister Sledge
Will Smith is performing ´Rock The Casbah´ by The Clash
[10:55] W1LLSM1TH: yo [10:57] jamiroquai72: anybody in here? [10:57] dftpunk: bonsoir [10:57] †justice†: sup guise [10:57] jamiroquai72: bonsoir! [10:58] W1LLSM1TH: wheres kylie? [10:58] †justice†: woah daft punk you are the greatest! [10:58] kylie=ˆ~ˆ=: i‘m here will [10:58] dftpunk: merci and we love justice too [10:58] W1LLSM1TH: how ru kylie? say hi to olivier [10:59] jamiroquai72: hate to say it mates, but all daft punk does is sample disco tracks [10:59] kylie=ˆ~ˆ=: olivier says hi big willie [10:59] †justice†: jamiroquai is gealous theyre successful and hes not [10:59] jamiroquai72: “he“ certainly neednt to be jealous.... [10:59] dftpunk: we also like jamiroquai ;) [10:59] kylie=ˆ~ˆ=: i thought jamiroquai is a band [10:59] jamiroquai72: WE ARE A BAND! [10:59] W1LLSM1TH: no beef in here lol [10:59] kylie=ˆ~ˆ=: yeah i know its like bon jovi is a band too.. but no need to yell at me [10:59] jamiroquai72: all i said is that daft punk just take samples from old disco classics and make millions... not very “creative“ [11:00] Madonna™: hey [11:00] W1LLSM1TH: i didnt know dft punk was sampling i thought its all theirs [11:00] †justice†: even if they do, its not like theyre the only ones sampling disco RIGHT WILL!?! [11:00] jamiroquai72: harder better faster stronger see: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=sklZ-f6Wstw [11:00] dftpunk: hi Madonna™! how r u [11:00] W1LLSM1TH: its the sound i grew up with thats why i like sampling it... what, you dont like disco j? [11:00] Madonna™: omg jamiroquai yur so hot# [11:00] jamiroquai72: of course we like disco [11:00] †justice†: duh will :D btw Madonna™ jamiroqueer is a band [11:00] jamiroquai72: cheers Madonna™! btw we‘re a band... [11:01] Madonna™: really? are the other members as cute as him? [11:01] W1LLSM1TH: whats yer point jam? btw Madonna™ youre a milf [11:01] kylie=ˆ~ˆ=: LOL is there a disco song you havent sampled yet will [11:01] jamiroquai72: we prefer to write our own songs instead of using other artists‘ music, thats my point [11:01] kylie=ˆ~ˆ=: whats a milf? [11:01] W1LLSM1TH: i love combining the old with the new, i think its artistic [11:01] †justice†: jamiroguy we also write new disco songs so what [11:01] jamiroquai72: ok lets see... those were will‘s hits: “Summertime“