s 48 The QUEE NS Courier • dance • september 3, 2015 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Having A Ball dance By Ronda Addy I am not afraid to admit that I liked disco. There was just something about it. It doesn’t matter if you loved or hated it, disco had an impact on our culture. If it didn’t, why are all those Web sites dedicated to it? Disco is derived from the French word, “discotheque,” which means record library. During WWII, the Nazis banned jazz in occupied Paris, so to listen to music, people had to go to illicit cellars. There discotheque records were played. With the beginning of disco came dance-based popular music. Discos were clubs that played nothing but music for dancing. In the beginning, most of the discos were gay clubs whose DJs played soul and funk music that had a strong, heavy groove. Soon these records began getting radio play, and before long, producers were making records especially for discos. In the early 1970s, discos began including a wide variety of musical and visual props. Chief among them was the mirror ball, which fragmented a white spotlight into a million rotating dots. The appearance of smoke machines and dry ice marked the use of the pin sot light, which could stab through a cloud of smoke to cast an illuminated shaft across a dark room. The first year of disco is considered to be 1974, with radio stations all over the country rushing to give disco air time. By December 1978, there were 200 disco only formats airing across the country, and six months later, there were 50 more. In 1974, Gloria Gaynor became the first disco diva with her hit, “Never Can Say Goodbye.” That same year, Donna Summer recorded her first disco album, while Emerson’s Steakhouses installed discos in 27 of their locations. In 1975, Donna Summer secured her place as a disco diva with the release of “Love to Love You Baby.” Also that year was the first big disco hit, Van McCoy’s “The Hustle,” which was based on a popular dance of the time. Other big disco hits that year include “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas, “Fly Robin Fly” by the Silver Convention and “That’s the Way I Like It” by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. In 1976, disco became newsworthy when Newsweek ran the cover story, “Get Up and Boogie,” and estimated there were 10,000 discos in the United States. It also marked the year Holiday Inn began putting discos in their hotels. Motown also got into the act when Diana Ross sang, “Love Hangover.” The Ritchie Family with “The Best Disco in Town,” along with First Choice and their recording of “Doctor Love,” became the first disco girl groups to have successful records. Rick Dees released, “Disco Duck,” Thelma Houston released, “Don’t Leave Me This Way” and Abba had its first number one hit in the United States with “Dancing Queen.” The year 1977 marked a milestone in disco history. Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta as a working class youth who rules the floor at the local dance club cemented its place in music history. The double album for the film became the largestselling soundtrack and produced 10 single hits from the 17 tracks. The Bee Gees became the ultimate disco group with hits, like “Stayin Alive,” “Night Fever” and “How Deep Is Your Love.” The picture of John Travolta in his three-piece white suit with his finger raised to the sky became the ultimate symbol for the disco era. That same year marked the opening of Studio 54 in New York. Also that year “Disco Inferno” by the Trammps made it to the charts and even Grace Jones, the first black model, launched a singing career with “La Vie en Rose.” Attempting to recreate the furor created by Saturday Night Fever, Thank God It’s Friday was released in 1978. Donna Summer became a big disco star with the release of “Last Dance” from the TGIF soundtrack. The Village People climbed up the charts with “Macho Man” and “Y.M.C.A.” Blondie went disco with “Heart of Glass.” The 1978 Grammy for Best New Artist went to A Taste of Honey for “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” Gloria Gaynor and her recording, “I Will Survive,” became one of the biggest disco hits of all time. By 1979, even Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones had hopped on the disco bandwagon. A string of one hit wonders—Charo’s “Dance a Little Closer,” Alicia Bridges’ “I Love the Nightlife” and Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell”—began to mark the beginning of the end for disco. There were some memorable hits that year, however—Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand with the duet “No More Tears (enough is enough),” Sister Sledge with “We Are Family” and Lipps, Inc. with “Funkytown.” There were also some important milestones in disco history that year. Studio 54 was closed after a raid by the IRS, and after 13,000 people attended a disco event, the Guinness Book of World Records named it the largest disco event of all time. The year 1980 saw the movie Fame with Irene Cara singing the title song. Olivia Newton-John attempted to recapture her Grease phenomenon with Xanadu, which also starred Gene Kelly. Kool & The Gang had their hit, “Celebration,” and Diana Ross had two hits with “Upside Down” and “I’m Coming Out.” By 1981, disco began to be replaced by new age. Still Olivia Newton-John had one of her biggest hits with “Physical” and Kool & The Gang had “Get Down on It” and “Good Time Tonight.” By 1982, disco was on the way out. There were not many hits that year with the possible exception of the Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men” and Donna Summer’s “Love Is in Control.” There are those that say disco is dead, while others say disco has just evolved into a different form. Who knows for sure? In its heyday, though, disco turned out some memorable music. s
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