FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 15, 2019 • DANCE • THE QUEENS COURIER 53
dance
Still strutting: Disco keeps the beat alive
BY RONDA ADDY
I am not afraid to admit that I liked
disco. Th ere 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 websites 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. Th ere 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. Th e 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.
Th e fi rst 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 fi rst disco diva
with her hit, “Never Can Say Goodbye.”
Th at same year, Donna Summer recorded
her fi rst 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 fi rst big disco hit, Van McCoy’s
“Th e 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 “Th at’s the Way I Like It”
by K.C. and the Sunshine Band.
Th e year 1977 marked a milestone in
disco history. Saturday Night Fever with
John Travolta as a working class youth
who rules the fl oor at the local dance
club cemented its place in music history.
Th e double album for the fi lm became
the largest-selling soundtrack and produced
10 single hits from the 17 tracks.
Th e Bee Gees became the ultimate disco
group with hits, like “Stayin Alive,” “Night
Fever” and “How Deep Is Your Love.” Th e
picture of John Travolta in his three-piece
white suit with his fi nger raised to the sky
became the ultimate symbol for the disco
era. Th at 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 fi rst black model, launched a singing
career with “La Vie en Rose.”
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. Th ere 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.”
Th ere were also some important milestones
in disco history that year. Studio 54
was closed aft er a raid by the IRS, and aft er
13,000 people attended a disco event, the
Guinness Book of World Records named
it the largest disco event of all time.
By 1981, disco began to be replaced by
new age. Still Olivia Newton-John had
one of her biggest hits with “Physical” and
Kool & Th e Gang had “Get Down on It”
and “Good Time Tonight.”
By 1982, disco was on the way out. Th ere
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.”
Th ere are those that say disco is dead,
while others say disco has just evolved into
a diff erent form. Who knows for sure? In
its heyday, though, disco turned out some
memorable music.
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