Arts & Culture

Disco as Pop Culture: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life From a Broken Heart

August 20, 2016 | Bill V. | Comments (0)

If disco wasn't part of your life growing up you missed something fantastic. It's not too late though to add it into your dance and clothing repertoire. The platform and stiletto shoe, the gold and silver lamé (for men and women), the glittery glass disco ball, the polyester shirt, Soul Train, the Solid Gold Dancers all evoke that vibrant late 70s early 80s era.

 Disco spinning the story econtent DVD streaming via hoopla  Secret disco revolution the party that changed the world DVD

My pop culture is not your pop culture.  And that diversity is a great thing because we can sample each other's and create a very tasty melange of experience.  So, if you grew up wishing you could dance, look and act like they did in Saturday Night Fever then this should be a Proustian madeleine moment.  And, if you find this very retro and a bit hip, I urge you to try and dance in platform shoes and see what all the fun was about.

   Tony Manero DVD Raúl Peralta, a middle-aged criminal in 1970's Chile, is obsessed with the idea of impersonating Tony Manero, John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever. Every Saturday evening, he unleashes his passion for the film's music by imitating his idol and leading a small group of dancers as they perform at a bar in the outskirts of the city. His dream of being recognized as a successful showbiz star is about to become a reality when a Tony Manero impersonating contest is announced on national television. However, his obsession to reproduce his idol's likeness and perfect his act drives him to commit a series of violent crimes and thefts, leading to shocking violence and murder.  Saturday night fever DVD Tony is an undereducated Brooklyn teenager who is bored with his daytime job. The highlight of his week is going to the local disco, where he is the king of the dance floor. Tony meets Stephanie at the disco and they agree to dance together in a competition. Stephanie resists Tony's attempts to romance her, as she aspires to greater things. Gradually, Tony also becomes disillusioned with the life he is leading and he and Stephanie decide to help one another to start afresh.

 

And in case those disco moves beckon you and are not natural (or remembered).

 

 

And who knew fashion could be so dangerous?

1974 photo Big-Brimmed hat is hazardous for the driver because it blocks side vision. Another fashion hazard is platform shoes which reduces sensitivity of the foot on the pedals. Toronto Star Archives

"Big-Brimmed hat is hazardous for the driver because it blocks side vision. Another fashion hazard is platform shoes which reduces sensitivity of the foot on the pedals".  1974 copyright Toronto Star Archives.

 

Fashionable clothing from the Sears catalogs late '70s

Fashionable Clothing from the Sears Catalog

 

 

  Disco by Johnny Morgan. This is the ultimate compendium for the dancing queens and the hustle-happy who put on their boogie shoes, shook their groove thing, and felt the night fever! From its beginnings in Paris, disco quickly spread around the world, taking hold of a small club on L.A.'s Sunset Strip and ultimately becoming a lifestyle that influenced everything from music and dancing to movies to fashion. Disco captures this incredible phenomenon with great storytelling and lavish photos and memorabilia from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.  Hot stuff a brief history of disco. Examines the musical and cultural influences that transformed an era, the fashions and style of the period, disco's leading performers, and its long-term effects on American popular music and culture.
 

  Turn the Beat Around The History of Disco: A long-overdue paean to the predominant musical form of the 70s and a thoughtful exploration of the culture that spawned it Disco may be the most universally derided musical form to come about in the past forty years. Yet, like its pop cultural peers punk and hip hop, it was born of a period of profound social and economic upheaval. InTurn the Beat Around, critic and journalist Peter Shapiro traces the history of disco music and culture. From the outset, disco was essentially a shotgun marriage between a newly out and proud gay sexuality and the first generation of post-civil rights African Americans, all to the serenade of the recently developed synthesizer. Shapiro maps out these converging influences, as well as disco's cultural antecedents in Europe, looks at the history of DJing, explores the mainstream disco craze at it's apex, and details the long shadow cast by disco's performers and devotees on today's musical landscape. One part cultural study, one part urban history, and one part glitter-pop confection,Turn the Beat Aroundis the most comprehensive study of the Me Generation to date.   First ladies of disco 32 stars discuss the era and their singing careers: "The female vocalists who pioneered the disco genre in the '70s and early '80s were an extraordinarily talented group who dazzled the world with an exciting blend of elegance, soulful passion and gutsy fire. In this book of original interviews, 32 of these women tell their stories. Behind the scenes -- Dancing in heaven -- The first ladies of disco -- The Andrea True connection -- Claudja Barry -- Pattie Brooks -- Miquel Brown -- Linda Clifford -- Carol Douglas -- Yvonne Elliman -- Rochelle Fleming -- Gloria Gaynor -- Debbie Jacobs-Rock -- Madleen Kane -- Evelyn "Champagne" King -- Audrey Landers -- Suzi Lane -- Cynthia Manley -- Kelly Marie -- Maxine Nightingale -- Scherrie Payne -- Wardell Piper -- The Ritchie family, 1975-1978 -- The Ritchie family, 1978-1982 -- Barbara Roy/ecstasy, passion & pain -- Pamala Stanley -- Evelyn Thomas -- Jeanie Tracy -- Anita Ward -- Martha Wash -- Carol Williams -- Jessica Williams -- Norma Jean Wright.

 

 

 

Disco sandals in glitzy copper 1979 photo from the Toronto Star Archive

1979 Disco sandals in glitzy copper: New styles from Davids. Copyright Toronto Star Archives.

 

To disco, with love the records that defined an era. "With over 250 full color photographs of Disco's greatest album covers, paging through To Disco, with Love is like catching Saturday Night Fever all over again. From Diana Ross and Donna Summer gazing fiercely from their chart topping albums to the Village People's trademark costumes and the Bee Gee's blinding white jumpsuits, To Disco celebrates the days when the dance floor ruled the world"

 

And I will freely admit I learned to dance and dress watching Soul Train in the 70s. Soul surely has to be the foundation of Disco in style and sound.

The hippest trip in America Soul Train and the evolution of culture and style. "When it debuted in October 1971, seven years after the Civil Rights Act, Soul Train boldly went where no variety show had gone before, showcasing the cultural preferences of young African-Americans and the sounds that defined their lives: R&B, funk, jazz, disco, and gospel music. The brainchild of radio announcer Don Cornelius, the show's producer and host, Soul Train featured a diverse range of stars, from James Brown and David Bowie to Christine Aguilera and R. Kelly; Marvin Gaye and Elton John to the New Kids on the Block and Stevie Wonder. The Hippest Trip in America tells the full story of this pop culture phenomenon that appealed not only to blacks, but to a wide crossover audience as well. Famous dancers like Rosie Perez and Jody Watley, performers such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and Barry White, and Cornelius himself share their memories, offering insights into the show and its time--a period of extraordinary social and political change. Colorful and pulsating, The Hippest Trip In America is a fascinating portrait of a revered cultural institution that has left an indelible mark on our national consciousness"--Publisher's web site.

The best of soul train DVD

The Best of Soul Train DVD

 

 

 

There is even sheet music you can borrow for those of you musically inclined.

Disco lives! piano, vocal, guitar sheet music for vocal piano and guitar  The Disco Era Get Down and Boogie with 60 Far Out Hits Piano Vocal Guitar Songbook Score

 

      Disco Box Rhino Records CD boxed set only at the Toronto Reference Library Arts Dept on the 5th floor.

You may notice at your local library branch we're doing a promotion on popular culture where we're highlighting these subjects and if you click on the links you'll see some great suggestions for books to read and dvds to watch:

 

Star

 

 

 

A Taste of Honey by Boogie Oogie Oogie

 

 

 

Super Freak by Rick James

 

 

Le Freak by Chic

 

 

The Hustle by Van McCoy

 

 

Fly Robin Fly by Silver Convention

 

 

Make Me Believe in You by Patti Jo

 

 

 

 

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