1
Sehar Enam
12/22/2014
MEDST 330W
Final Project
Disco subculture during the 1970s
What comes to mind when someone utters the word “disco.” Well to me, disco is a place where people can have fun. It reminds me of bright shiny lights, a disco ball, bright glittery clothes and a place where people can truly enjoy themselves. According to American Popular music by Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman,“the term ‘disco’ was derived from ‘discotheque,’ a term first used in Europe during the 1960s to refer to nightclubs devoted to the playing of recorded music for dancing”[Starr 361]. Disco first started as an underground genre and was mainly adopted by the gay community, which welcomed people from all backgrounds to come and party with them. In this essay, I will discuss the changes brought about by disco, characteristics of disco music that made it so popular, various disco personalities and eventually the demise of disco music.
Disco started as undergroundmusic where the gay community often partied and danced to disco music. Starr writes“the disco movement initially emerged in Manhattan nightclubs such as Loft and the Tenth Floor, which served as social gatherings spots for heterosexualmen” [Starr 364]. These discos served as social hangouts for gay men because homosexual men were often harassed in public for their appearance and lifestyle. It was a way of life for gays as it united people from different races, backgrounds, and ethnicities under the banner of homosexuality. Young people gota chance to get away from harassment and their troublesome life since disco music gave them something to admire and cheer which changed their lives forever.
Disco in the 1960s was very different from its heyday in late 1970ssincedisco dancers were mainly homosexual men in the 1960s but later the heterosexualculture adopted the music and dance. According to“Disco and the Queering of the Dance Floor”, the comparison between the two disco eras was rather stark since “dancers in the 1960s took to the floor within the regulated structure of the heterosexual couple [while] the dancers in the 1970s began to take to the floor without a partner” [Lawrence 233]. As a result, the disco culture grew out of this social dance scene because now anyone could dance with anyone and it became all about owning and exploring the floor. The individuality expressed in the disco dance scene further limited the partnerships of dance couples. Lawrence points out, because “the social dynamic of partnered dancing was necessarily limited because men and women who formed dancing couples had to concentrate on their partner in order to move rhythmically and expressively and also avoid physical injury” [Lawrence 234]. Therefore, the changes brought about by disco in the relationship of dance couples and a focus on expression of individuality had a tremendous effect on the culture because the dancers had to learn new individually-focused dance moves. Furthermore, disco allowed homosexual subculture to be brought into the limelight whereas before it was relegated to the fringes of American society.
The 1970s disco scene changed dramatically because of the role of Disk Jockey. Previously DJsplayed remixed versions of popular songs but now DJs had to offer something very different to their audience asthe article states “DJs were also charged with theresponsibility of encouraging dancers to not only dance but also leave the floorand visit the bar… the newfound collective forceof the 1970s dance crowd meant [DJs] had to change [their] style which means [DJs] witnessed the difference between playing to the regulated straight crowd and the more open, heterogeneouscrowd that entered the venue at the beginning of 1970” [Lawrence 235]. Now people were demanding more out of the DJs as they became familiar with the dance scene and wanted to spend more time dancing and grooving on the disco scene. Consequently, disco music changed the music industry by treating the audience as active consumers who went to the best venue to spend their money rather than as mere listeners.
This is further highlighted in the case of Sanctuary DJ Francis Grasso and his fellow DJs who were required to understand the feelings of their audience/consumers as the article states “of course dancers did not just communicate by booing the DJ. Theywould also clap and cheer and whistle, while the very energy of theirmovements was also communicative, and it became the primary role of Grassoand his contemporaries to read the mood of the crowd and select a record that was appropriate for the moment” [Lawrence 235]. As a result, music in the American culture became more interactive and disco changed the traditional relation between a musician and his audience.
There came a dramatic change late in 1977 in the American culture because of the release of Saturday Night fever [1977] by John Badham. This movie predominantly reached middle class white Americans and according to “Discophobia:Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco”the star and the film music “presented an image of heterosexuality…the Bee Gees and Travolta made disco safe for white, straight, male, young, and middle-class Americans and were crucial to disco successfully crossing over to this newAudience” [Frank 288].Therefore, the movie was crucial in bringing the gay culture to the forefront of American society as it glamorized being different and humanized homosexualsas compared to their previous social image of deviancy and outcasts.
WKTU-FM Radio station was another reason for disco’s success in reaching the wider American audience and disco’s ability to change American society forever. WKTU-FM was considered as a hit radio station during this period and had a massive listener demographic. As the article states, “by 1979, it was the most popular radio station in the country, and its success caused many other radio stations to alter their formats in the hopes of cashing in on the burgeoning disco market” [Frank288]. This mass reach of disco music and culture and its infiltration into white middle-class America permanently changed perceptions of gay culture. Whereas, previously gays and gay culture were seen to exist on the fringes of American society, the introduction of disco raised alarm among conservative White Americans. Unlike previous homophobic responses that existed on a local scale, the popularization of disco music allowed for a national and well-organized response against the gay culture. As Frank points out “such rhetoric echoed antigay political discourses, which represented homosexuality as menacing and spreading clandestinely throughout the nation” [Frank 289].
Disco music became so popular because of the way it utilized musical techniques. In particular, Starr describes five techniques used in “Bad Girls” [1979] and “Good Times” [1979] that describe“the beat,” tempo, repetition, straightforward simple lyrics, and limited harmonic vocabularyof disco music. We all need some type of beat in order to get into a dance mood and so disco of the 1970s also relied on this. As Starr states “the beat constitutes the essential hook on all disco records. It is characteristic of disco that every pulse is rhythmically articulated by the bass and /or the drums” [Starr 365]. Here, the beat sets the mood of the dancer and without it, the foundation of disco music is undefined. Another aspect which the beat offers is the “thump! -thump!-thump!-thump! [That] disco creates and maintains [and] disco dancers literally never skip a beat” [Starr 365]. As a result, the beat allows dancers to stay energized and in the groove.
A steady, medium-fast tempo also allowed disco music to gain a strong foothold in American musical industry. “Like most social dance music,disco recordings maintained an unvarying tempo throughout” [365] and we need this tempo in order for disco music to alter our minds. Because of the tempo in disco music, dancers were able to perform at a steady but fast pace and without tempo dancers would be lost on the floor. Furthermore, the tempo allowed dancers to have moves that characterized disco music.
Another technique of disco is“repetitive song forms.” As Starrstates “Both‘Bad Girls’ and ‘Good Times’ are based clearly on a verse-chorus kind of form”[Starr, 366]. This allows the listener to pay more attention to the music than the lyrics and keeps the listener in the music’s groove while also allowing him to improvise his dancer moves with the straight forward repetitiveness of the songs. The format of disco, thus allows itself to be easily identified and understood.
Another technique mentioned by Starr is straightforward subject matter and lyrics. Starr writes “there is no doubt what either ‘bad girls’ or ‘good time’ is about” [Starr 366]. As Starr also points out, it would be a mistake to consider the songs of the disco era to be simple but they also do not deal with complex subject matter. Perhaps, it is the “escape” that they offered to the gay community from the complexities of the world that caused disco songs to be simple in subject matter. Furthermore, it makes practical sense to have easily understood and straightforward lyrics to follow the song format and dance to it.
Last but not least, limited harmonic vocabulary gives disco songs a particular characteristic that allows them to be distinguished from other musical genre. About “Bad Girls” Starr states that it “has only a slightly wider harmonic vocabulary, but it too gives the sense of being built around two basic, alternating chords much of the time; these two cords underline the entire chorus and do not shift when the choruses give way to the verses” [Starr 366]. This allows the listeners who are not familiar with musical theory to appreciate the song as much as savvy listeners, thereby attracting younger crowd of music lovers who appreciate the music because of its repetitive, straight forward and simple nature.
Disco had distinct personalities that became the symbol for the disco genre. Unlike, musical genres of the past that did not have many female superstars, the disco genre allowed many singers such as Donna Summers to be in the mainstream music industry. Summer’s song “Love to Love You Baby” [1975] became a major hit of the time. She had a very sexy voice which appealed to the disco goers, thus allowing the song to be played in many clubs and radio stations. The song also allowed itself to be remixed easily by various DJs of the time. More importantly, her sensual songs were a stark contrast to previous genres and were often censored due to their suggestive nature.
Gloria Gaynor was another major singer of the disco era who popularized disco culture. Her song “Never Can Say Goodbye” [1971] became a commercial hit and according to Faber’s Companion to 20th CenturyPopular Music, “Gaynor’s ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ inaugurated the disco boom of the seventies, paving the way for such artists as Donna Summer” [Hardy 32]. Her other song was “Honey Bee” [1974] which was played in the clubs of 1970’s. More importantly, her song “I Will Survive” [1978] was used as an anthem for gay rights and continues to be popular today. Because of the work of these African-American women, disco became popular in the mainstream media and continues to have a following to this day.
However, such a success of disco music was also the cause of its demise. As Frankstates “the commercial success of disco music triggered a fearful and homophobic reaction from rock fans because it was considered to be quintessentially gay music” [288]. As disco was rising, it quickly became a threat to rock music’s commercial success which caused rock fans to mount a strong backlash that was “rooted in the antigay prejudice” and resulted in “the systematic collection and destruction of records at the disco demolition on 12 July 1979 [which] sent a message to the American public that listening to a genre of music that was openly identified as gay was unacceptable and that an avert gay influence would not be tolerated” [Frank 305]. Such a strong response from mainstream white fans of rock music caused a chill among the music industry’s executives, night clubs and stars. Disco music gradually died out only to re-emerge in remixes at theturn of the millennium. Consequently, the demise of disco music greatly affected the American culture as it set back the fight for equal rights for the gay community.
In further describing the disco musicof the 1970s, I am going to be using two documentaries. Disco: Spinning the Story [2005] made some good points about the disco culture. For example, it talked about how different races,ages,colors of people and groups came together to form this widely known disco subculture. Many wanted to get away from their troublesome livesand disco served as a venue for this escape. People were no longer listening to depressing news on the radio and were spending more and more time in these discos.Furthermore, the gay liberation movement allowed for clubs to open that did not necessarily identify themselves with any particular orientation.
The documentary also points out that disco was considered to be sexual in nature. Discos such as “Studio 25” allowed people to wear sexy clothing like tight body suits, shorts and cat suits which was flared from the bottom. These dresses characterized the disco era and were often complimentary to the disco theme. While women wore revealing clothes, men wore open-neck buttoned down shirts that exposed their chest. Much of the disco era fashion was copied from Saturday Night Feverwhere the main actor [John Travolta] wore fitted suits and danced to disco music.
The documentary also discussed how the disco era affected the mindset of the people. People felt more free to love, dance and party because the costumes and music of disco genre allowed them to be whatever they wanted to be and do whatever they desired. In sharp contrast to the national mood that centered on war time news, disco goers felt happy and energetic.
Another documentary titledUnsung: The Disco Era [2013] showed how disco changed the lifestyle of people who enjoyed disco music. The emergence of disco clubs in New York City also brought about drug use inside disco clubs. The rise of drug use among disco-goers was primarily due to a lack of attention paid by the police towards them. The documentary also highlights that the disco era was filled with controversial words that were not allowed to be played on radio.
While watching these two documentaries, I found many interesting comments made byYouTube watchers. For example, Boyd N Rash commented “to say disco sucks ‘was unfair’. There was some great disco music and some that wasn’t so great. Whether it was racist or not,whether it was homophobic or not,to say “disco sucks” was certainly prejudiced. I can think of no other music that celebrated life through music and dance as much as disco did. What about that sucks? Disco was great.” I found this comment to be very interesting because, even though, disco has been “dead” for a long time, it is still being admired by many fans such as Boyd N Rash. This comment also highlights the fact that disco was not just simple dance music but it also aroused a certain feeling of happiness that is central to any great musical piece. Another comment that I found interesting was made by Clint CBrantley where he stated “1975, 1976, 1977, and 1978… because of disco music I was in the best shape of my life. They need to bring back disco music so that my grandchildren can stay in shape. You couldn’t find one obese person during the sexy 70’s! Not 1.”He was so right to say that disco kept people in shape because disco goers spent so much time on the dance floor that it definitely made them lose weight! I also think that the re-emergence of disco will benefit our society by decreasing obesity rates and heart disease related problems.
Even though, disco has become extinct for the most part, we can still see its similarities in recent times. For example, now we have advancednight clubs such as Raves that feature techno music with flashing lights that younger crowds attend. These clubs still have music from the70s but in a remixed version. We can hear some modern songs such as “I Want It All”byKarmin (2014)whose voice resembles that of Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor. Techniques of disco music are still used in the modern music culture such as EDM, which uses synthesizers, drums and is created by a DJ who remixes the songs for the modern club scene. Even though, disco started off as an underground subculture, it became a dominant medium during the 1970s because many people took it as an escape to have fun, party and live an alternate reality in the discos. Unfortunately, it collided with the rock music culture and died out because of societal prejudice against homosexuality. Despite all the changes that occurred in the history of disco, we can still see disco re-emerging and re-defining itself slowly in mainstream film industry where disco-like soundtracks are being used in nostalgic films such as Drive [2011] that highlight masculinity and over-the-top violence.