Brendan Rong Huey Chua Disco

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BRENDAN RONG HUEY CHUA

DISCO

Part I

Disco, an exciting musical genre that emphasise heavily on it’s beats, started gaining popularity during the early 70’s. The original name of discotheque, was first derived in the

1960s through dance oriented nightclub (Ray, 2013). Disco was always declined by nightclubs but had their very first break because of its pioneer audiences, mainly black, gay and Latino dancers (Ray, 2013). The very first disco hit was ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ by

Gloria Gaynor in 1974 which is also the first few disco records that was mixed just for club use (Ray, 2013). DJ Terry Noel was the first DJ to mix records in 1965 in New York City in a club called Arthur while in Europe, disco scenes started when club hits like ‘Hold Me Closer’ and ‘Baby Come Back’ started flooding local clubs in 1966 (V is for Vintage, 2017). These entertainment outlets have brought followers from psychedelic, lesbian and gay, African

American, and Latino with the combination of heterosexual especially in the Philadelphia and

New York City region in the late 60’s and early 70’s (V is for Vintage, 2017).

Disco in the 70’s were the music that the radio played, the music that people want to dance along. This genre of music has particularly influenced club culture, fashion and even film (The Rise of Disco, 2017). The originality of Disco were thought to have some characteristics of Funk and R&B and also through the gay scene of New York City. The 1977 film soundtrack of ‘Saturday Night Fever’ has seen more than 15 million copies of the albums sold worldwide and has brought Disco straight to the mainstream music at that time

(The Rise of Disco, 2017).

The shocking dramatic change towards the culture of celebrities in the late 1970’s was so huge that almost every top celebrity has to go to Studio 54 located in New York or face the tough challenge of getting neglected or omitted by others (Flashback, 2015).

Part II It is believed that a large portion of the disco hits back in the 1970’s had a slower tempo like 90-110 bpm (Beats Per Minute). As time goes by, these musics up their tempo to around 110-140 bpm and not to mention that almost each of the songs are also longer in length (Disco History, 2017). The lengthening of disco songs came about when Tom Moulton suggested that the “standard 3 minute songs were just too short and came up with an idea of extending the songs to make it longer where you don’t lose the feelings. Where you can take them to another level” (Disco History, 2017). He started off the Disco-mix by sitting inside his house mixing a song together which is also a same song he mixed with itself just to lengthen the length of the song before combining it with another song and due to this, his creative inventions at that time has got him to be one of the most respected mixers ever (Disco

History, 2017). However, he did face a tough time getting those mixes onto a 7” vinyl which can only hold up to around 4-5 minutes of excellent quality music and thus, he would normally make two versions of the songs (Disco History, 2017).

An important key player in the disco era is Donna Summer, dubbed the “Queen of

Disco” (Ray, 2013). She was born Donna Adrian Gaines on the 31st of December in 1948 in

Boston, Massachusetts, US. Donna was also well known during the 70’s and 80’s especially in the genres of rhythm and blues, dance music, and pop. She started singing in church and then went to clubs to sing in Boston and Donna was also part of the German creation of the musical ‘Hair’ where she was recruited at an early age of 18 (Ray, 2013). At the same time,

Donna also performed with ‘Godspell’ and ‘Showboat’ while studying with the Vienna Folk

Opera when she was in Europe (Ray, 2013). Donna was really lucky as she even had the chance to meet with Pete Belotte, an Italian guitarist and lyricist and Giorgio Moroder, an

Italian synthesizer player that really helped her get her breakthrough. Subsequently, they joined forces to work on some of the Europop hits before making the famous single “Love To

Love You Baby” in 1975 which is almost 17 minutes in length (Ray, 2013). In the next one and a half decade, Donna was the writer or co-writer for almost all of her hit songs, such as

“She Work Hard for the Money” and “Bad Girls” (Ray, 2013).

In the mid-1970’s, the fashion of Disco hit a new height and was so popular that even bizarre outfits worn by clubbers were seen inside or outside of clubbing outlets, not to mention that even Elvis Presley wore a flared garment to his belly button (V is for Vintage,

2017). It spreads from New York City down towards the high streets where clubbers were seen in all sorts of fashion regardless of the men or women. An amazing characteristic of disco fashion is that they left behind all clothing fashion of the past and came up with their own new fashion that has never existed before. They distance their fashion taste from the childlike look of the 1960’s to be more advanced and innovative, with a much more mature looking fashion (V is for Vintage, 2017). It is believed that the trend was so well received at that time that even their grandparents started following suit to match the trends of the public.

In 1971, Disco also took a turn on the shoes industry as well when soled shoes spiced up both sexes by increasing around 2 to 4 inches above the ground (V is for Vintage, 2017).

Many disco goers also like to put on accessories such as slinky scarves, turbans, and feather boas. They also like to have their hair set to the style of feathered layer and shaggy looks for the men while the hair of the opposite sex were curly with some hairspray, tight or loose and might have some glitter spray or gels to suit their outfit (V is for Vintage, 2017).

Part III

The peak of disco music was in 1977 when the “Saturday Night Fever” movie showed how a youth from Brooklyn used discotheque to forget the trouble of his life (70s

Disco Music, 2017). A lot of the soundtrack in the movie contains some of the best selling songs from Bee Gees and it was one of the most famous soundtrack that was created in the movie history. Bee Gees enjoyed a successful stint of years in the 1970’s and ruled the disco era till the 1980’s when disco music started falling apart. By then, Bee Gees had already had eight songs which top the No. 1 charts and many other top twenty tracks charted on Billboard (70s Disco Music, 2017).

Those major record labels at that time were quick to get on the disco style while hoping to rake in as much as they can from the mainstream disco music (70s Disco Music,

2017). Labels have so much confidence in disco music that even if it is just a track that sounded like a disco music they would release it as soon as they can. In the meantime, many well known and famous rock bands were trying their best to rearrange their songs to have some disco elements in it to follow up the trends. Examples are Rod Steward’s “Do

You Think I Am Sexy” and “Copacabana” by Barry Manilow where disco overtones could be heard from the tracks (70s Disco Music, 2017). However, the complication of disco music has backfire the music industry at that time which sees the starting of death of disco music.

The death of disco came by when Punk Rock took over in the late 70’s due the fact that the trends and fashion of disco did not suit the politics at that period of time. A major portion of the US rock music lovers were seen showing their hate towards disco music by putting on clothings with anti disco slogans on it (V is for Vintage, 2017). Disco was so hated at that time that even an event called “Disco Demolition Night” was organised on the 12 of

July 1979 at Comiskey Park in Chicago in the US that include demolishing disco records through exploding and it was not really a calm event as seats were smashed while the entire venue was ripped apart by attendees (V is for Vintage, 2017). Many believe that the hatred of disco music started due to several well known producers who are trying to get rock music back to the mainstream music while some thought that the demise of disco music was to deter the popularisation of music trends that was well received by the public (70s Disco

Music, 2017). The death of disco happened in a short span of time and 80’s new wave accompanied with electronic synthesizers took over the sounds of strings and horns originated from disco (70s Disco Music, 2017).

These days, how disco sounded like is that the music still have live components in it, real instruments like the guitar or bass, while some are programmed electronically by musicians themselves, and the player does not necessarily meant that he is a DJ, since everything can be done electronically on music softwares (Greg, 2017). They are more of a mixture that blends musicality along with technology thanks to the advancing music softwares that are available in today’s music market (The Guardian, 2017). In recent years, notable DJ bands are mainly Skrillex, Deadmau5, and even a New York label named DFA which focuses mainly on dance music which are often regarded as the success of electronic music in the 20th century, or as others put it, “the second golden era of disco and dance”.

(The Guardian, 2017).

Part IV

Disco surfaced from an urban subculture during the starting of 1970s. It was suggested that disco songs were played with the combination of dancing peoples to match the disco beat of black disco goers where there will be two turntable, PA system, and a mike within the club (Disco Music, 2017). Many big disco record successes were broken in clubs in 1974 and in the following year, the influence was huge enough to dictate how hits were made and even album sized singles were brought to the market to fulfill the DJ’s request

(Disco Music, 2017).

As part of its culture, disco music is often associated with drug use especially methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or widely been accepted as ecstasy pill which has almost the same composition as amphetamine (Your EDM, 2012). It acts as a stimulant which gives euphoria and up the level of confidence and energy, connectivity and emotion within each other along with additional interest in light, sound, colour and touch (Davidson &

Parrott, 1997). Despite the mainstream public that thinks that clubbers are the cause of rise in ecstasy use and being a harmful place to go to because of its heavy use of drugs and unwanted sex, Kavanaugh and Anderson (2007) thought that it is a harmless hideout place for youngsters to hang out with their friends. Both Kavanaugh and Anderson (2007) also said that “dancing itself is a ritualistically rich event that “’synchronize[s]” the emotional and mental states of collective members, as they are exposed to the same ‘driving stimuli’ music”. As such, “ecstasy has a dimension that connects rave participants via another, often unrecognized effect of the drug: MDMA has both psychedelic and stimulant properties, and while the feelings of closeness and emotionality are tied to the psychedelic portion of the drug, the stimulant effects allow for extended periods of dancing and the ability to stay awake late into the night, making dancing itself the forefront of the event” (Kavanaugh and

Anderson, 2007).

Notable celebrities who were regulars at Studio 54 include Diana Ross, Calvin Klein, Michael

Jackson, Cher, and many more. Another significant change that was brought through the culture of disco was the development of women’s rights that has seen a growing number of women getting out of their home to an office to work because their husband is out partying (70’s culture, 2012). The 70’s was the time when it is acceptable that women also play their part in contributing to bring back some extra money for the family to help ease the burden of the men. However, the rate of divorce starts increasing rapidly towards the late

1970’s and it was not good for the families that were affected (70’s culture, 2012).

Conclusion

While the disco era did not last very long as other major genres did, it does post a significant change towards society in many aspects. Drugs, crazy fashion, and late night parties were the norm in the world of disco even till this day. But it is much better these days as disco parties are now being accepted as a form of friends gathering or event nights. The hatred towards disco no longer exists today due to the cultural and technological shift with the mainstream disco artist focusing on releasing new singles that will constantly wow their fans. The 70’s were one of the most influential decades in the world of music, mainly due to their rapid growing music scenes. Looking at the presence of disco music and how it influenced the society and its wild impact on many aspects of our life, there will not be a way of describing today’s dance music scene had it not happened.

Although the reign of disco music spanned only a decade long, it has left over tremendous traditions that we still practice today in most of our disco nights and clubs. Last but not least, let’s hope that the disco culture will remain as it is today so that our next generation will have the chance to experience the feelings of a real disco party in the near future.

References

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