RE: Disco

From: Dan (dzacks@po-box.mcgill.ca)
Date: Tue May 14 2002 - 23:49:42 CEST

  • Next message: flavorpill: "flavor landing | SF 5.14 - 5.20.02"

    Back when I was first inducted into the world of dancefloor music I loathed
    disco. But this was the reaction of an ignorant neophyte. Disco, as many
    have rightfully argued, is fundamental to the music we enjoy and discuss
    today and should receive the respect it deserves. That said, there is an
    important distinction to be made between disco as the soundtrack to the
    black, predominantly gay underground of the early to mid 70s and disco as
    appropriated by a white, mercenary music industry. Incidentally, the
    infamous rally Pace mentioned was above all a display of intense homophobia.
    Disco never entirely shook its gay roots and the signs proclaiming "Disco
    Sucks" had more to do with middle American prejudices against gay culture
    than considered criticisms of disco music.
    So many of the clubs that served as sites for disco's evolution provided the
    blueprint for the clubbing experiences this list values. Take the early
    years of the Paradise Garage. Larry Levan's incredibly eclectic sets
    blended everything from Fela to the Talking Heads to 4/4 thumpers.
    Ironically, Levan's eclecticism seems lost on contemporary DJs who consider
    'garage' to mean terribly monotonous sets of 123bpm melodic house.
    In addition to the ones already mentioned, there are dozens and dozens of
    disco era tracks that still sound fresh and blend well with current sounds.
    Check out the Erotic Drum Band's "Jerky Rhythm" for an incredibly percussive
    number. Candido's "Jingo" is also stellar along with LPs by Merl Saunders
    ("Do I move you") and the Players Association ("Turn The Music Up!").
    Also, check out Ulf Poschardt's "DJ Culture" for a good discussion of the
    disco era. The English translation from the original German is terrible and
    some of Poschardt's cultural theorising is tedious, but it's a worthy read.
    Dan

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Waxing Deep • Tuesdays 3-5am EST • CKUT 90.3FM www.ckut.ca
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Wm. ERROL PACE [mailto:wm_errol_pace@hotmail.com]
    Sent: May 13, 2002 11:07 AM
    To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
    Subject: Re: Acid Jazz and Disco

    >--- Eric Kitel <eric@ayalounge.com> wrote:
    > > Paul Berger wrote:
    > > > I hope acid jazz doesn't go the way of disco.

    I am seriously trying to comprehend any redeeming qualities associated with
    Disco and its culture. Unless one held a huge arse holding in the polyester
    industry maybe that could be one. Music-wise? I'm still trying to think of
    one almost redeeming quality. Every once in a while I'll see this interview
    on VH-1 with Niles Rodgers complaining about that baseball game in the 70's
    where it turned into a Death To Disco Rally. I can usually find something
    redeeming about almost anything but living during that era just turned me
    against it all. Hey wait before I flush Disco down the toilet I just
    thought of something redeeming about it, Louis Johnson's Bass Playing on
    Strawberry Letter 23. I have to say that was friggin' awesome and I have
    recently heard it on a T.V. Commercial. Always end on a positive.

    Semper Motociclismo,

    Pace'

    > >
    > > You mean go underground and morph into a variety of
    > > fresh new sounds like
    > > house and techno, like Disco did? I think it's
    > > already happened, though
    > > acid jazz was always underground, now it has morphed
    > > into NuJazz and Broken
    > > Beats.
    > >
    > >
    > >
    >
    >
    >__________________________________________________
    >Do You Yahoo!?
    >LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
    >http://launch.yahoo.com

    _________________________________________________________________
    MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
    http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed May 15 2002 - 00:10:56 CEST