A history of black music- but they left out disco...

[david uk]

I posted this on my blog today but thought I'd share it here just to hear what people think:

"Over the past few days I've been truly engrossed in a History of Black Music on cable tv. It's been great to fill in the gaps in my musical knowledge and put all the pieces together from Gospel to Sam Cooke to Aretha to Motown to Stevie Wonder and James Brown. As the documentary reached Bootsy Collins and George Clinton I got ready for the part that would cover Disco.

It never came :eek:

They passed straight into Hip Hop- so the whole of the mid-late seventies was missed right out. Now of course it became very popular for many years to slag off Disco music, and I remember all the "Disco is Dead" slogans in the early 80s, but if you listen back to the music that was being produced at the time, some of it was truly great. Forget the Bee Gees with their tight trousers, big hair and squealing voices, I'm mainly talking about the kind of music that did follow on naturally from James Brown and George Clinton and was completely erased from the series I have been watching.

There may well have been some pretty mediocre stuff around, but then isn't there with any musical genre? Think about the musicianship of bands like Chic, though, whose members Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards went on to produce quality records for so many others; then there was Barry White with his Love Unlimited Orchestra, and artists such as Edwin Starr, Rose Royce and Odyssey, whose music was all over the radio in my formative years.

At one stage even veteran white performers were trying their hand at it- some actually pulled it off rather well (The Stones' "Miss You", Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust"), though it has to be said that the efforts of others, such as "D'ya Think I'm Sexy?" by a certain Rod Stewart are best forgotten

My favourite artists of the time are people I still listen to today. The late Sylvester, whose bold, androgynous video for "(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real" somehow made it onto prime time tv in the UK. He captivated me at once as he strolled down the staircase in the grainy video, resplendent in a sequin gown and high heels, making me sit bolt upright, trying to hide my excitement from my parents as we watched it as a family at tea time. Sylvester's albums, especially his live record "Living Proof", show what a stunning voice he had and just how versatile his musical range could be. This superb album was recorded in San Francisco in 1979 and after the show he was given the keys to the city by the mayor.

Donna Summer was the artist I listened to most in my bedroom in the late seventies. Although from the mid-80s onwards her music has been pretty poor, she and her team released some ground-breaking albums at the time- some of her earlier ones, such as "A Love Trilogy" and "Four Seasons of Love" had a European disco feel to them, and featured ridiculously long, opus-style songs, sometimes just 3 or 4 tracks fitting on an album! Donna Summer's team (the German Giorgio Moroder and British Pete Bellotte) also paved the way for the next, electronic wave of dance music with things like "I Feel Love" and the fourth side of the "Bad Girls" album, a sound which would Moroder would follow through later with bands such as Sparks.

The importance of Disco music to 70s gay culture was huge as well (tho I myself was but a teenager stuck in his bedroom !).

I am not a disco fan as such, but I did feel that to miss the whole genre out of a history of black music was quite an omission."

There. I've finished now :p



what do you all think?

[Oak Kitten]

I am no musicology expert, but I suspect the omission may be a consequence of the fact that disco is regarded to having its origins in gay culture moreso than black culture. From my own reading it seems that the African American community has a strong streak of homophobia - perhaps even moreso than the mainstream American culture - and that is why disco was ignored. Just a theory.

Having come of age in the disco era, my favorite artists are Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor, the "Disco Divas." It is funny, but at the time, I had no clue of the association of disco with gay culture - nor did most of my contemporaries at the Catholic women's college I attended.

I am interested to hear what others have to say on the subject.

Oak

[david uk]

Oak that's a interesting post.

I am aware that this thread may tread on sensitive ground, but a journalist friend of mine posted the following response to my blog:

"The gay history of disco makes it a bit of an embarrassment for some. Maybe that's why they chose to ignore it. So much anti-disco sentiment had a whiff of homophobia about it - remember the 'Disco Sucks' campaign and public burning of disco records in the late 70s (well they couldn't get away with burning faggots anymore...). Today there's so much macho bullshit attached to a certain part of black music (I mean rap ). I'm sure many of the more successful music producers in that area would prefer it if disco hadn't been 'tainted' by the gays. But it was, so they ignore it altogether. px"

I am interested to know where this homophobia came from

[Oak Kitten]

David,

I just came across this article. I don't know anything about the website, trueskool.org - but the article is interesting, although there is no mention of homophobia:

The road that disco traveled-from underground style to regional scene to national and international trend- is a migrational pattern at the heart of popular culture. Initially, music played in discos was dominated by high-quality black dance music."

"Mainstream culture discovered this music around 1975 with the sudden appearance of disco records on the pop charts. Seeing how this music was crossing over from the dance underground ignited a feeding frenzy among the major labels. Black artists were either pushed toward disco by producers and label executives or went on their own pursuit of the disco dollar. This resulted in some major hits, but more typical were records in which great voices and bands were subordinated to big, unwieldy orchestra arrangements and lousy rhythms, which sparked an anti-disco backlash that tainted all black pop."

"All this horrible music inspired the phrase "Disco Sucks" and sadly, it was often used in ignorant attacks against black artists in general. Despite optimistic talk inside the recording industry that disco would help black performers reach broader audiences and more lucrative careers, a glance at the charts from the period reveals just the opposite. When "Good Times" hit the top 10 in the fall of 1979 the top six places on the chart were all occupied by disco records. By the time it reached No. 1 on August 18, there were three disco records in the top 10 and when it fell out of the top 10 on September 22, there were none. The press wasted no time declaring the disco era officially dead. The death of disco had an important effect on the pop scene-especially in radio, where backpedaling programmers were shying away from black records of any kind in an effort to stay as far away from the "disco" tag as possible."

SOURCE: The Vibe History of Hip Hop, edited by Alan Light

[Darlene]

I don't know what disco revolved from and I don't like disco and I never will. I am a pretty plain person (well some people think I am very radical regardless) I didn't even think anything was associated with my dislike of disco and homophobia I really didn't even think about that. I don't really like country, but I love bluegrass and folk and even some rockabilly. But I do not crying in your beer country. I also like big band music but marching band music well I just wish it would keep marching as far away from me that is possible. No, not homophobia for me just what I love in different kinds of music. Oh yea, I don't care for hip hop but my son lives to listen to it and he is 26 years old.
Go figure!
Peace Darlene

[aabram]

I don't know what disco revolved from and I don't like disco and I never will. I am a pretty plain person (well some people think I am very radical regardless) I didn't even think anything was associated with my dislike of disco and homophobia I really didn't even think about that. I don't really like country, but I love bluegrass and folk and even some rockabilly. But I do not crying in your beer country. I also like big band music but marching band music well I just wish it would keep marching as far away from me that is possible. No, not homophobia for me just what I love in different kinds of music. Oh yea, I don't care for hip hop but my son lives to listen to it and he is 26 years old.
Go figure!
Peace Darlene

It's OK, Darlene. Neither do I and our musical tastes are therefore basically the same. Got quite alot of stull you'll like:rolleyes: , and some of the stuff the kids listen to is not to my taste at all :eek:

Annabel

[david uk]

of course we all like different kinds of music, but that was not my point.

my point was that it was strange to put together a well researched history of black music and completely leave out any reference to it whatsoever- it just struck me as very odd.

[Eva]

Yes, it is odd, David. And I can't see any reason why... Maybe a lot of music was listed under another name? Like 'funk' for f.i. the music Chic made. Could that be a reason?

Eva

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

All things considered... I enjoy a lot of the (what I consider to be) better disco acts... The Village People, Donna Summer, ABBA, The Bee Gees, Travares, Gloria Gayner and so on and so forth... I have a hard time accepting the implied conclusion that producers or writers as in the case of "the friend" have bypassed the inclusion of disco as a part of Black history of as a result of being embarrassed by a given artists "sexual Preference" ( I don't like that term but for lack of a better I will use it...) Not all things are part of a larger conspiracy...
I see it as an artist being an artist, wether or not one choses to like their artform or media... I confess that I was never one to really enjoy "New Wave, Hip Hop or Rap... But those dislikes and my choice to disassociate myself from the musical art forms (which I will gladly acknowledge) are strictly based on my personal preference with no regard to skin tone, or who they sleep with... I thank God daily for having the ability to change CD's or even radio stations so I need not listen to that which I don't feel appeals to my taste... If life wasn't so full of choices I might find myself STUCK listening to "ALL ELVIS ALL THE TIME RADIO"... Yuck!!!! I never cared much for his music but based on his popularity and sales he was (or is, depending on where you've last seen him) a superstar... Anyway enough of my rambling and I will close by saying Thank God for Variety (and Janis) To each their own.... Listen to what you like but again not all music is hidden from history as a result of some writers embarrassment of who one sleeps with... A person that disassociates themselves from any musical artform based more on the artists personality then the musical stylings is missing the very idea of art I think... Thats somewhat like boycotting a great actor because you don't like because of one of the roles he/she played.... Just to me makes little sense....

Best to all

R. from Pa

[Darlene]

It seems to me as if there is a lot of stereotyping here. Disco Gay? Why? Because Gays have been associated what glitter, tight polyester clothes? Blacks associated with being macho? Homophobic?

Come on guys Gay's=disco? Homophobic, macho=blacks. And guess what we aren't even considering the roles of women here. Do female gays=disco"? Do female blacks=macho, homophobic.

I wasn't noticing myself at that time and why did blacks, males or females have to have interest in disco. Jazz has traditionally been black not all but predominately black. There were some whites in there. Does a race as a whole, have to have in a certain place in history.

I love history it was one of my minors in college. But this stuff is really just stereoptying, just like all German's were little Hitler's. Hitler himself would not let that happen because he wasn't pure enough. He had this bad blood in him, you see!

Don't get all up set with me I just don't like to put all people in these little groups, it's neither here or there with me, I just don't like to see people pigeon-holed into groups.

I know I am asking for it. Laugh

Peace Darlene

[Dee]

My best guess David would be that while Disco was performed by many black female singers, it was embraced more by white audiences, and certainly Gay white audiences more than straight. My point being, it’s probably not considered to be “Black” music as such regardless of its roots.

I also believe today’s “dance” / techno music owes its legacy to the Disco era.


***

By 1976 disco music was grand. Many of the artists singing it were gay, black, and women (and assorted combos of these classifications), at times these artists represented perhaps 80% of the songs that were popular; rock and roll proper had never allowed much or any music from these parties into its mainstream. Of course some black singers and groups (James Brown; Earth, Wind, and Fire, etc.) had been deemed OK and given the blessing of the mainstream with white audiences, but women artists were really a real rarity even into the 1970s, and at this point there were no gay mainstream singers who were out. In fact gay disco groups or artists remained essentially closeted until the days of Sylvester. Even the Village People, whom we first called "our own," who sang about the dangers of sex in the bushes of Fire Island (NY), leather boys on Folsom Street in San Francisco, staying at notorious YMCAs, and on and on, throughout the 70s tried to deny or avoid answering any questions about their pretty obvious sexual orientation, a course of action which royally pissed off a lot of gay people whom they'd quite nicely exploited for support in their earliest days.

Smelling the lure of large profits, the recording industry began to devise ways of bringing disco music to the masses. This was inevitable as the sound had become more and more popular. What the recording industry didn't care about was the fact that a lot of the masses weren't necessarily really all that interested in dancing, and many of the white straight males, in particular, did not like the sound of black people's music, women singers, and music rumored to have gay overtones.

This didn't stop the entertainment industry. In 1977 the movie "Saturday Night Fever" was released. It was about a group of straight, homophobic, racist, Italian-American twenty-somethings in New York who went dancing nightly wearing odd looking clothes and probably too much after shave lotion (they looked nothing much like people I saw or knew in gay discos). The movie was a success, and because of the endless music of the Bee Gees now heard whenever you turned on the radio, a backlash began against disco music began.

This backlash happened and disco retreated to the closets, but it certainly did not spell the end of disco music, as many people would have you believe. Disco never did end - it morphed.

(source (http://www.brumm.com/gaylib/disco/))

[aabram]

David, I'm sorry I didn't have time to read the thread properly yesterday. I only had an hour, but picked up on Darlene's post. This is a lovely thread, and I'm glad to be part of it. I'm emailing it to myself now so that I can read it properly later. I shall post my reply tomorrow.

Darlene, history is something which gives me a great interest too :)

Annabel

[david uk]

oh lordy, this nis getting a bit out of hand!

Darlene, I for one am making no generalisations here, such as "black=homophobic", "disco=gay etc

To reiterate again, I was simply puzzled as to why a detailed history of black music should all of a sudden skip almost ten years with no reference to the predominant music of the time.That was my main point here. If you read my blog again, you'll see that was all I was really curious about.

However, although I'm in no way saying that only gay people listened to disco music, as that would be plain silly :p Disco music was, undeniably an important part of gay culture in the 70s and 80s.

It's also undoubted that there was a significant backlash against disco music in the early 80s. That the backlash was partly homophobic is just a theory. Nevertheless, I do believe there may be some truth in it. In my own experience, after repeated homophobic taunts at school in the late 70s/early 80s, I had to hide the fact that I liked Donna Summer :eek:


finally, just a couple of quotes from an article I found:

"Perhaps no other popular art form is more closely identified with gay culture than disco and dance music. Gay men in particular adopted the intense, loud, throbbing 4/4 beat of dance music that predominated at the bars and discos that were among the few places where they could openly express their sexual identities. As the musical backdrop for generations of gay men who came of age and discovered an entirely new gay world in such venues, dance music became inextricably connected with the gay experience.

.......

During disco's post-classic period (1980-1982), its earlier momentum slowed in the face of increasingly violent negative reactions on the part of its foes, who saw disco as shallow, effete, and to a great extent, too queer. Post-classic disco thus went largely undercover and was heard primarily in gay clubs. It nevertheless saw the creation of club hits such as Sharon Redd's "In the Name of Love" (1982). "

the full article can be found at http://www.glbtq.com/arts/disco.html

phew !

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Darwoods.... I tend to agree with you... David my comments to a great degree were based on your insertion from a "friend" that responded to your blog that you later deleted.... There is no mal intent I just tend to agree that between the article and your friends comments there is in fact a great deal of implied stereotyping... Music is music... gays are gay. blacks are black, whites are white, and sometimes in fact these people and things cross over.... when I see terms that imply that "most" or even "many" used I often see it as stereotyping wether or not intended... I think the words used often speak between the lines and speak volumes wether intended or not..... It's the old "Us and Them" syndrome.... Just like "some of my best friends are ......." and then continue on with the but...."

Best to all

R. from Pa

[david uk]

Randy I have deleted nothing....

[Eva]

I see nothing of that kind in Davids question and comments (the us and them stuff) I thought this thread was about music, Randy.

Eva

[Oak Kitten]

All generalizations are false.

[david uk]

true, Oak

and this thread was never about generalisations.....

[Greywolf]

My (detached, as usual) input on this:

Disco to me was never specifically music. I mean, sure, okay, it was to a degree -- I was a HEAVY Bee Gees fan for about two years straight. I thought they were The Best.

But really?

Disco to me was an ATMOSPHERE, a feeling, a sense. No, silly, I wasn't clubbing -- I was only 11 or so!

To further clarify: At age 9, I became an official pinballoholic. At age 10 or 11, I discovered a REALLY cool -- if rough -- place to hang out and (watch people) play pinball. The music on the radio and the jukeboxes was disco.

Do you know what I think about the whole Disco thing?

It was positive. The energy was, by and large, good. It had just this happy-go-lucky feel about it, and it lifted people up. Morale was probably higher in this country then than it has been since. At least that's my perception.

<conspiracy>
I think Disco died because it gave the people too much hope and happiness, and being a Puritan nation as we are, they can't have happy people with high morale because that gives them power. We have to be kept depressed, in the dark, and under the influence that nothing we care about or want really matters.
</conspiracy>

Okay, maybe that's a bit silly (but the way governing bodies work and the way the wing nuts seem to think, one can never tell).

Disco was just such a permeating ambience from 1976 to 1980 for me that when I hear it, it gives me this amazing warm fuzzy feeling, and I remember people gone by. There are exactly three people from that time with whom I still have contact on a regular basis, and when any of us get together, it's just good.

One of the other things I think when I think Disco is all the day-glo stuff that was out at that time (I had a portable black light in my room). Day-Glo fuzzy posters were "sweet"!

Would I trade in today for then? Not really -- the beer is better now. :)

[Bud, Coors, Oly, Rainier, Pabst, Burgie, Henry's, Corona, Dos Equis, I mean come ON, people!]

But that's a thread for another day.

I still miss the black light stuff and the other warm fuzzies. I'm lucky enough to still have access to the pinball machines.

*sigh*

[david uk]

thanks greywolf for bringing us back to the subject :)

[Eva]

Greywolf, I think killing disco was a way to kill pinball... *sigh* :(

Eva

[Bat]

At age 10 or 11, I discovered a REALLY cool -- if rough -- place to hang out and (watch people) play pinball.

OMG...the things a mother learns, 30 years later! If I had KNOWN....:eek:

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Randy I have deleted nothing....

David??? When you first posted this there was a blurp at the bottom with a response that you said a friend had sent to your blog... About two hours later you edited (notice the editing timestamp) the remarks out... Sorry but thats what I recall and responded to... I don't mean to be argumentative but at the same time it was there... I don't make such things up... Perhaps you forgot?

Best to you my friend

R. from Pa

[david uk]

Randy, I have not deleted the quote from my friend- it's still there in post no. 3, where it always has been.


(the original blog was edited just to correct typos etc)

[Oak Kitten]

Yep. David is correct. The blurb is still in post #3. It was not deleted.

David, my comment "All generalizations are false," was intended as a smart-ass rejoinder to those who would accuse us of raising racist-homophobic conspiracy theories about the origins and demise of disco. The statement is itself a generalization and therefore must be false. Wait, but if it's a false statement - then generalizations must be true??? Ouch. My head is starting to hurt.

Anyway, all history is subjective, and while one group of people may remember a certain issue and/or event one way or within one context - that does not negate the fact that there are others who remember it or experienced it completely differently. It is like the Kipling poem about the blind men and the elephant. Each man gropes at a particular section of the beast (trunk, leg, torso, tail, ear) and arrives at a completely different conclusion as to its nature based on their individual experience. The poem concludes: "Though each was partly in the right and all were in the wrong!"

So, just because on individual's memory or experience of disco differs from someone else's, the discussion will be advanced further by recognizing these varying experiences and interpretations as individual - and not casting aspersions on the character of those who have a different point of view.

Oak

[david uk]

Anyway, all history is subjective, and while one group of people may remember a certain issue and/or event one way or within one context - that does not negate the fact that there are others who remember it or experienced it completely differently.


Yes Oak, that's very true, and exactly the kind of discussion I hoped my initial question would prompt.....

Having said that, I must say I enjoyed Greywolf's post yesterday!:p

[Oak Kitten]

That was a good post by Greywolf. I enjoyed it as well.

Oak

[illinoisbill]

In my humble opinion, I feel that Disco had become very mainstream. I mean, look who were putting out disco records. Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, Carley Simon, Bette Midler, Helen Reddy, Cher, Kiss, The Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Barbara Strisand, and the list goes on and on... These were all mainstream acts not "Disco Acts". So to say that disco was a gay form of music does not hold up. I think there was just such an over saturation of disco music that it caused a backlash. Also remember that the next new thing (PUNK ROCK) was changing the music scene big time.

[david uk]

In my humble opinion, I feel that Disco had become very mainstream. I mean, look who were putting out disco records. Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, Carley Simon, Bette Midler, Helen Reddy, Cher, Kiss, The Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Barbara Strisand, and the list goes on and on... These were all mainstream acts not "Disco Acts". So to say that disco was a gay form of music does not hold up. I think there was just such an over saturation of disco music that it caused a backlash. Also remember that the next new thing (PUNK ROCK) was changing the music scene big time.


You have a point there- in that all and everyone was making "disco" music and people like Rod Stewart and the Bee Gees were maybe a step too far and took it away from its roots.

I agree that people had had enough, and that was a major reason for the backlash.

I do however think there may have been an element of homophobia in the music industry- today there's so much homophobia in the lyrics of hip hop (several US hip hop acts have been refused entry into the UK due to the homophobic content of their lyrics).

but I definitely think you have a point in saying that oversaturation and mediocrity had a large part to play.

[Eva]

In my humble opinion, I feel that Disco had become very mainstream. I mean, look who were putting out disco records. Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, Carley Simon, Bette Midler, Helen Reddy, Cher, Kiss, The Bee Gees, Diana Ross, Barbara Strisand, and the list goes on and on...
True. But that doesn't say anything about it's original roots. If disco originally grew from soul and funk it certainly had roots in black music. What it grew into is a different issue.

Eva

[Bat]

I always liked Disco, hated Punk Rock with a passion...thought it was the absolute worst, until they came up with Rap.
Rap could be clever and funny, but they make it so angry and full of expletives that it means nothing but trouble. Definitely NOT music.:confused:

[DaveM]

It is strange, isn't it, that if you listen to some of the early rappers (pre-"gangsta" era), there is some genuine art there (mind, most of the rhythms used were invented or at least polished by Bob Dylan, but that's a small point). The more talented performers, however, were quickly crowded out by the foul-mouthed folk who get a rise out of the industry's target market--14 year olds.

I find certain punk rock songs utterly hilarious as novelty songs in a sick sort of way. Sid Vicious' rendition of "My Way" is a fine example, as is pretty much anything by the Dead Kennedys (though especially those few where one can understand the lyrics).

When the radio was playing disco, I guess I was listening to disco along with every else. But it's been a long time since I listened to the radio apart from "oldies" stations.....sigh.

[Darlene]

Originally posted by Eva:
True. But that doesn't say anything about it's original roots. If disco originally grew from soul and funk it certainly had roots in black music. What it grew into is a different issue.


Eva, Now that I think of it the beginnings of Disco have a taste of the late
60's early seventies African American music. The Jackson Five, Prince, Stevie Wonder, etc. The music, the dancing all very good and before Disco. Disco came in so fast and was not that all musically good (because of the speed that it rushed in). People were so filled up with Disco that they were sick of it after a short while. I can not believe that being homophobic made the African Americans stay away from it. I may be dumb but I can not see that Disco is a Gay music, or had Gay beginnings. Elvis was supposed to be all about African American Music. Who knows?

[Dee]

We should start off by agreeing on a working definition of disco. The Allmusic guide defines disco as a music that grew out of the soul and funk grooves of the early ‘70s while changing their formulas by valuing the beat over vocals and instrumentation, thereby giving way to a music that was made expressly for dancing at nightclubs. Disco had its stars, but it was more oriented toward producers who largely remained outside the limelight. Disco DJs pioneered the use of 12”, instead of 7”, singles, and they were also among the earliest to mix records and segue between tracks. Early disco tended to utilize heavy bass lines, smooth vocals and lush horns and strings, but by the end of the ‘70s, books like Disco Dancing Tonite pointed out its “hypnotic, almost computerized sound.”

A few disco producers had already begun to rely exclusively on computers to craft their sounds by the decade’s final years. In the liner notes to his 1977 album From Here to Eternity—regarded by some critics as the very first wholly electronic dance album—Giorgio Moroder audaciously bragged, “Only electronic keyboards were used on this recording.” Moroder’s own music (as opposed to what he produced for Donna Summer) did not find warm reception from the DJs at Studio 54, which was dominated by more mainstream artists like Chic. Instead, the more progressive and electronic disco was championed by DJs like the Paradise Garden’s Larry Levan in New York and Frankie Knuckles of the Warehouse in Chicago. Levan continued to spin large amounts of disco into his mixes at the Garage well into the mid-’80s. Knuckles’ sets at the Warehouse between 1978 and 1983 paved the way for house music to emerge by the mid-‘80s, and to this day, it’s the child of disco most reminiscent of its parent.

Much less known, however, is the debt that hip-hop owes to disco. Much has been made, and rightly so, of the influence funk had on hip hop. More than any other genre, funk has provided hip-hop producers with melodies and hooks for their beats, and most hip-hop fans know about the enormous role James Brown’s music had on the development of hip-hop. Many people can also remember hostilities between the more midtown, black middle-class disco set and the South Bronx, poorer black hip-hop set. Still, disco really gave hip hop a lot of steam early on as it provided it with it many of its techniques.

<snip>

One of the more obvious, but also more commonly forgotten, forms of disco that came out in these years was the dance pop of a number of mainstream artists. At the high-water mark of the ’80s disco revival, the heirs of the quintessentially ‘70s sound ruled the airwaves in 1983 and 1984 by just adding more bass and synths to the previous decade’s club music. Ask anyone what type of music Madonna put out early on, and most people will tell you “’80s pop” or something like that, but the Material Girl herself came directly out of the disco scene. When she first moved to New York from Michigan, Madonna quickly joined the disco group Patrick Hernandez Revue, who had the hit “Born to Be Alive.” All of Madonna’s early singles, including “Holiday,” were basically synthed-up disco tracks, as was her self-titled debut LP, produced by dance stalwarts Mark Kamins and Jellybean Benitez. Although she basically abandoned this style for a more mainstream pop sound with her second album, Like a Virgin (1984) , Madonna still entrusted the legendary disco composer and Chic frontman Niles Rodgers with production duties for the LP.

So if you’ve managed to make it through this article all the way to the end, the one thing you should walk away with is the realization that disco did not die at the end of the ‘70s. Instead, disco just went underground for a couple of years until bursting back into the limelight in the forms of electro, freestyle and even pop in the mid-‘80s.

(source (http://www.wxyc.org/in/audible/online/last_days.html)) WXYC's THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO

[Darlene]

Thanks Dee, That article proved to be most informative! I liked the way the article tied everything together. How one type of music grew into another made a lot of sense. I was trying to do that in my mind from just remembering how African American music was before Disco and how similar it was to an evolving musical styles.

Thanks Dee and Peace,
darlene

[Bat]

And before Disco, there was Motown...my absolute faves.

[Dee]

Stop! in the name of love
la la la la lala . . .

:D

[david uk]

Eva, Now that I think of it the beginnings of Disco have a taste of the late 60's early seventies African American music.

yes, Darlene I was struck by that too when I saw the documentary on black music.