When Exactly Did Disco Die and When Was the Beginning of the End?

[garrybcoston]

And.......when you listen to dance, house, techno, you're listening to three music genres that evolved from disco...so in essence, you're listening to disco in modern form! So, it never died, just the name changed.

[alangohlke]

Hello everyone: My name is Alan Gohlke and I just found this site yesterday (7/29/07) and I must say it is great to read so many things that bring back so many memories.

I was a club DJ in New Jersey from 1974 to 1983 and I worked at some of the primary clubs of the day back in that era...Creation in West Orange, The Meadowbrook, The Soap Factory, Chicago, Dante's Inferno, Club Bene, and yes for those of you from NJ and are old enough....Dimples in Union. I did several guest spots in New York City clubs and although I lived and worked in New Jersey, I primarily went to NYC clubs when I was not working. I was also a Billboard and WKTU "reporter".

The reason I am writing in this thread is because I think it is important to re-visit how "Disco" started for me...and because I believe that I am just a "normal" person as a lot of others were at this time, I am hoping that understanding how...and why it started or was so important to so many people...will help to understand how, when and if it died.

In 1973, I, like many others was a freshman in college and most of the people I knew or came into contact with were still "hippie" types (a lot of folk guitar playing and singing on my campus), the Vietnam war was recently over and you were either on one side or the other of that controversy, and if you were not a "hippie" type you were most likely a stoner/classic rock type person that still listened (100% of the time) to Deep Purple, Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, The Beatles etc. Now please don't get me wrong these are great artists and I had my fair share of these artists while I was growing up. I just knew for me, I needed something different. I did not know what it was. I didn't care to go to a bar and watch some garage type band, and I had no desire to go see acts like the Marshall Tucker Band et al. I just knew that I was not a "hippie" type or a classic rocker and these seemed to be the two predominant "types" of people in my world, and I suspect for most other people at the time.

Then in 1973 a guy I met in college took me to what I think was the first discoteque in New Jersey. A place called D'Scene in Sayreville. The people dressed differently there and they played the hippest music I had ever heard...and it was either coming from a juke box or from a guy on a single turntable (I am sorry that I cannot recall) and the music was nothing but MFSB, James Brown, O.C. Smith, Joe Bataan, BT Express type music. Danceable soul music! The small dance floor was packed and there wasn't even a DJ in the sense that we know it today. The music mostly...and the "differentness" of the people was right up my alley. It wasn't long after that that I was spinning records with a Bozak mixer and original Techniques SL 1200's (not the MKII's) in a relatively small club called Dimples in Union, NJ.

For me, a point is that I rarely if ever used the term Disco during this era nor did anyone else that I knew or hung out with. I was a club DJ and when I went out, I went "clubbing". I was deep into the "disco" scene but that is not what we called it. I had to go out to hear the music that I could not hear anywhere else with the possible exception of a few cuts on WBLS out of New York as there was no WKTU at the time and even WBLS was not heavily influenced by what was going on in the clubs at that time.

It was definitely about the music and the people like me that were also enamored with the music. The music and the people were the show. It was different..very different and at that time only a few people and associates that you knew had any idea that there was such a thing happening. Most of the people that I knew were drinking beer at bars with a bad garage type band playing a bad rendition of some Doobie Brothers song. The available "clubs" were few and you could not hear "club" music anywhere else...anywhere else!!! I hate to say it but you knew you were seeing and hearing things that 99.9% of the american population was not seeing or hearing. You felt different than most others around you that had no idea that there was this "scene" going on, and you knew by the music you were listening and dancing to...that you probably were different than many others...at the time.

Additionally, if you were a club DJ at that time it was about "breaking" new music and exposing these new sounds to "your crowd" and in some cases literally breaking the new sounds the day you got them in the mail from the record companies or picked them up from the record pools. You wanted to go to a club because you were likely to hear a cut that you had never heard before and to hear the music and be part of an experience that you could not get anywhere else. Mostly everything in the night scene at that time revolved around bands. To go to a place where they only played records...and where the songs were "mixed"...are you kidding me??? The music was so different that you had to go to a club to hear it. The dancing was also very different which was also a big part of the "differentness" of the club experience. Remember, there was no WKTU at that time.

So when did disco begin to die? Well I am in the camp that says it never really did as it just evolved into different types of club music. People still go out to clubs, they still dance, meet partners and have good times.

However, I knew it would never be the same the day WKTU in New York City and other stations like it across the country hit the airwaves. The reasons are pretty simple really. The music was not unattainable anymore (where you had to go to a club pre WKTU) and the radio business is a business so it was inevitable that these exclusive records would get put into "rotation" and guess what, they were not exclusive anymore! And worse than that of course, the best of the best got played out very quickly. And then everyone jumped on the band wagon and things got to be too commercialized and frankly ridiculous (Disco Duck and a bunch of actors making bad club cuts) and then competing radio formats began to fight back with disco sucks campaigns and disco sucks stickers came out, and then Steve Dahl parlayed it to the maximum with his Disco Demolition in Chicago!

I think the word disco died but I do not think that "clubbing" ever did and I think that the disco radio stations were the begining of the end for what had become so near and dear to many of us.

Respectfully submitted,

DJ Alan

[Videoskooter]

Hi Alan, welcome 2 da board and thank you for this very interesting reply.

[disco1999]

What amazes me is that there is still disco fans out there who's been surfing the web for years and don't know the existence of discomusic.com.
It is soooo visible using yahoo google etc whenever we search for just about any disco songs or anything with the word "disco" in it.

Welcome aboard, hope you will enjoy the ride !

[Bernie]

Alan, we've spoken a few times, but from one New Jerseyian to another, welcome again to the DiscoMusic.com forums!

[garrybcoston]

You can almost compare discomusic.com to the early club/dance/disco scene; no one knew too much about it but knew something special was happening and about to explode. I'm not saying that discomusic.com will revive disco or even respread it in a sense, but it will revive the memories for us that lived the experience and educate those about the whole disco experience that like disco, but don't know what it really is or what it was like and want to know more.

That was a great article Alan, very interesting and quite different than how most of us were immersed into the disco scene. All of us stumbled onto th disco scene and/or embraced it in many different ways but ended up falling in love with a music (disco) and time (disco era...about 1974 to 1980) that is unequalled and will not be repeated.

I agree that disco never really died (see my blurb at the bottom) but it evolved and changed into different factions and entities of dance music (house, garage, dance, techno, industrial). The scene and era changed as time and technology changed, but my, what an extensive branching out of tentacles to other dance oriented genres! Yeah, the name changed, but disco is still here and the mission remains the same......."to dance!"

Garry

[Mixmachine]

it was definitely about the music and the people like me that were also enamored with the music. The music and the people were the show. It was different..very different and at that time only a few people and associates that you knew had any idea that there was such a thing happening. Most of the people that I knew were drinking beer at bars with a bad garage type band playing a bad rendition of some Doobie Brothers song. The available "clubs" were few and you could not hear "club" music anywhere else...anywhere else!!! I hate to say it but you knew you were seeing and hearing things that 99.9% of the american population was not seeing or hearing. You felt different than most others around you that had no idea that there was this "scene" going on, and you knew by the music you were listening and dancing to...that you probably were different than many others...at the time.

This is exactly the way it was even down here in Miami Florida , in the past some youngsters around this forum object to the notion that by the time SNF came along Disco was already a wounded beast, but it was, by ’77 commercialism was already eroding the ‘exclusiveness’ of the Disco scene, and even though we didn’t grasped the significance at the time, is plain to see that SNF snuffed the last breath out of those early magical days of Disco, sure there was still lots of parting to come in the late 70’s and beyond, lots of great music was released after SNF, and millions joined the party in the late 70’s under the “Disco” umbrella, but the early Disco Club ‘scene’ was drastically altered after SNF, and the “disco suck” seed was deeply implanted in the minds of many curious new comers that rushed to the Clubs because of the commercial hype not because they loved the music or dancing.

Mostly everything in the night scene at that time revolved around bands. To go to a place where they only played records...and where the songs were "mixed"...are you kidding me??? The music was so different that you had to go to a club to hear it. The dancing was also very different which was also a big part of the "differentness" of the club experience.

Once again , this is exactly the way it was, I still remember the shock in the faces of many friends when they first experienced a Discothèque, for many it was like stepping into an unknown new world, it was not only the unique combination of music, different from anything playing on the air (with few exceptions)at the time, but it was non-stop and without Live Bands and/or screaming announcers, this was a revolutionary concept at the time, even the idea of a DJ beat mixing records without gaps was enchanting and intoxicating, for most if not all visitors such capabilities were beyond comprehension, not even Radio jocks, with their advanced equipment and deep Corporate pockets were capable of doing this, they just didn’t get it, not until much later after Stations usually hired Club DJs because of their expertise,

However, I knew it would never be the same the day WKTU in New York City and other stations like it across the country hit the airwaves. The reasons are pretty simple really. The music was not unattainable anymore (where you had to go to a club pre WKTU) and the radio business is a business so it was inevitable that these exclusive records would get put into "rotation" and guess what, they were not exclusive anymore! And worse than that of course, the best of the best got played out very quickly.

The ‘cocktail’ of sounds used during an early Disco night was impossible for any 70’s Radio Station to duplicate, not only they had to ‘reach’ an specific target audience, but many of Club records just didn’t translate well out side of a loud dance floor, and many other club hits were ‘deep’ soul and R&B records (or imports) that only innovating Club Djs were able to dig out and “discover”.

As a result Top Forty Radio cherry picked and concentrated on the best cuts, (many times not) placing those in heavy rotation duplicating the trialed and tested Radio strategy they used to sell Rock music before

By the late 70’s if you were DJing in any club and you were accessible to the crowd, it was hard to deal with the legions of customers asking to play and re-play the same tired Disco “Radio Hit” over and over again, commercial radio had once again removed any sense of musical curiosity from the masses that were now invading The Disco.

Radio again had made musical robots out of this new generation of dancers, and so another ingredient of the early magic of Disco was lost for ever to commercial interests, things got a bit better for club DJs in the early 80’s but soon after by the middle of that decade, Radio was once again dictating what was played at the Disco.

[remicks]

*****



This is all wonderful input . First, Thanks alangohlke for a thoughtful post and hopefully there are more to come!!!!

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

The ‘cocktail’ of sounds used during an early Disco night was impossible for any 70’s Radio Station to duplicate, not only they had to ‘reach’ an specific target audience, but many of Club records just didn’t translate well out side of a loud dance floor, and many other club hits were ‘deep’ soul and R&B records (or imports) that only innovating Club Djs were able to dig out and “discover”.

I especially like this term "cocktail of sounds" term you used Mixmachine . This is why it becomes ludicrous when people try to define disco as a particular sound.These were experimental times ... a time to reach out and test things .... the sounds chosen were used because they fit the bigger composite package being put together for an entire evening's experience. There was great variety .... a wonderfully intoxicating "cocktail of sounds"..... as Marky's charts help to remind us.

As a result Top Forty Radio cherry picked and concentrated on the best cuts, (many times not) placing those in heavy rotation duplicating the trialed and tested Radio strategy they used to sell Rock music before

True . But I would argue that this was when disco as a radio sound worked ....mixed-in in appropriate doses into other styles of music.
I think the evaporation of TOP 40 radio was reason # 9 that disco had to die . When fitted into a more varied programming ...Top 40 style... disco was acceptable to the masses and contributed to a broader musical picture its own upbeat flavor. I loved the Top 40 radio days when you might hear a ballad followed by hard rock.., followed by country ....followed by Motown... . followed by disco .... followed by some little weird record that someone recorded in their garage in Springfield, Iowa . ..... With Top 40 ...you got a particular sound played for three minutes and then it was on to something else. Even if you hated what was currently being played .... you knew all too soon something to your liking was coming. All types of music ... all mixed together on Top 40 radio ... something for everyone .... and everyone unwittingly then benefited from this broader musical exposure . (Not this isolationism that exists today)

Disco radio was sort of a doomed for failure concept . Disco music had a specific intent : dancing . Dancing isn't done twenty four hours a day ... it was a special activity with its own proper place and its own proper time .... which I always found was best in the evening ... on into the night ... Disco wasn't intended to be background music to live your life by.
When disco began to dominate AM Top 40 ... the haters increased their protests ....but when disco next literally took over the FM airwaves with stations programming disco 24/7 ... many dropping their former all-rock formats to do so .... well that was just beyond tolerable.
Plus , programmed on its own, total disco all the time ... it became tiring .... endless pounding on and on ... and for what reason??


******

[alangohlke]

Hey Guys: Thanks for the kind words. I will try to follow items on the site and contribute when I can. As an FYI when I started spinning most of the music that was available was only available on 45's or LP's. Also, I was looking at some of the lists of the hard to get discs that are posted on this site and I cannot tell you how many of them I have!!! When I get a chance I will go through my collection and post some of the more rare items I have including original test pressings, test pressings on colored vinyl, colored vinyl, and original early 12's.

Thanks.

Alan Gohlke

[hotmixbk]

Disco never died... Metaphorically speaking lets make "Disco" the player in the club... He made love to all the women (genres of music) impregnating them all (including ROCK). They all gave birth to Disco's children, Rap/ Hip Hop... Techno, House etc... and each of them has given Disco Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren some the Ol' Dude doesn't wan't to claim...( Gangsta Rap's bad a$$ needs his mouth washed out) but never the less he spread his love around the world and is still the topic of hot debates... so did Disco die... HELL NO... He's hiding from all the B!+*#es he owes child support to...lol So the next time some one tells you "Disco" died remind them 'Who's Their Daddy'...

[garrybcoston]

Originally Posted by hotmixbk

Disco never died... Metaphorically speaking lets make "Disco" the player in the club... He made love to all the women (genres of music) impregnating them all (including ROCK). They all gave birth to Disco's children, Rap/ Hip Hop... Techno, House etc... and each of them has given Disco Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren some the Ol' Dude doesn't wan't to claim...( Gangsta Rap's bad a$$ needs his mouth washed out) but never the less he spread his love around the world and is still the topic of hot debates... so did Disco die... HELL NO... He's hiding from all the B!+*#es he owes child support to...lol So the next time some one tells you "Disco" died remind them 'Who's Their Daddy'...

Hey "Hot Mix" never looked at it that way, and you're right. If disco had not come along, the club scene, as it now is, would never had evolved into the mega monster it became. So disco is the Mother, Father, whatever you want to call it that birthed all these other genres.

Garry

[garrybcoston]

Originally Posted by needlefingers

If I remember correctly, and if someone can verify it, the last song to hit #1 on the Billboard Disco Charts in December of 1979 was Enough Is Enough by Donna Summer and Barbara Streisand.

A couple of months later Funkytown was all the sensation.

I always considered this to be a crossover point, and just for my purposes.

And don't get me wrong, there was still a lot more to come out and play in the clubs: like Lime, Patrick Cowley, more Sylvester, Trans-X and Tapps. But this was moving into Hi-NRG.

Blondie and Modern Romance were bringing white rap in. John Robbie, Arthur Baker and Soul Sonic Force were bringing in electro funk. And the B-52's, Depeche Mode and Yazz were the alternative rock that was now coming into the clubs. Madonna was right around the corner.

Again, this is just my thoughts, but Enough Is Enough was the begining of the end. And kind of an appropriate title if you ask me.

Don't forget Gino Soccio who came along in 1979 but played a huge role in the crossover and transformation from disco to dance.

Garry

[Juan.Pablo.Cuervo]

Originally Posted by garrybcoston

THE DISCO DEMOLITION: THE DAY THAT DISCO DIED
“One of the Top Ten Most Shocking Moments in Baseball History” Turns 25
July 12, 1979

Disco died ? to me its alive and kicking !!

"Disco Died" its what we want, they all to think...
survival, chamaleon, military tactics...
(JiN/Yang) dude, some people feel bad when u are happy, and viseversa.. Genetics
Yin and yang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

THE DISCO DEMOLITION remembers me the NAZIS burning books, and later burning people,
Book burning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

that brings the question....