which record is exemplary for the decline of Disco??

[all*that*glitters*]

first...I still LOVE good old Disco! Always have, BUT there came a time around 1980 that I started getting second thoughts about the releases that were flooding the market. Commercial mainstream music had taken over and it was getting worse every week...
Andy Williams 'love story', discofied Frank Sinatra stuff, Ethel Merman's Disco Album...STOP!!! For a DJ in those days it was getting harder and harder to buy the 'real' good disco platters, good dance music was still being made but it was getting scarcer with every trip to the local import store...

So I'd like to hear from you; do you have the same experience and if so
which record is, in your opinion, exemplary for the decline of Disco as a musical genre??

[Spellbound]

For a DJ in those days it was getting harder and harder to buy the 'real' good disco platters,

It was hard enough buying them during DISCO'S peak. The majority of the real good disco platters were promo only.

[all*that*glitters*]

Originally Posted by Spellbound

It was hard enough buying them during DISCO'S peak. The majority of the real good disco platters were promo only.

was it?? Most good recordshops also sold promo's and hot imports...but it was always on a base of first come, first serve...so you had to be there at the moment the records actually came in.

Getting the real hot discs depended on who you knew...or who tipped you where to look for them. Still is the same story today really...

[Videoskooter]

Ethel Merman could have been OK if they concepted it better and left her dreadful voice (and lyrics) off :evil: And yes, at the end of the 70's everything got Discofied to hyper-commercialised records.

That's what killed the first Discowave, not a stupid American DJ with his "Disco Sucks" bull. In Europe we even didn't know that guy, at least I had never heard of this dork before I joined this board.

Second reason, the word was out, Disco was gone and recordcompanies and shops started avoiding new releases. Just the way they are now trying to stuff Gangsterrap in our throats. You certainly know the Free Record Shop-chain, well I spoke to one of the managers once to get more diversification in their shops. His answer: every shop has to sell the same thing and we decide what!

That's why I don't bother going there anymore!

BTW, New Beat was killed the same way. Started great until' everybody started adding the New Beat to their records and people soon got tired of it.

[marc0]

Disco-Duck :-?

[normvork]

As trends come and go, everything's popularity follows a kind of bell curve. I had been hearing about Disco going out of fashion and the record blowup thing at the baseball game in Chicago but I loved Disco so I was in denial until Ethel Meman! The fact that they did this record was proof that we were on the sharp downswing on the curve.
Then I listened to it.
That was so horrible! :cry: It could have worked with Grace Jones doing a Tribute to Ethel Merman using those background tracks and sweetheart background vocals. The old lady just could'nt carry a song anymore.
There were still good songs by serious disco artists all over the place for a while thereafter but it was clear something wonderful was ending. :cry:

[all*that*glitters*]

Originally Posted by Videoskooter

Ethel Merman could have been OK if they concepted it better and left her dreadful voice (and lyrics) off :evil: And yes, at the end of the 70's everything got Discofied to hyper-commercialised records.

That's what killed the first Discowave, not a stupid American DJ with his "Disco Sucks" bull. In Europe we even didn't know that guy, at least I had never heard of this dork before I joined this board.

Second reason, the word was out, Disco was gone and recordcompanies and shops started avoiding new releases. Just the way they are now trying to stuff Gangsterrap in our throats. You certainly know the Free Record Shop-chain, well I spoke to one of the managers once to get more diversification in their shops. His answer: every shop has to sell the same thing and we decide what!

That's why I don't bother going there anymore!

BTW, New Beat was killed the same way. Started great until' everybody started adding the New Beat to their records and people soon got tired of it.

Videoskooter, you hit the nail right on the head! Well, at least from an European point of view I guess...

The 'Disco Sucks' movement at the time was indeed almost unknown outside the US, so that could not have 'killed' disco music worldwide....
BAD disco music and greedy commercialism did more for the decline of the movement than anything else IMO. Sure, good releases were still around, but even the true afficionado must have had a hard time sticking to the real thing.

The Free Record shop you mention never was amongst my favourites but this chain thrives on the Top 40 or whatever the buyers for these stores think there public will like...mainstream music. Ridiculous, since who says the general public is only into bland commercial music??

Thank G*d for the internet and the endless variety of choices it creates to discover and buy music, the mentality of shops like Free Record will have to adjust itselves to the changing times...

[all*that*glitters*]

Originally Posted by marc0

Disco-Duck :-?

yep, that's one of these horrible novelty tunes... but you know, funny enough 'Disco Duck' was actually recorded and produced by Estelle Axton, one of the founders of that old Soul label STAX??
Hopping on that Disco train for the mighty dollar!

[remicks]

*****

Trying to name that one song that ended it all is as plausible as naming the one song that started it all .

As for DISCO DUCK ....always loved it and still do ... not as a floor filler .... but as it was intended : a novelty disco song ... never took offense to it ... since novelty's have always been a part of pop music and 45 releases since their inception in the 50's. Novelty songs were rarely intended to do in/mock a style of music .... they're simply one more way to have a little fun ... There are tons of novelty songs that are funk , rock , country (FUNKY WORM )(ALLEY OOP )(CONVOY) .....
so what's the harm in having a little jest ... with a party music called disco ..... ???

As serious as I am about it .... I also keep in mind that disco is foremost a music that is about having some serious FUN ....whether bumping with big fat women ..... or bemoaning an ultimately campy Ethel Merman disco album .....



*****

[DiscoMan]

Ethel Merman. I shit myself when I saw that vinyl trash in the record stores. I knew it was over at that point.:evil:

[remicks]

****
Well it was 1979 .
What self-respecting straight guy would buy any disco album ?
... much less a disco album of show tunes ...
... much less a disco album of Ethel Merman show tunes ...
... much less a disco album of Ethel Merman show tunes sung by Ethel Merman !:razz:

*****

[all*that*glitters*]

Originally Posted by remicks

*****

so what's the harm in having a little jest ... with a party music called disco ..... ???

As serious as I am about it .... I also keep in mind that disco is foremost a music that is about having some serious FUN .... *****

nothing wrong with FUN in Disco music but you seem to forget to mention SOUL and SPIRITUALITY?? Isn't that the combination that brings people together in a club?? Don't you think that besides the physical element clubbers are looking for a bit more than just a good laugh?? In my experience they surely did. Camp and novelty are elements that are OK, especially in Disco but when these take over and become the only norm then IMO it's time to worry.

The Village People were camp and novelty , yes! but at least they came at the right time and their music was enjoyable. Jacques Morali had a certain camp style that worked for some artists but not for all... remember 'Josephine superstar' by Phylicia Alllen??
Josephine Baker re-made for the disco dancefloors!! How camp can you get? Now this artist was definitely not a hit, The Village People and Ritchie Family were...

And besides, campy showtunes from Broadway have ALWAYS been popular in Disco....'if my friends could see me now' by Linda Clifford, the 'night & day' album The John Davis Monster Orchestra covering Cole Porter, there was even a discofied remake of 'The Wizard of OZ' called 'The Wiz'....
but at least these records promised great party music...Ethel just cleared the floor

[the disco kid]

Originally Posted by all*that*glitters*

there was even a discofied remake of 'The Wizard of OZ' called 'The Wiz'

and Meco did an entire LP based on THE WIZARD OF OZ.

referring to an earlier post:

at the time i thought the Andy Williams "Love Story" was horrible, I have since found a deep appreciation for the beautiful orchestration of this Disco Version, and it has become one of my favorites, right up there with "Begin The Beguine" and "Shine On Silver Moon"

to each his own...

[remicks]

Originally Posted by all*that*glitters*

nothing wrong with FUN in Disco music but you seem to forget to mention SOUL and SPIRITUALITY?? Isn't that the combination that brings people together in a club?? Don't you think that besides the physical element clubbers are looking for a bit more than just a good laugh?? In my experience they surely did. Camp and novelty are elements that are OK, especially in Disco but when these take over and become the only norm then IMO it's time to worry.

The Village People were camp and novelty , yes! but at least they came at the right time and their music was enjoyable. Jacques Morali had a certain camp style that worked for some artists but not for all... remember 'Josephine superstar' by Phylicia Alllen??
Josephine Baker re-made for the disco dancefloors!! How camp can you get? Now this artist was definitely not a hit, The Village People and Ritchie Family were...

And besides, campy showtunes from Broadway have ALWAYS been popular in Disco....'if my friends could see me now' by Linda Clifford, the 'night & day' album The John Davis Monster Orchestra covering Cole Porter, there was even a discofied remake of 'The Wizard of OZ' called 'The Wiz'....
but at least these records promised great party music...Ethel just cleared the floor

Now I have heard it all !! :sad::roll: :lol:Turns out Ethel Merman killed disco !!!!

--- Where in the world did I say something to suggest that I forgot this SOUL AND SPIRITUALITY aspect ......about which I most agree ?? Good grief .....every post can't mention everything !!:-)

Does not everything within your post support what it was that I was saying ATG ..... disco has always been as much about FUN as anything else ....whether it's Penny McLean screaming AHHHHH in the middle of LADY BUMP or Disco Tex complaining that his chiffon is wet .... or Meco doing the WIZARD OF OZ (Salsoul Orchestra too 8-) ) .

Camp and novelty "took over " and became the " only norm in disco" ?...(???) ....
I think it was on board and riding the disco train all along in its own special car..... (get on the disco choo-choo :p )

*****

[dfc99bb]

"Push Push in the Bush", from late 1978. Awful song. Suggestive without finesse, zero creativity. We knew what was going on in "Love to Love You Baby" and "More, More, More" but this song was just plain bad.

Forgive my attempt at sociology but "Push, Push" seemed to be aimed at the lower middle class demographic. Maybe by late 1978 the more upscale record buyer had started to lose interest in disco.