YouTube Disco Vids. Good thing or bad thing?

[Tim Tam]

Hi.

I was wondering what the feeling was on the large number of Disco videos on YouTube? It may be considered bad as it, I suppose, technically breaches copyright. But for me that is outweighed by the exposure it gives to these mostly forgotten Disco tunes. As somebody who is relatively new to Disco it has given me the chance to hear lots of tracks I would never had any chance of hearing and in some cases I went out and bought the CDs or downloaded the albums.

I feel YouTube has become a wonderful resource to get the word out about how good Disco was. When people actually get to hear authentic, good Disco instead of the likes of "Born to be Alive" it can help change peoples perceptions of a much maligned genre of music.

It is interesting too that one of the most prolific posters of Disco is a guy in his early twenties. There is hope for young people.

How do you feel about it?

Cheers,
Tim Tam

[SandraDee]

It amazes me just how much disco material there is on utube 'cos compared to other popular music forms disco/dance music was generally not very visual; many artists/groups were often anonymous figures & also disco preceded the promo video craze & it's amazing that so many vids were made really. The main reason that artists such as Village People & Cerrone made vids I s'pose is 'cos disco was such a world-wide international success & they couldn't be everywhere at once to promote the singles.

[Cdnbob]

I don't have a problem with this as it is a way to see the performer and be exposed to the music. I've enjoyed watching the ones I've seen on YouTube and always get a kick out of how we all dressed back then.

[Cory Ander]

Originally Posted by Tim Tam

Hi.

I was wondering what the feeling was on the large number of Disco videos on YouTube? It may be considered bad as it, I suppose, technically breaches copyright. But for me that is outweighed by the exposure it gives to these mostly forgotten Disco tunes. As somebody who is relatively new to Disco it has given me the chance to hear lots of tracks I would never had any chance of hearing and in some cases I went out and bought the CDs or downloaded the albums.

I feel YouTube has become a wonderful resource to get the word out about how good Disco was. When people actually get to hear authentic, good Disco instead of the likes of "Born to be Alive" it can help change peoples perceptions of a much maligned genre of music.

It is interesting too that one of the most prolific posters of Disco is a guy in his early twenties. There is hope for young people.

How do you feel about it?

Cheers,
Tim Tam

it can bring back both good and sad memories since so many key figures in the disco movement are gone now, but it also in my mind exposes how crappy most music today is. And just as a point of reference, I and I'm sure many others consider songs like "Born to be Alive" to be good disco music though everyone has their own individual likes and dislikes.

[musiquelover]

I consider YouTube to be a great resource for discovering disco tunes with all those videos available. There were several disco songs mentioned on this site that I heard on YouTube for the first time.

Also, quite often there are no audio samples on sites like Amazon, and in those cases it's helpful to have the possibility of listening to a song elsewhere.

[dancer5612004]

You know what really kills me? When I use to DJ those songs, alot of times they were listened to and appreciated, but to read some of the reviews, these people are head over heels for the disco beat. It's got stronger reviews now than it did then. But I suppose because it was being taken for granted back when the music debut.

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by dancer5612004

You know what really kills me? When I use to DJ those songs, alot of times they were listened to and appreciated, but to read some of the reviews, these people are head over heels for the disco beat. It's got stronger reviews now than it did then. But I suppose because it was being taken for granted back when the music debut.

Personally, I see too many great reviews of Disco music that doesn't deserve such high accolades. Why can't people accept that the Disco hits are just as important (and probably more important) than the more hip, (read obscure) sometimes totally undeserving tracks that revisionists pin their flags to. Without the (cheesy) mega hits, there would be FAR LESS obscure tracks to idolise today, or in the absence of better records, maybe some of those obscure tracks would be the cheesy tracks of today, beacuse they were better than some even more totally obscure tracks, that had even less attention BITD. So, dancer5612004, personally I wouldn't feel so bad about it.

Tim Tam: Maybe it's time to buck the trend and listen to Patrick Hernandez with fresh ears?

The Disco mega hits of yesteryear have been maligned for far too long, IMO. Never, in the history of music has a younger generation been so hostile towards their forefathers tastes, whilst superficially enjoying other tracks of the very same ilk. I wouldn't have had the audacity to tell my old man that some obscure big band from the '40s was in actual fact much better than Glen Miller or Tommy Dorsey or that his whole generation was wrong to have liked such cheesy music in preference to what I had discovered. I don't like the pretense of 'only the tracks I like, that I have discovered' are cool that we get from soooo many youngsters.

And yes, if it means they're given exposure on YouTube, so these inhabitants of the current brave new world can dismiss certain ones as trite ('cos they can hear them free gratis) then count me against videos on there. Pay your f*****g money over, hunt the same tracks down on CD or vinyl (only to be disappointed maybe), then they can discuss with a little more authority.

Bottom line: There's FAR TOO MUCH (freely available) MUSIC ALREADY OUT THERE.

[dancer5612004]

FREE MUSIC OUT THERE

Yea, and that's exactly what this whole new era of technology is all about, isnt it. To be able to music share, download, and transfer songs without paying as much as possible. My friend has been raving about SPIRALFROG, a website to get free music. I havent gone there yet. On the other hand, I appreciate effort by others who upload the old disco tracks on youtube, because it would be a terrible strain for my budget to achieve a whole new library of lost music otherwise. Granted, I have quite a bit of archives stored previously from my early DJ career on multitude of cassettes, but Ive listened and heard those cassettes so much, I almost know the programs by heart. With youtube, I can almost play DJ again by not getting a repititious playlist, and still be very spontanious in listening to disco classic jams. I can play trivia quiz with myself, and relay the songs to my yahoo group members just for kicks. Bottom line here, IT'S FUN! And that's what disco should be all about. Now I'm prepared for the ultimate music file sharing from users thats where all the heavy equipment comes in. Why purchase pricey heavy duty audio gadgets unless you now how to make better economy with it? It cultivates interest, and I'd much rather have that, then have my world of disco fever bite the ultimate dust, like so many non-disco believers once sought.
It's true what an enthusiast said about the end of disco as we once knew it, in a video called DIVINE THE RYTHYM: THE STORY OF DISCO- "It wasnt so much the end of disco, but more like disco's revenge, when it went back into the underground from which it started to recultivate itself." And that's what it's doing now.
I went to a local mexican restaurant bar area recently, and the music was mixed. Out of the rap, rock, and mexican songs played. . . BOOGIE WONDERLAND was the only disco song they threw in, and it stll sounded like a heavy duty winner.
And that satellite radio feature is another medium playing all hits all the time, in different genres. Of course, that's not free, but it takes the place of DJ'S in many a bar club.