How Important Were Gay Clubs To Disco Music?

[Videoskooter]

I'm always amazed when I read topics like this one. I never thought when hearing a discorecord that "yes this is a gay discorecord or this is a straight discorecord".

To be quite honest I discovered all this when I started reading this forum. I knew that disco did mainly start in "black" and/or "Gay" discos but I never made the distinction when I listened to the songs, except for the Village People since they were referring to the gaycommunity. When I recently replied to a member here that was asking info about Theo Vaness I discovered for instance that "As long as its love" was a gay-anthem.

When we went out to discos in the 70's we all danced to it and amongst the people in our "crew" there were straight and gay guys and whe never noticed the gay-straight division at that time concerning the music or the dancing.

But thinking about it: the only big Belgian club that is mainly playing vintage and nu-disco nowadays is the gayclub "Red & Blue" that also features the monthly Studio 54-partys.

Does it mean that disco is mainly "gay-music"? I really don't know.

To me it is uplifting stuff for everybody.

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by Videoskooter

I'm always amazed when I read topics like this one. I never thought when hearing a discorecord that "yes this is a gay discorecord or this is a straight discorecord".

To be quite honest I discovered all this when I started reading this forum.
Does it mean that disco is mainly "gay-music"? I really don't know.

To me it is uplifting stuff for everybody.

Video: Exactly!!! This forum does not represent a balanced point of view IMO. I NEVER had any Gay/Straight divide in my mind until I read forums on this site. I can't understand why these distinctions are so forcefully peddled.

[efunk_adelic]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

Video: Exactly!!! This forum does not represent a balanced point of view IMO. I NEVER had any Gay/Straight divide in my mind until I read forums on this site. I can't understand why these distinctions are so forcefully peddled.

OMG!!! it was never even brought up in clubs that I DJ'ed.... :roll:


The lead singer from JUDIST PRIEST is gay.... (HARD ROCK)
ELTON JOHN is gay.... (POP)


I don't see any problem there????


The only thing I can muster is that Disco has some gay anthems.... big f***ing deal....

[originalbigm]

Folks it's simple. Disco, and the questions and issues that it raises, was distinctly different experience on each side of the Atlantic as well as the hemisphere's. Everybodies experience and take on things were equally different while at the same time embraced some commonalities. However there is a tendency for some individuals to try and suggest that there experience was somehow more valid than others or that because they never experienced things that others have stated it is somehow invalid.

I'd like to address some points based on my experience here in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Now having lived and worked as a DJ, throughout the evolution of disco, does not give my opinions any greater validity than anyone else's. We should all be striving to share and enjoy our experiences and knowledge with each and every other member as Bernie and NickNack would have us do.

First Greg Wilson's black music angle. Here in Toronto, Ontario Canada unequivicolly true. I grew up here and can tell you that in the 60's every damn radio station here was strictly rock oriented every record store was 95% rock. Oh sure we had Motown and some R&B/Soul but it never was considered black music but rather pop music along with the likes of Otis Redding and some of the Stax stars. Us lovers of the black (Soul & R&B) genre on lucky nights, if the ionsphere was co-operating could tune into WUFO on the AM band or WBLK on the FM band to listen to the latest R&B/Soul hits of the day. These were predominately black oriented stations out of Buffalo NY just across the lake from US.

I would go down every other weekend to Buffalo to purchase records at Audrey and Dells a small record chain in Buffalo and purchase the latest R&B/Soul records that I had no hope of hearing or buying back in Toronto. This is primarily how I got into DJ ing. When ever my buddies had a house party they'd call me up and ask me to bring my records over because they thought I had the coolest music to groove to. My first disco gig came about because a friend of mine had recommended me to the owner as he hadn't a clue how to get some dance (R&B/SOUL/Funk) music together. Fact was that white kids liked dancing to R&B/Soul music.

On the original question of this thread, did gay clubs have an influence on Disco music. Here in Toronto not to any great degree. In the 70's there were gay clubs in Toronto but they were small and private and tended to be kept hush hush. Gayness was not publicly embraced or well tolerated in Toronto back then. I well remember the St. Charles Hotel on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto that was a well known gay establishment. Sadly back in those days the only time gays could openly express themselves was at Halloween when the drag queens would come out done up in their finest to party at the St. Charles. The straight males would line up on the opposite side of the street in droves three deep to jeer and pelt everyone entering the St. Charles with eggs. The police were there only to prevent any physical assault on them but allowed the egg throwing to continue. What a sad situation that was.

The disco clubs of Toronto in the mid to late seventies were 95% hetero and the songs and records being broken were coming out via the record pools and promos & billboard charts. Now some of these might have well come out of some of the bigger New York clubs but in my experience not a lot. Toronto never had a Paradise Garage or 12 West or The Loft and if it had it was a well kept secret. But secondary to this question is that yes indeed the gay culture and movement was a significant contributor to the emergence of disco music.

Finally, it seems and this is refering to another ongoing thread on this site, that homophobia has reared it's ugly face. My advise: This is a different world than it was 40 years ago. Gayness is here to stay and open. Whether or not you agree with it is irrelevant Live and Let Live . If you can't, then take your views elsewhere. I being a white hetero male do enjoy their joie de vivre which more of us heteros should learn to embrace.

[sirius]

Dear Friends!
Disco was or is the music of gays, because of the
dominating beat, the kitsch, drama, desire and certainly
the face and voice of the black diva! It seems that gays
are still loving black divas, because of their screaming
voice (no straight can stand such voices like Donna
or Loleatta like "MacArthur Park" or "Love Sensation").

Nowadays I see and feel a big big split between HipHop
R&B and the more gay-related HouseMusic. It is
terrible for me, to get homophobic and female-sexistic
through these kinds of music. The times are different.
There are gays, dykes, women and queers. The rest
is not interesting anymore for clubs nowadays!!!
Male Straights became unconvenient in the last years
with their aggresivity...If you watch MTV and other
shit, then you will recognize, that everythings ugly
today. Where are all the mixed combos with blacks
and whites together, like in the disco-era. Where is
the understanding for love and togetherness for all
people all over the world. Only machismo has won...

Gays are acceptet as laughing DragQueen-Clowns
or in advertisments for campaigns(because of their
money), but´s that all. Sometimes this whole thing
is making me very sad...
Cosmic Love & Kisses From O´SIRIUS & DARKTUNES...

[Studio74]

I´m not gay and i´m a great fan of Donna Summer...

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by sirius

Dear Friends!
Disco was or is the music of gays, because of the
dominating beat, the kitsch, drama, desire and certainly
the face and voice of the black diva! It seems that gays
are still loving black divas, because of their screaming
voice (no straight can stand such voices like Donna
or Loleatta like "MacArthur Park" or "Love Sensation").

Sirius: Are you serious?

Nowadays I see and feel a big big split between HipHop
R&B and the more gay-related HouseMusic. It is
terrible for me, to get homophobic and female-sexistic
through these kinds of music. The times are different.
There are gays, dykes, women and queers. The rest
is not interesting anymore for clubs nowadays!!!
Male Straights became unconvenient in the last years
with their aggresivity...If you watch MTV and other
shit, then you will recognize, that everythings ugly
today. Where are all the mixed combos with blacks
and whites together, like in the disco-era. Where is
the understanding for love and togetherness for all
people all over the world. Only machismo has won...

Since when is house music Gay related, or were you trying to write "Gay related House music" meaning a certain type of House music genre? As for the love and togetherness, I'd have thought that today's multi culturalism has people being more accepting of others than ever before. Machismo was just as big a part of Disco as it is today, maybe bigger. look at Saturday Night Fever for instance. That's all about machismo, eh?

Gays are acceptet as laughing DragQueen-Clowns
or in advertisments for campaigns(because of their
money), but´s that all. Sometimes this whole thing
is making me very sad...
Duh!!! Thought this stereotype had long since vanished.

Cosmic Love & Kisses From O´SIRIUS & DARKTUNES...

[DiscoMan]

When gangsta rap came to prominence 10 (?) years ago music quality took it's final shit.

It's trash.

The record companies pushing this shit on the vast unwashed masses have put the final nail in their coffin.

It's nothing but ghetto anger, violence, hatred and phony machismo.

The youngsters who listen to this shit like to talk the talk but they don't have the balls to walk the walk.

[sirius]

Dear Friends!
1)Ecxeption by the rule; but its true: The black diva has
big relationship to her gay-audience...Donna Summer,
Grace Jones, Gloria Gaynor, Eartha Kitt...is this enough?

2)I think that the origin of HouseMusic is black and
gay related...nowadays it´s for everyone...remember
Frankie Knuckles???

3)To mention "Saturday Night Fever" is a very bad
example. Why not mention Studio 54 or Paradise
Garage??? Certainly Machismo played a role in the
DiscoEra, but it was more naive and not that homo-
phob than nowadays in stupid HipHopVideos. Also
Sexism was a big thing, but more in a sexual libera-
tion for women, than being only a bitch on MTV.

4)Sorry, but gay-clichees are still alive in some states
of the USA and Europe. Maybe in Southhampton
everything is right with the gay-movement, but
here in Austria there are now big discussions.
I´m not that into gay-marriage, but having the
same rights in gay-relationships like the straights
would be very appreciable. But maybe in the UK
everythings fine!
Cosmic Love & Kisses From SIRIUS & DARKTUNES...

[Anonymous]

[quote="QUINNY"
This forum does not represent a balanced point of view IMO. I NEVER had any Gay/Straight divide in my mind until I read forums on this site. I can't understand why these distinctions are so forcefully peddled.[/quote]

That's right Quinny you and us other gays always accepted straight's into our gay clubs, but if we went into a UK straight club, we would often come up accross threats, or worse, by the local straights. Why is it that gay people are so much more tolerant of straights than visa versa.

Which gay clubs did u go to Quinny? Did u get much homophopbia? I bet u can use that bitchy mouth of yours if someone gets on your case girl! :lol:

[bigpoppa206]

Originally Posted by PaulC

Many of the worlds famous disco's were gay or mixed. How important were they to disco music?

Simple, without the gay community, there never would have been disco!

[LITTLE SCOTTY]

Hi everybody, not sure if i'm right but in memory the disco spirit started with the black gays clubs in N.Y.C !!! (greenwich village;etc.....)so yes there were IMPORTANT in disco history!!!

i'm not gay but i think they can make parties like nobody...think they know the real sense of "PARTY"...

best regards

[The Grace]

I believe that gay clubs were essential for disco (or for the disco performers anyways).
Many of the greatest disco tunes like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and Grace Jones' "I Need a Man" has become gay anthems.
Openess & freedom is what disco is all about... that kinda suited the gay community perfectly.

[Mario]

Hello Guys...Wow...Interesting discussion here...Some very passionate posts on this subject! :) I was very tuned into the early disco as a young teenager around my favorite music years of 1974/1975... Here in the southwest area of the U.S. disco belonged "STRICTLY" to blacks, hispanics and gays. It wasn't until the era of Saturday Night Fever that the mainstream caught on. During this early period, disco was purely played for restricted audiences mainly gays followed by blacks and hispanics. The mainstream here in the desert was listening to the likes of Styx and The Doobie Brothers! :lol: Meanwhile, the afore mentioned were getting down to Gloria Gaynor's "Honeybee", Andrea True's "More, More, More" and Carol Douglas' "Doctor's Orders." As a matter of fact these styles of songs weren't introduced on Top 40 A.M. radio dials until long after they were hits in the clubs (black/gay/hispanic.) I FIRMILY believe that disco was born in the gay community...But then again...That is only my opinion...And you know what they say about opinions... :lol: :lol: Take Care Guys...Mario

[efunk_adelic]

Originally Posted by Mario

The mainstream here in the desert was listening to the likes of Styx and The Doobie Brothers!

ewwwwww :P