The disco soundtrack to : GAY DURING THE 70's

[remicks]

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I hope you'll bear with me as I pontificate a little on this topic ….. ..if not able ……… please go directly to the link and enjoy what it was like being gay in the seventies. :D

http://www.brumm.com/gaylib/disco/discolist2.html


I realize a good many people coming to these boards post-date the big disco years of 1974-1980...or weren’t of the age to go to clubs …..

I know the tendency is too gravitate toward the music toward the end of the era ....but I HOPE there are a good number of the younger amongst us that also appreciate the older periods as well and sense the power this music had to draw us in mass into the clubs and onto the dance floors ….

I also realize that there is a spectrum of people who come here .... not only straight .. and not only gay .... There is trepidation that disco might wind up as being perceived as strictly gay music. I know this is not true and I personally DJ' d in both straight and gay clubs .....

I do believe that the straight crowd who caught on to disco & especially early on ..... was a smaller crowd (smaller percentage ) of the general straight population ... and of course ....they were the fortunate ones !!! :D 8) ....
whereas by and large .....disco became the THEME music of the gay scene…..

Why disco became the backdrop for the gay emergence in the seventies. ? How could it not ? At a time when gays were realizing it was OK to feel good about themselves ....what better background music to evoke this positive good feeling? Disco encompassed all that was good and upbeat and happy about being alive in the world….….Gays were out and boldly seeking each other ...and it was time for the coming out party . Party music needed .

The following snippets ( not always " mixed " ... although there are several nice mixes here too .... and these medleys have a wonderful rhythm to them ) I believe they do a terrific job of presenting the music that was prevalent in the gay scene through the seventies.

They are put together by a gent .....Dennis Brum, as Iowa State U research work ..... Dennis was living in Des Moines during much of this disco period until moving to SF in '77 ..and I think this is important to note .... because this gay emergence was happening all over the place ..... not just the biggest cities .... though in more minor versions ….. this same music was playing as the backdrop whether it was in Des Moines, San Francisco or ... Bakersfield......

I can't testify whether listening to these snippets will give you a good sense of what it would have been like to be straight and into disco in the seventies. It may . Someone else can comment on that .

But I can confirm .... that from my own personal experiences this collection does a great job of capturing the vibe of being gay in the seventies. . I would add still some others …..as everyone would .... for instance "YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE " .
But the music that is provided here is exactly what underlined the movement at the time .


I'm hoping that anyone not too familiar with the era will listen to these snippets .... and will then sense it .. sense the positive energy that was bursting forth in those times. And how important this music was . I can feel it in this music because I was there … ..but I don't know if the energy translates well for someone who wasn't ..... :-? I hope so …..

Probably most of us know this music being fans of disco …..but whether you are straight or gay …. and you want to get a sense of what was playing as the soundtrack to being gay in the seventies ....for most at the time ... ( not all....not everyone liked disco ….. including not all gays ) ....I think these examples do a superb job.

If you don't know the following ... each are included on these medleys ... I think they are particularly special ... and express a certain attitude .... :

"I'M GONNA LET MY HEART DO THE WALKING" --Supremes
"RIDE THE MIGHTY HIGH " -- The Mighty Clouds of Joy
"CHER CHEZ LA FEMME" -- Dr. Buzzard
"DOWN TO LOVETOWN " The Originals
"SAN FRANCISCO " -- The Village People

Again the point here is not to claim these examples of the music as exclusive only to the gay scene
….but it is to confirm that if you were gay and embracing disco in the seventies ……..this was the background music to your life !!! .... Thank God !!!

http://www.brumm.com/gaylib/disco/discolist2.html

I linked with Vol. 2 .... there are 5 total and all 5 are great ..... Vol. 2 seems to especially represent well ....

remicks :)


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[eahearn]

Hi: I know it's crazy, but I keep hoping they'd perform SOMEWHERE and I could fly if I needed to (maybe we'd get lucky and they'd "do" NYC since they are mostly from the Bronx).

Anyone know what ever happened to Corey Day and that beautiful voice? I still give those CDs away as xmas gifts and you've got to witness the joy when people receive them to believe it!

[swerzer]

remicks.........you and I must be about the same age. Ahhh, the '70's....definitely going through that period with that music was the best time of my life. I think that disco (for me) was an escape to another world....a world of acceptance and common being amongst friends and peers. In a society where I did not necessarily always "fit-in", it was that escape and bond that made me feel good about myself and my life. Those songs you list, and countless others, bring back those great memories.

swerzer

[remicks]

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Where were you then , Swerzer?

I grew up in the Central Valley of California ...... so I was in high school there and then my first years of college until 1975. The music was changing and shifting toward this music that would soon be called disco but I didnt realize it . It was just a natural progression from the music I was most drawn to......Al Green, The Spinners, Barry White , Gladys Knight , the emerging TK sound with "ROCKING CHAIR " and "ROCK YOUR BABY " , "WHY CAN'T WE LIVE TOGETHER " ....... slowly easing on down the road .... to a music soon to be called " disco ".. :D I Luckily I found a few others as excited about it as I was .... but it was a special limited group ..... this wasn't your regular music of the masses ....

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[swerzer]

I'm a native Floridian and grew up in South Florida. The first time I went to a club was in Downtown Miami - it was Uncle Charlies - I remember the DJ was mixing hits from 1976, but they were 45 RPM's (this was 1975/1976). I remember hitting other clubs and seeing DJ's mix 12", but I didn't know what they were. I heard a song I loved and asked the DJ what it was.........turns out it was Ten Percent by Double Exposure. I went to my local record store and befriended the clerk, who sold me Ten Percent. My next 12" was I Gotta Keep Dancin' by Carrie (Lucas). I soon branched out to the more fast growing mega disco's and established a group of friends. We soon were hitting all the clubs in Miami, Hollywood and Ft. Lauderdale. Come vacation time, we'd go to California and New York to hit the big clubs there(the Saint, Crisco Disco, 12 West/River Club, Studio 54, Studio One, Motherlode, the Probe, etc.). I think I bought every 12" I could get my hands on. I established ties with DJ's to get promo copies and subscribed to DISCONET and HOT TRACKS.
As I often said, I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. :D

[remicks]

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I don't blame you ! Sounds like you hit it just about right timewise. And you made it to so many great clubs ( I think Studio One has emerged as my own all-time favorite )
... I feel the same way & wouldn't trade those memories... ...and even though as I look into it now .... I realize I missed that first year or so ....that's OK .....It all fell into place just right for me and gives me that exciting early music to discover now .

All those great records Swerzer ..... did you hang on to them? ....What's your current collection like ?

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[marmite7]

You guys must have a vast wealth of disco related knowledge stored away in the ol' grey matter, yet no-one has been able to shed any light on a DJ only mix I've been searching for, for years.

Grrrrr

I know I didn't imagine it and can only assume it was mailed to DJ's in really small quantities.

M - Pop Muzik mashed up with Lipps Inc - Funky Town. This would have been between 1984-86.

Our DJ was a subscriber to Disconet & Hot Tracks etc, and no doubt countless others, but I never even thought to check the label out. :(

Think yourself lucky guys you lived in the country where this music was sooo accessible. Imports to the UK would have been the tip of the iceberg, compared to what was actually being released.

Nice reading your comments tho and power to the vibe :)