Disco Radio in US ???

[frenchdisco]

Hi,
Is anybody could ask me if there is radio
station currently broadcasting disco music in US planet ?

Where is it located (frequency FM...)

Thanks for any answer

Oliver

[markydefad]

In LA, on Saturday nights on K-BIG they have Disco Saturday Night. BUT, the playlist is very reminiscent of Jim's Pop Disco Top 40, so you "purists" would be sadly disappointed.

[Outsider]

I love KBIG's Saturday night disco show. I listen to it every Saturday, and it's what got me into disco in the first place.

[markydefad]

Hey Outsider,

I like Pop Disco, too. But ya know that the folks around here would start bitching if they listened and heard the Bee Gees, Village People & Donna Summer instead of Costandinos, Cerrone & Rinder & Lewis.

And THE FORMER is what they play. I like POP DISCO. Turning on the radio and hearing "Best Of My Love' by The Emotions followed by "Got To Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn is a treat for me. BUT, many claim these records are the spawn of Satan. I won't name names. :lol:

[Outsider]

I know, Marky, but I don't see the point of people bitching about listening to "pop" disco. If those people don't like it, they have the choice not to listen to it. Pretty simple logic, wouldn't you say? As for me, KBIG's disco show is one of the few times I listen to the radio. I still get excited every time I hear "More, More, More". I'll never get tired of hearing it.

[Robbie]

Outsider, Markydefad--

Make that THREE who enjoy pop disco. The way I see it is this; if the pop disco music hadn't seen a renaissance in the 90's, disco would still be considered "taboo" and a continuous punchline. When I used to listen to the Sunday night mixes on Al Bandiero's disco classic show on Hot 103 10 years ago, along with Paco's Saturday night show (which I still have some of his airchecks on a cassette tape), also on Hot 103 here in N.Y., disco hadn't "come back", know what I mean?? I had loved the music for such a long time, and was heavily into the 70's pop culture during the 80's, at a time when disco was still maligned and you were afraid to say you liked it. I was growing up when disco was the norm (late 70's); my mom bought Gloria Gaynor's "Love Tracks" (thanks to my 18-year old aunt at the time), Peaches and Herb's "2 Hot!" and "A Night At Studio 54" LPs plus Donna Summer's "On The Radio" 8-track. This music takes me back to living in Queens, N.Y. back at that time.

The sad thing is that no station in N.Y. plays it heavily anymore, except for WKTU, when Joe Causi's Sunday night show is on. Whenever I hear pop disco, I still feel good. When I hear Donna Summer's "Last Dance", I crank it up and feel the endless thumps. I like Andrea True's "More More More" also; I have the full-length version on CD.

Honestly, the "preferred" music on this web site is not known by the casual disco fan. It's easy for many here to treat pop disco with disdain, only because many here were club-goers/D.J.'s back in the day and were familiar with the music you'd be hearing in the clubs. As much as I love the "club-only" disco I also love pop disco just as much.

[Mixmachine]

My local paper ran a very informative article about this new up and comming "Satellite Radio" service, the 'XM'service is suppose to have 6 'Dance' stations but they didn't specify programming, I suppose with so many channels available over 100)one of them could be old 'Disco'. Anyone here planning on subscribing to this service ? Any opinions on "satellite Radio" success?

[Jeff H]

I think we're just revisiting the old debate about disco for the "mainstream" vs. disco music that's known only to hardcore fans, which is how most of us would be described, I guess.

I can certainly live without K.C. and the Bee Gees (sorry, Marky), but I will admit to still enjoying the Village People. :roll:

And Donna Summer is one artist who appeals to both the mainstream/casual fan and we hardcore fans too, wouldn't you agree?

[Jeff H]

Oh, I almost forgot the reason I was posting on this thread: A Pittsburgh radio station has broadcast a live disco show from a downtown nightclub every Saturday night (and just guess what they call it...? :roll:) for about five years now.

But it's exactly the "pop" disco that's already been described: Bee Gees, K.C., Donna, "YMCA," "Shake Your Groove Thing," etc. (Sometimes the DJ includes something "radical" like "Rapper's Delight," but you never know where he's going to just fade it out or when the radio announcer will start talking over this "long" record!) I stopped listening to the show a long time ago, since I got tired of hearing the same 30 or so songs every week, always in the 7-inch mix and never with any attempt whatsoever to mix the songs or even come close to matching the beats.

Of course, that is probably an alien concept anyway to the almost-exclusively mall girl/single suburban secretary crowd that attends. (Lots of bachelorette parties here!)

_________________
"...a once in a lifetime feeling that returns every week..."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jeff H on 2002-07-15 11:53 ]</font>

[discosavvy]

Mixmachine asked about XM satellite radio. Yes, indeed, they have a Disco station called "Chrome", and their current playlist looks good. Satellite radio seems to be the way to go for quality programming, with the near-demise of webcasting for the time being and the lack of changes to terrestrial stations. I had a nice conversation with the DJ for XM's Chrome and when I recommended Chic's "My Forbidden Lover" he said it's already in the playlist! Wow! I never hear that on terrestrial Disco shows. He seemed receptive to my suggested additions, such as "Lady" by the Commodores, "Heartache No. 9" by Delegation, and "You're Too Late" by Fantasy. By contrast, the DJs at WEBE 108's disco program didn't add any of my suggestions for their Saturday night program, which has had an almost static playlist for several years.

My brother subscribes to satellite radio in his car, but I look forward to the day when it's easily available and widely used in homes and elsewhere.

[euroflash]

Sadly, there is not one radio program that hosts a good (or any for that matter) disco show here in Portland, Oregon in the land of alternative rock, Birkenstocks and Terminator beers. Once, I asked a local radio station that prides themselves in being creative, non-mainstream, non commercial, why don't they play some obscure disco on radio. This is their reply to me... After reading it, I feel that I like disco 1,000 times more!! Any comments? I am interested in your opinion...
--------------

"Dear Alex,
Because disco sucks. However, if its your cup of tea, more power to
you. See, we are the opposite of mainstream. ... We would sooner go off the air than play hollow
dance music. You can get that from dozens of commercial stations all
over the dial all over the world. Arabic disco dominates most of the
airwaves around the entire planet, in case you hadn't noticed.
Try a discoteque!
Or if I've really infuriated you, then come down to the station,
attend our training workshops, and develop a programming proposal that
our committee approves. Then you can become a volunteer radio dj and
play your favorite genre. Make a case for how your tastes are somehow
not mainstream or popular, and then become one of us!
Thanks for contacting Radio KBOO!"

How about "them apples"?

[markydefad]

Euroflash,

Thanks (I think) for that refreshing splash of cold water thrown in our faces.

That reply states what most of the progressive radio stations in the U.S., at least, really think about our beloved music, sad to say.

At least they bothered to answer and told you "their truth". :roll:

[keefelc]

I had to switch to AT&T Broadband's digital cable recently. This system includes a block of their "DMX" music stations (you can hook up the cable box to your audio receiver). One of the stations is Retro Disco! During the day, most of the songs are popular disco. However, a friend of mine told me to listen at night, especially during the weekends. She was shocked at the great programming. I haven't had a chance to listen yet to confirm. Has anyone else experienced this station yet?

[Jeff H]

Keefe--I have the AT&T Broadband digital service with the DMX radio stations too. The "Retro Disco" station can be tricky to locate at first because on the main menu the station is titled something different, but if you surf through the DMX stations, you will spot one titled "Retro Disco." (At least that's how it is on my system; for me it's Channel 919.)

The content is suprisingly diverse and covers from the mid-'70s (Philly soul, Barry White, "Love to Love You Baby") through the mid- to late-'80s (Madonna, Expose, etc.). Sure, they play all the usual suspects, but I can't say they've played anything into the ground (but then, I don't listen to it daily). They've also played some songs that I'd never heard before--and you just hit the "info" button to find out who's singing!--and some songs that I sure wouldn't consider disco: "Heaven on the Seventh Floor" (cute, but disco?) and--ugh ugh ugh!!!--"Break My Stride." Bleech!

The songs are pulled from CDs, not vinyl (CD title and other info is given at the beginning of every song), so you might get a 12-inch mix, you might not. For example, they always play a full-length mix of "Street Life" by the Crusaders, but "MacArthur Park" always gets faded out during one of the horn breaks before Donna even gets to the final verse. :sad:

All in all, I think it's very enjoyable, and would make good background music for a party where you didn't have too many hardcore disco fans.

A lot of the stations seem really redundant to me (like "Classic Rock" and "Album Rock"???), and some are outright crap, but I guess someone somewhere might be listening.

Aren't you glad you asked?

As for the letter posted by Euroflash. Wow, talk about the(ir) cold, hard truth. You have to gve them points for being upfront and not handing you the usual PR lines, but... oh, just **** them! :grin:

(Good thing Ricardo is still on his hiatus.)

[keefelc]

On 2002-07-16 09:16, Jeff H wrote:

Aren't you glad you asked?

Yup, Jeff! Now I don't have to bother with that station. Although with the prices they're charging me, I ought to be using that digital cable box morning, noon and night! Sigh...
You have the same DMX setup as we do here in SF. At least AT&T is consistent.
Thanks Jeff!