Disco Ball Spins At ABC.....

[markydefad]

From yesterday's Variety....

Continuing it's quest to turn the clocks back to the kinder, gentler (and wildly successful, in ABC's case) late 1970's, the alphabet web will celebrate the 30th anniversary of disco later this fall.

The two hour special "The Disco Ball: A 30-Year Celebration" will feature live performances by '70's icons such as the Village People, KC & The Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor, and the Pointer Sisters. It will seamlessly go from performance to performance with little interruption. (TV MIXING!!!!!!) :roll:

Executive producer John Hamblin plans to transform the Shrine Auditorium into "Club Shrine" for the Oct. 13 taping. Hamblin and co-exec producer Jeff Margolis will cover most of the auditorium's downstairs seats with two discos, five performance areas, and go-go stages.

Tickets to the event, which go on sale today, will benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles.

ABC specials and alternative series topper Andrea Wong said "Disco Ball" could be ready for the November sweeps.

"The songs are the stars," Wong said. "We hope the music will evoke memories and emotions in people."

Other artists set to perform include Rick James, Irene Cara, Thelma Houston, and the Spinners, as well as more recent artists Westlife, Aaron Carter and Carmen Electra. Whoopi Goldberg is also on board to perform.

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OK, they had me until that last part..."Westlife?, Aaron Carter (that obnoxious rappin'-dweeb brother of the Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter)!!!!! (GAG ME!!!) and those famous disco performers Ms Electra & Ms. Goldberg!!!!!!! :razz:

Above all, to ensure ANY credibility, they MUST acquire the services of Miss Donna Summer--if they don't they have FAILED.

Oh, and I'm also crossing my fingers for a Lime and a Tantra reunion!!!!! That's sarcasm, folks!!!!! :lol:

Oh, and let Rick James & Irene Cara share a dressing room and a crack pipe!!! :razz: I think at least one Pointer Sister might wanna be in that dressing room, also. :razz:

OR have things changed???? Hmmmmm???? I'm just askin'!!!!!!!

[paul]

Good job Marky. Please keep us informed about this.
Of course I'm glad they're doing a tribute to DISCO. I just hope most of the people involved have an appreciation for the music and culture from the period.
Hey, you know I was just thinking there must some way for Bernie and this site to get a little exposure out of this?

[QUINNY]

I'm afraid I can't share your enthusiasm for this show. Do you really think that 50 year old performing their hits 'LIVE' is gonna be so great? 'Old farts' growing old disgracefully on a public staage is never a pretty sight!

IMHO If they wanted to pay homage to Disco, a show with original footage (and more songs interwoven into the soundtrack) would have been much better.

[Jimmy-Michaels]

Well, of corse this show wouldnt pay tribute to the hard core true disco music. Who out of the majority of the people in the world would know what the music was all about other than what was on top 40 radio? Im sorry, but KC And The Sunshine Band was NEVER really disco. They were pop with a beat. I think we all know here the music that I wish would be remembered. I dont think such great tracks as "Lady Of The Night" (Ray Martinez), "Traffic Breakdown" (Boogie People) or even "Ultimate Warlord" (The Imortals) would be mentioned or even known by even the producers of the show, what do ya think?

DJ Jimmy M

[QUINNY]

DJ Jimmy: I'm afraid even this old Disco DJ doesn't know any of the tracks you've mentioned. They would probably alienate me! :grin:
Perhaps it's easy to see why they play safe. Once you go beyond that, you're probably in a 200% no win situation. Just reading the threads on this board makes one realize just how diverse Disco was and how everyone has very, very specific memories and favourites.

[nrgbeat]

On 2002-09-19 06:33, QUINNY wrote:
DJ Jimmy: I'm afraid even this old Disco DJ doesn't know any of the tracks you've mentioned. They would probably alienate me! :grin:

Quinny, you just haven't been hanging around the right GAY discos to know these songs.

[QUINNY]

That's right. You know, I never realized there was such a great Disco divide between Gay and straight playlists until I hit upon this site.

[totoman]

I'm not sure there was such a divide in other countries, particularly Europe but when I hit my first gay disco in 1981, I had to learn a whole new sound (which I loved and I felt at home with immediately).

During the early eighties when Hi -NRG was evolving, the gay clubs would be playing records for months then people would hear thme on the holidays and they would become hits (eg Searchin' by Hazell Dean or High Energy by Evelyn Thomas).

I don't think you really like that kind of sound anyway from the references you make but I feel that a lot of good soul based music got exposure in the UK on the straight scene which didn't neceassarily get exposure elsewhere.

toto

[QUINNY]

Yes, I do like funkier things. However, I used to play 'Hi Energy' and 'Searchin' plus lotsa other HI NRG hits of the day. I was never 100% sold on them and didn't like the fact that they were all such high BPMs. I'm personally glad that HI NRG was just a passing phase in the straight discos in the UK. Some of the records just seemed a little, je ne sais quoi, but just weren't to my taste.
Two HI NRG records I came to quite like were Bobby O - She Has A Way and Material with Nona Hendryx called Bustin' Out. They were both about 121 or 122 BPM and probably more in the groove of what I ususally played.

[Outsider]

I'm glad that ABC will be airing that special. It shows that people are still interested in disco. I'm definitely going to watch it.

[Nano]

Nice info, Marky.
I wonder, isn't there some tapes of old appearings of disco artists on TV? Soul Train tapes or something? Even if they did playback, surely it would be more interesting to see them as they were.
Probably I won't get to see this show down here, but what worries me is they will set a casting for young dancers to do as "extras" in the background with their lycra pants and open white shirts... but this fellas will also show their disgusting 90's TATOOS!!! Aaargghhhhh!!!!


_________________
I don't mean a thing (if ain't got that swing)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nano on 2002-09-19 19:25 ]</font>

[jim]

If they're not going to have REAL lead vocalist Victor Willis,they may as well not bother with the Village People.
Without him,it could be ANY 6 guys.

It would be like the Stones without Mick.

[SandraDee]

Marky, Westlife are a truly terrible Irish boyband who sing the worst kind of bland, purile ballads & they're huge in the UK; they even make N-Sync look good!

Is Rick James out of jail then? He's brilliant isn't he? In the early 80s Blues & Soul magazine had a Prince v Rick James thing going for a while & I always preferred Rick, although some of Prince's early stuff was very innovative & entertaining too.

[QUINNY]

Rick James.....one of the great unknowns to 99% of the British population.
Prince...... one of the All Time Greats to 99% of the British population.
Makes you wonder why, doesn't it?
I guess Prince had the edge 'cos he was a bit more multi dimensional than Rick James, but of course, it wasn't until '84 that he became a household name and MOST of his best Disco material was behind him then.
I liked 'em both, but Prince didn't quite kick as hard as Rick James.

[nrgbeat]

I prefer Rick James over Prince too. I always liked "Give To Me Baby" and "Superfreak".

[SandraDee]

If I had to pick a favourite Rick James track it would either be 'You & I' from '78 or 'Glow' from '85.

[Outsider]

I wish that Andrea True was performing on this show. Now that would be something.

[Leanmean]

On 2002-09-21 17:38, jim wrote:
If they're not going to have REAL lead vocalist Victor Willis,they may as well not bother with the Village People.
Without him,it could be ANY 6 guys.

It would be like the Stones without Mick.

Poor Victor Willis - He's just a washed out dope-head who sounds like a total idiot on TV interviews. I saw him on VH1's Where Are They Now or something like that and he could barely even speak English. It was a shock to see him like that. They said he was married at one time to ??? Rashid, the Bill Cosby show's wife.

Anyway, I agree with the folks who would like to see real footage and hear real disco from back in the day. Why doesn't a gay producer do a special? Will the real disco please stand up?!

[Outsider]

I like the idea of these disco artists performing now because it shows that they are still doing it (and are still able to). But that's my opinion.

[NickNack]

I may be wrong but I think this is the second time ABC is doing this. I'm sure I have a tape I recorded of their first 'retro' show. I'll have to look for it. I remember the Bee Gee's ending the telecast and I think Thelma Houston was on it also. I wonder if it was the 20th or 25th anniversary.

All in all, it wasn't bad. All the top 40 stuff you would expect but some of the artists sounded pretty good. "You Should Be Dancin'" brought the house down at the end. Disco group or not, that song is hot!

[markydefad]

Nicky,

Yep, I DO remember another Disco show featuring the likes of Donna Summer, Village People & The Bee Gees--sometime in the 1990's. Maybe it was the 25th Anniversary??? I'm sure I taped it--BUT gawd knows where it would be!!!!

I remember the show being in the Vegas tradition of Top 40. These days, Disco is obviously a Baby Boomer nostalgia business and these performers mostly find employment in Vegas and on oldies tours playing state fairs, etc. I fear if they just showed vintage clips, it would be a lot younger performers lip-syncing. Face it, most of the performing on "Soul Train", "American Bandstand", "Midnight Special", etc. was pre-recorded and lip-synched to reproduce the record--rarely were they performing "live" on TV.

So, face it, we're older; they're older--let's see who's still got the goods and can "deliver the funk" or disco, as the case may be.

[jazz_pilgrim]

On 2002-09-22 11:42, Steely Dan wrote:
Is Rick James out of jail then? He's brilliant isn't he? In the early 80s Blues & Soul magazine had a Prince v Rick James thing going for a while & I always preferred Rick, although some of Prince's early stuff was very innovative & entertaining too.

At my Company, the MD's (he is the owner of the company or "the old man") secretary (she is around 50) had a picture of Prince by her computer. So I told her I always preferred Rick James to Prince. "Who?" she said. So I explained to her about Rick James and made her a tape of all his stuff. Suffice to say that having heard Rick's stuff on tape, her husband went straight out and bought a Rick James "Best Of.." compilation CD the next day!! :grin: :grin:

Don't suppose I'll ever convert "the old man" to Rick James, somehow, though! :grin:





_________________
If it moves - funk it!!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jazz_pilgrim on 2002-09-24 03:46 ]</font>

[QUINNY]

Good on you Jazz! A story that will bring a smile to your face.
Back in '82 or '83 I arrived home from my night DJing at the Disco to find my wife still awake in bed. Now this was an incredibly rare occurence. My immediate thoughts "hell, she's seen a spider and I'll have to seek and remove", but no; that night she'd flipped through the TV channels and come across a concert by Rick James in Germany. She was hooked and of course she couldn't wait to tell me of this 'new' discovery. "Did I know about Rick James?" "How brilliant he was etc etc. Suffice to say that Rick James is No. 1 funk maestro in my wife's books. She even bought his best of CD. Now the number of Cds my wife has actually bought is in the 'rare as hen's teeth' category.

[SandraDee]

Nice story Jazz.
Isn't it a shame that Rick didn't get to the megastar level achieved by Prince? But then again he might've ended up making crap like Prince did in the end, so maybe things turned out OK after all eh?!!