25 Years of "Saturday Night Fever"

**guille** · January 28th, 2002, 10:31 PM

I still remember when I was 12 years old and heard the entire soundtrack of "SNF" in a radio station. It was 1977.

Although this movie has been underlooked by fans and no-fans of disco, it remains as a groundbraking moment in pop culture around the world. It propelled disco to unseen heights.

Just a humble salute to an era that still remains in our hearts.

[ This Message was edited by: guille on 2002-01-30 00:10 ]

[ This Message was edited by: guille on 2002-01-30 00:16 ]

**mrbmarco** · January 29th, 2002, 06:37 AM

To me, SNF was the beginning of the end of DISCO.

**citizengroove** · January 29th, 2002, 07:19 AM

It will live on forever as long as people dont forget. I grew up listening to funk,motown and disco on the radio.Then came the metal years.20 years after that Im still listening to what got me hooked In the first place,great dance music from the 70s.

**Funky Dude** · January 29th, 2002, 06:02 PM

Some people may say Saturday Night Fever pushed disco to massive heights and some say it killed disco.

My opinion is that movie and soundtrack really popularised disco music in the mainstream world. However for people such as myself and many other serious disco/funk collectors out there it tainted many peoples minds that Saturday Night Fever is the be all and end all to disco as well as those flamin' pop radio stations belting the living **** out of the most popular songs on the two LPs such as all the Bee Gees songs, KC & The Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes", Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You", Trammps "Disco Inferno" and possibly Walter Murphey's "Fifth Of Beethoven" (I know what Australian retro stations play when it comes to disco).

But what about the other songs on the SNF soundtrack such as "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph McDonald, "Open Sesame" by Kool & The Gang, "K-Jee" by MFSB and some of the others, I have NEVER EVER heard any of those songs on pop radio in Australia.

What really cuts me up are those dumbshits who hate disco and when someone mentions the word "disco" they bag it out and sarcastically sing "Ah ah ah ah stayin' alive stayin' alive, ah ah ah ah stayin' aliiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeee", I bet many people do this to tease disco fans.

Basically how I guess this movie would have marked the beginning of the end of disco is the fact it was overpopularised and made a lot of people think it's the best disco around and the be all and end all of disco and they don't bother looking at other disco records. I'm not sure what I'm saying is totally true but this is my educated guessof what SNF has done for the pop music lovers.

Here's my advice for all people who are starting to get into disco, NEVER think that the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack and the top 40 stuff is the be all and end all of disco music.

Now I was reading about Frankie Crocker's prophesies and I wonder what he would have said about the SNF soundtrack I guess "End of good disco" but I could be wrong.

To my opinion the SNF soundtrack is a really good album although I'm tired of the ones radio stations play to death such as the Bee Gees, but my favourite disco cuts of this album are:

Ralph McDonald - Calypso Breakdown 1976

David Shire - Manhatten Skyline 1976

MFSB - K-Jee 1975

Kool & The Gang - Open Sesame 1976

To me those are the best songs of this album.

**JussiK** · January 30th, 2002, 12:19 AM

The Bee Gees tracks are of course far cries from the ecstatic rhythmfests simultaneously organic and utterly distant that are real disco. I know more and more kids seriously into dance music realise this as they dig into the roots of their sound. However, the Badham film continues to plaque us. While it's actually an accomplished portrayal of working class youth it still sends absurd messages across such as the assumption that it was common for deejays to babble in between playing records and that the art of mixing came into being during later eras.

I'm to present the 70's section at the local university's music & culture seminar this spring and shall set the record straight for any doubtfuls there. We will screen the damn film, though, and afterwards there'll be a disco party with dance lessons. I quess I'm simply going to be forced to spin Staying Alive one more bloody time...

**sirius** · January 30th, 2002, 01:52 AM

25 years SNF? Certainly as a kid I heard

everywhere the Bee Gees and they played these

trax all the time in school. But for me per-

sonally I always prefered the sound of Silver

Convention, Amanda Lear and most important

the Queen Of Disco: DONNA SUMMER. THANK GOD,

then came FRIDAY! and I recogniced how good,

strongful and underground Disco really was.

I never played Bee Gees or Abba, and if

someone´s asking for it...give the DJ a break! But it is sometimes a little paradox:

I like Bee-Gees-Compositions, when it is

sung by Candi Staton, Melba Moore or even

Diana Ross. But there´s no reason to celebrate the 25th anniversary of SNF.

Cosmic Love & Kisses from SIRIUS & DARTUNES.

**Paulo** · January 30th, 2002, 03:37 AM

I don't know what you disco experts think, but here in Brazil, disco was already really happening before the movie. I really don't think that SNF helped MUCH to made disco more popular than it already was.

Funk and soul had played on normal radio in the early 70's and disco played normally in 1976/77 just before the movie. Before SNF discotheques played everything, from the popiest to the (now) underground disco songs.

I can affirm that disco was a style that was already well stablished long before the film, but of course when SNF appeared over here it cause riots in cinemas and etc... but maybe that happened because of John Travolta and not the disco thing. To have John Travolta and the Bee Gees associated with the "disco lifestlye" may have helped a bit to popularise it even more, but it also distorted the whole thing. It created a new definition for disco, but not the real one.

In my view, disco would have made it without the movie. It did make it before SNF, so it would make it without SNF. To me, the film received more exposure than it really deserved, but once again John Travolta was involved... Forgive me those of you who like it, but even the story is a little boring.

Concerning the soundtrack there are great names on it specially Tavares... but if they wanted real disco music, they film producers should have contacted Cerrone, Boris Midney, Rinder And Lewis, Patrick Adams... real disco producers.

**guille** · January 30th, 2002, 09:38 AM

Thanks for all your responses. SNF was a smash hit for critics and audiences.

The movie was intended as a marketing package, which worked indeed. After all that's how Hollywood works. Its legacy can't be undermined. We still associate the 70's with this movie through commercials, retro movies and nostalgia parties and radio shows.

Disco music didn't "die" because SNF. It died because of racism, homophobia and intolerance. The movie gave the perfect excuse, to disco haters, to ridiculize disco and make it go.

**efunk** · January 30th, 2002, 10:33 AM

I was 16 when SNF was released. My Aunt got us free tickets on the premiere day. It was cool watching it on the big screen. I never thought of during that time it would end up so popular releasing hit after hit. It just so happened that I ended up being a club DJ starting in 1980. My first big hit I promoted was "More Bounce To The Ounce" by Zapp. I still DJ in the form of Mobile Jock now and the only songs I play from that soundtrack are "Staying Alive" and "Night Fever"... I don't really care for "Staying Alive" in fact I usually mix it after "Electric Boogie" by Marcia Griffiths then followed by "Night Fever". (He He) and that's about it for that Soundtrack. Of course Americans still make fun of disco to this day.... But after a few drinks they are on the dance floor dancing to whatever I decide to play and Rock Music doesn't rule during that time. (What Gives????)

**discodjinn** · January 30th, 2002, 12:46 PM

My sense is that if SNF hadn't come along, something else would have "broken" disco into the mainstream. There was a rising energy around disco at the time: the underground dancers were having a grand time, the clubs were becoming more numerous, journalists were picking up the story, celebrities (and their photog followers) dragged the underground into the public eye with 54 and other haunts, and, perhaps most important of all, record labels were clamoring to release more product (leading them to foist the newest musical style onto unsuspecting producers and artists).

The death of disco? I was never a big fan of SNF, and viewing it today shows it to be a rather trite production, passably acted. The Bee Gees seem to get a lot of blame, but let's remember they were commissioned to create a soundtrack for a dance-oriented movie and they did just that. The public and radio response catapulted the whole thing into unexpected dimensions. To my mind the villains in the story were the record labels. They pushed for imitation acts and glutted the market with cheap, poorly made songs, motivated by business greed that didn't start then nor cease since (hair metal, rap, boy bands, anyone?)

**Outsider** · January 30th, 2002, 05:08 PM

I don't like "Saturday Night Fever" either, but that's because I think the movie itself is terrible. I don't like the songs from the film as well, but if they (and the movie) helped make disco more popular, then so be it. I actually see nothing wrong with that. And I'm sure that many people who discovered disco from that movie also got into other disco songs too. However, I disagree about "Saturday Night Fever" helping kill disco. But that's just my opinion.

**usagi-san** · January 30th, 2002, 08:22 PM

I agree with Funky Dude about the best songs on the soundtrack. Nearly as great were Tavares' "More Than A Woman" and the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love", although the latter does not even qualify as a disco slow jam; it is MOR pop of the best variety, although I have heard it way too many times, especially since I worked in MOR radio. (I always thought, if they changed the line "Cause we're living in a world of fools" to "Because we live in a world of fools", they could have made it more gramatically correct). I think the Bee Gees are great but they are r&b/pop, not disco, and they agree. Maurice said KC is the king of disco and that he was doing it before anyone else. I tend to agree, though "Boogie Shoes" is far from my fave KC and the Sunshine Band hit. I also agree with Paulo about who should have been consulted to produce the soundtrack. By the way, Boz Scaggs' "Lowdown" and Rick Dees and his Cast Of Idiots' "Disco Duck" very nearly made it on the soundtrack. As a movie, I think it ranged from great (mostly the discotheque scenes) to wretched (some things about the Tony Manero character, the bridge segment). I am still trying to find a way to see "Thank God It's Friday". I thought its soundtrack was fabulous but is edited on the CD soundtrack version I bought. What did people think of the mostly great "Roller Boogie" soundtrack, and that movie? Does anyone know if the movie "Discoland USA" was ever completed and released?

**JussiK** · January 31st, 2002, 02:57 AM

Sell your granny to buy any old vhs copy of ROLLER BOOGIE - it's jawdroppingly awful yet entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Just like DISCOLAND USA - known later as CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC...(I'll be the first in line(?) to secure me a dvd copy once the stores announce the title for real...)

**BrunoRepublic** · January 31st, 2002, 07:18 AM

On 2002-01-30 21:22, usagi-san wrote:

I am still trying to find a way to see "Thank God It's Friday". I thought its soundtrack was fabulous but is edited on the CD soundtrack version I bought.

As an aside, the full soundtrack was put out on CD some time ago (2 CDs). I'm told the movie is absolutely wretched but I haven't seen it. Along similar lines, has anyone seen Nocturna? I've spent the last week restoring the soundtrack which is great, but the premise for the film sounds ridiculous. Is it so-bad-it's-good or just bad?

**Marcodj** · January 31st, 2002, 07:55 AM

Any DVD yet?

It's a pity!!!

**discodjinn** · January 31st, 2002, 04:08 PM

Roller Boogie and TGIF. I remember them only from seeing them when they were released in theaters. I thought RB was a fairly harmless piece of fluff. I was surprised at Linda Blair's choice, as she was coming off such heavyweight fare as The Exorcist and a string of hard-hitting, grim reality based films like Born Innocent and Sarah T. TGIF struck me as unentertaining, amateurish and formulaic through and through. I was a teenager then-- I can only imagine my opinions would be harsher now.

SNF and "Lowdown": Not only was this song a consideration, Scaggs was the first choice for creating the entire soundtrack. Both the Bee Gees and Scaggs had reputations for making R&B-inflected, occasionally danceable pop tunes. It's interesting to speculate whether Scaggs would have been as reviled as the Gibbs in the 80's if he had taken on the project.

[ This Message was edited by: discodjinn on 2002-01-31 17:11 ]

**JussiK** · January 31st, 2002, 11:55 PM

There's something touching about NOCTURNA and it's star, Nai Bonet, an element of desperation : "I'm going to be a star with this film, I just know I am..." - The film does not live up to many expectations, it's not really "Le Bad" , rather just plain bad. The sets are atrocious and the "humour" horrible. There's some sleazy sex and naff dialoque and a few nice glimpses of the club Starship discovery as seen on the sleeve of the first Sat. Night Band album cover, though.

TGIF is more like an elongated LOVE BOAT episode, no better no worse, a slickly done and rather charming time capsule. As usual with quick Hollywood cash-ins, the plot is strictly formula.

**Funky Dude** · February 1st, 2002, 07:43 AM

Speaking of those dumshit disco haters who sarcastically sing "Stayin' Alive", my youngest brother was teasing me early today about disco and was sing "Ha ha ha stayin' alive, stayin' alive" with a really high pitch voice. Damn he was really pissing me off because I play lots and lots of different disco songs and he hears them all the time and yet he sarcastically sings Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive". He's also a disco hater, not just a disco hater but hates any music that's pre 1995 with the exception of Metallica. Oh well he always gets up me about my disco music and I always get annoyed with his Eminem music hehehe.

**Paulo** · February 1st, 2002, 04:50 PM

In fact, that Bee Gees falsetto is horrible. I think it is Barry Gibb who does it, isn't it? That kind of falsetto in the song Too Much Heaven and in 99% of their songs around this period... How can someone with that voice achieve so much success?

**HustleBaby** · February 1st, 2002, 05:26 PM

[quote]

On 2002-01-29 19:02, Funky Dude wrote:

What really cuts me up are those dumbshits who hate disco and when someone mentions the word "disco" they bag it out and sarcastically sing "Ah ah ah ah stayin' alive stayin' alive, ah ah ah ah stayin' aliiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeee", I bet many people do this to tease disco fans.

Funky Dude,

Do you know that I've encountered morons that teased me or (try to anyway) about my disco music! And they will break out with the same thing you've mentioned singing "ah ah ah ah stayin' alive staylin' alive while doing the famous John Travolta dance step! I just laugh at them and I'll say that he/she have no taste and that they are making a fool of themselves!

To my opinion the SNF soundtrack is a really good album although I'm tired of the ones radio stations play to death such as the Bee Gees, but my favourite disco cuts of this album are:

Ralph McDonald - Calypso Breakdown 1976

David Shire - Manhatten Skyline 1976

MFSB - K-Jee 1975

Kool & The Gang - Open Sesame 1976

To me those are the best songs of this album.

---------------------------------------------

My favorite songs on the SNF soundtrack that dosen't get enough play are:

1.K-Jee

2.Calypso Breakdown

3.Open Sesame

and believe it or not, I Love The Bee Gees. Its easy listening/feel good type of music.

*DELIGHTFUL*

**Funky Dude** · February 1st, 2002, 07:24 PM

I personally don't hate the Bee Gees. When I only knew about mainstream disco about 5 years ago I thought the Bee Gees were the best especially with "Night Fever". I still like their disco, it's just that since I've heard their music so many times on radio I just don't listen to them much anymore and I tend to look more into the rare disco than the mainstream stuff. To be honest it's been about two or three years since I last bothered to listen to Bee Gees "Stayin' Alive". But I do sometimes play "Jive Talkin'" and "Nights On Broadway". Bee Gees actually formed in Australia in the 1960's and their first big hit was "Spics & The Specs" which was around 1966 and around then they were a soft rock group. I even have some early video footage of them performing "Words" on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1968 as well. Still to be honest I like their disco better than their soft rock. But I guess their disco just got too big to the point of breakdown, in other words a lot of people just got sick of hearing their songs over and over again. Speaking of high pitched voices I use to think they were girls when I first heard their disco hehehe.

**Paulo** · February 2nd, 2002, 08:45 PM

Hello Funkydude:

You thought it was girls?! It just reminds me of a very recent brazilian three girl vocal cover group called SSS (because of their first 3 names: Sophia, Samantha and Sssomething else...) which covers Staying Alive. They really do that high pitched falsetto better than the original (I mean: not so irritating). You should hear them!

Obviously they don't have anything recorded on CD. I just saw them on TV. They have a very good three part vocal harmony.

**paul** · February 3rd, 2002, 01:11 AM

I agree with delight. I liked the Bee Gees. In fact Night Fever is still one of my favorites cuts. As for the small minded haters, I'm happy they took the time memorize one of our songs instead of the crap they like.

**HustleBaby** · February 3rd, 2002, 10:51 PM

Funky Dude,

Before I knew how the Bee Gees looked, I thought they were girls too! I didn't think men can sing with such high pitch voices.

Paul,

I think deep down inside, those disco haters

enjoy disco(funk or even european) but is scared as hell to admit it. They'll rather tease than be teased. My favorite Bee Gee songs is "You should be dancing" and "More Than a Woman".

*DELIGHTFUL*

**guille** · February 3rd, 2002, 11:18 PM

WOW!!! This topic has raised some good comments. I guess when it comes to SNF we all have to say something good or bad.

Don't forget the main driven force behind this movie, Disco music.