Vanity Fair: "Boogie Nights"

[markydefad]

Interesting series of quotes from Disco notables in Vanity Fair online article titled

"Boogie Nights: An Oral History of Disco"

February 2010: Lisa Robinson on Disco | vanityfair.com

[whitesockedfunk]

Great article! Does the printed edition have more?

[kdavid13]

Great article - and of course I sent a link to all my Facebook buddies.:icon_cool:

I've even printed the articles and it comes to 11 pages.

[markydefad]

Great article! Does the printed edition have more?

I don't know--don't have the new issue. Will report back when I see it.

[remicks]

******



a selected provocative excerpt:

Some say the 1960s Parisian club scene—Chez Castel, Chez Régine—started it all. These were sophisticated spots where, by the end of the decade, one heard such erotic songs as Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s steamy duet “Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus” and

Isaac Hayes’s dreamy, 12-minute version of “Walk On By.”

But most agree that none of this really mattered until the early 1970s, when gay underground dance clubs in New York—the Loft, Tenth Floor, 12 West, Infinity, Flamingo, and, later, the Paradise Garage, Le Jardin, and the Saint—spawned a disco culture that brought with it open drug use, on-site sex, and ecstatic, nonstop, all-night dancing.

February 2010: Lisa Robinson on Disco | vanityfair.com

wow !!! :icon_cool:

(added emphasisises ---- all mine )





*****

&
no I didn't write the article

[JussiK]

In the full article, the writer hopefully does stress the importance of current phenomenons that have to do with the music, the popular cosmic scene, the italo nights, Horse Meat Disco-style electronic clubs, the re-edits sold in dj stores etc. I don't believe she will, though, or does care if any of that stuff exists. Vanity Fair is into socialites, politicans and stars, not the street. To the magazine, all disco amounted to was the sameold Studio 54 scene.

[Chap2Power]

I would give Lisa Robinson a little more credit than that.

I grew up reading her in magazines like Hit Parader, and at least this had me remotely interested in seeing what she had to say. She's not a brainless novice.

Us disco die hards are hard to please, and will all be left with a feeling of "whatever"...

It was ok.

I do agree with Jussi in one area: these endless New York centric articles are simply tired.

How many more can we read ?

[JussiK]

She's not a brainless novice.

She must be a good writer as such but I you grew up reading her articles she's by now apparently just too old to register what's going on in club culture. "oh, let's give Lisa that subject, she's perfect for anything to do with the 70's"..:-)

[Chap2Power]

I don't get it, Jussi.

Let me see here, I support your sentiment, and then you slam the writer anyway.

She's talking about something that is 30 years old, and you're saying she's too old to register what's going on in club culture.

Let's be honest: no writer based in the US, save Vince Aletti or Brian Chin (get better !) could write anything that would be palatable to a purist. And many of us on here are indeed purists. We want the truth, we want the guts and we want the underground flavour. We want surprises. Saturday Night Fever was the most commercial of the aspects and that's where all of these articles go. There is no mention of anything else that keeps us happy.

She's writing as a populist using the same byline that has been used for decades: it's all about Saturday Night Fever, what got us to it, and what went on after it for any American magazine.

I'm happy to say I didn't hate it as much as you might, but to each their own.

[remicks]

She must be a good writer as such but I you grew up reading her articles she's by now apparently just too old to register what's going on in club culture. "oh, let's give Lisa that subject, she's perfect for anything to do with the 70's"..:-)

Certainly better that
than :

"hey, let's give the disco assignment to that new pimply-faced intern .... I'm sure she'll do it justice" ....................



******

[markydefad]

Let's face it--in mainstream American culture, Disco is remembered as "Saturday Night Fever." The writer of the article, Lisa Robinson, artfully, I think, uses quotes from various PLAYERS on the disco scene and creates a timeline for the development of the disco scene culminating with that movie's release. Lisa Robinson writes the intro ---then it's mostly quotes [with an occasional Robinson interjection to cite historical facts] and the last quote from Gloria Gaynor, appropriately--since she was arguably the first disco star, says:

Gloria Gaynor:

Disco music is alive and well and living in the hearts of music-lovers around the world. It simply changed its name to protect the innocent: Dance music. There’s no better music for a party—it helps you get rid of the stresses of the day.

So the idea that disco lives on today in an "altered state" is there.

I know "SNF" is a divisive issue on this board--BUT I recently rented it from Netflix and watched it several times. John Badham's director commentary is especially enlightening. The movie was filmed fast and loose on location and I don't think anybody expected it to be the cultural landmark it became. I felt that movie really held up. It was actually much better than I remembered it. It has a raw realism and streetwise grit that feels true to life today. I gave it a 5 star ***** rating. John Travolta was never better and, I think, probably deserved an Oscar for that performance.

OK, bash me. Call me Captain Obvious.

[Chap2Power]

Let's face it--in mainstream American culture, Disco is remembered as "Saturday Night Fever." The writer of the article, Lisa Robinson, artfully, I think, uses quotes from various PLAYERS on the disco scene and creates a timeline for the development of the disco scene culminating with that movie's release. Lisa Robinson writes the intro ---then it's mostly quotes [with an occasional Robinson interjection to cite historical facts] and the last quote from Gloria Gaynor, appropriately--since she was arguably the first disco star, says:

Gloria Gaynor: So the idea that disco lives on today in an "altered state" is there.

I know "SNF" is a divisive issue on this board--BUT I recently rented it from Netflix and watched it several times. John Badham's director commentary is especially enlightening. The movie was filmed fast and loose on location and I don't think anybody expected it to be the cultural landmark it became. I felt that movie really held up. It was actually much better than I remembered it. It has a raw realism and streetwise grit that feels true to life today. I gave it a 5 star ***** rating. John Travolta was never better and, I think, probably deserved an Oscar for that performance.

OK, bash me. Call me Captain Obvious.

Thank you for a PERFECT reply, Marky. Vintage stuff !

If anyone wants to read a true contemporary, back in the day article on disco, then get Michael Musto's After Dark piece from 1979.

I have it in my archives and will post when I can find it. Oh, and we'll probably take a shot at that too !

[markydefad]

Thank you for a PERFECT reply, Marky. Vintage stuff !

If anyone wants to read a true contemporary, back in the day article on disco, then get Michael Musto's After Dark piece from 1979.

I have it in my archives and will post when I can find it. Oh, and we'll probably take a shot at that too !

Well I thought you said it all Chap2Power. Mine seemed a rehash--but I had already typed it...so why erase it?

What month was the Musto column in After Dark? I probably have it.....I will check tonight. I love the way Michael Musto writes. Such a clever quipster.

[markydefad]

Oh and I will mention again--that I also rented "Thank God It's Friday," which some here seem to hold near and dear to their hearts-- to compare to "SNF"--and it was A.W.F.U.L.--unbearably A.W.F.U.L. --- Yeah, I said it!

Dreadfully unfunny movie. :icon_evil::icon_evil::icon_evil:
I was embarrassed for poor Debra Winger. :icon_twisted::icon_exclaim::icon_exclaim:

[markydefad]

In the full article, the writer hopefully does stress the importance of current phenomenons that have to do with the music, the popular cosmic scene, the italo nights, Horse Meat Disco-style electronic clubs, the re-edits sold in dj stores etc. I don't believe she will, though, or does care if any of that stuff exists. Vanity Fair is into socialites, politicans and stars, not the street. To the magazine, all disco amounted to was the sameold Studio 54 scene.

Ok I see the complaint is about Robinson's last paragraph where she lists Disco as it applies to today's culture--but only in terms of the USA:

Winter 2009–10:
The Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” is played during televised N.B.A. games.

A “Disco Ball,” with Gloria Gaynor, the Trammps, Peaches and Herb, Monti Rock III, and others, has been held in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Last fall, the Hollywood Bowl hosted a huge “Disco Fever 3” show with Chic, Kool & the Gang, the Village People, and Thelma Houston.

D.J. “schools” all over the country teach how to mix MP3s for clubs.

Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real” is the soundtrack to an Applebee’s television commercial.

The Bee Gees, celebrating their 50th anniversary, appeared on both American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

In December, Donna Summer performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Norway.

And despite government regulations and community issues and fire laws and neighborhood complaints, dance clubs are sprouting up again; whether they’re places that get closed down, like the Beatrice Inn or the Jane, in New York City, or private “parties” that pop up with regularity, drawing younger dancers by word of mouth to basement rooms, empty office spaces, or lofts—you can’t stop the music.

Hmmmm...well that's the arrogance of the American press for ya. :icon_eek::icon_exclaim: It's ALL about US!
Isn't it? Isn't it? For the record: I'm being facetious.

[JussiK]

Ok I see the complaint is about Robinson's last paragraph where she lists Disco as it applies to today's culture--but only in terms of the USA:

Hmmmm...well that's the arrogance of the American press for ya. :icon_eek::icon_exclaim: It's ALL about US!
Isn't it? Isn't it? For the record: I'm being facetious.

You said it :-). What something like Vanity Fair writes is of zero importance in Europe, thank god. The magazine does print interesting and wickedly funny stuff on occasion like the Sarah Palin piece but when it comes to street culture, it's clueless. Understandable, of course. If they'd employ fresh pimply faced interns with genuine insights the subscribers would no longer be there. I for one would not be here if all that disco amounted to was what Lisa Robinson wrote, SNF etc, the American view of the whole thing. Check a site like Overfitting Disco to see what I mean. For us across the ocean, disco music is a cool sound that just happened to be made 30 years ago. The big hits of that day have no importance whatsoever. The kids who go to the cosmic etc nights don't expect to hear Boogie Wonderland or I Will Survive when they see a flyer for a disco gig. They know they'll get to dance to stuff they haven't heard before with mad synths, weird chants, strings, melodies, vocoder voices. Saturday Night Fever? Never. And Gloria is sort of wrong, disco did not change it's name, there was no need - in Europe, that is. I spoke to her personally last year about this and she said I was right, by the way.