Disco VS. Controversy

**dj phillip esparza** · November 14th, 2003, 02:36 PM

I was listening to my all my 12" singles and thought this when listening to Machine's There but for the grace of god there go I.These lyrics seem to cut a little too close to the bone.Anyone remember what the reaction was like when this hit classic first broke out.

**NickNack** · November 14th, 2003, 09:01 PM

In New York, the reaction was OUTRAGEOUS with the gay crowds on the dancefloor. We loved it! The record was telling it like it was and it was a fierce dance track. If you were black and gay you were most likely feeling it even deeper. I know I did. AND DON'T PLAY THE 'CLEANED UP' VERSION. The crowd would kill you. I did it once as a test and got seriously hissed and boo'd :evil: . When I mixed back to the original and they heard, WITH NO BLACKS AND NO JEWS AND NO GAYS, everything was super 8) .

The song hit at a time when gay pride was in full swing and we were tired of the Anita Bryant's. I know some friends, my lover and I had taken a day-trip to upstate New York and found we couldn't get anyone to rent us boats or even let us on the lakes because of our 'mixed' crowd. That mix was black, white, Jewish and whatever. Need I say more? That song made me feel a helluva a lot better anytime I played it.

**paul** · November 16th, 2003, 01:44 AM

This song holds a special place for.
First, the lyrics hit us all as somehting real. The people who I hung with had no problems with it. They were black, white, Puerto Rican, male and female. I remembered hearing complaints and Machine did the sanitized version. I actually never knew where the complaint came from. As Nicky stated, that weak version was for the radio. I never heard it at the discos.
The specialness came in seeing them, as I mentioned in an old thread. Machine was performing at Kix in Boston and I had a chance to dance with that fine lead singer. Needless to say it made my night and has stayed with me ever since :D