Politically Incorrect Disco Songs

[Bernie]

In the Tangerue thread Barry mentioned how the cigarette was airbrushed out of the guy's mouth on the CD edition.

On the same train of thought how about Disco songs that back then were fine to play, but "maybe" not today.

First Choice - "Indian Giver" (Title offensive to Indians)
Machine - "There But For the Grace of God Go I" (Part of lyrics had, "No blacks, No gays and no Jews..."

Any other songs?

[sfbeary]

hey bernie,

actually, the line went, "no blacks, no jews, and no gays"

even though that song was recorded by blacks and was of course sympathetic to jews and gays as well, it was considered offensive by some even back then. wasn't there a radio airplay version with an alternative lyric that still maintained the rhyme scheme, something about "where the rich people play" ???? or maybe that was the kid creole & the coconuts version?

can anyone verify this? my lp has a sticker that says "uncensored version," and my 12" has the original lyric as well

[sfbeary]

on the politically incorrect tip . . .

there was a deodato track "keep it in the family" (also included on a promo-only 12" with a jellybean mix!) that sounds as if it's celebrating incest.

then there's charlotte gainsbourg's "lemon incest," which she sang with her famous/notorious father, serge gainsbourg, who wrote the song. the two of them appeared in bed together for the video. the track is not strictly disco, more synth-poppy/eurotrashy, but neverthless quite delicious in a super-duper non-pc way! :o

[sfbeary]

while i'm on a roll, i always thought that the line in donna summer's "dim all the lights" where she sings "turn my brown body white" was also un-pc and sexy in equal measures, particularly since she was married to a white guy!

[NickNack]

hey bernie,

actually, the line went, "no blacks, no jews, and no gays"

even though that song was recorded by blacks and was of course sympathetic to jews and gays as well, it was considered offensive by some even back then. wasn't there a radio airplay version with an alternative lyric that still maintained the rhyme scheme, something about "where the rich people play" ???? or maybe that was the kid creole & the coconuts version?

can anyone verify this? my lp has a sticker that says "uncensored version," and my 12" has the original lyric as well

LET'S FIND A PLACE THEY SAY / SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY / WHERE ONLY UPPER CLASS PEOPLE STAY

[NickNack]

Boystown Gang - Cruisin' The Streets I personally found the use of the 'C' word when they tell the girl to 'get up against the wall' disgusting. Didn't like it then or now.

Ferrara - Love Attack (Disconet Version) With 'safe sex' a priority post AIDS, "swallow it" just won't cut it.

Musique - Push, Push In The Bush Not sure how this would play today. Maybe not as 'cute' as when it first hit.

Isaac Hayes - Good Love GOOD LOVE 69-9-69 :o To each his own, baby

Joe Tex - Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman) I seriously love the second half of this song but those lyrics would probably get me smacked. :D

[sfbeary]

i thought that the olympic runners' "the bitch" was unnecessarily nasty until i found out it was from a joan collins movie of the same name.

context isn't everything, but it certainly matters!

[Videoskooter]

I still have the original "Message" from Grandmaster Flash and there are some lines which don't appear in later releases.

Dire Straits " Money for nothing" is also cleaned up.

They both had lines, considered anti-gay.

And Gainsbourg caused many problems. "Je t'aime, moi non plus" "69, année érotique" and "La décadanse" were scandalous when they were released. But when he put a reggae-beat under France's national anthem, "Le Marseillaise" he was literally attacked on stage. One of the greatest artists ever though.

And I almost forgot DAF's "Tanz der Mussolini" which was even forbidden in many clubs.

And how my dad was mad when I bought "Lady Marmalade"
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir? Now he's singing along with the record when he hears it. Or the Cerrone and Silver Convention-recordcovers. I had to ask him special permission to keep those ones :D

[Boodikka]

A while back we had discussed the most misogynistic album covers: the first "Love And Kisses" and the "Silver Blue" (Joel Diamond) come to mind.
We were never able to figure out why the import photo cover of Sheila's and B. Devotion's "Love Me Baby" became a line drawing of Sheila dancing alone on the cover of the domestic "Singing In The Rain", with B. Devotion dancing by themselves on the back cover. That always struck me as a bit racist.
Then again, many Black disco artists never made the covers of their own albums; Lorraine Johnson is a good example of this odd type of marketing.

[Mixmachine]

First Choice - "Indian Giver" (Title offensive to Indians)

I could be wrong, but I thought this was a term use against white people, you know, they give it away , and then they take it back....

[markydefad]

Then again, many Black disco artists never made the covers of their own albums; Lorraine Johnson is a good example of this odd type of marketing.

Most people (including me 'til I was set straight, so to speak) think that Lorraine Johnson is that skanky white chick boogieing on the cover of her LP. In fact, Joel Whitburn's Disco/Dance chart book says that Lorraine was a "white disco singer" , most likely because of those cover photos. In reality, Lorraine was a big black earth-mama-type, not deemed worthy of a photo on her own LP. Shameful!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Mixmachine]

In reality, Lorraine was a big black earth-mama-type, not deemed worthy of a photo on her own LP. Shameful!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

:lol: Hey Markydefad are you joking here? I mean, including this remark in a "political correct" thread, :lol:

[markydefad]

In reality, Lorraine was a big black earth-mama-type, not deemed worthy of a photo on her own LP. Shameful!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

:lol: Hey Markydefad are you joking here? I mean, including this remark in a "political correct" thread, :lol:

Just keepin' it reeeeeeeal.

I am a Suburban Homeboy. Yo Yo. :P

[sfbeary]

Joe Tex - Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman) I seriously love the second half of this song but those lyrics would probably get me smacked. :D[/quote]

hey nicknack,

if you think that's politically incorrect, you should flip the 12" and check out "Be Cool (Willie Is Dancing With A Sissy)," where tex warns that his buddy has either not taken a close look at his new dancing partner, or that he's found himself a new "bag" (in the james brown meaning of the word).

[Marcio**]

"In The Navy" by Village People :P

[NickNack]

hey nicknack,

if you think that's politically incorrect, you should flip the 12" and check out "Be Cool (Willie Is Dancing With A Sissy)," where tex warns that his buddy has either not taken a close look at his new dancing partner, or that he's found himself a new "bag" (in the james brown meaning of the word).

:lol: :lol: I'll be fucked! I never paid any attention to the flip. (Probably because the title irritated me.) I'm playing it now and maybe a hard-core straight audience found this amusing. Even has the sound of James Brown but I wouldn't put this on my turntables anywhere. Well, if my parents were alive maybe I'd play it for them. Just to give 'em a chuckle... :lol:

[QUINNY]

And then there was Bobby Marchan's reply to Joe Tex, I Wanna Bump With The Big Fat Woman. On the other side was Disco Rabbit....now I'm sure that could have had some kinda unknown (to me) connotations.

[darrens]

Best example I can think of is "Girls" by Moments and Whatnauts, which reached No. 3 in the UK pop charts in 1975. It features the following verse:

I'd like to be on an island
with five or six of them fine ones.
Even one that ain't good lookin'
They're the ones that do the best cookin'.
Give me one with a lot of money
Give me two with a lot of honey
Give me three that do them freaky things
Give me four fat mama's that like to swing.

:o :o

I must protest - my wife is "good lookin'" and also does great "cookin"", but then being a "new man" I do some "cookin'" too! :D

[Nano]

Most people (including me 'til I was set straight, so to speak) think that Lorraine Johnson is that skanky white chick boogieing on the cover of her LP. In fact, Joel Whitburn's Disco/Dance chart book says that Lorraine was a "white disco singer" , most likely because of those cover photos. In reality, Lorraine was a big black earth-mama-type, not deemed worthy of a photo on her own LP. Shameful!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

Oh man... I always thought that girl was Rod Temperton. :-?

[Boodikka]

There were a few other post-disco songs that contained lyrics that can be construed as homophobic: "Watch The Closing Doors" and "Another Man" would be examples of this.
Marky, I only learned that Lorraine Johnson was Black when she appeared on Soap Factory in the summer of '78. Using (mostly White) fashion models on disco album covers was SOP for "producer" projects (Saturday Night Band, Poussez), but I found it really strange in the case of Lorraine Johnson.

And yes, that cover model did indeed look like something from the Star Wars cantina.

[NickNack]

In reality, Lorraine was a big black earth-mama-type, not deemed worthy of a photo on her own LP. Shameful!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

:lol: Hey Markydefad are you joking here? I mean, including this remark in a "political correct" thread, :lol:

Just keepin' it reeeeeeeal.

I am a Suburban Homeboy. Yo Yo. :P

Geez, I never knew the woman was black. First I'm hearing of it. Marky, you "keep on keepin' on", homeboy. :)

[keefelc]

I remember I found out about the real Lorraine because a friend of mine had an earlier album of hers. Of course, that was way back in the late 70s so I don't have a clue what the album was called or who produced it. Anybody else remember?

[markydefad]

And, as I recall, I found out the truth about Lorraine Johnson from Keefe. I looked at that Prelude LP cover again last night and that blonde white chick is soooooooooo porno-slut looking--bad frizzy perm, silver lame jumpsuit.... BUT she was THIN. (and white). :oops: :oops: :oops: :roll:

At least when they had that model lip-sync for Martha Wash in the C+C Music Factory video of "Gonna Make You Sweat"...she was a Black model...Zelma whatever her name was..."Davis"??? :o

(back from a quick trip to AMG)....

Yeah, it was Zelma Davis and we eventually found out she could sing....BUT NOT like Martha Wash. :x

[Forrrce]

The previous Lorraine Johnson LP, 'The More You Get', has our heroine on the cover. And she's a homely gal.

[SandraDee]

Lorraine was no stranger to a fish supper.