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http://www.discostepbystep.com/get_down.htm
FYI all,
Saturday Night (Dec. 4) 8:00 PM PBS is broadcasting their "Get Down Tonight - The Disco Explosion" special! Past concerts in PBS' "My Music" series have been quite excellent so I expect great things from this one too. :D
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Thanks for the reminder, Disco Man! I might have forgotten about this show otherwise (and the redesigned TV Guide is almost useless!).
I received an advance copy of the three-CD box set for the show, and I have to say the collection is pretty unremarkable: all the usual suspects and mostly in 3-4 minute versions. ZZZZ
Which might be fine for non-fan(atic)s, but not us, huh?
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The radio edits are great on TeeVee but not in my music collection - I seek out the 12 inchers! I go dancing on Friday nights and the DJ spins my CDs with the announcement "And next is a Roger Disco". One of the other dancers once asked me "What is a Roger Disco ?" and I replied "The 12 inch Club version for the dance floor. that's why they are all so long."
8)
.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
The PBS disco special My Music was on last night. It was the same ol' scheisse, and for good measure, some artists lip synched to their original hits while the people danced the audience and couldn't care less.
With a pledge, you could also receive a CD box set called Get Down Tonight. Don't expect to see songs like...well...do I really need to give examples? Unless you want another collection with "I Will Survive", "Y.M.C.A.", any Bee Gees SNF-era song on it.
"Everyone knows the real reason why you got that part it was the time you spent on that casting couch"--Antoine Merriwether
"Excuse me, Miss Thing, but both of us spent time on that couch"--Blaine Edwards
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My wife and I enjoyed the special.
Perhaps... It's gotta be tough to recreate as the scene ended more than 20 years ago.
In four or five months I'll buy the two DVD set and enjoy 'em for what they are.
The PBS schilling for bucks last night was pitifull but I enjoyed the **** out of seeing many of the old acts live. Sure, the music is many of the tired tunes we hear, but it was still DISCO!!!!!!!!!!!! And the audience obviously had one helluva good time boogiein' the night away. And that's all that matters!
AND! I detected a certain disgust in the audience regarding current music. Is this going to develop into a demand for more Classic Disco based activities? People in the audience were obviously hungry for more. I was also surprised at the number of young people in the audience.
Janice Marie Johnson and Hazel Payne are still smokin' hot ladies!
France Joli probably weighs in at 400 lbs (no exageration)! What's happened to her? KC And The Sunshine Band put on ahelluva performance...
And...my wife and I will be spending our New Years Eve with Tavares so... :D
Chart Hit [Level 6]
Where did you see France Joli? Wasn't that Kirstie Alley singing "Come to Me"??! :lol: Singing with freakin' Barry "Greg Brady" Williams yet! :roll: (Sorry; I couldn't resist.)Originally Written by DiscoMan
I thought the whole production was staged pretty well. It was nice that they had a live band (I'm going to assume the band played live, not to pre-recorded tracks) that even included string and brass sections. Many of the other PBS oldies specials have been recorded here in Pittsburgh; wouldn't you know that this one wasn't? :evil:
I enjoyed hearing Irene Cara again (maybe for the first time since Solid Gold?), and it was nice to see Yvonne Elliman come out of retirement (even if the backup singers overwhelmed her), but as far as I'm concerned, Tavares and the Trammps could be the same group. (I know I'm going to get in trouble for that comment!)
I also thought the show as a whole focused too much on Saturday Night Fever and the Bee Gees and other SNF-related performers, but I guess that movie and its songs will always represent disco to the mainstream.
And appealing to the widest number of people possible was certainly the goal of this special: The pledge breaks were endless!!! I really wouldn't be surprised if there was more time spent on pledge breaks than on the show itself. The CD collection they were giving away includes all the same songs we've all heard too many times (and mostly in the radio-edit versions)--but I did think that bonus disco ball DVD looked kinda cool.
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That mountain of flesh was Ms. Joli. :o
I agree about SNF.
As much as I enjot that flick; it was not about Disco - it was one man's attempt to cash in on Disco.
PBS probably spent more time beggin' than boogiein'.
Tavares and The Trammps have different sounds.
The Tavares, Heatwave and Yvonne Elliman performances were
from last year's "Superstars of Seventies Soul" concert - they were skillfully and shamelessly edited into the overall program .
"Superstars of Seventies Soul" is very good and the two DVD set is a valuable addition to any collection of concert DVDs.
My prediction is that the two DVDs will hit the market in the April - June time frame and I'll purchase them at that time.
I'll watch "Get Down Tonight" again this week - After all I am a HUGE sucker for Disco!!!!!!!!! :roll:
Acetate [Level 1]
I WAS JUST THRILLED TO BE ABLE TO REVISIT THE DISCO ERA. I AGREE THE FORMAT WAS TACKY (DENNY TERRIO, PLEASE) BUT OVERALL I COULDN'T BE HAPPY.
THE PROGRAM HAS INSPIRED ME TO PRODUCE A DISCO REUNION SHOW HERE IN MIAMI. UNFORTUNATLEY, KC. A LOCAL BOY, HAS PRICED HIMSLEF OUT OF THE SHOW. HIS ASKING PRICE STARTS AT 25K + EXPENSES.
EVEN THE WORST OF THE CRITICS OUT THEIR HAS TO ADMIT IT IS BETTER THAN TODAY'S GANSTER RAP!
LONG LIVE DISCO
Chart Hit [Level 6]
I wouldn't have known that; so, yes, they were very skillfully edited to mix with the new material.
Much more skillfully than Donna's finale, that's for sure. :roll:
Test Pressing [Level 2]
I watched about 10-15 minutes of the special. I'd hope it would be more of a documentary featuring older performances from when these artists were in their prime (I hadn't seen any promos for the show). Heatwave couldn't hit their notes. If it doesn't sound like the original track, I lose interest. I'm not sure if the best disco stuff could ever really be played live to perfect effect without the use of sequencers and computers in the background like when Yaz and New Order toured.
Plus there was nothing that wasn't absolutely pop-disco on this program. It didn't hold my interest.
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It's a shame the show didn't hold your interest.
I enjoy these retro concerts produced by TJ Lubinsky for PBS.
And I especially enjoy seeing these original artists perform live once again - why should they be forgotten just because time marches on? Sure the voices may not be quite as vibrant and sharp - **** we're all 25 years older - but it doesn't matter to me. I'm just happy to see them all happy and healthy and still able to perform - to me we are all eternally young. 8)
Underground Hit [Level 5]
Well, the show was just mainstream tunes, but I liked most of it...except the "YMCA" and "Ring My Bell" segments. It was good to see Frankie Valli again. Frankie really did do a lot of great disco work, with songs like "Swearin' to God", "Oh What a Night", "Who Loves You", "Our Day Will Come" (1975 version), "Soul", "Heaven Above Me", and "Let It Be Whatever It Is", and a few others. And the guy was a patron at Studio 54. (Is that what damaged his hearing?) Yeah, he was pop oriented, but the music lasts! The ladies of Chic were great as usual. But instead of Wild Cherry they could have chosen a real disco act like say the Real Thing, the Whispers, or Shalamar that has performed all the time in Britain lately.
But I just read some bad news in connection with this show - Lubinsky was interviewed for the local Asbury Park N.J. paper and he said: "Carol Douglas had a song called 'Doctor's Orders,' something you'd hear on 'Sex and the City.' ... As it turns out, she has terminal cancer and she's dying. This is her last shot at getting known, getting her name out there. She came out and she did the song and she was incredible."
Triple Platinum Record [Level 10]
Poor Carol, I hope she survives. :(
The last time her name was bandied about here she was playing herself as a homeless woman on some daytime Judge Judy court-type show!!! Fighting with another diva over "stolen property." :oops: :oops: :oops:
Anyone recall this? :o
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
Triple Platinum Record [Level 10]
And, furthermore, I think "Doctor's Orders" was a great record. Really pushed deeper into a "disco sound" in the last few months of 1974. Gloria Gaynor got there first, but Carol's song is a gem. And her "Midnight Love Affair" trilogy is real good too. :D
That said, her cover of "Night Fever" kinda sucked. :oops:
Ditto "Dancing Queen." :oops: :oops: :oops:
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
Chart Hit [Level 6]
I recall that you posted this dirt via some daytime court show, but that's the only reference I've ever seen to this drama.
And I agree that the "Midnight Love Affair" trilogy is just lovely! Best wishes, Carol!
Oh, gawd, yes... almost anyone besides Wild Cherry. Aaaarrrrgh--theirs is another song I hope I never hear again!
Would you believe Wild Cherry played at my partner's senior prom??! Apparently they were attached to one of those Care*Free gum promotions in which the school that sent in the most wrappers or facsimilies won a concert by the band. (Does anyone else remember spending study hall writing "Care*Free" over and over??!) Bob's school won and even though "Play That Fukkin' Music" had hit big by then, a contract is a contract, so... :roll:
Acetate [Level 1]
I am curious about some of the ill feelings messages posted about Saturday Night Fever. Personally, SNF introduced me to the world of Disco. I saw the movie, heard the music and 25+ years, disco is the only music I listen to. Love going to reunion shows to relive great memories of the great club and great dancers of Miami. Not to mention the beautiful cuban ladies.
Long live Ciro Llerna.
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SNF is my personnal favorite but Disco was just so much more. Paying homage to that film as if it were the reason for Disco is soooo simplistic and so mis-leading.
SNF was Robert Stigwood's cash-in on something that was already a part of us. Speaking of cash in - that movie cost him something like $3.5 mil to make and returned to him over $240 mil!
Where SNF went wrong was in encouraging the money people to take Disco out of the urban nightclubs and shove it down the throats of redneck shitkickers in Jerkwater, USA (THE RED STATES!) who wanted nothing more than to continue to listen to their rock 'n roll. With everyone wanting to cash in on Disco as much as Stigwood did Disco was forced in everywhere and eventually people rebelled. Too bad really because the scene would have continued to evolve much as it did in Europe.
And another "music" was rising from the streets at the same time - Rap.
Chart Hit [Level 6]
I think there are too many people here who underestimate the importance that Saturday Night Fever had on popular culture and the masses.
Prior to the release of SNF, disco was already mainstream. In late 1976, Newsweek magazine had a front cover story about disco music and its role in the popular culture. Television shows like American Bandstand had devoted entire shows to disco music. SNF was based on the front cover story of a New York magazine issue from mid-1976. Robert Stigwood apparently was made aware of this, and from then his creation was born.
SNF was the first major motion picture to capitalize on the disco scene. I think one of the things that is hardly ever mentioned is the fact that the character of Tony Manero is universal, and more or less, more realistic then one would assume. For those in the tri-state area, listen to Joe Causi on WNEW Mix 102.7. The classic Manero-esque aura continues to live, through Causi, his listeners and his music.
I do believe, though, that disco was primarily the music of choice in big city areas and its surroundings. That is a given. Obviously, people in fly-over states would prefer other types of music and that is their business. Lest we should condescend to Disco Man's intolerant attitudes towards them.
SNF has held up well in its 25+ years, and it is a part of American culture that can never be erased. The movie made people from all over the world and all walks of life embrace the music, and it is truly a "diverse" musical genre. Whether people here like it or not, SNF made disco shatter its steel barriers to a large extent, although some wanted those barriers to remain (which in some cases it did). Nevertheless, what happened happened and as I look at it now, listening to "Y.M.C.A." at a wedding or "You Should Be Dancing" on the radio reminds me that after 25+ years, disco is still kept alive.
"Everyone knows the real reason why you got that part it was the time you spent on that casting couch"--Antoine Merriwether
"Excuse me, Miss Thing, but both of us spent time on that couch"--Blaine Edwards
Test Pressing [Level 2]
Poor Carol! I've always loved her stuff. :(
Underground Hit [Level 5]
I must say that I enjoyed this show and recorded it to play on a TV (volume off) while Disco music is blasting at my New Years party. I don't think any of us who were around during the Disco craze will ever be satisfied with watching middle aged performers but, it is what it is and I am happy to see them as long as they can hold up.
However, I am surprised that no one here took the time to give credit to the ladies dancing in the front of the stage. The camera view, up from the dance floor, was excellent although someone must have taken extreme care to ensure that no "slippage" occurred... :roll:
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We are ALL middle age now :lol: :lol:
Even our favorite rockers are 60! :o
Underground Hit [Level 5]
I love those 12 inchers too, I think of you discoman everytime I drive through Sutton...The radio edits are great on TeeVee but not in my music collection - I seek out the 12 inchers!
Gold Record [Level 7]
I'm so sorry to hear about Carol' health problems, I did see that 'people's courts', the other diva was Sharon Brown and I believe the thing was staged for promotion.
The PBS show will be repeated locally on 17 tomorrow at 11PM, I'll take a look, it sounds similar to the "Disco Ball" show of about a year ago. Is this one better or about the same?
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This show is much different - a serious celebration of the music, the times and the attitudes (produced by baby boomers?), whereas the "Discoball" was a rub it in your face insulting parody (IMO) with talentless no-stars "performing".
Rab, where do you live and how often do you drive through Sutton?
Perhaps we could get together for a few and reminisce - I bet we hung around in many of the same joints!
Indie Release [Level 4]
i've seen parts of it at different times....france joli could have sung with martha wash to form two tons of fun 2004....for a taste of honey to not not preform in 20 years they sounded real good...it was pretty cool to know that billy idol's mom had a hit song then.....oh,my mistake about alicia bridges,lol.....why did "greg brady" sing with france joli? was he on the original? the village people were the same as always....i honestly think the village people will be singing y.m.c.a in the year 2099 with all the members replaced,of course but still with the six stereotypes singing away....it's so funny to see that they actually had a live album...a friend of mine has it and when i heard it it sounded no different from the regular songs...i was hoping to see someone like d-train,donna summer or kool and the gang,but it was still a entertaining show....
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