Why do people hate on disco so much?

[TZ]

Seriously. I know its mainstream pop music from the 70's so in some sense its uncool but I think for what it was it succeeded quite well. As a serious dancer, I enjoy disco as well...and its not just me..The seventies partner dance, Hustle (NOT the stupid line dance) has made a comback in the ballroom and country dance arena in the last 10 years. I used to go to a country dance night where disco was ALWAYS played so people could Hustle (here's an example...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Ie2QuWVYo&feature=related)


Just curious.:shrug:

[Symarip]

1. It's a watered down version of Funk

Some of it's ok, but I can't imagine listening to it on a constant basis.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Yeah, some of it is good, but a steady stream might not be something I would enjoy.

[TZ]

5. Well no, I would get tired of the same beat over and over...

Thats why so called "dance music" and "dance clubs" don't appeal...It all sounds the same to me. And yeah, I tend not to go to the all hustle nights either cause I like a mix of music.
A good night to me would be a little country, a little swing, a little salsa,a little ballroom, and a little disco....

[mix]

2. i have always loved disco

many punks did

[graywarrior]

3. Apparently riding disco sticks is in, so some people like it.

[cwydro]

8. I am really afraid to ask...

what is a disco stick???:scared:

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. I have no idea what a disco stick is, but it makes me think of

Or was it a different sort of riding?

:hide:

[TZ]

11. Yeah me three, what is a disco stick? n/t

[graywarrior]

18. Have a nice ride

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w-NZ4VROD0

[TZ]

25. okay!

Question answered...:rofl:

[graywarrior]

48. Bet you go back to that a few more times.

I hated it the first time, now I can't look away.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. I was a kid when disco was all the rage. And tube tops, rainbow socks with toes,

gauchos, satin jogging shorts, macrame, and roller skates. And I owned all of the above, except for the tube top. :P I used to watch "Dance Fever" before bed, and while wearing a long flannel granny nightie, I used to make my dad dance with me. Especially the lifts. It was a lot of fun.

Now, I watch the disco routines on "So You Think You Can Dance" and I just love them. They bring back fond memories for me. :)

[TZ]

10. I LOVED "Dance Fever" as a kid...

although I only started dancing about 10 years ago..Maybe its a way to relive part of my childhood...

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Have you been watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" :^)

[TZ]

14. Sometimes

I'm really much more into the partner stuff and not so much into the solos/hip hop/jazz/broadway stuff...What I LOVE is Dancing With the Stars..Thats much more of the type of stuff I do.:)

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. LOL I am exactly the

opposite. I loved the Broadway, Jazz, and contemporary stuff as a kid, and as a cheer coach I adore Hip-hop. "America's Best Dance Crew" can't air often enough around here. I do enjoy ballroom too and remember Juliet Prowse hosting competitions on PBS, but the only time I have seen Dancing with the Stars is watching Shawn Johnson vids on youtube. If I was in shape, I would be all over the jive and the lindy. I think swing is so cool!


Here are the two disco routines from SYTYCD from this season, in case you missed them. :)

Brandon & Janette: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJeKdHHwPTY

Melissa & Ade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en1kPTM1Wyk

[TZ]

24. I've taught swing!

And assisted in teaching basic Lindy Hop...Thats an awesome dance!! You should have seen little tiny me doing a small swing toss on much bigger guys...:)

[Swede]

7. I think they overplayed it on radio,which is not what it is meant for.

It's for dancing.

[TZ]

13. +1000

I think you just hit the nail on the head...:)

[bridgit]

15. cause as a practical matter it sucks

[Symarip]

17. ...

Well, there's always that, too.

[TZ]

19. and here I was...

going to say thank you for the serious non "it sucks" response. I guess its just reflex for you...:eyes:

[Symarip]

21. What the fuck, woman

I DIDN'T SAY IT. I believe your post belongs in response to the post above mine.

[TZ]

23. lol

Well my day is made...I got under your skin. :P
I expected one or two "IT SUCKS" responses...Figured you would get in on that SOMEWHERE....:rofl:

[bridgit]

34. Well, some people love disco so much they'll *fight* for it

All my brothers were older, my brother Willy was at Monterrey with Hendrix and the fire guitar thing, *I'm* a serious dancer it's part of my degree but when the fusion rock cycle ended disco slipped in and brought along with it party drugs and apathy:

Disco was a CIA Plot, A confession

'The spooks had realized that Rock was more than just music, it was a life style and the means by which revolutionaries were spreading the ridiculous propaganda of Peace, Love and Understanding.

Undercover agents in Beatle wigs, glued-on mustaches and paisley Nehru jackets were dispersed to infiltrate Love-Ins and other gatherings where this protest music was poisoning the minds of American youth only to have their covers blown because they were still wearing highly polished government issue shoes.'

~

The Disco Doctrine, a report by Agent Freak

Step 1: Take over the airwaves: This rabble rousing music and the message of the nattering nabobs is being spread by "Underground FM" radio stations. To accomplish this I recommend deregulating the industry by allowing "our friends" to own more stations.

Step 2: Change the music: Replace incendiary lyrics with silly love songs. Make the music virtually "undanceable". This can be done by kidnapping renditioning popular artists and implanting inane melodies and lyrics through drugs, sleep deprivation, subliminal messages and other techniques. (Examples: Moody Blues, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Styx, Paul McCartney)

Step 3: Stop "Live Music" Grassroots: Most activist musical groups start in small nightclubs and roadhouses. These sources can be forced out of business with new laws such as raising the drinking age to 21, noise regulations, fire codes and aggressive enforcement of DUI laws.

During World War II the Germans took full advantage of the legendary Parisian nightlife of cabarets and bistros, but they banned "swing" dancing and jazz clubs because of their American and black and Jewish cultural pedigree. Consequently, jazz became an emblem of dissent in the French resistance, and illicit clubs adopted the low-key approach of playing records over crude public-address systems, since live performances, for so many reasons, were impractical

Step 4: Replace live music clubs with disco dance clubs: "The Market" will assure that these are profitable due to lower entertainment costs. Replacement of "drugs of choice" from psychedelics to cocaine will be easily accomplished by enacting strict possession laws and aggressive enforcement while relaxing enforcement for recreational drugs that are more addictive (thus drawing discophiles to the source at the disco). Coke can be easily imported by Company operatives in Central and South America.

all major rock movements begin with a small community of talented, ambitious, fun-loving miscreants. With nowhere to play, you’ll have local government to thank for ushering in an unprecedented era of high-wattage house parties.

Once upon a time, the main drags out of Washington were thick with roadhouses, night clubs, juke joints. The Dixie Pig, the Wheel Bar, the Rustic Cabin, the Crossroads, a dozen more, a four-piece combo in each one, playing loud and hard into the night.

...Basically, roadhouses stand in the way of society's relentless march toward clean, safe, calculated living. So they are being eradicated, converted into mattress factories, dialysis clinics, parking lots.

~

So, in closing, I would like to ask for your forgiveness and leave you with these words of wisdom from perhaps the best writers from the Disco Era.

Dance
Dance, dance
Dance
Dance
dance, dance
Dance
Dance
Dance, dance
Dance
Dance
Dance, dance
Dance

Dance
Dance, dance
Dance
Keep on, keep on
Dance
Dance, dance
Dance
Keep on dancing
Dance
Dance, dance
dance
Keep on, keep on
Dance
Dance, dance
Dance
Dance
Dance, dance
Dance

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/7/670313/-Disco-was-a-CIA-Plot,-A-confession

I think it's mostly a case of people being able to find it if the think they need it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M65zI9LH-as

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kzh3Sz8kFs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5xsiKBJGW4

[Kali]

16. It was another "minority" scene (Gay) that got co-opted by

lame suburbanites.

[mix]

22. and that is why the reaction against disco

usually had homophobic and racist undertones

[Kali]

32. nah

it was fun in the gay bars, after it mainstreamed the music itself started to suck - I think most of the "suck" reaction came after it got popular. Like so many cool things that come out of a real "scene" average white people just ruin it all:rofl:

[mix]

33. i agree about what happened to its audience (and the quality of music) when it went mainstream

but the reaction against disco, esp. on FM Rock stations and among their (white/hetero) fans, could often be really nasty

[Kali]

41. you know,

I was really unaware of how bad it was. I mean there was a local honkey tonk band that put out a song (Disco Sucks) but I had no idea there were these big organized events! Maybe I was still doing the gay bar scene then, I'm not sure, but I obviously missed most of it. And I have always been an FM radio freak whereever I lived - still am, although community radio not commercial or even much NPR.

I aways viewed that song as a reaction to all the housewives making disco popular for their exercise classes and that kind of crap.

[gmoney]

56. homophobia

what happened was a lot of people liked what they heard, then realized "Gasp, the Village People are HOMOSEXUAL! Singing about HOMOSEXUAL things!" and somehow felt tricked and betrayed.

I honestly don't think a lot of middle America realized what was up...

[blondeatlast]

27. In retrospect, I think that was a lot of it. When disco albums were burned at sporting events,

I was pretty much convinced.

In my time, I was ska and a bit punk, but I and my friends loved disco, too.

[Kali]

42. I had no idea those things were happening

see my other post

I pretty much like anything too - as long as it isn't the same songs/genre played over and over.

[Arugula Latte]

46. Yep. That "Rockers vs. Discoers" thing was

partly, PARTLY -- not entirely -- the revenge of the young white redneckish male against teh gays and teh minorities.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

26. I like it.

And I listen to everything under the sun. The only music I hate is bad music. :hi:

[blondeatlast]

29. Exactly. My iPod is as varied as it gets and it contains lots of great disco. nt

[mix]

30. +10 000

:hi:

[DevonRex]

28. Saturday Night Fever. If you haven't watched it recently, do it now.

Then you'll understand.

[mitchum]

31. I really like the hedonism associated with it, but I hate the sound

as symarip said, "It's watered down funk"
Give me the real thing.

[MicaelS]

35. Because Rock and Roll fans felt then and still feel threatened

By anything not Rock that's why, as if Rock were the only "legitimate" type of popular music.

[MilesColtrane]

36. If a style of music is going to have a rigid framework or formula (in this case rhythmic)....

...it better be damned compelling to hold my interest.

Other forms of dance music (salsa/mambo, funk, swing, afropop, reggae, etc...) simply feel better and more open and organic to me.

Even with their crowded, overproduced arrangements most disco songs sound artificial and dead.

[Strong Atheist]

37. Recommended,

dammit! x(

[MilesColtrane]

39. Good morning, Mr. Quixote.

:hi:

[Strong Atheist]

45. You got THAT

right...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Strong%20Atheist/15

:hi:

[JVS]

38. Because it's totally commercial bullshit and it sucks

And dancing sucks too.

[tigereye]

40. interestingly enough, my drum teacher pointed out to me that a lot of the

Minutemen's drumming was basically a lot of disco beats, and the Clash's drummer also used those beats a lot. (ironic in a way ;)



And a lot of folks loved the dance moves. I think it's popularlity simply became cliche' in some ways.

[AngryAmish]

43. Disco Sucks

[mix]

44. brilliant example of where disco went

ABC-Look of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkwEK9AYQHg

[TreasonousBastard]

47. Three reasons...

It was bland and overtly commercial-- even the "best" disco was rarely more than a dance beat with a melody tacked on.

John Travolta, and porn stars turning disco tracks, destroyed whatever reputation it had.

Lingering resentment about those disco clubs not letting rockers in.

(And, maybe it did just suck, after all.)

[msanthrope]

49. Yesterday was the anniversary of Disco Demolition Night.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night

They had the right idea....

[MissMillie]

50. I think because it is more of a producer's medium than an artist's medium

I don't mind it.... at least when I want to dance.

[Vidar]

51. At this point I agree with you. I'm also a dancer. When disco came out , however,

it was castigated for putting live bands out of business, with some justification.

[MrSlayer]

52. At least the disco bands actually played instruments.

It wasn't just robbing someone's riff and talking over it.

[Q3JR4]

53. Unrec because of the disco reference...

just kidding. :P

Q3JR4.
Couldn't resist. ;)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

54. I thought disco was a lot of fun.

Even if it sucked, it was fun to dance to. And the point was the dancing, not the music.

[Skittles]

55. it was for the most part horrible, ugly "music"

the disco era was among the worst in my life - give me hard rock any day of that fucking garbage

[mopinko]

57. don't tell my husband

he is a hard core disco hater, for who the disco demolition night fiasco would have been the high point of his life had it not happened at his beloved comiskey park. i have studiously downplay my own affection for donna summer, et al. in fact, i don't think he knows i can dance. (in fairness, neither do some of the people that i have danced with.)
i think mostly he hated it out of nerdly fear of ever being expected to do it.
but honestly, from this prospective, i think there is more than a little homophobia to it.

[Kat45]

58. Because it sucked.

I was in my twenties then, loving rock, then this shit started stinking up the airwaves and the clubs. My friends and I listened mainly to sixties music through much of the seventies because there wasn't much current rock around.

[Jade Fox]

59. See this post: excellent disco music within.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tgWS9c4kI8