How old were you when disco had its first heydey? Did you buy the albums, wear the outfits, dance in the clubs? Does disco suck, or will it survive?

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Answers

I was in middle school. I had a feathered 'do, a satin jacket, light blue NIKEs, flaired dark blue jeans with white stitching, and lip gloss for special occasions. My favorite song was "(Our Love) Don't Through It All Away" by Andy Gibb. At dance parties the songs played most were "Macho Man" and "Boogie Oogie Oogie."

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

When was disco's heydey? 1979? Anyway, I was in junior high - high school at the time. No, I was not into the scene, I didn't buy any of the albums, didn't wear any of the outfits, didn't dance to it. At the time, I was certain disco sucked. Most of it to this day still sucks (pathetic and mediocre come to mind) but some artists and songs have emerged as classics. Every weekend here on the radio, two stations play hours of disco on Saturday night. My wife insists on listening to it, so I've been forced to make some observations. The true kings of disco were the Bee Gees, KC and the Sunshine Band, the Village People and the Ohio Players (but in a more jazz-funk way).

Disco will survive - there are a lot of children listening to it who will continue to remember it fondly as they grow up. So long as someone is willing to keep playing the songs on the radio, it won't die.

For better or for worse. :-)

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Disco has survived; it's called dance, house, techno, or whatever these days. I'm liking dance music these days, partly 'cause it's a big thorn in the side of rock ideology.

Since I was born in 1976, I can't say I remember the disco heyday.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

In 1977-78, I was in grades seven and eight. While I liked non-disco music too, I surely did love me some funky disco. That was all that was played at school dances. Well, that and Stairway to Heaven.

Oh, and in grade six, at camp, I had to participate in a skit in which we acted out the song Boogie Fever. "Doctah, Doctah, I got this feelin', rockin' and a reelin', y'all, what can be, is it some new disease? They call it Boogie Fever..."

I believe that I did a gymnastics routine to A Fifth of Beethoven as well as to Down Let the Sun Go Down on Me.

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2000

_man_, I feel so at home in these forums, Gwennie-- I'm like, with my peers.

Pearl and I must be just about the same age (born in 66?), cos I could copy her post verbatim and it'd be my experience, except Pearl was clearly Cool, whereas I was Not. ;) (God, I WISHED for those light-blue Nikes and the satin jacket!!) And that Andy Gibb song was a *total* fave of mine-- but I'd forgotten about it til you mentioned it, Pearl! My god I feel ancient.

I had a pretty happenin' collection of 45s (that's 7"s, to any UK'ers reading), it was like the ONLY thing I had going for me in the cool department. Abba was my fave band (I still love them).

Maggie-- my friend and I made up a dance to Boogie Fever too!!! *highly amused* "I took my baby to the pizza par-lor (pizza parlor), to get a bite to eat, nah nah yeah..." Blimey, I'm gonna have to dig out that single now, aren't I. ;)

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2000

I was born in '69, so disco was in its heyday when I was 8 or 9. Guilty secret: "Saturday Night Fever" was the first album I ever bought with my own money. Me and my sister and my little friends would put it on and dance, dance, dance in the living room.

My favorite disco song was "Disco Inferno."

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

Hmm...that'd be about 1978, which was the year my family moved to the Middle East. So I only was grazed by the disco bullet, though we did get our share of Abba and Boney M. I had just started high school and because of where we lived I was mercifully spared from having to be "cool." Disco isn't deep enough to suck, so it will live on in some incarnation. Just so long as I don't have to listen to it...

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

When I was four years old my dad put an ABBA 8-track tape into the stereo of our station wagon, and it changed my life. I wanted to be the Dancing Queen. Then the tape broke, and dad put in Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and my life changed again - disco no longer interested me.

But I did have a Shaun Cassidy sweatshirt and Hardy Boys bellbottom jeans.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I was born in seventy-one. My teen cousin babysitters used to make up little dances to Copa Cabana. My faves then were Disco Inferno and Emotions (which really isn't disco, I guess, but same era.) My dad bought me the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. My first-grade class used to copy Travolta's moves on the stage in our cafeteria.

Now my favorites are Boogie Oogie Oogie and To Be Real. Oh, and Don't Leave Me This Way, which I have yet to find on a compilation cd.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

Nicole-- I love it. You just totally cracked me up. :)
Gwen-- surely those songs are available on SOME compilation cds? Or did you mean you want one cd that has all those songs?
And, though I'm ashamed to suggest it, you could try Napster.

I would like to say that, thanks to this thread, I could not sleep last night until I had successfully remembered and sung the complete lyrics to 'Boogie Fever'. And when I finally accomplished that feat, another song by The Sylvers, 'Hot Line', popped into my head and kept me awake another 30 minutes.

Tut tut.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

Disco songs to me bring back very vivid memories of playing with my Superstar Barbie in her sparkly pink boa.... I didn't have the Superstar Barbie stage set, but I made a MUCH better one out of album covers. My Superstar Barbie even got to disco-dance on the special revolving dance floor... although I had to be careful so I didn't scratch the K-Tel record that was playing at the time.

[How scary is it that "On the Radio" and "Rock Lobster" existed on the same radio airwaves...?]

I was 9-10 when disco reigned supreme, and since I got most of my clothes via bags of stuff that this or that co-worker of Gram's was giving away, I scored this STUNNING dress that I dubbed my "disco dress." It was flesh colored, with an elastic push-down neckline, and the four tiered ruffled skirt that flared when I twirled. My mom, totally into Bette Midlar at the time, got me a major curly disco perm, and MAN, was I hot!

I was taking dance at the time, too, and I've saved all my old programs with everyone performing to "Disco this" and "Boogie that" and pictures of everyone in their sequined disco costumes....

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

Yeah, I was born in '66. Klee, you're too kind. Although I most emphatically was *not* cool -- I was the *big* girl. I mean, we're talking 5'6", 120 lbs., but in middle school, that's BIG. And I was terribly shy. But I was somewhat hip to the trends.

Also Queen's We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions was huge. Usually that was played second to last at dances, right before Stairway to Heaven.

My favorite songs from that era ('77-'79), though, weren't disco: Little River Band -- Reminiscing Barry Manilow -- Even Now Commodores -- Easy Rita Coolidge -- We're All Alone Bob Seger -- Weve Got Tonight

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I didn't mean to run those together like that, sorry!

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

(The one thing lame about this program is that it does automatic paragraph spacing but not plain line breaks -- you have to add your own HTML for that.)

Klee - I only need "Don't Leave Me This Way" on cd. I have the others. I couldn't even find Don't Leave Me on IRC... I should check Napster, though. Or Amazon.

Pearl - I love, love, loved Reminiscing. And "Easy". In fact, I think Nicole loves that one, too. She loves "Easy" and "Brick House". Don't you, Nicole?

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I was born in '73. A good year for music all around. However, my greatest disco memory is from grade 10 when I did an air band of "boogie woogie dancing shoes" with some friends. My friend and I were the back up singers and we had exactly matching outfits, mine in sparkly silver and hers in sparkly gold. I don't know how we got so lucky as to find similar outfits. We had a totally choreographed number. Plus we had one other friend who just danced in addition to the female singer and the male singer. It was excellent!

In University another friend of mine and I completely covered her walls in tin foil and had a disco party. But we sweated like pigs in an oven with that tin foil. I had the most excellent multicoloured jumpsuit with huge bell bottoms and we did a fun dance to Car Wash in which I was a car that rotated and my friend pretended to wash the car in that wax on, wax off, Karate Kid way.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I may have "Don't Leave Me This Way" floating around--who does it, exactly? I can look when I get home.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Well, I was born in 1979, sooo, I guess I was in-utero when disco had it's heyday....What a shame.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Milla -- I think it's... it's... something like Anita Houston. Or somebody.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Gwen - haw! I keep forgetting that I was the inspiration for Brick House.

And Gwen, I may be Easy Like Sunday Morning, but you're Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

That's what Buckwheat said, too!

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Gwen, don't you mean "Unce, Tice, Fee Times a Maydeh"? ;)

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

I was born in '66 so I was in middle school when disco was big. In 7th grade I had a disco party. The pocket doors between the dining and living room were covered in aluminum foil and we strung Xmas lights on them which reflected throughout the room giving it that disco ball look. That was my one social triumph...in my life. This guy I had a crush on actually showed up!

Saturday Night Fever was BIG! Though, since I was a total nerd I listened to Manilow and Shaun Cassidy but also ABBA and Queen. Then, I became a punk rocker in high school and dissed disco until I grew up and got smart. There's a radio station in town that plays all that old stuff so I have a new appreciation for it. Disco lives!

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

You guys are making me snort my orange juice through my nose.

-- Anonymous, June 29, 2000

Don't Leave Me This Way was done by Thelma Houston. She can wail.

-- Anonymous, June 30, 2000

Oh! Oh! Oh! I was poking around trying to remember the names of some of my fave disco songs (I have no memory for names of songs/artists/movies/authors/books) and GUESS WHAT I FOUND? "Don't Leave Me This Way" on CD through Amazon, compiliation titled "Pure Disco". Gwen, I will email the Amazon link to you, k? This particular CD also includes "Dancing Queen" and "If I Can't Have You"...tasty. (They also have Pure Disco 2 & 3...they all look good.)

Pure Disco also has some of my other all-time faves. I was in jr high when disco raged...I dug it, turned it up loud, danced around. Then I dissed it two years later when I discovered Led Zeppelin & Aerosmith. Everything returns, it seems. I've been caught at three parties in the last year belting out "I Will Survive" will gal pals from work. That tune by Gloria Gaynor has got to be THE BEST disco song ever. I really liked "Knock On Wood" by Amii Stewart (I'm a sucker for big drums), and who could resist Anita Ward's (You Can)"Ring My Bell"?

Of course, my biggest weakness these days in 80s music. If you haven't checked out www.channel1049.com you really should. Tons of Duran Duran, Cure, The Fixx, Flock of Seagulls, buy stuff off their site, etc.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2000