Disco Sucks?

Abba is in the top 5 greatest pop groups of all time. Up there with the Beatles and the Talking Heads.

Souper Trouper

Take A Chance On Me

Dancing Queen

Mamma Mia

Does Your Mother Know

Gimme Gimme Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

In my opinion, ABBA's Gold Hits album is as essential as Purple Rain and Born to Run.

First of all, preach Patrick! Here's a few of my favorites:
Too Hot to Trot

Cold Blooded

And a personal pick because my mom loved it.

Chic - Good Times Basis for what feels like a hundred old school hip hop songs.

Donna Summer - I Feel Love Almost sounds like John Carpenter did a disco song.

ABBA - The Day Before You Came Very sad, but never loses that disco beat.

"Pack your grip, takin' you on a trip..."

Don't have time to dig up tracks on YouTube at the moment, but early Barry White, and middle-late Marvin Gaye (I Want You, and Here My Dear) are strong arguments in favor of the notion that there is disco with artistic merit.

I'm a massive fan of funk (and by extension, disco) so I'll cop to listening to disco. I think there are some genuinely good songs you could use as examples of disco. Old School and modern.

Chic-Good Times

Sister Sledge-Lost in Music

Ron Hall & the Muthafunkaz ft Marc Evans-The Way You Love Me

Gayle Adams-Your Love

Linda Clifford-Runaway Love

From the dark corners of the crazy alternate reality called 'European disco':

Black Devil - "H" Friend (1978)

Alexander Robotnick - The Dark Side of the Spoon (1982)

Graham Central Station-Pow That Bass solo during the middle is incredible.

Word. And their harmonies are absolutely gorgeous. People who mock ABBA are mocking the image, not the music. That shit is gold.

As for disco, I really think it's not too far removed from later dance music. Just swap out the strings and horns for keyboards. Again, it was the lifestyle and image the popped up around the music that led to the backlash; the music itself is still aces.

Some of my faves:

"If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, the epitome of a disco diva.

"Go West" by the Village People. And the glorious Pet Shop Boys cover ain't bad either. In fact, the Pet Shop Boys are a flat-out disco band.

"Jive Talkin'" by the Bee Gees, with one of the greatest instrumental intros ever.

"September" by Earth Wind and Fire. Just try to resist that chorus.

And, well, duh.

Apart from the influence of Disco on early Hip-Hop and Post-Punk, it also forms the basis for what would become House music - as a whole, I think it's probably the most influential genre of the last thirty years. And there was more than a faint whiff of homophobia to the Disco Sucks movement.

MFSB - Love Is The Message

One of the earliest Disco tunes, and a great summing up of what the atmosphere must've been like in the Disco underground before it went mainstream - just a bunch of partying misfits getting down without caring about anyone's race or sexual orientation.

Don Armando's 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band - I'm An Indian Too

There are a lot of great singles like this one, oddball weirdo variations on the Disco formula. I have this song stuck in my head at least on a weekly basis.

Ritchie Family -The Best Disco In Town

Out of the tracks I'm posting here this one probably comes closest to the popular stereotype of what Disco is - schmaltzy strings, gimmicks, Broadway style vocals. But I think it's fascinating how the genre combined such definitley unfunky musical elements with the latest innovations in black music to create something new.

Carol Douglas - Doctor's Orders

Campy intro aside, who says Disco can't pack an emotional punch?

Massara - Margheritta

One of the first Italian Disco classics, so fucking fresh. I once got complaints from my downstairs neighbour for blasting this one too loud on a Monday night.

Sidney Thomas - Look Let's Make Love (See If You Like It)"

Pretty obscure this, and it somewhat feels like amateurs at the job - the rhythm is rushed, Thomas' vocals a shrill falsetto. But I like the sleazyness of the lyric, and there's an infectious energy to it.

Grace Jones - La Vie En Rose

Pure greatness.

As far as good compilations go, Rhino's The Disco Box has all the obvious classics, plus good liner notes. A Tom Moulton Mix, out on Soul Jazz records, is a great view of Disco at its deepest, warmest, most soulful end of the spectrum. Rhino has a two CD Larry Levan compilation that will bring you up to speed on what happened to Disco after it returned to the underground in the early 80's. And then there's the Disco Discharge series, out on Demon, to cover the Eurodisco part in a grand old style.

Indeed. In fact, it would be interesting to trace the ascension of the Village People with the rise of the Disco Sucks movement, given their flamboyant representation of gay stereotypes and the none-to-subtle gay subtext in the music.

Maxine Nightengale's "Right Back From Where We Started From" is one of my guaranteed mood-brightener songs.

A lot of my buddies always roll their eyes when I profess my love for this song, but I don't care. Its great.

Any fans of Chromeo? Such a perfect blend of synth and funk. Infact, Fancy Footwork may be one of my favorite dance albums of all time.

What's great about "Go West" is that, aside from the obvious "I'll go anywhere with you" sentiment, it's a pretty touching song about two gay men moving to California, where attitudes towards homosexuality were much more tolerant in the 70s. There's a yearning hopefulness to the song, the sense that things have to be better out there, that they'll be free to be themselves. Then, hello, Prop 8.

I think a lot of the ABBA disdain comes from the fact the won the Eurovision Song contest, something which is normally career suicide but worked for them like gangbusters.

There is no gay subtext in the Village People's music, it's flat-out gay TEXT.

That's like saying people didn't like Brokeback Mountain because of gay "subtext."

Speak of the devil, I was just listening to that today. It's definitely the kind of song you want to listen to when you're down.

What about Italo Disco? It takes a while to get used to the colder textures, and sometimes it just all sounds the same, but with a bit of practice and a high camp threshold you get to love those shiny synths, over enthusiastic vocalists and broken english lyrics. Plus, for movie geeks it sort of carries on the then vanishing tradition of Italy taking an american artform, removing all subtelty and decorum, and just having a hell of a lot of fun with it.

Mr.Flagio - Take A Chance

One of the all-time great garbled lyrics and some spooky synths.

Pineapples - Come On Closer

Love the 16 bit console sounding opening on this, and the horndog vocalist.

Taffy - Love My Radio

#6 on the UK charts!

Charlie - Spacer Woman

Yes, that's right, SPACER WOMAN.

Baby's Gang - Happy Song

A great Summer jam.

John Carpenter - The End (Disco Version)

John Carpenter himself even tackled the genre with this Italo-Discofied version of the theme from Assault On Precint 13

This thread is THE SHIT!

And Dickson beat me to the punch with Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September'. Brace yourself for silk-smooth white-boy moves if you're in my proximity when that comes on!

Great selection! Mr. Flagio and Charlie are both favourites of mine.

Carpenter is considered something of a god in Italo circles by the way. His soundtrack work is regarded very highly in the scene.

This thread is gold. Thanks for getting the ball rolling, Fat Elvis!

I wish I had something to contribute, other than throwing some more love ABBA's way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKfMd3O4mEI

Never quite got the whole contempt for disco thing, there were tons of amazing disco songs as this thread proves.

Don't really have recommendations to add, though no one's mentioned the Stones' Miss You which was a pretty decent stab at playing with the genre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOf0FsA0Fio

I've loved Disco since I was in grade school. Also helps that my Dad is a record aficionado, and has all types of music, but Disco has always been one of my favorite music genres.

I'll also add love for ABBA. That group is as essential to Disco overall as whenever certain signature tunes like Van McCoy - The Hustle immediately makes one think about Disco.

I also like these:

ABBA - Fernando

ABBA - The Winner Takes It All

Love Unlimited Orchestra - Love's Theme

Andy Gibb - I Just Want To Be Your Everything

Pretty much the entire soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever I love and have on my iPod.

Yeah, Disco definitely does not suck.

This thread needs a little Jimmy Bo Horne.

Is it In?

Dance Across the Floor

Let me be your lover

Ooh I just remembered a great one that hasn't been mentioned:

Lipps Inc - Funkytown

Sort of a post disco thing - I saw ESG play a couple weeks ago. They are awesome. Check these chicks.

It was all good up until the moment he started dancing, what the hell was that?

It doesn't get much gayer than this: Liza Minelli doing a disco version of "Losing My Mind", as produced by the Pet Shop Boys (hold out for Tennant singing a line towards the end):

Liza Minelli - Losing My Mind

Scissor Sisters are another modern band that's totally a disco band.

I hate to say anything negative but no. I really REALLY dislike Abba, not the image not the reputation- I can even get behind the argument that it's all very accomplished on a musical level. I just can't stand listening to it.

That said, my own taste in disco veers more toward the stuff that has a direct line to funk. Some of my favourites:

BOHANNON-Let's Start The Dance: I love that just when you think you got all there is to that groove (around 4'), there's a buildup again and then it goes into that ridiculous break that makes everybody do 'The Freeze' on the high bass stab.
POSITIVE FORCE-We Got The Funk: love the loose party vibe on this one.
ROY AYERS-Love Will Bring Us Back Together: One of the funk-disco veterans that to this day is actually worth his salt live.
LOOSE JOINTS-Is It All Over My Face: First time I heard it, I was in stitches about the perceived innuendo of that catchphrase. Don't know if it was intended (but it was the Loon of Disco Arthur Russell who produced it, so who knows), in any case glorious vocal that sounds detached and irresistibly sexy at the same time.
MUSIQUE-Keep On Jumpin': Should be an example of the straightforward disco I don't really care for, but something about this works wonders for my mood. Plus I have really good clubbing memories of Todd Terry's delirious rework.

Winning Eurovision wasn't really career suicide back when ABBA did it I don't think. France Gall was on Eurovision, so was Sandy Shaw. It wasn't the best way to get credibility with the Rock crowd, but it's not like that ambition was even on ABBA's radar.

My favourite thing about ABBA is how they have this shiny, aseptic surface over which the vocals and melody lines can work their emotion; I know it's not particuarly creative to say this about a Scandinavian band, but their music feels very Wintery to me, moments of beauty in an all-white, snow covered background. Mind you, I think there are moments where they get too close to straight eurovision kitsch - "I Have A Dream", "Chiquititita", "Fernando".

But yeah, "Lay All Your Love On Me" is pretty much the Eurodisco template.

Well, Roy Ayers started more as a jazz and then funk and kind of opportunistically slightly disco-ish then transitioned into more of an acid jazz kind of thing.

His vibraphone playing has always been amazing though. And the fact that he did the soundtrack for Coffy.

I do not have a favorite disco...song, but I love the era of...Disco! Everything from...Anime (Battle Of The Planets/Gatchaman), TV series (Battlestar Galactica 78, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, C.H.I.P.S., Wonder Woman), Movies (Shaft 70's era, Corvette Summer) and disco groups, with a variety of songs from...ABBA, Donna Summer, Bee Gee's etc.

!!! - Must be the Moon


Electric Six - Dance Commander "Radio message from h.q. - 'dance commander, we love you' "

Most of the song is OK, catchy enough, but I love that bassline in A Taste of Honey's "Boogie Oogie Oogie" (sadly it's buried in the mix on this video)

Not to mention Janice Johnson is strikingly beautiful.

By the way: how has this thread survived so long on a movie board without a mention of Mystery Men and THE DISCO BOYS?

ETA: UND BOOGIE!

Blondie's 'Atomic' always gets my body movin'.

Debbie Harry's 'Sweet and Low' is sooooo underrated. One of her best.

The Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's Delight'. Timeless.

The Bee Gees' 'Tragedy' is epic funkiness.

Michael Jackson's 'Rock with You' glides and grooves.

Bionic Boogie's 'Risky Changes' is on fire.

Cerrone's 'Love In C Minor'.

The Brothers Johnson's 'Stomp!'.

You want some soul peppered with your disco? Look no further than Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' 'The Love I Lost'.

Maybe I missed it, but someone HAD to mention The Trammps' 'Disco Inferno', right?

Can I just say that I love this thread?

More classics:

Blondie's 'Live It Up' and 'Do the Dark'

Peaches & Herb's 'Shake Your Groove Thing'

Van McCoy's 'The Hustle'

Rose Royce's 'Car Wash'

The Commodores' 'Brick House'

Wild Cherry's 'Play That Funky Music'

The Four Seasons' 'December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)'

Nice to see Cerrone get some love, Bob Sinclar put a CD of remixes using Cerrone's music. it's great. I still love 'Feel for You

Rapture is another great Blondie disco-punk song.

Ohio Players-Funky Worm

Isley Brothers-Footsteps in the Dark

The Disco Four-Do it Do It

Bird-Mind Travel I came across this singer a few months ago, that bassline is fantastic and it's just such a deliciously groovy song. Which reminds me, the omission of Jamiroquai is so painfully obvious I just have to correct it.

Jamiroquai-Traveling without moving

Jamiroquai-Rapper's Delight

It came a little before disco proper, but Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" sure sounds like it could have been a disco song. Decades of use for every martial arts montage ever hasn't taken away the rush I get from that chant at the beginning. Just love this song, in all its cheesy glory.

I can't believe no one's mentioned MECO yet. I'm listening to "The Best of MECO" right now. Love love love the full fifteen minute Star Wars disco medley.

I used to despise disco growing up (child of the eighties), but over the past ten years I've grown to enjoy this style of music quite a bit.

A lot of great recommendations in this thread, some of which I haven't heard of. Going to have to check them out.