Was “My Sharona” by The Knack hitting number one a big nail in the coffin for disco?

The Knack murdered disco.

No, it was Merman.

Yes, it was La Merman.

Probably just a coincidence. The 70s were ending and music is definitely out with the old in with the new, by and large, the start of every decade. Disco just reverted back to r and b and dance music. There were tons of great dance songs in the 80s. The disco label just became passé.

🎶I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind ... 🎶

I hated hated hated My Sharona with a white-hot passion.

I curse you for even mentioning it! Now it won't leave my brain for weeks.

Think so, R7? Think so?

Definitely a “new Wave”

As r5 said, it was the label DISCO that gradually died. Disco type songs like Blondie's HEART OF GLASS came along that were danceable but weren't labeled DISCO.

OP, don't confuse correlation with causation.

Trump did it.

R8, that makes The Knack version sound like a lullaby.

Within five posts from now r12 would have complained about Trump being mentioned if I hadn't mentioned it.

Will they wait five posts? Can they?

Blondie was New Wave.

My Sharona is from 1979? Wow, I didn't realize it was that old, 45 years.

Rumours pretty much blew everything else out in '77. That album was massive.

Donna Summer got great reviews on her venture into 'new wave' with 1980's "The Wanderer". However, the album didn't hit the success as her 1979 disco double LPs 'Bad Girls' or 'On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 and 2'.

I loved "The Mike Douglas Show". I remember when he covered 'On the Radio' on the piano. Some people claimed disco died the day Streisand touched it, but I also feel that the images of old people exercising to disco had an effect on people's perception of the hip, now, with-it, youthful vibe of the movement.

It's still rock 'n roll to me.

The market became oversaturated with Disco, it was everywhere. Everybody and their mother was doing a disco record and there were a lot of SHIT disco songs. People just got burned out on it.

The recent PBS special on Disco, which was excellent, goes into detail about this.

not to mention disco music was horrible. The disco adjacent stuff that made the top 40 wasn't anything like the hardcore disco charts.

"My Sharona" always reminded me of Donnie Iris' "Ah! Leah," which was on the charts a couple months later in 1980. I loved them both, but not as much as I loved disco.

They're no Bay City Rollers.

[quote] Donnie Iris' "Ah! Leah,"

Here I go aga-a-ain

R23 You just solved a 44 year old mystery for me, friend! I loved that song when I was a kid and have never known who it was or how to track it down. Hot damn, I'm listening right now! What a fantastic song.

I really liked My Sharona and still do. I just got exhausted hearing it all the time for so long.

[quote]but I also feel that the images of old people exercising to disco had an effect on people's perception of the hip, now, with-it, youthful vibe of the movement.

You're right about that. Older men in leisure suits and grandmas were dancing to it. Time for a change...

I prefer the Al Yankovic version ‘my balogna’

It was a time similar to when The Beatles first hit the charts and helped clear out the stranglehold on the hit charts by the early 1960s Angels, Shirelles, Vintons, Ankas, Avalons et al. “My Sharona” was hugely popular, hit big, and sounded different than all the same-beat most generic disco stuff that was becoming trendy beyond its freshness date on and was hogging the charts. Then disco adapted and segued into the various early ‘80s dance-music varieties.

The primary instigator for hating on disco was the Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Field in Chicago on July 12, 1979 spearheaded by WLUP DJ Steve Dahl. It basically gave permission to not just hate disco but music by black and gay people. Afterwards many radio station saw disco as having a stigma and were reluctant to play disco related records .

[quote] It was a time similar to when The Beatles first hit the charts and helped clear out the stranglehold on the hit charts by the early 1960s Angels, Shirelles, Vintons, Ankas, Avalons et al.

THE BEACH BOYS had the most to lose.

In '79 I liked The Logical Song by Supertramp.

R31 I remember watching that on the news. I thought the Bee Gees did a good job with the genre.

[quote]The primary instigator for hating on disco was the Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Field in Chicago on July 12, 1979 spearheaded by WLUP DJ Steve Dahl. It basically gave permission to not just hate disco but music by black and gay people. Afterwards many radio station saw disco as having a stigma and were reluctant to play disco related records .

By 1979 disco was on the way out and it had nothing to do with that event.

[quote]not just hate disco but music by black and gay people.

You're nuts.

The very next year Michael Jackson, had the 4th biggest selling record of the year. Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and the Spinners were all in the top 20 for the year. "Funky Town" by Lipps was a mega hit, the 8th biggest selling record of the year. And gays? well, Freddy Mercury had the 6th biggest selling record of the year.

And the same for the year after that. Plenty of black performers in the year-end top 20. Lionel Richie at number 2. The Pointer Sisters, Grover Washington

[quote]The primary instigator for hating on disco was the Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Field in Chicago on July 12, 1979 spearheaded by WLUP DJ Steve Dahl. It basically gave permission to not just hate disco but music by black and gay people.

1980

Freddy Mercury wasn't out back then.

There was definitely a component of racism and homophobia in the backlash against disco, but there were other factors as well.

I really recommend the PBS documentary on Disco, it covers everything.

^ It's called rewriting history. Desperately trying to squees RACISM! into everything.

[quote]Freddy Mercury wasn't out back then.

Who was in the music industry back then? But still, the IMAGE of performers like Mercury and Bowie was ambiguous. If there was so much homophobia how did Boy George have a massive hit in 1983? And as for blacks...Michael Jackson with two out of the top five songs of that year?

And now you find yourself in ‘82

The disco hop has lost its charm for you

Homophobia and racism were definitely a component in the disco backlash.

Genius at R15, yes Blondie was considered New Wave, but Heart of Glass was a disco song they did.

Just like KISS did "I was made for loving you" the same year.

Many rock acts were trying their hand at a 'disco hit' to cash in on the popularity, and had their biggest hits by doing so.

HEART did "Straight on"

The Stones did Miss You

[quote]Homophobia and racism were definitely a component in the disco backlash.

No, it was not.

r44 yes it was. Read or watch anything about Disco and it's all there.

Yeah they kind of were r44. The hardcore, classic rock-n-rollers who all rose up to destroy all of those records in Comiskey in the summer of '79 weren't exactly liberal progressives. They were mostly angry young, lower income white males, who liked listening to Kansas, Nugent, Bob Seger, and the other types of "white boy rock" that was popular in the 70s, but saw it being surpassed on AM radio by the popularity of the urban/black/gay sounds of disco.

Never mind that their fave music was still wildly popular over on the burgeoning FM side, as "album-oriented" AOR rock, and that tours by these acts were rapidly becoming the high-money making sprees they remain today. They hated disco and its mainstream popularity, and the mainstream cultural cachet it had obtained.

R44 Indeed it was. Even the Bee Gees mentioned this in an interview they did several years back saying that the anti-disco movement was a response to the predominantly black and gay culture affiliated with disco music. The Bee Gees were lumped together with disco because of the impact the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack had on popular music at the time. They were in part collateral damage to that hate.

I knew several straight white males in my school who were major FM rock radio fans and not only hated but felt threatened by R&B and disco. But it never made sense to be that they would feel the need to lash out against it. Personally I never cared much for the 1980s hair metal band music scene which I saw as lame and vapid but my response to it was to just ignore it.

Of all the things talked about, which are all true - racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. - one thing is rarely mentioned.

The straight white guys HATED dancing and didn't know how to do it. And their girlfriends wanted to dance to disco. Back then white straight guys had ZERO rhythm for the most part - some did, but it wasn't like today. Blacks, latinos, gays and women were all better dancers.

I'm serious that I think that's a contributing cause of the young white straight men's hatred of disco. They'd never admit it - but if you were around back then, oh God you witnessed some awkward looking shit.

You still see remnants of that today - go to any wedding or celebration - guys over 50 aren't dancing much, but their wives sure are. Or they do that really awkward coupley dancing to cover himself up with his wife so people don't notice how awful he is.

Not the only reason obviously. And in the major cities - NYC, LA, Chicago, etc. - a lot of straight white guys were taking lessons to learn how to dance better for disco.

But in the suburbs and flyover country? No way.

[quote]Yeah they kind of were [R44]. The hardcore, classic rock-n-rollers who all rose up to destroy all of those records in Comiskey in the summer of '79 weren't exactly liberal progressives. They were mostly angry young, lower income white males,

And they had zero effect on the music industry and the buying public. Zero.

Once again, please explain if this protest was in July....how did Michael Jackson manage to have a massive number one hit in October with "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough? Or Donna Summer in November? And the following year, in January, the very integrated KC and the Sunshine Band? Michael Jackson in February with "Rock With You"? The very disco number "Funky Town" in May? And if there was suck a backlash against gays in music how did Boy George manage to rule the airwaves just 3 years later?

Disco was dying its own natural "death". It was evolving, changing. Trends come and go. They always have.

That protest in July 1979 had no impact on the music scene and the buying public. There is NO evidence to suggest that.

Post the Disco Demolition a growing number of DJs and radio stations were reluctant to play on the air any new disco music they received. I knew three DJs back then and their listeners would call in and complain to them and station managers. Within about 2 years only the rare disco fusion song would manage to make it's way to the airwaves. Back then if your song wasn't played on the radio, it was a stillborn death.

[quote]The straight white guys HATED dancing and didn't know how to do it. And their girlfriends wanted to dance to disco. Back then white straight guys had ZERO rhythm for the most part - some did, but it wasn't like today. Blacks, latinos, gays and women were all better dancers.

Good God what bullshit.

Dancing was a HUGE part of everyday life from 1920s through the 1960s. There were dance clubs, ballrooms everywhere and a new dance craze every couple of months. There were schools of dancing in every town. Ever heard of Arthur Murray? Dancing fell out of favor by the late 1960s...dance music was no longer being made, the whole hippy movement started, dancing was just not seen as cool.

Disco was a revival of dancing and plenty of white guys participated. And not just in the cities, my God... go to the Jersey Shore on any weekend in the disco era of the 1970s.

[quote]Post the Disco Demolition a growing number of DJs and radio stations were reluctant to play on the air any new disco music they received.

What songs by what bands?

[quote]Within about 2 years only the rare disco fusion song would manage to make it's way to the airwaves.

Oh really?

The explain to us Michael Jackson's disco-funk "Thriller" the mega hit of 1982-83. A song that eventually went on to sell over 4 MILLION copies.

By December "Enough Is Enough" was on top and there were still plenty of disco songs in the Hot 100 with legs into the next decade. Combining forces with Nile Rodgers, Diana Ross' biggest album and disco hits were just around the corner. "Upside Down", Lipps Inc's "Funkytown" and Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" all entered the Hot 100 in '80 and spent multiple weeks at #1.

I loved Get the Knack by The Knack. A great album, frmo a band that really belongs in the "one-hit wonder" category of music.

I still own the vinyl album and play it once or twice a year - it's great option when cleaning... just one of a number of albums to crank up when vaccuuming or dusting, cleaning the bathroom, etc...

Back when the album had been released, it was a great expression of teenage guys desires and frustrations.

A lot of 70s trends died - went extinct - just as the 80s arrived.

R56 - a side topic. It seemed like there were a lot of trends in the 60s 70s and 80's in music, fashion and everything. Then it started to wind down in the 90's and the past 20 years hasn't seen much of a change in anything.

I have to wonder how much of the trends that we thought were so common was just all around Boomer youthquake. Things didn't change THAT much before the 1960s.

The constant changes and things going in and out of fashion has minimized so much - but maybe we're back to where how things were? That all the trends were just a by-product of Boomer youth and consumerism and it died out as they got older.

I think both R48 and R51 are correct, actually.

There were white guys dancing to disco back then. Just look at Saturday Night Fever - Travolta was a God back then, and many guys wanted to be like him. That movie brought all the white guys out, hoping they could score some pussy by trying some of the moves.

The issue was that to many white guys, once the Travolta effect wore off, dancing to disco started to seem 'too gay' to them, hence the homophobia, and the lessening of participation of some guys.

I was there too...

^ Just as Big Band music died as the 1950s arrived.

Madonna was credited for reviving dance music in the early 80s after the collapse of disco.

[quote]THE BEACH BOYS had the most to lose.

What about me?

This is what ended it.

R62 thanks for playing, but Saturday Night Fever came out a year later, and disco continued to be massive right on through the 70s. In the 80s, the disco moniker was gone, but great r and b and dance songs will never end.

Saturday Night Fever had a lot to do with the backlash becuase the songs were so overplayed.

[quote]That protest in July 1979 had no impact on the music scene and the buying public. There is NO evidence to suggest that.

I think the point r49 isn't that disco died a natural death and that the protests impacted/didn't impact buying decisions (I agree they likely didn't have much impact). It's that the protests and protestors themselves were deeply rooted in anti-gay/black/urban feeling. And a lot of working- and middle-class younger white males felt this way.

The hair metal/"cock" rock crap trend of the 80s was somewhat of a direct backlash to the disco trend. I'll take disco anyday over that scene, myself

The cock rock/hair metal shit of the 80s was fucking awful, probably the worst trend in popular music. Thank god for Kurt Cobain. When Nirvana came along the music landscape changed overnight.

The KC and The Sunshine Band song “Please Don’t Go” wasn’t disco. The end of summer of 79 disco started to drop off. 80/81 a lot of yacht rock/adult contemporary and country pop was at the top of the charts.

Thee was much more diversity on the charts back then that hasn’t been there in about 40 years. Disco, country, pop, rock, r&b, and ac songs could all be in the top 10 at the same time.

It was a great time for music, so many different genres. I miss that.

And then God created Casio keyboards and we all ran away to the UK to chop the arms off our plaid shirts and enjoy New Wave - disco for depressed people who enjoy a British accent.

[quote]It's that the protests and protestors themselves were deeply rooted in anti-gay/black/urban feeling. And a lot of working- and middle-class younger white males felt this way.

Says who?

Where is your evidence to support that?

Not really related to My Sharona, but as the thread has spun out of control, I Feel Love is the best disco song ever.

I was in junior high and high school in the 70s in LA and San Francisco; Very few straight white guys in my schools followed disco ever. They listened to Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, ELO, KISS, Aerosmith, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, The Steve Miller Band, Kansas, Boston, Foreigner. Those who did more than a few drugs might listen to Bowie or Queen. The exceptions were Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. Everyone listened to them. Some mixed groups listened to Average White Band or Ohio Players. Toward the end of the decade some were moving toward Elvis Costello, Supertramp, Styx, Tom Petty, or The Cars, but disco was always considered a little suspect.

No because you could dance to it

R26

I love Ah! Leah so much that I refused to ever buy it or download it because I didn’t want to get tired of it.

This is what killed it. When I saw this commercial in 1979, I knew it was over.

My Sharona is irritating.

[quote]The KC and The Sunshine Band song “Please Don’t Go” wasn’t disco. The end of summer of 79 disco started to drop off. 80/81 a lot of yacht rock/adult contemporary and country pop was at the top of the charts.

The drop-off of disco and heightened popularity of yacht rock/soft rock/AC in the very early 80s coincided with the Boomers hitting their 30s. Older edge Boomers were in their mid-to-late 30s at the time; this group was aging up, buying houses/condos, going to wine bars, and starting careers and families in the burbs. This can be blamed for bland, head-scratching popularity of Christopher Cross, Kim Carnes, Toto, Lionel Richie, and Don Henley's entire solo career.

None of those you listed were bad music. They all put out better songs than your disco shit. Face it. Nobody liked disco anymore.

Oh, and you forgot Supertramp. That was my older brother's and his friends favorite group.

I love that we're discussing this. I like the passionate discussion of Eldergay music fans, and enjoy these threads.

I think everyone here is a little bit correct. Any broad pronouncements for the 'one big reason' for anything are foolish....you queens should know better. Big changes are caused by multiple factors, literally always.

Disco "died" (or, went underground) ... due to multiple factors:

Overplaying by DJs, Disco Demolition, Homophobia, Racism, New Wave and UK Punk bubbling up, Rock acts making hit disco records and essentially jumping on the bandwagon of a genre that was already losing traction and further commercializing it, Boomers getting older, Travolta's performance seeming cheesy after a couple years, and some actually good rock and roll that was eclipsing disco in popularity (not just the downmarket hair metal).

R80 where are you getting Homophobia, and Racism? You kinda have to have some proof of that. The charts show a very different story.

And did Disco Demolition spawn other such events? If it was sooo consequential one would think such protests would have continued. Where were they?

Disco absolutely saturated pop music in 1978 thru early 1979. The Bee Gees, Chic, Donna Summer, Sister Sledge, Shake Your Groove Thing, Knock on Wood, Copacabana, etc.

But even then, rock was pushing back. In late 1979 we had My Sharona, Pop Muzik (danceable but more new wave, not disco), Heartache Tonight and more. And by 1980 you had Pink Floyd sardonically taking a slow-disco hi-hat groove and putting rock on top of it complete with a shouting chorus of London kiddies. Another Brick in the Wall went to #1 for a month.

But it wasn't like disco went off a cliff suddenly. Enough Is Enough (No More Tears), Dim All The Lights, Funkytown, Take Your Time Do It Right, etc were all huge hits in late 1979 and 1980.

^ And this (link below) was 6th biggest selling song of 1981. Racism? The death of disco? Where?

Such bullshit on this thread by people who weren't there, who understand nothing of the times.

You are correct: "But it wasn't like disco went off a cliff suddenly. Enough Is Enough (No More Tears), Dim All The Lights, Funkytown, Take Your Time Do It Right, etc were all huge hits in late 1979 and 1980."

[quote]Such bullshit on this thread by people who weren't there, who understand nothing of the times.

Watch the PBS Documentary and also the HBO Bee Gees documentary. People who actually WERE there were interviewed and went into detail about the racism and homophobia.

As a kid watching The Love Boat and seeing all those old folks going to the Disco on the Lido Deck told me that disco was no longer cool and for the young people anymore.

r83 there were huge disco hits in 1980 because disco fans were still buying disco records but there was also a huge pushback.

Madonna is the best-selling female artist of all time, do you think straight men are responsible for that?

[quote]there were huge disco hits in 1980 because disco fans were still buying disco records but there was also a huge pushback.

[quote]Watch the PBS Documentary and also the HBO Bee Gees documentary. People who actually WERE there were interviewed and went into detail about the racism and homophobia.

Then please explain the MASSIVE hit that MJ's Thriller was in 1982. Over 4 million copies sold. Call it what you will...disco-funk.... it was a disco, it was a natural progression of disco. It was music to dance to. Oh and BTW Michael Jackson was black.

"Billie Jean", "Beat it", Irene Cara's " What a Feeling", ""Maniac".... all in the top 10 best selling songs of 1983.

[quote]People who actually WERE there were interviewed and went into detail about the racism and homophobia.

11th biggest selling song of 1983:

r87 it was R&B/pop, not disco.

I can't find a free link to the PBS documentary but you should really watch it. It's the definitive doc on disco and answers all the questions in this thread.

[quote]No, you are wrong. Those songs were classified as disco funk. It was music to dance to.

Here's a great doc called "The War On Disco" from American Experience.

[quote] it was R&B/pop, not disco.

No, you are wrong. Those songs were classified as disco funk. It was music to dance to.

r92 FFS give it up.

R93 Notice how you can answer any of the questions here.

Where's the racism if blacks continued to dominate the charts? Where's the homophobia if a guy wearing a dress and makeup had such huge hits.

No matter what some modern-day documentary shows, the CHARTS tell a different story.

Does that mean racism and homophobia did not exist? Of course not, it still does, but in the end, the buying public is the one who decides.

With or without "Disco Demolition", disco had to move on and it did. It evolved. And at the same time new trends were born.

Trends come and go. Disco had a good run.

Dance music never died exactly, it morphed into other things. Like the Italo-disco hit Gloria by Laura Branigan in 1982.

Hell, in 1981 somebody made a million bucks by putting a medley of Beatles vocals onto a generic disco rhythm track, calling it Stars on 45... and it went to #1.

Kicking off the new decade on the 'Hot 200 Albums Chart' for the first week of 1980 was Donna Summer's double LP "Greatest Hits - On the Radio - Volumes 1 & 2' which was pure disco music from start to finish (and became one of the best selling 'Greatest Hits' albums of the 80s). The title track gave Summer another 'top 5' disco hit.

Muskrat Love was code for white supremacy. Facts.

As someone said upthread there were no open LGBT acts during the disco era as Mercury & Debbie Harry were closeted at the time.

Racism & anti-gay feelings were coming out in 1981 as a result of the AIDS crisis.

Boy George could be seen as a token gay artist (until "gay" Dead Or Alive & Communards hit it big in the mid-80s) and claimed to be bi as did Elton John.

Many black artists complained that MTV openly played Michael Jackson as a token black artist while ignoring their output. Prince, Lionel Richie & Tina Turner helped turn MTV around before Whitney & others became part of a black avalanche of new talent music videos.

[quote]Boy George could be seen as a token gay artist

Boy George did not acknowledge that he was gay anymore than did Freddy Mercury. But you knew.

There were artists that were presenting themselves as "androgynous" that were playing around with gender before BoyGeorge.

David Bowie as an example, from the late 1960s, through the 1970s and like Boy George had a big hit in 1983 with "Let's Dance".

Boy George was a ground breaker. Not a token. Fuck off.

[quote]No matter what some modern-day documentary shows, the CHARTS tell a different story.

If you choose not to watch any of the disco docs that go into the racism and homophobia, told by the people who were there and in the music business, you should STFU.

R31 nailed it.

[quote]It basically gave permission to not just hate disco but music by black and gay people.

Meanwhile disco continued to sell in the millions and evolve into new forms. Black artists continued to have top 10 hits. And openly gay artists soon emerged.

So much for the influence of "Disco Demolition Night"....

[quote]And then God created Casio keyboards and we all ran away to the UK to chop the arms off our plaid shirts and enjoy New Wave - disco for depressed people who enjoy a British accent.

New Wave was one of the most exciting things that came along. 1981 had been especially boring year as far as mainstream music went. Everything seemed bland and middle of the road. So, suddenly in 1982 when songs like Don't You Want Me and I Ran (So Far Away) hit the charts, things got exciting.

1982 r104? New Wave had been popular and creating hit songs/acts long before then.

R105, you have to consider how slow we were in the MidWest. Comiskey Park was just up the road. They were still shoveling stadium rock at us in 1985. My cousin gave me his “Disco Sucks” tee-shirt because his mother wouldn’t let him keep it. My mother threw it away and called the aunt an idiot.

The BBC/PBS documentary on disco covered it well in part 3.

The BBC multi-part disco documentary covered it extensively in part 3.

Yeah it was racism and homohpia.

Weird that is has to explained on DL.

DL has some weirdos.

I think the Duck is what killed disco. Medical grade cocaine is the only explanation for its advent...

Fun Fact: the brother of the singer of My Sharona was Dr Kevorkian’s lawyer. The Fieger brothers.

R108 It's so much bullshit.

Disco Demolition Night is only a big deal and a disco-killer to lazy journalists and people who read them.

I lived in California and the event barely registered here. Disco was overexposed and commercialized and people stopped going to clubs as much. Surely racism was a factor in disco haters but it doesn't explain people who weren't interested in synthesizers and drum machines and loved the other original, ground-breaking music genres that were happening. My partner is an expert in late seventies/eighties punk and played a tape for me of bands from the era. (He considers Nirvana bland compared to them.) Not even a fan but I had to admit it was amazing. My partner obviously not a homophobe but he is white and admits he doesn't care for R&B or Rap and Disco barely registered with him.

Barry Gibb said that radio stations started to advertise a “Bee Gees free” weekend they were in trouble.

[quote]Fun Fact: the brother of the singer of My Sharona was Dr Kevorkian’s lawyer. The Fieger brothers.

I found Doug Fieger to be a bit of a hammy lead singer, but he was a great pop songwriter. Didn't knew he died of cancer several years ago! Sad.

The guitar solo in My Sharona, by Burton Averre, is one of the best put on record in rock history. Fight me on this if you wish.

Many loathe hip-hop and rap. Does that make them racist?

I don't like most country music. I guess that means I don't like white people?

We all have different tastes in music. So what? Many came to shun disco after a while because it sounded old, cliched, corny, predictable.

[quote]Disco Demolition Night is only a big deal and a disco-killer to lazy journalists and people who read them.

True.

Disco Demolition was a factor, radio stations stopped playing disco. It took a while, but Disco was over not too long after.

Remember me?

Andrea True (More More More) wasn't the only porn whore who cut a disco record. Here's Marilyn Chambers and her fabulous "Benihana!"

The true death was NOT Disco Duck.

It was the 5th!

R112, with his enormous ego, Geoff Feiger must have had quite a problem with his younger brother eclipsing him, however briefly.

[quote]"Billie Jean", "Beat it", Irene Cara's " What a Feeling", ""Maniac".... all in the top 10 best selling songs of 1983.

R87, those songs all had guitar hooks that dominated the dance music underneath, such was the compromise that was made then to create pop hits (all great songs). But those are not disco songs in the slightest, darling.

Also, you state in other posts that people who were not there should shut up about racism/homophobia, but I doubt you were there yourself. I recall going out in 1979 in my disco duds, feeling free and lovely, and getting called faggot out car windows on a regular basis. I recall my friends and I going club to club and not being allowed in because we were a bunch of fags, and only felt comfortable at the black dance clubs. Besides, disco was changing and evolving all the time, even before it got called Disco. So we're arguing about an evolution and a door slam from mainstream radio, and it's pretty inarguable really. The disco hits that were played to death on radio simply stopped being played, and there are many reasons for it, as stated in this thread.

It is indeed strange to have to explain 70s homophobia on a gay message board, but you seem very adamant that you are right about your point, so there's clearly no convincing you. But you're dead wrong on so many levels. You must be young.

It all sounds like the theme to the Love Boat.

Short YT documentary about homophobia regarding the disco era...

[quote]those songs all had guitar hooks that dominated the dance music underneath, such was the compromise that was made then to create pop hits (all great songs). But those are not disco songs in the slightest, darling.

I wrote " ...it was a natural progression of disco". And I mention "disco-funk". I said: "it was music to dance to"

"Billie Jean" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 3, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, Thriller (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones and co-produced by Jackson. "Billie Jean" blends post-disco, R&B, funk, and dance-pop."

^ Note the word "disco"

[quote]It is indeed strange to have to explain 70s homophobia on a gay message board,

No one has said that homophobia did not exist in the 1970s. Are you nuts?

But it had nothing to do with the supposed "death of disco".

[quote]Prince, Lionel Richie & Tina Turner helped turn MTV around before Whitney & others became part of a black avalanche of new talent music videos.

For the record, it was DONNA SUMMER who was the first black female artist to debut on MTV and get 'heavy rotation' on MTV with her 1983 hit 'She Works Hard for the Money', and broke the barriers for Tina Turner, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson (among others). She turned MTV around a year before Turner did with her videos from 'Private Dancer'. As a matter of fact, Houston said in interviews later on in her career that MTV refused to play her videos when she first started in 1985 - saying she was 'too pop' and not appealing to their rock audience. (They kept pushing her to their sister network, VH1). She credits the perseverance of Clive Davis and her Arista team of pushing MTV to play her videos and in the end, they did.

Have we all forgotten the success of 'The Village People' ? Does anyone think they were hiding the fact that they were a group of mostly gay men ?

Your point, R128?

That is EXACTLY the kind of thing that inspired homophobia in disco. It's the truth, and you seem to keep missing the point here.

[quote]Have we all forgotten the success of 'The Village People' ? Does anyone think they were hiding the fact that they were a group of mostly gay men ?

In the late 70s, the fact they were mainly gay men was not on the radars of most of middle America.

It's so obvious looking back, but at the time, many people were oblivious to it. I mean, middle America also believed that Liberace was straight and still pining away for Sonja Henie and that Paul Lynde just hadn't met the right girl yet. It was a very different time. A more naive time.