(l to r) Thelma Houston, Christian John Wikane, and Maxine Waters
Photo: Courtesy of Christian John Wikane
A Night at the Disco Celebrates the Seventies
by Steve Desroches
If the Flower Power and peace and love hippie era ended with the violence at Altamont in 1969, history repeated itself when on July 12, 1979 the Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago provided an explosive finale to the dance music phenomenon of the decade. Organized by loud-mouth radio shock-jock Steve Dahl, what was supposed to be a brief publicity stunt in the middle of a double header between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers turned into a riot, when hundreds stormed the field causing so much damage it forced the White Sox to forfeit the second game. It was the culmination of a backlash to disco that seemingly overnight ended its popularity, shifting American culture immediately. “Disco Sucks” became a rallying cry that echoed for decades. But almost 50 years later, cultural historians, music journalists, and academia are taking another look at disco, far from that night in 1979 when albums featuring the music of Donna Summer, the Village People, and the Bee Gees went up in flames.
“It’s time to take a swing back at that,” says Christian John Wikane, a music journalist who recently published A Night at the Disco, celebrating the music of the seventies. “Do you think any other genre of music ever received so much hate? I think most people would say no.”
Based off of 20 years of work and over 600 interviews with recording artists, producers, writers, and more, A Night at the Disco, published in collaboration with art editor and writer Alice Harris, takes a deep dive into the groundbreaking dance music of the decade. Wikane will be at the Provincetown Bookshop this
Thursday afternoon to share it. “It’s always a good time to celebrate the music of the seventies in my opinion,” says Wikane. “The music is timeless.”
While an amorphous early history, the disco sound is rooted in musical traditions in West Africa that then became popular in recorded music in Europe, especially Paris at the same time dance venues on the continent and in North America were shifting from live bands to DJs playing albums. The classic Parisian discothèque was introduced to New York City in the late 1960s and quickly the disco beat became the driving force in Black and Latino nightclubs, many of which were also LGBT hot spots. It was the right beat at the right time providing a soundtrack for the Gay Rights Movement as well as the Sexual Revolution.
The early connotation between disco and Black, Latino, and LGBT culture was not necessarily known to the mainstream, as the dominant white culture traditionally absorbs that of marginalized groups. To the culture-at-large it was a return to a style of dancing that required partners to touch. And as explored in A Night at the Disco, the earlier pioneers of the genre like Sly and the Family Stone, Isaac Hayes, MFSB, and the Temptations all embraced this new sound evolving the way any artist would, not afraid of the new.
Photo: Courtesy of Cory Daye
n particular, disco became an art form where Black women dominated, with superstars like Gloria Gaynor, Thelma Houston, Linda Clifford, Loleatta Holloway, and of course Donna Summer. The female vocalist driven songs were revolutionary for the day as women sang about sexual desire and personal liberation, which struck a chord with women in general and gay men.
“They said what I couldn’t say as a gay man,” says Wikane. “Yes, for me it’s very personal.”
A Night at the Disco chronicles the evolution from underground music to mainstream success to the adaptation of rock and roll with the Rolling Stones, Blondie, and Rod Stewart all taking a twirl under the mirror ball on up to the 1977 release of the smash hit film Saturday Night Fever and its record-breaking soundtrack, which launched disco into the stratosphere. With lush photography A Night at the Disco is as much a coffee table book as it is a biography of a musical movement. All the greats are captured inside. There is someone who in a way is attached to disco in a huge way that is not included: Ethel Merman. The Broadway great released the Ethel Merman Disco Album in 1979, an event that is often referred to as the tipping point when the genre jumped the shark and saturated the airwaves. With Rick Dees and his novelty song “Disco Duck” and disco remixes of the soundtracks to Evita, Jaws, and Star Wars, it seemed disco had completely taken over…until that night at Comiskey Park.
Photo: Courtesy of Len Kaltman
Wikane acknowledges that indeed disco became highly commercialized and exploited, a common occurrence with cultural movements. And while not great musical accomplishments, those disco albums recorded out of a desperation to stay relevant or just for fun have their place. But when you listen to the classics, they still hold up says Wikane. And they are being taken more seriously. In real time there could be an air of frivolity as the music spark joy, something singer Melba Moore told Wikane can lead to dismissal as not a serious pursuit. And in hindsight the Disco Demolition Night is increasingly viewed as a racist and homophobic mob expressing white grievance. Disco indeed does not suck and is getting a cultural reboot, with songs like “I Will Surive” and “Y.M.C.A” being added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry for being culturally significant, with a nod to their role in LGBT culture. There is the odd phenomenon, however, of MAGA adopting “Y.M.C.A.” as an anthem and the Village People, with only one original member, eschewing the group’s overt gay themes.
“Now what’s happened since with the Village People,” says Wikane. “That’s another book.”
Christian John Wikane will be in conversation with Dennis McCrum on Thursday, June 25 at 4 p.m. at the Provincetown Bookshop, 229 Commercial St., where the book A Night at the Disco can also be purchased. The event is free, but an RSVP would be appreciated and can be done so at provincetownbookshop.com. For more information call 508.487.0964.
