The Joy of Disco


The Joy of Disco

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Disco - oh, no!

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But wait!

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This programme contains very strong language.

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The Joy Of Disco? Like the joy of Christmas, ha-ha-ha.

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I said, "Everyone," I'm like,

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"You're my girl, you're my girl, you're my girl."

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Oh, isn't that one word - joy and disco?

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Then you cross your arms and you disappear. Boom!

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It's a bliss-making machine. It will just make you abandon

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all your worries and your cares.

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Between 1969 and '79, disco would change the world.

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You look at the music press in the '70s

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and, you know, you're taking Jethro Tull seriously,

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and you're heaping scorn on The Bee Gees.

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# Ha, ha, ha... #

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Your priorities are all wrong, you know.

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So he would bring the hips down and go like this.

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Down and go like this.

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It was the beat, honey.

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You could not sit down to disco music.

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You had to move.

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From an underground scene created by black and gay New York

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to a global phenomenon.

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Disco transcended racial and sexual barriers in the '70s,

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creating the birth of club culture as we know it today.

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So let's get down to the joy of disco.

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MUSIC: "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes

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The phrase "musical revolution" is a cliche,

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but disco truly was that.

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# The love I lost was a sweet love... #

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It was the birth of modern club culture,

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an underground scene created by black and gay America.

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# ..Was complete love... #

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And it all happened without hype,

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major record labels or radio airplay.

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# ..No, no, never love again... #

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I suppose what sets disco apart...

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it's actually, properly

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revolutionary music. It's, you know, people talk about

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punk as revolutionary music, and they've got a point.

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But disco is more revolutionary.

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Disco is literally outsider music.

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It's music based in oppressed minorities.

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# ..We loved each other We just couldn't get along... #

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It's gay, black, Puerto Rican.

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# ..I'm in misery! Can't you see...? #

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It was people who'd been repressed.

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A minority of people,

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the gay New Yorkers,

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who'd been so oppressed by the police

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that they are all bounding out with a new-found enthusiasm.

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We thought we were

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going up this hill

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towards the shining city at the top,

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where we thought liberation,

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and things were getting better and better.

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And it was all soundtracked by a never-ending, orgasmic music.

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It's very hard for people

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to understand that it actually

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was a new sound. I mean, now of course,

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we all know the sort of, the classic disco songs,

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but back then, they were really fantastic.

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You have this sort of beautiful string arrangements,

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incredibly lush, sumptuous, kind of high camp.

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It's about euphoria and about this moment on the dance floor.

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And hearing them, you know, swirl around you from the speakers.

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There were the mirror balls, and then dry ice and the flashes.

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It really was like living in the middle of a Hollywood movie.

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Imagine you're driving down to the beach on a sunny day with the sunroof down

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and everything feels right in the world.

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That was the best of disco.

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# Two girls for every boy... #

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To understand the joy of disco, let's skip back a few years.

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# Surf City, here we come... #

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America in the '60s

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and a sexual revolution based on a new libertarianism

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was supposedly sweeping across the land.

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# And all you got to do is just wink your eye... #

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However, attitudes towards one particular section of society

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were still rooted in the dark ages.

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If you were homosexual, you were seen as a threat to society.

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'Jimmy hadn't enjoyed himself so much in a long time.

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'Then, during lunch, Ralph showed him some pornographic pictures.

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'Jimmy knew he shouldn't be interested, but, well, he was curious.

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'What Jimmy didn't know is that Ralph was sick.

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'A sickness that was not visible like smallpox,

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'but no less dangerous and contagious.

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'A sickness of the mind.

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'You see, Ralph was a homosexual.'

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The only available models for homosexuality were

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a mental illness,

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a crime or a sin.

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That was it.

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For instance, there were many states, up through the '60s,

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that still treated homosexuality with capital punishment.

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You could have your head chopped off in Georgia if you were gay.

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Er... So, I mean, it wasn't a joking matter.

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MUSIC: "Midnight Cowboy" by John Barry

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While straight America explored new freedoms,

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homosexuals made do with a furtive existence.

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Tolerated only on the liberal fringes of the country,

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in San Francisco and New York,

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and then under the watchful eye of the authorities.

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In the '60s, there was the so-called "sexual revolution",

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but gays were not part of it.

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It still, you know, the word gay

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didn't even really exist in the '60s.

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as a term for homosexuality.

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It was still, "Oh, isn't it gay?" meaning, "Isn't it festive?"

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# Nowhere to run to, baby

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# Nowhere to hide. #

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The police would suddenly raid a disco

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and catch people who were dancing with members of the same sex.

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So what you had to have was one woman at least in every group.

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And you might have seven boys dancing together and one girl.

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But there had to be the girl.

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Employees of the disco would sit on top of very tall ladders

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with a flashlight

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and if they saw you with a girl-less group,

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they would turn the light on and you'd have to immediately

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get yourself a girl if you were going to continue.

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However, in 1969, an event at a mafia-run gay bar in New York

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would change the course of history.

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This is the Stonewall, where gay liberation began.

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Where street queens

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who'd had enough

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rioted and decided

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to become part of the world.

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# People moving out People moving in... #

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A routine drag queen bust turned into something

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that the police were not expecting.

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# Run, but you sure can't hide... #

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They just said, "Right, get going,"

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with that horrible look.

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And they turned around, but no-one left.

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And they couldn't believe it. So they turned around again and said, "I told you to get going."

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And then, for some reason, we all started marching towards them.

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# Oh, great googalooga Can't you hear me talking to you? #

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# Just a ball of confusion... #

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That was the birth of the gay...

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of the gay rights movement.

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That happened on Friday night,

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June 27th, 1969.

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# Tension everywhere Unemployment rising... #

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The gays, instead of dispersing, stayed there, began to chat,

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got more and more angry,

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tore up parking meters and used them as battering rams.

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Threw waste paper into the bar once the door gave way and lit it.

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And turned over cars, broke windows.

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It was quite a scene.

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And nobody had ever seen gays behave this way before.

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Well, we all got together and started kicking

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to provoke the Tactical Police Force with their shields

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and their heavy riot gear.

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And we sang, # We are the Village girls,

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# We wear our hair in curls,

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# We wear our dungarees above our nellie knees. #

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And they did charge. Ha-ha-ha-ha!

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We all did the last kick and fled.

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# Great googalooga Can't you hear me talking to you?

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# It's a ball of confusion

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# ..That's what the world is today... #

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The Stonewall riot would be a catalyst for a revolution.

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Gays were no longer happy to remain invisible.

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They were out and proud,

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a vocal community demanding equal rights in all aspects of life.

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And gay liberation would create the perfect conditions

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for the birth of disco.

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We got the law in New York repealed,

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where two people of the same sex couldn't dance together.

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And we felt very powerful.

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We were feeling united and powerful.

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It was the biggest thing that happened for the club culture.

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Before that, two people of the same sex couldn't dance together.

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But all the clubs that catered to gay people

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were kind of

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Mafia owned and operated.

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Because they were the only ones who would take a chance

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at the cops coming in every two months

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and raiding the place.

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And fucking up their business.

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When that law became repealed,

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it opened up a window for people like myself and David,

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to open places for people.

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This is the unlikely Godfather of disco.

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Brooklyn-born David Mancuso hosted private parties

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in his downtown loft apartment in the early '70s.

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Mancuso was the first person to create the tone and atmosphere

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of what would become disco.

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You get together with your friends.

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Everybody helps.

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There's that little tablecloth.

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And some cupcakes.

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And some cookies.

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Home-made cookies.

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That's how it starts.

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As a party.

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Was that a good idea, or not?

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MUSIC: "Law Of The Land" by The Temptations

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A late night venue, the Loft attracted an ethnically

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and sexually diverse crowd.

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After going to other places, you'd then go to the Loft.

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It wasn't really thought of as a disco.

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It was more hanging out. Not so much raving and dancing.

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There was dancing going on.

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And other things.

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Certainly, LSD had a role in it.

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It was his house.

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You'd go into the little bathroom.

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You'd see his shaving cream,

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and his deodorant,

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and all this stuff on the shelves.

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Most of us were, socially, outcasts.

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# Lay your cards on top of the table... #

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It doesn't matter where you came from.

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It's just having fun.

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The music was not yet known as "disco",

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but the groove of late '60s soul

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was the soundtrack for a nascent club culture

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that formed in abandoned and dilapidated downtown New York.

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The Loft and the Gallery were on the Lower East Side.

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Which is now called "SoHo".

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Back then it was not "SoHo", it was the Lower East Side,

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and it was a crap shoot, the worst place you can go.

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You wouldn't go there at night.

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There were no people on the streets,

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except muggers and drug dealers.

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The first club to truly crystallise the idea of disco was the Gallery,

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where a mainly gay crowd would lose it to euphoric black dance music.

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The Gallery, first of all, was very affordable.

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Seven dollars, you got in, and that was it.

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That was all you had to pay. Except if you wanted a piece of acid,

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maybe a dollar more.

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Or a dollar for a joint,

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of fifty cents for a Quaalude.

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It was very affordable.

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MUSIC: "Girl, You Need A Change Of Mind" by Eddie Kendricks

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It had the most excessive, comprehensive light system

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of its time.

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The sound system was state-of-the art.

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It sounded like you were being caressed by the music.

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# Yeah, you need a change of mind... #

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It was the birth of a new democracy.

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A secret world, built on inclusivity and pleasure,

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where it really didn't matter who you were, and where everything went.

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It had that kind of bohemian nirvana,

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utopian idea.

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Here were these groups, not usually in the same place at the same time.

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They were all there, and everybody thought this was a good idea,

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at least for these three or four hours they were here.

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We basically come to release frustration. I do, anyway.

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Let me tell you, this is the kind of place you could bring

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any one of your cool friends.

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They have all types of people.

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People who dance, people pop up and down.

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You can get high. Stay all night.

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You can live at the Gallery every Saturday night.

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That's what I like to do.

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Shaking till you don't know what's what any more.

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# Girl, you need a change of mind

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# Oh-oh... #

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At the heart of disco was the new concept of the architect

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of an evening's grooving, the DJ.

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Mixing records together was a revolutionary concept in the '70s.

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Foremost amongst DJs was Nicky Siano, renowned for his skill

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at beat matching and known as the Jimi Hendrix of the turntables.

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Until then, you had a DJ. He'd play a record, then he'd talk.

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Then he'd play another record.

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The idea of the seamless segue,

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we used to call them "segue".

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The music would never stop.

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Just keep on going.

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There were people like Nicky Siano, and those guys.

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They were known as having the really cool segue.

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I had a dream I had three turntables.

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I was mixing "Girl, You Need A Change of Mind",

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and "Love Is The Message".

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And I was playing a 707 jet plane sound effect, while they were mixing.

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I thought, "What a great idea!"

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I took my turntable, brought it to the club, and I did it.

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MUSIC: "Love Is The Message" by MFSB

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The records that early DJs played were typically deep R'n'B cuts,

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not yet known as "Disco".

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"Love Is The Message" is a crucial record,

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because it has all the elements of what we consider disco.

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As well as elements that would later on become hip hop.

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That is one of the essential dance records of all time.

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It's not disco music the way people listen to it now,

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or even think of disco music.

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It was basically these R'n'B songs with elongated breaks in them.

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MUSIC: "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes

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Early disco culture may have been based on the hedonism

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of gay liberation, but its soundtrack

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was street tough, heterosexual, and black.

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MUSIC: "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes

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Born somewhere in the softening of soul, post-James Brown,

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disco music has many godfathers,

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but if any one city could be considered its spiritual home,

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it would be Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia International Records,

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run by songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff,

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took the mantle from Motown in the '70s,

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to create The Sound of Philadelphia.

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I think the whole Philadelphia sound,

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with Gamble and Huff being at the helm, they had a formula.

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They would use certain musicians that would instantly connect,

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and instantly, I believe, reflect Philadelphia, as well.

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# Don't leave me this way... #

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What the Funk Brothers were to Motown,

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MFSB were to Philly International, a crack in-house band.

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MFSB was a combination...

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..of some of the greatest musicians that you could think of.

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That orchestra WAS the sound of Philadelphia, in my view.

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Because people came from all over the world to try to get that sound.

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That's what we did in the '70s.

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We were working. Yeah.

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MUSIC: "TSOP" by MFSB

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Gamble and Huff's urbane songwriting combined with the strings

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and horns of MFSB, to create a sound that would transcend

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Philadelphia's gritty inner city to grace dance floors the world over.

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The Philly sound was very important to disco.

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It was like an extension of the Motown sound.

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They added more luscious orchestration,

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and got a little bit more soulful, and slinky.

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-Again, "glamour". That word.

-HE LAUGHS

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MFSB, for the public and radio stations, what does it stand for?

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"Mother, Father, Sister, Brother".

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Whereas, the reality is, it stood for "Mother-Fucking Son of a Bitch",

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which I don't know if you have to bleep out for the TV...

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MFSB really was that black, street thing,

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but it really was sophisticated black.

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It was not raw black.

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These marvellous musicians, like Earl Young,

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played on every one of these early disco records.

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Disco needed a beat and Earl Young, drummer with MFSB,

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was the man who invented it.

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The disco groove came along when I started the four-on-the-floor.

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-On the bass.

-BASS DRUM PLAYS

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Then you put two on the snare.

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SNARE DRUM PLAYS

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That's basic disco.

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Now, the side cymbal determines how the sound will sound like.

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It changes up the whole thing.

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DRUM KIT PLAYS

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Now, watch. I'm going to change the groove on the side cymbal,

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and it changes the whole thing.

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DISCO BEAT

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Everything else stays the same.

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That's all disco.

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DISCO BEAT

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Now, this is also disco...

0:21:500:21:54

And that's how disco started.

0:21:580:22:00

MUSIC: "New World Symphony" by The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band

0:22:070:22:11

Three and a half thousand miles on the other side of the pond,

0:22:130:22:17

the birth of disco in Britain was not quite as revolutionary,

0:22:170:22:21

but no less underground.

0:22:210:22:23

By the early '70s, pockets of soul music aficionados had created

0:22:290:22:33

vibrant dance scenes up and down the UK.

0:22:330:22:36

Perhaps the most famous was Northern Soul,

0:22:370:22:41

a scene that flourished

0:22:410:22:43

under the radar of the mainstream in northwest England.

0:22:430:22:46

Northern Soul was a cult underground scene

0:22:490:22:51

that formed in the north of England.

0:22:510:22:53

It started, really, around 1968.

0:22:530:22:55

By 1970, it had become quite a mass appeal thing,

0:22:550:22:58

culminating, by 1974, in clubs like Wigan Casino

0:22:580:23:03

having a membership of 100,000 people.

0:23:030:23:08

MUSIC: "The Snake" by Al Wilson

0:23:080:23:10

# On the way to work one morning

0:23:180:23:21

# Down the path alongside the lake... #

0:23:210:23:25

Northern Soul was about the DJs not playing

0:23:250:23:28

what they were being force-fed on the radio,

0:23:280:23:30

but finding their own records off of B-sides,

0:23:300:23:33

or records that had flopped.

0:23:330:23:34

Looking for records that had the Motown sound,

0:23:340:23:38

after the Motown sound moved on into a more funky sound.

0:23:380:23:41

They wanted that "dun-dun-dun-dun, "dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun".

0:23:410:23:44

# Take me in, o tender woman

0:23:440:23:47

# Take me in, for heaven's sake... #

0:23:470:23:51

The dancing was pretty formulaic, very hard to do.

0:23:510:23:54

Northern Soul, certainly a lot of the stuff, is beyond me.

0:23:560:24:00

MUSIC: "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones

0:24:030:24:05

# Sometimes I feel I've got to... #

0:24:050:24:10

But it WAS about being technical,

0:24:100:24:12

and that nerdy thing of you know the music, you know how to dance.

0:24:120:24:16

You have to work really hard at it.

0:24:160:24:17

And you had to be part of a scene.

0:24:170:24:19

# ..the love we share Seems to go nowhere

0:24:190:24:23

# And I've lost my right

0:24:230:24:26

# For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night... #

0:24:260:24:29

I'd been going to Wigan for probably a year, a year-and-a-half.

0:24:290:24:32

We heard of this place called Blackpool Mecca.

0:24:320:24:36

That became a place we went every single Saturday night.

0:24:360:24:38

Blackpool Mecca's changeover period,

0:24:380:24:42

from playing Northern Soul to a more modern version.

0:24:420:24:45

There was two DJs in particular, Colin Curtis and Ian Levine,

0:24:450:24:49

who were travelling to New York, and bringing back more upbeat,

0:24:490:24:52

less of a '60s influence, soul.

0:24:520:24:56

That was kind of the birth of disco in the north of England.

0:24:560:24:59

MUSIC: "Turn The Beat Around" by Vicki Sue Robinson

0:25:010:25:03

# Love to hear percussion

0:25:030:25:05

# Turn it upside down

0:25:050:25:09

# Love to hear percussion... #

0:25:090:25:13

By 1975, I was fascinated by this music coming out of the gay clubs

0:25:130:25:17

in New York.

0:25:170:25:18

I actually had to go and see for myself.

0:25:180:25:21

From '75 to '76, we phased all the '60s stuff out altogether,

0:25:210:25:26

and the Northern Soul at Blackpool Mecca became

0:25:260:25:30

the cult, underground, non-crossover disco of New York.

0:25:300:25:33

# Love to hear percussion

0:25:330:25:36

# Yeah, yeah, yeah Turn it upside down

0:25:360:25:41

# Love to hear percussion... #

0:25:410:25:45

By the mid '70s, the disco sound was becoming transatlantic.

0:25:450:25:49

Miami's KC And The Sunshine Band

0:25:490:25:51

provided the groove for disco's first UK number one,

0:25:510:25:54

in 1974, with singer George McCrae.

0:25:540:25:58

MUSIC: "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae

0:25:580:26:01

# Woman, take me in your arms

0:26:030:26:07

# Rock me, baby

0:26:070:26:10

# Woman, take me in your arms

0:26:120:26:16

# Rock me, baby... #

0:26:160:26:17

It was a Technicolor sound. It lifted your spirits.

0:26:170:26:20

You had things like "Rock Your Baby". You'd feel uplifted by it.

0:26:200:26:25

At the same time, there was a kind of melancholia to it, as well.

0:26:250:26:28

Something that moved you, and almost made you cry inside.

0:26:280:26:31

And you listened to the words,

0:26:310:26:33

and it would be, "Baby, take me in your arms, rock your baby."

0:26:330:26:36

# Ooh, woman

0:26:360:26:40

# Take me in your arms

0:26:400:26:42

# Rock your baby... #

0:26:420:26:44

They were meaningless, in a way.

0:26:460:26:48

But, somehow, the passion in the combination

0:26:480:26:51

of the live instrumentation, the voice, the yearning in that voice.

0:26:510:26:55

It said it all. It didn't matter what the lyrics were saying, really.

0:26:550:26:59

Record labels and FM radio were waking up to the fact that

0:27:020:27:05

records were being broken on dance floors,

0:27:050:27:09

and before long, there was a rush to market.

0:27:090:27:11

New labels sprang up, catering to the disco sound.

0:27:120:27:16

ADVERT: 'In the beginning, Casablanca was one small place.

0:27:210:27:25

'But now, it's everywhere. First, records. Then, movies...'

0:27:250:27:29

Based in Los Angeles, Casablanca was home to queen of disco,

0:27:290:27:32

Donna Summer.

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She would explode on the scene in 1975 with an infamous 12 inch,

0:27:350:27:39

created by Munich-based visionary Giorgio Moroder.

0:27:390:27:45

I kind of was always interested in sex.

0:27:450:27:47

Like all the musicians, and the rest of the world, too.

0:27:470:27:50

So, I thought, "Why not do some kind of an anthem to sex?"

0:27:510:27:56

And I think Donna delivered a good product.

0:27:560:28:01

# Oh, love to love you, baby

0:28:010:28:03

# Oh

0:28:030:28:06

# Love to love you, baby... #

0:28:060:28:09

Neil Bogart, the head of Casablanca Records,

0:28:090:28:12

called me and said, "I'm playing this song at the party,

0:28:120:28:16

"and they want to hear it over and over.

0:28:160:28:19

"Why don't you do a long version?"

0:28:190:28:21

That's when I extended the version,

0:28:210:28:25

and that's when Donna Summer did the whole 17 minutes of moaning.

0:28:250:28:30

# Oh, love to love you, baby... #

0:28:320:28:36

The record heralded the beginnings

0:28:360:28:39

of a new European direction for disco.

0:28:390:28:42

From that Philly sound, there's only one thing which left,

0:28:420:28:45

and those were the violins.

0:28:450:28:47

I think I had it more like up to the point. One, two, three, four.

0:28:470:28:51

So people could even dance better than with the other sounds.

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MUSIC: "Love To Love You Baby" by Donna Summer

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The record caught the zeitgeist of the decade.

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With disco, it was as though

0:29:030:29:07

female desire

0:29:070:29:09

was just the most sumptuous, wonderful thing.

0:29:090:29:12

And so, if you think about the '70s,

0:29:120:29:15

feminism is hitting big.

0:29:150:29:17

And there are all these cover stories in mainstream magazines

0:29:170:29:21

about satisfying your woman.

0:29:210:29:23

And about female orgasm. "Oh, they actually have them", right?

0:29:230:29:26

So, the point was, to try to satisfy your woman.

0:29:280:29:31

And for women to satisfy themselves.

0:29:310:29:33

This is the era of the sex toy.

0:29:330:29:35

That comes through in the music in a way it doesn't with rock.

0:29:380:29:42

Disco was all about this.

0:29:420:29:44

"Love To Love You Baby", Donna Summer. I mean, you know...

0:29:440:29:47

In the decade of feminism, disco foregrounded female desire.

0:29:480:29:52

And it wasn't just Donna doing it for the girls.

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It seems so silly to talk about it now,

0:29:560:29:58

because people perform much more like that today.

0:29:580:30:01

But, to be able to come on stage,

0:30:010:30:04

in outrageous headdress, whips and chains,

0:30:040:30:08

and capes and silver,

0:30:080:30:10

and looking like you'd just flown in from outer space,

0:30:100:30:14

but be very aggressive for a woman,

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and use your strength, and express that,

0:30:180:30:22

had not happened.

0:30:220:30:24

MUSIC: "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle

0:30:240:30:26

# Itchi gitchi ya ya da da now

0:30:260:30:29

# Itchi gitchi ya ya here

0:30:290:30:32

# Mocha-choca-lata ya ya

0:30:320:30:36

# Creole Lady Marmalade

0:30:360:30:40

# Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir... #

0:30:420:30:45

At that time, you really, as an artist, were capable

0:30:450:30:49

of exploring things, without having to fit into a niche.

0:30:490:30:53

It was more being ourselves.

0:30:530:30:57

Having the freedom that came along with what was inspired by

0:30:570:31:02

the feminist movement.

0:31:020:31:04

# Itchi gitchi ya ya here

0:31:040:31:07

# Mocha-choca-lata ya ya

0:31:070:31:12

# Creole Lady Marmalade

0:31:120:31:15

# Ma ma ma ooh

0:31:150:31:17

# Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir

0:31:170:31:21

# Voulez-vous coucher avec moi... #

0:31:210:31:23

Nona Hendryx. Terrific songwriter.

0:31:230:31:27

Writes these incredible songs that aren't fluff, at all.

0:31:270:31:32

And talk about the expression of female desire.

0:31:320:31:37

There's one song called "Going Down Makes Me Shiver".

0:31:370:31:42

As somebody put it, they were like a revolution unto themselves.

0:31:420:31:47

MUSIC: "More More More" by Andrea True Connection

0:31:470:31:51

For the first time in pop music, women were sexually explicit.

0:31:510:31:57

In 1976, the late Andrea True demanded "More, More, More."

0:31:570:32:03

It's this song, ostensibly about romance, sung by a porn star.

0:32:030:32:07

The lyrics of that song APPEAR to suggest

0:32:070:32:10

that the kind of sex in porn films

0:32:100:32:15

might be more meaningful and realistic than real love.

0:32:150:32:18

# But if you want to know how I really feel

0:32:180:32:22

# Get the cameras rolling Get the action going

0:32:220:32:26

# Baby, you know my love for you is real

0:32:260:32:30

# Take me where you want to

0:32:300:32:32

# Me and my heart you steal

0:32:320:32:35

# More, more, more

0:32:360:32:38

# How do you like it? How do you like it? #

0:32:380:32:40

The Tom Moulton extended mix of "More, More, More"

0:32:430:32:46

is unequivocably one of the greatest records ever made.

0:32:460:32:49

It's the most indescribably exciting eight minutes of music

0:32:490:32:53

you can imagine. It's brilliant.

0:32:530:32:55

# How do you like your love? #

0:32:550:32:58

I wouldn't have done it, if I'd known what the song was about.

0:33:000:33:04

I had no clue. Who has time to watch porn?

0:33:050:33:08

I was in the studio all the time.

0:33:080:33:11

I'm thinking that, "More more more"...

0:33:120:33:16

..I made it pretty, cos I thought she was talking about the music.

0:33:170:33:20

When I hear it,

0:33:260:33:27

I still don't think of her doing that.

0:33:270:33:32

MUSIC: "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Gloria Gaynor

0:33:320:33:35

Disco may have presented female desire for the first time.

0:33:350:33:39

but it was still men who called the shots.

0:33:390:33:41

They didn't call it "a 12 inch mix" for nothing.

0:33:410:33:43

There's this great moment where Gloria Gaynor

0:33:460:33:50

is listening to the playback of "Never Can Say Goodbye".

0:33:500:33:54

This was a record that had been remixed by the famous DJ, Tom Moulton.

0:33:540:34:00

And, it was like, "What happened to my voice?"

0:34:000:34:03

"Where AM I in this?

0:34:030:34:05

"And what am I going to do when I'm performing it live?"

0:34:050:34:08

"What am I going to do when there's none of me there?"

0:34:080:34:10

And he's like, "You'll have to learn to dance".

0:34:100:34:14

HE LAUGHS

0:34:140:34:16

I didn't know what to say!

0:34:160:34:18

She said, "My God, what am I supposed to do?"

0:34:180:34:21

I said, "I guess you have to brush up on your dancing".

0:34:210:34:24

Am I red? Because I was so embarrassed!

0:34:240:34:28

# Never can say goodbye, boy... #

0:34:300:34:35

It's the old story of two steps forward, one step back.

0:34:360:34:40

Three steps, if you consider some of the artwork.

0:34:400:34:43

Disco music wasn't just about the music. It was about selling it, too.

0:34:440:34:49

Casablanca were the main label who would use any effect

0:34:490:34:55

to have your album pop out of the racks.

0:34:550:34:58

This is one of the most famous.

0:35:000:35:02

"How Much, How Much I Love You" by Love & Kisses.

0:35:020:35:05

Look how they've sold this.

0:35:050:35:07

A naked girl, with boots, on a white horse.

0:35:070:35:10

On the back, is even more suggestive.

0:35:100:35:13

Supposedly, the theme of this was "beauty and the beast".

0:35:140:35:17

Here's a classic 12 inch cover.

0:35:200:35:22

The Ring, "Savage Lover".

0:35:220:35:26

Another beauty and the beast theme, here.

0:35:260:35:29

A bit of murder going on in the background.

0:35:290:35:32

I actually wonder if they'd allow this sort of stuff now.

0:35:320:35:35

Another infamous Love & Kisses album.

0:35:370:35:40

Torn T-shirts. These are all male hands, clearly.

0:35:400:35:43

A quite rare Giorgio Moroder album.

0:35:500:35:52

Another one from Casablanca.

0:35:520:35:55

Battlestar Galactica theme.

0:35:550:35:57

Visualised in almost comic book erotica, I think, art here.

0:35:570:36:02

Again, I could see some Star Wars geeks going for this one,

0:36:030:36:06

without even knowing what the music was.

0:36:060:36:09

Boris Midney, one of my favourite producers.

0:36:090:36:12

This is more avant garde erotica,

0:36:120:36:14

for his French release of "Companion".

0:36:140:36:17

If you see the whole album, I think it's the nipple and the asteroid.

0:36:170:36:21

I mean, "Excuse me, what's this about?" But, it's still quite lovely.

0:36:210:36:25

1977 was the year disco went uptown.

0:36:280:36:33

In April, a club would open in New York,

0:36:330:36:35

and instantly become the hottest ticket on the planet.

0:36:350:36:39

MUSIC: "Dance, Dance, Dance" by Chic

0:36:390:36:41

# Dance, dance, dance, dance

0:36:410:36:45

# Keep on dancing... #

0:36:450:36:48

Studio 54 was owned by Brooklyn lads, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.

0:36:480:36:54

It was like holding on to a lightning bolt.

0:36:560:36:59

It seemed to be the right thing at the right time, at the place.

0:36:590:37:03

It just resonated with people.

0:37:080:37:10

It struck a chord with people.

0:37:100:37:12

The first superclub, Studio 54 turned the inclusive,

0:37:130:37:17

underground nature of the early disco scene on its head,

0:37:170:37:21

to become the epitome of '70s exclusivity and glamour,

0:37:210:37:25

and opened the way for disco to enter the mainstream.

0:37:250:37:28

I like it because it's really the nightclub of the future.

0:37:320:37:35

It's a culmination of a nightclub

0:37:350:37:37

that's been arriving gradually for the last ten years.

0:37:370:37:42

The feeling, the excitement of the props coming down,

0:37:420:37:46

and the balcony. It's just exciting.

0:37:460:37:49

It gave people the incentive to want to dress up and go out.

0:37:520:37:56

The most beautiful women. Brooke Astor types would keep coming in

0:37:560:38:00

at two o'clock in the morning.

0:38:000:38:03

Limousines around the block.

0:38:030:38:06

It was a fabulous, wonderful happening to be a part of.

0:38:070:38:10

It was really wild.

0:38:120:38:14

It was wild abandonment.

0:38:140:38:17

It wasn't a very cerebral experience. It was almost tribal.

0:38:170:38:22

You came in to really let your hair down, and get released.

0:38:250:38:29

And leave the real world outside the doors.

0:38:290:38:32

# ..Dance, dance, dance, dance

0:38:320:38:35

# Dance, dance, dance, dance

0:38:380:38:42

Disco came up at the same time

0:38:420:38:43

as cocaine emerged as the drug of choice.

0:38:430:38:46

And cocaine, we didn't see it

0:38:460:38:48

as something self-destructive, like heroin.

0:38:480:38:52

Even Jimmy Carter's Surgeon General classified it with marijuana,

0:38:520:38:55

and said it was not addictive.

0:38:550:38:57

But cocaine, and Quaaludes, and poppers, they all contributed

0:38:570:39:03

to wanting to have sex, basically.

0:39:030:39:05

The famous thing about Studio 54

0:39:050:39:09

is that they had a coke spoon in the shape of the moon.

0:39:090:39:12

The place was just a blizzard.

0:39:120:39:14

They pumped it through the air conditioning.

0:39:140:39:17

-Is it true you pumped cocaine through the air conditioning?

-No.

0:39:170:39:23

It sort of captured the imagination of everyone.

0:39:230:39:27

MUSIC: "The Chase" by Giorgio Moroder

0:39:270:39:29

There was sex everywhere.

0:39:320:39:34

At that time, there wasn't anything you couldn't do,

0:39:370:39:41

that you couldn't get up the next morning and walk away from.

0:39:410:39:44

For a long time, I used to spend my entire evening

0:39:460:39:51

in the women's bathroom,

0:39:510:39:52

taking up one of the stalls. "Come on, get out of here".

0:39:520:39:56

But I had lots of coke,

0:39:560:39:58

and the woman in charge let me stay.

0:39:580:40:00

And no girl ever complained. Not one.

0:40:000:40:04

Many times, I'd get oral sex,

0:40:040:40:09

or full-on...hardcore sex.

0:40:090:40:13

If I sound nonchalant, it's only because we were just partying,

0:40:170:40:21

and everything felt cool.

0:40:210:40:23

Quite a lot of outrageous stuff went on in Studio 54.

0:40:230:40:27

-I wonder if Rollerena was ever propositioned?

-She was a lady.

0:40:270:40:31

She was always a lady.

0:40:320:40:33

She was a fairy godmother.

0:40:330:40:36

What others did, she didn't see.

0:40:360:40:39

Whatever people say that went on,

0:40:390:40:44

that was not something that she touched on.

0:40:440:40:48

She wasn't there to judge.

0:40:480:40:51

It wasn't just clubs that were becoming futuristic.

0:40:530:40:56

Giorgio Moroder would crystallise an orgasmic, totally synthetic

0:40:560:41:00

disco sound that would mark the birth of electronic dance.

0:41:000:41:04

MUSIC: "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer

0:41:040:41:07

I started with the bassline. Then I thought I wanted everything played

0:41:070:41:12

by the synthesizer.

0:41:120:41:14

That includes the percussion,

0:41:140:41:17

the snare, some of the effects,

0:41:170:41:20

the vocoder, which is a synthesizer, too.

0:41:200:41:23

# Oooh, it's so good

0:41:230:41:27

# It's so good, it's so good It's so good, it's so good... #

0:41:270:41:30

It was very interesting,

0:41:300:41:33

because the rhythm was really dramatic and uplifting,

0:41:330:41:36

but the melody's very smooth, almost romantic.

0:41:360:41:41

# Oooh, I'm in love, I'm in love

0:41:410:41:43

# I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love... #

0:41:430:41:47

Here was a black woman, steeped in a gospel past,

0:41:470:41:51

with a white, European guy playing a synthesizer,

0:41:510:41:54

and producing bleeps and sounds,

0:41:540:41:56

and taking it to number one faster than any of the pure soul records.

0:41:560:42:01

This must have frightened the living daylights out of people.

0:42:010:42:06

# I feel love... #

0:42:060:42:12

That invented Eurodisco.

0:42:120:42:16

It invented techno. It invented...

0:42:160:42:21

It's "Hello, Disco."

0:42:210:42:22

Suddenly, it made disco European.

0:42:220:42:26

Europe now had a disco sound.

0:42:260:42:29

I hear songs in that style still,

0:42:310:42:33

the same bassline.

0:42:330:42:36

Sometimes, I think I could sue the whole world

0:42:360:42:38

for infringement of copyrights,

0:42:380:42:41

but I'm happy if they like the sounds and melodies,

0:42:410:42:46

the better.

0:42:460:42:48

MUSIC: "Jive Talkin'" by the Bee Gees

0:42:480:42:51

Moroder invented Eurodisco in 1977,

0:42:510:42:54

but it would be these three Europeans, copying the Philly sound,

0:42:540:42:58

who would take disco firmly into the mainstream.

0:42:580:43:02

The Bee Gees were songwriters, with scant interest in disco.

0:43:020:43:06

A casual decision to allow some of their songs

0:43:090:43:13

to be used in a movie would create a phenomenon.

0:43:130:43:16

# Jive talking, so misunderstood Yeah

0:43:160:43:21

# Jive talking You're really no good... #

0:43:210:43:25

We were writing our new studio album in the Honky Chateau, in France.

0:43:250:43:31

Robert Stigwood called from Los Angeles, and said,

0:43:320:43:36

"We have this low budget film for Paramount,

0:43:360:43:38

"based on an article in the New York Times by Nik Cohn.

0:43:380:43:42

"Have you got any NEW songs?"

0:43:440:43:46

We said, "We haven't got time to write new songs.

0:43:460:43:49

"We have these songs written,

0:43:490:43:51

"'Stayin' Alive', 'How Deep Is Your Love?', 'Night Fever'...

0:43:510:43:54

"Come over, and have a listen."

0:43:540:43:56

So, Paramount and Robert Stigwood

0:43:560:43:58

came to the studio in France and they listened.

0:43:580:44:02

"Yeah. OK." That was the last we heard.

0:44:020:44:06

MUSIC: "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees

0:44:060:44:08

Saturday Night Fever was THE disco movie.

0:44:080:44:11

But it shunned the gay downtown scene, in favour of the machismo

0:44:110:44:15

and moves of a Brooklyn ladies man, played by John Travolta.

0:44:150:44:18

# You can tell by the way I use my walk

0:44:180:44:20

# I'm a woman's man No time to talk. #

0:44:200:44:24

I remember the first time he came in.

0:44:240:44:26

I said, "John, put your hands together, like this".

0:44:260:44:29

"Now, start doing that".

0:44:290:44:31

He started doing this and went, "I like that".

0:44:310:44:34

I said, "You want to point in the air.

0:44:340:44:36

"Look very macho".

0:44:360:44:39

So, he would bring the hips down, and go like this.

0:44:400:44:43

It became so popular,

0:44:430:44:46

they called it the "Travolta".

0:44:460:44:48

Then, the hard part came up. "You want to kick your foot out,

0:44:480:44:52

"bring it back and spread your legs.

0:44:520:44:54

"All those girls that our out there,

0:44:570:45:00

"you pretend you're performing for all women.

0:45:000:45:02

"What you want to do is point to every one of them,

0:45:040:45:07

"like, 'You're my girl, you're my girl.' "

0:45:070:45:11

One of the hardest ones is where he would take a step,

0:45:130:45:18

it's a 360 in the air into a split.

0:45:180:45:20

I would take him out to the clubs.

0:45:220:45:25

I'm telling you, people would back off.

0:45:250:45:28

He WAS the Fred Astaire of that time.

0:45:280:45:31

The magical combination of Travolta's moves,

0:45:330:45:36

and the Bee Gee's soundtrack, would launch disco

0:45:360:45:39

as popular music's first truly global phenomenon.

0:45:390:45:43

We knew nothing about the word "disco" when writing those songs.

0:45:450:45:49

In Europe, "disco" was only short for "discotheque", or it had been.

0:45:490:45:53

What we were doing in recording,

0:45:530:45:55

was R&B, or "blue-eyed soul", as they would have called it.

0:45:550:45:59

Nobody said this would be

0:45:590:46:01

the biggest-selling soundtrack album ever, and still is.

0:46:010:46:04

Nobody said it was going to sell

0:46:040:46:07

50 million albums. It's ridiculous!

0:46:070:46:12

Although Saturday Night Fever had managed to sidestep the subject,

0:46:130:46:16

disco's growing popularity would introduce

0:46:160:46:20

elements of out gay culture into mainstream pop for the first time.

0:46:200:46:25

MUSIC: "Mighty Real" by Sylvester

0:46:250:46:27

In 1978, the two worlds would collide,

0:46:270:46:30

when Sylvester topped the charts.

0:46:300:46:33

# When we're out there dancing on the floor, darling

0:46:330:46:38

# And I feel like I need them more

0:46:380:46:41

# And I feel your body... #

0:46:410:46:43

Sylvester, in another era,

0:46:430:46:45

would have been a closeted soul/R&B singer.

0:46:450:46:48

He would not have been singing about gay stuff, or seeming gay.

0:46:480:46:51

He would have had a suit on, and be singing love songs to women.

0:46:510:46:55

# You make me feel

0:46:550:46:59

# Mighty real

0:46:590:47:02

He came around during the era of gay liberation.

0:47:020:47:07

After Stonewall, the big event that happened in the Village

0:47:070:47:10

that really triggered the gay liberation movement.

0:47:100:47:13

In some ways, his career

0:47:130:47:15

is a product of the time.

0:47:150:47:17

# ..And you kiss me back and it feels real good

0:47:170:47:21

# And I know you love me Like you should... #

0:47:210:47:27

Sylvester was larger than life.

0:47:270:47:29

At that time, he was the only one, that I knew of,

0:47:290:47:33

that was gay, black, and singing in a high, falsetto voice.

0:47:330:47:38

# You make me feel

0:47:380:47:42

# Mighty real... #

0:47:420:47:46

He was flamboyant. Bracelets.

0:47:460:47:48

Beautiful kaftans.

0:47:480:47:51

Beautiful costumes.

0:47:510:47:53

I learned a lot from him,

0:47:530:47:54

because, now, I dress like that, too.

0:47:540:47:57

Like some drag queen, or something.

0:47:570:47:59

# I feel real, I feel real... #

0:47:590:48:03

Disco was now out, proud and mainstream.

0:48:030:48:07

In the same year, a disco boy band of new macho gay archetypes

0:48:070:48:12

would emerge from downtown New York,

0:48:120:48:14

and the straight masses would lap it up.

0:48:140:48:17

MUSIC: "YMCA" by the Village People

0:48:170:48:19

# Young man

0:48:190:48:21

# There's no need to feel down

0:48:210:48:23

# I say, young man

0:48:230:48:25

# Pick yourself off the ground

0:48:250:48:27

# I say, young man... #

0:48:270:48:28

The Village People had this massive hit with YMCA.

0:48:280:48:32

A song about,

0:48:320:48:34

let's not beat about the bush, here,

0:48:340:48:37

in the forthright spirit of disco,

0:48:370:48:39

it's about having it off with blokes in the showers of a YMCA.

0:48:390:48:43

# It's fun to stay at the YMCA

0:48:450:48:49

# It's fun to stay at the YMCA

0:48:490:48:53

# They have everything for young men to enjoy

0:48:530:48:58

# You can hang out with all the boys. #

0:48:580:49:01

"You can hang out with all the boys".

0:49:030:49:05

And this is an enormous hit.

0:49:050:49:08

Spawns this cheesy little dance that people do to it.

0:49:080:49:12

# You can do whatever you please. #

0:49:120:49:16

This is an amazing moment where gay culture, almost unwittingly,

0:49:160:49:20

takes mainstream culture by surprise.

0:49:200:49:23

# Young man, you can fulfil your dreams

0:49:230:49:26

# But you've got to know this one thing. #

0:49:260:49:30

They actually weren't very popular in gay discos.

0:49:310:49:34

They were much more popular in straight discos.

0:49:340:49:37

It's ironic, but they're popular because most straight people

0:49:370:49:41

don't get that they're gay.

0:49:410:49:42

# ..They can help you today

0:49:420:49:45

# It's fun to stay at the YMCA

0:49:480:49:51

# It's fun to stay at the YMCA... #

0:49:510:49:55

We took the idea of walking right up to the line

0:49:550:49:59

of offence,

0:49:590:50:02

but we never offended.

0:50:020:50:04

because we winked at the audience,

0:50:040:50:07

and we smiled at them,

0:50:070:50:09

and we let that audience know, every time we performed,

0:50:090:50:13

that we were in on the joke.

0:50:130:50:16

The next figure features the hands rolling round each other.

0:50:160:50:20

And, a-one and two,

0:50:200:50:21

a-one and two,

0:50:210:50:24

a-one and two,

0:50:240:50:25

and one and two.

0:50:250:50:27

And a roly poly one,

0:50:270:50:28

and a roly poly two,

0:50:280:50:30

and a roly poly three.

0:50:300:50:31

As it travelled from niche recognition to global popularity,

0:50:310:50:35

disco's raw gay elements were also recast as camp kitsch,

0:50:350:50:39

even pantomime.

0:50:390:50:41

On television, Larry Grayson danced it with Isla St Clair.

0:50:450:50:49

Across the country, people got down in their living rooms.

0:50:520:50:56

# Here I am Waiting for this moment to last... #

0:50:560:50:59

Even your gran could have a whale of a time,

0:50:590:51:02

doing the Travolta at Pontin's Holiday Camp.

0:51:020:51:05

In the wake of Saturday Night Fever, disco became a fad,

0:51:120:51:15

and nothing was safe.

0:51:150:51:16

You could get the disco "Fiddler On The Roof",

0:51:180:51:20

the disco "Evita",

0:51:200:51:21

the disco "Romeo and Juliet". Everything was disco.

0:51:210:51:24

The disco "Pinocchio", one of my favourites.

0:51:240:51:27

# Come on and hear Come on and hear

0:51:270:51:30

# Alexander's ragtime band... #

0:51:300:51:34

Even Ethel Merman did it to her own songs,

0:51:340:51:37

in one of the most famous fiascos of all time.

0:51:370:51:40

The Ethel Merman disco album should have been a lot better,

0:51:400:51:43

but we loved it, we danced to it, we didn't care.

0:51:430:51:46

# So natural that you'll wanna ask for more

0:51:460:51:50

# That's just the bestest band

0:51:500:51:53

# What am, oh, my honey man... #

0:51:530:51:56

This is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".

0:51:560:51:59

Disco version.

0:51:590:52:01

Here we have "Sesame Street Fever",

0:52:010:52:04

which has some breakbeats on it,

0:52:040:52:08

so it's been sampled by hip hop artists.

0:52:080:52:10

HE LAUGHS

0:52:100:52:11

# ..And if you care to hear

0:52:110:52:13

# That Swanee River played... #

0:52:130:52:17

This, I love.

0:52:170:52:20

This is "Penthouse Presents The Love Symphony Orchestra",

0:52:200:52:24

with "Let's Make Love In Public Places",

0:52:240:52:26

and "Let Me Be Your Fantasy".

0:52:260:52:28

That's the best track.

0:52:280:52:30

Apparently, you bought Penthouse magazine,

0:52:300:52:34

and then sent off for the 12 inch single.

0:52:340:52:36

HE LAUGHS

0:52:360:52:38

And then you made love to it.

0:52:380:52:40

# Come on and hear, come on and hear

0:52:400:52:43

# Alexander's

0:52:430:52:47

# Ragtime band. #

0:52:470:52:52

The disco boom produced the oddest musical confections.

0:52:520:52:57

Taking the prize as the strangest of them of all, was a massively

0:52:570:53:00

popular Eurodisco outfit, manufactured in Germany.

0:53:000:53:05

Boney M's oeuvre is off its head.

0:53:050:53:08

It's impossible to imagine a band

0:53:080:53:10

having the degree of success in the pop charts

0:53:100:53:12

that Boney M had in the '70s, with the kind of records they made.

0:53:120:53:15

# There lived a certain man in Russia long ago

0:53:150:53:19

# He was big and strong In his eyes a flaming glow

0:53:190:53:23

# Most people looked at him with terror and with fear

0:53:230:53:26

# But to Moscow chicks He was such a lovely dear

0:53:260:53:30

# He could preach the Bible like a preacher

0:53:300:53:34

# Full of ecstasy and fire... #

0:53:340:53:37

Let's begin with "Rasputin".

0:53:370:53:40

This is a record about the decline of the Russian Empire.

0:53:400:53:44

Right, OK.

0:53:440:53:46

So that's a bit like One Direction making a record about Stalin.

0:53:460:53:51

It's not going to happen.

0:53:510:53:53

# Ra-ra, Rasputin Russia's greatest love machine

0:53:530:53:57

# It was a shame how he carried on

0:53:570:54:02

# But when his drinking And lusting

0:54:060:54:08

# And his hunger for power

0:54:080:54:09

# Became known to more and more people

0:54:090:54:13

# The demands to do something about this outrageous man

0:54:130:54:16

# Became louder and louder. #

0:54:160:54:19

After such disco saturation, a backlash was inevitable,

0:54:190:54:24

and when the downfall came, it was spectacular.

0:54:240:54:27

A Disco Sucks rally held in Chicago in '79 escalated

0:54:290:54:32

into an anti-disco riot.

0:54:320:54:35

There was a big thing in Comiskey Park,

0:54:360:54:39

where they took every disco 12 inch they could find,

0:54:390:54:42

in these huge, big metal bins,

0:54:420:54:44

and they blew them all up in public, at a big ball game.

0:54:440:54:47

It was all on the news, and everything.

0:54:470:54:50

People had car stickers, "Disco Is Dead." "Disco Sucks."

0:54:500:54:54

I always thought it was really odd

0:55:020:55:05

when the Disco Sucks movement happened,

0:55:050:55:07

and they demonised an entire class of musicians.

0:55:070:55:11

An entire genre, if you will.

0:55:110:55:13

Because of a few bad things that stuck out.

0:55:130:55:17

I don't think there was a preponderance of "bad" disco,

0:55:170:55:21

it was just like anything else.

0:55:210:55:23

Is there a preponderance of "bad" indie rock?

0:55:230:55:26

Well, I think so!

0:55:260:55:28

The disco backlash was definitely somewhat triggered by homophobia.

0:55:300:55:35

Disco became associated

0:55:370:55:39

with constituencies that weren't "mainstream".

0:55:390:55:42

Which was black audiences,

0:55:420:55:44

Latino audiences,

0:55:440:55:45

and gay audiences.

0:55:450:55:46

Mainstream rock audiences

0:55:460:55:49

rejected a lot of those audiences,

0:55:490:55:51

on a racial, "cultural" tip.

0:55:510:55:54

Look at "Disco Sucks". Think about what they're talking about.

0:55:540:55:58

It's kind of a coded anti-gay phrase.

0:55:580:56:02

The backlash WAS an attack on disco's gay,

0:56:030:56:06

permissive associations,

0:56:060:56:08

and signalled the end for disco as a pop fad.

0:56:080:56:10

For the gay community, it would be a catastrophe of far greater concern

0:56:120:56:15

that would eventually close the clubs.

0:56:150:56:18

The first case of AIDS was reported in 1981.

0:56:200:56:23

It was tragic, to feel these people you were so accustomed

0:56:280:56:32

to seeing on the dancefloor,

0:56:320:56:34

these people who were your dancing partners, your buddies,

0:56:340:56:37

your sex buddies,

0:56:370:56:40

and now there were these holes on the floor.

0:56:400:56:43

And it was really horrific.

0:56:430:56:46

But, it was also the case that you had,

0:56:460:56:51

as a consequence, a ready-made community,

0:56:510:56:54

and these guys mobilised for one another,

0:56:540:56:58

in a way that...

0:56:580:57:03

I don't think could have happened had it not been for disco.

0:57:030:57:06

# I will survive, hey hey... #

0:57:060:57:08

The era may have ended, but the music didn't die.

0:57:130:57:17

In the new decade, disco would segue seamlessly into house,

0:57:170:57:22

and the beat WOULD go on.

0:57:220:57:23

One, two...

0:57:250:57:26

# Oh, freak out... #

0:57:260:57:28

October 2011, and Manhattan is once again gripped

0:57:300:57:36

by disco fever, as Studio 54 re-opens.

0:57:360:57:38

# Oh, freak out

0:57:380:57:41

# Le freak, c'est chic

0:57:410:57:43

# Freak out... #

0:57:430:57:45

For one night only,

0:57:450:57:47

a new generation will mingle with the '70s survivors,

0:57:470:57:50

and freak out to the joy of disco.

0:57:500:57:54

One of the things I love about disco,

0:57:570:57:59

it resists assimilation into that world of heritage rock.

0:57:590:58:02

You never see Chic on the cover of a heritage rock magazine.

0:58:020:58:05

That's brilliant. It's still outsider music.

0:58:050:58:08

It's still looked down upon.

0:58:080:58:10

And yet, it unequivocally changed pop music for ever.

0:58:100:58:15

# I say freak... #

0:58:180:58:20

No one cared who you were,

0:58:220:58:23

what your background was, what your education was.

0:58:230:58:26

No-one cared what guitar or keyboard you played.

0:58:260:58:29

Just, did it to make people move?

0:58:290:58:31

# Now freak... #

0:58:350:58:37

You can't hold a good woman down. You can't hold disco back.

0:58:370:58:42

It didn't really die, honey, it just transitioned into dance.

0:58:420:58:46

And all these people that said disco was dead?

0:58:460:58:51

I was still working.

0:58:510:58:53

# All that pressure Got you down?

0:58:530:58:56

# Has your head spinning all around

0:58:560:59:00

# Feel the rhythm

0:59:000:59:02

# Check the rhyme

0:59:020:59:04

# Come on, come on And have a real good time

0:59:040:59:08

# Like the days of Stomping at the Savoy

0:59:080:59:12

# Now we freak, oh, what a joy

0:59:120:59:16

# Just come on down to the 54

0:59:160:59:20

# Find your spot out on the floor... #

0:59:200:59:23

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0:59:230:59:25

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