0:00:02 > 0:00:0630 years ago, a new music burst out of New York's Black and gay clubs,
0:00:06 > 0:00:12a soundtrack for the '70s. This new, urban pop may have been created by male producers
0:00:12 > 0:00:16but it was fronted by women -
0:00:16 > 0:00:18and what women...with what front!
0:00:18 > 0:00:20Let's meet the Queens of Disco.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22# Go on, now - go!
0:00:22 > 0:00:24# Walk out the door... #
0:00:24 > 0:00:28- The queen of survival... - I've had to survive a lot of personal anguish
0:00:28 > 0:00:31in my life. And...I've done that.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34# I need the hard stuff, baby, this evening... #
0:00:34 > 0:00:39- ..a reluctant queen... - I think she regretted it a little,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41because it was a little too sexy.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43# Pull up to the bumper baby... #
0:00:43 > 0:00:46..a warrior queen...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49If it wasn't for disco, I wouldn't be sitting here.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51# ..Ah, do you want it, huh...? #
0:00:51 > 0:00:53..the gay queen...
0:00:53 > 0:00:57'I thought you were a woman!'
0:00:57 > 0:00:58'I'm everywoman... #
0:00:58 > 0:01:00..the fiery queen...
0:01:00 > 0:01:02I couldn't be in the background, I had to be in the front.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07# ..I fall deeper and deeper The further I go... #
0:01:07 > 0:01:10..and the queen of reinvention.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13She knew she was gonna be a big star, but the rest of the world just didn't know it.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16# ..Oh, lost in music!
0:01:16 > 0:01:18# ..Caught in the trap...
0:01:18 > 0:01:24- # ..Caught up in our music - No turning' back
0:01:24 > 0:01:28- # Oooooh-ooh ooh-ooh - We're lost in music
0:01:31 > 0:01:33# We're lost in music
0:01:33 > 0:01:35# Don't take away our music
0:01:35 > 0:01:37# ..Feel so alive...
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- # Feel! I quit - My nine-to-five
0:01:40 > 0:01:43# Yeah!
0:01:43 > 0:01:45# We're lost in music... #
0:01:57 > 0:02:01It was the 1970s, the "please me" decade,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04party time with a brand-new soundtrack.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06People were just burnin' the candle at both ends.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10People thought the party would never stop, the music would never stop...
0:02:10 > 0:02:15the record never stops. It was a non-stop party.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21Everyone wanted to be happy,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23and the dancing was gonna make you happy.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It certainly was the time to shout out who you are, what you are
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and what you wanted to be
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Every disco, would all be up on the dance floor,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34and we danced round our handbags.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36# We are family...#
0:02:36 > 0:02:39"Women's lib" was gaining ground among black women.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43They could sing a sexier song than men could sing...
0:02:43 > 0:02:47There was no sampling in those days, no computers. It was the real deal.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49So you had to be a great singer.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51A lot of divas were born out of disco.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53After the struggles of the '60s,
0:02:53 > 0:02:58gay men in New York felt free to "come out" and party for the first time.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I just remember
0:03:00 > 0:03:02getting up on the dance floor and showing off
0:03:02 > 0:03:09There is an affinity between "out" gay men and successful black women -
0:03:09 > 0:03:13because we've had to swim upstream of the same stereotypes most of our life and had the same enemies,
0:03:13 > 0:03:14and the same joys.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17# We are family... #
0:03:17 > 0:03:21It was a new world with new stars. Ste forward our first queen,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23disco's great survivor.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27INTRO: PIANO RIFF
0:03:27 > 0:03:30# At first I was afraid I was petrified... #
0:03:30 > 0:03:33New York, September 2005,
0:03:33 > 0:03:39and our first queen of disco is about to be inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43THE sis Gloria Gaynor, the woman who gave disco its greatest anthem.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45# I will survive... #
0:03:45 > 0:03:50"I will survive" also sums up the life of the woman who sings it.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53Gloria Fowles, as she then was,
0:03:53 > 0:03:55was born in New Jersey in 1947.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00Her Mom, Queenie Mae, had to bring up all seven children on their own,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05after their father left before Gloria was even born. It was a poor but religious family.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Young Gloria started singing in the church choir.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12I actually feel that it was a Divine appointment, that God looked down
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and said, "Gloria, you have to sing."
0:04:15 > 0:04:20# Thank you, Lord Thank you... #
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Almost all black singers of that generation sang in church.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29TWO-PART HARMONY # I want Your love... #
0:04:29 > 0:04:32There's a certain kind of feeling that you get from gospel music.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35When you praise God,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37there's a feeling that you bring that energy in.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43Gloria was very close to her mother, so she was devastated when Queenie died.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45She turned to the church for comfort.
0:04:45 > 0:04:52God has been there for her. he's been her strength as she coped with all of the difficulties in her life,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54I'm pretty sure.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57She's able to cope through her faith.
0:04:58 > 0:05:04Now Gloria also had to earn a living, so she used what she saw as her God-given talent
0:05:04 > 0:05:07working as a session singer and on the cabaret circuit
0:05:07 > 0:05:14Her reputation grew and, in the early 70s, she was signed by majorlabel MGM. They teamed her up
0:05:14 > 0:05:18with a producer who was looking for a great voice to go with a new idea.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23Something that sounded as if it cost a million dollars to make.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Tom Moulton had worked as a club DJ.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30Now that discotheques were springingup everywhere, Tom knew what clubbers wanted.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35In 1974, "Never Can Say Goodbye" became the first extended-mix record.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38The things that people going to these clubs wanted to hear
0:05:38 > 0:05:40were tracks of eight or ten minutes.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43With something like that, you could lose yourself in the music.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46All the DJs seemed to jump on it.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51That sort of created a...phenomenon.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56# Baby, I never can say goodbye No, no, no...
0:05:56 > 0:05:59# No, no, no No, no, no, ooh... #
0:05:59 > 0:06:03But Gloria herself had reservations about this new way of doing things.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12My ego was...tapped, because it seemed to me that he only used the music to elongate the record
0:06:12 > 0:06:15instead of using more of my vocal.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21She listened to the whole thing...
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and she said, "I don't sing much."
0:06:25 > 0:06:30- Gloria apparently turned round and said, "Well, what do- I- do...when we're performing this record?
0:06:30 > 0:06:34- And Tom says...- "Well, I guess you have to start dancing a little too."
0:06:39 > 0:06:45The formula worked. "Never Could Say Goodbye" was the first disco record to cross over into the pop charts.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49America's disco DJs crowned Gloria the first official queen of disco.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51She was riding high.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Then, in 1978, disaster struck.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57I fell backwards over a monitor.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I'd ruptured a disc in that fall.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Woke up the next morning paralysed from the waist down.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05She needed emergency surgery on her spine.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10Doctors told her she might never walk again. She spent the next four months in hospital.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14People around, in the business, were thinking that I was finished, saying,
0:07:14 > 0:07:19"the queen is dead," and things like that. It was probably the lowest ebb in my career...
0:07:19 > 0:07:23because I never expected that, I expected that they would... support me.
0:07:23 > 0:07:30Meanwhile, songwriter Dino Fekares was working with producer Freddy Perrinon a new song.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35I had no idea who was gonna sing it except that I remember telling Freddy,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38"The next diva that comes our way,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41"this is the tune we're gonna do on her."
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Ill as she was, as soon as she read the lyrics, Gloria knew it was the song for her.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50I've had to survive a lot of personal anguish in my life.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56My mother passed away, my sister passed away, my brothers, two of my brothers passed away - from cancer -
0:07:56 > 0:07:58my sister was murdered.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02The next thing I did was "I Will Survive".
0:08:02 > 0:08:06And I suppose that all of that helped me to sing "I Will Survive" with great conviction.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09# At first I was afraid I was petrified
0:08:09 > 0:08:13# Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side... #
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Even in this famous video, Gloria's back is still in a brace.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21# ..And I grew strong And I learned ho to get along... #
0:08:21 > 0:08:25And after recording it, she went straight back into hospital
0:08:25 > 0:08:30She was convinced the song should be a hit. But the record company had other ideas.
0:08:30 > 0:08:36"I Will Survive" was put by the record company on the disc's B-side. It wasn't considered strong enough
0:08:36 > 0:08:43- for the release...- ..It could've gotten lost. But somebody decided to listen to that B-side, in Mew York,
0:08:43 > 0:08:48and flipped the record. And it took off. People liked it. People loved it.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50The company didn't believe in it but Gloria did.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54"Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh, no, not I!
0:08:54 > 0:08:56# I will survive... #
0:08:56 > 0:09:01You put "I Will Survive" on and, I dunno - that uplifts you, really.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Gay men, particularly, took it as...
0:09:03 > 0:09:06just an anthem for the community as a whole.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Women's liberation" was kinda surfacing,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13and that was la proclamation to all women.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18My three kids - "Oh, your song's on, Mum." Sorry, Gloria! I know it's yours as well, but...
0:09:18 > 0:09:22"No matter what happens in my life and to me, I will overcome it, I will survive."
0:09:22 > 0:09:26To be able to get out on a dance floor and say, "Here I am!
0:09:26 > 0:09:32"This is me. No matter what has gone on in my life, I'm here. I will fight who I am - "
0:09:32 > 0:09:34I think it's an anthem for EVERYONE.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36# ..I will survive
0:09:36 > 0:09:40# Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive... #
0:09:40 > 0:09:45GLORIA: The song celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit - that's anybody anywhere!
0:09:45 > 0:09:49I can't tell you what a blessing this song has been to me.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51AUDIENCE SING
0:09:51 > 0:09:55"I Will Survive" has taken on a life of its own. It's been re-released
0:09:55 > 0:10:00countless times, and covered by over 200 different artists.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05Gloria continues to perform around the world, but no later record's even topped "I Will Survive".
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Will you survive?
0:10:07 > 0:10:10- AUDIENCE:- YES! - I'm certainly glad to hear that.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Today, she's gone back to her gospel roots,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16but she does pop out to collect the odd award.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19You can't really separate the success of my career from "I Will Survive".
0:10:19 > 0:10:25But the way that "I Will Survive" has been able to stand the test of time and carry my career...!
0:10:25 > 0:10:29To accept the award for "I Will Survive"...
0:10:29 > 0:10:34..I don't feel cheated, I don't feel at a loss.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37It would've been nice.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Miss Gloria Gaynoo-o-o-o-o-or!
0:10:41 > 0:10:45..but it's WONDERFUL to have this song.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51Thank you so much, all of you, for your support.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02New York was the birthplace of disco in the 1970s.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06It was the city every would-be queen of disco wanted to conquer.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08The underground club scene was thriving...
0:11:08 > 0:11:11# ..You grew up ridin' the subways... #
0:11:11 > 0:11:15..even though the city had fallen on hard times.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20- # Up in Harlem Down in Broadway... # - New York was always a tough place.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Every park was taken over by drug dealers.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26# you're the heart and soul of New York City... #
0:11:26 > 0:11:28- MAN:- We had police strikes,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33we had garbage strikes. On every level, the city was really being challenged.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37That challenge led to a lot of need for freedom and for self-expression.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41There was without a doubt a buzz on the streets of New York. It was ALIVE.
0:11:41 > 0:11:47There was this very heady sense of possibility - that you really could just...
0:11:47 > 0:11:49reinvent yourself and be anything
0:11:49 > 0:11:51and do anything.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53And do it all night long.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56# Everybody dance Oo-oo-ooo... #
0:11:56 > 0:11:59And disco brought everyone together.
0:11:59 > 0:12:05You had this real interesting, very New York kind of mix of black and gay dance aesthetics...
0:12:05 > 0:12:07all mixing together.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11The whole thing was about... the endless partying.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15# I... #
0:12:15 > 0:12:21Our next queen also came from a gospel background to create a succession of sexy secular anthems.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24It was racy, making love to a microphone. It's all going off.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27But was she too sexy for her own good?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29She kind of...regretted it
0:12:29 > 0:12:32because it was a little too sexy.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Donna Summer was a "born again" Christian,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38yet she made her fame singing a song
0:12:38 > 0:12:41that was basically her simulating an orgasm.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Enter the reluctant queen.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46# Lookin' for some hot stuff baby this evenin'... #
0:12:46 > 0:12:49JESUS said-ah...!
0:12:49 > 0:12:52"I did not come to call the righteous-ah!"
0:12:52 > 0:12:58Like Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer was born into a deeply religious community, this time in Boston,
0:12:58 > 0:13:04in 1948. She also sang in the church as a child and believed her voice was a gift from God.
0:13:04 > 0:13:10But when Donna was 16, the close-knit community was rocked by murder.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13She's the only eyewitness. The police show up and they...
0:13:13 > 0:13:16FORCE her to testify.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21And she begins to get these death threats. And she freaks out.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Donna fled to New York.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27It was 1968, the "summer of love".
0:13:27 > 0:13:31# This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius... #
0:13:31 > 0:13:36After growing up in this restricted, Christian neighbourhood,
0:13:36 > 0:13:43she's suddenly thrust - alone - into the world of hippy-dippy New York City
0:13:43 > 0:13:48and she is ecstatic! I mean, she feels free for the first time in her life.
0:13:48 > 0:13:54Donna auditioned for a new, European production of the risque musical Hair. She was successful,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58and spent the next seven years in Germany. There, she teamed up with a producer
0:13:58 > 0:14:03who was to revolutionise the sound of disco with his synthesiser.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07A CAPELLA: # I...
0:14:07 > 0:14:11"Love To Love You, Baby" started as a bit of a joke. She came up with the title "Love To Love You, Baby",
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and said "Why don't we do a song?"
0:14:19 > 0:14:24I threw everybody out , dimmed the lights so she couldn't see me and I could barely see her,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and that's when she did it.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29AS A SIGH: # I...
0:14:29 > 0:14:32# love to love you, baby
0:14:32 > 0:14:33AS A MOAN: # I...
0:14:33 > 0:14:36# love to love you, baby... #
0:14:36 > 0:14:42To be honest, I don't think she really thought about it. She just did it, and we did it in, probably
0:14:42 > 0:14:4315, 20 minutes.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48She never intended for that recording to be released to the public!
0:14:48 > 0:14:51Once it's recorded, it's there forever.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53AS A GROAN: # I...
0:14:53 > 0:14:55# love to love you, baby... #
0:14:55 > 0:15:02It was 1975. Giorgio sent the recording to Casablanca, a young record company with a reputation
0:15:02 > 0:15:04for signing wild, sexy acts.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09The phone rings. "Congratulations. You've got the number one hit record in America."
0:15:09 > 0:15:12"What record is that?" she said. "Love To Love You, Baby",
0:15:12 > 0:15:18and she just dissolves into a... a combination of joy and fear.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22# I love to love you, baby... #
0:15:22 > 0:15:28At the very beginning, when the record came out, she was all happy, of course, because it was a big hit.
0:15:28 > 0:15:35But later on, I think she kind of regretted it because it was a little too sexy.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37# Oh-h...! #
0:15:37 > 0:15:40She hated touring.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Basically, her act was 20 minutes of "Love To Love You, Baby",
0:15:44 > 0:15:48# Oh...love to love you, baby... #
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It became a breakthrough hit.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55The DJs love it because, in a sense, this kind of orgasmic symphony
0:15:55 > 0:15:57is exactly what's happening on the dance floor.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00I says, "Uh-oh, here it comes!"
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Sex and disco!
0:16:04 > 0:16:08In those days, it was racy! My granddad would say,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10"Stop playin' that devil-music!"
0:16:10 > 0:16:12# I...love to love you, baby... #
0:16:12 > 0:16:18It's quite porno, her voice. In some ways, it makes you understand why she found God. Cos she was like a...
0:16:18 > 0:16:20you know, like a porno actress, really.
0:16:20 > 0:16:26- GROANING SIGH:- # Oh-h... - I love to love you, babe... #
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Donna was a star.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32But offstage, she was becoming more and more depressed by her fame,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and the lifestyle that went with it.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38One night in 1976, she reached rock bottom.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41She becomes a huge star
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and then tries to kill herself.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48She's in this hotel room and she feels that... She's depressed.
0:16:48 > 0:16:55She goes to the window and decides to jump to her death. And she's about to go over when the maid comes in,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58and says, "Oh, Miss Summer, what are you doing?! What's the matter?"
0:16:58 > 0:17:06And the maid kind of snaps her back to reality. And that becomes the basis of Donna's own resurrection.
0:17:07 > 0:17:14Donna later said the she felt that God had intervened to save her, and wanted her to carry on singing.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Casablanca sent her back into the studio with Moroder.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22On "I Feel Love", it started with a baseline,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27then the chords came in.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31The only thing left HUMAN, kind of, is the voice.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34# Ooh...
0:17:34 > 0:17:37# it's so good, it's so good, it's so good, it's... #
0:17:37 > 0:17:39My coming-out song was "I Feel Love".
0:17:39 > 0:17:45I remember kind of going onto the dance floor, and I just thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49You know, it was like when Judy Garland woke up after the hurricane,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53it was that kind of feeling - it was all in Technicolor all of a sudden.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Casablanca began to promote her as the sexy queen of disco...
0:17:57 > 0:18:01# ..A little hot stuff, baby this evenin'... #
0:18:01 > 0:18:02..and it worked.
0:18:02 > 0:18:09In 2½ years, she had 12 consecutive smash hits. The label had created a one-woman hit factory.
0:18:09 > 0:18:16# ..The bad girl Talkin' 'bout the sad girl, yeah... #
0:18:16 > 0:18:2180% of the disco-era Donna is manufactured on records.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22# Let's dance...
0:18:22 > 0:18:24# the last dance
0:18:24 > 0:18:25# Let's dance...
0:18:25 > 0:18:27# The last dance... #
0:18:27 > 0:18:29It was all of the handlers -
0:18:29 > 0:18:34her stylists telling her what to wear, how to act - how to arrive in a limousine.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38She was a little uncomfortable with it. But...
0:18:38 > 0:18:41she made the most out of it.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44# .Yeah...ooh... #
0:18:44 > 0:18:48I was tired of the whole sex image,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51because it wasn't me, it was something I was playing - a role.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53It wasn't who I WAS, as a person.
0:18:53 > 0:18:59And I always resented it, but it was the publicity and all that that the record company did,
0:18:59 > 0:19:00just pressed me into this mould.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04# So let's dance the last dance... #
0:19:04 > 0:19:10By now, Donna was also writing some of her songs, earning millions for herself - and the record company.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14But by the end of the '70s, she wanted out.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17It was an acrimonious split with Casablanca.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21She later wrote a song attacking labels who treat their artists like slaves.
0:19:21 > 0:19:27# She works hard for the money So hard for you honey
0:19:28 > 0:19:33# She works hard for the money So you better treat her right... #
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Once she split with Casablanca, that was pretty much it for Donna Summer.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Away from that sound,
0:19:39 > 0:19:45there really IS no Donna Summer. She's just another voice... you know, in the wind.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48"When a man and a woman fall in love..."
0:19:48 > 0:19:52In the '80s, Donna Summer continued to write and release records
0:19:52 > 0:19:57but she'd toned down her raunchy image and was more inspired by gospel music than disco.
0:19:57 > 0:20:03Then, in 1983, she hit the headlines again, this time for all the wrong reasons.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09Donna volunteered or was baited into saying things in the Press
0:20:09 > 0:20:11that we interpreted
0:20:11 > 0:20:13as flagrantly homophobic.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17She was quoting her Christian, fundamentalist roots,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22And I'm sure that's where her heart and head purely were at the time - but they were hateful.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26It was...like a...bad word, "Donna Summer".
0:20:26 > 0:20:31They didn't want to play any of her stuff, and...yeah, that was a bad time.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36We had loved her, worshipped her and MADE her, created her and made her very rich,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38and we resented the hell out of it.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I think...all those people have probably forgiven her by now. So...
0:20:42 > 0:20:45You know. And we still listen to her anyway.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51# Time... Time again, it is said We will hear, we will see... #q
0:20:51 > 0:20:56Donna is still performing a gospel-inspired act around the world.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02There's a lot of gospel singing these days. It's very much into Christianity.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04# This state of independence shall be
0:21:04 > 0:21:07# This state of independence shall be... #
0:21:07 > 0:21:11That's a way of saying, "Well, I may have been bad but I'm good now."
0:21:11 > 0:21:16Donna says that in her house there isn't a single gold record displayed.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22Which means...she doesn't consider any of that important. But the house is there BECAUSE of the gold records!
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Our next diva was also brought up in the church.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33But disco allowed spirituality to mix outrageous sexuality.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36"Sylvester?! I thought you were a woman!"
0:21:36 > 0:21:38"WHAT is he wearing?"
0:21:38 > 0:21:41"And what is he singing?"
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Sylvester was a gay MAN, but that wasn't about to stop him becoming a disco queen.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52After all, he already sang higher than all the girls.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56# DO you wanna funk? Won't you tell me now...? #
0:21:56 > 0:22:03I really don't think there's been anybody else that's made an entrance like him... Maybe Diana Ross.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05There is nobody like him -
0:22:05 > 0:22:09white or black. And the fact of him (a) being a black man,
0:22:09 > 0:22:14(b) being a GAY black man - you know, that's two taboos right there.
0:22:14 > 0:22:20And he was able to surpass all that and still be himself and put on one helluva show.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Sylvester James jr grew up in Los Angeles.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29His father left his mother, Letha, when Sylvester was just a baby.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33But, like Gloria and Donna, he had a devout upbringing.
0:22:33 > 0:22:39The Church, for Sylvester, was where he first got his musical training. He brought that with him
0:22:39 > 0:22:42from church to disco.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44But he was a troubled youth.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49When he was 15, he ran away from home and lived rough on the streets of LA.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54He began to dress as a woman. Eventually, he drifted north to San Francisco.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56I think he was drawn to freedom
0:22:56 > 0:23:01and to the sense that in San Francisco, people were living out their imaginations.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05And that's how he always want to do things. He fantasised himself
0:23:05 > 0:23:08and then he wanted to live that fantasy.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12# Fish gotta swim birds gotta fly... #
0:23:12 > 0:23:16He teamed up with a group of outrageous, hippy drag artists called The Cockettes.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21# ..Lovin' dat man of mine... #
0:23:21 > 0:23:25He joined the show impersonating female blues singers.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:23:28 > 0:23:29# Baby, baby... #
0:23:29 > 0:23:31This was...
0:23:31 > 0:23:34Billie Holliday and Diana Ross on LSD.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Sylvester stood out from the group.
0:23:36 > 0:23:42Sylvester was probably the most talented one in the Cockettes at the time. He could get out there...
0:23:42 > 0:23:46and sing, and everyone stopped. And it became...almost serious
0:23:46 > 0:23:48to watch his performance.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54WORDLESS VAMPING: FALSETTO SOUNDS LIKE TRUE SOPRANO
0:23:57 > 0:24:02He was soon performing his own shows. Now he needed some backing singers.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05There were two white, tall females,
0:24:05 > 0:24:10blonde, leggy, who had just auditioned to him. And...
0:24:10 > 0:24:13I came in and auditioned for him
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and he said, "OK..."
0:24:15 > 0:24:19And he dismissed the other girls.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22And he asked me, he said,
0:24:22 > 0:24:29"Do you know of anybody else that's as large as you are and can sing?" And I said yes.
0:24:29 > 0:24:35Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes would eventually become The Weather Girls but, back then,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39they were known as Two Tons Of Fun. It was a perfect combination.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41When he found them, musically, things clicked.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43The audience just ate it up.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45FALSETTO: # Oh...!
0:24:45 > 0:24:48# Truck stop, yeah...! #
0:24:48 > 0:24:54Having started out impersonating women singers, Sylvester was still hitting the high notes.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59I was the one singing at the bottom! And Izora would sing in the middle and Sylvester would sing the top.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03FALSETTO: # Oh-aaaaaaaaah! #
0:25:03 > 0:25:05My voice doesn't come anywhere near his.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07AUDIENCE WHOOP
0:25:07 > 0:25:10He could tear that falsetto-soprano voice up
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and sing higher than quite a few FEMALES I knew.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17He's such a gospel singer, you know? He'd just kind of like...go off
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and just let his spirit soar while he's singing.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23# You make me feel
0:25:24 > 0:25:26# Mighty real... #
0:25:27 > 0:25:31The breakthrough hit came in 1978 "with You Make Me Feel".
0:25:31 > 0:25:34# ..mighty real... #
0:25:34 > 0:25:39But mainstream success also brought controversy. Sylvester was openly gay.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41# I know you love me like you...
0:25:41 > 0:25:44SOARING FALSETTO: # ..should! #
0:25:44 > 0:25:46The record company, per se, did not have any problems
0:25:46 > 0:25:49with Sylvester being outrageous.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53But we were dealing with the reactions of people
0:25:53 > 0:25:57in the outside world who were in a position to make or break him.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02And he'd say, "No. I'm gonna do it THIS way."
0:26:02 > 0:26:06# ..Oh, you make me feel
0:26:06 > 0:26:10# Mighty real... #
0:26:10 > 0:26:15People wanted to tell him, "You need to dress like this, you need to tone down that," and...
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Sylvester could be very, very stubborn.
0:26:18 > 0:26:25If he felt like wearing a dress today, he'd do that. If he felt like wearing his hair orange, he'd do it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26You couldn't contain him!
0:26:26 > 0:26:32At a time when there was no such thing as a gay celebrity, Sylvester took his outrageousness
0:26:32 > 0:26:35right onto Joan Rivers' prime-time TV show.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40He performed, and she sat down to talk to him, and she asked him about his jewellery.
0:26:40 > 0:26:48- That's your wedding set.- That's your wedding set? OK! Who are you married to.- Duh(!) - Rick!
0:26:48 > 0:26:50LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:26:50 > 0:26:53'And he said Rick Cranmer.'
0:26:53 > 0:26:54And then he went, ("Oh!")
0:26:54 > 0:26:58- Oh, God! I'm sorry, no...- What?
0:26:59 > 0:27:02- Rick's PARENTS are watching. GASPS IN AUDIENCE - Well...
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Surprise!
0:27:05 > 0:27:10- He realised that Rick's parents didn't know that Rick was gay. - ..Telling me they didn't know(?)
0:27:10 > 0:27:16Rick Cranmer's parents, now - you should've looked in your closet ten years ago - you wouldn't be shocked.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19'He was who he was.'
0:27:19 > 0:27:23And by being on a lot of talk shows in the US,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26he forced Americans to deal with it.
0:27:26 > 0:27:32Sylvester continued to be outrageous, especially in the wardrobe department.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36We loved to shop. He would call it "shopping in the name of Jesus"!
0:27:37 > 0:27:44We're talking about capes, you know, flying on stage. Heels - you know - he had heels on, he was not playing.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48The first meeting, he gave me a blue, sequinned dress. SHE CHUCKLES
0:27:48 > 0:27:54"So what's your name?" "Sylvester." I said, "Sylvester?! I thought you were a woman." And he was flattered.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58He LOVED it. "Aw, girl!" SHE LAUGHS
0:27:58 > 0:28:02And then we'd go uptown to the wig place and get that hair.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08"Sho' nuff! What d'you think about this? Look at this hat!" "Child, this is too long - can you cut it?"
0:28:08 > 0:28:11"Can you dye it this colour?"
0:28:11 > 0:28:13And I'd be like...
0:28:17 > 0:28:24Despite his refusal to conform, in 1979, Sylvester achieved his greatest ambition -
0:28:24 > 0:28:28to play the staunchly conventional San Francisco Opera House.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31That was the ultimate deal for him,
0:28:31 > 0:28:38to show up and do a huge show because he had made it in the world, and for him to come back to San Francisco
0:28:38 > 0:28:40and let them celebrate with him.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45# And grew up here... #
0:28:45 > 0:28:48And in the audience that night
0:28:48 > 0:28:52was the mother he'd left behind 17 years previously.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54To see my son,
0:28:54 > 0:28:56and see him perform on stage
0:28:56 > 0:28:58was very important.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00It made me feel very happy.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02People accepted him
0:29:02 > 0:29:04as Sylvester.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Sylvester was a star, an undoubted queen of disco.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12But just as things were going so well...
0:29:12 > 0:29:16"Hey, baby, what's happening?" "Baby, I don't feel too good. I may have a cold.
0:29:16 > 0:29:22I says, "Let me feel your forehead." "I don't want you to get too close, cos I don't know what it is.
0:29:22 > 0:29:29I says, "Come here!" He said to me, "I've got to go onstage in about 20 minutes. Come and pray with me."
0:29:29 > 0:29:33Well, I went to visit him. That's when he told me he had AIDS.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36And I gave him...
0:29:36 > 0:29:38all of my support.
0:29:38 > 0:29:45JEANIE: He says, "I'm going to be in the gay parade. And I'm going to be in a wheelchair." I said, "Really?
0:29:45 > 0:29:47"Are you ready for that?" He says, "Oh, yeah."
0:29:47 > 0:29:49So he WANTED them to know.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53He called me the day that he demised.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Letting me know he loved me.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00Letting me know that he was gonna be watchin' me! "No matter what."
0:30:00 > 0:30:04He told me, he says, "Mom, I'm not gonna make it.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07"So if you could stay with me,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11"I would appreciate it."
0:30:12 > 0:30:15JEANIE: The funeral was a big celebration.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19He wanted me to sing and he wanted Martha to sing.
0:30:19 > 0:30:25I says, "What do you want me to sing?" "What's that song that you and Martha sing everywhere you go?"
0:30:25 > 0:30:28I said, Oh, "Touch Somebody's Life"?
0:30:28 > 0:30:30He goes, "Please!
0:30:30 > 0:30:32"Don't sing THAT one!"
0:30:34 > 0:30:39I thought he wasn't gonna say, "Please sing that one"! He says "DON'T sing that one."
0:30:39 > 0:30:44And I said, "OK, what do you want me to sing?" So - "Never Grow Old" was the first song that HE ever sang
0:30:44 > 0:30:46in church as a child.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50WITH EMBELLISHMENT: # Neve-e-er... #
0:30:50 > 0:30:56In the end, he told me that he had no regrets, that he had lived his life the way he wanted to live.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00# ..Never grow o-o-old... #
0:31:04 > 0:31:11Of all the clubs in all the world, the best disco ever was the legendary Studio 54.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16# It's the best disco in town Number one in disco sound
0:31:16 > 0:31:18# It's the place where hip people meet
0:31:18 > 0:31:20# Hey, hey...! #
0:31:20 > 0:31:22It was simply the best discotheque in the world.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25..Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger...
0:31:25 > 0:31:27EVERYBODY was there.
0:31:27 > 0:31:34You might be standing next to a banker, you could be standing next to some gay kid up from the Village,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37you could be dancing with... God knows who,
0:31:37 > 0:31:42but we all felt there was the common ground that we all stood on and bumped to.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Actually - the most horrible thing, to be standing outside
0:31:46 > 0:31:47and not being picked up to get in.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51# ..It's the best disco in town Funky music by the pound
0:31:51 > 0:31:54# Join the crowd Come on, dance and sing
0:31:54 > 0:31:55# Hey, hey!
0:31:55 > 0:31:58# It's the best disco in town... #
0:31:58 > 0:32:05Nobody had any FEARS of sex or flirting, trying everything that would come to our mouth or nose,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08and we just went along and had a good time ALL the way.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15It was a world where boys could be girls and girls could be boys.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18And Studio 54 incubated our next queen,
0:32:18 > 0:32:22who could look like a woman and sing like a man...
0:32:22 > 0:32:23or was it the other way round?
0:32:26 > 0:32:28I used to go
0:32:28 > 0:32:31before I started singing, when I was modelling
0:32:31 > 0:32:33and just, you know,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36dance, dance, dance my ass off.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40People REALLY went...to dance...
0:32:40 > 0:32:41I'm gonna do a champagne burp...
0:32:41 > 0:32:44BURP! ..excuse me. Thank you.
0:32:52 > 0:32:58I can't imagine somebody that partied as hard - and in such a good physical shape!
0:32:58 > 0:33:01She defined the glamour and androgynous style
0:33:01 > 0:33:04and in-your-face sexuality
0:33:04 > 0:33:09and unapologetic expression of who you are regardless of where you came from
0:33:09 > 0:33:12I-I-I-It's Grace!
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Grace has become famous not just for her music
0:33:16 > 0:33:19- but for her wild style... - DUBBED LION'S ROAR
0:33:19 > 0:33:21..and unpredictability.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Now, hold... Hold on...
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Grace Jones I the warrior queen whose life became performance art.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34Grace Mendoza was born in Jamaica
0:33:34 > 0:33:37to a well-to-do family of politicians and preachers.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Her father was a bishop,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43and her upbringing was the strictest of all our queens.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45When Grace left home, she headed to New York and looked for work as a model.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49But she had problems being accepted for who she was.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53My face just was not understood. They were like...
0:33:53 > 0:33:58"Oh, but your so dark... but your nose is, is not FLAT
0:33:58 > 0:34:02"and...large, and... but your LIPS are...
0:34:02 > 0:34:07"are really full." They just didn't... They'd say, "Well, what ARE you?"
0:34:07 > 0:34:10But there was one place she was appreciated -
0:34:10 > 0:34:14at the heart of New York's party scene, Studio 54.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18That's how I got discovered - jumpingup on tables and...
0:34:18 > 0:34:22singing and dancing to disco music.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26The party queen had been spotted by Island Records,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30who decided to put her in the studio. She jumped at the chance.
0:34:30 > 0:34:31She told me,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35"I'll do whatever it takes to make it."
0:34:35 > 0:34:40The producer was Tom Moulton, the man who made Gloria Gaynor a gainer. But when he heard Grace,
0:34:40 > 0:34:45he thought she sounded like she was straight out of the movies - horror movies.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47She couldn't sing. She sang like Bela Lugosi.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49I...am..Drrracula.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56I mean, that's what she SOUNDS like! I said "What is WRONG with you?"
0:34:56 > 0:35:00Like other singers, Grace was expected to do as she was told.
0:35:00 > 0:35:06I had NO control - at all. I was just kind of, you know, dragged around on a leash.
0:35:06 > 0:35:12I had to be next to her...with every WORD. I mean, it's unbelievable. I just could not believe it.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15They start to clash because Tom's an ultra-professional
0:35:15 > 0:35:19and Grace Jones, doing her best, but she just hasn't the best voice.
0:35:19 > 0:35:20She's got a whole lot of attitude.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22"The star"(!)
0:35:24 > 0:35:26- She comes down and... - LITTLE COUGHS
0:35:26 > 0:35:29- GAGGING COUGHS - And I say, "Grace,
0:35:29 > 0:35:33"we don't practice in this studio, we record." And then finally...
0:35:33 > 0:35:38Ah, maybe I shouldn't... Ah, I'll say it anyway, it doesn't matter. ..finally,
0:35:38 > 0:35:43I got so mad, and I said, "Grace, with so little, you can please so many."
0:35:43 > 0:35:50And they said, "Until you apologise, she's not gonna sing."
0:35:50 > 0:35:52So I picked up my jacket
0:35:52 > 0:35:54and walked out.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56It was...a way to force them to...
0:35:56 > 0:35:59let me have some freedom in what I was doing.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02# I need a man... #
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Despite the bust-up, a record did finally come out in 1977,
0:36:06 > 0:36:08aimed at the disco crowd.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15To promote it, Grace went to the places she knew best, New York's gay discos.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18# Say that you will find him Creeping up behind him... #
0:36:18 > 0:36:23By now, Grace had met Jean-Paul Goude, the style editor of a men's fashion magazine.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29He began to transform her stage shows. Goude turned Grace's shows into performance art.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31# ..I need a man...! #
0:36:31 > 0:36:37They were lovers, they had a child together, but he was... image producer...
0:36:37 > 0:36:40director, so he produced a lot of the videos,
0:36:40 > 0:36:42a lot of the style.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46I always loved the mixture of threat and beauty.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50I thought it was time for Grace to stretch out.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57# Quand il me prend dans ses bras... #
0:36:57 > 0:37:01She came into the club on a motorcycle and she had a black hood on.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04"..La vie en rose... #
0:37:04 > 0:37:06She walked over to the bar,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10she knocked all the glasses off the bar.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14And then she proceeded to lay back on the bar, put her high-heeled shoe
0:37:14 > 0:37:15on top of the cash register
0:37:15 > 0:37:17and sang "La Vie En Rose".
0:37:17 > 0:37:20# ..Il est entre dans mon coeur... #
0:37:20 > 0:37:22One helluva show.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24# Everything is...
0:37:24 > 0:37:26FALSETTO: # ..lovely!
0:37:26 > 0:37:32# It's him for me and me for him All our live... #
0:37:32 > 0:37:35You put her on a stage, you give her a couple of cones
0:37:35 > 0:37:37and she will deliver
0:37:37 > 0:37:41the most sensational live show you're ever see.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44SNARE AND BASS DRUMS ECHO
0:37:47 > 0:37:50She was literally coming down this HUGE staircase...
0:37:54 > 0:37:58..and she was dressed like a... an animal.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00CROWD ROAR
0:38:01 > 0:38:05She really is something else - a force of nature.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08# Night...clubbing
0:38:08 > 0:38:10# Nightclubbing... #
0:38:10 > 0:38:15I love to give carte blanche to artists that I respect.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18I think those collaborations were... magical.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27Grace was an underground star, but she still hadn't given her label a major hit.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31Island boss Chris Blackwell decided to refresh her sound,
0:38:31 > 0:38:35and teamed her up with two of his biggest reggae artists, Sly & Robbie.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37WORDLESS, A CAPELLA
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Chris Blackwell sent a message saying he wanted to see us.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48So I went by his apartment. So...he told us about this girl...
0:38:48 > 0:38:50"She's a Jamaican. And she's a disco singer."
0:38:50 > 0:38:55It was quite a different approach from what her disco records where.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57But I thought...felt it could work.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01The breakthrough came in 1980 with the album Nightclubbing,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03which included the single...
0:39:03 > 0:39:05# Pull up to the bumper, baby
0:39:05 > 0:39:08# In your long, black, limousine... #
0:39:09 > 0:39:13GRACE: 'They brought out my roots! My Jamaicanism.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16And I believe that's when my voice...
0:39:16 > 0:39:18felt the most at home.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22I'm very superficial
0:39:22 > 0:39:25I hate everything official...
0:39:25 > 0:39:28She just CHANT the rhythm. It's the way she does it.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33- Grace will, think, just... - Grace-style.- Grace-style,
0:39:33 > 0:39:35like Robbie say.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38# Private life - come on, baby Leave me out... #
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Goude continued to experiment.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43One minute Grace was white,
0:39:43 > 0:39:44the next she was a man.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Jean-Paul's influence was...enormous.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52The IMAGERY of Grace is really what "broke" Grace.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54# Feeling like a woman
0:39:55 > 0:39:58# Looking like a man... #
0:39:58 > 0:40:05She EMBODIES "feeling like a woman, looking like a man." The androgynous feeling about her is very attractive
0:40:05 > 0:40:09I have seen some of the most attractive men in the world
0:40:09 > 0:40:15in relationships with her - Lundgren, for example. He was absolutely STUNNING -
0:40:15 > 0:40:20And he had a very, very torrid relationship with her.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23By now, Grace was in films playing powerful villains who could take on
0:40:23 > 0:40:25any man - even James Bond.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32But big-screen stardom wasn't what she expected.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35Grace had itchy feet.
0:40:37 > 0:40:43After doing the first big film, I realised there was so much time
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and so much empty space -
0:40:46 > 0:40:52always, you know, waiting to be called, and hurry-up-and-wait.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55The long rounds of promotion made her even more restless.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59She even took it out on Russell Harty on national TV.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Have you calmed yourself down?
0:41:01 > 0:41:02Hmm...try me.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04LAUGHTER
0:41:04 > 0:41:08- No...- Did you have a late night last night?- No,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11- I haven't slept in three days. - That explains it.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16It's the beast in me. I don't know! It's just something in me that is impulsive.
0:41:16 > 0:41:17I can't look at you... Uh-ah!
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Now, hold... Hold on...
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Don't, don't!
0:41:23 > 0:41:26GRACE GIGGLES 'I just wanted some respect!'
0:41:26 > 0:41:28INTRO PLAYS
0:41:28 > 0:41:33Grace wanted to go back to music, where she felt she had more control.
0:41:33 > 0:41:40Thank GOD...I've got the the music. Because in all that space,
0:41:41 > 0:41:43I was writing music.
0:41:43 > 0:41:49I think I would have gone crazy and I would've hated acting altogether
0:41:49 > 0:41:51if I didn't have the music.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53CROWD ROAR
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Ladies and gentlemen...
0:42:00 > 0:42:02Miss Grace Jones.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08The music she was writing became her 1985 comeback album Slave To The Rhythm.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13Grace is still a gay icon and a muse for top fashion designers.
0:42:13 > 0:42:18And today she's also back in the studio with a new dance album. Another disco diva
0:42:18 > 0:42:20who's gone back to her roots.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24She marches to her own beat. That's for sure.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28I think she's in a whole category by herself. I think...
0:42:28 > 0:42:31She's the queen of her own universe.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33And we're ALL her subjects!
0:42:38 > 0:42:41# I'm everywoman... #
0:42:41 > 0:42:45Our next queen was all woman. She could sing the hell out of anything
0:42:45 > 0:42:47including disco.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Chaka Khan is our fiery queen of disco.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Chak-Chak-Chaka Khan...
0:42:51 > 0:42:52Chaka Khan.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54She was quite happy
0:42:54 > 0:42:58for her records to become part of the disco sweep of the world.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00But she wasn't defined by that.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03You know, I just want to enjoy singing.
0:43:03 > 0:43:09- SINATRA:- # Chicago, Chicago... #
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Yvette Marie Stevens, as she was then, grew up in Chicago,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16a city celebrated for all kinds of music.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17# I love it! #
0:43:17 > 0:43:22We could go down to State Street any given night and hear some of the most amazing,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25best, and well-known "old blues" bands.
0:43:27 > 0:43:33My first influences were jazz singers, and then I branched off,
0:43:33 > 0:43:35never just into one kind of music.
0:43:35 > 0:43:40Unlike our other queens, it was popular music, not church music that inspired her to sing.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45I had no training. The closest I ever had was when I was in school.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47And I was in a choir.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51I was always in a band or a group from the time I was 13 years old.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56They used to call me "Little Aretha". I couldn't be in the background, I had to be in front!
0:43:56 > 0:43:59I think, maybe, cos I did have the best voice, too.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03She briefly linked up with the radical political group the Black Panthers.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05We want black power.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10And she took an African name, Chaka, which means "woman of fire".
0:44:10 > 0:44:15But by '72, she was back into singing with the established multi-racial funk band Rufus.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18# Once you get started... #
0:44:18 > 0:44:24There was nobody that had a sound like Rufus. The band was tight,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27but to add to that was this woman. It seemed she came out of nowhere.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Chaka Khan, with all this energy, all this character.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36# Everybody party hearty And get back in the groove... #
0:44:36 > 0:44:41She was the flashpoint, she was the centre, she was just IT on that stage.
0:44:41 > 0:44:48With Chaka on board, Rufus was soon in the charts. But they were billed as "Rufus featuring Chaka Khan".
0:44:48 > 0:44:52It was inevitable she'd be offered a solo contract.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57She knew the importance and the value to her career of an anthem, of a defining song.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00# I'm every woman
0:45:00 > 0:45:03# It's all in me... #
0:45:03 > 0:45:08With a little help from 14-year-old Whitney Houston on backing vocals,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11her first solo hit in '78 became a disco anthem.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Actually, the song kind of wrote itself, and then we realised
0:45:15 > 0:45:18it should be her singing it!
0:45:18 > 0:45:21That dance beat is pretty powerful. And you always need a big voice.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25# I can make a rhyme of confusion in your mind... #
0:45:25 > 0:45:30When we heard her voice on it, we said, "yes!" It's like, some things you just know.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34And it was just very clearly, I think, ahit record.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36# I'm every woman
0:45:36 > 0:45:38# It's all in me... #
0:45:38 > 0:45:41When you hear her sing about a powerful woman, you look at her
0:45:41 > 0:45:44and go, "No, she's talking about what she's LIVING.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47It's a little like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".
0:45:47 > 0:45:51It's very liberating for women. EVERY woman at some point in their life has said,
0:45:51 > 0:45:53"I'm every woman!"
0:45:53 > 0:45:57You look at Chaka Khan, you know she's a woman who calls her own shots, who doesn't do anything
0:45:57 > 0:46:01she doesn't think is right. When she sings these songs, you believe it.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04# I'm every woman
0:46:04 > 0:46:07# It's all in me... #
0:46:07 > 0:46:12# Anything you want done, baby... # She's like a vocal acrobat. She can do so many things.
0:46:17 > 0:46:24"I'm Every Woman established Chaka as a disco diva. But there was one slight problem.
0:46:24 > 0:46:30The band, Rufus, still had a contractual commitment to the record company. They had to fulfil that.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33But at the same time, she was gonna go off and do her solo thing.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37So there was a certain amount of music-industry politics involved.
0:46:37 > 0:46:43Despite a huge bust-up, Chaka had to agree to do one more album with Rufus -
0:46:43 > 0:46:46not in the studio, but live on stage.
0:46:46 > 0:46:47# Oh, oh, oh OOOH...
0:46:47 > 0:46:51- # Nobody!- Nobody... #
0:46:51 > 0:46:54It was still a dynamic record.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58And produced, yes, that most enduring of her hits from that period, "Ain't Nobody".
0:46:58 > 0:47:01# ..Nobody, baby... #
0:47:01 > 0:47:05But within months, her solo career was back on track with another number one hit.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08# Hey! I feel for you
0:47:09 > 0:47:11# I think I lo-ove you... #
0:47:11 > 0:47:14But behind the scenes, Chaka was struggling.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16Chaka had a bad drug problem
0:47:16 > 0:47:19that dogged her over a couple of decades.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22It distracted her from her artistry.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25And she could have done so much more with her life and career.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27# Chaka Khan, let me rock you Let me rock you, Chaka Khan
0:47:27 > 0:47:30# Let me rock you That's all I wanna do
0:47:30 > 0:47:34# Chaka Khan, let me rock you cos I feel for you... #
0:47:34 > 0:47:38If she'd managed to keep her personal life together, she should've been
0:47:38 > 0:47:42the...sort of inheritor, the successor of Aretha Franklin.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45# ..feel for you... #
0:47:45 > 0:47:47# I'm every woman... #
0:47:47 > 0:47:52"I'm Every Woman" remains one of the biggest disco anthems, but Chaka made it so much her own
0:47:52 > 0:47:57that only another diva like Whitney Houston would ever dare to cover it.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02And even the most powerful woman in TV wanted it as "her song".
0:48:02 > 0:48:08Oprah called on the telephone and says, "You know, Val, I really could hear that song as my theme song."
0:48:08 > 0:48:13For the Oprah show. I says, "You know, Oprah, I could really hear that too!"
0:48:13 > 0:48:19And she went on and made it her theme song for two years, so we were really happy about that.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24Chaka herself though, moved on.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28She's done soul, blues and jazz, keeping her at the top of her game.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33It kind of moved through disco and kept on going.
0:48:33 > 0:48:39Even after disco had sort of disappeared, she was still a force in black music.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42SHE SCAT-SINGS
0:48:42 > 0:48:46She constantly changed her sound, evolved and changed.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55I consider myself a fusion artist. I love mixing stuff all together.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58# Oh, oh, oh, o-oh!
0:48:58 > 0:49:02- # Ain't nobody- Ain't nobody - Does it better- Does it better... #
0:49:02 > 0:49:06I mean, I just want to enjoy singing!
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Chaka did disco when disco was hot, and when disco was finished,
0:49:12 > 0:49:15they went on and did whatever was happening. Chaka's doing her thing
0:49:15 > 0:49:18NOW. Disco's been done for a while, but Chaka's not.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25July 1978. The disco boom is at its peak.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28But it's now more Saturday Night Fever than "I Will Survive".
0:49:28 > 0:49:33And just when disco was about to die on its arse,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37an ambitious young Italian-American arrived in New York.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39Her career would encompass and transcend
0:49:39 > 0:49:41all the queens who went before her.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44She would become an enduring global superstar
0:49:44 > 0:49:48who's come back again and again to disco. Who's that girl?
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Madonna, of course, the queen of reinvention.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57I came to new York to be a dancer.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01And I came to dance in a company, professionally.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06She was determined to make an impression. She came in one Saturday
0:50:06 > 0:50:11with a sweater which was cut WAY down to the back
0:50:11 > 0:50:14and held together with a safety pin
0:50:14 > 0:50:16about a foot wide.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20And off of one shoulder. Now, she was about 16½ or 17.
0:50:20 > 0:50:26And I looked at her back and I thought, "That girl will do something some day."
0:50:26 > 0:50:27In new York,
0:50:27 > 0:50:31everybody was doing disco. So Madonna had to be different.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34She was not doing dance music at that time,
0:50:34 > 0:50:39but working on other kinds of sounds. More rock'n'roll influenced.
0:50:39 > 0:50:47She said, "I have two friends here from Michigan. And they're writing some rock songs."
0:50:47 > 0:50:51"And I'd like to be a rock singer," she said one day, and I thought...
0:50:51 > 0:50:54"Fine." You know. I didn't believe one word of this!
0:50:54 > 0:50:58A rock'n'roll rebel wasn't what record companies were looking for.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02And there were more pressing matters like paying the bills.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05I went to an audition for...
0:51:05 > 0:51:08a world tour for Patrick Hernandez.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11Oh-h! Patrick Hernandez!
0:51:11 > 0:51:15# Time was on my side when I was runnin' down the street... #
0:51:15 > 0:51:18He was one of the biggest stars of euro-disco...
0:51:18 > 0:51:20# A suitcase, a guitar... #
0:51:20 > 0:51:23..and Madonna applied to be his backing dancer.
0:51:23 > 0:51:29He was doing a world tour, looking for girls to do back-up singing and dancing...and go around the world,
0:51:29 > 0:51:31and I thought that'd be great.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36She said, "We made the audition, and I'm going to Paris next week."
0:51:36 > 0:51:39And I never saw her after that.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42# ..Good to be alive... #
0:51:42 > 0:51:50They told Madonna at that time that what they planned to do was have her be a part of a troupe, or a review,
0:51:50 > 0:51:52and then pull her out of it
0:51:52 > 0:51:56and mould her into a Donna Summer type of entertainer.
0:51:56 > 0:51:57"Hmm...
0:51:57 > 0:51:59"I mean, I have to think about this."
0:51:59 > 0:52:04..Any time anybody's ever wanted to mould Madonna into anything, it's always been unsuccessful.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09They didn't really know what to do with me, and they were busy with Patrick. I just got really impatient.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12I came back to New York after six months.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17But while she'd been away, something had changed.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20# Disco, disco rock... #
0:52:21 > 0:52:25# If you want my body And you think I'm sexy... #
0:52:25 > 0:52:28# Oo-ooh OO-ooh oo-oo-oo Oo-ooh OO-ooh oo-oo-oo... #
0:52:28 > 0:52:31The charts had been flooded with a load of old disco tosh.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34# Enough is enough is enough...! #
0:52:34 > 0:52:38The great American public could take no more. In 1979,
0:52:38 > 0:52:40chanting "Disco sucks!"
0:52:40 > 0:52:44fans of old fashioned rock'n'roll gathered at Comiskey Baseball Stadium in Chicago
0:52:44 > 0:52:48and blew up a massive pile of disco records.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53Disco was officially over... in the mainstream, at least.
0:52:53 > 0:52:59And anything which was out of favour with the mainstream was OK with our rebel princess.
0:52:59 > 0:53:00# ..Enough is enough is enough! #
0:53:00 > 0:53:06When she came back from France, then she really started dealing seriously in dance music,
0:53:06 > 0:53:12and she started making demos and shopping demos of songs that WERE dance songs.
0:53:12 > 0:53:18In New York, the underground club scene was still going strong, though nobody dared call it disco any more.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22People were moving quickly away from that term "disco" to "club music",
0:53:22 > 0:53:26a phrase being used as a substitute and a camouflage.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30And the music was evolving out of what was traditionally disco
0:53:30 > 0:53:37into other forms. And that's when you had all those different things going on. Madonna was part of that.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Madonna went around giving everybody her tapes.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42She was trying to get a break.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47She was the kind of woman, at that time, who would do anything that she needed to do to make it.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52But Madonna would make her own decisions about who she wanted to work with.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56I first Met Madonna when I was the DJ of The Fun House in New York.
0:53:56 > 0:53:57And she came in
0:53:57 > 0:54:00with a record company representative
0:54:00 > 0:54:02full of energy,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06happy to be in the place. Walked right into my DJ booth, stood there,
0:54:06 > 0:54:07and introduced herself.
0:54:07 > 0:54:14Madonna's first record deal was with the dance label Sire, and her music was aimed directly at the clubbers.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18She was all ready to go. There was only one place to launch herself.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23Studio 54, a private party for the 15th anniversary of Fiorucci.
0:54:23 > 0:54:28In this Fiorucci event at Studio, she performed one of the first times ever
0:54:28 > 0:54:33I actually booked Madonna to be THE star of the evening.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37And my boss Fiorucci didn't want nothing to do with it.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40Because she was completely unknown to the public.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45And they wanted Jennifer Beals from Flashdance because Flashdance had just came out.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47# What a feelin'...! #
0:54:47 > 0:54:53I said, "No, Madonna, Madon..." And they were like, "Blah, well, hmm."
0:54:53 > 0:54:56# Everybody Come on dance and sing... #
0:54:56 > 0:55:03I had a huge cake made out in rubber, and Madonna popped out of the cake and...jumped!
0:55:03 > 0:55:07I remember her singing at Studio - very fabulous.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10# ..Do your thing... #
0:55:10 > 0:55:16But that night, I almost could see a switch, because everybody was gagging over her.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20Grace was there looking at her, and everybody was there.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24Madonna's early hits, like "Everybody" in 1982,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28surfaced in the dance charts, not the pop charts.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32She was very clear in wanting to keep a very credible club base
0:55:32 > 0:55:36but at the same time, have a record that would have pop appeal.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39So the next step was to cross over into pop.
0:55:39 > 0:55:45To do it, she turned back to disco and recruited the man behind classic disco group Chic.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48Music was on the cusp of changing
0:55:48 > 0:55:52from old-school to new-school. And I was still part of the OLD school.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54# Le Freak, c'est chic...! #
0:55:54 > 0:55:56Madonna was much more "new school"
0:55:56 > 0:56:00in going to the techno based dance music.
0:56:00 > 0:56:01# Holida-ay!
0:56:04 > 0:56:05# celebra-ate...! #
0:56:05 > 0:56:10By the time "Holiday" came along in 1984, disco had been out of favour for four years.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13The music had been a bit... well, boring.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18When Madonna arrived, people could dance and party again.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23CROWD ROAR Good to see you, Australia!
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Are you ready? LOUD CHEER
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Madonna is the ultimate embodiment of disco
0:56:32 > 0:56:35and, as she reinvented herself and her music,
0:56:35 > 0:56:37she's always remained true,
0:56:37 > 0:56:39keeping a finger firmly on the pulse
0:56:39 > 0:56:43of clubs, fashions and sex.
0:56:43 > 0:56:44And that's why
0:56:44 > 0:56:46she's STILL a global superstar.
0:56:54 > 0:57:01# Every little thing that you say do # I'm hung up, hung up on you... #
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Her instincts for dance music, which are crucial for a pop artist,
0:57:05 > 0:57:10all comes from direct observation, of being a club dancer,
0:57:10 > 0:57:12of knowing DJs, of watching crowds...
0:57:12 > 0:57:14And the way that you learn from disco.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17# ..Time goes by...so slowly
0:57:17 > 0:57:19# Time goes by
0:57:20 > 0:57:21# So slowly... #
0:57:21 > 0:57:25She's one of those artists who never forgot
0:57:25 > 0:57:29about the audience that got her to where she is - never forgot.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33But it's not just Queen Madge who's at it.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Disco is still all around us,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and all thanks to those original queens of disco.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44' Every little thing that you say do I'm hung up, hung up on you
0:57:44 > 0:57:48# Waiting for your call Baby night and day
0:57:48 > 0:57:52# I'm fed up I'm tired of waiting on you
0:57:52 > 0:57:56# Ring, ring, ring Goes the telephone
0:57:56 > 0:58:00# The light's on but there's no-one home
0:58:00 > 0:58:03# Tick, tick, tock It's a quarter to two
0:58:03 > 0:58:06# I'm done I'm hanging up on you... #
0:58:07 > 0:58:09"Disco..."
0:58:09 > 0:58:12the word changes, but the dance still goes on.