0:00:02 > 0:00:04Disco - oh, no!
0:00:06 > 0:00:08But wait!
0:00:08 > 0:00:12This programme contains very strong language.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16The Joy Of Disco? Like the joy of Christmas, ha-ha-ha.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18I said, "Everyone," I'm like,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20"You're my girl, you're my girl, you're my girl."
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Oh, isn't that one word - joy and disco?
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Then you cross your arms and you disappear. Boom!
0:00:26 > 0:00:29It's a bliss-making machine. It will just make you abandon
0:00:29 > 0:00:33all your worries and your cares.
0:00:33 > 0:00:39Between 1969 and '79, disco would change the world.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43You look at the music press in the '70s
0:00:43 > 0:00:45and, you know, you're taking Jethro Tull seriously,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and you're heaping scorn on The Bee Gees.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50# Ha, ha, ha... #
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Your priorities are all wrong, you know.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55So he would bring the hips down and go like this.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56Down and go like this.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It was the beat, honey.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04You could not sit down to disco music.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06You had to move.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11From an underground scene created by black and gay New York
0:01:11 > 0:01:13to a global phenomenon.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Disco transcended racial and sexual barriers in the '70s,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26creating the birth of club culture as we know it today.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31So let's get down to the joy of disco.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40MUSIC: "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes
0:01:44 > 0:01:48The phrase "musical revolution" is a cliche,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51but disco truly was that.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56# The love I lost was a sweet love... #
0:01:56 > 0:01:59It was the birth of modern club culture,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03an underground scene created by black and gay America.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07# ..Was complete love... #
0:02:08 > 0:02:11And it all happened without hype,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14major record labels or radio airplay.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17# ..No, no, never love again... #
0:02:19 > 0:02:21I suppose what sets disco apart...
0:02:21 > 0:02:23it's actually, properly
0:02:23 > 0:02:26revolutionary music. It's, you know, people talk about
0:02:26 > 0:02:28punk as revolutionary music, and they've got a point.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31But disco is more revolutionary.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Disco is literally outsider music.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38It's music based in oppressed minorities.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42# ..We loved each other We just couldn't get along... #
0:02:42 > 0:02:45It's gay, black, Puerto Rican.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49# ..I'm in misery! Can't you see...? #
0:02:49 > 0:02:51It was people who'd been repressed.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53A minority of people,
0:02:53 > 0:02:54the gay New Yorkers,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57who'd been so oppressed by the police
0:02:57 > 0:03:01that they are all bounding out with a new-found enthusiasm.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06We thought we were
0:03:06 > 0:03:08going up this hill
0:03:08 > 0:03:11towards the shining city at the top,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13where we thought liberation,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16and things were getting better and better.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21And it was all soundtracked by a never-ending, orgasmic music.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23It's very hard for people
0:03:23 > 0:03:25to understand that it actually
0:03:25 > 0:03:27was a new sound. I mean, now of course,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30we all know the sort of, the classic disco songs,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33but back then, they were really fantastic.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36You have this sort of beautiful string arrangements,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39incredibly lush, sumptuous, kind of high camp.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45It's about euphoria and about this moment on the dance floor.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49And hearing them, you know, swirl around you from the speakers.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54There were the mirror balls, and then dry ice and the flashes.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57It really was like living in the middle of a Hollywood movie.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Imagine you're driving down to the beach on a sunny day with the sunroof down
0:04:01 > 0:04:03and everything feels right in the world.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05That was the best of disco.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10# Two girls for every boy... #
0:04:10 > 0:04:14To understand the joy of disco, let's skip back a few years.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17# Surf City, here we come... #
0:04:17 > 0:04:20America in the '60s
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and a sexual revolution based on a new libertarianism
0:04:23 > 0:04:26was supposedly sweeping across the land.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30# And all you got to do is just wink your eye... #
0:04:34 > 0:04:39However, attitudes towards one particular section of society
0:04:39 > 0:04:41were still rooted in the dark ages.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49If you were homosexual, you were seen as a threat to society.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58'Jimmy hadn't enjoyed himself so much in a long time.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06'Then, during lunch, Ralph showed him some pornographic pictures.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10'Jimmy knew he shouldn't be interested, but, well, he was curious.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13'What Jimmy didn't know is that Ralph was sick.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'A sickness that was not visible like smallpox,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18'but no less dangerous and contagious.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19'A sickness of the mind.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23'You see, Ralph was a homosexual.'
0:05:28 > 0:05:31The only available models for homosexuality were
0:05:31 > 0:05:33a mental illness,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35a crime or a sin.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36That was it.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39For instance, there were many states, up through the '60s,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43that still treated homosexuality with capital punishment.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47You could have your head chopped off in Georgia if you were gay.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Er... So, I mean, it wasn't a joking matter.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54MUSIC: "Midnight Cowboy" by John Barry
0:05:57 > 0:06:00While straight America explored new freedoms,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04homosexuals made do with a furtive existence.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Tolerated only on the liberal fringes of the country,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09in San Francisco and New York,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and then under the watchful eye of the authorities.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19In the '60s, there was the so-called "sexual revolution",
0:06:19 > 0:06:21but gays were not part of it.
0:06:21 > 0:06:22It still, you know, the word gay
0:06:22 > 0:06:24didn't even really exist in the '60s.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27as a term for homosexuality.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31It was still, "Oh, isn't it gay?" meaning, "Isn't it festive?"
0:06:31 > 0:06:35# Nowhere to run to, baby
0:06:35 > 0:06:37# Nowhere to hide. #
0:06:37 > 0:06:40The police would suddenly raid a disco
0:06:40 > 0:06:44and catch people who were dancing with members of the same sex.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48So what you had to have was one woman at least in every group.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And you might have seven boys dancing together and one girl.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55But there had to be the girl.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00Employees of the disco would sit on top of very tall ladders
0:07:00 > 0:07:01with a flashlight
0:07:01 > 0:07:05and if they saw you with a girl-less group,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08they would turn the light on and you'd have to immediately
0:07:08 > 0:07:11get yourself a girl if you were going to continue.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18However, in 1969, an event at a mafia-run gay bar in New York
0:07:18 > 0:07:21would change the course of history.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32This is the Stonewall, where gay liberation began.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Where street queens
0:07:34 > 0:07:35who'd had enough
0:07:35 > 0:07:37rioted and decided
0:07:37 > 0:07:39to become part of the world.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42# People moving out People moving in... #
0:07:42 > 0:07:45A routine drag queen bust turned into something
0:07:45 > 0:07:49that the police were not expecting.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51# Run, but you sure can't hide... #
0:07:51 > 0:07:53They just said, "Right, get going,"
0:07:53 > 0:07:55with that horrible look.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57And they turned around, but no-one left.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02And they couldn't believe it. So they turned around again and said, "I told you to get going."
0:08:02 > 0:08:05And then, for some reason, we all started marching towards them.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17# Oh, great googalooga Can't you hear me talking to you? #
0:08:17 > 0:08:19# Just a ball of confusion... #
0:08:19 > 0:08:21That was the birth of the gay...
0:08:21 > 0:08:23of the gay rights movement.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26That happened on Friday night,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30June 27th, 1969.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33# Tension everywhere Unemployment rising... #
0:08:33 > 0:08:36The gays, instead of dispersing, stayed there, began to chat,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38got more and more angry,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41tore up parking meters and used them as battering rams.
0:08:43 > 0:08:49Threw waste paper into the bar once the door gave way and lit it.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51And turned over cars, broke windows.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52It was quite a scene.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57And nobody had ever seen gays behave this way before.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Well, we all got together and started kicking
0:09:00 > 0:09:03to provoke the Tactical Police Force with their shields
0:09:03 > 0:09:05and their heavy riot gear.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07And we sang, # We are the Village girls,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09# We wear our hair in curls,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13# We wear our dungarees above our nellie knees. #
0:09:13 > 0:09:15And they did charge. Ha-ha-ha-ha!
0:09:15 > 0:09:17We all did the last kick and fled.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25# Great googalooga Can't you hear me talking to you?
0:09:25 > 0:09:28# It's a ball of confusion
0:09:32 > 0:09:34# ..That's what the world is today... #
0:09:34 > 0:09:39The Stonewall riot would be a catalyst for a revolution.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Gays were no longer happy to remain invisible.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52They were out and proud,
0:09:52 > 0:09:58a vocal community demanding equal rights in all aspects of life.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10And gay liberation would create the perfect conditions
0:10:10 > 0:10:11for the birth of disco.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15We got the law in New York repealed,
0:10:15 > 0:10:20where two people of the same sex couldn't dance together.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22And we felt very powerful.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24We were feeling united and powerful.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31It was the biggest thing that happened for the club culture.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Before that, two people of the same sex couldn't dance together.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39But all the clubs that catered to gay people
0:10:39 > 0:10:42were kind of
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Mafia owned and operated.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Because they were the only ones who would take a chance
0:10:48 > 0:10:51at the cops coming in every two months
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and raiding the place.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55And fucking up their business.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57When that law became repealed,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01it opened up a window for people like myself and David,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03to open places for people.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09This is the unlikely Godfather of disco.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Brooklyn-born David Mancuso hosted private parties
0:11:15 > 0:11:18in his downtown loft apartment in the early '70s.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Mancuso was the first person to create the tone and atmosphere
0:11:23 > 0:11:26of what would become disco.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29You get together with your friends.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Everybody helps.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36There's that little tablecloth.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38And some cupcakes.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39And some cookies.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41Home-made cookies.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46That's how it starts.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50As a party.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Was that a good idea, or not?
0:11:53 > 0:11:56MUSIC: "Law Of The Land" by The Temptations
0:11:56 > 0:11:59A late night venue, the Loft attracted an ethnically
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and sexually diverse crowd.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05After going to other places, you'd then go to the Loft.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07It wasn't really thought of as a disco.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14It was more hanging out. Not so much raving and dancing.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16There was dancing going on.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18And other things.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Certainly, LSD had a role in it.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26It was his house.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29You'd go into the little bathroom.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31You'd see his shaving cream,
0:12:31 > 0:12:32and his deodorant,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35and all this stuff on the shelves.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Most of us were, socially, outcasts.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48# Lay your cards on top of the table... #
0:12:48 > 0:12:50It doesn't matter where you came from.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52It's just having fun.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59The music was not yet known as "disco",
0:12:59 > 0:13:00but the groove of late '60s soul
0:13:00 > 0:13:05was the soundtrack for a nascent club culture
0:13:05 > 0:13:09that formed in abandoned and dilapidated downtown New York.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18The Loft and the Gallery were on the Lower East Side.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Which is now called "SoHo".
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Back then it was not "SoHo", it was the Lower East Side,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27and it was a crap shoot, the worst place you can go.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30You wouldn't go there at night.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32There were no people on the streets,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34except muggers and drug dealers.
0:13:43 > 0:13:49The first club to truly crystallise the idea of disco was the Gallery,
0:13:49 > 0:13:55where a mainly gay crowd would lose it to euphoric black dance music.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03The Gallery, first of all, was very affordable.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Seven dollars, you got in, and that was it.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10That was all you had to pay. Except if you wanted a piece of acid,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12maybe a dollar more.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14Or a dollar for a joint,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16of fifty cents for a Quaalude.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18It was very affordable.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22MUSIC: "Girl, You Need A Change Of Mind" by Eddie Kendricks
0:14:24 > 0:14:28It had the most excessive, comprehensive light system
0:14:28 > 0:14:29of its time.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33The sound system was state-of-the art.
0:14:33 > 0:14:39It sounded like you were being caressed by the music.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44# Yeah, you need a change of mind... #
0:14:46 > 0:14:49It was the birth of a new democracy.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52A secret world, built on inclusivity and pleasure,
0:14:52 > 0:14:57where it really didn't matter who you were, and where everything went.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01It had that kind of bohemian nirvana,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03utopian idea.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Here were these groups, not usually in the same place at the same time.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11They were all there, and everybody thought this was a good idea,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14at least for these three or four hours they were here.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23We basically come to release frustration. I do, anyway.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27Let me tell you, this is the kind of place you could bring
0:15:27 > 0:15:29any one of your cool friends.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31They have all types of people.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33People who dance, people pop up and down.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35You can get high. Stay all night.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37You can live at the Gallery every Saturday night.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39That's what I like to do.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Shaking till you don't know what's what any more.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46# Girl, you need a change of mind
0:15:46 > 0:15:48# Oh-oh... #
0:15:48 > 0:15:52At the heart of disco was the new concept of the architect
0:15:52 > 0:15:54of an evening's grooving, the DJ.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00Mixing records together was a revolutionary concept in the '70s.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Foremost amongst DJs was Nicky Siano, renowned for his skill
0:16:05 > 0:16:09at beat matching and known as the Jimi Hendrix of the turntables.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Until then, you had a DJ. He'd play a record, then he'd talk.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Then he'd play another record.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21The idea of the seamless segue,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23we used to call them "segue".
0:16:23 > 0:16:26The music would never stop.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27Just keep on going.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30There were people like Nicky Siano, and those guys.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33They were known as having the really cool segue.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I had a dream I had three turntables.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I was mixing "Girl, You Need A Change of Mind",
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and "Love Is The Message".
0:16:43 > 0:16:47And I was playing a 707 jet plane sound effect, while they were mixing.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49I thought, "What a great idea!"
0:16:49 > 0:16:53I took my turntable, brought it to the club, and I did it.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00MUSIC: "Love Is The Message" by MFSB
0:17:00 > 0:17:04The records that early DJs played were typically deep R'n'B cuts,
0:17:04 > 0:17:05not yet known as "Disco".
0:17:07 > 0:17:10"Love Is The Message" is a crucial record,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14because it has all the elements of what we consider disco.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19As well as elements that would later on become hip hop.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22That is one of the essential dance records of all time.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29It's not disco music the way people listen to it now,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32or even think of disco music.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38It was basically these R'n'B songs with elongated breaks in them.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42MUSIC: "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes
0:17:47 > 0:17:52Early disco culture may have been based on the hedonism
0:17:52 > 0:17:55of gay liberation, but its soundtrack
0:17:55 > 0:17:58was street tough, heterosexual, and black.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03MUSIC: "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Born somewhere in the softening of soul, post-James Brown,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08disco music has many godfathers,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12but if any one city could be considered its spiritual home,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14it would be Philadelphia.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Philadelphia International Records,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21run by songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23took the mantle from Motown in the '70s,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26to create The Sound of Philadelphia.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31I think the whole Philadelphia sound,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34with Gamble and Huff being at the helm, they had a formula.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39They would use certain musicians that would instantly connect,
0:18:39 > 0:18:44and instantly, I believe, reflect Philadelphia, as well.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49# Don't leave me this way... #
0:18:49 > 0:18:53What the Funk Brothers were to Motown,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57MFSB were to Philly International, a crack in-house band.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03MFSB was a combination...
0:19:04 > 0:19:08..of some of the greatest musicians that you could think of.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13That orchestra WAS the sound of Philadelphia, in my view.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Because people came from all over the world to try to get that sound.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23That's what we did in the '70s.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24We were working. Yeah.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37MUSIC: "TSOP" by MFSB
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Gamble and Huff's urbane songwriting combined with the strings
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and horns of MFSB, to create a sound that would transcend
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Philadelphia's gritty inner city to grace dance floors the world over.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59The Philly sound was very important to disco.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02It was like an extension of the Motown sound.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05They added more luscious orchestration,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09and got a little bit more soulful, and slinky.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13- Again, "glamour". That word. - HE LAUGHS
0:20:17 > 0:20:21MFSB, for the public and radio stations, what does it stand for?
0:20:21 > 0:20:23"Mother, Father, Sister, Brother".
0:20:23 > 0:20:27Whereas, the reality is, it stood for "Mother-Fucking Son of a Bitch",
0:20:27 > 0:20:29which I don't know if you have to bleep out for the TV...
0:20:29 > 0:20:33MFSB really was that black, street thing,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35but it really was sophisticated black.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38It was not raw black.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42These marvellous musicians, like Earl Young,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45played on every one of these early disco records.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Disco needed a beat and Earl Young, drummer with MFSB,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53was the man who invented it.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00The disco groove came along when I started the four-on-the-floor.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- On the bass. - BASS DRUM PLAYS
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Then you put two on the snare.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07SNARE DRUM PLAYS
0:21:10 > 0:21:11That's basic disco.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23Now, the side cymbal determines how the sound will sound like.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25It changes up the whole thing.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30DRUM KIT PLAYS
0:21:30 > 0:21:35Now, watch. I'm going to change the groove on the side cymbal,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37and it changes the whole thing.
0:21:41 > 0:21:42DISCO BEAT
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Everything else stays the same.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48That's all disco.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50DISCO BEAT
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Now, this is also disco...
0:21:58 > 0:22:00And that's how disco started.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11MUSIC: "New World Symphony" by The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band
0:22:13 > 0:22:17Three and a half thousand miles on the other side of the pond,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21the birth of disco in Britain was not quite as revolutionary,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23but no less underground.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33By the early '70s, pockets of soul music aficionados had created
0:22:33 > 0:22:36vibrant dance scenes up and down the UK.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Perhaps the most famous was Northern Soul,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43a scene that flourished
0:22:43 > 0:22:46under the radar of the mainstream in northwest England.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Northern Soul was a cult underground scene
0:22:51 > 0:22:53that formed in the north of England.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55It started, really, around 1968.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58By 1970, it had become quite a mass appeal thing,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03culminating, by 1974, in clubs like Wigan Casino
0:23:03 > 0:23:08having a membership of 100,000 people.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10MUSIC: "The Snake" by Al Wilson
0:23:18 > 0:23:21# On the way to work one morning
0:23:21 > 0:23:25# Down the path alongside the lake... #
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Northern Soul was about the DJs not playing
0:23:28 > 0:23:30what they were being force-fed on the radio,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33but finding their own records off of B-sides,
0:23:33 > 0:23:34or records that had flopped.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Looking for records that had the Motown sound,
0:23:38 > 0:23:41after the Motown sound moved on into a more funky sound.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44They wanted that "dun-dun-dun-dun, "dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun".
0:23:44 > 0:23:47# Take me in, o tender woman
0:23:47 > 0:23:51# Take me in, for heaven's sake... #
0:23:51 > 0:23:54The dancing was pretty formulaic, very hard to do.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Northern Soul, certainly a lot of the stuff, is beyond me.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05MUSIC: "Tainted Love" by Gloria Jones
0:24:05 > 0:24:10# Sometimes I feel I've got to... #
0:24:10 > 0:24:12But it WAS about being technical,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16and that nerdy thing of you know the music, you know how to dance.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17You have to work really hard at it.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19And you had to be part of a scene.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23# ..the love we share Seems to go nowhere
0:24:23 > 0:24:26# And I've lost my right
0:24:26 > 0:24:29# For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night... #
0:24:29 > 0:24:32I'd been going to Wigan for probably a year, a year-and-a-half.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36We heard of this place called Blackpool Mecca.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38That became a place we went every single Saturday night.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Blackpool Mecca's changeover period,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45from playing Northern Soul to a more modern version.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49There was two DJs in particular, Colin Curtis and Ian Levine,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52who were travelling to New York, and bringing back more upbeat,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56less of a '60s influence, soul.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59That was kind of the birth of disco in the north of England.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03MUSIC: "Turn The Beat Around" by Vicki Sue Robinson
0:25:03 > 0:25:05# Love to hear percussion
0:25:05 > 0:25:09# Turn it upside down
0:25:09 > 0:25:13# Love to hear percussion... #
0:25:13 > 0:25:17By 1975, I was fascinated by this music coming out of the gay clubs
0:25:17 > 0:25:18in New York.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21I actually had to go and see for myself.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26From '75 to '76, we phased all the '60s stuff out altogether,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and the Northern Soul at Blackpool Mecca became
0:25:30 > 0:25:33the cult, underground, non-crossover disco of New York.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36# Love to hear percussion
0:25:36 > 0:25:41# Yeah, yeah, yeah Turn it upside down
0:25:41 > 0:25:45# Love to hear percussion... #
0:25:45 > 0:25:49By the mid '70s, the disco sound was becoming transatlantic.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51Miami's KC And The Sunshine Band
0:25:51 > 0:25:54provided the groove for disco's first UK number one,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58in 1974, with singer George McCrae.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01MUSIC: "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae
0:26:03 > 0:26:07# Woman, take me in your arms
0:26:07 > 0:26:10# Rock me, baby
0:26:12 > 0:26:16# Woman, take me in your arms
0:26:16 > 0:26:17# Rock me, baby... #
0:26:17 > 0:26:20It was a Technicolor sound. It lifted your spirits.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25You had things like "Rock Your Baby". You'd feel uplifted by it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28At the same time, there was a kind of melancholia to it, as well.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Something that moved you, and almost made you cry inside.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33And you listened to the words,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36and it would be, "Baby, take me in your arms, rock your baby."
0:26:36 > 0:26:40# Ooh, woman
0:26:40 > 0:26:42# Take me in your arms
0:26:42 > 0:26:44# Rock your baby... #
0:26:46 > 0:26:48They were meaningless, in a way.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51But, somehow, the passion in the combination
0:26:51 > 0:26:55of the live instrumentation, the voice, the yearning in that voice.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59It said it all. It didn't matter what the lyrics were saying, really.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Record labels and FM radio were waking up to the fact that
0:27:05 > 0:27:09records were being broken on dance floors,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11and before long, there was a rush to market.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16New labels sprang up, catering to the disco sound.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25ADVERT: 'In the beginning, Casablanca was one small place.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29'But now, it's everywhere. First, records. Then, movies...'
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Based in Los Angeles, Casablanca was home to queen of disco,
0:27:32 > 0:27:33Donna Summer.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39She would explode on the scene in 1975 with an infamous 12 inch,
0:27:39 > 0:27:45created by Munich-based visionary Giorgio Moroder.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47I kind of was always interested in sex.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Like all the musicians, and the rest of the world, too.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56So, I thought, "Why not do some kind of an anthem to sex?"
0:27:56 > 0:28:01And I think Donna delivered a good product.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03# Oh, love to love you, baby
0:28:03 > 0:28:06# Oh
0:28:06 > 0:28:09# Love to love you, baby... #
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Neil Bogart, the head of Casablanca Records,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16called me and said, "I'm playing this song at the party,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19"and they want to hear it over and over.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21"Why don't you do a long version?"
0:28:21 > 0:28:25That's when I extended the version,
0:28:25 > 0:28:30and that's when Donna Summer did the whole 17 minutes of moaning.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36# Oh, love to love you, baby... #
0:28:36 > 0:28:39The record heralded the beginnings
0:28:39 > 0:28:42of a new European direction for disco.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45From that Philly sound, there's only one thing which left,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47and those were the violins.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51I think I had it more like up to the point. One, two, three, four.
0:28:51 > 0:28:56So people could even dance better than with the other sounds.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59MUSIC: "Love To Love You Baby" by Donna Summer
0:29:00 > 0:29:03The record caught the zeitgeist of the decade.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07With disco, it was as though
0:29:07 > 0:29:09female desire
0:29:09 > 0:29:12was just the most sumptuous, wonderful thing.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And so, if you think about the '70s,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17feminism is hitting big.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21And there are all these cover stories in mainstream magazines
0:29:21 > 0:29:23about satisfying your woman.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26And about female orgasm. "Oh, they actually have them", right?
0:29:28 > 0:29:31So, the point was, to try to satisfy your woman.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33And for women to satisfy themselves.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35This is the era of the sex toy.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42That comes through in the music in a way it doesn't with rock.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Disco was all about this.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47"Love To Love You Baby", Donna Summer. I mean, you know...
0:29:48 > 0:29:52In the decade of feminism, disco foregrounded female desire.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56And it wasn't just Donna doing it for the girls.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58It seems so silly to talk about it now,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01because people perform much more like that today.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04But, to be able to come on stage,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08in outrageous headdress, whips and chains,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10and capes and silver,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14and looking like you'd just flown in from outer space,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18but be very aggressive for a woman,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22and use your strength, and express that,
0:30:22 > 0:30:24had not happened.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26MUSIC: "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle
0:30:26 > 0:30:29# Itchi gitchi ya ya da da now
0:30:29 > 0:30:32# Itchi gitchi ya ya here
0:30:32 > 0:30:36# Mocha-choca-lata ya ya
0:30:36 > 0:30:40# Creole Lady Marmalade
0:30:42 > 0:30:45# Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir... #
0:30:45 > 0:30:49At that time, you really, as an artist, were capable
0:30:49 > 0:30:53of exploring things, without having to fit into a niche.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57It was more being ourselves.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02Having the freedom that came along with what was inspired by
0:31:02 > 0:31:04the feminist movement.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07# Itchi gitchi ya ya here
0:31:07 > 0:31:12# Mocha-choca-lata ya ya
0:31:12 > 0:31:15# Creole Lady Marmalade
0:31:15 > 0:31:17# Ma ma ma ooh
0:31:17 > 0:31:21# Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir
0:31:21 > 0:31:23# Voulez-vous coucher avec moi... #
0:31:23 > 0:31:27Nona Hendryx. Terrific songwriter.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32Writes these incredible songs that aren't fluff, at all.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37And talk about the expression of female desire.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42There's one song called "Going Down Makes Me Shiver".
0:31:42 > 0:31:47As somebody put it, they were like a revolution unto themselves.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51MUSIC: "More More More" by Andrea True Connection
0:31:51 > 0:31:57For the first time in pop music, women were sexually explicit.
0:31:57 > 0:32:03In 1976, the late Andrea True demanded "More, More, More."
0:32:03 > 0:32:07It's this song, ostensibly about romance, sung by a porn star.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10The lyrics of that song APPEAR to suggest
0:32:10 > 0:32:15that the kind of sex in porn films
0:32:15 > 0:32:18might be more meaningful and realistic than real love.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22# But if you want to know how I really feel
0:32:22 > 0:32:26# Get the cameras rolling Get the action going
0:32:26 > 0:32:30# Baby, you know my love for you is real
0:32:30 > 0:32:32# Take me where you want to
0:32:32 > 0:32:35# Me and my heart you steal
0:32:36 > 0:32:38# More, more, more
0:32:38 > 0:32:40# How do you like it? How do you like it? #
0:32:43 > 0:32:46The Tom Moulton extended mix of "More, More, More"
0:32:46 > 0:32:49is unequivocably one of the greatest records ever made.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53It's the most indescribably exciting eight minutes of music
0:32:53 > 0:32:55you can imagine. It's brilliant.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58# How do you like your love? #
0:33:00 > 0:33:04I wouldn't have done it, if I'd known what the song was about.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08I had no clue. Who has time to watch porn?
0:33:08 > 0:33:11I was in the studio all the time.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16I'm thinking that, "More more more"...
0:33:17 > 0:33:20..I made it pretty, cos I thought she was talking about the music.
0:33:26 > 0:33:27When I hear it,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32I still don't think of her doing that.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35MUSIC: "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Gloria Gaynor
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Disco may have presented female desire for the first time.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41but it was still men who called the shots.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43They didn't call it "a 12 inch mix" for nothing.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50There's this great moment where Gloria Gaynor
0:33:50 > 0:33:54is listening to the playback of "Never Can Say Goodbye".
0:33:54 > 0:34:00This was a record that had been remixed by the famous DJ, Tom Moulton.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03And, it was like, "What happened to my voice?"
0:34:03 > 0:34:05"Where AM I in this?
0:34:05 > 0:34:08"And what am I going to do when I'm performing it live?"
0:34:08 > 0:34:10"What am I going to do when there's none of me there?"
0:34:10 > 0:34:14And he's like, "You'll have to learn to dance".
0:34:14 > 0:34:16HE LAUGHS
0:34:16 > 0:34:18I didn't know what to say!
0:34:18 > 0:34:21She said, "My God, what am I supposed to do?"
0:34:21 > 0:34:24I said, "I guess you have to brush up on your dancing".
0:34:24 > 0:34:28Am I red? Because I was so embarrassed!
0:34:30 > 0:34:35# Never can say goodbye, boy... #
0:34:36 > 0:34:40It's the old story of two steps forward, one step back.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Three steps, if you consider some of the artwork.
0:34:44 > 0:34:49Disco music wasn't just about the music. It was about selling it, too.
0:34:49 > 0:34:55Casablanca were the main label who would use any effect
0:34:55 > 0:34:58to have your album pop out of the racks.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02This is one of the most famous.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05"How Much, How Much I Love You" by Love & Kisses.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07Look how they've sold this.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10A naked girl, with boots, on a white horse.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13On the back, is even more suggestive.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Supposedly, the theme of this was "beauty and the beast".
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Here's a classic 12 inch cover.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26The Ring, "Savage Lover".
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Another beauty and the beast theme, here.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32A bit of murder going on in the background.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35I actually wonder if they'd allow this sort of stuff now.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40Another infamous Love & Kisses album.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43Torn T-shirts. These are all male hands, clearly.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52A quite rare Giorgio Moroder album.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55Another one from Casablanca.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Battlestar Galactica theme.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02Visualised in almost comic book erotica, I think, art here.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Again, I could see some Star Wars geeks going for this one,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09without even knowing what the music was.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12Boris Midney, one of my favourite producers.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14This is more avant garde erotica,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17for his French release of "Companion".
0:36:17 > 0:36:21If you see the whole album, I think it's the nipple and the asteroid.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25I mean, "Excuse me, what's this about?" But, it's still quite lovely.
0:36:28 > 0:36:331977 was the year disco went uptown.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35In April, a club would open in New York,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39and instantly become the hottest ticket on the planet.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41MUSIC: "Dance, Dance, Dance" by Chic
0:36:41 > 0:36:45# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:36:45 > 0:36:48# Keep on dancing... #
0:36:48 > 0:36:54Studio 54 was owned by Brooklyn lads, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59It was like holding on to a lightning bolt.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03It seemed to be the right thing at the right time, at the place.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10It just resonated with people.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12It struck a chord with people.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17The first superclub, Studio 54 turned the inclusive,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21underground nature of the early disco scene on its head,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25to become the epitome of '70s exclusivity and glamour,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and opened the way for disco to enter the mainstream.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35I like it because it's really the nightclub of the future.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37It's a culmination of a nightclub
0:37:37 > 0:37:42that's been arriving gradually for the last ten years.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46The feeling, the excitement of the props coming down,
0:37:46 > 0:37:49and the balcony. It's just exciting.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56It gave people the incentive to want to dress up and go out.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00The most beautiful women. Brooke Astor types would keep coming in
0:38:00 > 0:38:03at two o'clock in the morning.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Limousines around the block.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10It was a fabulous, wonderful happening to be a part of.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14It was really wild.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17It was wild abandonment.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22It wasn't a very cerebral experience. It was almost tribal.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29You came in to really let your hair down, and get released.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32And leave the real world outside the doors.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35# ..Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:38:38 > 0:38:42# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:38:42 > 0:38:43Disco came up at the same time
0:38:43 > 0:38:46as cocaine emerged as the drug of choice.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48And cocaine, we didn't see it
0:38:48 > 0:38:52as something self-destructive, like heroin.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Even Jimmy Carter's Surgeon General classified it with marijuana,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57and said it was not addictive.
0:38:57 > 0:39:03But cocaine, and Quaaludes, and poppers, they all contributed
0:39:03 > 0:39:05to wanting to have sex, basically.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09The famous thing about Studio 54
0:39:09 > 0:39:12is that they had a coke spoon in the shape of the moon.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14The place was just a blizzard.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17They pumped it through the air conditioning.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23- Is it true you pumped cocaine through the air conditioning?- No.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27It sort of captured the imagination of everyone.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29MUSIC: "The Chase" by Giorgio Moroder
0:39:32 > 0:39:34There was sex everywhere.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41At that time, there wasn't anything you couldn't do,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44that you couldn't get up the next morning and walk away from.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51For a long time, I used to spend my entire evening
0:39:51 > 0:39:52in the women's bathroom,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56taking up one of the stalls. "Come on, get out of here".
0:39:56 > 0:39:58But I had lots of coke,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00and the woman in charge let me stay.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04And no girl ever complained. Not one.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09Many times, I'd get oral sex,
0:40:09 > 0:40:13or full-on...hardcore sex.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21If I sound nonchalant, it's only because we were just partying,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23and everything felt cool.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27Quite a lot of outrageous stuff went on in Studio 54.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31- I wonder if Rollerena was ever propositioned?- She was a lady.
0:40:32 > 0:40:33She was always a lady.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36She was a fairy godmother.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39What others did, she didn't see.
0:40:39 > 0:40:44Whatever people say that went on,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48that was not something that she touched on.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51She wasn't there to judge.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56It wasn't just clubs that were becoming futuristic.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00Giorgio Moroder would crystallise an orgasmic, totally synthetic
0:41:00 > 0:41:04disco sound that would mark the birth of electronic dance.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07MUSIC: "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer
0:41:07 > 0:41:12I started with the bassline. Then I thought I wanted everything played
0:41:12 > 0:41:14by the synthesizer.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17That includes the percussion,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20the snare, some of the effects,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23the vocoder, which is a synthesizer, too.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27# Oooh, it's so good
0:41:27 > 0:41:30# It's so good, it's so good It's so good, it's so good... #
0:41:30 > 0:41:33It was very interesting,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36because the rhythm was really dramatic and uplifting,
0:41:36 > 0:41:41but the melody's very smooth, almost romantic.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43# Oooh, I'm in love, I'm in love
0:41:43 > 0:41:47# I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love... #
0:41:47 > 0:41:51Here was a black woman, steeped in a gospel past,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54with a white, European guy playing a synthesizer,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56and producing bleeps and sounds,
0:41:56 > 0:42:01and taking it to number one faster than any of the pure soul records.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06This must have frightened the living daylights out of people.
0:42:06 > 0:42:12# I feel love... #
0:42:12 > 0:42:16That invented Eurodisco.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21It invented techno. It invented...
0:42:21 > 0:42:22It's "Hello, Disco."
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Suddenly, it made disco European.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29Europe now had a disco sound.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33I hear songs in that style still,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36the same bassline.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Sometimes, I think I could sue the whole world
0:42:38 > 0:42:41for infringement of copyrights,
0:42:41 > 0:42:46but I'm happy if they like the sounds and melodies,
0:42:46 > 0:42:48the better.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51MUSIC: "Jive Talkin'" by the Bee Gees
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Moroder invented Eurodisco in 1977,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58but it would be these three Europeans, copying the Philly sound,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02who would take disco firmly into the mainstream.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06The Bee Gees were songwriters, with scant interest in disco.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13A casual decision to allow some of their songs
0:43:13 > 0:43:16to be used in a movie would create a phenomenon.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21# Jive talking, so misunderstood Yeah
0:43:21 > 0:43:25# Jive talking You're really no good... #
0:43:25 > 0:43:31We were writing our new studio album in the Honky Chateau, in France.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Robert Stigwood called from Los Angeles, and said,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38"We have this low budget film for Paramount,
0:43:38 > 0:43:42"based on an article in the New York Times by Nik Cohn.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46"Have you got any NEW songs?"
0:43:46 > 0:43:49We said, "We haven't got time to write new songs.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51"We have these songs written,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54"'Stayin' Alive', 'How Deep Is Your Love?', 'Night Fever'...
0:43:54 > 0:43:56"Come over, and have a listen."
0:43:56 > 0:43:58So, Paramount and Robert Stigwood
0:43:58 > 0:44:02came to the studio in France and they listened.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06"Yeah. OK." That was the last we heard.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08MUSIC: "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees
0:44:08 > 0:44:11Saturday Night Fever was THE disco movie.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15But it shunned the gay downtown scene, in favour of the machismo
0:44:15 > 0:44:18and moves of a Brooklyn ladies man, played by John Travolta.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20# You can tell by the way I use my walk
0:44:20 > 0:44:24# I'm a woman's man No time to talk. #
0:44:24 > 0:44:26I remember the first time he came in.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29I said, "John, put your hands together, like this".
0:44:29 > 0:44:31"Now, start doing that".
0:44:31 > 0:44:34He started doing this and went, "I like that".
0:44:34 > 0:44:36I said, "You want to point in the air.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39"Look very macho".
0:44:40 > 0:44:43So, he would bring the hips down, and go like this.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46It became so popular,
0:44:46 > 0:44:48they called it the "Travolta".
0:44:48 > 0:44:52Then, the hard part came up. "You want to kick your foot out,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54"bring it back and spread your legs.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00"All those girls that our out there,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02"you pretend you're performing for all women.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07"What you want to do is point to every one of them,
0:45:07 > 0:45:11"like, 'You're my girl, you're my girl.' "
0:45:13 > 0:45:18One of the hardest ones is where he would take a step,
0:45:18 > 0:45:20it's a 360 in the air into a split.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25I would take him out to the clubs.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28I'm telling you, people would back off.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31He WAS the Fred Astaire of that time.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36The magical combination of Travolta's moves,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39and the Bee Gee's soundtrack, would launch disco
0:45:39 > 0:45:43as popular music's first truly global phenomenon.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49We knew nothing about the word "disco" when writing those songs.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53In Europe, "disco" was only short for "discotheque", or it had been.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55What we were doing in recording,
0:45:55 > 0:45:59was R&B, or "blue-eyed soul", as they would have called it.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Nobody said this would be
0:46:01 > 0:46:04the biggest-selling soundtrack album ever, and still is.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07Nobody said it was going to sell
0:46:07 > 0:46:1250 million albums. It's ridiculous!
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Although Saturday Night Fever had managed to sidestep the subject,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20disco's growing popularity would introduce
0:46:20 > 0:46:25elements of out gay culture into mainstream pop for the first time.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27MUSIC: "Mighty Real" by Sylvester
0:46:27 > 0:46:30In 1978, the two worlds would collide,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33when Sylvester topped the charts.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38# When we're out there dancing on the floor, darling
0:46:38 > 0:46:41# And I feel like I need them more
0:46:41 > 0:46:43# And I feel your body... #
0:46:43 > 0:46:45Sylvester, in another era,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48would have been a closeted soul/R&B singer.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51He would not have been singing about gay stuff, or seeming gay.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55He would have had a suit on, and be singing love songs to women.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59# You make me feel
0:46:59 > 0:47:02# Mighty real
0:47:02 > 0:47:07He came around during the era of gay liberation.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10After Stonewall, the big event that happened in the Village
0:47:10 > 0:47:13that really triggered the gay liberation movement.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15In some ways, his career
0:47:15 > 0:47:17is a product of the time.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21# ..And you kiss me back and it feels real good
0:47:21 > 0:47:27# And I know you love me Like you should... #
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Sylvester was larger than life.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33At that time, he was the only one, that I knew of,
0:47:33 > 0:47:38that was gay, black, and singing in a high, falsetto voice.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42# You make me feel
0:47:42 > 0:47:46# Mighty real... #
0:47:46 > 0:47:48He was flamboyant. Bracelets.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Beautiful kaftans.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53Beautiful costumes.
0:47:53 > 0:47:54I learned a lot from him,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57because, now, I dress like that, too.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59Like some drag queen, or something.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03# I feel real, I feel real... #
0:48:03 > 0:48:07Disco was now out, proud and mainstream.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12In the same year, a disco boy band of new macho gay archetypes
0:48:12 > 0:48:14would emerge from downtown New York,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17and the straight masses would lap it up.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19MUSIC: "YMCA" by the Village People
0:48:19 > 0:48:21# Young man
0:48:21 > 0:48:23# There's no need to feel down
0:48:23 > 0:48:25# I say, young man
0:48:25 > 0:48:27# Pick yourself off the ground
0:48:27 > 0:48:28# I say, young man... #
0:48:28 > 0:48:32The Village People had this massive hit with YMCA.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34A song about,
0:48:34 > 0:48:37let's not beat about the bush, here,
0:48:37 > 0:48:39in the forthright spirit of disco,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43it's about having it off with blokes in the showers of a YMCA.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49# It's fun to stay at the YMCA
0:48:49 > 0:48:53# It's fun to stay at the YMCA
0:48:53 > 0:48:58# They have everything for young men to enjoy
0:48:58 > 0:49:01# You can hang out with all the boys. #
0:49:03 > 0:49:05"You can hang out with all the boys".
0:49:05 > 0:49:08And this is an enormous hit.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Spawns this cheesy little dance that people do to it.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16# You can do whatever you please. #
0:49:16 > 0:49:20This is an amazing moment where gay culture, almost unwittingly,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23takes mainstream culture by surprise.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26# Young man, you can fulfil your dreams
0:49:26 > 0:49:30# But you've got to know this one thing. #
0:49:31 > 0:49:34They actually weren't very popular in gay discos.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37They were much more popular in straight discos.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41It's ironic, but they're popular because most straight people
0:49:41 > 0:49:42don't get that they're gay.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45# ..They can help you today
0:49:48 > 0:49:51# It's fun to stay at the YMCA
0:49:51 > 0:49:55# It's fun to stay at the YMCA... #
0:49:55 > 0:49:59We took the idea of walking right up to the line
0:49:59 > 0:50:02of offence,
0:50:02 > 0:50:04but we never offended.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07because we winked at the audience,
0:50:07 > 0:50:09and we smiled at them,
0:50:09 > 0:50:13and we let that audience know, every time we performed,
0:50:13 > 0:50:16that we were in on the joke.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20The next figure features the hands rolling round each other.
0:50:20 > 0:50:21And, a-one and two,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24a-one and two,
0:50:24 > 0:50:25a-one and two,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27and one and two.
0:50:27 > 0:50:28And a roly poly one,
0:50:28 > 0:50:30and a roly poly two,
0:50:30 > 0:50:31and a roly poly three.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35As it travelled from niche recognition to global popularity,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39disco's raw gay elements were also recast as camp kitsch,
0:50:39 > 0:50:41even pantomime.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49On television, Larry Grayson danced it with Isla St Clair.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56Across the country, people got down in their living rooms.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59# Here I am Waiting for this moment to last... #
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Even your gran could have a whale of a time,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05doing the Travolta at Pontin's Holiday Camp.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15In the wake of Saturday Night Fever, disco became a fad,
0:51:15 > 0:51:16and nothing was safe.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20You could get the disco "Fiddler On The Roof",
0:51:20 > 0:51:21the disco "Evita",
0:51:21 > 0:51:24the disco "Romeo and Juliet". Everything was disco.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27The disco "Pinocchio", one of my favourites.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30# Come on and hear Come on and hear
0:51:30 > 0:51:34# Alexander's ragtime band... #
0:51:34 > 0:51:37Even Ethel Merman did it to her own songs,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40in one of the most famous fiascos of all time.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43The Ethel Merman disco album should have been a lot better,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46but we loved it, we danced to it, we didn't care.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50# So natural that you'll wanna ask for more
0:51:50 > 0:51:53# That's just the bestest band
0:51:53 > 0:51:56# What am, oh, my honey man... #
0:51:56 > 0:51:59This is "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Disco version.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Here we have "Sesame Street Fever",
0:52:04 > 0:52:08which has some breakbeats on it,
0:52:08 > 0:52:10so it's been sampled by hip hop artists.
0:52:10 > 0:52:11HE LAUGHS
0:52:11 > 0:52:13# ..And if you care to hear
0:52:13 > 0:52:17# That Swanee River played... #
0:52:17 > 0:52:20This, I love.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24This is "Penthouse Presents The Love Symphony Orchestra",
0:52:24 > 0:52:26with "Let's Make Love In Public Places",
0:52:26 > 0:52:28and "Let Me Be Your Fantasy".
0:52:28 > 0:52:30That's the best track.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34Apparently, you bought Penthouse magazine,
0:52:34 > 0:52:36and then sent off for the 12 inch single.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38HE LAUGHS
0:52:38 > 0:52:40And then you made love to it.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43# Come on and hear, come on and hear
0:52:43 > 0:52:47# Alexander's
0:52:47 > 0:52:52# Ragtime band. #
0:52:52 > 0:52:57The disco boom produced the oddest musical confections.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Taking the prize as the strangest of them of all, was a massively
0:53:00 > 0:53:05popular Eurodisco outfit, manufactured in Germany.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08Boney M's oeuvre is off its head.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10It's impossible to imagine a band
0:53:10 > 0:53:12having the degree of success in the pop charts
0:53:12 > 0:53:15that Boney M had in the '70s, with the kind of records they made.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19# There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
0:53:19 > 0:53:23# He was big and strong In his eyes a flaming glow
0:53:23 > 0:53:26# Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
0:53:26 > 0:53:30# But to Moscow chicks He was such a lovely dear
0:53:30 > 0:53:34# He could preach the Bible like a preacher
0:53:34 > 0:53:37# Full of ecstasy and fire... #
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Let's begin with "Rasputin".
0:53:40 > 0:53:44This is a record about the decline of the Russian Empire.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46Right, OK.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51So that's a bit like One Direction making a record about Stalin.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53It's not going to happen.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57# Ra-ra, Rasputin Russia's greatest love machine
0:53:57 > 0:54:02# It was a shame how he carried on
0:54:06 > 0:54:08# But when his drinking And lusting
0:54:08 > 0:54:09# And his hunger for power
0:54:09 > 0:54:13# Became known to more and more people
0:54:13 > 0:54:16# The demands to do something about this outrageous man
0:54:16 > 0:54:19# Became louder and louder. #
0:54:19 > 0:54:24After such disco saturation, a backlash was inevitable,
0:54:24 > 0:54:27and when the downfall came, it was spectacular.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32A Disco Sucks rally held in Chicago in '79 escalated
0:54:32 > 0:54:35into an anti-disco riot.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39There was a big thing in Comiskey Park,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42where they took every disco 12 inch they could find,
0:54:42 > 0:54:44in these huge, big metal bins,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47and they blew them all up in public, at a big ball game.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50It was all on the news, and everything.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54People had car stickers, "Disco Is Dead." "Disco Sucks."
0:55:02 > 0:55:05I always thought it was really odd
0:55:05 > 0:55:07when the Disco Sucks movement happened,
0:55:07 > 0:55:11and they demonised an entire class of musicians.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13An entire genre, if you will.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17Because of a few bad things that stuck out.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21I don't think there was a preponderance of "bad" disco,
0:55:21 > 0:55:23it was just like anything else.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Is there a preponderance of "bad" indie rock?
0:55:26 > 0:55:28Well, I think so!
0:55:30 > 0:55:35The disco backlash was definitely somewhat triggered by homophobia.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39Disco became associated
0:55:39 > 0:55:42with constituencies that weren't "mainstream".
0:55:42 > 0:55:44Which was black audiences,
0:55:44 > 0:55:45Latino audiences,
0:55:45 > 0:55:46and gay audiences.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49Mainstream rock audiences
0:55:49 > 0:55:51rejected a lot of those audiences,
0:55:51 > 0:55:54on a racial, "cultural" tip.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58Look at "Disco Sucks". Think about what they're talking about.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02It's kind of a coded anti-gay phrase.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06The backlash WAS an attack on disco's gay,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08permissive associations,
0:56:08 > 0:56:10and signalled the end for disco as a pop fad.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15For the gay community, it would be a catastrophe of far greater concern
0:56:15 > 0:56:18that would eventually close the clubs.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23The first case of AIDS was reported in 1981.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32It was tragic, to feel these people you were so accustomed
0:56:32 > 0:56:34to seeing on the dancefloor,
0:56:34 > 0:56:37these people who were your dancing partners, your buddies,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40your sex buddies,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43and now there were these holes on the floor.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46And it was really horrific.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51But, it was also the case that you had,
0:56:51 > 0:56:54as a consequence, a ready-made community,
0:56:54 > 0:56:58and these guys mobilised for one another,
0:56:58 > 0:57:03in a way that...
0:57:03 > 0:57:06I don't think could have happened had it not been for disco.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08# I will survive, hey hey... #
0:57:13 > 0:57:17The era may have ended, but the music didn't die.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22In the new decade, disco would segue seamlessly into house,
0:57:22 > 0:57:23and the beat WOULD go on.
0:57:25 > 0:57:26One, two...
0:57:26 > 0:57:28# Oh, freak out... #
0:57:30 > 0:57:36October 2011, and Manhattan is once again gripped
0:57:36 > 0:57:38by disco fever, as Studio 54 re-opens.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41# Oh, freak out
0:57:41 > 0:57:43# Le freak, c'est chic
0:57:43 > 0:57:45# Freak out... #
0:57:45 > 0:57:47For one night only,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50a new generation will mingle with the '70s survivors,
0:57:50 > 0:57:54and freak out to the joy of disco.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59One of the things I love about disco,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02it resists assimilation into that world of heritage rock.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05You never see Chic on the cover of a heritage rock magazine.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08That's brilliant. It's still outsider music.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10It's still looked down upon.
0:58:10 > 0:58:15And yet, it unequivocally changed pop music for ever.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20# I say freak... #
0:58:22 > 0:58:23No one cared who you were,
0:58:23 > 0:58:26what your background was, what your education was.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29No-one cared what guitar or keyboard you played.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31Just, did it to make people move?
0:58:35 > 0:58:37# Now freak... #
0:58:37 > 0:58:42You can't hold a good woman down. You can't hold disco back.
0:58:42 > 0:58:46It didn't really die, honey, it just transitioned into dance.
0:58:46 > 0:58:51And all these people that said disco was dead?
0:58:51 > 0:58:53I was still working.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56# All that pressure Got you down?
0:58:56 > 0:59:00# Has your head spinning all around
0:59:00 > 0:59:02# Feel the rhythm
0:59:02 > 0:59:04# Check the rhyme
0:59:04 > 0:59:08# Come on, come on And have a real good time
0:59:08 > 0:59:12# Like the days of Stomping at the Savoy
0:59:12 > 0:59:16# Now we freak, oh, what a joy
0:59:16 > 0:59:20# Just come on down to the 54
0:59:20 > 0:59:23# Find your spot out on the floor... #
0:59:23 > 0:59:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd