4:00:18 > 4:00:22Mmm, baby! Flare your nostrils AND your trousers.
4:00:22 > 4:00:25We're heading back to the '70s,
4:00:25 > 4:00:31a time of mirrorballs, medallions, magnificent music and polyester leisurewear!
4:00:31 > 4:00:36Disco music became popular because it taught white people how to dance.
4:00:38 > 4:00:40It was girly.
4:00:40 > 4:00:43I got a picture of me that looks like a cowboy.
4:00:43 > 4:00:50Dress code, smart-casual. No jeans, no trainers, just the hits and style of a more glamorous age.
4:00:50 > 4:00:52We were the metal mouths!
4:00:54 > 4:01:00I got better and better every week, cos I was living, eating, breathing disco.
4:01:00 > 4:01:05Travolta was terrified. He was going to quit the movie.
4:01:05 > 4:01:11So, sit back and let us take you to a time when disco ruled the world!
4:01:11 > 4:01:13You know this shit is happening?
4:01:13 > 4:01:16# Burn, baby burn, disco inferno! #
4:01:35 > 4:01:38MUSIC: Rock The Boat by Hues Corporation
4:01:38 > 4:01:44It's 1974, and strike-bound Britain squirms under the fist of the unions and platformed boots.
4:01:44 > 4:01:47But in America...
4:01:47 > 4:01:53a new sound is emerging from the gay, black and Latin clubs.
4:01:53 > 4:02:00The new cocktail was a jigger of Motown, a finger of funk and R&B and a dash of the Caribbean from Miami.
4:02:00 > 4:02:05Mr Big behind the Miami Sound was Harry Wayne Casey, he of the Sunshine Band.
4:02:05 > 4:02:10MUSIC: That's The Way I Like It by KC And The Sunshine Band
4:02:15 > 4:02:19The Miami Sound was a party sound.
4:02:19 > 4:02:22A happy sound. A sound of having a good time.
4:02:22 > 4:02:27# That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh I like it... #
4:02:27 > 4:02:31- # That's the way, uh-huh, uh-uh - I like it! Uh-huh! Uh-Uh!
4:02:31 > 4:02:35# That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh I like it! #
4:02:35 > 4:02:41KC had clocked that live bands were on the way out, while DJs were on the way UP.
4:02:41 > 4:02:48You could feel in the United States that bars and lounges weren't doing too well.
4:02:48 > 4:02:51# When you whisper Sweet in my ear... #
4:02:51 > 4:02:55They were all, like, these discos or these clubs,
4:02:55 > 4:02:58spinning records.
4:02:58 > 4:03:02# That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh I like it! #
4:03:02 > 4:03:07I felt that this was what was probably gonna become the new thing.
4:03:07 > 4:03:14KC had many disco hits under his own name, but his first genuine classic was written for somebody else.
4:03:14 > 4:03:17SINGS INTRO TO "Rock Your Baby"
4:03:17 > 4:03:20The song didn't really sound
4:03:20 > 4:03:28like what The Sunshine Band records sounded like, and I thought it needed a sweeter voice than mine.
4:03:28 > 4:03:30# Sexy woman! #
4:03:30 > 4:03:37Fortunately, George McCrae happened to be passing, perhaps hunting for the man who stole his shirt!
4:03:37 > 4:03:39I said, "George, come here."
4:03:39 > 4:03:45And I hummed him this melody. # Woman, take me in your arms Rock your baby. #
4:03:45 > 4:03:50# Woman, take me in your arms
4:03:50 > 4:03:53# Rock your baby. #
4:03:53 > 4:03:59He sang it back to me and I knew that was the voice for this song.
4:03:59 > 4:04:06When I recorded Rock Your Baby, I thought it was my last chance to make it. My first recording...
4:04:06 > 4:04:11only two copies were sold! And I bought them!
4:04:11 > 4:04:13And so...
4:04:13 > 4:04:18I went in the studio and cut the track in one take.
4:04:18 > 4:04:21# And let the lovin' start
4:04:21 > 4:04:24# Woman...
4:04:24 > 4:04:29# Take me in your arms Rock your baby... #
4:04:30 > 4:04:33I remember this song... # Woman...
4:04:33 > 4:04:38# Take me in your arms... # And this dance...
4:04:38 > 4:04:40That was good!
4:04:40 > 4:04:42# Woman...
4:04:42 > 4:04:46# Take me in your arms Rock your baby... #
4:04:46 > 4:04:54The record ended up costing 15 - that's what they paid the guitar player. I did all the other stuff.
4:04:54 > 4:04:58# With all your might... #
4:04:58 > 4:05:01He created a whole new phenomenon.
4:05:01 > 4:05:05This song became the national anthem of disco!
4:05:05 > 4:05:08# Woman, take me in your arms... #
4:05:08 > 4:05:16The first real disco hit, although, looking back, it's quite soft, was Rock Your Baby by George McCrae,
4:05:16 > 4:05:21quickly followed by Rock The Boat by Hues Corporation. Those two songs,
4:05:21 > 4:05:24I think, kick-started disco in this country.
4:05:26 > 4:05:31Rock Your Baby went to Number One in 51 countries. It was Number One everywhere!
4:05:31 > 4:05:35United States, Japan, the Philippines...
4:05:35 > 4:05:36Brazil...
4:05:36 > 4:05:39Canada...Bangkok...
4:05:40 > 4:05:43All of Africa, Australia, New Zealand.
4:05:43 > 4:05:48Oh, yes. It was a huge success.
4:05:48 > 4:05:50# Rock your baby
4:05:50 > 4:05:52# Whoo-hoo-hoo
4:05:52 > 4:05:57# Woman, take me in your arms
4:05:57 > 4:05:59# Rock your baby... #
4:05:59 > 4:06:02I could, kinda, sit at home,
4:06:02 > 4:06:05and George had to do all the work.
4:06:06 > 4:06:10Disc jockeys had their work cut out. Records only last three minutes
4:06:10 > 4:06:15and mixing was still something you did with a Kenwood Chef.
4:06:15 > 4:06:17We weren't allowed to mix.
4:06:17 > 4:06:23The audience did not dance unless you spoke. You had to go, "Hi, that was George McCrae
4:06:23 > 4:06:26"and Rock Your Baby!"
4:06:26 > 4:06:30If you thought, "I'll just play two records together..."
4:06:30 > 4:06:37If you did it three times in a row, you were in trouble. "You have to talk and entertain."
4:06:37 > 4:06:40But everything's bigger in America,
4:06:40 > 4:06:45and new US acts were pioneering extra-length disco records.
4:06:45 > 4:06:51Gloria Gaynor plays a major role in the emergence of disco.
4:06:51 > 4:06:57Her album, "Never Can Say Goodbye" was the first album to segue three tracks together.
4:06:57 > 4:07:01# I never can say goodbye
4:07:01 > 4:07:04# No, no, no, I... #
4:07:04 > 4:07:09She was a disc jockey's dream. The audience wanted to hear the album.
4:07:09 > 4:07:14It was the first album to be done with nonstop play.
4:07:14 > 4:07:17So, with the songs segueing one into another,
4:07:17 > 4:07:20all pretty much the same beat...
4:07:22 > 4:07:25Very much like the way that DJs mix today.
4:07:25 > 4:07:29# Turn around, you fool
4:07:29 > 4:07:35# You know you love him More and more Tell me why is it so... #
4:07:35 > 4:07:41When I finished Never Can Say Goodbye, I went over to the office and there was Gloria
4:07:41 > 4:07:47and she said, "Can I hear it?" I said, "Sure." So I played it...
4:07:47 > 4:07:51and it was like 90 minutes long.
4:07:51 > 4:07:56Everybody just looked at me and I said, "What do you think?"
4:07:56 > 4:07:57# Hey! #
4:07:58 > 4:08:02And she said, "I don't sing much."
4:08:02 > 4:08:06I was probably too wrapped up in my ego, thinking,
4:08:06 > 4:08:13"If you wanted an instrumental, why didn't you record a musician?" There was SO much music!
4:08:22 > 4:08:24I said...
4:08:24 > 4:08:27"You'll have to learn a few steps."
4:08:30 > 4:08:36But when I thought like a dancer, I thought it was great.
4:08:36 > 4:08:39DJs loved it. They'd never heard anything like it.
4:08:39 > 4:08:47You could go for a pee! I was on for two hours at a time. That's a lot of records to get in.
4:08:47 > 4:08:51But this was great! You could go and have sex!
4:08:51 > 4:08:54Nice image, Pete(!)
4:08:54 > 4:08:59# Whoo-hoo-hooo-hey! I never can say goodbye, boy! #
4:08:59 > 4:09:03While Pete's knees were trembling,
4:09:03 > 4:09:06Gloria was crowned Queen Of Disco.
4:09:06 > 4:09:11But in Germany, there was a woman who had ways of making you dance!
4:09:13 > 4:09:16Producer Giorgio Moroder
4:09:16 > 4:09:21was the man behind the new sexy sound of Donna Summer's first hit.
4:09:21 > 4:09:24There was a lot of people in the studio,
4:09:24 > 4:09:29her husband, the technicians... and she just didn't feel
4:09:29 > 4:09:33like she would have a good performance. So, basically...
4:09:33 > 4:09:41I threw everybody out, dimmed the lights so she couldn't see me and I could barely see her...
4:09:41 > 4:09:45# I...love to love you, baby
4:09:45 > 4:09:50# I...love to love you, baby
4:09:50 > 4:09:54# I...love to love you, baby
4:09:54 > 4:09:56# I... #
4:09:56 > 4:10:00# Love to love you, baby... #
4:10:01 > 4:10:05I remember the song, I don't remember the panting.
4:10:05 > 4:10:09PANTING ON RECORD Oh, yeah! It got very raunchy!
4:10:09 > 4:10:11Yeah!
4:10:11 > 4:10:13# Do it to me again and again
4:10:13 > 4:10:17# You put me in such an awful spin In a spin... #
4:10:23 > 4:10:25Love To Love You, Baby...
4:10:25 > 4:10:28was a song that shaped part of my sexuality.
4:10:28 > 4:10:33# I...love to love you, baby
4:10:33 > 4:10:37MOANING # Oh...love to love you, baby
4:10:37 > 4:10:41# Lay your head down Real close to me
4:10:41 > 4:10:46# Soothe my mind And set me free, set me free. #
4:10:48 > 4:10:52She starts groaning, getting into the tune.
4:10:52 > 4:10:55# Oh, love to love you, baby. #
4:10:55 > 4:10:59"What am I feeling? Dunno what is it, but I like it."
4:10:59 > 4:11:01Filthy!
4:11:01 > 4:11:03MOANING
4:11:03 > 4:11:06# Love to love you, baby
4:11:06 > 4:11:09# When you're laying so close to me
4:11:09 > 4:11:13# There's no place I'd rather You'd be than with me. #
4:11:13 > 4:11:17I thought, "What's the matter with her?!"
4:11:17 > 4:11:20"She should see a doctor.
4:11:20 > 4:11:23"Mum, why is she moaning so much?"
4:11:25 > 4:11:32When you get that sort of innuendo so full in your face, you can't enjoy it.
4:11:32 > 4:11:38It's like, "Donna! I'm coping with what you're doing. Just stand back!"
4:11:42 > 4:11:47It's a song that you can have in private moments with your diary...
4:11:47 > 4:11:52or your vibrator, depending on what kind of girl you are! Sorry!
4:11:56 > 4:12:01There's a barrier that says, "Don't go there." And they went there!
4:12:03 > 4:12:08I don't think I would have had the nerve to sing those songs
4:12:08 > 4:12:12because, at some point, I'd have to sing them in public.
4:12:12 > 4:12:18Donna's next hit also had a knob-twiddling element as Giorgio went back
4:12:18 > 4:12:21to his electronic roots.
4:12:21 > 4:12:23ELECTRONIC INTRO
4:12:27 > 4:12:31Before Donna's success, I had several hits in the UK,
4:12:31 > 4:12:34one was Son Of My Father with Chickory Tip.
4:12:34 > 4:12:38# Son of my father
4:12:38 > 4:12:42# Moulded, I was folded I was pre-form packed
4:12:42 > 4:12:44# Son of my father! #
4:12:44 > 4:12:49The electronic sound on Son Of My Father was the beginning
4:12:49 > 4:12:53of a great friendship between synthesizers and me.
4:12:55 > 4:12:58INTRO TO "I Feel Love"
4:13:05 > 4:13:10It started with a baseline. # Dun-dun-dun-dun... #
4:13:10 > 4:13:13THEY INTERPRET THE INTRO
4:13:13 > 4:13:16It's absolutely monotic!
4:13:18 > 4:13:23The only thing left human, kind of, is the voice.
4:13:23 > 4:13:26It's in your brain the minute you hear it.
4:13:26 > 4:13:33And then... # Ah...I feel love, I feel love I feel love, I feel love... #
4:13:33 > 4:13:36Every kid used to run to the dance floor!
4:13:37 > 4:13:45# I feel love
4:13:45 > 4:13:50# I feel love. #
4:13:50 > 4:13:57It was one of the most important records ever made. Other people had been electronic experimenters,
4:13:57 > 4:14:03but the first record to use synthesizers in that way was Moroder.
4:14:03 > 4:14:06He was like the German version of KC.
4:14:06 > 4:14:09So there were two groundswells of new music.
4:14:09 > 4:14:15KC's and Giorgio's had more soul to it, whereas Donna Summer's was very electronic.
4:14:15 > 4:14:19# Fallin' free, fallin' free Fallin' free, fallin' free
4:14:24 > 4:14:28# Oooooooh!
4:14:28 > 4:14:34# You and me, you and me You and me, you and me You and me... #
4:14:34 > 4:14:37We created a new style,
4:14:37 > 4:14:40we created a new genre.
4:14:40 > 4:14:43# Ooooooh...
4:14:43 > 4:14:49# I feel love, I feel love I feel love, I feel love
4:14:53 > 4:14:56# I feel love. #
4:14:56 > 4:15:00Suddenly, disco was born.
4:15:00 > 4:15:04# I feel love, I feel love. #
4:15:04 > 4:15:11Donna Summer was marketed as the First Lady Of Lust in the '70s. It was very overt.
4:15:11 > 4:15:15They were very conscious of the erotic aspect
4:15:15 > 4:15:18of disco and of dance music,
4:15:18 > 4:15:21and used that to sell records.
4:15:21 > 4:15:24Disco and sex went hand in hand.
4:15:24 > 4:15:29A big hit was More, More, More by Andrea True Connection.
4:15:29 > 4:15:32Andrea was a porn actress!
4:15:32 > 4:15:35I want more! More!
4:15:35 > 4:15:40# More, more, more! How do you like it? How do you like it? #
4:15:40 > 4:15:43- More, more, more!- A porno star?
4:15:43 > 4:15:46Wow! I didn't know that!
4:15:46 > 4:15:49How do you like it?
4:15:51 > 4:15:54# Ooooooh!
4:15:54 > 4:15:58# How do you like your love? #
4:15:58 > 4:16:01It never once dawned on me
4:16:01 > 4:16:03what she was.
4:16:03 > 4:16:06When I heard, "More, more, more",
4:16:06 > 4:16:10I thought she was talking about the music!
4:16:10 > 4:16:14# But if you want to know How I really feel
4:16:14 > 4:16:19# Just get the cameras rolling Get the action going. #
4:16:19 > 4:16:22The soft falsetto just seemed right.
4:16:22 > 4:16:25It had that, "I'm next to your ear.
4:16:25 > 4:16:29"Maybe I'm next to your ear on your pillow."
4:16:29 > 4:16:35And I said, uh... "Andrea, I'm just really troubled by one of those verses."
4:16:35 > 4:16:42She said, "What's that?" I said, "If you wanna know how I really feel..."
4:16:42 > 4:16:47# Just get the cameras rolling Get the action going... #
4:16:47 > 4:16:50I said, "What does THAT mean?"
4:16:50 > 4:16:55And she said, "Don't you know what I do?" I said, "Sing, I thought."
4:16:55 > 4:16:59She said, "No. I suck and fuck in the movies."
4:16:59 > 4:17:04# How do you like it? How do you like it? #
4:17:04 > 4:17:08That's true! I didn't know what to say!
4:17:08 > 4:17:13Am I red? Because I was so red when she said that. I almost died!
4:17:13 > 4:17:19# How do you like your love? #
4:17:19 > 4:17:24# Oh, I love to love But, um, my baby Just loves to dance. #
4:17:24 > 4:17:26No such shenanigans here, though!
4:17:26 > 4:17:32The first lady of home-grown disco, Tina Charles, was more Laura Ashley than Linda Lovelace.
4:17:32 > 4:17:38Maybe Donna had gone in too ham-fisted with her sex on legs,
4:17:38 > 4:17:43and then we've got Tina Charles just swaying in a bit of gingham.
4:17:43 > 4:17:47More respectable. So, well done, Tina.
4:17:47 > 4:17:52The song was produced by Britain's answer to Giorgio Moroder, Biddu,
4:17:52 > 4:17:56who bought it off a travelling song salesman!
4:17:56 > 4:18:01He said, "I've got a tape of some music. Can I play it to you?"
4:18:01 > 4:18:08He played me about six songs and they weren't very good. He said, "I've got one more, but you may not like it."
4:18:08 > 4:18:10It was I Love To Love,
4:18:10 > 4:18:16about Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. "I love to love, but my baby loves to dance."
4:18:18 > 4:18:25Because I'd been a session singer for so long, I suppose I thought, "This is another song
4:18:25 > 4:18:29"that'll die without trace." How I was proved wrong!
4:18:29 > 4:18:35Oh, Tina of little faith! I Love To Love shot straight to the top of the charts.
4:18:35 > 4:18:40That was one of the songs that we sung all the time.
4:18:40 > 4:18:45That bit, # But, um, my baby... # We used to say "button."
4:18:45 > 4:18:48# Oh, I love to love
4:18:48 > 4:18:52# But, um, My baby just loves to dance... #
4:18:52 > 4:18:56They put me on a gantry and I hate heights.
4:18:56 > 4:19:00I was petrified. I'd like to have mimed that day.
4:19:00 > 4:19:04Top Of The Pops - a heady experience for a new band.
4:19:04 > 4:19:11Hot on Tina's heels were Liverpool group, The Real Thing.
4:19:11 > 4:19:16Their first Number One, You To Me Are Everything, The Real Thing!
4:19:19 > 4:19:21'Bless The Real Thing!'
4:19:21 > 4:19:24Did like The Real Thing.
4:19:24 > 4:19:28"You to me are everything The sweetest song that I can sing
4:19:28 > 4:19:30Oh, baby...
4:19:30 > 4:19:34# Oh, baby, oh, baby
4:19:35 > 4:19:41# To you, I guess I'm just a clown Who picks you up Each time you're down, oh, baby
4:19:41 > 4:19:44# Oh, baby You give me just a taste of love... #
4:19:44 > 4:19:50The Real Thing also have fond memories of the slick professionalism of Top Of The Pops.
4:19:50 > 4:19:54Top Of The Pops was the chapel, you know.
4:19:54 > 4:19:57You knew if you made that programme,
4:19:57 > 4:20:0299.9% of what you've been trying to achieve was gonna be...
4:20:02 > 4:20:05was going to be there for you to grab it.
4:20:05 > 4:20:09The thing that I remember about performing the song
4:20:09 > 4:20:14was that, in them days, you did it with the Top Of The Pops orchestra.
4:20:14 > 4:20:18Great musicians, but prone to drinking in their break!
4:20:18 > 4:20:24By the time you actually came to do the final shoot, it was really frenetic.
4:20:24 > 4:20:29# You to me are everything The sweetest song that I can sing Oh, baby... #
4:20:29 > 4:20:32They were playing different things.
4:20:32 > 4:20:38Things were going wrong in the middle of the song. Strings coming in at the wrong place!
4:20:38 > 4:20:43# The day you give your love to me Won't be a day too late
4:20:43 > 4:20:46# Oh, you to me are everything
4:20:46 > 4:20:48# The sweetest song that I can sing
4:20:48 > 4:20:50# Oh, baby! #
4:20:50 > 4:20:56I phoned up our manager. I was absolutely disgusted with the performance.
4:20:56 > 4:21:01He said, "Don't worry. It was a selling performance."
4:21:01 > 4:21:03He was right. It went to Number One.
4:21:03 > 4:21:09They represented for the UK. Cos they had all the hallmarks
4:21:09 > 4:21:11of smooth American soul singers.
4:21:11 > 4:21:16I mean, you know, respect to The Real Thing.
4:21:20 > 4:21:22# Boogie nights! #
4:21:22 > 4:21:28KC, Gloria and Donna had taken disco from the underground to the mainstream.
4:21:28 > 4:21:31But disco was about to go global.
4:21:31 > 4:21:37Still to come - funky footwork, elemental magic from Earth, Wind and Fire, Village People
4:21:37 > 4:21:40and Chic, the grooviest group on earth.
4:21:40 > 4:21:49Disco was about to take over the world, thanks to a small budget movie, with some catchy tunes...
4:21:49 > 4:21:51from '60s has-beens, the Bee Gees.
4:21:51 > 4:21:57# I think I'm going back to Massachusetts
4:21:59 > 4:22:06# Something's telling me I must go home... #
4:22:08 > 4:22:16Who would have thought it? It's these ne'er-do-wells, I think they'd agree, who'd had a few hits in the mid '60s,
4:22:16 > 4:22:20but couldn't get arrested by the time of Saturday Night Fever.
4:22:20 > 4:22:29Then they relocate to America, hook up with producer Arif Mardin, who, in an inspired move, said,
4:22:29 > 4:22:32"Why don't you sing in falsetto?"
4:22:32 > 4:22:34# I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
4:22:34 > 4:22:38# Music loud and women warm Been kicked around since I was born
4:22:38 > 4:22:44# But it's all right, that's OK You can look the other way
4:22:44 > 4:22:47# And we can try to understand... #
4:22:47 > 4:22:52The Bee Gees said, "Are you mad?!" And he said, "No. Try it."
4:22:52 > 4:22:5683 million records later, presumably they go, "Cheers, Arif."
4:22:56 > 4:22:59# Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
4:22:59 > 4:23:03# Stayin' alive, stayin' alive Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
4:23:03 > 4:23:11# Stayin' alive! #
4:23:11 > 4:23:16When they told me the Bee Gees were doing the soundtrack,
4:23:16 > 4:23:20I was going, "I want Aretha Franklin! James Brown!"
4:23:20 > 4:23:23Then I heard the soundtrack. Marvellous.
4:23:23 > 4:23:26# You know, it's all right, It's OK... #
4:23:26 > 4:23:30From Manchester to Massachusetts, the world agreed.
4:23:30 > 4:23:36Saturday Night Fever became the best-selling soundtrack of all time.
4:23:36 > 4:23:39# Stayin' alive! #
4:23:39 > 4:23:42I still listen to that music.
4:23:42 > 4:23:44You can't knock it.
4:23:44 > 4:23:50For better or worse, it IS the linchpin of the Bee Gees' career.
4:23:50 > 4:23:53Saturday Night Fever still comes on,
4:23:53 > 4:23:57and the hardest gangsta sits down and sings Bee Gees records.
4:23:57 > 4:24:02The film resurrected the career of the Brothers Gibb
4:24:02 > 4:24:06and launched that of a young man named Travolta.
4:24:06 > 4:24:09Disco was Saturday Night Fever,
4:24:09 > 4:24:12and Saturday Night Fever was disco.
4:24:12 > 4:24:14It was the first time that a man
4:24:14 > 4:24:17had openly groomed himself.
4:24:21 > 4:24:24And the walk, of course, the walk.
4:24:24 > 4:24:26OK. Ready?
4:24:26 > 4:24:28Little bounce to your walk.
4:24:32 > 4:24:37Every young man wanted to be in Travolta's shoes. Only ONE was.
4:24:37 > 4:24:42I heard about the casting of the stand-in through a friend.
4:24:42 > 4:24:49She said, "They're looking for a Travolta stand-in. You should submit yourself for that."
4:24:50 > 4:24:57As it happened, I was the right height, hair colour, weight, so I got the job.
4:24:57 > 4:25:00Two or three?
4:25:00 > 4:25:02Gimme two.
4:25:04 > 4:25:11The opening shot, where you see the feet, and the shoes are almost kicking the lens,
4:25:11 > 4:25:16those are my feet. The shot of him swinging the paint can,
4:25:16 > 4:25:24that's me! When you see him holding his boot up to compare it to the ones in the window, those are my feet!
4:25:24 > 4:25:30And then it pans up... and you see him, full figure, and, of course, that's HIM!
4:25:30 > 4:25:34I've heard that John has looked at this
4:25:34 > 4:25:37and said, "He didn't get it right."
4:25:37 > 4:25:41I'm not John Travolta. Never claimed to be!
4:25:44 > 4:25:48I love John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
4:25:48 > 4:25:52# You should be dancing, yeah!
4:25:52 > 4:25:55# Dancing! Yeah! #
4:25:55 > 4:26:00You just watch him, and as he moves his hips...
4:26:00 > 4:26:05he's saying, "Are you looking at my hips now? I KNOW you are!"
4:26:05 > 4:26:10Travolta's dancing was the key to the movie's success,
4:26:10 > 4:26:15but it was up to disco dancer Deney Terrio to teach him the moves.
4:26:15 > 4:26:21I said, "Can I see how you dance?" He goes, "I already know how to dance."
4:26:21 > 4:26:26I said, "Sit down." I went over to the radio and turned it on.
4:26:26 > 4:26:28I was doing all the splits...
4:26:31 > 4:26:36..and the knee drops... and the points and all that stuff.
4:26:39 > 4:26:41Travolta was terrified by this.
4:26:41 > 4:26:45He said, "I'll never be able to do that.
4:26:45 > 4:26:47"How can I leap in the air
4:26:47 > 4:26:52"and touch my toes? How can I do those Russian squats?"
4:26:52 > 4:26:58- He was going to quit.- We went five months in training, pre-production.
4:26:58 > 4:27:04I took him to nightclubs. I said, "You'll see girls standing around, and when you dance,
4:27:04 > 4:27:08"up to par... they'll come and ask you to dance."
4:27:08 > 4:27:13By the end of the five months, the girls were lining up!
4:27:13 > 4:27:15Are you as good in bed?
4:27:23 > 4:27:29He was sex on legs in that film. He was the mover to end them all.
4:27:29 > 4:27:32Could have been a brother!
4:27:32 > 4:27:35What he did, he did well.
4:27:35 > 4:27:38But in the black community,
4:27:38 > 4:27:41there were kids dancing ten times better.
4:27:41 > 4:27:46Any one of them could have taught John Travolta how to dance.
4:27:46 > 4:27:52All that.. Do that in Doncaster with your jacket, it's gone!
4:27:52 > 4:27:57But the trademark suit wasn't always going to be white.
4:27:57 > 4:28:01John originally wanted to wear black suits.
4:28:01 > 4:28:06I said, "That'll make Karen Lynn Gorney very happy."
4:28:06 > 4:28:13She was the leading lady. He said, "Why is that?" I said, "Well, because you won't be able to see you,
4:28:13 > 4:28:20"and she's wearing a red dress, so all you'll see is Karen." He glowered and went out.
4:28:20 > 4:28:23He came back with two white suits.
4:28:23 > 4:28:29Before you knew it, Britain was getting out the medallions and man-made fibres.
4:28:29 > 4:28:32# Burn, baby, burn!
4:28:32 > 4:28:35# Burn, baby, burn! #
4:28:35 > 4:28:40One movie can dictate clothing trends, music trends...
4:28:40 > 4:28:45dance trends, how you talk, how you wear your hair, jewellery...
4:28:45 > 4:28:50That's an incredible thing for a small movie.
4:28:50 > 4:28:55# I heard somebody say Burn, baby, burn, disco inferno
4:28:55 > 4:28:58# Burn, baby, burn! #
4:28:58 > 4:29:03What Saturday Night Fever did for disco was precisely
4:29:03 > 4:29:07what Elvis did for rock'n'roll. Black musicians
4:29:07 > 4:29:15were making rock'n'roll for years, and then you put a white face on it and it's the hottest thing.
4:29:15 > 4:29:18The same thing happened with disco.
4:29:18 > 4:29:23When Saturday night fever took off, I was doing 1,800 people a night,
4:29:23 > 4:29:28then suddenly I was doing 3,000. That's what it did.
4:29:28 > 4:29:31As disco fever spread like a rash,
4:29:31 > 4:29:36every dance hall in the land reinvented itself for the new disco generation.
4:29:42 > 4:29:48The nightclubs had always been there. But overnight they became
4:29:48 > 4:29:52Spangles Disco or something like that!
4:29:52 > 4:29:56Fantastic amounts of violence, I recall.
4:29:56 > 4:30:00I went to this place called Rotters in Doncaster.
4:30:00 > 4:30:06It was really just a place to go and vomit.
4:30:06 > 4:30:12# I said, shame, shame, shame, shame Shame, shame, shame, shame on you! #
4:30:12 > 4:30:20It was the first time you had trouble getting into a club, not cos of how old or drunk you were,
4:30:20 > 4:30:22but by what you were wearing.
4:30:22 > 4:30:30Standing in the queue - black shoes white socks, 'tash, one of me dad's jackets on. I looked...19.
4:30:30 > 4:30:35This big oaf of a doorman would say, "You're not coming in."
4:30:35 > 4:30:38# Shame, shame, shame
4:30:38 > 4:30:40# Shame on you! #
4:30:40 > 4:30:45I'd go out at half eight and be back by quarter past nine!
4:30:45 > 4:30:47I didn't get in!
4:30:53 > 4:30:59That went on for years, and then one day the guy just went, "Go on in."
4:30:59 > 4:31:04# Ain't no stopping us now We're on the move. #
4:31:07 > 4:31:12You'd walk in and there would be some amazing lights going on.
4:31:12 > 4:31:18I'm a big fan of strobe lighting. Talk about being a sucker! I'd just move my arms...
4:31:18 > 4:31:21No attempt to dance.
4:31:21 > 4:31:24"We're strobing! Look!"
4:31:24 > 4:31:29# Don't you let nothing, nothing
4:31:29 > 4:31:32# Stand in your way... #
4:31:32 > 4:31:37If you heard your song, three of you could get up
4:31:37 > 4:31:44and go into the whole dance routine and people would go, "They're really cool. They've a real dance routine."
4:31:48 > 4:31:53The girls would start dancing about 8 o'clock, the boys would stand around,
4:31:53 > 4:31:56looking for a weak one!
4:31:56 > 4:32:03We would try and dance, but unless you could dance like John Travolta, it was...
4:32:03 > 4:32:05very difficult to pull it off.
4:32:05 > 4:32:13But there WERE people who could dance like John Travolta. They even had their own TV shows!
4:32:13 > 4:32:20Welcome to Romeo and Juliet's here in Doncaster for the EMI Yorkshire television final...
4:32:33 > 4:32:37They became addictive viewing. Everything was so fast.
4:32:37 > 4:32:43They had to outdo each other - how many somersaults could you do?
4:32:44 > 4:32:52Their face never moved from staring at the camera, but their body would spin 360 degrees!
4:32:54 > 4:32:59Like that! And they'd have spun round four times!
4:33:03 > 4:33:07I remember a guy called Grant Santino -
4:33:07 > 4:33:10he just used to stand there and shake.
4:33:10 > 4:33:17He was the World Disco Dancing Champion for wiggling his legs really quickly.
4:33:19 > 4:33:23I was living, eating, breathing disco.
4:33:23 > 4:33:29I was lucky enough to win my area heat at Watford.
4:33:29 > 4:33:36And I went through to the big final in London. It was broadcast on the Bruce Forsyth Show every week.
4:33:36 > 4:33:41It's time for the final of the UK Disco Championships.
4:33:41 > 4:33:46These are the three finalists, and tonight we declare the winner. They are...
4:33:46 > 4:33:49Grant Santino...
4:33:49 > 4:33:52Maria Eldridge...and Tony Evans.
4:33:58 > 4:34:06Who's won? Well, that's the difficult decision facing the judges, who are Arlene Phillips...
4:34:06 > 4:34:09Grant Santino was phenomenal.
4:34:09 > 4:34:12Not only could he dance,
4:34:12 > 4:34:16but he could throw in all kinds of gymnastics.
4:34:18 > 4:34:25In the middle of doing a dance step, he'd suddenly throw in a back-flip, then, cool as can be, go on moving.
4:34:25 > 4:34:29If you're in a disco, you just go like that.
4:34:29 > 4:34:34No way are you gonna win a disco dancing competition.
4:34:34 > 4:34:38I should have given it a go.
4:34:40 > 4:34:45"Sorry! You've not won." Who's won? The guy flik-flakking across the stage!
4:34:49 > 4:34:55They say, "And in first place..." It doesn't sink in. It's something I'll never forget.
4:34:55 > 4:34:59The winner is...Grant Santino!
4:35:07 > 4:35:12I remember I was doing a gig in Peterborough...
4:35:12 > 4:35:18and they had a huge poster up which said, "Move over Travolta, Santino has arrived!"
4:35:18 > 4:35:21I thought that was amusing.
4:35:23 > 4:35:27# Are you ready? Are you ready for this? #
4:35:27 > 4:35:34The place where any self-respecting disco dancing champion wanted to go was New York's Studio 54.
4:35:34 > 4:35:40I went to Studio 54 once. I had the most incredible, fabulous time.
4:35:40 > 4:35:44It was thrilling. Absolutely thrilling.
4:35:46 > 4:35:50I'd never seen anything like it in my life.
4:35:50 > 4:35:52It was the first time I'd seen
4:35:52 > 4:35:58men kissing each other, seen joints smoked and seen coke taken.
4:35:58 > 4:36:04Studio was where the beautiful people came. If you were lucky, you might spill Liza Minnelli's drink!
4:36:04 > 4:36:08You could see, in any given night, people like
4:36:08 > 4:36:11Travolta...
4:36:11 > 4:36:16Al Pacino...Andy Warhol... Bianca Jagger...
4:36:16 > 4:36:21Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Cher, Diana Ross, you name it.
4:36:21 > 4:36:24It's difficult to know what it is
4:36:24 > 4:36:27that attracts people here.
4:36:27 > 4:36:32All that one can be sure of is that it ISN'T the conversation!
4:36:32 > 4:36:37Hmmm! Strangely, conversation WAS the last thing on people's minds!
4:36:39 > 4:36:44- We were drinking, doing drugs, making love... - And there was no limits.
4:36:44 > 4:36:47If you wanted to take your clothes off, OK!
4:36:47 > 4:36:51If you wanted to go upstairs and have sex, OK!
4:36:51 > 4:36:56I went up there by accident, and it was literally an orgy scene.
4:36:56 > 4:36:59Downstairs, people were taking drugs.
4:36:59 > 4:37:02It was unbelievable.
4:37:02 > 4:37:08Sex in the toilets... Actually, not in the toilets, on the dance floor. Coke sniffing everywhere.
4:37:08 > 4:37:11Then, coke wasn't addictive(!)
4:37:11 > 4:37:18Everyone swore that it wasn't addictive, so you could take as much of it as possible. And we did.
4:37:18 > 4:37:21So, I get back that evening
4:37:21 > 4:37:27and scribble home to my mother, "This is what I've done!" My mother phones, "Get back home!"
4:37:27 > 4:37:35In one respect, Studio was just like Cinderella's back home, if your name wasn't down, you weren't coming in.
4:37:35 > 4:37:37You're not shaved.
4:37:37 > 4:37:40But... Listen, just go home.
4:37:42 > 4:37:46They would do anything to get in. They'd offer us money,
4:37:46 > 4:37:50drugs... girls would offer sexual favours.
4:37:50 > 4:37:57"We'll do anything." "What do you mean by anything?" They'd then give you an interpretation of "anything"!
4:37:57 > 4:38:02Even disco's rising stars couldn't be sure of getting in to Studio.
4:38:02 > 4:38:06Our names weren't on the list.
4:38:06 > 4:38:11So we went back to my place and had a couple of bottles of champagne,
4:38:11 > 4:38:14and next thing, we start playing this riff...
4:38:14 > 4:38:17INTERPRETS RIFF
4:38:21 > 4:38:24And we just go, "Fuck off!"
4:38:24 > 4:38:28RESUMES RIFF Fuck off!
4:38:30 > 4:38:36- # Freak out! - Le freak, c'est chic!- Freak out! #
4:38:36 > 4:38:40My partner goes, "You know this shit is happening?"
4:38:40 > 4:38:44# Have you heard About the new dance craze? #
4:38:44 > 4:38:51Re-christened Freak Out, it became one of many anthems from the Beatles of disco, the mighty Chic.
4:38:51 > 4:38:56# Big fun to be had by everyone It's up to you, surely it can be done
4:38:56 > 4:38:59# Young and old are doing it I'm told
4:38:59 > 4:39:01# Just one try... #
4:39:01 > 4:39:07People who don't play instruments often sneer at disco music.
4:39:22 > 4:39:28I've been trying to teach myself the riffs to most of the Chic records
4:39:28 > 4:39:32for the best part of 20 years now. They're phenomenally complicated.
4:39:32 > 4:39:36These guys are two of the hottest musicians imaginable,
4:39:36 > 4:39:41but they carry their learning really lightly.
4:39:41 > 4:39:47Chic just wanted to get on with the idea of, you know, getting down, yowza, in the groove!
4:39:47 > 4:39:51# Yowza! Yowza! Yowza! I wanna boogie with you
4:39:53 > 4:39:56# Bab-bab-bab-bab-ba! #
4:40:01 > 4:40:06Forget the others, they're all pretenders to the Chic throne.
4:40:06 > 4:40:11Chic were not just a disco band, they were the funkiest disco band.
4:40:11 > 4:40:16# Rumba...and tango Latin hustle too...
4:40:17 > 4:40:22# Yowza! Yowza! Yowza! I wanna boogie with you. #
4:40:22 > 4:40:28He's a genius, Nile Rodgers. He created a whole new sound.
4:40:29 > 4:40:31# Dance
4:40:31 > 4:40:34# Dance, dance, dance... #
4:40:34 > 4:40:40We used disco as a tool to peddle our brand of R&B, jazz, dance music.
4:40:40 > 4:40:46You put Chic records on today, and they're still timeless.
4:40:46 > 4:40:50The nucleus of Chic were Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.
4:40:55 > 4:41:03Everybody Dance is the first record that I ever wrote for Chic. I wrote that without Bernard, to an extent.
4:41:08 > 4:41:14He walked in and said, "That sounds great. How does the hook go?" I said, "Check this out."
4:41:14 > 4:41:19# Everybody dance, doo-doo-doo-do Clap your hands, clap your hands. #
4:41:19 > 4:41:25Bernard looked at me and went, "Doo-doo-doo-do? What does that mean?"
4:41:25 > 4:41:28I went, "Just doo-doo-doo-do." "Doo-doo-doo-do?!"
4:41:28 > 4:41:32# Doo-doo-doo-do Clap your hands, clap your hands
4:41:32 > 4:41:36# Everybody dance, doo-doo-doo-do
4:41:36 > 4:41:39# Clap your hands, clap your hands
4:41:41 > 4:41:44# Spinning all around the floor... #
4:41:44 > 4:41:52They didn't conform to what white rock critics and audiences wanted from a black act.
4:41:52 > 4:41:58They basically want black musicians to say how downtrodden they are.
4:41:58 > 4:42:02Chic were the opposite. Chic were fabulously aspirational.
4:42:02 > 4:42:09"We're gonna drink martinis and go to Studio 54 and dress like James Bond and drive BMWs."
4:42:11 > 4:42:16# Everybody dance, doo-doo-doo-do Clap your hands, clap your hands. #
4:42:16 > 4:42:19They were dressed cool...
4:42:19 > 4:42:24You look back now and say, "No. They weren't." But they were at the time.
4:42:24 > 4:42:28They were laid-back. They weren't shouting about it.
4:42:28 > 4:42:30# Doo-doo-doo-do
4:42:30 > 4:42:32# Clap your hands, clap your hands
4:42:32 > 4:42:36# Everybody dance Doo-doo-doo-do... #
4:42:36 > 4:42:41Chic weren't just hitmakers in their own right. They also became
4:42:41 > 4:42:50the most in demand record producers in the world. Record labels wanted the Chic sound for their big acts.
4:42:50 > 4:42:58Instead of somebody at the top, we asked for somebody at the bottom so we could show them what we could do.
4:42:58 > 4:43:01The president started talking about this group
4:43:01 > 4:43:05and he was basically writing the song,
4:43:05 > 4:43:12cos he was saying, "This group of girls are like family. If one's happy, all four are happy."
4:43:12 > 4:43:18We're taking notes, and there's the essence of We Are Family. It's right there.
4:43:18 > 4:43:21# We are family
4:43:22 > 4:43:25# I got all my sisters with me
4:43:27 > 4:43:29# We are family
4:43:30 > 4:43:34# Get up, everybody, and sing! #
4:43:34 > 4:43:38They felt so confident that it would be a hit.
4:43:38 > 4:43:41They said, "Don't worry."
4:43:41 > 4:43:44Sister Sledge, We Are Family.
4:43:44 > 4:43:47Brilliant record. Absolutely brilliant.
4:43:47 > 4:43:50# Get up, everybody, and sing!
4:43:52 > 4:43:56# Everyone can see we're together
4:43:56 > 4:43:59# As we walk on by
4:43:59 > 4:44:01# And...
4:44:01 > 4:44:05# And we fly Just like birds of a feather... #
4:44:05 > 4:44:10My first female crush was Kathy Sledge, the one with the braces.
4:44:10 > 4:44:13Metal mouth! That's what we were.
4:44:13 > 4:44:18Years later, I met her and I said to her,
4:44:18 > 4:44:22"You were my first female crush. With your braces IN, not out."
4:44:22 > 4:44:27# We are family... #
4:44:27 > 4:44:30I put the microphone here to block the braces.
4:44:30 > 4:44:34- One of them wore braces. - And it was OK.- It was OK.
4:44:34 > 4:44:38We got letters from people saying,
4:44:38 > 4:44:44"I'm not ashamed of my braces cos you're out there all over television with them."
4:44:44 > 4:44:47# I got all my sisters with me. #
4:44:47 > 4:44:49The female Jackson Five.
4:44:49 > 4:44:51# We are family
4:44:51 > 4:44:54# Get up, everybody, and sing. #
4:44:54 > 4:44:56Hot band.
4:44:56 > 4:45:00# I wonder why He's the greatest dancer... #
4:45:00 > 4:45:04# That I've ever seen
4:45:04 > 4:45:09# I wonder why He's the greatest dancer
4:45:09 > 4:45:11# I wonder why
4:45:13 > 4:45:17# One night in a disco On the outskirts of 'Frisco... #
4:45:17 > 4:45:24We created their world. The stuff that they sing about was our vision of what Sister Sledge was like.
4:45:26 > 4:45:31We wanted them to reflect disco. To talk about designers, you know, Halston, Gucci...
4:45:31 > 4:45:33# Fiorucci
4:45:33 > 4:45:38# He looks like a still That man is dressed to kill! #
4:45:38 > 4:45:43When we first met Sister Sledge, they were the most innocent, religious...
4:45:43 > 4:45:49I mean, NICE girls. I don't mean anything bad, but we didn't KNOW nice girls!
4:45:49 > 4:45:54The first song we gave to them was He's The Greatest Dancer.
4:45:54 > 4:46:01- The lyric went, "My creme de la creme, please take me home." - # ..Please take me home. #
4:46:03 > 4:46:10They had a big problem with that. "Nile, we don't want to say that we can go to a club and meet a man
4:46:10 > 4:46:13"and he would take us home."
4:46:13 > 4:46:17That was the impression, the one-night-stand type of thing.
4:46:17 > 4:46:23Kinda depicted that whole Studio 54. We were coming out of church!
4:46:23 > 4:46:31To this day, when they sing it live, they say, "My creme de la creme, please don't go home."
4:46:36 > 4:46:42One group who'd have no problem singing, well, pretty much anything,
4:46:42 > 4:46:47were the mad emperors of disco, Earth, Wind & Fire.
4:46:47 > 4:46:52# Let's groove tonight Share the spice of life. #
4:46:52 > 4:46:56Every song they wrote was a masterpiece.
4:46:56 > 4:47:01The characteristics of the Earth, Wind & Fire sound is the horns
4:47:01 > 4:47:03and harmonies.
4:47:03 > 4:47:09# Let this groove get you to move! It's all right! All right! #
4:47:09 > 4:47:14They were fantastic vocalists, fantastic musicians,
4:47:14 > 4:47:17they were fantastic writers.
4:47:17 > 4:47:20The only thing they couldn't do well was dance!
4:47:24 > 4:47:30Earth, Wind & Fire was probably the reason I started collecting records.
4:47:30 > 4:47:34I fell in love with this group of unlikely blokes.
4:47:34 > 4:47:37Maurice White has got the strangest haircut.
4:47:37 > 4:47:42It looks like he's left a pair of giant headphones on.
4:47:42 > 4:47:50# If you want my love We can boogie on down...
4:47:50 > 4:47:52# Down! #
4:47:52 > 4:47:56He dressed like Tutankhamen would dress
4:47:56 > 4:47:58if he had Alcan foil to hand!
4:47:58 > 4:48:03Big shoulder pads. Shoulder pads with wings, man!
4:48:03 > 4:48:06And, like, rocket launchers at the back.
4:48:06 > 4:48:08And big platforms...
4:48:08 > 4:48:16They were just a joy. It was like, "Wow. This is brilliant. You're all dressed up like nutters!"
4:48:16 > 4:48:21Had the music been bad, it would've been sad. But the music was great.
4:48:21 > 4:48:24# All right! All right! #
4:48:24 > 4:48:30Earth, Wind & Fire ruled the earth as mighty titans in the late '70s,
4:48:30 > 4:48:35and wrote some tremendous songs, including Boogie Wonderland.
4:48:35 > 4:48:37# Dance!
4:48:37 > 4:48:40# Boogie wonderland
4:48:40 > 4:48:41# Huh!
4:48:41 > 4:48:42# Huh!
4:48:42 > 4:48:44# Dance!
4:48:44 > 4:48:48# Boogie wonderland!
4:48:48 > 4:48:52# Midnight creeps so slowly Into hearts of men
4:48:52 > 4:48:56# Who need more than they get... #
4:48:56 > 4:48:59Big Earth, Wind & Fire fan.
4:48:59 > 4:49:02They were great live.
4:49:02 > 4:49:05Massive laser show. EARTH!
4:49:05 > 4:49:11WIND! AND FIRE! And all these Egyptian symbols appeared.
4:49:11 > 4:49:17I loved their whole pseudo-mystical, scorpio, signs of the horoscope thing.
4:49:17 > 4:49:21Before we'd go on stage, we would have a circle
4:49:21 > 4:49:26and we'd hold hands and meditate for about five minutes.
4:49:26 > 4:49:27# Dance!
4:49:28 > 4:49:34# Boogie wonderland! #
4:49:34 > 4:49:38A spaceship landed on stage and they came out in outrageous outfits.
4:49:41 > 4:49:44# I find romance When I start to dance
4:49:44 > 4:49:50# In boogie wonderland! I find romance When I start to dance... #
4:49:50 > 4:49:53- Lots of fireworks, lights...- Magic.
4:49:58 > 4:50:01I think the bass player disappeared at one point!
4:50:01 > 4:50:07Levitating off the stage floor... and we had disappearing pyramids.
4:50:07 > 4:50:13# All the records are playing And my heart keeps saying
4:50:13 > 4:50:17# Boogie wonderland! #
4:50:17 > 4:50:20I thought I was a magician!
4:50:25 > 4:50:33But Earth, Wind & Fire were underdressed compared to the act who turned disco into panto.
4:50:33 > 4:50:37The writing was on the wall, and it spelt YMCA.
4:50:40 > 4:50:43# Young man! There's no need to feel down
4:50:43 > 4:50:46# I said, young man!
4:50:46 > 4:50:50# Pick yourself off the ground I said, young man!
4:50:50 > 4:50:56# Cos you're in a new town There's no need...to... Be...unhappy! #
4:50:56 > 4:51:01- There was a construction worker... - There was...- A red Indian.
4:51:01 > 4:51:02Policeman.
4:51:02 > 4:51:04Cowboy.
4:51:05 > 4:51:07An astronaut?
4:51:07 > 4:51:11Homosexual and another homosexual.
4:51:11 > 4:51:13- Fantastic.- SO loved them!
4:51:13 > 4:51:17# It's fun to stay at the Y...M...C...A!
4:51:17 > 4:51:21# It's fun to stay at the Y...M...C...A!
4:51:21 > 4:51:25# They have everything For young men to enjoy
4:51:25 > 4:51:29# You can hang out with all the boys It's fun to stay... #
4:51:29 > 4:51:36It's all began when two French producers, Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo spotted a red Indian
4:51:36 > 4:51:41- walking the streets of New York. - The guy went into a bar.
4:51:41 > 4:51:48We followed him, and we discovered he was a bartender who was serving up drinks
4:51:48 > 4:51:52and every 15 minutes, he was dancing on the bar.
4:51:52 > 4:51:58# But you've got to know This one thing... #
4:51:58 > 4:52:00Suddenly...
4:52:00 > 4:52:08Jacques and I got struck by the idea why we don't try to put together a group of male American stereotypes.
4:52:08 > 4:52:13# I'm sure they can Help you today!
4:52:16 > 4:52:19# It's fun to stay at the Y...M...C...A! #
4:52:19 > 4:52:24I find it extraordinary when YMCA became Number One worldwide,
4:52:24 > 4:52:30nobody twigged that they were a bunch of gay stereotypes.
4:52:30 > 4:52:34# It's fun to stay at the Y...M...C...A! #
4:52:34 > 4:52:39Millions of people had no idea these were men in gay outfits,
4:52:39 > 4:52:42being very openly gay.
4:52:42 > 4:52:46# You can do whatever you feel!
4:52:46 > 4:52:50# Young man! I was once in your shoes
4:52:50 > 4:52:53# I was Down and out with the blues. #
4:52:53 > 4:53:00How could a native American guy...? How could a builder...? How could a traffic cop be camp?
4:53:00 > 4:53:02If you go to any hard-core sex shop,
4:53:02 > 4:53:08they sell police uniforms, especially highway patrol, cos they wear tight pants.
4:53:08 > 4:53:12Oh, I see. I didn't know. But I love them!
4:53:12 > 4:53:15# They can start you back On your way!
4:53:17 > 4:53:22# It's fun to stay at the Y...M...C...A! #
4:53:22 > 4:53:25The YMCA membership
4:53:25 > 4:53:28grew 300% after that song came out.
4:53:28 > 4:53:34And yet that song had one meaning and one meaning alone, but everybody took it another way.
4:53:34 > 4:53:39It's fun to stay where you can get a good meal and work out. Right(!)
4:53:42 > 4:53:44The theme of the song - hilarious!
4:53:44 > 4:53:49That cheap sex is available at the Young Men's Christian Association
4:53:49 > 4:53:53is a tremendous message for America.
4:53:53 > 4:53:56# In the Navy You can sail the seven seas
4:53:56 > 4:54:00# In the Navy Yes, you can put your mind at ease. #
4:54:00 > 4:54:04Then they go and do In The Navy,
4:54:04 > 4:54:08borrow an American submarine, and still nobody twigs
4:54:08 > 4:54:13until the record's out and the video's been made!
4:54:13 > 4:54:19# Come on and join your fellow man In the Navy! In the Navy! #
4:54:19 > 4:54:25The American Navy, perhaps naively, thought that The Village People would be perfect
4:54:25 > 4:54:31for their recruitment drive, and were happy to lend them a ship.
4:54:31 > 4:54:36- They brought out a book with all the ships...- They painted it!
4:54:36 > 4:54:43Jacques and Henri picked the ship which they thought most kids would identify with, a bathtub battleship.
4:54:43 > 4:54:48But then the Navy... well, got to the bottom of it.
4:54:48 > 4:54:52The newspaper called New York Post had front page,
4:54:52 > 4:54:59"The Navy is using tax dollars money to contribute to the video clip of the group with ambiguity."
4:54:59 > 4:55:03So the Navy immediately stopped the campaign
4:55:03 > 4:55:08and they said officially it was for budget reasons.
4:55:08 > 4:55:14But when they stopped the campaign, all the papers wrote about it, so it was good publicity.
4:55:14 > 4:55:20Discharged, and back on dry land, The Village People headed for Hollywood.
4:55:20 > 4:55:26It was to prove a low point for disco...and the movies!
4:55:26 > 4:55:30I quit my job and you got me working the beat again!
4:55:30 > 4:55:37- I told you I had a surprise for you. - I hope so!- Hey, don't forget, I quit MY job, too!
4:55:37 > 4:55:40- I got faith in you.- Really?- Yeah.
4:55:40 > 4:55:43I got a place to rehearse.
4:55:43 > 4:55:45And it's free!
4:55:47 > 4:55:49# You can't stop the music
4:55:49 > 4:55:55# Nobody can stop the music Tell the sun, don't shine
4:55:55 > 4:56:00# Cos that's easier to do.
4:56:00 > 4:56:03# You can't stop the music... #
4:56:03 > 4:56:07Mercifully, someone DID stop the music.
4:56:07 > 4:56:12The movie Can't Stop The Music was shot in 1979. In the middle of 1980,
4:56:12 > 4:56:16we knew that definitely the movie was a flop.
4:56:16 > 4:56:20And disco was starting to fade away.
4:56:22 > 4:56:29When kids see things happening that obviously aren't hip, they move on to something else fast.
4:56:29 > 4:56:32This is now officially the world's largest
4:56:32 > 4:56:35anti-disco rally!
4:56:35 > 4:56:39By 1979, the inevitable disco backlash had arrived.
4:56:39 > 4:56:45Rock fans converged on a baseball stadium in Chicago and, under the banner of "Disco Sucks"
4:56:45 > 4:56:48blew up effigies and burned records.
4:56:49 > 4:56:51Yes!
4:56:52 > 4:56:54Holy cow!
4:56:55 > 4:56:58That felt real good!
4:56:58 > 4:57:03The thing that was really heartbreaking to me
4:57:03 > 4:57:09is that I looked upon disco music as some of the most politically-powerful music
4:57:09 > 4:57:14that had ever happened to American culture. Because, even though,
4:57:14 > 4:57:21in the '60s we could talk about women's liberation and the gay movement...
4:57:21 > 4:57:25in the '70s, it played itself out in pop culture.
4:57:25 > 4:57:31To me, it looks like a Nazi book burning. You could say that's being too serious,
4:57:31 > 4:57:36but I think there was homophobia, racism and sexism in the Disc Sucks movement.
4:57:41 > 4:57:45# At first I was afraid I was petrified... #
4:57:45 > 4:57:48I think the people who started
4:57:48 > 4:57:56Disco Sucks and all that craziness were people who were making their money in other genres of music
4:57:56 > 4:58:00and wanted disco to die. But it hasn't died.
4:58:00 > 4:58:05# I just walked in to find you here With that sad look upon your face. #
4:58:05 > 4:58:10Disco never really went away. I think only the name went.
4:58:10 > 4:58:13You will always have dance music.
4:58:13 > 4:58:17# Go on, now, go Walk out the door... #
4:58:17 > 4:58:22Disco just transformed into different areas. Every musical cycle has to end.
4:58:22 > 4:58:27Disco now is house, it's garage, it's jungle, techno.
4:58:27 > 4:58:32# You think I'd lay down and die? Oh, no, not I! I will survive! #
4:58:32 > 4:58:38I say disco has not died. It simply changed its name to protect the innocent.
4:58:38 > 4:58:45# I've got all my life to live And I've got all my love to give And I'll survive! I will survive!
4:58:45 > 4:58:47# Hey! Hey! #
4:58:57 > 4:59:01Next week, When Rock Ruled The World.
4:59:07 > 4:59:10# Since you been gone! #
4:59:10 > 4:59:13Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.
4:59:13 > 4:59:16Learn him how to give blow jobs at school.
4:59:16 > 4:59:19I thought that was a good idea!
4:59:19 > 4:59:23- So rock'n'roll! - Try that if you're man enough.
4:59:26 > 4:59:28- Kill him!- Turn that shit down.
4:59:28 > 4:59:32Subtitles by Janice Hamilton BBC Scotland, 2002
4:59:32 > 4:59:35E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk