Hey, Fellow Geezers, How Did Disco Affect Your Musical Trajectory?

[blue]

Originally Posted by Don Lampson

I'd hardly consider the Tubes as any sort of disco! What a great number it was! Too bad they were pretty much a one hit wonder....
Don

Oops. Left out a key fact. I wasn't suggesting the Tubes were disco. The dudes I left with were in The Tubes! In San Francisco they were all over the radio. What Do You Want From Life, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, TV is King, Talk to ya Later, She's a Beauty... Those are just the accessible "hits" from my memory.

I have no doubt someone living elsewhere maybe only heard 1 or 2 of their songs. Kinda like growing up in Boston during a certain period. The Cars, Aerosmith, Boston... Before the days of corporate programed radio stations you got a lot of local flavor.

[gibpicker]

Originally Posted by blue

I saw him at the Opera House. I used to Usher there. You had to do all the events pretty much, which was the downside. The upside was you got to sit on the steps and watch the shows once the house-lights dropped.

Turned into one of the longest most memorable nights of my life. A couple of younger guys (compared to the usual Opera House Guests) were curious about why a "kid" would be ushering, and we started talking, and in the second intermission, they invited me out afterwards.

Perfect world, it would have been to the after-party with Sylvester and all the other performers. Not the case. BUT, and it's a big but, Turns out they were in the band The Tubes. Long night. Very long night.

The joke back then was 'Blaupunkts on dope'

[Photojeep]

I did my best to not get very much of it on me!

Best,
PJ

[k_russell]

I spent a lot more time with my classical guitar. Jazz, Bluegrass, an old Blues recordings worked their way into my collection.

[imwjl]

It was not my thing but I always appreciated good rhythm guitar playing and Nile Rogers. Long after the peak I came to appreciate a few songs and musicians.

There was also an in or outside of the US aspect. 1975 - 80 trips to Spain, Russia, Switzerland, Jamaica and Peru were a different perspective on Disco (and reggae).

Also, Tubes were far more than a one hit wonder. There were several albums and I saw them perform at different times. Maybe just like that mentioning reggae a few Tubes hits were known but there were albums and shows full of stuff beyond one hit wonder. At that same time people knew a few Tubes songs and reggae musicians but there was much more.

It is funny to think of disco and reggae at same time because a 1970s family trip to Jamaica had European and S. American guests at the resort and the disco there was different. At same time I met a high school girl of same age and we kept escaping the resort, went to dance halls, and saw reggae wasn't just Bob Marley and we saw the dance hall and DJ stuff that influenced a lot after all that. I wonder where she ended up and if our parents knew all the adventure the older kids at the resort had.

Regardless, disco was or is much appreciation for min7 and barre chords and a constant reminder of the talent I lack.

[Davis Webb]

Disco was incredible and really opened up composition. Only today do we realize the richness of the BeeGee's vocal arrangements. The fusion of a solid beat with orchestral parts. The way it brought people together. At the time it was horrid to me. But later on I realized there was good Disco and bad Disco.

[Denny B]

I still remember seeing an interview with the Bee Gees after Saturday Night Fever had been released and they were asked what they thought of the songs they had written for the soundtrack when they had first recorded them...

One of them said "We thought it sounded like the soundtrack to a cheap porn movie..."

Then they all laughed, and broke into "How deep is your love, how deep is your love..."

[hairpuller]

I went the exact opposite direction getting into English Punk Rock, i.e., the Buzzcocks, Undertones, Clash, Pistols, et. al.

scott

[M Hayden]

Like every other genre, disco varied in quality. Some of the good stuff was good with interesting changes and textures that were fun to play.

“Bad Girls” was fun with interesting if simple changes, though in an extended dance thing, your hand starts to hurt after 10 mins or so

[dirkronk]

Musically, I was never a huge fan. Kinda liked the beat at its outset, but eventually it palled big time...I couldn't wait for it to go away. I never played in a band, though, so it had no impact on my personal development or deterioration on that front.

Culturally, I never frequented the disco scene...never cruised for ladies at the bars or anything like that. However, it had two impacts that I can remember. I was in my late 20s at the time.

1. The bad: I bought an off-white suit. This was about 1978 or 1979, I had the slimmer physique to pull it off, and it seemed like an appropriately fashionable thing to do. Turns out it wasn't. One girl I'd hoped to impress actually made fun of me. Dang.

2. The good: I had a large local disco here in San Antonio as an ad client: Hallelujah Hollywood. Its gimmick was decor that featured Hollywood landmarks and old movie/TV stars. Print ads were limited, but they did a LOT of radio. The agency I was with produced TV/radio/film ads all over the country at the time (including the real Hollywood), but for this client we went to Dallas and lined up one of my favorite voice talents of all time...guy named Brice Armstrong. Brice would later become famous as the voice of Dragon Ball Z's Captain Ginyu, but at that moment, I'd been using him for several years and knew that he could replicate a HUGE number of old-time actor voices. So I wrote a number of radio spots (some straight, some tongue-in-cheek) and had Brice do them using the voices of Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Bing Crosby and lots of others. Also encouraged Brice to ad lib when he felt like it. The spots went over big time and the client was very, very happy. By the early 1980s, of course, disco was on enough of a decline to deep-six my client's radio budget. But MAN, did we have fun doing those old spots while it lasted. Sadly, I recently learned that Brice passed away back in January.

So long, RIP, and thanks for the positive disco memories, Brice.

Dirk

[Everton FC]

I was never too into disco - but I never dismissed the genre. The Bee Gees Greatest Hits from the late 70s was/is and excellent album. Bands like Dr, Hook got into it with "When Your In Love With A Beautiful Woman". Then there were bands like Tavares, and bands like The Commodores, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Ohio Players, The Brothers' Johnson, and others, who one could argue took advantage of the "disco" era, but were much more. I was into rock, folk, punk, new wave - typical NY kid. But I never plugged my ears to disco. A fair but of it was crap. But the bands I mentioned - and many more - were more than credible. It's why everything from James Taylor, to Tavares, to The Who, to Aztec Camera, to the O'Jays, to the Dead, (and so on) have always found their way into my musical library. All genres have their credible artists. Of course, disco also produced a lot of crap - and I never liked he discos or the roller rinks. A folkie/rocker, at heart!