JuliaD Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 Did anyone catch the "disco ball" on ABC tonight? I admit, I loved the disco scene, as a dancer, there was hardly a better time to be alive, and as a woman, it was a very nice era, women dressed up, couples danced while actually touching each other, etc... but the show on ABC tonight was a letdown, for one thing, the people dancing in it weren't doing disco dancing anymore than Eminem does opera... they were doing funk, period...And the addition of "Latin flavor" to some of the music was just stupid, those songs were never meant to have Latin flavor anymore than "Vaya Con Dios" was meant to be sung in Russian... what I thought would be an interesting, fun look at a bygone era was nothing but a publicity stunt to raise money... charities are all well and good, but if there's a theme, they should at least *try* to make it work... Maurice Gibb is probably glad he missed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 Julia--I have to confess to watching most of the show. My wife had it on when I came home from work. The highlight for us was doing "YMCA" with one of our cats--Kirk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 I caught most of the show. Listened to it anyway while playing Solitaire on the computer. I enjoyed "YMCA". I'm guilty of not doing the "M" correctly.....sigh.I've got to say, musically the show was disappointing to my "Eric-trained ear". A lot of the singers sounded like they hadn't sang in a long, long, long time. No vocal control. Not that I'm a singer mind you, but it just seemed like they'd been drinking milk and not practicing their scales!! I liked Gloria Gaynor. The lady from England sucked (my opinion only--maybe I just need to remove some wax from my ears.....)It was fun though to re-live those by-gone disco days though. I'm trying to picture my cats doing disco..... --Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 18, 2003 Author Share Posted January 18, 2003 I really did enjoy seeing the Village People again, but if you ask me, that was the only redeeming quality of the entire show... the dancers had no clue how to do disco, it was like watching NSynch... and many of the classic disco songs were "updated" to the point where they completely lost the disco part... I watched the whole thing, but I thought it coulda been done a lot better, a "tribute" to disco *should* have some real disco in it, doncha think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 The NBC special back in 1995 or 1996 was better than "Disco Ball". That special also had the Bee Gees with the late Maurice Gibb as well as the Village People. I can't think of the title of the show but the show had a few stars from the 70's decade. That show was also rerun at the old Family Channel now known as ABC Family back then. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 In my opinion, (Which, let's face it, is the only opinion that really counts) the only band who's songs still consistently hold up from that otherwise embarrassing disco era is KC And The Sunshine Band. The BeeGees songs would have held up if they weren't all sung chipmunk style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 Whew! Cartmill .... you've been in the California sun too long! KC? ... yeah, right.mam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 "Shake shake shake...Shake shake shake...Shake your booty...Shake your booty...! OK! Maybe just their music holds up. I still feel like dancing when I hear that music. KC's horn section and Latin percussion sounded much better than that annoying open high-hat rhythm that dominated that era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 19, 2003 Author Share Posted January 19, 2003 At least KC looks better now than he did a few years ago... I saw him on VH-1 maybe 2-3 years ago and he looked awful... and I like his music, and it's hard to argue with success, even if it's limited success... as I remember Clint Holmes said when I saw him live, "I'd like to sing a medly of my HIT"... *audience laughs*... Clint says "well, how many hits have YOU had?"... too true...The Bee Gees songs were classic disco, and always will be, c'mon... there was no one more chipmunky than Frankie Valli, and it didn't exactly hurt his career, did it?I liked Donna Summer a lot, too, my favorite was "Dim All The Lights"... great song (yeah, Tony, I know, you liked "Love to love ya, baby") :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 19, 2003 Share Posted January 19, 2003 "Love to Love You Baby" Hmmmmm...Listening to a woman have an orgasm on record makes Tony Jr. go up. Mixing in open hi-hat disco beat makes Tony Jr. go limp. I had mixed feelings about that one.I did live in fear that Armagedon was near when "Ring My Bell" went to #1 in the U.S. Yuck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliaD Posted January 20, 2003 Author Share Posted January 20, 2003 Omigod, I can't believe you posted that, geeeeeeezzzzzzzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Oh c'mon Tony, what about "I Will Survive"? That song is a classic. And Donna Summer's "Last Dance" is the last song played in clubs all over America to this day. Do you remember "You're A Native New Yorker" by...whoever it was? I sang that song in 10th grade English for a class project and got an A+. The lyrics are just full of dangling participles. Can you say the same about any song of KC's? Huh? Can you? LydP.S. say hi to Tony jr for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 The soul-disco trio called Odyssey had the song "Native New Yorker" which went to # 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart back in January 1978. They also had the song "Weekend Lover" which went to # 57 back in June 1978. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 "Native New Yorker" was a rare and sophisticated disco song. Thanks for reminding me Lydia. I actually bought that album back then because of that song. The album version was great. I could tolerate the open hi-hat on that one because there was so much other good musical stuff going on. There were a few exceptions to the disco gag rule, but not many. "Last Dance" sounds like it was written by a 10 year old. "I Will Survive" is only really appreciated by gay men and women who like to remember being dumped by a guy and getting over it. The music is still typical disco. 1 out of 3 Lydia. What else? "Dance With Me" by Peter Somebody? "Give Me The Night" by George Benson? "Stomp" and "Strawberry Letter 22/23?" by Brothers Johnson. Those were pretty good songs. Earth, Wind & Fire were too smart and talented to put a disco beat on their tunes from that era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Peter Brown had the song called "Dance With Me" back in 1978 with Betty Wright (of "Clean Up Woman" from 1972). The song went to # 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. His other hit was "Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me" peaking at # 18 in 1977, "You Should Do It" (with Betty Wright) peaking at # 54 in 1978, "Crank It Up" (Funk Town) Part 1 peaking at # 86 in 1979 & "Stargazer" peaking at # 59 back in 1980. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Matthew, are you a real person or a computer database? Yours and Marvin's knowledge of music history freak me out. And your disco knowledge makes me wonder, Do you sleep in polyester?I love the info. Keep it coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Computer database??? Nah. Matthew and Marvin are like warm fuzzy blankets you run to when the hazy mists of fading memories leave you shivering out in the cold.Lyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Well I am going to dig deeper for you all. Peter Brown's "A Fantasy Love Affair" album peaked at # 11 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts back in 1978. The next album, "Stargazer" went to # 206 in 1980 on the Billboard Bubbling Under The Top 200 Charts. Peter Brown had three more songs Bubbling Under The Singles Chart in the 80's. The songs "Baby Gets High" peaked at # 104 but hit the Soul R&B Billboard Charts at # 49 back in Feburary 1983, "They Only Come Out At Night" peaked at # 102 but hit the Soul R&B Billboard Charts at # 50 back in May of 1984 & "Zie Zie Won't Dance" peaking at # 108 on the Billboard Bubbled Under Charts & went nowhere on the Soul R&B Billboard Charts back in May of 1985. The Soul/disco group called Odyssey had three songs that Bubbled Under. The single "Single Again/What Time Does The Balloon Go Up" peaked at # 107 back in November of 1978, "Don't Tell Me, Tell Her" peaked at # 105 but hit the Soul R&B Billboard Charts at # 44 back in July of 1980 & "Inside Out" peaked at # 104 but hit the Soul R&B Billboard Charts at # 12 back in September of 1982. On the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts, the debut album "Odyssey" peaked at # 36 back in December of 1977, "Hollywood Party Tonight" peaked at # 123 back in November of 1978, "Hang Together" peaked at # 181 back in June of 1980 & "I Got The Melody" peaked at # 175 back in August of 1981 & that was it. I bought the Billboard Books from the mail. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Did you see that? At the end of the Matthew's postthere was an electrical short. Smoke came out of his ears, arms started waving..."Information Overload! Danger, Danger Will Robinson...Danger!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Hey Matt, you could probably pinch hit for Casey Kasem on the AT Top 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 As much as I hated most disco music, there were some songs that I will grudgingly admit I liked and even found myself humming from time to time. Even though "I Will Survive" was not one of them, whenever we played that song in our band, the crowd would go nuts. Here are some 'dance-oriented' songs from the 70's that I thought were well done:1. Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel - Tavares2. More than A Woman - the Bee Gees / Tavares3. Nights on Broadway - the Bee Gees4. Who Loves You - the 4 Seasons5. Le Freak - Chic6. Play that Funky Music - Wild Cherry7. Dancing Machine - the Jacksons 8. Couldn't Get It Right - ClimaxMARVIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Marvin: There were two Climax groups. The Climax Blues Band had "Couldn't Get It Right" which went to # 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts & # 43 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts back in April of 1977. The other group Climax (featuring Sonny Geraci, former lead singer of The Outsiders) who had the hit "Precious And Few" which went to # 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts & # 6 on the Billboard Adult Comtemporary Charts back in February of 1972. The group also had "Life And Breath" peaking at # 52 (Hot 100) & # 15 (AC Charts) back in June of 1972 & "Walking In The Georgia Rain" peaking at # 38 on the AC Charts but went nowhere on the Hot 100 Charts back in November of 1973. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Marvin, those are good songs. But I don't consider "Who Loves You" and "Nights on Broadway" songs that were part of the depressing disco deviation.I still play the long version of Taveras's "Heaven..." now and then. Great disco song. I'm glad it made a comeback on the "Charlie's Angels" movie soundtrack. And what ever happened to that Wild Cherry guy who wrote "Play That Funky Music"? I can't believehe was only a 1-hit wonder...Matthew?...Marvin?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellece Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Okay, Princess 80s has to step in in the middle of a disco thread, heehee..Matthew (and Marvin), wasn't there a group in the Eighties called Clymaxx that did a song in 86-87 called "I Miss You"? (cheesy name for a band, IMHO)--E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Yes Ellece there was a band called K(with a "k")lymaxx that did "I Miss You."MARVIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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