Disco

by Roberta Morgan

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517309734
• ISBN13: 9780517309735
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Bell Publishing Co.
• Length: 63 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Window On An Era

Chapter One discusses the history of Disco, beginning with the ancient roots of dance, through rock `n roll and the birth of the actual discothèque in the mid-1960s. The dance called the Hustle, created by the youths of East Harlem, was instrumental in spreading the new dance culture and by the mid-1970s, discos started opening in great numbers all over New York City. Van McCoy's record The Hustle was one o the fist soon to be fold by Gloria Gaynor's Never Can Say goodbye and the songs of Barry White. Donna Summer and The Village People. Chapter 2 deals with disco fashion and has a nice pic of Christina Onassis dancing away, while Chapter 3 provides interesting histories of disco stars like grace Jones, John Travolta. Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, The Bee Gees, Chic, Sister Sledge, The Village People, Cher, Linda Clifford, Sylvester, Gino Soccio and Madleen Kane. Chapter 4 describes the dancing styles and demonstrates the Cross Step, the Bus Stop and three types of Hustles with illustrated footsteps, while Chapter 5 provides a list of discos in all the major cities of the US and Canada, from Atlanta to Winnipeg, as they existed in the late 1970s. The text is enlivened by stunning black and white photographs of places like Regines, Studio 54, The Electric Circus, The Copacabana, The Funhouse, and celebrities like Margaret Trudeau, Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger plus artists like Grace Jones, Tony Orlando, Rod Stewart and all the others mentioned above. There are also 15 brilliant colour photographs that really capture all the glitter and excitement of the disco culture. Reading this book again gave me a feeling of extreme nostalgia for those more innocent times - as a teenybopper I was fortunate to enjoy the last years of disco. For those interested in the disco phenomenon, I would also like to recommend Albert Goldman's Disco, a more substantial and detailed work that also features lovely photographs.