Disco

In case you aren't aware, disco had a stunning fall from grace in 1979, going from 80% of the Billboard Top 10 in May to getting evicted from the #1 spot by August, a period which was exemplified by and saw a highly visible grassroots anti-disco movement. IMO, trap music was able to narrowly avoid such a crash; although its market share is declining as and some artists (MGK, Lil Uzi Vert) drift into outright rock or adult contemporary. However, this doesn't seem like nearly as acrimonious or contentious of a decline, in part because a number of trap artists have been adjacent to country, rock, or R&B for some years (Young Thug, Jack Harlow, LNX, etc) and in part because there is still a vibrant trap underground with a number of interesting sub-genres and fusions (phonk, sigilkore, etc). The closest 2023 parallel to "Disco Demolition Night" in popular culture has been in cinema, which at least in Hollywood has grown very dependent on tentpole blockbuster franchises that generally draw from superhero comics or other science-fiction universes, and which have been having an increasingly bad run since about June-July (the "Flopbuster" summer followed by the strike and now iffy reviews for The Marvels and Hunger Games). Did rap/trap avoid an outright crash, and are there non-trivial parallels between the disco crash of 1979 and the "capeshit fatigue" of 2023?

I was listening to Ten Percent by Double Exposure the other day and out of curiosity I decided to check out the Disco chart on Rate Your Music to see what I could get.

Jessie Ware, Daft Punk, Pet Shop Boys, Kylie in the top ten?

No disrespect whatsoever, I love all of them but c‘mon now, saying that they are the best the genre has to offer is saying Joy Division is the best that post-punk has (don’t get me wrong, I love JD myself but Gang of Four and many other projects do exist).

I know, that’s my own fault because RYM is an echo chamber that places every single video game OST in almost every top ten. Fair.

A couple of months ago I was attending a party and the DJ said he specially prepared a set of disco gems. I was like ok, let’s get it.

He spun your Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Ohio Players, New Order(?), Bananarama(?), Madonna(?), The Trammps, you know the drill.

All of them good songs and acts but picture this, a similar experience happened to me last Mother’s Day. I was DJing the family gathering with your disco standard hits and then my father comes to me and starts requesting some disco deep cuts.

Ferrara, The Salsoul Orchestra, some Tavares b sides, you name it, some really cool tracks, the kind of tracks that James Murphy and Nancy Whang play when they’re making a LCD Soundsystem record .

The man wiped the floor with me.

I know he was probably doing the hustle on the dance floor back in the day and I could never experience that kind of music insight but all of this made me think, man, is disco a kind of forgotten or not yet well rediscovered music genre? I know that it had a revival back when Daft Punk released RAM but I dont see many music enthusiasts really knowing more disco, they seem to know even less (just look at the RYM chart).

Idk, what do you think?

title is oddly specific but goddd i love listening to songs like "magic man" by heart, "strawberry letter 23" (love these so much) and "stomp!" by the brothers johnson, and "stayin alive" while i'm walking around, they make me feel timeless and infinite and very happy and i'd love some recs similar to the ones listed solely for this vibe <3

edit: WOAAAH wasn't expecting so many replies, i extend bountiful gratitude to anyone who gave recs. i'm gonna have funkiness for dayssss!!!!!!!! imma spend some time compiling these all together. these songs will be on my spotify profile if anyone's interested:

The superhero fatigue was legit in 2023, but I’m wondering if the genre is having their hair metal and disco moment right now.

I’ve always been a huge lover of 80’s pop, so if anyone knows of any songs in that being, please let me know. As of right now, I am trying to make a playlist of synthpop songs but don’t know where to start. I have two in my playlist right now but I’d like to add more.

Some examples of songs that I really like that have the style I’m referring to are:

- It has a deliberate throwback classic and sounds like Sam Cooke and Quincy Jones.

- One of my favorites from Dawn FM, with such a strong pop appeal that I'm surprised the song isn’t as popular.

- I found Daft Punk from Giorgio By Moroder, and just fell in love with the song and the album itself lol.

This also made me wonder if synth-wave and retro pop will become the next big thing in music? Because I’m going to be so happy if it happens because I’ve been a major fan of the retro synth-wave scene for a while.

I was listening to Cake's I Will Survive and got me thinking it was the only rock cover of a disco song I know, and of course, it's a great one. Are there any others out there that give justice to the original disco song?

I feel like I’m the only millennial that listens to disco music regularly. I think it’s a niche interest? Any other people under 40 that enjoys listening to disco? I love ABBA, Diana Ross, and Donna Summer especially.

Mine is Michael Gray - The Weekend

Hi guys, it’s Purple Disco Machine and I am very excited for my first AMA!

I just released my new single ‘Fireworks’ feat. Moss Kena ＆ The Knocks (), which will be part of my forthcoming album, just like my previous single ‘Hypnotized’ feat. Sophie ＆ The Giants ()

To make the most out of the past months and quarantine times, I just renovated my studio, which is the place I spend most of my time at lately and occasionally invite you guys to have a look behind the scenes, like in this video:

I am really looking forward to chatting with you - Ask Me Anything!

Proof: