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Disco... Best intro or hook

Chico_SA

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Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley 3289

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4 hours ago, smuggs said:

 

I feel like that track is the exact moment that disco morphed into EDM.  You really hear and feel it in the synth bass and the hi hat upbeats.  

Good thread, btw.  

I think it's unfair and perverse that disco - mostly made by some really talented musicians with great hooks/vocals/percussionists/string arrangements/etc. - had a 5- or 6- year run, and now the entire genre is considered a punchline.  And EDM, which I would argue requires FAR less skill and imagination (dragging loops into software platforms) is going strong after four decades.  

 

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Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley 3289

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More Bernie and Niles.  Writing lyrics wasn't their strong suit, however.  Pugilist Will Smith exploited this hook a lot more effectively in "Jiggy."  It's silly but it's undeniably hooky.

 

 

 

Sampled a thousand times, including the track that gave hiphop its name.  Pure genius.

 

 

 

 

I think this one is a masterclass in songwriting - I cannot think of a song that does a better job of building and releasing tension with its chord changes.  The IV chord falling to a minor IV, the way you don't get a root chord until the chorus, the way the vocal in the pre chorus starts on a dissonant note that resolves within each measure... it's sublime. 

The bridge is just kind of unfortunate.  

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dcbc

dcbc 14507

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Posted (edited)

While the bass line in Stayin' Alive is iconic, I prefer the intro to Jive Talkin', which has the fartiest sounding bass intro in the world, which somehow works.

 

 

Edited by dcbc
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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17742

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Posted
35 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I feel like that track is the exact moment that disco morphed into EDM.  You really hear and feel it in the synth bass and the hi hat upbeats.  

Good thread, btw.  

I think it's unfair and perverse that disco - mostly made by some really talented musicians with great hooks/vocals/percussionists/string arrangements/etc. - had a 5- or 6- year run, and now the entire genre is considered a punchline.  And EDM, which I would argue requires FAR less skill and imagination (dragging loops into software platforms) is going strong after four decades.  

 

And on top of it, I remember in grade school older kids - high schoolers  - getting really worked up about disco as an affront to "true" rock and rollers.  Where the rest of us were like, "I like the Bee Gees AND KISS."  Thus spaketh Gen X.  But no one listened.  

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Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley 3289

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2 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

And on top of it, I remember in grade school older kids - high schoolers  - getting really worked up about disco as an affront to "true" rock and rollers.  Where the rest of us were like, "I like the Bee Gees AND KISS."  Thus spaketh Gen X.  But no one listened.  

Man, The Bee Gees and KISS - what a weird and wonderful musical time to grow up.

I remember being 7- or 8-years old, riding home from school in mom's Ford LTD with its a.m. radio, and its vinyl seats that got blistering hot in the summer sun.  We pulled up to a stoplight - I remember *exactly* where - beside a young guy in a Pinto, and he had a bumper sticker that said, "Disco Sucks.  Rock and Roll is Still Number One" - or something very close to that.  And I remember thinking that anyone who would put such a confrontational sticker on their car must be a sociopath (though I didn't have that term in my vocabulary)... and besides that, what kind of a monster doesn't love disco?

Also, I'm out of rep or I would have given it to every post on this thread.

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tbone_

tbone_ 14146

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And on top of it, I remember in grade school older kids - high schoolers  - getting really worked up about disco as an affront to "true" rock and rollers.  Where the rest of us were like, "I like the Bee Gees AND KISS."  Thus spaketh Gen X.  But no one listened.  

Exactly this. I thought they were both cool. And Willie. I didn’t understand back then why I was only supposed to like one.
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tbone_

tbone_ 14146

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And count me in the group that really appreciates the good parts of disco. Too bad it was short lived and often gets bad rap. Lots of talented folks.

I agree with JJ upthread. Stayin Alive might just be the best groove ever laid down.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31529

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Well, here's why I hated disco, although I have mellowed toward it since.

When Saturday Night Fever came out, I was in 5th or 6th grade.  And thereabouts we had our first "cotillion" dance lessons with girls.  That is awkward as fuck to begin with, but add in having to do SNF disco routines and fuck all of that with a broken bottle.

Emasculating, it was.

Also, the whole Studio 54 disco culture was risible.  THAT is the problem with disco, not the music.  But the music gets tarred with the culture.

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17742

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37 minutes ago, tbone_ said:


Exactly this. I thought they were both cool. And Willie. I didn’t understand back then why I was only supposed to like one.

My Dad was all about Willie and 50s rock. And that was pretty much it.  Back then he was very much "I like Country because I'm Country and Country is who I am."  He used to kind of take good hearted subtle digs at my older cousin's Led Zeppelin posters.  Which of course, made me search out the Zep.    I recall him being flabbergasted back when I was in 2nd Grade, that after watching a music history show on PBS I could ask for both Glenn Miller AND The Beatles.  Nevermind all the stuff I was seeing on Soul Train.  These things were like oil and water for him.  He gets it now.  But man, those were good times.

In any case, this whole thread is a like a master class in bass groove.  If anyone here is trying to play bass, this thread is what you should aspire to.  

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66BUFF

66BUFF 2565

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3 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

And on top of it, I remember in grade school older kids - high schoolers  - getting really worked up about disco as an affront to "true" rock and rollers.  Where the rest of us were like, "I like the Bee Gees AND KISS."  Thus spaketh Gen X.  But no one listened.  

Why not both

 

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dcbc

dcbc 14507

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Paul Wesley said:

Man, The Bee Gees and KISS - what a weird and wonderful musical time to grow up.

I remember being 7- or 8-years old, riding home from school in mom's Ford LTD with its a.m. radio, and its vinyl seats that got blistering hot in the summer sun.  We pulled up to a stoplight - I remember *exactly* where - beside a young guy in a Pinto, and he had a bumper sticker that said, "Disco Sucks.  Rock and Roll is Still Number One" - or something very close to that.  And I remember thinking that anyone who would put such a confrontational sticker on their car must be a sociopath (though I didn't have that term in my vocabulary)... and besides that, what kind of a monster doesn't love disco?

Also, I'm out of rep or I would have given it to every post on this thread.

My sister graduated from high school in 1979.  I was about 6 at the time.  She used to drive me to school in her turquoise Camaro blasting the Ace Frehley Kiss solo 8track (I still have that 8track--or a slightly less blistered one).  I remember her also going to a Bee Gees concert and bootlegging it.  Sounded shitty, but good on her sneaking a 70s era cassette player into a concert.

 

Unfortunately, she did not leave behind a cool record collection with a note instructing me to burn a candle while Tommy was playing so that I could see my future.

 

Anyway, if this ain't disco . . .

 

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46094

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First live pop/rock band I ever saw was KC & The Sunshine Band.  They happened to be playing an amphitheater at Six Flags (StL) when I was there.  I was probably 12.  I liked it -- I had never heard anything that loud and my parents weren't anywhere near me, so I felt a tiny bit free (to get my groove on).

DIsco turned south in the public eye when Chicago FM rock station WLS blew up a giant container of disco vinyl at Comiskey Park in 1979.  That cemented the transition to punk and new wave for the broader American listening public.  I'm not SURE disco had more "shit per hit" than other pop genres, but it definitely had its share.  The time had come to move on.

That said, The Bee Gees were flat out geniuses.

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PRONG HORN

PRONG HORN 3150

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4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

DIsco turned south in the public eye when Chicago FM rock station WLS blew up a giant container of disco vinyl at Comiskey Park in 1979.  That cemented the transition to punk and new wave for the broader American listening public.  I'm not SURE disco had more "shit per hit" than other pop genres, but it definitely had its share.  The time had come to move on.

That said, The Bee Gees were flat out geniuses.

 

Corporate espionage.  The people making money from rock helped to kill disco prematurely because they were afraid to compete in the long run.  

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tbone_

tbone_ 14146

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My sister graduated from high school in 1979.  I was about 6 at the time.  She used to drive me to school in her turquoise Camaro blasting the Ace Frehley Kiss solo 8track (I still have that 8track--or a slightly less blistered one).  I remember her also going to a Bee Gees concert and bootlegging it.  Sounded shitty, but good on her sneaking a 70s era cassette player into a concert.
 
Unfortunately, she did not leave behind a cool record collection with a note instructing me to burn a candle while Tommy was playing so that I could see my future.
 
Anyway, if this ain't disco . . .
 
 

I don’t know if that’s disco or not, but it’s a kick ass fucking tune
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tbone_

tbone_ 14146

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My Dad was all about Willie and 50s rock. And that was pretty much it.  Back then he was very much "I like Country because I'm Country and Country is who I am."  He used to kind of take good hearted subtle digs at my older cousin's Led Zeppelin posters.  Which of course, made me search out the Zep.    I recall him being flabbergasted back when I was in 2nd Grade, that after watching a music history show on PBS I could ask for both Glenn Miller AND The Beatles.  Nevermind all the stuff I was seeing on Soul Train.  These things were like oil and water for him.  He gets it now.  But man, those were good times.
In any case, this whole thread is a like a master class in bass groove.  If anyone here is trying to play bass, this thread is what you should aspire to.  

Many fights were had in my hood over this shit. Well, between the freaks and ropers. Disco dudes not so much.

My dad was primarily into Willie as well. But he did also turn me on to such gems as Songs in the Key of Life, Al DiMeola, and In A Gadda Da Vida.
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Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley 3289

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If you’re 20-30 years old now, it would be hard to get your head around how totally pervasive disco culture became.  The clothes, the lights, disco balls, the dancing shows on TV - it was unavoidable.  Radio stations changed formats or went bankrupt. 
 

The Stones made a disco song, Barbara Streisand released an (awful) disco record, KISS made a disco song, Sesame Street had disco music, there were disco variety shows on network TV…

If you walked through a department store, the clothes were everywhere- the clothes were strongly related to the music.  

And unlike today, when things go viral and are gone in a week, the disco stuff went on for *years*.

The BeeGees documentary has a really great segment where the scene goes back and forth between the band on jumbo jets and limousines and fighting through throngs of fans - versus the “blow up disco” promotion in Chicago that turned into a riot.  The band had no idea how sudden and powerful the backlash against them was about to be.  

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tbone_

tbone_ 14146

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Posted
If you’re 20-30 years old now, it would be hard to get your head around how totally pervasive disco culture became.  The clothes, the lights, disco balls, the dancing shows on TV - it was unavoidable.  Radio stations changed formats or went bankrupt. 
 
The Stones made a disco song, Barbara Streisand released an (awful) disco record, KISS made a disco song, Sesame Street had disco music, there were disco variety shows on network TV…
If you walked through a department store, the clothes were everywhere- the clothes were strongly related to the music.  
And unlike today, when things go viral and are gone in a week, the disco stuff went on for *years*.
The BeeGees documentary has a really great segment where the scene goes back and forth between the band on jumbo jets and limousines and fighting through throngs of fans - versus the “blow up disco” promotion in Chicago that turned into a riot.  The band had no idea how sudden and powerful the backlash against them was about to be.  

Yea I think I was just a bit too young to realize all that. 1968 vintage. I just thought it was cool music.

But then I discovered Zeppelin and the Eagles in about 1980 and that was all she wrote.
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31529

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1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Wha defines disco anyway?

is abba SOS disco?

is wild cherry play that funky music disco?

I dunno.  Seems to me it was an extension of R&B/Soul with some electronics, at first.

Toward the end, though, especially with white artists, it was  . . . different from that.

One thing is fairly certain, though, without disco, there never would have been rap.

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