Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco (47 page)

1969.
The Church, later called the Sanctuary, opens in an old church in New York’s theater district. Francis Grasso, one of the crafters of the disco aesthetic, is the club’s DJ.

1969. Time
magazine declares the “Middle American” as the “Man and Woman of the Year.”

February 1969.
Jerry Butler’s “Only the Strong Survive” is released. The record would help define the sound of Philadelphia International, which would become the most important component of the disco sound.

June 27, 1969.
The Stonewall Inn, a dingy gay bar on Christopher Street in Manhattan, is raided by police. Fed up with constant harassment by the cops, the bar’s patrons protest, and the gay pride movement is born.

December 31, 1969.
The Cockettes, a cross-dressing theater troupe featuring Sylvester, debut in San Francisco.

February 14, 1970.
David Mancuso holds his “Love Saves the Day” party at his loft space on Broadway. His weekly parties take off and become the most crucial crucible of disco.

May 8–20, 1970.
The “Hard Hat Riots” explode in lower Manhattan when construction workers attack an antiwar demonstration.

May 27, 1970.
The Ice Palace, an important gay discotheque, opens on Fire Island.

December 1972.
Fire Island habitués open the Tenth Floor in an abandoned warehouse in New York’s garment district.

Late 1972 / early 1973.
Two Motown records, Eddie Kendricks’s “Girl You Need a Change of Mind” and the Temptations’ “Law of the Land,” become the prototype disco records.

1973.
Latin record label Mericana changes its name to Salsoul after its most successful record, and will soon become the most important disco label.

1973.
Kool DJ Herc throws his first party at the community center at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, in the Bronx, and hip-hop is born.

June 1973.
Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” enters the American pop charts after it becomes a favorite record at the Loft and other New York nightclubs.

September 1973.
Featuring the drumming of Earl Young, whose hissing hi-hat sound would come to define the disco beat, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “The Love I Lost” is released.

1974.
Tom Moulton does the first of his extended mixes on Don Downing’s “Dream World.”

February 9, 1974.
Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Love’s Theme” hits #1 on the American pop charts. It’s the first #1 whose popularity was credited to discos.

June 1974.
Disco’s “national anthem,” MFSB’s “Love Is the Message,” is released.

November 1974.
New York radio station WPIX starts the world’s first disco radio show.

December 1974.
The Flamingo, perhaps the most legendary of New York’s gay clubs, opens in SoHo.

January 1975.
Silver Convention’s “Save Me,” the calling card of Eurodisco, is released.

Spring 1975.
Moulton’s extended mix of Moment of Truth’s “So Much for Love” becomes the first twelve-inch single.

May 1975.
New York City faces meltdown when financial institutions refuse to lend it money any longer.

June 1975.
The Jackson 5’s “Forever Came Today,” featuring the first example of what would become the quintessential disco bassline, is released.

Summer 1975.
The Hustle craze is in full flight, leading to disco seemingly taking over the music industry.

December 1975.
There are an estimated ten thousand discos across the United States.

May 1976.
Double Exposure’s “Ten Percent,” mixed by Walter Gibbons, becomes the first commercially available twelve-inch single.

1977.
The Warehouse opens in Chicago with Frankie Knuckles at the helm. The club would become the crucible of House music, into which disco eventually dissolved.

April 26, 1977.
Studio 54 opens.

July 1977.
Disco’s ultimate synthesizer record, Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” is released and creates not only the template for Hi-NRG but also for the mechanized, dehumanized feel that disco detractors hated.

December 1977. Saturday Night Fever
is released.

February 1978.
The Paradise Garage, the club presided over by the person nearly everyone calls the world’s greatest DJ, Larry Levan, officially opens.

November 1978.
James White & the Blacks release “Contort Yourself,” the first merger of punk and disco.

February 1979.
America’s disco industry is valued at $4 billion.

July 12, 1979.
Chicago DJ Steve Dahl explodes ten thousand disco records in between games of a double-header at Comiskey Park, setting off a riot that destroyed not only the outfield but disco as a mainstream genre.

December 6, 1979.
Europe’s most famous gay discotheque, Heaven, opens in London.

September 20, 1980.
The gay discotheque to end all gay discotheques, the Saint, opens in New York’s East Village.

1981.
John “Jellybean” Benitez takes over as the DJ at the New York club the Funhouse, and presides over the rise of freestyle, one of the many forms into which disco mutated.

1983.
Ian Levine produces Miquel Brown’s “So Many Men, So Little Time,” and Hi-NRG is born.

1994.
Terrace chants to the tune of the Village People’s “Go West” echo across European football/soccer stadiums.

November 17, 1999.
Disco is enshrined by the U.S. Postal Service with a disco stamp.

DISCOGRAPHY

1. THE ROTTEN APPLE

Abaco Dream. “Life and Death in G & A,” 1969, A&M 1081.

Ace Spectrum. “Keep Holding On,” 1975, Atlantic DSKO60.

Afrique. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Mainstream 5542.

All Directions. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Buddah 362.

Anderson Brothers. “I Can See Him Loving You,” 1974, GSF GS003.

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. “The Twist,” 1960, King 5171.

Darrell Banks. “Open the Door to Your Heart,” 1966, Revilot RV201.

Barrabas.
Barrabas,
1972, RCA APL10219.

_____. “Mellow Blow,” 1975, Atlantic DSKO56.

J. J. Barnes. “Our Love Is in the Pocket,” 1969, Revilot RV222.

Rose Batiste. “Hit & Run,” 1966, Revilot RV204.

Biddu Orchestra. “Summer of ’42,” 1975, Epic 50139.

_____. “Blue Eyed Soul” from
Blue Eyed Soul,
1975, Epic 80836.

_____. “I Could Have Danced All Night”/“Jump For Joy,” 1976, Epic 50173.

_____. “Rain Forest,” 1976, Epic 4084.

Black Blood. “AIE (A’Mwana)” from
Chicano,
1975, Biram 6325634.

Genie Brown. “I Can’t Stop Talking” from
A Woman Alone,
1973, Dunhill/ABC DSX50155.

James Brown. “Night Train,” 1962, King 5614.

_____. “(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine,” 1970, King 6318.

_____. “Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants),” 1971, People 2501.

Polly Brown. “Up in a Puff of Smoke,” 1975, GTO 1002.

B.T. Express. “Do It (’Til You’re Satisfied),” 1974, Scepter 12395.

Buari. “Advice from Father” from
Buari,
1975, RCA APL11045.

John Cage.
Imaginary Landscape No. 1
from
Early Modulations: Vintage Volts,
1997, Caipirinha CAI2027.

Calhoon. “(Do You Wanna) Dance Dance Dance,” 1975, Warner Bros. PRO601.

Carstairs, The. “It Really Hurts Me Girl,” 1973, Red Coach 802.

Ralph Carter. “When You’re Young and in Love,” 1975, Mercury 73695.

Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys. “Track in ‘A’ (Nebraska Nights)” from
The Street Giveth … and the Street Taketh Away,
1969, Polydor 244001.

Tina Charles. “I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance),” 1976, CBS 3937.

Chubby Checker. “The Twist,” 1960, Parkway 811.

_____. “(At the) Discotheque,” 1965, Parkway 949.

Chicago Transit Authority. “I’m a Man” from
Chicago Transit Authority,
1969, Columbia GP8.

Cooley High,
1975, Motown 7840.

Joey Dee & the Starliters. “Peppermint Twist,” 1961, Roulette 4401.

Detroit Emeralds. “Feel the Need in Me,” 1972, Westbound 209.

Manu Dibango. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Atlantic 2971.

Diga Rhythm Band. “Sweet Sixteen” from
Diga Rhythm Band,
1976, Round Records RX110.

Disco Par-r-r-ty,
1974, Spring SPR6705.

Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes. “Get Dancin’,” 1974, Chelsea 3004.

Doobie Brothers, The. “Long Train Runnin’,” 1973, Warner Bros. 7698.

Doors, The. “The End” from
The Doors,
1967, Elektra EKS74007.

Double Exposure. “Ten Percent,” 1976, Salsoul 12D2008.

Carl Douglas. “Kung Fu Fighting,” 1974, 20th Century 2140.

Al Downing. “I’ll Be Holding On,” 1975, Chess 2158.

Don Downing. “Dream World,” 1974, Scepter 12397.

Elephant’s Memory. “Mongoose” from
Take It to the Streets,
Metromedia 182, 1970.

Equals, The. “Baby, Come Back”/“Hold Me Closer,” RCA Victor 9583, 1968.

_____. “Black Skin Blue-Eyed Boys,” 1970, President PT325.

_____. “Funky Like a Train,” 1976, Mercury 6007106.

Exuma. “Exuma, the Obeah Man,” 1970, Mercury 73084.

First Choice. “This Is the House (Where Love Died),” 1972, Scepter 12347.

5000 Volts. “I’m on Fire,” 1975, Philips 40801.

Flamingos, The. “The Boogaloo Party,” 1966, Philips 40347.

Foundations, The. “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You,” 1967, Uni 55038.

_____. “Build Me Up Buttercup,” 1969, Uni 55101.

James Fountain. “Seven Day Lover,” 1976, Cream CRM5002.

Four Tops. “What Is a Man”/“Don’t Bring Back Memories,” 1969, Motown 1147.

_____. “Still Water (Love)/Still Water (Peace),” 1970, Motown 1170.

Boris Gardiner Happening, The. “Melting Pot” from
Is What’s Happening,
1973, Dynamic Sounds DYLP3330.

Gloria Gaynor.
Never Can Say Goodbye,
1975, MGM 2315.

Gaytones, The. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Action 4610.

J. Geils Band, The. “Give It to Me,” 1973, Atlantic 2953.

Merle Haggard. “Okie From Muskogee,” 1969, Capitol 26260.

Brenda Holloway. “Just Look What You’ve Done,” 1967, Tamla 54148.

Loleatta Holloway. “Hit and Run,” 1977, Gold Mind 12G4006.

Marvin Holmes & Justice. “You Better Keep Her,” 1974, Brown Door 6576.

Iron Butterfly. “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” from
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,
1968, Atco SD33250.

Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon. “Breakin’ Down the Walls of Heartache,” 1968, Epic 24657.

_____. “(Blame it on the) Pony Express,” 1970, Bell 1128.

Syl Johnson. “We Did It,” 1973, Hi 2229.

Eddie Kendricks. “Girl You Need a Change of Mind” from
People … Hold On,
1973, Motown 11213.

Simon Kenyatta Troupe. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Avco 4620.

Fela Kuti. “Shakara” from
Shakara,
1974, Editions Makossa EM2305.

_____. “Expensive Shit” from
Expensive Shit,
1975, Editions Makossa EM2315.

Bettye Lavette. “Doin’ the Best That I Can,” 1978, West End WES12113.

Led Zeppelin. “Whole Lotta Love” from
Led Zeppelin II,
1969, Atlantic ATL 40037.

Pat Lewis. “No One to Love,” 1967, Solid Hit SH109.

Little Sister. “You’re the One,” 1970, Stone Flower S 9000.

Love Unlimited Orchestra. “Love’s Theme,” 1973, 20th Century 2069.

Mahogany,
1975, Motown 858.

Mandre. “Solar Flight (Opus I),” 1977, Motown 1429.

Herbie Mann. “Waterbed,” 1975, Atlantic DSKO 58.

The Marketts. “Out of Limits,” 1963, Warner Bros. 5391.

Martha & the Vandellas. “Come and Get These Memories,” 1963, Gordy 7014.

MFSB. “Love Is the Message” from
TSOP,
1974, Philadelphia International 80154.

Mighty Tomcats, The. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Winley 1103.

Moment of Truth. “Your Love,” 1974, Roulette 7158.

_____. “Helplessly,” 1976, Salsoul 12D2009.

Montclairs, The. “Hung Up on Your Love,” 1974, Paula 390.

Bobby Moore. “(Call Me Your) Anything Man,” 1975, Scepter SDT12405.

Nairobi Afro Band. “Soul Makossa,” 1973, Town Hall TH777.

Ken Nordine.
Colors,
1966, Philips PHM200224.

Babatunde Olatunji. “Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (Drums of Passion)” from
Drums of Passion,
1959, Columbia CS8210.

_____. “Soul Makossa” from
Soul Makossa,
1973, Paramount PAS6061.

Osibisa. “Music for Gong Gong,” 1971, MCA 5079.

Ozo.
Listen to the Buddha,
1976, DJM 4.

Ann Peebles. “I’m Going to Tear Your Playhouse Down,” 1972, Hi 2232.

Barbara Pennington. “Twenty-Four Hours a Day,” 1977, United Artists UADW928.

Pointer Sisters. “Yes We Can Can,” 1973, Blue Thumb 229.

Rare Earth. “Happy Song” from
Back to Earth,
1975, Rare Earth 548.

Mitch Ryder.
The Detroit-Memphis Experiment,
1969, Dot DLP25963.

Salsoul Orchestra. “Nice ’n’ Naasty,” 1976, Salsoul 12D2011.

Sapphires, The. “Gotta Have Your Love,” 1965, ABC-Paramount 10639.

Sessomatto. “Sessomatto,” 1976, West End WES12100.

Sly & the Family Stone. “Everybody Is a Star” from
Greatest Hits,
1970, Epic 10555.

Kenny Smith. “Lord, What’s Happening to Your People,” 1972, General American GAR 317.

Gloria Spencer. “I Got It / Stay Jesus Stay,” 1971, Jay-Walking JW016.

Amii Stewart. “Knock on Wood,” 1979, Ariola 7736.

“Superstar” from
Jesus Christ Superstar,
1971, Decca DXSSA7206.

Taste of Honey, A. “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” 1978, Capitol 4565.

Timebox. “Beggin’,” 1968, Deram DM194.