tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-569277242662827759.post4015037322159398447..comments2023-11-02T08:19:29.550-07:00Comments on The moderate contrarian: Sensory Overload:A Memoir of the Beautiful, the Ugly, and the Unclassifiabledandiacalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09769500137964384489noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-569277242662827759.post-69877607889113930702012-03-12T11:25:16.740-07:002012-03-12T11:25:16.740-07:00I was and am a staunch defender of disco. I consid...I was and am a staunch defender of disco. I consider it a legitimate part of the history of African-American popular music and dance music. There is of course bad and good disco, but most American historians (Bruce Schulman, Alice Echols) note that it WAS the genuinely glamorous aspect of disco - that it was interested in design and was produced (in addition to the unfortunate implicit or explicit racism and homophobia among rock and rollers - you can't ignore the role that African-Americans and gays played in disco) - that accounts for some of the backlash against disco. I can understand those that prefer what is perceived as the purer sound of funk as against the more "empty" quality of disco. It all depends what you mean by intrinsic. For every one ABBA, whom I do consider overrated and not very good, there is Donna Summer, Alicia Bridges, Barry White and Chic, and A Taste Of Honey, and so many good musical acts. I read disco as part of a self consciously non-high art musical practice, that is for dancing and going out rather than intense listening. Then there are great R&B groups like Earth, Wind, and Fire, who blended funk and disco. But I confess to being a contrarian on this one. But I do think you are right that when a genre or style gets too mainstream it loses its power or interest. Of course History is a weird thing, so now Kool and The Gang are going on tour with Eddie Van Halen!dandiacalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09769500137964384489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-569277242662827759.post-63410741763852156122012-03-11T19:23:05.448-07:002012-03-11T19:23:05.448-07:00This is a great blog. However, are you being ironi...This is a great blog. However, are you being ironic when you refer to the beauty and glamor of disco?? Do you mean the sheen and slickness of more pop type sounds as opposed to the rough edges of the types of rock people were championing, which had more of a hippie, self-made vibe? (I'm sure the same people who hated disco also hated Christopher Cross and Barry Manilow, for instance). But don't you think there was something intrinsic in disco that people may have objected to as well? I mean, something in the actual sound of it that was just too much for people, even people who could accept multicolored shag carpeting with no problem? Or did it just become too mainstream to be considered cool any longer by the time it really exploded?Anna Billerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09715596939310896657noreply@blogger.com