Disco Nights Copyright © 2010 by Stephen A. Welles
(All Rights Reserved)
(All Rights Reserved)
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Introduction
On July 12, 1979, Rock DJ Steve Dahl contacted Mike Veeck, the son of Bill, who was the owner of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, to have a “Disco Sucks” night at Comiskey Park. Many Rock fans and anti-disco people attended. They lit a bonfire in-between the games of a baseball doubleheader and burned thousands of disco records. The ashes blew 200 feet into the air. That was supposed to be the end of disco…
When and where did this modern disco craze start? Many would say that it was in the early to mid-seventies (1972-1975). That was when you could visit any house party or underground club in cities like New York, Philly, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; where first the gay, then the black, Latin, and urban-white communities started the Freestyle and the Hustle dance craze in the city streets. While this was going on broadside, across the ocean, in the streets of Europe, they where dancing to the early disco beat, too.
Let’s go back a year and a half before that night in Chicago Stadium to December 15, 1977, when the movie Saturday Night Fever came out, starring John Travolta. That’s when most disco lovers would say that disco really took off and the working middle-class and jet-set crowd accepted this new fad called disco. When the latter brought all the glamour and glitz to the party, disco became the most popular craze around. In New York, clubs like Le Jardin, Lime Light, Paradise Garage, The Gallery, The Loft, The Palladium, 12 West, Infinity, New York, New York, Studio 54, and Saturday Night Fever’s 2001 Odyssey were opened. That paved the way for other clubs in the United States and worldwide to open their doors to this exciting new 70s dance sound. It didn’t matter what your genre was, disco was music that everyone could unite to in the decade after the turbulent 1960s. In the 1970s, people were looking for something different to connect to. For almost a decade, to many, disco was the answer…
Disco had millions of lovers worldwide. In its peak years (late 70s), it was a multibillion-dollar industry! In addition, there were a quarter million discos worldwide. Who could ever forget the good times and the many great disco records led by the famous Casablanca label in the 1970s that made it to number one on the music charts? There is something to be said about that.
Despite what outsiders thought, disco was not always about trouble of sorts. After a hard day’s work, no matter how tired you were, when you walked into a disco, it made you feel energetic and alive. You could let all your tensions unwind and have a good time. When the music played and you were dancing the night away with your lady or dance partner, it was as if you were dancing on a cloud on a starry summer night…
In certain parts of this story, this book reads like a musical screenplay or composition. There are even a few cool love stories kicking to the smooth disco beat. I was a musician back then, and although it took a lot of research, it was fun picking the titles of the songs that I liked to try to correspond with the story line. With that in mind, while reading, if you know the song, get your CD player or iPod out and tap your feet to the beat and “let’s get this party started right.”
Here’s a toast to the disco life, the clubs I could get into, and how I experienced the disco explosion as an everyday young businessman who was also a twenty-one to twenty-three-year-old “street-club-dancer” in 1977-1979. Come on in and take a journey back in time with me from the inside of the dance floor looking out. For millions, especially me, disco didn’t die that night in Chicago stadium thirty plus years ago. It was reborn! The musical notes of those burned records evolved like shooting stars into space and fell back to planet earth into all genres of music, even to this day…
To all the pioneer songwriters, the artists, the musicians, the distributors and the DJs who still put the music out, thank you for the memories. To the millions of fans who still dance the dance, keep on dancing.
Disco forever!
I hope you enjoy -Steve
On July 12, 1979, Rock DJ Steve Dahl contacted Mike Veeck, the son of Bill, who was the owner of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, to have a “Disco Sucks” night at Comiskey Park. Many Rock fans and anti-disco people attended. They lit a bonfire in-between the games of a baseball doubleheader and burned thousands of disco records. The ashes blew 200 feet into the air. That was supposed to be the end of disco…
When and where did this modern disco craze start? Many would say that it was in the early to mid-seventies (1972-1975). That was when you could visit any house party or underground club in cities like New York, Philly, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; where first the gay, then the black, Latin, and urban-white communities started the Freestyle and the Hustle dance craze in the city streets. While this was going on broadside, across the ocean, in the streets of Europe, they where dancing to the early disco beat, too.
Let’s go back a year and a half before that night in Chicago Stadium to December 15, 1977, when the movie Saturday Night Fever came out, starring John Travolta. That’s when most disco lovers would say that disco really took off and the working middle-class and jet-set crowd accepted this new fad called disco. When the latter brought all the glamour and glitz to the party, disco became the most popular craze around. In New York, clubs like Le Jardin, Lime Light, Paradise Garage, The Gallery, The Loft, The Palladium, 12 West, Infinity, New York, New York, Studio 54, and Saturday Night Fever’s 2001 Odyssey were opened. That paved the way for other clubs in the United States and worldwide to open their doors to this exciting new 70s dance sound. It didn’t matter what your genre was, disco was music that everyone could unite to in the decade after the turbulent 1960s. In the 1970s, people were looking for something different to connect to. For almost a decade, to many, disco was the answer…
Disco had millions of lovers worldwide. In its peak years (late 70s), it was a multibillion-dollar industry! In addition, there were a quarter million discos worldwide. Who could ever forget the good times and the many great disco records led by the famous Casablanca label in the 1970s that made it to number one on the music charts? There is something to be said about that.
Despite what outsiders thought, disco was not always about trouble of sorts. After a hard day’s work, no matter how tired you were, when you walked into a disco, it made you feel energetic and alive. You could let all your tensions unwind and have a good time. When the music played and you were dancing the night away with your lady or dance partner, it was as if you were dancing on a cloud on a starry summer night…
In certain parts of this story, this book reads like a musical screenplay or composition. There are even a few cool love stories kicking to the smooth disco beat. I was a musician back then, and although it took a lot of research, it was fun picking the titles of the songs that I liked to try to correspond with the story line. With that in mind, while reading, if you know the song, get your CD player or iPod out and tap your feet to the beat and “let’s get this party started right.”
Here’s a toast to the disco life, the clubs I could get into, and how I experienced the disco explosion as an everyday young businessman who was also a twenty-one to twenty-three-year-old “street-club-dancer” in 1977-1979. Come on in and take a journey back in time with me from the inside of the dance floor looking out. For millions, especially me, disco didn’t die that night in Chicago stadium thirty plus years ago. It was reborn! The musical notes of those burned records evolved like shooting stars into space and fell back to planet earth into all genres of music, even to this day…
To all the pioneer songwriters, the artists, the musicians, the distributors and the DJs who still put the music out, thank you for the memories. To the millions of fans who still dance the dance, keep on dancing.
Disco forever!
I hope you enjoy -Steve
SOH
Stephen A. Welles musical novel "Disco Nights" takes readers back to the late 70s New York dance club scene. Based on a true story, the book follows the everyday life of a young ex-marine from the Bronx as the disco era hits its peak. “Disco Nights” vividly recalls the life styles, fashions, attitudes and of course music that made night life in the Big Apple come alive-- Bruce Owens -(Talk Show Host of Good Morning Hudson Valley) - 1260WBNR / 1420 WLNA / 920WGHQ