Event Title

Disco Inferno: What led to the backlash against Disco

Presenter Information

Benedict Esposito

Faculty Mentor

Aran MacKinnon

Keywords

Aran MacKinnon

Abstract

Today, we laugh at it. The high-pitched falsetto of the Bee Gees. The elevator shoes of KC and the Sunshine Band. Yet for much of the 1970s, the genre of music that dominated the pop music scene was disco. By 1979, disco was everywhere in the United States. But, within a year, it had all but vanished. And "disco sucks" was the new fad. It's one thing for a genre of music just to fade away towards the next popular fad. But how is it that this one genre of music could face such a steep decline in popularity and, at times, a violent backlash against it? This paper examines what exactly led to the demise of disco.

Session Name:

Life After Death: Disco, Ascension, and Zombies

Start Date

4-4-2014 10:15 AM

End Date

4-4-2014 11:15 AM

Location

HSB 202

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Apr 4th, 10:15 AM Apr 4th, 11:15 AM

Disco Inferno: What led to the backlash against Disco

HSB 202

Today, we laugh at it. The high-pitched falsetto of the Bee Gees. The elevator shoes of KC and the Sunshine Band. Yet for much of the 1970s, the genre of music that dominated the pop music scene was disco. By 1979, disco was everywhere in the United States. But, within a year, it had all but vanished. And "disco sucks" was the new fad. It's one thing for a genre of music just to fade away towards the next popular fad. But how is it that this one genre of music could face such a steep decline in popularity and, at times, a violent backlash against it? This paper examines what exactly led to the demise of disco.