(Scott)......."Disco Sucks" was one of THE mantras of high school punks and rivitheads in 1979-80, in fact I appeared in my Class of 79 yearbook wearing a shirt proclaiming just that (gosh were the parents proud!)......wish I could find that damn pic....all that being said, I likely have heard maybe ten minutes total of disco music in my entire life, so what I made is hardly an informed opinion......never heard any of these,learning experience 1000% for me......please, as always, share your thoughts------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd say there's been a rather willful eclecticism as of late, wouldn't you? It's what we strive for...
So, this one is Disco. And if anyone wants to jump on the "Disco Sucks" bandwagon, I challenge you... listen to pop music NOW. At least all these people actually played instruments. Anyway, I'm not the world's biggest Disco expert, but I plumbed my collection for some odd slabs of music, and I think I've delivered in that regard....
I can't find any info on this group. I was drawn by the title, of course. Where Disco met bedroom stoner albums, maybe? And it is an orchestra - there's string sections and everything. Keep an eye out for the panty-dropper medley "Tribute to Barry". And goddamn do they get points with me for the track "Morricone", which is a really cool medley of tunes from Once Upon A Time In The West. "Man With A Harmonica" as a Disco song, people... and it works!
Sesame Street Fever and Sesame Street Disco
In 1978 and '79, to capitalize on the disco craze, Sesame Street released these two albums. Fever even had the participation of Robin Gibb (on the title track and on "Trash"), due to the input of his children, who were Sesame Street fans. Some songs even made the show, most notably the insanely funny "Me Lost Me Cookie At the Disco". And this isn't a hack job either: there's some real pros playing in the studio - the music is flawless.
File includes both albums chronologically, put together under the title Sesame Street Ultimate Disco Party. Also includes artwork. Audio files were ripped from quality YouTube vids; that's why one track has an outro by the YouTube poster. They all sound great, though.
Rosebud - Discoballs: A Disco Tribute to Pink Floyd
No, you are not hallucinating that title! This really exists, and is pretty rare, too. Does it work? Well, sorta...it's just such a damn strange concept. The "Theme From More" and "Interstellar Overdrive" done in Disco? "Money" fits a groove, as does "Have A Cigar", though I wish they'd used more of the lyrics. And "One Of These Days" actually takes the disco switch quite easily. Shit, why didn't they just go ahead and cover "Welcome to the Machine", or maybe "Sheep"?
Now, you're saying to yourself: "He's shitting me. This can't be for real." Yep, it is. I never cease to be amazed with what's possible with cash-in records. I can't tell you a thing about this group. I can say this actually is a good melding of Disco and Greek styles. "Greek Girls" and "Ouzo & Retsina" are really damn funky! Certainly one of the stranger white dwarfs in the galaxy of Disco albums, and worth checking out for weird music fans.
This ain't no regular disco. For those that may not know, Italo Disco was that form of dance music that emerged from Europe in the late 70's/early 80's, not always from Italy, per se. It's that electronically-driven, insanely sequenced music pioneered by people like Giorgio Moroder or latter period Abba (see "Lay All Your Love On Me"). It was big for a while, and then got folded into what became both New Wave and House music.
And this stuff doesn't even sound like that! Black Devil Disco Club (or is it just Black Devil and the album is called Disco Club?) was a group created by an Italian disco producer and his financier. They released this dark little 12 inch in 1978. It became really rare, turning into one of those expensive DJ secret weapon discs. And it is a sinister little masterpiece, too. With the claustrophobic mix, the moodily intense 808 rhythms and unintelligible vocals, it's like some lost electro/cold/darkwave classic! It's Autechre 20 years early! Really, check this one out...you'll get 100 music nerd points for doing so. Great on headphones.
And that's it for this post. Oddities galore, right? I really dig a lot of this, though. The bonus link is a funny album from a guy who didn't like disco. In fact, he once said about dance clubs: "Real men don't dance. They sweat, smoke, and curse." I don't think there's a password - I was zipping and uploading stuff really fast. Funny stuff. He was the prophet.
P.S. - there's a new link for that Phyllis file. It's a better version, with 2 more albums!!!***
P.P.S. - if the Sesame thing looks familiar, that's cuz I posted it over on Music For Maniacs a month ago.
----------