Guess what? Disco Rules!

You think I am saying that just to be ironic, don’t you? I hear you. I wasn’t going to discos when the whole disco scene was happening. Heck, I was only in junior high and even though I suffered from crippling shyness, I felt confident that I would never have to shake my booty in pursuit of carnal pleasure alongside some dame and spin some lies and such until coitus sobered me up. I had no dreams of going to Studio 54. I was told disco sucks.

I came to know disco music the way I get to know all my music knowledge. I get it by shopping at second hand record shops and thrift shops. All it took was watching one of those Time-Life histories of rock and roll and seeing some boring seventies arena rockers telling me about the whole disco sucks movement. Wow...if Jeff “Skunk” Baxter or the dude in Styx gets all peeved about disco, than it can’t really suck. There has to be some merit to this.

Disco records are super cheap. While exotica, easy listening, K-Tel collections and truck driving music have all been taken from the local mission thrift store and found new homes in used record shops and given higher price tags, disco is still in abundance.

I’ve picked up a batch of instructional records that can instruct me on to not only how to do the hustle, but all the moves that that will have me cutting the rug not only on the dance floor but between the sheets.(at least according to the sticker on The 12 Easy Steps To The Latin Hustle and Romance). Disco lyrics have only one theme...it all about sex.

The “cash in” records are fun and a hoot to play for nostalgia lovers but there really are some great sounds in the legitimate disco records as well. I’m sure the board of opinionated rock snobs is going to revoke my membership for saying this, but Hot Chocolate or Foxy and assorted items from the Salsoul label is a lot more fun to listen to than the latest Japanese psych treat.