32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read, July 30, 2005
This review is from: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 (Paperback)
Over the years I've read very many articles & books on the 70's disco & underground dance scene,
along with seeing quite a few documentaries & movies in the same vain.
I started DJing in NYC in 1971 & this is a subject that I lived & breathed.
"Love Saves The Day" is without a doubt the very first to tell the real story,
& accurately chronicle that entire decade year by year.
I found it easy to read, & without blurring the facts, very entertaining.
When it comes to "The Loft", "Paradise Garage" & the rest of this subject,
I consider this book a 'must read', & highly recommend it!
Danny Krivit
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible & comprehensive history of the 1970s disco world, January 13, 2004
This review is from: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 (Paperback)
This is an exceptional historical analysis that introduces, in chronological order, the key events and personalities in the 1970s American disco dancing scene, including the major remixers, DJs, nightclubs, musicians, singers, record producers, and magazine journalists. The playlists provided throughout the book are very good snapshots of each period of 1970s R&B and disco, and many of the photos are well selected.
Lawrence first explores the roots of dance-oriented nightclubs, then known as discotheques, where attendees danced to recorded rather than live music. Discotheques had already existed in the U.S. by the mid-1960s but then declined for a number of years until revitalized in the early 1970s. Besides the concept of a "discotheque", Lawrence also mentions (page 26) that the mirror ball was a fixture of a typical disco and also in the Loft parties run by David Mancuso. The atmospheric aspects of a disco -- lighting, dancefloor, etc. -- were also important to dancers, though one big negative was the high volume of sound emanating from the speakers in many discos, such as Paradise Garage (pages 347-348). The most necessary element was a large supply of good danceable music. Disco DJs gained influence when they caused many records to become big sellers and formed record pools. Lawrence notes (page 307) that in some downtown discos the dancers danced freestyle whereas in suburban discos the tendency was towards regimented dance steps like the latin hustle and line-dancing.
The story of disco as a separate musical genre begins with the merging of funk and Philly soul elements with a constant four-on-the-floor beat, thanks to Earl Young's innovations in drumming (page 120). The interest in this music among Americans escalated quickly, as witnessed by early pop chart hits like "T.S.O.P." and "The Love I Lost". The continued development of disco music led to improvements in sound quality and increased available song lengths and record formats (like the 12-inch single).
On pages 167 and 174-177 Lawrence chronicles the beginnings of Eurodisco, a sub-genre developed by European producers like Michael Kunze and Giorgio Moroder characterized by ultra-lush violins, "minimalist vocals", and a more monotonous stomping dance beat. Lawrence notes that Eurodisco produced many "anonymous" singers who garnered far less attention than their producers and had very few concerts, if any. He revisits Eurodisco's growth on page 257 when he quotes Tom Moulton's opinion that Eurodisco, in contrast to the kind of disco that came out of Philadelphia, "lacked soul" and was too mechanical, and to a certain extent this is true. However, one can point to the success and brilliance of several producer-created disco groups like Shalamar and Musique to counter the argument that all "artificial" groups were untalented.
While disco as a new sound in 1974 and 1975 was seen as the answer to increasing record sales, pages 222-224 contain era statements about how the excess of new disco releases, many of them poor in quality, were already saturating the music market by 1976, and how sales were suffering even then. On pages 321-322 Michael Gomes prophetically warned that unless disco continued to innovate and vary it would die. The same troubles were noted in the summer of 1979 when a recession hurt sales of all records, but especially disco, and simultaneously everyone seemed to be releasing some "disco version" of an old standard or some contrived bland song that most people couldn't get excited about, and many in the record industry and media again complained about an alleged lack of creativity. The record labels were clearly not selective enough (page 386). On pages 366-369 we learn that disco didn't stem the fall in sales but actually contributed to it. The consequences of the sales decline and rampant criticism were devastating; in the second half of 1979 new disco songs were not given as much of a chance on the radio and the style fell out of fashion among many. However, one positive result (noted on page 391) was that dance music once again became more R&B-oriented and creative. One could argue that the best days for disco creatively were in 1980-1982, even though mainstream popularity was steadily disappearing then. Disco was far from dead at the end of 1979, as disco radio hits like "Celebration" and "Never Knew Love Like This Before" were still yet to come, and roller-discos and new disco products still proliferated in 1980 and early 1981. However, this culture was in decline, and Lawrence gives interesting discussions of Billboard Magazine's exaggerated claim of February 23, 1980 that disco was "alive, healthy and thriving" (page 390). Ironically Radcliffe Joe's "This Business of Disco", an industry guide, was published by Billboard Books in 1980. By that time "dance music" was the new preferred term for the music (page 386) due to the stigma of "disco". The author also mentions how disco spawned and influenced new forms of music, including garage, house, techno, rap, and 1980s pop. By 1994, the original disco style was re-emerging as both a nostalgic recollection and a current genre in production.
Now is the perfect time to remember how dance music got started. With this book Tim Lawrence provides a thorough, readable treatise full of interesting anecdotes and quotes and ample bibliographic references. It covers everything from "The Hustle" and "Saturday Night Fever" to the sociological/cultural aspects of the story and will interest a broad range of readers.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Truth About Disco, January 22, 2007
This review is from: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 (Paperback)
Thank you Tim Lawrence. This book is the antedote to all the haters out there who still believe that "Disco Sucks" after the post-Comiskey Park backlash. This book is such an amazing and wonderfully readable document that I would recommend anyone interested in 20th century American musical history, or the [...]/black urban experience of the 1970's, or relatively recent New York history read it. Of course if you're interested in disco music or dance music the book is absolutely essential.
This book goes much deeper than the usual Studio 54 cliches that people associate with the genre (although Studio 54 is included, of course) and discusses the origins of the sound and the largely unhearalded people who made this scene happen. David Mancuso is described as a pivotable person here, and the folks who were there will confirm it. The book begins in his legendary club, The Loft, and lovingly details his obsession with sound and the disco experience. Other innovators from the early 70's are also featured including Francis Grasso, Steve D'Acquisto, Bob Casey, and many more. The scene is chronicaled from humble beginnings through the glory years of the mid 70's and ends the decade with the backlash in full swing in mainstream culture but continuing to thrive in clubs like Paradise Garage and Better Days. Along the way you meet producers like Walter Gibbons and Tom Moulton who made some of the classic recordings of the era, and Lawrence takes the time to explain what is so remarkable about their work. You also get delightfully naughty stories about some of the key players in the scene including DJ's, artists, and of course, the patrons that illustrate some of the excesses of the time . Personally, I think that it's this superb combination of detailed research and bitchy gossip that makes the book so thoroughly readable and fun.
I loved reading this book; the only drawback for me was that I couldn't help pining for the days when New York club culture was this incredible before AIDS and Rudy Guilliani conspired to very nearly kill it off (fortunately they weren't entirely successful).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
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