August 19, 2021

Get Up! Disco Music 1973-75

1 hour 3 minutes

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy consider the emergence of Disco as a recognisable and distinct sound in the period 1973-75. They grapple with the problems of codifying a genre, showing how genrefication can limit previously open spaces of possibility, and talk about to what extent the participants in the nascent scene saw themselves as part of a single project.

Tim and Jeremy also discuss the lush orchestrations of the Philly Sound, the machinic pulse of the four-to-the-floor drumbeat, the development of remix culture as a way of sculpting tracks more appropriate for the dancefloor, and finish up with the coronation of Gloria Gaynor as the first Queen of Disco. Plus: the Disco swear word!

Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert are authors, academics, DJs and audiophile dance party organisers. They’ve been friends and collaborators since 1997, teaching together and running parties since 2003. With clubs closed and half their jobs lost to university cuts, they’re inevitably launching a podcast.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

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Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Tracklist:

The O'Jays - Back Stabbers

Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes - The Love I Lost

Eddie Kendricks - Girl You Need a Change of Mind

MFSB - TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)

George McCrae - Rock Your Baby

Don Downing - Dreamworld (Tom Moulton Mix)

BT Express - Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) (Tom Moulton Mix)

Gloria Gaynor - Never Can Say Goodbye (Tom Moulton Mix)

...more