Thank You, Mr. Hamsley

 

I don’t remember where I got this book. I wanna say it was at a thrift shop in Edgewater, but it could have been in Milwaukee or St. Louis or Dallas. I have been thrifting in all of those cities, too. It's become kind of customary to at least try one antique of thrift store when going to a new city. In any case, it's a fascinating love letter to that very, very gay of genres: Disco. Disco, if you wanna know, was unapologetically gay and definitely Black and Latin and was the soundtrack to a whole generation of gay men that we mostly lost to AIDS. So of course, I have to talk about it.

The origin of disco music can be traced back in the early 1970s and emerged out of an urban subculture. Some analysts have asserted that disco is as a result of a reaction against the dominance of the rock music as well as stigmatization of the dance music by the counterculture that emerged during that time. The initial disco-like clubs were held in New York where private parties were held. A city DJ, David Mancuso held private underground house parties and was connected that no police raids were conducted in any of his businesses. He did this to create an ample environment for men to dance together without the fear of police action.

WorldAtlas

Also, I would have to say that I was not surprised when I read about the Disco Demolition night in Chicago. Homophobic, racist rock fans were are the core of it, of course. Rock has always had a stench of toxic masculinity that can be seen even to this day. I love Rock and Roll, but its racist, homophobic tendencies cannot be easily erased. So I'm all for Disco, especially because it stabs at the heart of that pretense of Alpha Male rock and roll fans like to wear:

Liberated by the Stonewall demonstrations of 1969, LGBTQ+ folks flocked these clubs that allowed them to be their truest selves, embracing disco as not only a facet of Black culture, but as gay culture as well. And the singers and faces of disco music? Black and Brown folks in colorful, expressive, and flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles. Themes of joy, free love, passion, sex, lust, and admiration prominent in disco coupled with the Black and Brown faces of the genre provided young BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) with positive and liberating messages and people like them to look to.

TNDD

The selection of Disco songs is big. Huge, I'd say. It went from being a footnote in music rags to having its own category in award shows. We are talking about almost a decade of hits that people danced to, got drunk to and most probably had sex to. So, in honor of Pride Month and in honor of Anne Marie's Dance Parties, here's my top ten all-time-fav disco songs:

One:

I feel love. Donna Summer: This song gives me the most fantastic vibes. It's so good it sounds fresh forty five years after if was released. It was the sound of the future when it came out and they didn't even know it. It's mystical, it's sexy and it's fun. It's both the rhythm of the piece and Donna's voice that take you there, in my opinion. Seriously, if you wanna put me in the mood, play this song and by the end of it I would have lost at least one piece of clothing. You have been warned.

Two:

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real): Sylvester. This is a double whammy: Black and Gay. A Gay, effete, Black man that could be a superstar in 1978 and bring the masses to the dance floor? Groundbreaking. I love Sylvester's voice, too. High as helium and full of soul. I have danced to this song so many times I can't even remember. In gay clubs, there's ALWAYS a DJ that plays it. Thank goodness.

Three:

Cheryl Lynn: Got to be Real. Oh dear. The groove, the bass, the voice! I used to go to Friday night parties at The Eagle in Pittsburgh after classes. Oh, it was fantastic! I would leave my backpack in my friend's car and we would go right in. And on the third floor, the DJ would play this song especially for a big, muscle bound Leather Daddy who used to get on the dance floor at the end of the night and dance to this. All Chaps and jockstrap and boots. And he could move! You could have bottled that man dancing and sell it as poppers. It was that sexy. 

Four:

Chic: Le Freak. I was in a Cher concert right before the pandemic and to my surprise and delight, Chic was the opener. We had no idea! They ended their set with this song and they brought the house DOWN. It's sleek, it's sexy, it's classy and that opening is ICONIC. I love this song. I was very torn between this one and I Want Your Love  (another of my all time favs) but this one won because of an anecdote Nile Rodgers told once: he said the original lyric was 'Fuck Off' instead of 'Freak Out' because they were pissed off because of some fuckery at a club. Gotta love a good origin story.

Five: 

Anita Ward: Ring My Bell. It' fun, flirty and fabulous. If I were a Drag performer, I'd do this song. I love the contrast of her voice and the naughty implications of the lyrics. And the beat keeps drawing you in. such a fun song to dance to! I read somewhere that she was discovered while cleaning floors (!!!) in some office building. It was probably a one hit wonder (like many Disco concoctions) but I think it's fantastic. You can ring my bell, ding-dong-ding ahhh! Ring it!

Six:

Diana Ross: Love Hangover. The Boss herself. I have taken to Diana Ross lately. I got her Supremes records and some of her solo albums and I bought this one just because I LOVE this song. It's got that slow beginning and uptempo ending that so many songs had back then. But it's her voice (who some find too thin, but hey) that totally gets to you. It's sexy and groovy. What, you want more?

Seven:

No More Tears (Enough is Enough): Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand. It's like clash of the fucking titans. Whomever had this idea was a genius. These two powerhouse vocalists throw notes at each other like there was no tomorrow and I'm more than happy to dance to the product. I believe they never performed this live (CAN YOU IMAGINE!) and that they didn't even recorded it together (I can google it but Upton could probably tell us). It's also a sort of feminist manifesto, in its insistence that because he turned out to be like every other men (trash), he should be shown the door. Yes. Simply shout: enough is enough! Joyous.

Eight:

Blondie: Heart of Glass. God I love this song. It grabs you and it does NOT let go. I was gonna put Call Me here, but Heart of Glass won. Heart of Glass is ironically Disco and that absolutely wins in my book. Remember Blondie was a Rock band more given to New Wave than to Disco until they came up with this song. It's not an easy song to dance to, either, because the rhythm gets caught somewhere sometimes but Debbie's VOICE! And who cannot relate to the part that she sings: it soon turned out he was a pain in the ass? Classic. 

Nine:

Prince: I Wanna Be Your Lover. THIS is the Prince I love: full of braggadocio and BDE. This song is pretty much Funk with Disco added, but it has the same energy and danceability of many of the other ones I've posted here. It's dynamic and sexy and you believe everything he says. Also, Prince will forever be the baddest of them all. Minneapolis represent!

Ten:

Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive. How could I not include this here? It was a staple at the club I used to sneak into when I was seventeen. The DJ was an older man (for me, who was just a snotty kid) with the MOST INCREDIBLE music collection I have ever seen.  I know that now. Records wall to wall and floor to ceiling, every possible mix and some very unique sounds. He would play this song at midnight and then again after last call. And EVERYBODY would dance, hands in the air, sweating and spilling mixed drinks on the dance floor. I will forever hold a place in my heart for this song. It talks about resilience and power. And that's something that Disco -and the gay community- has also shown.

And Disco didn't die when those homophobic, racist hooligans burned all those records at Comiskey Park, mind you. Disco just went underground again and has popped back up year after year, decade after decade: as High NRG, as Dance Music, as House, as Tribal, as Garage, as EDM. You just can't keep a bad bitch down.

So, you wanna boogie? You may even like it. And you wouldn't have to wear polyester...

XOXO

P.S. Honorary mentions:

Yes, dance like nobody's watching!