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Chapter 9
Disco, Punk, & New Wave: Strange Bedfellows (1973-1979)
Outline
I. Disco
a. Producers
i. Gorgio Moroder
b. Disco divas
i. Donna Summer
c. Saturday Night Fever
d. The club scene
i. Studio 54
II. Disco Technology
a. Moog synthesizer
b. Drum machines
III. Dance club culture
a. Spotlight on the dancers
b. Continuous party atmosphere
c. The Hustle
IV. The music
a. Funk-derived
b. Psychedelic ideas incorporated
c. Composers
i. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, Chic
ii. Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra
iii. The BeeGees
V. Disco bands
a. KC and the Sunshine Band
b. The Village People
VI. Pre-Punk influences
a. New York
i. Velvet Underground
ii. New York Dolls
iii. Patti Smith
b. Detroit
i. Iggy and the Stooges
VII. U.S. Punk
a. The New York scene and CBGBs
b. The Ramones
i. Music stripped bare and simplified
ii. Minimal musical training
VIII. British Punk
a. Sex Pistols
i. Music that expressed rage
ii. Anarchy
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b. The Clash
i. Music with a social conscience
IX. Post-Punk New Wave
a. British Bands
i. Public Image Ltd.
ii. Gang of Four
iii. X-Ray Spex
iv. The Slits
v. The Au Pairs
vi. Joy Division
vii. The Jam
b. American Bands
i. Tom Verlaine and Television
ii. Richard Hell and the Voidoids
X. DIY Technology
a. DIY Recording
b. Self-distribution
c. Minimal musical training
Suggested Activities and Discussion Topics
1. Technology and Disco music. New technology, such as the Moog synthesizer and
drum machines, provided lengthy dance music that live musicians just could not play.
SEE: Suggested Listening; Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” with production by Giorgio
Moroder, using synthesizers and drum machines. With one man who can operate the
various synthesizers and drum machines, no band is needed to make a record.
2. The funk influence. “Le Freak” demonstrates how funk can be recast as disco. The
main disco requirement is a four-on-the-floor bass drum beat—a heavy, bass drum thump
on each one of four beats. To facilitate mixing for dancing, all songs were about the same
tempo. SEE: Suggested Listening.
3. Punk listening exercise. Compare the Ramones and the Sex Pistols for contrast in the
U.S. and U.K. punk styles. Which style is angrier? Which style leans toward anarchy?
SEE: Suggested Listening, “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Anarchy In the U.K.” What are the
similarities? What are the differences?
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Chapter 9 – Suggested Listening
Song
Artist/iTunes Preview
Representative Style
Donna Summer
“She Works Hard for the
Money”
Disco’s diva; a rare MTV
appearance by a black
performer
“I Feel Love”
The synthesizer wizardry of
producer Giorgio Moroder
BeeGees
“Staying Alive”
From Saturday Night Fever;
perfect-for-disco beat
Chic
“Le Freak”
Disco hit and their first #1
song
Barry White
“You’re the First, My Last,
My Everything”
Ultra-romantic disco; big-
voiced vocal; Love
Unlimited Orchestra
KC and the Sunshine Band
“That’s the Way (I Like It)”
Considered suggestive; the
song hit #1 twice
New York Dolls
“Looking for a Kiss”
Raunchy, wretched New
York pre-punk
Patti Smith
“Land: Horses”
Poet turned rock performer;
literary ingredients—
metaphor; gritty, dark
The Ramones
“Blitzkrieg Bop”
Arguably the first punk
band; simplistic and
primitive; returning rock
music to its simple basics
“I Wanna Be Sedated”
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Sex Pistols
“God Save the Queen”
A sharp stick in the eye of
the Queen on the occasion
of her Jubilee celebration
“Anarchy in the U.K.”
Irreverent, anarchic rant
The Clash
“London Calling”
Political theme; reggae style
bass line
“Should I Stay or Should I
Go”
Retro-punk take on
relationships
X-ray Spex
“Identity”
‘Poppy’ punk; one-note
melody; vocalist Poly
Styrene
The Slits
“Newtown”
Simplistic, rude, girl-punk;
a reggae influence
The Au Pairs
“Sex Without Stress”
Girl-punk with reggae
elements; monotone vocal
performance
Joy Division
“Love Will Tear Us Apart”
Ironic title; inadequate
vocal adds authenticity;
British synth pop
“Disorder”
Punk simplicity; prominent
guitar drone like U2;
The Jam
“Going Underground”
#1 in England; writer Paul
Weller; punk youths in suits
Television
“Little Johnny Jewel”
An original New York punk
rocker, Tom Verlaine
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Richard Hell and the
Voidoids
“Blank Generation”
Richard Hell’s signature
song; misinterpreted as
negative, he was referring
to a free-choice philosophy