DISCO turns 50 – #4 The Survival of Disco

This programme is held in Hungarian.

Disco, as a type of music, is an achievement of the seventies; fifty years ago, in 1976, it started its rise to the top, dominating and sweeping away everything in the musical world for quite a few years, and it has kept renewing itself and returning ever since. The discotheque, as a synonym for clubs, has an even longer history, and the two things are closely intertwined. In our four-part series we trace the path of the genre; the multimedia presentation is completed by period musical materials, bibliographical curiosities, archival content, and numerous musical inserts. The music is presented live on site by a DJ: the lecture is preceded by an atmosphere-setting warm-up, and the evening is closed by a special musical mix that also foreshadows the next stops of the series. The second part, titled The Peak, presents the genre’s world domination.

In the fourth part of the series we present the domestic history of disco and the decline of the genre, followed by its returns in wave after wave.

Disco music reached Hungary fifty years ago as well. Early experimenters, a more slowly awakening record label, and performers successful abroad characterize the story. Our series would not be complete without mentioning those who created something lasting at home. Neoton Família, Judit Szűcs, Kati és a Kerek Perec, Beatrice, Apostol, Corvina, Zsuzsa Cserháti, Gjon Delhusa, Express, György Korda, Péter Máté could each fill a lecture by themselves. In parallel with them, several well-known and successful DJs worked in radio and in the club world. Among others, Tibor Keresztes, László B. Tóth, György Komjáthy, András Arató, Béla Rákász, György Dvoracsek, and Gyula Éliás Sr. popularized the style. The disco era in Hungary was a real way of life. A period that still evokes vivid nostalgia to this day.

Disco’s star was still riding high in Europe when clouds were already gathering over North America, and in the summer of 1979 the genre was publicly executed (Disco Demolition Night) – which, of course, did not put an end to it at all. Afterwards, the American record industry often avoided the word disco, and drum machines, synthesizers, and tighter bass lines brought fresher styles – from there the road led on to Hi-NRG and then to house. 

We will get to know those who did not believe in disco’s disappearance even then, but instead continued unwaveringly. 
Vince Lawrence was also present at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, the venue of Disco Demolition Night, and later played an active role in creating the house music style, which essentially started from the Warehouse club, also in Chicago – symbolic, since the two locations are within walking distance of each other. 

Shortly before that, San Francisco’s unique opportunities created the environment where Hi-NRG was born. Alongside the imperishable merits of Patrick Cowley and Sylvester, Bobby Orlando and the Stock-Aitken-Waterman trio will not be left out, nor the roles of Evelyn Thomas, Divine, Miquel Brown, and Dead or Alive. 

“Disco is eternal,” and we, almost 50 years later, already know that this is indeed the case. Since then the genre has kept returning in multiple waves. The first conscious retro-disco renaissance (Deee-Lite, ABBA-esque, Kylie Minogue) was closely followed by French touch and filtered disco (Daft Punk, Stardust, Modjo, Bob Sinclar, Moloko, Sophie Ellis-Bextor), as well as the nu-disco fever of the 2000s. The major mainstream comeback in the 2010s is closely linked to names like Nile Rodgers, Bruno Mars, Robin Thicke, and Calvin Harris, and we are still in the midst of the wave marked by Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue, Róisín Murphy, Jessie Ware, and Beyoncé. 

The waves follow each other without end; disco is likely eternal and indestructible – once again, the presentation will be closed by a special musical mix.

Judit Szűcs and “Gyere a diszkó klub elé” (“Come to the Disco Club”):

 
 

One of the foundational tracks of Hi-NRG, Patrick Cowley and “Megatron Man”:

From disco to house, Jesse Saunders and “On and On”:

and one of the most emblematic of the many retro waves: