No Saturday Night Fever

[AltSptHst]

I was just watching the VH1 documentary "When Disco Ruled the World" that someone posted on You-Tube.

It got me thinking about the disco trend and what would have happened if there was no Saturday Night Fever.

If that movie doesn't come about, what happens to Disco?

[Mark E.]

Disco hit a "first peak" in 1976, and began to decline into early 1977. Then, SNF came along late that year. It started as a low-budget movie by record producer Robert Stigwood (RSO) who took advantage of the recording artists he had under contract. Its vast success was so unexpected that the movie had to be extensively re-edited and re-realeased in 1978 to eliminate the extensive swearing and a rating change from R to PG. The rest is history.

Without SNF, disco never makes its second peak in late 1978. It fades down, perhaps allowing New Wave (aka punk) to get a bit of a head start on the mainstream pop scene. Most likely, gay disco (spearheaded by the Village People) never goes national, as that group's first hit on the Top 40 was well into 1978. You take away not only the Stayin' Alive and other Bee Gees disco, but you butterfly away Macho Man, YMCA and In the Navy. As a result, disco is remembered as a much more obscure fad.

[AltSptHst]

Originally Posted by Mark E.

Disco hit a "first peak" in 1976, and began to decline into early 1977. Then, SNF came along late that year. It started as a low-budget movie by record producer Robert Stigwood (RSO) who took advantage of the recording artists he had under contract. Its vast success was so unexpected that the movie had to be extensively re-edited and re-realeased in 1978 to eliminate the extensive swearing and a rating change from R to PG. The rest is history.

Without SNF, disco never makes its second peak in late 1978. It fades down, perhaps allowing New Wave (aka punk) to get a bit of a head start on the mainstream pop scene. Most likely, gay disco (spearheaded by the Village People) never goes national, as that group's first hit on the Top 40 was well into 1978. You take away not only the Stayin' Alive and other Bee Gees disco, but you butterfly away Macho Man, YMCA and In the Navy. As a result, disco is remembered as a much more obscure fad.

I wonder what direction the Bee Gees would have went with no SNF. They did come out with a disco song before SNF with You Should be Dancing in 1976, but they may have continued with songs similar to Jive Talking and Nights on Broadway if there was no Fever.

Also, I wonder how John Travolta's career turns out. He already was a star before that because of Kotter and his short-lived music career, but without SNF, it is hard to say.

[Enigmajones]

The world is saved.

[Tovarich]

Originally Posted by Enigmajones

The world is saved.

I dunno...can you imagine the horror of Hugh Grant as Vincent Vega?
In such a butterflied world, that is at least possible.

Purely musically, Electric6 are knocked out of existence, which is bad enough, and maybe later no Panic(!)At The Disco, which doesn't bear thinking about (I would've had nothing to do on May 17th this year....and I can barely cope with enough dull days outside of the footie season as it is!)

[AltSptHst]

Another butterfly: What would have happened to Patrick Swayze?

His first film was in a roller disco movie called Skatetown, U.S.A. in October, 1979.

Without SNF, roller disco doesn't become that popular, and Swayze would have had a much different career.

[Catmo]

You have remember that RSO records was not convinced that SNF would be a hit. RSO got Stayin' Alive put into this scene in Foul Play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRhN5l2Pjk8

What a scene, Dudley Moore doing a striptease to a clueless Goldie Hawn. And if you wanna see Hawn's braless boobs bouncing around back when when she was in her thirties this is the movie to watch. She still has the same look at 70 and I still like it.

In any case, The Bee Gee's might still have got a boost even without SNF being a hit.

And Disco was a club thing. Disco might still have become a huge club scene without radio airplay. Disco might have lived longer without so many crap disco bands on the radio. There might never be a disco backlash.

OTOH, I doubt the Houston clubs Rich's and Numbers would be around today without the disco backlash. Numbers started out as part gay bar and part Studio 54 wannabee. When the backlash hit, Numbers switched to New Wave dance music and live performances. Numbers survives today. I saw The Birthday Massacre there a couple years ago.

[AltSptHst]

Another point: Without SNF, we may never have had the famous Roller Disco episode of CHIPS with Leif Garrett:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNgl4...rec_grec_index

[seventiesmania]

Originally Posted by AltSptHst

I wonder what direction the Bee Gees would have went with no SNF. They did come out with a disco song before SNF with You Should be Dancing in 1976, but they may have continued with songs similar to Jive Talking and Nights on Broadway if there was no Fever.

There was such a backlash against them because of disco that they spent the 80s hiding their songs behind other artists.

Without the backlash, both Islands In The Stream and Chain Reaction might have been big Bee Gees hits instead of being given to other people.

New Romantic music came out of the late 70s disco scene, so without SNF and disco fading out by 77-78, would we have had Duran Duran? Andy Taylor was so influenced by Chic, but Chic would not have had worldwide popularity without the second disco explosion.

[seventiesmania]

Originally Posted by AltSptHst

Also, I wonder how John Travolta's career turns out. He already was a star before that because of Kotter and his short-lived music career, but without SNF, it is hard to say.

Richard Gere as Danny in the film Grease? (Which I think wouldn't have had the worldwide impact without the existing Travolta mania).

EDIT: Just thought, Grease was presumably cast before SNF became successful, so this just means a slightly less successful Grease. It would still have made Travolta a pretty big star though.

[eaglesfan101]

Disco won't be the first thing people think of when someone says "Pop Culture of the 1970s". Earlier New Wave.

[seventiesmania]

Originally Posted by eaglesfan101

Disco won't be the first thing people think of when someone says "Pop Culture of the 1970s". Earlier New Wave.

Earlier electronic music? The stuff Kraftwerk were doing was way ahead of its time, also Moroder. People still needed something to dance to, so it would have been less swirling strings, more computer beats.

[Spengler]

Originally Posted by Enigmajones

The world is saved.

Very much so. Although we don't get disco demolition night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpQfCcsqQ0E

[MirrorImage]

Maybe disco would've lost popularity a lot sooner, and perhaps rap may have caught on sooner.

[Catmo]

Originally Posted by Kiljan Arlsan

Very much so. Although we don't get disco demolition night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpQfCcsqQ0E

The disco riots might never have happened if disco had remained a club scene thing. Problem with disco is that it pushed too hard too fast. Studio 54 might have lived through the 80's if it catered mostly to a subculture and Numbers might not have switched to live punk and New Wave in the early 80s.

Rap might have still broken through, and might have been more dominated by the early east coast stylings of Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster flash. It might have spread slower and we could have got an earlier version of the Dirty South from Houston and Atlanta before the West Coast folks started up.

Disco remains popular in the US longer if crap disco doesn't hit the radio in 1977.

[AltSptHst]

Originally Posted by Catmo

The disco riots might never have happened if disco had remained a club scene thing. Problem with disco is that it pushed too hard too fast. Studio 54 might have lived through the 80's if it catered mostly to a subculture and Numbers might not have switched to live punk and New Wave in the early 80s.

Rap might have still broken through, and might have been more dominated by the early east coast stylings of Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster flash. It might have spread slower and we could have got an earlier version of the Dirty South from Houston and Atlanta before the West Coast folks started up.

Disco remains popular in the US longer if crap disco doesn't hit the radio in 1977.

That is a good point about Rap because I heard it's origins were in the mid-70's in the Bronx.

As for the New Romantic scene, I didn't know that Andy Taylor was influenced by Chic as an earlier poster said. Interesting.

[seventiesmania]

Originally Posted by AltSptHst

As for the New Romantic scene, I didn't know that Andy Taylor was influenced by Chic as an earlier poster said. Interesting.

Ha ha, I meant John Taylor on bass actually, but it amounts to the same thing. Listen to Rio, that could just be Bernard Edwards on bass.

Yes, and 'Nard was so flattered by this, he actually left (John) Taylor one of his favourite bass guitars in his will.

Both Taylors worked with Edwards in Power Station, and Edwards was a massive Duran Duran fan. Without Duran, New Romantic might have stayed in its slightly weird niche, because I think it was the commercialism of Duran that encouraged more people to check out the likes of Japan and Visage.

So the much maligned late 70s disco scene inspired one of the best bands of the 80s. (Not to mention Human League being very much inspired by Moroder, but Moroder just did his own thing and SNF wouldn't have had much effect on him either way).