rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (10/18/83)
> Is it just my imagination, or is new wave starting to sound > more like disco? I hope it is just my imagination. There are a few reasons why it might be percieved that new wave is sounding more and more like disco (indeed for many so-called new wave bands, this is very true). First off, "new wave" was originally marketed to housewives and suburban high-schoolers as "D.O.R." (Dance Oriented Rock), so it's no wonder that what was once a new and vital form of music has been mulched into the disco mold, as a function of advertising/marketing expertise. Secondly, many of the "new wave" artists have always been nothing more than poseurs (you know, the ones who go to clubs just to be looked at), jumping on every fad the seventies had to offer, so they brought with them their "glitter rock" and "disco" mentalities. And thirdly, cross-fertilization with punk, funk, disco, and reggae has given the music many characteristics of the other forms (like 12" extended "dance" version singles and dub mix versions of songs). But the big question is: Why does everyone HATE disco? Possible reasons: 1) Disco is seen as antithetical to rock (in the eyes of many rock fans) because it fails to adhere to rock cliches of guitar idols doing heavy metal solos (in fact it totally de- emphasizes the importance of the guitar, which appeals to those who have heard far too much of that instrument far too loudly), and also because it is viewed as "black" music by the white teenagers that AOR stations program for. The term "nigger music" has been used by listeners who call up to complain to the rare AOR programmer who dares to play ANY black music. Those who deny that racism is a major factor in the "Disco Sucks" movement are only fooling themselves. 2) Disco is seen by others as being simply too plastic, too mass produced, too glitzy--the ultimate faceless plastic music for the ultimate faceless plastic generation. If disco was a sort of rebellion against the redundancy of rock music, then as disco grew, the "punk movement" was a reaction to the plasticity of disco (as well as the dinosauric ravings of the now ancient rock music). 3) Disco is also seen as just another showbiz extravaganza by some. The entertainment industry took to disco the way flies take to dog feces. Even Bob Hope and George Burns (and their ilk) found disco OK. It was an establishment form of music. Disco made ancient washups like the BeeGees into superstars, and convinced people that John Travolta was a great actor. Need I say more? For whatever reasons, disco is indeed back under a new name. Hundreds of new wave clone bands are making disco at it worst. Perhaps the hardcore punk movement is in fact a reaction to *this*. With cycles like these going on, how far off can the Dead Kennedys electronic disco version of "Too Drunk to F***" be?? But, remember not all disco is abominable. The Eurodisco sound of Giorgio Moroder ("I Feel Love", "Midnight Express") influenced the likes of Kraftwerk, Ultravox, and the whole electropop movement. The spitting bass synthesizer sound of the Gap Band can really be quite a kick. The weird funky sounds of George Clinton (Parliament, Funkadelic, + offshoots) are really incredible ("One Nation Under a Groove", "Atomic Dog"), though he's not what many would call mainstream disco. And, with a song like "I Will Survive", disco even has something to say sometimes. So just being disco isn't necessarily a bad thing; but being disco-like in vapidness and plasticity is. That's what we really have to watch out for. Unfortunately, I think it's arrived. But that doesn't mean ALL new music has become either disco or hardcore. There are still plenty of creative alternatives to these extremes: avant garde punk, new pop, etc. Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr