In between the politics of the Stonewall Riots and the AIDS pandemic, disco emerged as a haven for gay men to escape the confines of heterosexuality.
In this episode, we’re taking a look at the history of disco, its queer roots, and how its legacy continues through today’s pop music – despite bigoted anti-disco movements in the late seventies.
Additional Resources:
• Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco (https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Beat-Around-Secret-History-ebook/dp/B00XHMG8JK)
• Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey (https://www.amazon.com/Last-Night-DJ-Saved-Life/dp/0802146104)
• Arts in America: Here's to Disco, It Never Could Say Goodbye (https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/arts/arts-in-america-here-s-to-disco-it-never-could-say-goodbye.html)
• Why Disco Should Be Taken Seriously (https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180403-why-disco-should-be-taken-seriously)
• Disco and the Queering of the Dancefloor (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09502386.2011.535989)
• Affect Intensity (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-12071-016)
• History is Made at Night (http://history-is-made-at-night.blogspot.com/2008/05/in-defence-of-disco-richard-dyer.html)
• Disco and Gay Culture in the 1970s (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bc4fa3c026e24ed0bd724fe588bf1aa7)
• Studio 54 (originally Gallo Opera House) (https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/studio-54/#:~:text=In%201977%2C%20Studio%2054%20opened,trends%20for%20music%20and%20dance)
• The Discriminating Club (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/11/09/the-discriminating-club/d64c32f0-f107-4da7-ba12-7dfda8aa3b2f/)
• Disco is Dealt Death Blow by Fans of the Chicago White Sox (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disco-is-dealt-death-blow-by-fans-of-the-chicago-white-sox)
• July 12, 1979: 'The Night Disco Died' — Or Didn't (https://www.npr.org/2016/07/16/485873750/july-12-1979-the-night-disco-died-or-didnt)
• The Queer History of Disco Playlist (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6KmMEkzP3zrzrRPK7ZaXd3?si=5aa85560ad564d34)
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