Isn’t disco supposed to be dead? In case you weren’t alive in 1979 — and if you were, hi, Mom! — here’s a quick history lesson for you. (Don’t worry, it’s the best kind of history lesson: one with explosions.) On July 12, 1979, the Chicago White Sox held Disco Demolition Night during a doubleheader to vehemently welcome the end of the disco era. Fans were encouraged to bring their old LPs, which would be gathered and burned during intermission. People came, records were collected and stuff was blown up. Oh, and riots were had, fires were started and the second game had to be forfeited because _too much_ stuff got blown up.
_That_ is how much people used to hate disco. Yet, remnants of the bell-bottomed genre don’t just persist in 2012 — they thrive. Roll-off-the-tongue varieties of dance music like electroclash, deep house and, appropriately, nu-disco are all present-day reminders of the baby boomer phenomenon that was disco.
And, by the way, what a phenomenon it was. What began as gay/black/Latino counterculture — sorry, forgot the “history lesson” spoiler — shook, shook, shook its way into a full-fledged fashion and music craze with the help of artists like Donna Summer, KC and the Sunshine Band and, my personal fave, The Bee Gees.
And, of course, there’s Dirty Disco. The weekly dance party celebrates its second birthday this Friday, Jan. 27 (see pages 4 and 5). Held at Eastside Tavern, the Friday-night fiesta has thrived in its short stint in Columbia, becoming a distinct staple of CoMo nightlife. And, above all, it serves as a nice little reminder that disco’s not dead. It’s just a little dirtier.