TonyVanDam said:

Victor was the first and only ever heterosexual in The Village People.

I think Ray Simpson is straight.

728huey said:

In fact, the last huge disco song of that era was Lipps, Inc's "Funkytown," which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the late spring of that year. But after that the pop charts were ruled by lite FM and country acts, and the new wave acts were bubbling underneath, pushing disco underground only to resurface later on as eurodance and house music.

Very good point.Also,around that time,Diana Ross scored her most successful album with the Chic-produced Diana.Contrary to what alot of people think,disco didn't just "die" overnight.Many of the early-80s R&B songs are very disco-sounding (Taana Gardner's 1981 hit "Heartbeat",for example).

728huey said:

But after that the pop charts were ruled by lite FM and country acts, and the new wave acts were bubbling underneath, pushing disco underground only to resurface later on as eurodance and house music.

Another good point.Disco didn't really die,it just "evolved" into other styles,such as house,freestyle and Eurodance.As Gloria Gaynor once said,"It didn't die,they just changed its name to 'dance music'

SoulAlive said:

728huey said:

In fact, the last huge disco song of that era was Lipps, Inc's "Funkytown," which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the late spring of that year. But after that the pop charts were ruled by lite FM and country acts, and the new wave acts were bubbling underneath, pushing disco underground only to resurface later on as eurodance and house music.

Very good point.Also,around that time,Diana Ross scored her most successful album with the Chic-produced Diana.Contrary to what alot of people think,disco didn't just "die" overnight.Many of the early-80s R&B songs are very disco-sounding (Taana Gardner's 1981 hit "Heartbeat",for example).

I loved Diana's album, and had Taana Gardner's single too.

More about this disco special: I didn't know KC was behind the song Rock Your Baby, by George Mc Crae. I also liked the song Rocking Chair, by Gwen Mc Crae, but I don't think that one was on the show.

TonyVanDam said:

KemiVA said:

While this wasn't an all-encompassing disco documentary, I really enjoyed it. It reminded me less of "Behind The Music" and more of British dance music documentaries. Nice mixture of interviews with well-known stars, lesser known acts and behind-the-scenes players. They provided a nice musical & social history lesson. This episode's argument is 70s' disco is unsung because it hasn't been given the respect it truly deserves.

Favorite Parts:

-Candi Staton and Nile Rodgers' interviews and Earl Young's drumming demos.

-Established acts like Gloria Gaynor & Harry Casey admitting they initially resented The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever success. BGs were viewed as late-comers that hitched on the bandwagon.

-Victor Willis admitting he was ignorant of The Village People's gay overtunes, until the third album. Nevermind that he was the lead singer and co-wrote the songs.

-Janice-Marie Johnson of "Taste of Honey" revealing she became a limo driver after the disco backlash. The SOS Band were great tippers, apparenty.

-Despite the disco backlash in '79, the last big hit of the era, "Good Times" laid the foundation for the first hip-hop movement's first hit "Rapper's Delight".

But THAT^ shouldn't surprise you. Victor was the first and only ever heterosexual in The Village People. At least he was very comfortable lead vocalist, given THIS video and all:

Excuse me, but those short shorts from the late 1970's to early 1980's should NEVER come back in style!

SoulAlive said:

728huey said:

But after that the pop charts were ruled by lite FM and country acts, and the new wave acts were bubbling underneath, pushing disco underground only to resurface later on as eurodance and house music.

Another good point.Disco didn't really die,it just "evolved" into other styles,such as house,freestyle and Eurodance.As Gloria Gaynor once said,"It didn't die,they just changed its name to 'dance music'

Exactly. Despite the haters, disco never went away.

Very true

I finally saw it yesterday online. I thought it was very good. The memories started flowing back, both good and bad. I also got a chance to get mad all over again when I saw those redneck bastards in that baseball field. And when that asshole said the backlash had nothing to do with racism and homophobia, he was a damn lie and the truth ain't in him.

KemiVA said:

Timmy84 said:

That's pretty much why I didn't watch. I don't like those types of specials. I like them when it focuses on individuals. It's easy to get lost when they try covering a genre or a year concerning music. Which is why I wasn't a fan of those decade Behind the Music documentaries.

While this wasn't an all-encompassing disco documentary, I really enjoyed it. It reminded me less of "Behind The Music" and more of British dance music documentaries. Nice mixture of interviews with well-known stars, lesser known acts and behind-the-scenes players. They provided a nice musical & social history lesson. This episode's argument is 70s' disco is unsung because it hasn't been given the respect it truly deserves.

Favorite Parts:

-Candi Staton and Nile Rodgers' interviews and Earl Young's drumming demos.

-Established acts like Gloria Gaynor & Harry Casey admitting they initially resented The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever success. BGs were viewed as late-comers that hitched on the bandwagon.

-Victor Willis admitting he was ignorant of The Village People's gay overtunes, until the third album. Nevermind that he was the lead singer and co-wrote the songs.

-Janice-Marie Johnson of "Taste of Honey" revealing she became a limo driver after the disco backlash. The SOS Band were great tippers, apparenty.

-Despite the disco backlash in '79, the last big hit of the era, "Good Times" laid the foundation for the first hip-hop movement's first hit "Rapper's Delight".

That first drumming demo was giving me an orgasm. I could have listened to those drums alone all night long.

MickyDolenz said:

Also, Unsung seems to be geared towards an audience more interested in gossip and dirt, and less on the music. It's just Sister 2 Sister magazine on TV. The music documentaries on the PBS show Independent Lens are more interesting to me.

It wasn't just focused on the music of disco, it was on the disco era and you can't have a true depiction of the disco era without mentioning the discoteques and the wild and outrageous things that happened in them.

I remember the era well and absolutely begging and dying to go to a disco to the point that one night after my grandmother went to sleep, I snuck out of her house and walked up to the disco that was in walking distance of her house at the time. I was in the sixth grade at the time and when I got to the door, the person at the door said "Uh....can I see some ID?" to which I replied "What's ID?" to which they replied "If you don't even know what it is, you're too young to get in". I also remember my grandmother telling me "Just be patient, when you get grown, you'll be able to go to the discos". Well hell, disco "died" a year later so I never got my chance. Those damn redneck disco haters.

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[Edited 3/3/13 7:31am]

TonyVanDam said:

KemiVA said:

While this wasn't an all-encompassing disco documentary, I really enjoyed it. It reminded me less of "Behind The Music" and more of British dance music documentaries. Nice mixture of interviews with well-known stars, lesser known acts and behind-the-scenes players. They provided a nice musical & social history lesson. This episode's argument is 70s' disco is unsung because it hasn't been given the respect it truly deserves.

Favorite Parts:

-Candi Staton and Nile Rodgers' interviews and Earl Young's drumming demos.

-Established acts like Gloria Gaynor & Harry Casey admitting they initially resented The Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever success. BGs were viewed as late-comers that hitched on the bandwagon.

-Victor Willis admitting he was ignorant of The Village People's gay overtunes, until the third album. Nevermind that he was the lead singer and co-wrote the songs.

-Janice-Marie Johnson of "Taste of Honey" revealing she became a limo driver after the disco backlash. The SOS Band were great tippers, apparenty.

-Despite the disco backlash in '79, the last big hit of the era, "Good Times" laid the foundation for the first hip-hop movement's first hit "Rapper's Delight".

But THAT^ shouldn't surprise you. Victor was the first and only ever heterosexual in The Village People. At least he was very comfortable lead vocalist, given THIS video and all:

Excuse me, but those short shorts from the late 1970's to early 1980's should NEVER come back in style!

He was a damn lie. Ain't no way in hell he didn't know because damn near everything they recorded is gay related..."San Francisco", "Fire Island", "Macho Man", "Hot Cop", etc. And he was on drugs too. He was about as straight as I am.

As for those short shorts, they definitely need to come back. If someone sat down and spread their legs, many a ball has come out the leg opening and anything that gives a sneak peak of some dick, is a good fashion trend.

vainandy said:

TonyVanDam said:

But THAT^ shouldn't surprise you. Victor was the first and only ever heterosexual in The Village People. At least he was very comfortable lead vocalist, given THIS video and all:

Excuse me, but those short shorts from the late 1970's to early 1980's should NEVER come back in style!

He was a damn lie. Ain't no way in hell he didn't know because damn near everything they recorded is gay related..."San Francisco", "Fire Island", "Macho Man", "Hot Cop", etc. And he was on drugs too. He was about as straight as I am.

As for those short shorts, they definitely need to come back. If someone sat down and spread their legs, many a ball has come out the leg opening and anything that gives a sneak peak of some dick, is a good fashion trend.

Damn-near spat out my drink reading that, vainandy!

vainandy said:

MickyDolenz said:

Also, Unsung seems to be geared towards an audience more interested in gossip and dirt, and less on the music. It's just Sister 2 Sister magazine on TV. The music documentaries on the PBS show Independent Lens are more interesting to me.

It wasn't just focused on the music of disco, it was on the disco era and you can't have a true depiction of the disco era without mentioning the discoteques and the wild and outrageous things that happened in them.

I remember the era well and absolutely begging and dying to go to a disco to the point that one night after my grandmother went to sleep, I snuck out of her house and walked up to the disco that was in walking distance of her house at the time. I was in the sixth grade at the time and when I got to the door, the person at the door said "Uh....can I see some ID?" to which I replied "What's ID?" to which they replied "If you don't even know what it is, you're too young to get in". I also remember my grandmother telling me "Just be patient, when you get grown, you'll be able to go to the discos". Well hell, disco "died" a year later so I never got my chance. Those damn redneck disco haters.

vainandy said:

TonyVanDam said:

But THAT^ shouldn't surprise you. Victor was the first and only ever heterosexual in The Village People. At least he was very comfortable lead vocalist, given THIS video and all:

Excuse me, but those short shorts from the late 1970's to early 1980's should NEVER come back in style!

He was a damn lie. Ain't no way in hell he didn't know because damn near everything they recorded is gay related..."San Francisco", "Fire Island", "Macho Man", "Hot Cop", etc. And he was on drugs too. He was about as straight as I am.

Victor did one smart thing,though.He left the group just before they began filming "Can't Stop The Music",which is truly one of the worst movies ever

This was a good episode. It brought back memories of my days being at da club, gettin' my hustle on!

It was good seeing Gloria Gaynor and the rest of the disco stars from back then and Nile talking about studio 54 was wild. I never even knew all that was going on 'cuz I only cared about dancing, dancing and more dancing.

I was disappointed they didn't give more time to the Bee Gees. I know the Village People were big at the time but they were still a novelty act compared to the Bee Gees who were kickass singers and songwriters. They should have gotten more time than the Village People IMO.

babynoz said:

This was a good episode. It brought back memories of my days being at da club, gettin' my hustle on!

It was good seeing Gloria Gaynor and the rest of the disco stars from back then and Nile talking about studio 54 was wild. I never even knew all that was going on 'cuz I only cared about dancing, dancing and more dancing.

I was disappointed they didn't give more time to the Bee Gees. I know the Village People were big at the time but they were still a novelty act compared to the Bee Gees who were kickass singers and songwriters. They should have gotten more time than the Village People IMO.

I agree

Scorp said:

babynoz said:

This was a good episode. It brought back memories of my days being at da club, gettin' my hustle on!

It was good seeing Gloria Gaynor and the rest of the disco stars from back then and Nile talking about studio 54 was wild. I never even knew all that was going on 'cuz I only cared about dancing, dancing and more dancing.

I was disappointed they didn't give more time to the Bee Gees. I know the Village People were big at the time but they were still a novelty act compared to the Bee Gees who were kickass singers and songwriters. They should have gotten more time than the Village People IMO.

I agree

I also agree.The Village People were nothing more than a novelty act.I was never that crazy about their music.All of their songs have the same music and the same beat

lmfao @ "besides Andy" lol..

I watched it a couple times

and got it DVRed.. LOVED IT

they dwelled on subjects too long IMO

and coulda been condensed to an hour

but it was cool

esp the part about Donna Summer!

I downloaded all her albums on Rhapsody

after watching LOL

phunkdaddy said:

I can't help but think these days brother Nile is looking like a older 50 cents.

LMFAO