Classic 70's Disco Hits!

[imamartian]

and how they EVER got tagged as a 'Rock' band is beyond me

Probably because they play rock music... Just a wild guess.

But seriously though, what else would you class them as? Rock is a very very wide net that covers pretty much anything that involves a guitar and drum-kit, plus a few things that don't.

they're wet rock..... !!

a new phrase i've created, but i'm sure you'll agree fits quite nicely.

Blas i agree with your post too !!

 

[securespark]

Guys

A million thanks for all your suggestions: I've been jotting them down then going, "ooh, ohh, what's that other one called?" and scribbling down another!

Further suggestions very welcome!

 

[r.bartlett]

Disco Duck

 

[Space cat]

I was a student during the seventies and, from what I remember, the quickest way to empty the floor at a students' union disco was to play some disco!

"Pop" music, as it was known back then, came in many flavours, most of which could be divided into two camps: "rock" and "soul". "Disco" seemed to start up around 1974, just as glitter rock (we never called it glam) fizzled out. It fell into the soul camp but some of it was so bad that even the Black Music Society disowned it!

The worst of it was that night clubs latched onto it and kept it on well past its use-by date. A part-time disc jockey explained why:

"My job is to get people to drink more. If they're on the dance floor they aren't drinking so, every so often, I'll play one decent record. They finish their drinks and get up. Then I play cr*p until they go back to the bar again. "

Rock is a very very wide net that covers pretty much anything that involves a guitar and drum-kit, plus a few things that don't.

A rough and ready seventies definition of the difference between rock and soul revolved around the lead instrument. Rock music pretty much demanded a lead guitar. Anything else, like a saxophone or synthesizer, would have been soul - or disco!

 

[holmslaw]

Freda payne - band of gold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIDeK7bVfUk&feature=related

Temptations - papa was a roliing stone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s3SNHIH0bs

 

[noseall]

Soul, disco, pop were for those who could dance, had rhythm and had confidence.

Rock was for those pimply post pubescent ones who liked to keep their heads bowed, in near darkness and nod a lot.

 

[Space cat]

Soul, disco, pop were for those who could dance, had rhythm and had confidence.

I would say that who could or couldn't dance to it pretty much defined the difference between rock and soul/disco, even more so than the lead instrument.

It's all about speed. (That's beats per minute (bpm), not amphetamine sulphate.) Most rock music is played at around 150 bpm - or 75 bpm if, like most, you move your feet every second beat. You can play a little slower than this but only if you put a whole load of power into every beat. (Examples: Spellbound - AC/DC or Perfect Strangers - Deep Purple).

Now 75 bpm just happens to be the natural firing rate of a bundle of nerve endings in the lower spinal chord. (Think about it. ) Or is that universally true? Soul/disco defies my best attempts to dance to it because it's either too fast or too slow, depending upon whether I try to follow every beat or every alternate beat. It just doesn't match my built-in timer.

At the risk of being branded a racist, might I suggest that that those of a different ethnic origin are naturally tuned to a different beat? There is a hint at this in one of the Rocky movies where Apollo Creed tries to get Rocky to box to a soul rhythm and he just can't do it. What he needs, but never gets, is some heavy metal.