Sometime during that awkward phase in adolescence where I had obtained a learner’s permit, but did not yet have “off campus lunch” at high school, I bought a “Best of Disco” CD compilation at Hastings in Wenatchee, Washington. My only friend at that time in my teenagehood was my Sony Sports Discman – I had hit puberty, but not yet rang anyone’s bell, or vice versa, if you know what I mean.
I listened the hell out of that CD (and used my Sony Discman all the time, the ESP was pretty much flawless). My mother once grabbed the plastic jewel case of my beloved disco compilation while I was listening to it and smirked as she took a casual glance at the tracklist. She was a teenager during ‘peak disco’, and probably knew every single one of the tracks firsthand, when they were originally released. While she would end up becoming a huge hard rock and heavy metal afficionado around the time I was born, disco was her first teenage musical genre of choice.
“Pew!” “Pew!” “Ding dong ding aaa-aaa!” were the next words out of my mother’s mouth, then in a very off-key falsetto, sang “you can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell!” She sounded like she had inhaled a bit of helium, just like Anita Ward. That was her way of giving me her implicit endorsement of my choice in music – not that she was a finger-wagging, Tipper Gore type.
Ever since that moment, I have always associated that high pitched “pew!” noise with disco in general, at least the good stuff. That iconic noise can be attributed to the use of the electronic instrument called the Synare – essentially a synthesizer that used a percussion pad instead of a keyboard. It was used by a very diverse group of musicans (even the Cure used one in ‘Play For Today’!)
The other standout tracks on that Best of Disco compilation were “Rock The Boat” by the Hues Corporation, “Knock On Wood” by Amii Stewart, and “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang (which was my mother’s high school graduating class ‘song’). Each of these songs are fabulous for different reasons:
“Rock The Boat” is almost not disco at all, or perhaps it’s an R&B / yacht rock / disco-lite crossover. The metaphors are anchored starboard and bow on this trusty sloop of a song – “we’ve been sailing with a cargo full of love and devotion!” I remember playing it on my grandpa’s stereo system in his sailboat as we entered Victoria Harbour in British Columbia – a moment in life that was bespoke for entering a harbor, just as the fog lifted and the sun began to shine in front of the Empress Hotel.
“Knock On Wood” is fantastic because it’s not only a great remake of a good song, but it features electronic instrumentation and effects that would essentially foreshadow what dance music would sound like about 5 years later.
“Celebration” by Kool and the Gang is simply an encapsulation of good songwriting, and it outlives disco despite being the most archetypally disco song there is, other than something from “Saturday Night Fever”. It was first released in October 1980, so it might be one of the few disco songs that were released after the genre had jumped the shark in 1979. (The other example of this might be “Tragedy” by the Bee Gees.)
I am so glad I bought that disco compilation CD back in 1999, because it gave me something other than ABBA to obsess over, before my taste in music became super diverse, ultra snobby, and pretentious in a way that only college boy does best.
