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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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[Billy Porter] Love always wins.

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♪♪♪

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[Billy] Disco is love.

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Disco is a celebration of love.

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Disco is a celebration of life.

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A celebration of hope.
A celebration of humanity.

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That's what it is.

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It felt like family,

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in the disco sound.

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♪♪♪

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[Nile Rodgers] Everybody
supported everybody.

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That was the thing that was
so cool in the seventies.

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Disco felt, to me, more
revolutionary than the Panthers.

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During the disco movement,
you could come

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from any background
and you just fit in

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and nobody felt uncomfortable.

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Everybody was... was down
for everybody.

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And it was like, "Let's make
the best out of a bad time."

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And that's what we did.

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And as it went away, the world
got more divided.

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[Steve Dahl] Us rock and rollers
here in Chicago,

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think Disco sucks!

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[crowd chanting] Disco sucks!

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[Steve] This is now
officially the world's largest

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anti-disco rally.

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[crowd cheering]

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[Steve] We took all
the disco records

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that you brought tonight,

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we got 'em in a giant box.

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And we're gonna blow 'em up
real good.

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[crowd cheering]

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[explosions]

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[crowd chanting] Disco sucks!

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♪ Lost in Music ♪
by Sister Sledge

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♪♪♪

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♪ Can't take away my music ♪

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♪ I'm caught up in my music ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ No turning back,
uh-uh ♪

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♪ Lost, ooh ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ We're lost in music ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ Caught in the trap ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ No turning back ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ We're lost in music ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ We're lost in music ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ Caught in the trap ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪ No turning back ♪

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♪ No turning back ♪

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♪ We're lost in music ♪

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♪ We're lost in music ♪

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♪♪♪

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♪♪♪

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[Nicky Siano] From
a very young age,

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I knew that I was attracted
to the same sex.

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♪♪♪

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[Nicky] Being gay was not okay,
especially in Brooklyn.

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I would get beat up regularly.

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'Faggot' was a word
I heard almost daily.

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It makes you feel scared
all the time.

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♪♪♪

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There were no celebrity
gay people.

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There were no out stars.

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There was no one on TV
that was gay.

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I'm living in that world.

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♪♪♪

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[Nicky] And a friend of mine,
when I'm 13, says to me,

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"You know, there's a place I
found, the West Village."

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And I went down
to the West Village,

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and here's this place
with men, same sex,

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women, same sex,
talking together,

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laughing together,

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even holding hands and
walking down the street.

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I was amazed.

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[Nile] New York
and Greenwich Village

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was probably the hippest,

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most liberal place to grow up.

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My parents' friends were
bebop musicians.

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You know, I could come home
and I'd see Nina Simone

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or Thelonious Monk
or Miles Davis

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hanging out at our crib.

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That was like,
pretty normal stuff.

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[Agosto Machado]
I'm a street queen,

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Christopher Street Queen.

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A lot of us didn't have
a steady place to live.

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♪♪♪

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Our gay community could be gay
wherever they were.

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And New York was the Mecca.

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They came in such numbers,

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and the music was
being so vocal.

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♪ Ooh-ooh ♪

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♪ There's something
in the air ♪

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[Nile] Being a
Greenwich Village kid,

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a hippie, downtown kid,

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I started to become a little bit
more politicized.

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They had formed
a section called

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Lower Manhattan
Black Panther Party.

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All power to the people.

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[Nile] And I wanted
to be in with them.

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So there was every kind
of march that would go past

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my apartment and school
every day,

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be it the teachers strike
or women's lib

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or gay lib, whatever.

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[Nicky] There's still laws
on the book

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that are preventing us from
being who we are.

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Like two people of the same sex
cannot dance together

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on the dance floor.

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There were a couple of others,
you know, sodomy.

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All that stuff was
against the law.

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♪ Right now ♪

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♪ Right now ♪

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♪ Right ♪

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♪ Right now ♪

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[Nicky] And there was a place
called The Stonewall.

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It was a bar.

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♪♪♪

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[Nicky] The cops go
into Stonewall,

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they bust the place because
people are dancing together.

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And they regularly do this.

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They start charging people,

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and they take them out
to a paddy wagon

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that's waiting outside.

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♪ The revolution will
not be televised ♪

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♪ No ♪

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♪♪♪

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[Mark Riley] The gay community
had endured it,

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and endured it,
and endured it.

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And that night at Stonewall,

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they just chose not to
endure it anymore.

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♪♪♪

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[Agosto] The collective
anger unleashed us

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and we were pushing
and shoving.

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♪♪♪

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It got larger and larger,

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and more people were coming,

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and then they set fires to the
trashcans and what have you.

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♪♪♪

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[Mark] And it turned into
five days of riots.

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[Nicky] On the second night,

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I walk out of the subway
and Sixth Avenue,

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there's people blocking
the traffic.

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[crowd chanting] Hey, hey!
We don't over-populate!

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[Nicky] And that's
like unheard of.

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And there's this guy going
with around a clipboard.

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"Can you get arrested?
Can you get arrested?"

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I was like, "No way.
I can't get arrested!"

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I don't know who
was organizing this,

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but they were ready
like Freddie.

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[Speaker] Obviously, if we're
to obtain all the rights

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we deserve, we have to be
willing to fight for them.

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We need an alternative
to the mafia bars,

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and an alternative to just
sitting on the stoops.

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♪ I said will not be televised ♪

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♪ It just won't be televised ♪

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They rioted every night
until Lindsay,

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who was the mayor,
came on and said,

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"We're going to do
everything we can.

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We're going to change this law."

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♪♪♪

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♪ The revolution
is gonna be live ♪

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[Mark] In 1971, it led to
that law being repealed.

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That was the one thing that
opened the ability of gay clubs

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to survive legally more than
anything else that happened.

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♪♪♪

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[Jellybean Benitez]
I was really young

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when I started DJ-ing.

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I was like 15, 16.

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I DJ-ed in my room.

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Sweet 16s, school dances,
parties.

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I was always attracted to music
that was very soulful.

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For the most part, it was
up-tempo Randamp;B.

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♪♪♪

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[Earl Young] Back in the day,
everybody had a house party.

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House parties put people in
touch with music so much.

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They had the little record
players, the little 45s

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where the record drops.

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I was heavily influenced
by Gamble and Huff

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from Philadelphia International,

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and all the records they made.

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The O'Jays or Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes

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or MFSB,

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which is Mother, Father,
Sister, Brother.

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♪♪♪

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[Mark] Philly was
a moment in time.

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Rhythm andamp;amp; Blues before that,

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there wasn't a lot of
instrumentation

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because they didn't spend
that much money

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putting those songs together.

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Well, Philly developed its
own unique sound:

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the use of lush strings,

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a gospel inflection to
a lot of the vocals.

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Urban sophistication
at its best.

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And it's music that literally
drove people to dance.

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♪♪♪

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Those grooves were
so infectious

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that you could play anything
by Gamble and Huff,

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and you'd get an
immediate reaction

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and people just vibe to it.

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The root of like all dance music
that's on the soulful side.

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[Earl] We cut and wrote songs
that people can relate to,

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like Love Is The Message.

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00:10:02,935 --> 00:10:05,896
These are songs that bring
people together.

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So we came in there
and we banged out hits.

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♪♪♪

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A lot of the songs were slow,
like The Love I Lost.

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♪♪♪

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[Earl] This was not disco music.
This was basically Randamp;B stuff.

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Back then, most of the time
they looked for the drummer

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to set the pace, and they
deliver the grooves.

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They weren't...

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they didn't really tell
drummers what to play.

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I say, "Look, let's put this,

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let's put this in
another groove."

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♪♪♪

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[Earl chuckles]

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That's the groove that I used
on The Love I Lost.

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They weren't really a disco
group until I came in

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with that groove.

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♪♪♪

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That's the 'four on the floor',
that's a walking beat.

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The bass drum, to me,
is people walking like...

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00:11:01,826 --> 00:11:02,744
♪♪♪

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And the high-hat, to me,
is a melody.

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00:11:05,998 --> 00:11:08,666
[drumming]

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00:11:08,792 --> 00:11:14,006
[Nicky] Earl Young is the beat
of disco, no doubt about it.

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What he did with The Love I Lost
when it came out,

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the epitome of the club drummer.

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♪♪♪

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The standard disco beat
with the bass drum,

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the 'four on the floor.'

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00:11:29,729 --> 00:11:33,566
[drumming]

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00:11:33,734 --> 00:11:36,903
Now you've got to add
the high-hat next.

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00:11:37,070 --> 00:11:39,949
You can add it open or closed.

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00:11:40,074 --> 00:11:42,910
I'll do it closed first.

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00:11:43,076 --> 00:11:47,540
[drumming]

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00:11:54,003 --> 00:11:55,797
Now I'll do it with it open.

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00:11:55,922 --> 00:12:01,052
[drumming]

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00:12:04,056 --> 00:12:08,935
Now I'm going to add
the snare drum.

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00:12:09,103 --> 00:12:15,359
[drumming]

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00:12:16,944 --> 00:12:19,821
That's basic disco.

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00:12:19,946 --> 00:12:22,950
[drumming]

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00:12:23,117 --> 00:12:25,661
Bad luck.

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00:12:28,037 --> 00:12:29,998
[applause]

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[Earl] We brought soul
to New York.

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00:12:33,127 --> 00:12:36,088
Little clubs in New York
supported us

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from the very beginning.

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[Vince Aletti] I was always
really drawn to the stories

261
00:12:42,094 --> 00:12:45,306
of records, about records,
but about concerts

262
00:12:45,473 --> 00:12:49,142
and things that I was
interested in.

263
00:12:49,310 --> 00:12:51,811
I wrote about disco
really early on,

264
00:12:51,979 --> 00:12:56,316
before it had a name.

265
00:12:56,484 --> 00:13:00,153
I started going to several clubs

266
00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,281
in the early Seventies.

267
00:13:03,282 --> 00:13:06,285
I realized that there was a
whole other underground

268
00:13:06,451 --> 00:13:07,161
of music.

269
00:13:07,328 --> 00:13:09,622
[Nicky] I'm on
Christopher Street

270
00:13:09,787 --> 00:13:12,458
and I'm hearing this music,

271
00:13:12,583 --> 00:13:16,711
and I'm going, "What is this?"
you know.

272
00:13:16,836 --> 00:13:18,296
And I'm hearing this music,

273
00:13:18,464 --> 00:13:19,256
and every time someone
comes out, I'm saying,

274
00:13:19,381 --> 00:13:21,508
"What's that song?
What's that song?"

275
00:13:21,675 --> 00:13:24,052
Radio was not playing
this music.

276
00:13:24,177 --> 00:13:27,514
[Vince] The most obvious
turning point for me

277
00:13:27,681 --> 00:13:30,142
was going to
David Mancuso's Loft,

278
00:13:30,267 --> 00:13:34,312
where I heard a lot of music
that I really loved,

279
00:13:34,479 --> 00:13:37,525
that I hadn't heard
anywhere else.

280
00:13:37,690 --> 00:13:41,528
[Mark] I had heard that
The Loft was this place,

281
00:13:41,695 --> 00:13:44,989
it was underground,
it was private.

282
00:13:45,114 --> 00:13:47,033
You had to know someone
to get in.

283
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,078
You had to be a member, or you
had to know somebody

284
00:13:49,203 --> 00:13:51,580
who was already a member.

285
00:13:51,705 --> 00:13:56,042
But it never felt exclusive
the way clubs later did.

286
00:13:56,209 --> 00:13:58,253
[Nicky] It was in the winter.

287
00:13:58,378 --> 00:14:01,006
I was at a party
and they were playing

288
00:14:01,131 --> 00:14:04,008
this really lame like
Rock and Roll music

289
00:14:04,133 --> 00:14:05,761
that no one was dancing to.

290
00:14:05,886 --> 00:14:09,013
And I started putting on some of
the Soul music that I had.

291
00:14:09,138 --> 00:14:11,057
A girl who was there said,

292
00:14:11,224 --> 00:14:11,975
"Hey, you want to go
to The Loft with me?"

293
00:14:12,100 --> 00:14:14,854
That's how I got invited
to The Loft.

294
00:14:14,979 --> 00:14:19,358
[Mark] And these guys held the
key to me going to The Loft.

295
00:14:19,483 --> 00:14:21,109
And they said, "Listen,
do you have a problem

296
00:14:21,234 --> 00:14:22,027
with gay people?

297
00:14:22,152 --> 00:14:24,530
This place is not all gay,

298
00:14:24,696 --> 00:14:27,867
but there are going to be
a substantial number

299
00:14:27,992 --> 00:14:29,033
of gay people there.

300
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,369
You're going to see guys
dancing with guys.

301
00:14:31,536 --> 00:14:35,040
And if that bothers you,
forget we invited you."

302
00:14:35,206 --> 00:14:38,209
And I said, "Oh no, I'm going!"

303
00:14:38,377 --> 00:14:41,213
[Nicky] It was 647 Broadway.

304
00:14:41,379 --> 00:14:43,047
I'll never forget that address.

305
00:14:43,172 --> 00:14:45,258
And it looks like a
broken-down factory.

306
00:14:45,426 --> 00:14:49,054
So the door opens,
the stairs are all rickety.

307
00:14:49,179 --> 00:14:52,391
And the thing about The Loft
was you knew them

308
00:14:52,516 --> 00:14:55,060
even though you didn't
know them

309
00:14:55,227 --> 00:14:59,397
because you had one thing
in common - the music.

310
00:14:59,565 --> 00:15:02,276
$2.99 each, and the door opens,

311
00:15:02,442 --> 00:15:04,402
and it's dark in there.

312
00:15:04,570 --> 00:15:06,906
It's, I mean, I couldn't
see anything.

313
00:15:07,071 --> 00:15:11,451
When we go in, the door closes
behind and it's dark.

314
00:15:11,618 --> 00:15:14,997
And then all of a sudden, I see
that huge mirrored ball.

315
00:15:15,122 --> 00:15:17,999
It was big,

316
00:15:18,124 --> 00:15:22,754
and the spots are flying
around the wall,

317
00:15:22,921 --> 00:15:24,006
the snare hits...

318
00:15:24,131 --> 00:15:28,426
a bright, bright light flashes.

319
00:15:29,302 --> 00:15:32,097
Everyone started screaming!

320
00:15:32,263 --> 00:15:37,435
♪♪♪

321
00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:43,441
♪♪♪

322
00:15:43,609 --> 00:15:47,195
The sound was gorgeous.
It was beautiful.

323
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,031
Like I was at a symphony.

324
00:15:49,156 --> 00:15:51,992
Like I was in a theater.

325
00:15:52,158 --> 00:15:53,953
[Loose Key Jr.] Okay, so
there's this white guy,

326
00:15:54,118 --> 00:15:56,205
with long hair, who looks like
Jesus, that's playing music.

327
00:15:56,330 --> 00:16:00,626
He knew how to take that
song from beginning,

328
00:16:00,751 --> 00:16:01,877
middle to end,

329
00:16:02,002 --> 00:16:04,964
take you on a journey to bring
you up and bring you down,

330
00:16:05,129 --> 00:16:07,965
and bring you up, and bring you
down, and bring you up.

331
00:16:08,091 --> 00:16:09,969
He had a method to his madness,

332
00:16:10,134 --> 00:16:13,472
which we really appreciated
because it challenged us

333
00:16:13,638 --> 00:16:15,181
as dancers to go to that level.

334
00:16:15,349 --> 00:16:18,142
[David Mancuso] Anything that
you're doing with audio

335
00:16:18,267 --> 00:16:20,854
must be as pure as possible.

336
00:16:21,021 --> 00:16:22,147
We're all spiritually connected.

337
00:16:22,272 --> 00:16:26,151
You can't capture
anything that's free.

338
00:16:26,859 --> 00:16:27,152
Free in spirit.

339
00:16:27,319 --> 00:16:31,323
♪♪♪

340
00:16:31,489 --> 00:16:32,574
[Jellybean] I went
to The Loft.

341
00:16:32,700 --> 00:16:35,911
I'd never seen anything like it
because it was like...

342
00:16:36,036 --> 00:16:38,998
we were in a party,
but it was in his house.

343
00:16:39,123 --> 00:16:41,249
So it's like car keys were
there, the mail was there,

344
00:16:41,374 --> 00:16:43,334
dishes in the sink,

345
00:16:43,502 --> 00:16:45,586
and it'd be three to four
hundred people in there dancing.

346
00:16:45,713 --> 00:16:50,591
And it... It was not Studio 54,
it was a loft.

347
00:16:50,717 --> 00:16:53,512
So it wasn't something
like, you know,

348
00:16:53,637 --> 00:16:55,513
some grand sort of place.

349
00:16:55,638 --> 00:16:57,224
It was a loft, but great music.

350
00:16:57,390 --> 00:16:59,268
[Jellybean] He didn't
mix beat to beat,

351
00:16:59,393 --> 00:17:01,185
so the songs would end,

352
00:17:01,352 --> 00:17:04,689
and then the audience
would just clap,

353
00:17:04,814 --> 00:17:06,191
and then he'd play
the next song.

354
00:17:06,316 --> 00:17:09,319
♪♪♪

355
00:17:09,445 --> 00:17:12,196
[Nicky] I had never
seen anything like this.

356
00:17:12,364 --> 00:17:15,533
[Mark] The Loft was magic.

357
00:17:15,658 --> 00:17:18,537
It was very simply magic.

358
00:17:18,662 --> 00:17:21,205
I loved it. I loved
everything about it.

359
00:17:21,330 --> 00:17:23,916
[Mark] David used
to always say,

360
00:17:24,083 --> 00:17:28,213
"If you can get groups of people
from different backgrounds,

361
00:17:28,338 --> 00:17:30,924
different income groups,
different races,

362
00:17:31,090 --> 00:17:32,551
creeds, colors, sexuality.

363
00:17:32,676 --> 00:17:35,471
If you can put them all in a
room and get them to dance,

364
00:17:35,596 --> 00:17:37,305
that's the beginning
of social progress."

365
00:17:37,430 --> 00:17:40,224
That was the interesting
part of it,

366
00:17:40,391 --> 00:17:41,643
and that's where
people connected.

367
00:17:41,769 --> 00:17:44,228
That's very important
to me, okay?

368
00:17:44,396 --> 00:17:46,898
And The Loft was a community.

369
00:17:47,023 --> 00:17:48,149
If you didn't have money, as
long as you had an invitation,

370
00:17:48,274 --> 00:17:49,109
you got in.

371
00:17:49,275 --> 00:17:52,279
♪♪♪

372
00:17:52,445 --> 00:17:53,614
[Nile] The Loft.

373
00:17:53,781 --> 00:17:58,452
There would be no Nile Rodgers
if it wasn't for those clubs.

374
00:17:58,618 --> 00:18:03,665
I mean, this underground
New York club scene

375
00:18:03,791 --> 00:18:05,291
was phenomenal.

376
00:18:05,458 --> 00:18:08,753
And that, to me is one
of the greatest things

377
00:18:08,878 --> 00:18:11,423
that came out of this
thing called disco.

378
00:18:11,589 --> 00:18:14,926
It was a leveler
in a way, for...

379
00:18:15,092 --> 00:18:17,262
for different people
who had differences,

380
00:18:17,428 --> 00:18:20,099
that they could come
together and dance

381
00:18:20,224 --> 00:18:24,019
and enjoy themselves,
and love the same music.

382
00:18:24,144 --> 00:18:26,271
♪♪♪

383
00:18:26,396 --> 00:18:29,441
[Joe Bataan] The first
wave was the Randamp;B,

384
00:18:29,608 --> 00:18:31,484
then Rock and Roll,

385
00:18:31,651 --> 00:18:33,153
and then the Boogaloo
came along.

386
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,447
[Mark] What's interesting about
the influence of Latin music,

387
00:18:36,572 --> 00:18:38,826
it was part geographic.

388
00:18:38,992 --> 00:18:40,202
Growing up in East Harlem,
you know, we had everybody.

389
00:18:40,327 --> 00:18:42,162
The Italians, Jews,

390
00:18:42,329 --> 00:18:44,164
Blacks, Puerto Ricans.

391
00:18:44,330 --> 00:18:47,626
We all had to get along.

392
00:18:47,792 --> 00:18:49,794
And music engulfed
the whole neighborhood

393
00:18:49,962 --> 00:18:52,172
because you could hear it coming
out of the fire escapes,

394
00:18:52,339 --> 00:18:55,300
people singing out
of the subways.

395
00:18:55,425 --> 00:19:00,054
♪♪♪

396
00:19:00,179 --> 00:19:01,305
[Loose] It started in 1972

397
00:19:01,473 --> 00:19:04,810
from the Latino kids
in the Bronx

398
00:19:04,976 --> 00:19:09,188
getting away from doing salsa,
which was a quote unquote

399
00:19:09,356 --> 00:19:11,649
"dance that was done
by their parents."

400
00:19:11,774 --> 00:19:13,484
The younger kids didn't
want to do that,

401
00:19:13,609 --> 00:19:15,987
and they figured out
how to do the Hustle.

402
00:19:16,112 --> 00:19:17,406
♪♪♪

403
00:19:17,531 --> 00:19:19,992
[Joe] I recorded
my first songs,

404
00:19:20,157 --> 00:19:20,993
which were Boogaloo songs.

405
00:19:21,118 --> 00:19:23,328
I started to get away
from that style

406
00:19:23,494 --> 00:19:26,247
and I kept looking
for different things.

407
00:19:26,372 --> 00:19:28,666
I started to attend
the nightclubs,

408
00:19:28,833 --> 00:19:30,918
which nobody was doing
back then.

409
00:19:31,043 --> 00:19:32,420
[Mark] One of the first places
that really kind of stuck

410
00:19:32,545 --> 00:19:35,924
in my mind was a place
called the Sanctuary.

411
00:19:36,049 --> 00:19:36,841
Francis Grasso.

412
00:19:37,009 --> 00:19:41,512
He was one of the people
to play music

413
00:19:41,637 --> 00:19:43,432
in a kind of mixed concept.

414
00:19:43,557 --> 00:19:47,727
To hear records segue
into another

415
00:19:47,895 --> 00:19:49,521
was completely
something different

416
00:19:49,646 --> 00:19:51,689
that nobody had been doing.

417
00:19:51,814 --> 00:19:54,693
And then I saw kids dancing
with one another.

418
00:19:54,818 --> 00:19:57,279
It didn't matter who you were.
They were doing freestyle.

419
00:19:57,404 --> 00:19:59,281
It was no set movement
in what they were doing.

420
00:19:59,406 --> 00:20:01,742
And I said, "Whoa!"

421
00:20:01,908 --> 00:20:05,704
And you can imagine what was
going through my mind.

422
00:20:06,746 --> 00:20:11,542
A lot of people didn't know that
I didn't need the radio.

423
00:20:11,710 --> 00:20:15,047
I could influence people
through clubs.

424
00:20:15,172 --> 00:20:17,882
♪♪♪

425
00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:21,637
[Mark] From that early
era of clubs,

426
00:20:21,762 --> 00:20:23,472
'cause they didn't call it
a disco or a club,

427
00:20:23,597 --> 00:20:26,058
it was, you know,
you come to a party.

428
00:20:26,183 --> 00:20:28,976
In the same way as Rock and Roll
had to be given a name,

429
00:20:29,101 --> 00:20:32,897
instead of "Race music",
it became Rock and Roll,

430
00:20:33,022 --> 00:20:35,775
music that was house music,
that was dance music

431
00:20:35,943 --> 00:20:39,279
that we danced to became
known as "Disco."

432
00:20:39,445 --> 00:20:42,282
Vince Aletti wrote an article

433
00:20:42,448 --> 00:20:46,410
and coined the phrase "Disco."

434
00:20:46,535 --> 00:20:48,621
♪♪♪

435
00:20:48,789 --> 00:20:53,335
[Mark] And Vince manages
to capture the sense

436
00:20:53,460 --> 00:20:55,419
of what those spaces were like,

437
00:20:55,544 --> 00:20:58,255
and the effect that
that music had.

438
00:20:58,423 --> 00:21:02,927
What did feel unique, it felt
like you were hearing,

439
00:21:03,095 --> 00:21:05,597
you know, somebody's
work of art.

440
00:21:05,763 --> 00:21:07,599
It's one of the things that
really made me want

441
00:21:07,724 --> 00:21:09,434
to think more seriously
about club music,

442
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:14,356
and about the talent that it
took to be a really good DJ.

443
00:21:14,481 --> 00:21:16,191
♪ Funky Nassau ♪ by The
Beginning of the End

444
00:21:16,316 --> 00:21:19,194
♪ Nassau's gone funky ♪

445
00:21:19,319 --> 00:21:21,029
♪ Nassau's gone soul ♪

446
00:21:21,154 --> 00:21:23,740
♪♪♪

447
00:21:27,118 --> 00:21:31,497
♪♪♪

448
00:21:31,665 --> 00:21:34,458
♪ Oh yeah, funky Nassau ♪

449
00:21:34,626 --> 00:21:36,378
♪ Funky Nassau ♪

450
00:21:36,503 --> 00:21:38,379
♪ Funky Nassau ♪

451
00:21:38,504 --> 00:21:40,464
♪ Funky Nassau ♪

452
00:21:40,631 --> 00:21:42,551
♪ Funky Nassau ♪

453
00:21:42,676 --> 00:21:43,385
♪ Funky Nassau ♪

454
00:21:43,510 --> 00:21:45,846
♪ Huh ♪

455
00:21:46,012 --> 00:21:50,891
[Nicky] I'm seeing the
invention of dance floor things.

456
00:21:51,643 --> 00:21:54,478
And I'm understanding that

457
00:21:54,646 --> 00:21:58,734
this is a very new
kind of industry.

458
00:21:58,859 --> 00:22:00,569
I started playing
records in 1971,

459
00:22:00,694 --> 00:22:05,157
and that took me
into the winter of '72.

460
00:22:05,322 --> 00:22:09,994
I start thinking the only way
I'm going to do something

461
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:15,666
like The Loft, where I can
really create atmosphere

462
00:22:15,833 --> 00:22:18,003
like David was doing,
is to own the place.

463
00:22:18,169 --> 00:22:20,422
That's the only way
it will happen.

464
00:22:20,547 --> 00:22:25,926
And I opened in
February of 1973.

465
00:22:26,052 --> 00:22:27,762
I was still 17.

466
00:22:27,887 --> 00:22:31,683
This was the back entrance
to The Gallery.

467
00:22:31,849 --> 00:22:34,101
This was not here.

468
00:22:34,226 --> 00:22:38,189
People would come outside
because it would be hot inside,

469
00:22:38,357 --> 00:22:39,107
especially in the summer,

470
00:22:39,232 --> 00:22:41,025
and they would hang
out over here.

471
00:22:41,193 --> 00:22:44,361
♪♪♪

472
00:22:44,529 --> 00:22:48,908
[Nicky] Initially, any bar would
throw two speakers up

473
00:22:49,076 --> 00:22:50,534
and be a club.

474
00:22:50,702 --> 00:22:54,414
This, we walked in and we
painted the canvas.

475
00:22:54,580 --> 00:22:56,707
And a lot of people call
it the first disco,

476
00:22:56,875 --> 00:22:59,043
and it really was.

477
00:22:59,168 --> 00:23:03,548
It was really the first space
that was stepping forward

478
00:23:03,714 --> 00:23:06,760
in the design of clubs
was The Gallery.

479
00:23:06,926 --> 00:23:09,137
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

480
00:23:09,262 --> 00:23:11,388
♪ Oh no ♪

481
00:23:11,514 --> 00:23:12,724
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

482
00:23:14,393 --> 00:23:15,476
♪ Oh no ♪

483
00:23:15,601 --> 00:23:17,646
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

484
00:23:17,771 --> 00:23:20,232
♪ I can see the rain, y'all ♪

485
00:23:20,397 --> 00:23:22,984
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

486
00:23:23,109 --> 00:23:23,693
♪ I can see the rain, yeah ♪

487
00:23:23,819 --> 00:23:26,612
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

488
00:23:26,780 --> 00:23:28,572
♪ I can feel the rain ♪

489
00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:31,451
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

490
00:23:31,618 --> 00:23:32,577
♪ Oh, I can feel the rain,
yeah ♪

491
00:23:32,743 --> 00:23:35,955
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

492
00:23:36,122 --> 00:23:37,749
♪ My body's soaking wet, y'all ♪

493
00:23:37,874 --> 00:23:39,835
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

494
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,253
♪ Oh, my body's soaking wet,
y'all ♪

495
00:23:42,419 --> 00:23:44,423
♪ It's gonna rain, yeah ♪

496
00:23:44,589 --> 00:23:47,300
♪ Oh, my body's soaking wet ♪

497
00:23:47,466 --> 00:23:48,592
[Vince] Nicky Siano,

498
00:23:48,717 --> 00:23:50,928
I think was one of
the Wild Men of disco.

499
00:23:51,096 --> 00:23:54,349
Nicky was just,
you know, out there,

500
00:23:54,474 --> 00:23:58,435
and his crowd was out there
along with him.

501
00:23:58,602 --> 00:24:00,981
♪♪♪

502
00:24:01,147 --> 00:24:03,358
[Freddie Taylor] If it was a
big change from one record

503
00:24:03,483 --> 00:24:04,943
to another, that was fabulous.

504
00:24:05,109 --> 00:24:06,653
Everybody would be jumping up
on the floor and screaming

505
00:24:06,820 --> 00:24:09,656
like a mass orgasm, verbally.

506
00:24:09,822 --> 00:24:15,119
I remember this guy who walked
in the first night we opened.

507
00:24:15,287 --> 00:24:17,289
And he goes,

508
00:24:17,414 --> 00:24:19,456
"The future!" [laughs]

509
00:24:19,582 --> 00:24:20,666
That's what he says.

510
00:24:20,833 --> 00:24:22,127
Let me tell you, this place
is a joint.

511
00:24:22,293 --> 00:24:23,837
This is the kind of place
you could bring

512
00:24:24,003 --> 00:24:25,629
any one of your cool friends.

513
00:24:25,797 --> 00:24:27,299
They have all types of people,

514
00:24:27,464 --> 00:24:30,135
they have people who dance,
people pop up and down.

515
00:24:30,301 --> 00:24:32,471
You can get high,
stay here all night.

516
00:24:32,596 --> 00:24:34,763
You can live at The Gallery
every Saturday night.

517
00:24:35,182 --> 00:24:37,141
I mean, there were a few
gay clubs in the city,

518
00:24:37,266 --> 00:24:40,728
but, you know, there was kinda
sort of stereotypical gay clubs.

519
00:24:40,853 --> 00:24:43,522
The Gallery was something that
was completely different.

520
00:24:43,689 --> 00:24:44,733
Myself and Larry Levan
were probably

521
00:24:44,858 --> 00:24:48,153
the most popular black kids
hanging out.

522
00:24:49,029 --> 00:24:52,157
And I hired Frankie at the end
of that first night

523
00:24:52,282 --> 00:24:54,743
to work for me as my decorator.

524
00:24:54,868 --> 00:24:58,370
And he brought Larry along,
and he said,

525
00:24:58,538 --> 00:25:01,916
"This guy's a little bit crazy,
but he's really talented."

526
00:25:02,041 --> 00:25:03,835
And I said, "Okay, we can
use the help."

527
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,005
[Mark] Larry and Frankie came
up under Nicky's tutelage.

528
00:25:08,173 --> 00:25:11,217
There were days that all three
of us were in the booth

529
00:25:11,384 --> 00:25:12,676
and he was teaching us
how to actually operate

530
00:25:12,801 --> 00:25:15,512
the equipment,
how to listen to music

531
00:25:15,679 --> 00:25:17,057
and what to listen for.

532
00:25:17,224 --> 00:25:20,726
♪♪♪

533
00:25:20,894 --> 00:25:23,396
[Nicky] And eventually
they become DJs.

534
00:25:23,562 --> 00:25:25,689
Frankie, the Godfather of House.

535
00:25:25,857 --> 00:25:27,817
Larry, the Paradise Garage.

536
00:25:29,151 --> 00:25:33,865
Listening to Nicky,
he spins a story.

537
00:25:33,990 --> 00:25:35,699
[Frankie] He always
stressed to us,

538
00:25:35,824 --> 00:25:37,702
"You need to know your music."

539
00:25:37,827 --> 00:25:39,745
Because people who
went to the clubs -

540
00:25:39,913 --> 00:25:42,624
back then in the beginning -

541
00:25:42,749 --> 00:25:46,543
heard basically the same
songs at every club

542
00:25:46,711 --> 00:25:49,589
because they were only so many
songs to be played

543
00:25:49,755 --> 00:25:52,634
that were danceable,
that we liked.

544
00:25:52,759 --> 00:25:57,097
Walter Gibbons, Jellybean
and other DJs

545
00:25:57,263 --> 00:25:59,599
used to always hang
around my booth

546
00:25:59,765 --> 00:26:01,725
to see what I was playing.

547
00:26:01,893 --> 00:26:03,227
♪♪♪

548
00:26:03,395 --> 00:26:04,603
I would be there with
a pad and a pen

549
00:26:04,771 --> 00:26:07,648
and every record that he played
that I didn't know what it was,

550
00:26:07,773 --> 00:26:09,900
I'd go up and ask him
what it is.

551
00:26:10,068 --> 00:26:12,779
I was such a pain. [laughs]

552
00:26:12,945 --> 00:26:14,906
He talks about it to me
what he sees me.

553
00:26:15,072 --> 00:26:16,241
"I'm going to play this record.

554
00:26:16,407 --> 00:26:16,907
I know this kid's going
to come up here

555
00:26:17,074 --> 00:26:17,826
and ask me what it is."

556
00:26:17,951 --> 00:26:20,244
[chuckles]

557
00:26:20,369 --> 00:26:21,745
And then in the later days,
they would hang around

558
00:26:21,913 --> 00:26:23,831
my booth to see if I passed out

559
00:26:23,956 --> 00:26:27,627
and they needed a DJ
to fill in for me.

560
00:26:27,793 --> 00:26:29,253
♪♪♪

561
00:26:29,420 --> 00:26:32,965
[Nicky] I didn't look at
what genre it was.

562
00:26:33,132 --> 00:26:33,757
Was it danceable?

563
00:26:33,882 --> 00:26:36,343
Did it have a musical break?

564
00:26:36,468 --> 00:26:39,930
And if it's vocal, does it
have a message?

565
00:26:40,098 --> 00:26:43,268
♪ Soul Makossa ♪ by Manu Dibango

566
00:26:43,393 --> 00:26:45,477
♪♪♪

567
00:26:45,645 --> 00:26:46,771
[Nicky] Soul Makossa,

568
00:26:46,896 --> 00:26:52,944
that record became
a huge hit for the DJs

569
00:26:53,110 --> 00:26:54,279
and for club music.

570
00:26:54,404 --> 00:27:00,201
And without any airplay, it
started to climb to sales chart.

571
00:27:00,327 --> 00:27:01,828
♪♪♪

572
00:27:01,994 --> 00:27:05,122
[Nicky] Record companies
started noticing it.

573
00:27:05,290 --> 00:27:07,833
Atlantic Records picks up
the import,

574
00:27:08,001 --> 00:27:10,669
puts it out and starts
promoting it.

575
00:27:10,837 --> 00:27:13,464
♪♪♪

576
00:27:13,589 --> 00:27:16,467
[Nicky] In the bottom of all
this are the radio stations.

577
00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:17,968
♪♪♪

578
00:27:18,136 --> 00:27:23,015
[Nicky] Radio stations were
a very powerful network,

579
00:27:23,183 --> 00:27:27,478
and they were being
forced to play records

580
00:27:27,646 --> 00:27:33,400
that they hadn't wanted
to play before.

581
00:27:33,525 --> 00:27:36,737
These were records that were
just part of the fabric

582
00:27:36,862 --> 00:27:39,741
of New York City dance culture,

583
00:27:39,866 --> 00:27:41,158
as well as the hip-hop culture.

584
00:27:41,326 --> 00:27:41,993
They were just big
New York records.

585
00:27:42,118 --> 00:27:44,329
♪ Lady Marmalade ♪ by Labelle

586
00:27:44,495 --> 00:27:47,916
♪ Hey sister, go sister,
go sister, go sister ♪

587
00:27:48,041 --> 00:27:50,502
♪ Hey sister, go sister,
go sister, go sister ♪

588
00:27:50,667 --> 00:27:54,505
♪ He met Marmalade down
in old New Orleans ♪

589
00:27:54,673 --> 00:27:57,341
♪ Struttin' her stuff
on the street ♪

590
00:27:58,009 --> 00:28:00,177
♪ She said, Hello, hey Joe ♪

591
00:28:00,345 --> 00:28:01,721
♪ You wanna give it a go? ♪

592
00:28:01,887 --> 00:28:06,016
♪ Yeah, gitchie-gitchie
yeah-yeah-da-da ♪

593
00:28:06,184 --> 00:28:07,560
♪ Gitchie-gitchie
yeah-yeah here ♪

594
00:28:07,726 --> 00:28:11,188
At the time, we weren't
trying to make a song

595
00:28:11,356 --> 00:28:13,983
that would fit into some
sort of category.

596
00:28:14,859 --> 00:28:18,405
♪ Creole Lady Marmalade ♪

597
00:28:18,570 --> 00:28:20,907
[Nona] For LaBelle,
the Continental Baths

598
00:28:21,073 --> 00:28:22,908
was really most significant

599
00:28:23,076 --> 00:28:26,705
in terms of gay nightlife.

600
00:28:26,870 --> 00:28:28,205
♪♪♪

601
00:28:28,330 --> 00:28:31,917
It was really a bathhouse
where guys went to meet.

602
00:28:32,085 --> 00:28:35,714
They were in towels
as we performed,

603
00:28:35,879 --> 00:28:39,216
and we were like... there.

604
00:28:39,341 --> 00:28:40,968
When you're that
close to people,

605
00:28:41,093 --> 00:28:45,974
it was a very call and response
type of interaction.

606
00:28:46,099 --> 00:28:48,810
And you're singing and
they're responding.

607
00:28:48,935 --> 00:28:50,936
It is like being in church.

608
00:28:51,103 --> 00:28:56,109
♪ Marmalade ♪

609
00:28:56,275 --> 00:28:57,734
♪ Voulez-vous coucher
avec moi? ♪

610
00:28:57,860 --> 00:28:59,820
[Nona] We were kind of
matching our audience.

611
00:28:59,945 --> 00:29:01,406
The more flamboyant we became,

612
00:29:01,531 --> 00:29:02,823
the more flamboyant they became.

613
00:29:02,948 --> 00:29:05,118
Of course, we couldn't
let them look better

614
00:29:05,284 --> 00:29:06,118
than us on stage, so...

615
00:29:06,285 --> 00:29:09,746
Okay, when the music
starts getting big,

616
00:29:09,872 --> 00:29:12,291
and stank, meaning funky,

617
00:29:12,458 --> 00:29:14,918
you gotta start dancing, okay?

618
00:29:15,086 --> 00:29:16,003
Do the best you can.

619
00:29:16,128 --> 00:29:17,839
♪ Oh! ♪

620
00:29:17,964 --> 00:29:21,926
♪ Gitchie-gitchie
yeah-yeah-da-da ♪

621
00:29:22,092 --> 00:29:24,803
♪♪ Gitchie-gitchie
yeah-yeah here ♪

622
00:29:24,971 --> 00:29:26,097
♪♪♪

623
00:29:26,222 --> 00:29:28,140
♪ Mocha-choco-lata-yeah-yeah ♪

624
00:29:28,308 --> 00:29:32,936
The leaning into all of the
fantastical costumes and stuff,

625
00:29:33,103 --> 00:29:33,855
that's queer stuff.

626
00:29:33,980 --> 00:29:35,982
♪♪♪

627
00:29:36,148 --> 00:29:37,649
[Nicky] I loved LaBelle.

628
00:29:37,817 --> 00:29:43,615
I mean, that sound that they
had was so exciting.

629
00:29:43,782 --> 00:29:46,868
It was everything that we stood
for in the early Seventies.

630
00:29:46,993 --> 00:29:51,664
♪♪♪

631
00:29:51,830 --> 00:29:52,791
♪ Voulez-vous ♪

632
00:29:52,916 --> 00:29:53,666
♪ Coucher ♪

633
00:29:53,832 --> 00:29:54,041
♪ Avec moi? ♪

634
00:29:54,166 --> 00:30:00,298
♪ Babe ♪

635
00:30:05,677 --> 00:30:08,932
[cheering]

636
00:30:09,349 --> 00:30:13,394
[Nile] Up until the FBI
basically disbanded

637
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:14,978
the Panthers,

638
00:30:15,146 --> 00:30:18,233
the Black Panther Party
was probably

639
00:30:21,151 --> 00:30:24,821
the most loving situation
that I had been in

640
00:30:24,989 --> 00:30:25,990
with a group of people.

641
00:30:26,115 --> 00:30:27,699
♪♪♪

642
00:30:27,867 --> 00:30:28,993
[Nile] My girlfriend, Paula,

643
00:30:29,159 --> 00:30:30,994
she and I were walking
up Eighth Street.

644
00:30:31,162 --> 00:30:32,996
When we got to Eighth Street
and Broadway,

645
00:30:33,164 --> 00:30:34,165
a pop-up disco happened

646
00:30:34,331 --> 00:30:38,168
and we walked in there, and
they played three songs.

647
00:30:38,336 --> 00:30:39,920
Donna Summer,
"Love to Love You, Baby,"

648
00:30:40,045 --> 00:30:43,174
The Village People,
"San Francisco,"

649
00:30:43,340 --> 00:30:45,092
and Eddie Kendricks, "Girl You
Need a Change of Mind."

650
00:30:45,217 --> 00:30:47,595
♪♪♪

651
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:49,179
[Nile] And we hear...

652
00:30:49,347 --> 00:30:54,685
[singing] I love to
love you, baby.

653
00:30:54,810 --> 00:30:56,186
♪ I... ♪

654
00:30:56,353 --> 00:30:58,522
[Nile] And it was just like,
"Wow, what is this shit?"

655
00:30:58,689 --> 00:31:03,570
I'm telling you, man, for a
brother like me... [sighs]

656
00:31:03,735 --> 00:31:07,197
that was like... like the first
time you have sex

657
00:31:07,322 --> 00:31:08,867
and you're flying.

658
00:31:09,868 --> 00:31:10,368
And then Eddie Kendricks.

659
00:31:10,534 --> 00:31:14,038
"I am for women's rights,

660
00:31:14,163 --> 00:31:16,291
but I want equal nights."

661
00:31:17,082 --> 00:31:19,042
You know, so it
was all political.

662
00:31:19,167 --> 00:31:21,628
♪ Love to love you, baby♪

663
00:31:21,753 --> 00:31:22,922
Mmm!

664
00:31:23,089 --> 00:31:24,799
♪ I love to love you, baby♪

665
00:31:24,924 --> 00:31:26,134
[Nile] The 12-inch record had
just become this new format,

666
00:31:26,259 --> 00:31:29,387
and they were really long,

667
00:31:29,553 --> 00:31:32,932
and I had never really been
in an environment

668
00:31:33,099 --> 00:31:36,101
where the music didn't stop.

669
00:31:36,269 --> 00:31:39,397
This night, nothing stopped.

670
00:31:39,563 --> 00:31:40,982
♪ Love to love you, baby♪

671
00:31:41,107 --> 00:31:43,484
♪ Oh ♪

672
00:31:43,609 --> 00:31:44,944
♪♪♪

673
00:31:45,110 --> 00:31:48,406
[Nile] A totally
disparate crowd.

674
00:31:48,531 --> 00:31:50,491
Gay people, straight people.

675
00:31:50,617 --> 00:31:53,828
Asian people. Black people.
Puerto Rican people.

676
00:31:53,953 --> 00:31:55,163
Everybody was dancing

677
00:31:55,288 --> 00:31:57,415
and everybody was
having a good time.

678
00:31:57,540 --> 00:32:00,460
It's magnetism that was
from this disco world

679
00:32:00,627 --> 00:32:02,169
that people just couldn't help,

680
00:32:02,294 --> 00:32:04,172
that they were just
being drawn in.

681
00:32:04,297 --> 00:32:08,676
To be a disenfranchised
Black child

682
00:32:08,801 --> 00:32:11,012
and to grow up, and you
become this teenager.

683
00:32:11,137 --> 00:32:14,682
You walk into this joint

684
00:32:14,807 --> 00:32:17,100
and you know everybody
is down with you.

685
00:32:17,225 --> 00:32:19,311
It almost brought tears
to my eyes.

686
00:32:19,478 --> 00:32:20,855
I couldn't believe it.

687
00:32:20,980 --> 00:32:24,442
And I looked at my girlfriend,
and I said,

688
00:32:24,609 --> 00:32:27,611
"This shit is more revolutionary
than the party.

689
00:32:27,779 --> 00:32:29,946
They're getting people
who don't normally

690
00:32:30,114 --> 00:32:34,118
associate together to be down."

691
00:32:34,284 --> 00:32:36,287
So I called Bernard up.
Bernard Edwards,

692
00:32:36,454 --> 00:32:39,206
my former partner who passed
away some time ago.

693
00:32:39,331 --> 00:32:41,541
I said, "This is the music
I want to play."

694
00:32:41,667 --> 00:32:44,128
And two weeks later, I wrote
Everybody Dance.

695
00:32:44,294 --> 00:32:45,045
"Doo doo, doo doo.
Clap your hands."

696
00:32:45,170 --> 00:32:52,470
♪♪♪

697
00:32:52,637 --> 00:32:56,224
Nile and Bernard, they were
going to start this new group

698
00:32:56,349 --> 00:32:58,810
and they were looking for
a female vocalist.

699
00:32:58,935 --> 00:33:01,812
Mind you, now, by the
time I hit New York,

700
00:33:01,980 --> 00:33:06,317
I had worked with a number
of bands on the road

701
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:08,319
and worked with The Spinners.

702
00:33:08,485 --> 00:33:11,071
So I'm a little critical,
you know.

703
00:33:11,196 --> 00:33:13,241
When I heard Nile, Bernard
and Tony play,

704
00:33:13,366 --> 00:33:15,493
I was blown away.

705
00:33:15,618 --> 00:33:18,329
[Nile] Bernard loved
my sense of rhythm

706
00:33:18,495 --> 00:33:19,539
and what I could do.

707
00:33:19,705 --> 00:33:21,165
And he just said, "Man, if you
learned how to chuck."

708
00:33:21,290 --> 00:33:23,251
"What do you mean, chuck?"

709
00:33:23,376 --> 00:33:25,919
He says, "Well, let me
just show you."

710
00:33:26,044 --> 00:33:27,254
And he picked up the guitar,

711
00:33:27,379 --> 00:33:29,756
and he just was just doing
something like...

712
00:33:30,340 --> 00:33:32,051
[guitar strumming]

713
00:33:32,217 --> 00:33:34,345
And I was like going...

714
00:33:34,470 --> 00:33:36,763
[guitar strumming]

715
00:33:36,888 --> 00:33:38,933
He said, "No, no, no,
don't do that."

716
00:33:39,058 --> 00:33:41,185
He said, "You got to keep the
16th notes going all the time."

717
00:33:41,351 --> 00:33:45,939
[guitar strumming]

718
00:33:46,064 --> 00:33:49,193
Imagine now the drums just go,
"Boom, boom, boom, boom."

719
00:33:49,359 --> 00:33:50,194
And you...

720
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,197
[guitar strumming]

721
00:33:53,364 --> 00:33:57,784
♪♪♪

722
00:34:04,083 --> 00:34:07,252
The engineer who recorded us

723
00:34:07,420 --> 00:34:11,715
was also a DJ at one of the
coolest clubs in New York,

724
00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,302
and it was a downtown club
where all of the new

725
00:34:14,427 --> 00:34:16,219
black urban professionals -

726
00:34:16,386 --> 00:34:19,348
or we call them 'Buppies' -
would go.

727
00:34:20,433 --> 00:34:21,224
About two or three
weeks go by

728
00:34:21,391 --> 00:34:24,061
and I get a phone call,
and he says,

729
00:34:24,228 --> 00:34:27,148
"Man, I need you to come
down to the Night Owl."

730
00:34:27,273 --> 00:34:31,110
I was like going, "Dude, I can't
get into the Night Owl.

731
00:34:31,277 --> 00:34:33,570
They're not going to let me in.

732
00:34:33,695 --> 00:34:36,239
You know, I only have, like,
jeans and a plaid jacket

733
00:34:36,406 --> 00:34:38,409
or something."

734
00:34:38,534 --> 00:34:41,244
He said, "Trust me, bro.
Just tell them

735
00:34:41,411 --> 00:34:42,288
that you wrote
Everybody Dance."

736
00:34:42,455 --> 00:34:44,248
I said, "That's... okay. Cool."

737
00:34:45,833 --> 00:34:49,753
So I go to Night Owl and
the door man goes,

738
00:34:49,878 --> 00:34:53,090
"Hey, my man, you can't come
in here dressed like that."

739
00:34:53,215 --> 00:34:57,469
And I said, "Oh, I know. But
Robert told me to tell you

740
00:34:57,636 --> 00:34:59,262
that I wrote Everybody Dance."

741
00:34:59,429 --> 00:35:02,183
"Everybody Dance? My man,
come here. Come on inside."

742
00:35:02,308 --> 00:35:03,810
He takes me inside.

743
00:35:03,976 --> 00:35:06,103
The woman who's now going
to take the money says,

744
00:35:06,270 --> 00:35:08,147
"Whoa, whoa, you can't come in
here dressed like that."

745
00:35:08,313 --> 00:35:09,982
"He wrote Everybody Dance."

746
00:35:10,148 --> 00:35:13,777
"Everybody Dance? Yo, come
on in here, my brother."

747
00:35:13,944 --> 00:35:17,489
So now I'm thinking that there's
some kind of joke going on.

748
00:35:17,656 --> 00:35:22,119
I get into the club. I don't
know how the DJ spotted me.

749
00:35:22,244 --> 00:35:25,288
He saw me, and right away, he
put on Everybody Dance.

750
00:35:25,456 --> 00:35:27,791
And just from the drum fill...

751
00:35:27,916 --> 00:35:29,460
[makes bass sound]

752
00:35:29,627 --> 00:35:32,045
You heard this
bloodcurdling scream.

753
00:35:32,170 --> 00:35:34,172
Everybody - "Oh!!" -

754
00:35:34,340 --> 00:35:36,049
packed the dance floor.

755
00:35:36,174 --> 00:35:38,052
And I went, "What?"

756
00:35:38,177 --> 00:35:40,637
I couldn't believe my eyes.

757
00:35:40,762 --> 00:35:43,181
I walked over to him.
He was giggling like crazy.

758
00:35:43,348 --> 00:35:45,643
♪ Everybody Dance ♪ by Chic

759
00:35:45,768 --> 00:35:48,311
♪ Do-do-do, clap your hands,
clap your hands ♪

760
00:35:48,478 --> 00:35:50,648
♪♪♪

761
00:35:50,773 --> 00:35:54,652
Then the clubs, it's,
you know, it's instant.

762
00:35:54,777 --> 00:35:56,654
Folks wouldn't stop dancing.

763
00:35:56,820 --> 00:35:59,322
Everybody Dance.
I mean, that was...

764
00:35:59,447 --> 00:36:01,324
When you hear it,
you have to dance.

765
00:36:01,491 --> 00:36:03,869
[Nile] He played it.
He then played it again.

766
00:36:04,036 --> 00:36:05,413
He then played it again.

767
00:36:05,538 --> 00:36:09,375
He played it again.
He played it for at least -

768
00:36:09,541 --> 00:36:12,502
and I'm not saying this for
dramatic purposes -

769
00:36:12,627 --> 00:36:14,589
played it at least an hour.

770
00:36:14,714 --> 00:36:19,217
That was my first time hearing
my first pop composition

771
00:36:19,384 --> 00:36:22,096
out in the real world.

772
00:36:22,221 --> 00:36:25,223
I was blown away and
I don't think I've ever

773
00:36:25,391 --> 00:36:27,851
had that feeling again.

774
00:36:28,018 --> 00:36:29,353
I've probably been
chasing it all my life.

775
00:36:29,478 --> 00:36:31,272
♪♪♪

776
00:36:31,397 --> 00:36:33,607
♪ Everybody dance ♪

777
00:36:33,732 --> 00:36:35,275
♪ Do-do-do, clap your hands,
clap your hands ♪

778
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:40,364
That unison singing
was like [gasps]

779
00:36:40,489 --> 00:36:43,201
"What is happening?!"

780
00:36:43,326 --> 00:36:44,451
They weren't in harmony.

781
00:36:44,576 --> 00:36:47,288
The voice sounded like
one voice at times.

782
00:36:47,413 --> 00:36:50,040
It was that connected.

783
00:36:50,208 --> 00:36:52,877
Glamor went hand in hand
with disco music.

784
00:36:53,043 --> 00:36:57,547
Nile wanted it to be
a stylish group.

785
00:36:57,672 --> 00:37:00,551
[Nile] This beautiful,
fashion-oriented Black crowd.

786
00:37:00,717 --> 00:37:02,469
"Wow, we want to be their band!"

787
00:37:02,594 --> 00:37:05,889
♪♪♪

788
00:37:06,056 --> 00:37:08,476
The labels understood how to
make better dance records.

789
00:37:08,601 --> 00:37:13,147
♪♪♪

790
00:37:13,272 --> 00:37:16,734
Being seven years old
in Wellsville, Ohio,

791
00:37:16,900 --> 00:37:18,944
and hearing Knock on Wood
for the first time,

792
00:37:19,110 --> 00:37:23,657
I lost my mind. I was like,
"What on Earth is this?"

793
00:37:23,782 --> 00:37:25,243
♪ Knock on Wood ♪
by Amii Stewart

794
00:37:25,368 --> 00:37:27,078
♪ Lightning ♪

795
00:37:27,244 --> 00:37:29,288
♪ The way you love me
is frightening ♪

796
00:37:29,455 --> 00:37:30,498
♪ I think I better knock ♪

797
00:37:30,623 --> 00:37:31,415
♪ Knoc♪

798
00:37:31,540 --> 00:37:33,833
I feel seen in it.

799
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:34,335
♪ On wood ♪

800
00:37:34,460 --> 00:37:36,420
♪ Baby♪

801
00:37:36,545 --> 00:37:38,255
[Norma Jean] Disco
was a blessing.

802
00:37:38,422 --> 00:37:42,509
It wasn't an Aandamp;R guy that was
deciding what the music was.

803
00:37:42,634 --> 00:37:45,596
It was people because
it started in the clubs.

804
00:37:45,721 --> 00:37:47,639
And I think that's
a reason why

805
00:37:47,806 --> 00:37:50,183
so many people broke through.

806
00:37:50,308 --> 00:37:55,773
The door was wide open for
a lot of talented people

807
00:37:55,940 --> 00:37:58,525
to break through, a lot of them
African-Americans,

808
00:37:58,650 --> 00:38:01,487
a lot of them women.

809
00:38:01,654 --> 00:38:03,531
It opened up a door
that I don't think

810
00:38:03,656 --> 00:38:06,701
would have normally been open,

811
00:38:08,244 --> 00:38:10,371
and the record labels
couldn't resist the fact

812
00:38:10,496 --> 00:38:12,706
that there was something
going on here.

813
00:38:12,831 --> 00:38:14,958
[Nona] A lot of the music
that was made

814
00:38:15,125 --> 00:38:17,043
during that period
had something to say.

815
00:38:17,168 --> 00:38:20,464
People were not just, not just
doing the sign, Y M C A,

816
00:38:20,630 --> 00:38:25,636
but people saw it as like a
music you just jump around to

817
00:38:25,761 --> 00:38:28,139
rather than looking at the
deeper meaning.

818
00:38:28,306 --> 00:38:30,558
And there were other songs,
other examples.

819
00:38:30,683 --> 00:38:31,391
♪ I Will Survive ♪
by Gloria Gaynor

820
00:38:31,516 --> 00:38:33,978
♪ I was petrified ♪

821
00:38:34,145 --> 00:38:36,147
♪ Kept thinking
I could never live ♪

822
00:38:36,313 --> 00:38:38,065
♪ Without you by my side ♪

823
00:38:38,190 --> 00:38:39,525
♪ But then I spent
so many nights ♪

824
00:38:39,692 --> 00:38:41,569
♪ Thinking how you
did me wrong ♪

825
00:38:41,694 --> 00:38:43,404
♪ And I grew strong ♪

826
00:38:43,529 --> 00:38:45,489
♪ And I learned how
to get along ♪

827
00:38:45,656 --> 00:38:47,491
♪ And so you're back ♪

828
00:38:47,657 --> 00:38:49,909
♪ From outer space ♪

829
00:38:50,036 --> 00:38:51,578
[Nona] Probably the,
I would say the greatest

830
00:38:51,703 --> 00:38:54,665
disco era song ever.

831
00:38:54,790 --> 00:38:58,085
That is like, "You're not going
to mess with me anymore.

832
00:38:58,210 --> 00:39:00,337
Whatever you've done,
I'm done with that.

833
00:39:00,503 --> 00:39:03,507
I will not be going there
because I will survive.

834
00:39:03,632 --> 00:39:05,592
No matter what you do to me,
I'm going to survive."

835
00:39:05,717 --> 00:39:08,679
♪ Just turn around now ♪

836
00:39:08,846 --> 00:39:11,181
♪ 'Cause you're not
welcome anymore ♪

837
00:39:11,348 --> 00:39:12,433
[record scratching]

838
00:39:12,558 --> 00:39:14,685
♪♪♪

839
00:39:14,810 --> 00:39:16,186
[Fab 5 Freddy] So in the
beginning,

840
00:39:16,311 --> 00:39:18,105
disco was the thing
that was happening.

841
00:39:18,230 --> 00:39:20,023
Hip-hop really didn't
become this thing,

842
00:39:20,148 --> 00:39:22,442
literally "Hip-Hop," until
the early Eighties.

843
00:39:22,567 --> 00:39:24,694
What went on in the Seventies
was a combination

844
00:39:24,862 --> 00:39:26,364
of different things.

845
00:39:26,489 --> 00:39:30,034
When you have records like
The Mexican by Babe Ruth

846
00:39:30,201 --> 00:39:33,286
or Love Is The Message
by MFSB

847
00:39:33,411 --> 00:39:35,790
or Bra by Cymande,

848
00:39:35,915 --> 00:39:38,541
these records were getting
played in the hip-hop scene

849
00:39:38,666 --> 00:39:43,089
as well as at The Loft,
or Nicky Siano's Gallery.

850
00:39:43,255 --> 00:39:44,882
♪♪♪

851
00:39:45,007 --> 00:39:46,424
[Grandmaster Flash]
And hip-hop.

852
00:39:46,592 --> 00:39:48,469
I had already been doing it
up in the Bronx.

853
00:39:48,594 --> 00:39:50,721
Uptown, there'd be
very few whites,

854
00:39:50,887 --> 00:39:53,723
mostly Blacks and Latinos
where we came from.

855
00:39:53,891 --> 00:39:57,645
Versus downtown,
blacks and whites

856
00:39:57,770 --> 00:40:01,273
in the room, jamming.

857
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:06,237
♪♪♪

858
00:40:06,362 --> 00:40:11,282
♪♪♪

859
00:40:11,449 --> 00:40:16,330
♪♪♪

860
00:40:16,455 --> 00:40:19,625
I came up with a system
where I would take

861
00:40:19,791 --> 00:40:22,920
the drum breakdown
of particular songs

862
00:40:23,087 --> 00:40:27,590
in the areas of pop, rock,
jazz, blues, funk.

863
00:40:27,757 --> 00:40:30,927
♪♪♪

864
00:40:31,052 --> 00:40:32,679
♪ We've got our own thing ♪

865
00:40:32,804 --> 00:40:35,306
♪ We've got it ♪

866
00:40:35,473 --> 00:40:37,685
♪ We've got our own thing ♪

867
00:40:37,810 --> 00:40:39,186
♪ We've got it ♪

868
00:40:39,311 --> 00:40:40,520
[Grandmaster Flash]
A lot of those songs

869
00:40:40,645 --> 00:40:42,523
were quote unquote
"disco songs."

870
00:40:42,648 --> 00:40:47,610
♪♪♪

871
00:40:47,777 --> 00:40:51,531
♪♪♪

872
00:40:51,656 --> 00:40:54,659
Disco records, they had
heat to them,

873
00:40:54,826 --> 00:40:57,538
but I had to do, like,
serious research.

874
00:40:57,663 --> 00:40:59,665
♪ Got to be Real♪
by Cheryl Lynn

875
00:40:59,831 --> 00:41:04,377
♪ What you find, ah ♪

876
00:41:04,502 --> 00:41:08,799
♪ What you feel now ♪

877
00:41:08,924 --> 00:41:12,469
♪ What you know, ah ♪

878
00:41:12,594 --> 00:41:14,137
♪ To be real ♪

879
00:41:14,304 --> 00:41:17,016
The disco 12-inch, I would
put it up with a light,

880
00:41:17,183 --> 00:41:19,643
and if I put it up with a light
and the shiniest part

881
00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:22,688
was where the least band
members were playing

882
00:41:22,855 --> 00:41:24,230
with the drummer.

883
00:41:24,355 --> 00:41:25,565
And I would put it down there,
and that's where

884
00:41:25,690 --> 00:41:28,027
the break would live.

885
00:41:28,194 --> 00:41:29,527
I would take these particular
areas where the drummer

886
00:41:29,694 --> 00:41:32,697
had a minute to solo
and that there,

887
00:41:32,864 --> 00:41:38,328
with duplicate copies of it, I
would manually cut and paste it,

888
00:41:38,453 --> 00:41:39,871
and extend that area,

889
00:41:40,038 --> 00:41:44,418
so that I can come up with a
music bed for the breakers,

890
00:41:44,543 --> 00:41:46,670
and then later the rappers.

891
00:41:46,837 --> 00:41:48,087
♪ Frisco Disco ♪
by Eastside Connection

892
00:41:48,214 --> 00:41:50,590
♪♪♪

893
00:41:50,715 --> 00:41:53,009
♪ Ladies and gentlemen ♪

894
00:41:53,134 --> 00:41:56,179
♪ Welcome aboard
Disco Airlines Flight 78 ♪

895
00:41:56,304 --> 00:42:00,016
♪♪♪

896
00:42:00,183 --> 00:42:01,601
♪ With disco you can't
go wrong ♪

897
00:42:01,726 --> 00:42:06,690
♪♪♪

898
00:42:06,857 --> 00:42:10,860
♪♪♪

899
00:42:11,194 --> 00:42:13,781
[DJ Spinna] Hip-hop and
the industry owes a lot

900
00:42:13,906 --> 00:42:18,159
to what that scene, that
movement created.

901
00:42:18,744 --> 00:42:21,913
As far as DJ culture
is concerned,

902
00:42:22,081 --> 00:42:23,373
this thing was brand new.

903
00:42:23,540 --> 00:42:24,708
The whole phenomenon
of taking a record

904
00:42:24,875 --> 00:42:28,087
and segueing it into
another record.

905
00:42:28,253 --> 00:42:30,589
These guys had the ability to
keep the music going

906
00:42:30,755 --> 00:42:32,465
was a revelation unto itself.

907
00:42:32,590 --> 00:42:35,219
And then other innovations came
and built on top of that.

908
00:42:35,386 --> 00:42:36,469
[clapper snaps]

909
00:42:36,594 --> 00:42:38,806
All right. I just want to say
that there are some DJs

910
00:42:38,931 --> 00:42:41,891
who are classics and
some who are not.

911
00:42:42,058 --> 00:42:43,726
[Freddie] The DJs,
they gave me a chance.

912
00:42:43,893 --> 00:42:48,773
You know, they sort of, they let
me in their inner circle.

913
00:42:48,940 --> 00:42:51,235
I was the first person to ever
substitute for David,

914
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,279
nobody else ever did.
And I said to myself,

915
00:42:54,445 --> 00:42:56,906
"You know, there's two
turntables here,

916
00:42:57,074 --> 00:42:58,741
and there are two, there's a
knob on each turntable.

917
00:42:58,866 --> 00:43:01,328
What the hell do I
need a mixer for?

918
00:43:01,453 --> 00:43:03,956
Just, you know, fade one in
and fade the other one out,

919
00:43:04,123 --> 00:43:05,415
and do it at the same time."

920
00:43:05,583 --> 00:43:07,835
And everybody was like,
"Crazy. Wow, wow, wow.

921
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,295
There's a mix at The Loft!"

922
00:43:10,462 --> 00:43:13,840
♪♪♪

923
00:43:13,965 --> 00:43:16,092
[Nicky] The blend,
this is how you do it.

924
00:43:16,259 --> 00:43:19,012
You take the needle and you
listen in your headphones.

925
00:43:19,137 --> 00:43:22,141
You know these two records
have a very similar beat,

926
00:43:22,308 --> 00:43:26,520
and you have a turntable that
only goes 2% one way

927
00:43:26,645 --> 00:43:27,770
and 2% the other way.

928
00:43:27,895 --> 00:43:31,025
So it's got to be
close to the beat.

929
00:43:31,150 --> 00:43:32,775
And then you keep putting
the needle on the record

930
00:43:32,942 --> 00:43:34,777
and you hear it kind of match,

931
00:43:34,902 --> 00:43:37,114
and then you bring volume up,

932
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:38,991
and you turn the other one down.

933
00:43:39,157 --> 00:43:39,699
And then I said to
a friend, I said,

934
00:43:39,824 --> 00:43:43,996
"How do I hold the record?"

935
00:43:44,163 --> 00:43:48,625
He said, "Oh, put the 45
underneath the LP,

936
00:43:48,791 --> 00:43:51,377
it'll slip on the LP."

937
00:43:51,502 --> 00:43:52,462
And sure enough it did.

938
00:43:52,630 --> 00:43:55,632
♪♪♪

939
00:43:55,799 --> 00:44:00,471
[Nicky] And I slowly was able
to start beat matching.

940
00:44:00,596 --> 00:44:06,810
Once I had a dream of
having three turntables,

941
00:44:06,976 --> 00:44:10,147
and in the middle of a change

942
00:44:10,313 --> 00:44:12,315
there would be a sound effect.

943
00:44:12,482 --> 00:44:15,819
The next week
I got a third turntable.

944
00:44:15,944 --> 00:44:17,154
Nicky would play
Love Is The Message.

945
00:44:17,279 --> 00:44:20,531
He had two, three turntables,
and he would loop it, loop it.

946
00:44:20,699 --> 00:44:22,409
When you would get to
the break of the record,

947
00:44:22,534 --> 00:44:24,828
Nicky would just play it, and
everybody started chanting,

948
00:44:24,994 --> 00:44:25,703
"Turn this motherfucker out,

949
00:44:25,871 --> 00:44:27,998
turn this motherfucker out!"

950
00:44:28,123 --> 00:44:30,083
And that was ecstasy for me.

951
00:44:30,208 --> 00:44:32,502
I would match up lyrics
in songs to create...

952
00:44:32,670 --> 00:44:34,755
And sounds. And the lights
would match the music.

953
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,049
You don't get that anymore.

954
00:44:37,215 --> 00:44:39,677
Those tweeters, boy.
You did all the highs.

955
00:44:39,842 --> 00:44:41,219
It was wonderful.

956
00:44:41,386 --> 00:44:42,762
The bass made you feel like you
were getting done royally.

957
00:44:42,887 --> 00:44:45,723
[laughing]

958
00:44:45,891 --> 00:44:46,766
That was a very sexual thing.

959
00:44:46,891 --> 00:44:50,853
♪♪♪

960
00:44:51,020 --> 00:44:54,857
After a week of being,
I guess, a busboy,

961
00:44:55,025 --> 00:44:59,947
a waitress, a hairdresser,
a dancer,

962
00:45:00,072 --> 00:45:03,074
a mother, a husband, you know,
any of those things.

963
00:45:03,241 --> 00:45:04,868
And then get it off,
get rid of it, you know,

964
00:45:04,993 --> 00:45:07,203
and dance it away,

965
00:45:07,328 --> 00:45:10,373
get excited about
watching other people.

966
00:45:10,498 --> 00:45:11,083
♪♪♪

967
00:45:11,250 --> 00:45:14,252
Just... I was a club bunny.

968
00:45:14,420 --> 00:45:15,795
♪♪♪

969
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,465
[Nona] I went to Mudd Club,
I went to Danceteria,

970
00:45:19,590 --> 00:45:20,174
I went to Studio 54,

971
00:45:20,299 --> 00:45:22,969
I went to Paradise Garage.

972
00:45:23,094 --> 00:45:24,929
[Grandmaster Flash] The DJ.
I probably went to go see

973
00:45:25,096 --> 00:45:27,056
the most was Larry Levan.

974
00:45:27,181 --> 00:45:29,268
His mixing ability was
quite incredible.

975
00:45:29,435 --> 00:45:30,811
[Kevin Saunderson]
I was in my own world,

976
00:45:30,936 --> 00:45:34,313
I was dancing for hours
and hours,

977
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:36,775
and I got educated to like...
Supernature.

978
00:45:36,942 --> 00:45:38,902
I never heard Supernature
on radio,

979
00:45:39,069 --> 00:45:41,154
but I heard it at the
Paradise Garage.

980
00:45:41,279 --> 00:45:43,906
By Cerrone, just this
great track to me

981
00:45:44,074 --> 00:45:45,241
that took you in different
dimensions.

982
00:45:45,366 --> 00:45:48,953
And it seemed like that lasted
like two hours, that record.

983
00:45:49,121 --> 00:45:50,621
[Nona] There was this freedom.

984
00:45:50,788 --> 00:45:54,793
You were just in a sea of people
moving to the same beat,

985
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:59,922
joyously and very,
almost tribal.

986
00:46:00,090 --> 00:46:02,092
♪♪♪

987
00:46:02,217 --> 00:46:05,136
He was charming and reckless,

988
00:46:05,304 --> 00:46:07,514
and he could get away with
anything in the Garage.

989
00:46:07,639 --> 00:46:08,931
It was his house.

990
00:46:09,056 --> 00:46:13,061
♪♪♪

991
00:46:18,900 --> 00:46:20,944
What the record company
felt was that we had

992
00:46:21,069 --> 00:46:26,116
this magical fairy dust that we
could sprinkle over anybody.

993
00:46:26,282 --> 00:46:28,034
They offered us Bette Midler.

994
00:46:28,159 --> 00:46:29,369
They offered us
the Rolling Stones.

995
00:46:29,494 --> 00:46:31,121
They offered us all
these big acts.

996
00:46:31,246 --> 00:46:35,125
We were like, "Sh... we're going
to tell Keith Richards

997
00:46:35,291 --> 00:46:38,962
what to play? I'm going to tell
Mick Jagger what to sing?"

998
00:46:39,128 --> 00:46:41,632
So we basically said, "Look,
instead of giving us

999
00:46:41,799 --> 00:46:43,842
the most popular group,
why don't you give us

1000
00:46:44,009 --> 00:46:46,344
the least popular group?"

1001
00:46:46,511 --> 00:46:47,887
They literally said, "Give us
some obscure group

1002
00:46:48,012 --> 00:46:49,056
that no one knows."

1003
00:46:49,181 --> 00:46:51,474
We didn't have any hit records.

1004
00:46:51,641 --> 00:46:53,643
I would have records out that
were never played

1005
00:46:53,768 --> 00:46:55,186
on the radio.

1006
00:46:55,353 --> 00:46:56,145
They were played in other
countries, but never at home.

1007
00:46:56,313 --> 00:46:59,315
Jerry Greenberg started
describing us,

1008
00:46:59,482 --> 00:47:01,150
"You got to meet these girls,
they're family.

1009
00:47:01,275 --> 00:47:02,027
They flock together
like birds of a feather

1010
00:47:02,194 --> 00:47:04,320
whenever they come
up to the label."

1011
00:47:04,445 --> 00:47:06,322
He said that they were
like family to us.

1012
00:47:06,489 --> 00:47:08,659
That's all we needed to hear.

1013
00:47:08,784 --> 00:47:11,161
We had just been in
Germany recording

1014
00:47:11,328 --> 00:47:13,538
with Silver Convention,

1015
00:47:13,705 --> 00:47:16,375
"Fly, robin, fly!
Up, up to the sky!"

1016
00:47:16,541 --> 00:47:17,166
And now the "Yowsah,
Yowsah, Yowsah"

1017
00:47:17,291 --> 00:47:19,335
people want to work with you.

1018
00:47:19,502 --> 00:47:21,964
And I remember saying,
"I don't know..."

1019
00:47:22,172 --> 00:47:25,007
♪ We Are Family ♪
by Sister Sledge

1020
00:47:25,132 --> 00:47:29,304
♪♪♪

1021
00:47:39,648 --> 00:47:43,235
♪ We are family ♪

1022
00:47:43,402 --> 00:47:45,862
♪ I got all my sisters with me ♪

1023
00:47:46,029 --> 00:47:47,364
♪♪♪

1024
00:47:47,489 --> 00:47:50,741
[Kathy Sledge] When we
worked with Nile Rodgers

1025
00:47:50,909 --> 00:47:52,201
and Bernard Edwards,

1026
00:47:52,369 --> 00:47:54,288
it was different from
any other session.

1027
00:47:54,413 --> 00:47:56,038
They knew what they wanted.

1028
00:47:56,206 --> 00:47:59,083
♪ We are family ♪

1029
00:47:59,250 --> 00:48:01,295
And we were just finishing
up the last lyrics

1030
00:48:01,420 --> 00:48:03,087
to We Are Family
as she walks in,

1031
00:48:03,255 --> 00:48:06,132
she hears it, "What is this?"

1032
00:48:06,257 --> 00:48:08,092
Uh, "This is your album."

1033
00:48:08,259 --> 00:48:09,802
I wasn't allowed to hear
any of the songs

1034
00:48:09,927 --> 00:48:10,971
until it was time to record it.

1035
00:48:11,096 --> 00:48:12,556
♪♪♪

1036
00:48:12,723 --> 00:48:16,976
♪ Everyone can see
we're together ♪

1037
00:48:17,101 --> 00:48:19,061
♪ As we walk on by ♪

1038
00:48:19,186 --> 00:48:21,648
♪ And ♪

1039
00:48:21,773 --> 00:48:23,232
I can honestly say the first
time I heard Greatest Dancer,

1040
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:25,110
and We Are Family,
or any of those songs

1041
00:48:25,277 --> 00:48:26,360
was the first time the
public heard them.

1042
00:48:26,485 --> 00:48:29,822
Because I didn't know how they
were going to come out.

1043
00:48:29,947 --> 00:48:31,157
Kathy pulled me aside.

1044
00:48:31,282 --> 00:48:35,411
Because I was like
this goofy... 15 then,

1045
00:48:35,578 --> 00:48:38,165
16 by the time the record
came out, with braces.

1046
00:48:38,290 --> 00:48:40,500
And I would always ask him.

1047
00:48:40,625 --> 00:48:43,837
"Nile, is this ever going
to be on the radio?"

1048
00:48:43,962 --> 00:48:45,755
And I looked her right
in the face, and I said,

1049
00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:49,509
"Yes, Kathy, I promise you this
is going to be on the radio."

1050
00:48:49,634 --> 00:48:51,761
I didn't know if it was going
to be on the radio,

1051
00:48:51,886 --> 00:48:52,304
but I felt it in my heart.

1052
00:48:52,471 --> 00:48:54,848
♪ We are family ♪

1053
00:48:56,266 --> 00:48:59,018
♪ Get up everybody and sing ♪

1054
00:48:59,143 --> 00:49:00,686
♪ Sing it to me ♪

1055
00:49:00,811 --> 00:49:01,480
[Kathy] He would always say,
"Just trust us,

1056
00:49:01,647 --> 00:49:02,980
like, we know what we're doing."

1057
00:49:03,148 --> 00:49:04,107
♪♪♪

1058
00:49:04,273 --> 00:49:07,860
I remember waking up to --
you know,

1059
00:49:07,985 --> 00:49:08,987
because the alarm would go off

1060
00:49:09,154 --> 00:49:11,614
and the song would come on -

1061
00:49:11,739 --> 00:49:14,284
our song's being played on the
radio for the first time.

1062
00:49:14,409 --> 00:49:16,119
♪ ... in you and the
things you do ♪

1063
00:49:16,244 --> 00:49:17,621
♪ You won't go wrong ♪

1064
00:49:17,788 --> 00:49:20,873
♪ Oh no, this is our
family jewel ♪

1065
00:49:20,998 --> 00:49:23,210
I mean, Sister Sledge, that
album was the best album

1066
00:49:23,335 --> 00:49:25,795
we've ever written,
pound for pound.

1067
00:49:25,962 --> 00:49:28,047
Those are the best
collection of songs.

1068
00:49:28,172 --> 00:49:31,634
And man, she went out there
and tore those songs up.

1069
00:49:31,802 --> 00:49:33,971
Well, this is our first
really big break,

1070
00:49:34,096 --> 00:49:36,681
so we're taking advantage
of it, even if it is tiring.

1071
00:49:36,848 --> 00:49:39,810
They may be the only
group in the top ten

1072
00:49:39,976 --> 00:49:41,061
where two of the group still
have the bands on their teeth.

1073
00:49:41,186 --> 00:49:43,563
Isn't that interesting?

1074
00:49:43,688 --> 00:49:44,730
Yeah.

1075
00:49:44,855 --> 00:49:45,815
That's nice.

1076
00:49:45,940 --> 00:49:47,025
[laughs]

1077
00:49:47,192 --> 00:49:48,819
Can you imagine the
Bee Gees all coming out

1078
00:49:48,944 --> 00:49:50,237
with their hits and all having
bands on their teeth.

1079
00:49:50,362 --> 00:49:51,362
[audience laughs]

1080
00:49:51,529 --> 00:49:52,656
"Stayin Alive, Stayin Alive."

1081
00:49:52,822 --> 00:49:55,241
I think disco is something that
made us look really great,

1082
00:49:55,366 --> 00:49:58,328
that it really was one
of the first few times

1083
00:49:58,453 --> 00:50:03,040
that queer people, black folks,
and anyone in between

1084
00:50:03,208 --> 00:50:05,168
were able to really shine.

1085
00:50:05,335 --> 00:50:09,339
♪♪♪

1086
00:50:09,505 --> 00:50:13,509
It was amazing to me as
someone who grew up

1087
00:50:13,677 --> 00:50:16,179
in the Fifties and Sixties,

1088
00:50:16,304 --> 00:50:21,685
to see what seemed like
genuine acceptance

1089
00:50:21,851 --> 00:50:25,855
of a gay culture at
the club level --

1090
00:50:26,023 --> 00:50:28,692
and not just curiosity,
but acceptance

1091
00:50:28,859 --> 00:50:32,529
and interest in gay life
through club life,

1092
00:50:32,695 --> 00:50:34,697
and through people
like Sylvester.

1093
00:50:34,822 --> 00:50:36,282
♪ You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
♪ by Sylvester

1094
00:50:36,407 --> 00:50:37,451
♪ ... I've been dancing ♪

1095
00:50:37,576 --> 00:50:39,286
♪ On the floor, darlin' ♪

1096
00:50:39,411 --> 00:50:42,205
Sylvester might not have been
able to exist as an artist

1097
00:50:42,371 --> 00:50:43,415
in the Fifties.

1098
00:50:43,581 --> 00:50:44,623
♪ Feel your body close... ♪

1099
00:50:44,750 --> 00:50:49,295
[Mark] He broke a whole
lot of really new ground.

1100
00:50:49,420 --> 00:50:50,297
♪ Make me feel ♪

1101
00:50:50,422 --> 00:50:53,549
[Martha Walsh] It was
a time when people

1102
00:50:53,674 --> 00:50:57,094
could be who they were,
and be free.

1103
00:50:57,261 --> 00:51:00,766
[Billy] Sylvester is
a forefather,

1104
00:51:00,931 --> 00:51:04,061
not only disco,

1105
00:51:04,226 --> 00:51:08,815
but of the queer expansion,

1106
00:51:08,940 --> 00:51:10,317
the non-binary of it all,

1107
00:51:10,442 --> 00:51:13,569
when there was
no language for it.

1108
00:51:13,694 --> 00:51:15,237
♪♪♪

1109
00:51:15,362 --> 00:51:16,656
[Martha] I was singing
with Sylvester.

1110
00:51:16,781 --> 00:51:18,324
Originally we were doing
a lot of Top 40,

1111
00:51:18,449 --> 00:51:22,411
and that evolved
into a disco sound.

1112
00:51:22,536 --> 00:51:25,081
♪ And I know you love me ♪

1113
00:51:25,206 --> 00:51:29,085
♪ Like you should ♪

1114
00:51:29,252 --> 00:51:30,420
♪♪♪

1115
00:51:30,587 --> 00:51:32,755
[ Martha] During that time,
there were those

1116
00:51:32,922 --> 00:51:37,259
that didn't want him
to be who he was.

1117
00:51:37,427 --> 00:51:40,304
Being a gay artist,

1118
00:51:40,471 --> 00:51:43,766
let alone a Black gay artist,

1119
00:51:43,933 --> 00:51:49,105
was something that
was very hidden.

1120
00:51:49,272 --> 00:51:50,357
They were out there,

1121
00:51:50,482 --> 00:51:54,277
but they were very closeted.

1122
00:51:54,444 --> 00:52:00,491
And they wanted to market
him as a straight artist,

1123
00:52:00,659 --> 00:52:02,369
you know, Randamp;B, whatever.

1124
00:52:02,494 --> 00:52:04,538
And he wasn't having it.

1125
00:52:04,663 --> 00:52:06,331
And Sylvester was
the one that said,

1126
00:52:06,498 --> 00:52:09,500
"I'm not doing it.
I am who I am.

1127
00:52:09,668 --> 00:52:13,130
Accept me or, you know... bye!"

1128
00:52:14,172 --> 00:52:15,799
♪ I feel real ♪

1129
00:52:15,965 --> 00:52:16,799
♪ I feel real ♪

1130
00:52:16,967 --> 00:52:18,176
[Jellybean] You Make
Me Feel Mighty Real.

1131
00:52:18,342 --> 00:52:19,302
Sylvester had brought it to me

1132
00:52:19,427 --> 00:52:20,719
when it was a work in progress,

1133
00:52:20,846 --> 00:52:24,306
and I played it, and the
album went gold.

1134
00:52:24,473 --> 00:52:26,226
I still didn't really understand
what that meant.

1135
00:52:26,351 --> 00:52:27,561
I just knew, like...
I put it on,

1136
00:52:27,686 --> 00:52:29,395
people went crazy all the time.

1137
00:52:29,520 --> 00:52:32,607
But the fact that he gave me
a gold record for it, oh...

1138
00:52:32,940 --> 00:52:33,692
Was great.

1139
00:52:33,859 --> 00:52:36,319
My style and from,
where I come from

1140
00:52:36,444 --> 00:52:39,489
is so totally different
from another place.

1141
00:52:39,614 --> 00:52:43,743
It's like night and day.

1142
00:52:43,869 --> 00:52:46,580
No, I don't compare
myself to anyone.

1143
00:52:46,705 --> 00:52:49,081
That's why it's hard for me
to get a job sometimes.

1144
00:52:49,373 --> 00:52:52,085
I stand on that man's shoulders.

1145
00:52:52,210 --> 00:52:54,003
There would be no Billy...

1146
00:52:54,378 --> 00:52:56,715
If there wasn't a Sylvester.

1147
00:52:56,882 --> 00:52:58,215
♪♪♪

1148
00:52:58,382 --> 00:53:00,886
[Sylvester] I've been singing,
like, since I was a child.

1149
00:53:01,052 --> 00:53:04,221
Really. Gospel singing,
always singing in church

1150
00:53:04,389 --> 00:53:06,016
and stuff that.

1151
00:53:06,183 --> 00:53:09,561
But I still sing Gospel music
everywhere I go.

1152
00:53:09,728 --> 00:53:15,192
♪ You make me feel ♪

1153
00:53:15,357 --> 00:53:17,194
[Sylvester] No matter
what I do, or where I go,

1154
00:53:17,319 --> 00:53:19,279
or what I'm into, it just
does not leave me.

1155
00:53:19,404 --> 00:53:21,114
It's just there.

1156
00:53:21,239 --> 00:53:24,576
That feeling, that sound
is just embedded in me,

1157
00:53:24,743 --> 00:53:25,576
and it just won't ever come out.

1158
00:53:25,744 --> 00:53:26,453
And I don't ever want
it to come out.

1159
00:53:26,578 --> 00:53:31,248
♪ You make me feel ♪

1160
00:53:31,415 --> 00:53:34,877
♪ Hey ♪

1161
00:53:35,045 --> 00:53:41,384
♪ Mighty real ♪

1162
00:53:41,509 --> 00:53:44,887
♪ Hey ♪

1163
00:53:45,012 --> 00:53:49,643
The shrieking that leaves you,
like, euphoric.

1164
00:53:49,768 --> 00:53:50,726
[laughs]

1165
00:53:50,851 --> 00:53:53,230
You know it's, it's like...

1166
00:53:54,105 --> 00:53:54,522
that's Gospel.

1167
00:53:54,648 --> 00:53:59,985
♪ Mighty real ♪

1168
00:54:00,110 --> 00:54:04,241
[Billy] Everybody felt seen
in it, in the music.

1169
00:54:04,366 --> 00:54:09,119
♪ You make me feel ♪

1170
00:54:09,286 --> 00:54:11,121
♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

1171
00:54:11,288 --> 00:54:12,290
[Akia] It's the fellowship.

1172
00:54:12,456 --> 00:54:15,293
A lot of people,
especially in disco,

1173
00:54:15,460 --> 00:54:17,920
they were ostracized
in those communities.

1174
00:54:18,087 --> 00:54:19,339
It doesn't mean that they still
don't have a love

1175
00:54:19,464 --> 00:54:21,340
for the Black church.

1176
00:54:21,465 --> 00:54:25,177
♪ You make me feel ♪

1177
00:54:25,302 --> 00:54:28,973
♪♪♪

1178
00:54:29,139 --> 00:54:35,772
♪ Mighty real ♪

1179
00:54:35,897 --> 00:54:36,982
♪ Yeah ♪

1180
00:54:37,148 --> 00:54:38,023
♪♪♪

1181
00:54:38,148 --> 00:54:40,110
♪ Yeah♪

1182
00:54:40,235 --> 00:54:42,487
♪Ah ♪

1183
00:54:42,654 --> 00:54:43,487
♪Yeah ♪

1184
00:54:43,654 --> 00:54:47,993
♪ Yeah ♪

1185
00:54:48,159 --> 00:54:53,373
♪Ah ♪

1186
00:54:54,331 --> 00:54:55,458
♪ Yeah ♪

1187
00:54:55,583 --> 00:54:57,127
♪ Yeah ♪

1188
00:54:57,252 --> 00:55:01,464
♪ Mmm ♪

1189
00:55:01,630 --> 00:55:06,302
♪ Mmm ♪

1190
00:55:06,469 --> 00:55:09,179
♪ Oo♪

1191
00:55:09,346 --> 00:55:13,310
♪♪♪

1192
00:55:19,357 --> 00:55:23,819
[audience cheering]

1193
00:55:23,944 --> 00:55:28,199
Look, nothing is, is pure and
utopian and fantastic,

1194
00:55:28,366 --> 00:55:32,536
but it was certainly as close
as I've ever seen.

1195
00:55:32,703 --> 00:55:34,913
Being a Black Panther and going,

1196
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:37,333
"Man, all we wanted to
do was touch people.

1197
00:55:37,458 --> 00:55:40,878
All we wanted to do was
bring in the masses

1198
00:55:41,045 --> 00:55:44,090
and say, Man, we're one.
We're one America,

1199
00:55:44,215 --> 00:55:47,217
one army, even though we're
disparate people."

1200
00:55:47,384 --> 00:55:50,764
That's what we used to say,
"Power to the people."

1201
00:55:50,889 --> 00:55:53,223
And we met all the people.

1202
00:55:53,391 --> 00:55:54,601
And that's what disco gave us.

1203
00:55:54,726 --> 00:55:56,518
They gave us power
to all the people.

1204
00:55:56,686 --> 00:55:58,855
If you could dance.

1205
00:55:58,980 --> 00:56:00,440
[laughs]

1206
00:56:02,192 --> 00:56:08,031
♪♪♪

1207
00:56:15,163 --> 00:56:17,748
So in the beginning, disco
was a cool thing,

1208
00:56:17,915 --> 00:56:21,543
before it became
over-commercialized,

1209
00:56:21,668 --> 00:56:24,214
watered down,

1210
00:56:24,380 --> 00:56:25,799
cornball. You feel me?

1211
00:56:25,924 --> 00:56:26,632
Because it was something
that we felt

1212
00:56:26,757 --> 00:56:29,386
like we made happen.

1213
00:56:29,511 --> 00:56:30,552
[Newscaster] The very popular
and very lucrative

1214
00:56:30,677 --> 00:56:33,389
new business called Disco.

1215
00:56:33,556 --> 00:56:34,056
It's bigger than Elvis,

1216
00:56:34,223 --> 00:56:35,766
bigger than the Beatles.

1217
00:56:35,933 --> 00:56:37,811
And I saw the reaction of people
around New York,

1218
00:56:37,936 --> 00:56:40,647
and I saw hits being made
on the floor here.

1219
00:56:40,772 --> 00:56:44,400
150,000 singles were being sold
in the New York market

1220
00:56:44,567 --> 00:56:46,902
with very little radio play
on the pop stations.

1221
00:56:47,069 --> 00:56:48,737
[Sharon] All of a sudden,
it was not

1222
00:56:48,904 --> 00:56:49,947
underground anymore.

1223
00:56:50,114 --> 00:56:51,574
It was commercially viable,

1224
00:56:51,699 --> 00:56:53,993
and people were making
mad money,

1225
00:56:54,119 --> 00:56:55,911
and it was like, "Well, if you
handle it the right way,

1226
00:56:56,078 --> 00:56:56,746
we can make more mad money."

1227
00:56:56,871 --> 00:56:59,248
And so it was like, you know...

1228
00:56:59,373 --> 00:57:00,791
♪♪♪

1229
00:57:00,958 --> 00:57:03,085
Hey Jerry, what's the story?

1230
00:57:03,210 --> 00:57:04,920
You want a party,
you want to dance,

1231
00:57:05,045 --> 00:57:07,674
you want a great night out?
Come on down to Jerry's Disco.

1232
00:57:07,799 --> 00:57:08,715
[Newscaster] These
students are enrolled

1233
00:57:08,842 --> 00:57:10,634
in a ten week class
at Humber College.

1234
00:57:10,802 --> 00:57:15,014
Billboard Magazine now stages
two conventions a year

1235
00:57:15,139 --> 00:57:16,598
so promoters can promote
their products.

1236
00:57:16,766 --> 00:57:19,601
[Vince] Once disco
became a name,

1237
00:57:19,768 --> 00:57:23,480
a sellable thing that
record companies

1238
00:57:23,648 --> 00:57:26,484
wanted to make money off of,

1239
00:57:26,650 --> 00:57:28,819
it became so formulaic.

1240
00:57:28,987 --> 00:57:31,447
Just one bad record
after the other.

1241
00:57:31,614 --> 00:57:33,324
♪♪♪

1242
00:57:33,491 --> 00:57:34,616
[Legs McNeil] I don't
think that 'hip'

1243
00:57:34,741 --> 00:57:37,203
can be a mass movement.

1244
00:57:37,328 --> 00:57:42,625
♪♪♪

1245
00:57:42,750 --> 00:57:43,710
[Legs] Everything
became disco music,

1246
00:57:43,835 --> 00:57:46,795
for at least three years.

1247
00:57:46,962 --> 00:57:49,632
You know, it's like
anything else.

1248
00:57:49,757 --> 00:57:52,552
You know, familiarity
breeds contempt.

1249
00:57:52,677 --> 00:57:53,844
A lot of the songs,
you know,

1250
00:57:54,011 --> 00:57:54,804
when I started shopping
for them,

1251
00:57:54,971 --> 00:57:55,971
they had "Disco! Disco!"

1252
00:57:56,139 --> 00:57:58,808
They would, the singer would
say that in the song.

1253
00:57:58,933 --> 00:57:59,516
And that was the part like, ugh,

1254
00:57:59,683 --> 00:58:02,895
we didn't want that part.

1255
00:58:03,020 --> 00:58:06,982
It was on the 12-inch,
"Disco 12-Inch."

1256
00:58:07,942 --> 00:58:08,735
That was kind of like
a "hell no" too.

1257
00:58:08,860 --> 00:58:12,404
Disco sucks. Disco is a disease.

1258
00:58:12,529 --> 00:58:15,032
Disco is fascism.

1259
00:58:15,199 --> 00:58:17,659
♪♪♪

1260
00:58:17,826 --> 00:58:18,661
[Legs] When Punk Magazine
first came out,

1261
00:58:18,786 --> 00:58:21,498
we were rebelling against
everything.

1262
00:58:21,663 --> 00:58:22,706
We wanted to be new.

1263
00:58:22,873 --> 00:58:26,543
The label of the editorial was -
in very bold letters -

1264
00:58:26,710 --> 00:58:29,172
"Death to Disco."

1265
00:58:29,297 --> 00:58:31,715
♪♪♪

1266
00:58:31,882 --> 00:58:34,677
It was annoying because they
were believing the hype.

1267
00:58:34,844 --> 00:58:40,516
It was like, we fought so hard
to have something else heard

1268
00:58:40,683 --> 00:58:42,601
other than what
was on the radio.

1269
00:58:42,726 --> 00:58:48,690
Disco seemed to us to be
the quintessential music

1270
00:58:48,815 --> 00:58:50,527
of mediocrity.

1271
00:58:50,692 --> 00:58:53,445
And we said, "Where's the
great Rock and Roll?"

1272
00:58:53,570 --> 00:58:56,782
And the fashion of disco,
it looked like you know,

1273
00:58:56,907 --> 00:58:59,284
swingers at a Holiday Inn.

1274
00:58:59,409 --> 00:59:02,371
We didn't. We wanted to wear
T-shirts and sneakers

1275
00:59:02,496 --> 00:59:04,081
and black leather jackets.

1276
00:59:04,248 --> 00:59:05,958
And we had a big Fonz poster.

1277
00:59:06,083 --> 00:59:08,460
We loved the Fonz, you know.

1278
00:59:08,585 --> 00:59:10,630
He was what we aspired to be.

1279
00:59:13,090 --> 00:59:14,717
[John Ferrara] And listen,
right from the head.

1280
00:59:14,884 --> 00:59:16,886
Start off with just snare
drum... or just bass drum.

1281
00:59:17,052 --> 00:59:18,637
Just bass drum, nothing else.

1282
00:59:18,762 --> 00:59:19,721
♪♪♪

1283
00:59:19,846 --> 00:59:21,431
Leave this out.

1284
00:59:21,598 --> 00:59:23,101
Everything's going to be based
around the bass drum.

1285
00:59:23,268 --> 00:59:25,728
Okay. Let's get it as hot and as
pulsating as we can.

1286
00:59:25,895 --> 00:59:29,940
♪♪♪

1287
00:59:30,107 --> 00:59:31,650
Yeah, that sounds bad!

1288
00:59:31,775 --> 00:59:33,235
♪♪♪

1289
00:59:33,402 --> 00:59:34,737
[Jellybean] It got to
a point where there was

1290
00:59:34,904 --> 00:59:36,781
just so much disco.

1291
00:59:36,947 --> 00:59:40,826
I mean, I was getting hundreds
of new releases a week

1292
00:59:40,951 --> 00:59:42,661
and I was DJing three
or four nights a week.

1293
00:59:42,786 --> 00:59:45,790
So I was constantly listening
to new stuff and going,

1294
00:59:45,956 --> 00:59:48,668
"This is not danceable.
Why is it on a 12-inch?

1295
00:59:48,793 --> 00:59:51,253
Why does it say 'disco'?"

1296
00:59:51,420 --> 00:59:55,090
That branding, you know,
"It's a disco tune,"

1297
00:59:55,257 --> 00:59:58,427
please. That started
making me sick.

1298
00:59:58,594 --> 00:59:59,636
It was all about sales.

1299
00:59:59,804 --> 01:00:01,764
It wasn't about the love
of the music

1300
01:00:01,931 --> 01:00:03,974
and how good it was.

1301
01:00:04,141 --> 01:00:06,853
It was just about money.

1302
01:00:06,978 --> 01:00:08,770
Have no fear, Paco is here.
Paco's my name,

1303
01:00:08,938 --> 01:00:10,355
and disco's my game.

1304
01:00:10,480 --> 01:00:12,107
We'll boogie down 'til
10 o'clock tonight

1305
01:00:12,275 --> 01:00:12,859
with the best disco songs
in the nation.

1306
01:00:12,984 --> 01:00:17,822
♪♪♪

1307
01:00:17,989 --> 01:00:20,157
[Nona] Over time,
when it sort of exploded

1308
01:00:20,324 --> 01:00:24,621
into the real "disco" period,
it became extreme.

1309
01:00:24,746 --> 01:00:27,956
The extremes of sexuality,

1310
01:00:28,123 --> 01:00:30,543
the extremes of drug abuse,

1311
01:00:30,668 --> 01:00:33,045
the extremes of, you know,

1312
01:00:33,170 --> 01:00:37,132
sort of individuals doing
harm to themselves.

1313
01:00:37,257 --> 01:00:39,052
♪♪♪

1314
01:00:39,177 --> 01:00:42,679
You're offered all sorts
of drugs and drink,

1315
01:00:42,846 --> 01:00:44,389
and you're going to say no?

1316
01:00:44,514 --> 01:00:47,685
Please, you want to experiment
and have some fun.

1317
01:00:47,851 --> 01:00:50,480
You know, roulette.
"Come on, take this."

1318
01:00:50,647 --> 01:00:51,648
"I'll take the yellow one."

1319
01:00:51,773 --> 01:00:52,190
"That red one. What does it do?"

1320
01:00:52,357 --> 01:00:52,898
"You'll find out."

1321
01:00:53,023 --> 01:00:55,860
♪♪♪

1322
01:00:56,027 --> 01:00:59,072
[Nicky] Ethyl Chloride is
something that tennis players

1323
01:00:59,197 --> 01:01:02,241
use if they have an injury
to numb them.

1324
01:01:02,366 --> 01:01:05,911
And people were spraying it on
rags and inhaling it,

1325
01:01:06,036 --> 01:01:08,331
and getting a buzz off of it.

1326
01:01:08,498 --> 01:01:11,166
So they would spray it
and give you the hankie,

1327
01:01:11,333 --> 01:01:12,835
and it was just out
of their mouth.

1328
01:01:13,002 --> 01:01:13,920
Yeah, they'd go like
this on you.

1329
01:01:14,045 --> 01:01:17,255
It's horrible. Probably
fried our brains.

1330
01:01:17,382 --> 01:01:20,551
I was using a lot of drugs
and I was out of control.

1331
01:01:20,717 --> 01:01:22,386
It was out of control.

1332
01:01:22,552 --> 01:01:24,346
Everyone was high.

1333
01:01:24,514 --> 01:01:27,433
♪♪♪

1334
01:01:32,563 --> 01:01:34,773
♪♪♪

1335
01:01:40,154 --> 01:01:41,864
My best friend called me
and said,

1336
01:01:42,031 --> 01:01:47,161
"I tried heroin.
And it's fantastic."

1337
01:01:48,663 --> 01:01:53,208
The drugs had taken
over my life so much

1338
01:01:53,375 --> 01:01:56,795
that I felt like there was
a wall between me

1339
01:01:56,920 --> 01:01:58,797
and other people.

1340
01:01:58,922 --> 01:02:00,632
♪♪♪

1341
01:02:00,757 --> 01:02:04,554
[Nicky] That was the beginning
of the end for me.

1342
01:02:04,721 --> 01:02:09,976
♪♪♪

1343
01:02:10,101 --> 01:02:11,893
♪ Disco Inferno ♪
by The Trammps

1344
01:02:12,018 --> 01:02:16,023
♪♪♪

1345
01:02:20,110 --> 01:02:22,487
[Newscaster]
Saturday Night Fever,

1346
01:02:22,612 --> 01:02:24,449
one of the most successful
films of the year.

1347
01:02:24,614 --> 01:02:28,286
The movie already has grossed
nearly $100 million

1348
01:02:28,453 --> 01:02:30,496
in the United States
and Canada alone.

1349
01:02:30,621 --> 01:02:34,583
♪♪♪

1350
01:02:34,708 --> 01:02:36,835
[Newscaster] Over 10 million
albums of the soundtrack

1351
01:02:36,960 --> 01:02:38,755
by the Bee Gees
have been sold,

1352
01:02:38,920 --> 01:02:41,757
and it has made a superstar
out of 24 year old

1353
01:02:41,924 --> 01:02:42,924
John Travolta.

1354
01:02:43,049 --> 01:02:45,094
It's a young man, going through,

1355
01:02:45,219 --> 01:02:47,096
trying to think of what
he wants to do

1356
01:02:47,262 --> 01:02:48,431
for the rest of his life.

1357
01:02:48,598 --> 01:02:49,973
And I think it's a very
important film.

1358
01:02:50,141 --> 01:02:51,933
[Mark] That was
a seminal point

1359
01:02:52,058 --> 01:02:55,480
because it was a
mass-marketed movie,

1360
01:02:55,645 --> 01:02:57,857
and it introduced literally
millions of people

1361
01:02:57,982 --> 01:03:02,987
across America to
a particular element

1362
01:03:03,154 --> 01:03:05,531
of the club scene
at that time.

1363
01:03:05,656 --> 01:03:06,866
♪♪♪

1364
01:03:06,991 --> 01:03:08,701
♪ Burn, baby, burn ♪

1365
01:03:08,826 --> 01:03:10,536
♪ Disco inferno ♪

1366
01:03:10,661 --> 01:03:11,244
♪ Burn, baby, burn ♪

1367
01:03:11,369 --> 01:03:13,331
♪ Burn that mother down ♪

1368
01:03:13,498 --> 01:03:16,125
[Mark] Clubs were
siloed in those days.

1369
01:03:16,291 --> 01:03:17,960
There were the
underground clubs,

1370
01:03:18,127 --> 01:03:20,045
there were Black clubs like
Leviticus and Othello

1371
01:03:20,170 --> 01:03:22,632
and other places.

1372
01:03:22,757 --> 01:03:24,634
But in Bay Ridge and some of
these other neighborhoods,

1373
01:03:24,801 --> 01:03:27,886
which is where Saturday Night
Fever was, was set,

1374
01:03:28,011 --> 01:03:30,806
that was a whole
different thing.

1375
01:03:30,931 --> 01:03:34,351
All kinds of places were
converted at night to discos.

1376
01:03:34,518 --> 01:03:37,063
Some places - restaurants
or whatever.

1377
01:03:37,188 --> 01:03:40,565
And it was a separate scene,

1378
01:03:40,690 --> 01:03:43,819
and that was the scene
that got projected.

1379
01:03:43,944 --> 01:03:46,029
That was the scene that blew up.

1380
01:03:46,197 --> 01:03:49,199
I think for a lot of people it
became aspirational.

1381
01:03:49,366 --> 01:03:51,076
He became this 'King of
the Night', you know,

1382
01:03:51,201 --> 01:03:53,538
dressed and spinning
women around.

1383
01:03:53,703 --> 01:03:58,583
And one of its by-products
was that everybody

1384
01:03:58,708 --> 01:03:59,627
made a disco record.

1385
01:03:59,752 --> 01:04:02,587
[Jellybean] Ethel Merman
made a disco record.

1386
01:04:02,712 --> 01:04:04,882
Yeah, there was an Avon lady
made a disco record,

1387
01:04:05,049 --> 01:04:07,342
it was endless.

1388
01:04:07,509 --> 01:04:10,179
It became like a marketing tool
for record companies.

1389
01:04:10,304 --> 01:04:11,054
And then next thing I know,

1390
01:04:11,221 --> 01:04:15,351
it became this next
level big thing,

1391
01:04:15,476 --> 01:04:18,520
and it's like super huge,
and Studio 54,

1392
01:04:18,688 --> 01:04:21,690
and all these other super
expensive discos that...

1393
01:04:21,815 --> 01:04:23,567
the folks that really laid
this foundation

1394
01:04:23,734 --> 01:04:25,194
really couldn't go
to those places.

1395
01:04:25,360 --> 01:04:27,279
We didn't, you know,
you couldn't get in.

1396
01:04:27,737 --> 01:04:29,114
[Newscaster] This is
the scene outside

1397
01:04:29,239 --> 01:04:31,032
a New York disco
called Studio 54.

1398
01:04:31,199 --> 01:04:34,536
This is the place that's 'in'
with the disco crowd,

1399
01:04:34,703 --> 01:04:36,080
except that these people
are still out.

1400
01:04:36,246 --> 01:04:38,583
No pushing!

1401
01:04:38,748 --> 01:04:40,418
[Newscaster] Of course,
Liza Minnelli

1402
01:04:40,585 --> 01:04:42,043
and her kind of celebrities
sweep right through

1403
01:04:42,168 --> 01:04:43,753
the protective ranks
of door keepers.

1404
01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:46,132
One of the owners, Steve Rubell,
works the door.

1405
01:04:46,257 --> 01:04:48,092
He is choosy about who gets in,

1406
01:04:48,259 --> 01:04:50,427
and that adds to the mystique

1407
01:04:50,594 --> 01:04:52,846
and the desperation
to be accepted.

1408
01:04:53,346 --> 01:04:55,141
Oh, I just want to
watch the stars.

1409
01:04:55,266 --> 01:04:58,060
I saw Cheryl Tiegs,
Beverly Johnson,

1410
01:04:58,185 --> 01:04:58,936
quite a few celebrities.

1411
01:04:59,103 --> 01:05:01,563
Open up the doors now!

1412
01:05:01,730 --> 01:05:02,940
[crowd chatter]

1413
01:05:03,107 --> 01:05:06,235
... because I'm going back to
Atlanta, Georgia tomorrow,

1414
01:05:06,402 --> 01:05:09,404
and I've seen it in People
Magazine in every issue.

1415
01:05:09,572 --> 01:05:10,614
The zoo?

1416
01:05:10,781 --> 01:05:12,074
You go to the zoo to watch
the animals.

1417
01:05:12,199 --> 01:05:14,493
These people are crowded
here right now

1418
01:05:14,619 --> 01:05:17,621
to watch all these freaky people
file into this place.

1419
01:05:17,788 --> 01:05:20,750
[Nicky] Steve is like
my biggest fan.

1420
01:05:20,915 --> 01:05:24,252
He's at the Gallery every
Saturday night

1421
01:05:24,377 --> 01:05:26,839
and he's opening this club,

1422
01:05:26,964 --> 01:05:28,799
and they want me to play there.

1423
01:05:28,965 --> 01:05:31,677
I was the first DJ at Studio 54.

1424
01:05:31,802 --> 01:05:34,096
[Jellybean] On the night
that it opened,

1425
01:05:34,262 --> 01:05:34,971
I had some friends over.

1426
01:05:35,139 --> 01:05:37,266
I was like,
"Let's go check it out."

1427
01:05:37,433 --> 01:05:40,936
So only one person
that was with us got in.

1428
01:05:41,061 --> 01:05:46,275
And then, I went there every
night and stood outside

1429
01:05:46,442 --> 01:05:48,777
until I was finally let in.

1430
01:05:48,944 --> 01:05:52,447
♪ Everyone's a Winner ♪
by Hot Chocolate

1431
01:05:52,614 --> 01:05:54,116
♪♪♪

1432
01:05:54,241 --> 01:05:56,619
You're not shaved.
There's no way you're coming in.

1433
01:05:56,786 --> 01:06:00,288
There was that whole
curated crowd

1434
01:06:00,456 --> 01:06:04,210
that was there from Calvin
Klein, Andy Warhol,

1435
01:06:04,335 --> 01:06:08,214
Truman Capote. So there's
a lot of celebrity-driven...

1436
01:06:08,339 --> 01:06:09,005
in Studio 54.

1437
01:06:09,172 --> 01:06:12,051
♪♪♪

1438
01:06:12,176 --> 01:06:14,052
♪ Everyone's a winner, baby ♪

1439
01:06:14,177 --> 01:06:16,137
♪ That's the truth ♪

1440
01:06:16,304 --> 01:06:17,806
♪ Yes, that's the truth ♪

1441
01:06:17,931 --> 01:06:19,976
♪ Making love to you
is such a thrill ♪

1442
01:06:20,141 --> 01:06:21,018
♪♪♪

1443
01:06:21,185 --> 01:06:23,020
♪ Everyone's a winner, baby ♪

1444
01:06:23,186 --> 01:06:24,230
♪That's no lie ♪

1445
01:06:24,355 --> 01:06:25,230
♪ That's no lie ♪

1446
01:06:25,355 --> 01:06:27,065
♪ You never fail ♪

1447
01:06:27,190 --> 01:06:29,735
♪ To satisfy ♪

1448
01:06:29,860 --> 01:06:34,824
♪ Satisfy ♪

1449
01:06:34,949 --> 01:06:36,032
Everyone talked about it.

1450
01:06:36,199 --> 01:06:39,996
If you were dressed
exotically like we were,

1451
01:06:40,161 --> 01:06:42,748
Steve would wave us in.

1452
01:06:42,873 --> 01:06:45,208
It was glamorous, and there
was celebrities,

1453
01:06:45,375 --> 01:06:48,170
and so forth, but I felt
uncomfortable.

1454
01:06:48,337 --> 01:06:51,047
It's just my opinion,
I thought we were part

1455
01:06:51,215 --> 01:06:57,054
of the scenery for people who
were wanting something

1456
01:06:57,221 --> 01:06:59,764
exotic at the same time.

1457
01:06:59,889 --> 01:07:03,436
But it was 'approved', and they
could go to the VIP room

1458
01:07:03,561 --> 01:07:07,148
with Halston, and Liza Minnelli
and these people.

1459
01:07:07,898 --> 01:07:10,609
When you're going, "You,
not you, you, not you."

1460
01:07:10,735 --> 01:07:12,527
You're hurting
a lot of feelings.

1461
01:07:12,694 --> 01:07:15,031
And it created a big backlash.

1462
01:07:15,156 --> 01:07:17,699
♪♪♪

1463
01:07:17,824 --> 01:07:20,453
We tried to get into
Studio 54 one night

1464
01:07:20,578 --> 01:07:22,203
because Grace Jones
had called us up and said,

1465
01:07:22,328 --> 01:07:25,540
"Hey, you're my personal guest.

1466
01:07:25,708 --> 01:07:27,250
Just go to the stage door,

1467
01:07:27,418 --> 01:07:29,545
and tell them your
personal friends

1468
01:07:29,670 --> 01:07:32,130
of Miss Grace Jones, verbatim."

1469
01:07:32,255 --> 01:07:38,554
Thing is, we didn't know that
Grace Jones's speaking voice

1470
01:07:38,721 --> 01:07:40,598
is her real speaking voice.

1471
01:07:40,764 --> 01:07:44,226
She sounded like a cross
between Marlene Dietrich

1472
01:07:44,393 --> 01:07:46,728
and Bela Lugosi.

1473
01:07:46,895 --> 01:07:48,272
♪♪♪

1474
01:07:48,438 --> 01:07:50,900
[Nile] We were young, man.
We were kids.

1475
01:07:51,067 --> 01:07:52,400
We didn't know anything.

1476
01:07:52,525 --> 01:07:53,694
Somebody said,
"Knock on the door

1477
01:07:53,819 --> 01:07:55,945
and tell them you're personal
friends of Miss Grace Jones

1478
01:07:56,112 --> 01:07:57,281
with that accent?"

1479
01:07:57,447 --> 01:07:58,824
And we kept trying to
get the accent right.

1480
01:07:58,949 --> 01:08:01,160
"We are personal friends
of Miss Grace Jones."

1481
01:08:01,285 --> 01:08:04,079
Instead of the guy
letting us in,

1482
01:08:04,245 --> 01:08:07,083
he went, "Aw, fuck off!"

1483
01:08:07,249 --> 01:08:08,416
We said, "No, no, no!

1484
01:08:08,584 --> 01:08:10,628
We're personal friends
of Miss Grace Jones!"

1485
01:08:10,794 --> 01:08:11,419
He came back to the door
and he said,

1486
01:08:11,544 --> 01:08:14,173
"Didn't I tell you to fuck off?"

1487
01:08:14,298 --> 01:08:16,342
It's like, wow.

1488
01:08:18,302 --> 01:08:20,428
[Nile] We are freezing,
our shoes were wet.

1489
01:08:20,596 --> 01:08:23,807
They ruined my expensive
Maud Frizon suede shoes.

1490
01:08:23,973 --> 01:08:25,267
Fortunately, I live
one block away.

1491
01:08:25,433 --> 01:08:28,437
♪♪♪

1492
01:08:28,603 --> 01:08:31,190
On the way to my apartment,
we picked up two bottles

1493
01:08:31,315 --> 01:08:33,526
of Dom Perignon,
which we used to call

1494
01:08:33,651 --> 01:08:36,277
'Rock and Roll Mouthwash'
back in the day.

1495
01:08:37,071 --> 01:08:41,115
We were pissed off, so we down
the bottles of champagne

1496
01:08:41,282 --> 01:08:45,954
very quickly and I picked
up my guitar and jam.

1497
01:08:46,079 --> 01:08:48,164
So we wrote this song called,
'Aw, Fuck Off'.

1498
01:08:48,331 --> 01:08:50,124
And it was pretty good.

1499
01:08:50,250 --> 01:08:51,960
"Aw, fuck off!"

1500
01:08:52,128 --> 01:08:53,337
[makes guitar sounds]

1501
01:08:53,504 --> 01:08:55,380
You know it was like,
that kind of song.

1502
01:08:55,505 --> 01:08:58,676
And we were crying.
We had each other on the floor.

1503
01:08:58,843 --> 01:09:00,844
But Bernard then looks
at me and says -

1504
01:09:01,011 --> 01:09:03,888
he used to always pull his
sunglasses down over his nose

1505
01:09:04,013 --> 01:09:05,141
when he got serious.

1506
01:09:05,307 --> 01:09:07,642
And he says. "Yo, my man,

1507
01:09:07,767 --> 01:09:10,020
you do know this shit is
happening, right?"

1508
01:09:10,187 --> 01:09:11,896
You got to remember,
this is a couple of years

1509
01:09:12,021 --> 01:09:13,147
before hip-hop.

1510
01:09:13,315 --> 01:09:15,692
And I'm like, "Bernard,
we're not going to get,

1511
01:09:15,860 --> 01:09:18,154
Aw, Fuck Off on the radio."

1512
01:09:18,279 --> 01:09:20,990
He's like, "Let's work on it
man, that's what we do.

1513
01:09:21,115 --> 01:09:22,407
Let's work on it."

1514
01:09:22,532 --> 01:09:29,080
'Freak' is a good euphemism
for the other F-word.

1515
01:09:29,205 --> 01:09:32,793
And so we wrote Aw, Freak Off.

1516
01:09:34,335 --> 01:09:36,672
No matter how many times
we sang it and played it,

1517
01:09:36,838 --> 01:09:38,883
it was not lifting my skirt.

1518
01:09:39,048 --> 01:09:41,677
Boom. Light bulb goes off
over Bernard's head,

1519
01:09:41,843 --> 01:09:45,181
and he says, "Damn, it's like
that dance my kids are doing."

1520
01:09:45,347 --> 01:09:45,847
"What dance?"

1521
01:09:45,972 --> 01:09:46,347
♪ Le Freak ♪ by Chic

1522
01:09:46,514 --> 01:09:48,517
♪ Ah, freak out!

1523
01:09:48,683 --> 01:09:50,852
♪ Le freak, c'est chic ♪

1524
01:09:50,977 --> 01:09:51,853
♪ Freak out ♪

1525
01:09:52,021 --> 01:09:53,313
♪♪♪

1526
01:09:53,438 --> 01:09:56,525
♪ Ah, freak out ♪

1527
01:09:56,691 --> 01:09:58,776
♪ Le freak, c'est chic ♪

1528
01:09:58,902 --> 01:09:59,861
♪ Freak out ♪

1529
01:09:59,986 --> 01:10:02,447
♪♪♪

1530
01:10:02,572 --> 01:10:03,907
♪ Now freak ♪

1531
01:10:04,074 --> 01:10:08,036
♪♪♪

1532
01:10:11,498 --> 01:10:13,249
[Nile] Le Freak was
so big, you know.

1533
01:10:13,416 --> 01:10:15,419
Now everybody was
interested in Chic.

1534
01:10:15,585 --> 01:10:17,170
That was the disco group.

1535
01:10:17,295 --> 01:10:19,589
That was the disco group
that actually made it.

1536
01:10:19,757 --> 01:10:21,592
And they were playing
their music inside,

1537
01:10:21,758 --> 01:10:23,052
and they couldn't
get in the club.

1538
01:10:23,218 --> 01:10:24,136
They wouldn't let them in.

1539
01:10:24,261 --> 01:10:25,053
♪♪♪

1540
01:10:25,221 --> 01:10:26,554
When Le Freak came out,

1541
01:10:26,679 --> 01:10:30,099
I was doing The Freak.
[laughs]

1542
01:10:30,267 --> 01:10:34,062
♪♪♪

1543
01:10:34,230 --> 01:10:35,271
♪ I said freak ♪

1544
01:10:35,438 --> 01:10:39,901
♪♪♪

1545
01:10:40,026 --> 01:10:43,739
[Kathy] What disco music did do,
is it opened the barriers

1546
01:10:43,905 --> 01:10:46,784
of music being separated
and segregated.

1547
01:10:46,950 --> 01:10:49,078
There was Randamp;B charts,
there were Pop charts.

1548
01:10:49,203 --> 01:10:50,579
I remember, I think it was

1549
01:10:50,704 --> 01:10:51,621
You Don't Send Me Flowers
Anymore

1550
01:10:51,789 --> 01:10:54,290
with Neil Diamond and
Barbra Streisand was

1551
01:10:54,458 --> 01:10:57,628
And then, then Le Freak
came out,

1552
01:10:57,794 --> 01:10:59,588
and it went right to

1553
01:10:59,754 --> 01:11:01,257
And people were livid.

1554
01:11:01,382 --> 01:11:04,843
I remember that was like,
"That can't happen.

1555
01:11:04,968 --> 01:11:06,971
We've got to do something
about this music,

1556
01:11:07,137 --> 01:11:08,304
it's out of control.

1557
01:11:08,472 --> 01:11:10,432
It has no color. It can do
whatever it wants.

1558
01:11:10,557 --> 01:11:12,101
And we can't control it."

1559
01:11:12,267 --> 01:11:15,437
♪♪♪

1560
01:11:15,562 --> 01:11:17,356
I played for the Bianca Jagger
birthday party

1561
01:11:17,481 --> 01:11:21,192
where she rode in
on the white horse.

1562
01:11:21,317 --> 01:11:24,029
And all that was really nice,

1563
01:11:24,154 --> 01:11:25,947
but I got fired.

1564
01:11:26,115 --> 01:11:27,281
[laughs]

1565
01:11:27,407 --> 01:11:28,450
It was out of control.

1566
01:11:28,575 --> 01:11:31,160
♪♪♪

1567
01:11:31,328 --> 01:11:32,454
[Nicky] He wanted
a certain type of people,

1568
01:11:32,620 --> 01:11:35,790
and created a big backlash.

1569
01:11:35,958 --> 01:11:39,878
♪♪♪

1570
01:11:40,004 --> 01:11:42,714
[crowd chatting]

1571
01:11:42,839 --> 01:11:44,799
[Nile] And that
became the vibe

1572
01:11:44,967 --> 01:11:48,303
for big clubs after that,
you know.

1573
01:11:48,469 --> 01:11:53,142
Quite a few of them opened up
and did extremely well.

1574
01:11:53,267 --> 01:11:57,312
I mean, you know, until
the summer of '79.

1575
01:11:57,437 --> 01:11:58,856
[explosions]

1576
01:11:59,022 --> 01:12:00,481
[Reporter] Comiskey Park
hosted a disco demolition today.

1577
01:12:00,606 --> 01:12:02,191
[Reporter] They blow up
any disco records

1578
01:12:02,359 --> 01:12:03,819
you bring to the park.

1579
01:12:03,986 --> 01:12:05,321
[Reporter] WLUP's Steve Dahl
led his followers

1580
01:12:05,486 --> 01:12:06,655
in song and chants on the field.

1581
01:12:06,821 --> 01:12:09,325
Us rock and rollers
here in Chicago

1582
01:12:09,490 --> 01:12:11,535
think Disco sucks!

1583
01:12:11,701 --> 01:12:15,664
[crowd chanting] Disco sucks!

1584
01:12:15,789 --> 01:12:18,374
[Martha] Telling people to
bring their disco records

1585
01:12:18,541 --> 01:12:20,044
and, "We're going
to burn them"

1586
01:12:20,209 --> 01:12:21,754
and all this other
kind of stuff.

1587
01:12:21,879 --> 01:12:23,422
I just thought it was
absolutely stupid.

1588
01:12:23,547 --> 01:12:26,924
We are the Insane Coho Lips,
that's the anti-disco army.

1589
01:12:27,051 --> 01:12:28,843
It's not so much the
music that I dislike,

1590
01:12:29,011 --> 01:12:31,347
it's actually the culture. And
we're a Rock and Roll station.

1591
01:12:31,472 --> 01:12:32,681
That's true. Hardcore
Rock and Roll station.

1592
01:12:32,847 --> 01:12:34,682
And it's actually quite
intimidating

1593
01:12:34,849 --> 01:12:36,893
to most Rock and Rollers because
you have to look perfect.

1594
01:12:37,061 --> 01:12:37,518
Your hair has to be beautiful.

1595
01:12:37,643 --> 01:12:39,562
I can't dance.

1596
01:12:39,730 --> 01:12:41,231
I can't find a white
three-piece suit

1597
01:12:41,397 --> 01:12:44,067
that fits me off the rack,
that hangs well.

1598
01:12:44,234 --> 01:12:46,111
For other people to say,

1599
01:12:46,236 --> 01:12:48,696
"Well, we don't like
that kind of music

1600
01:12:48,864 --> 01:12:52,284
and we don't like those
kinds of people."

1601
01:12:52,575 --> 01:12:55,120
Let people be who they are.

1602
01:12:55,245 --> 01:12:57,205
Us Rock and Rollers
here in Chicago

1603
01:12:57,373 --> 01:12:59,749
think disco sucks.

1604
01:12:59,916 --> 01:13:03,294
[Nile] If you didn't know
it was 1979,

1605
01:13:03,419 --> 01:13:06,089
and you somehow put the footage
in black and white,

1606
01:13:06,255 --> 01:13:08,926
and you looked at book
burnings...

1607
01:13:09,093 --> 01:13:09,593
What kind of world is this?

1608
01:13:09,759 --> 01:13:12,221
What is this?

1609
01:13:12,346 --> 01:13:15,557
Like, all of a sudden, we're
going back to the Dark Ages.

1610
01:13:15,682 --> 01:13:17,226
[Nicky] Underneath
this whole thing

1611
01:13:17,351 --> 01:13:21,938
are the radio stations, who
designed and pulled off

1612
01:13:22,106 --> 01:13:23,315
Comiskey Park.

1613
01:13:23,440 --> 01:13:25,234
It was a radio station.

1614
01:13:25,401 --> 01:13:28,445
Radio stations were a very
powerful network,

1615
01:13:28,611 --> 01:13:34,618
and the radio station jocks
got tickets to this,

1616
01:13:34,785 --> 01:13:38,246
really nice limousine rides.

1617
01:13:38,371 --> 01:13:40,581
And we cut them off
in a lot of ways.

1618
01:13:40,706 --> 01:13:43,084
♪♪♪

1619
01:13:43,252 --> 01:13:45,337
[Radio DJ] Detroit
rockers engaged

1620
01:13:45,462 --> 01:13:46,463
in the abolition of disco...

1621
01:13:46,629 --> 01:13:48,173
We'll be right back with your...

1622
01:13:48,298 --> 01:13:49,508
[static sounds]

1623
01:13:49,633 --> 01:13:51,259
[Radio DJ] This is your
Rock and Roll General,

1624
01:13:51,427 --> 01:13:52,678
so stick around!

1625
01:13:52,803 --> 01:13:54,012
[Radio DJ] Our phone lines
are now open.

1626
01:13:54,138 --> 01:13:57,932
Let us know how you would like
us to destroy this record.

1627
01:13:58,099 --> 01:13:59,517
♪♪♪

1628
01:13:59,642 --> 01:14:04,940
They were a powerful
force against us.

1629
01:14:05,106 --> 01:14:09,194
The record burning, the
explosions on the field.

1630
01:14:09,319 --> 01:14:15,616
It wasn't as anti-disco as it
was anti-people of color.

1631
01:14:15,741 --> 01:14:17,535
It was anti-gay people,

1632
01:14:17,660 --> 01:14:20,705
it was anti-impoverished
peoples.

1633
01:14:20,830 --> 01:14:23,875
It promptly burgeoned
out of control,

1634
01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:25,544
and turned into
a full-blown riot.

1635
01:14:25,669 --> 01:14:28,713
[Reporter] This garbage of
demolishing a record

1636
01:14:28,838 --> 01:14:31,133
has turned into a fiasco.

1637
01:14:31,258 --> 01:14:36,221
♪♪♪

1638
01:14:36,346 --> 01:14:38,682
Stonewall was a riot.

1639
01:14:38,848 --> 01:14:41,642
And here we have
ten years later,

1640
01:14:41,767 --> 01:14:44,980
this disco backlash
was also a riot.

1641
01:14:45,146 --> 01:14:48,984
And what are they rioting about?
Music?

1642
01:14:49,151 --> 01:14:51,570
It seems always to
be that, you know,

1643
01:14:51,695 --> 01:14:54,071
"You're having too much fun.

1644
01:14:54,197 --> 01:14:55,656
You just having too much fun.

1645
01:14:55,781 --> 01:14:57,993
We're fine with you
being in the closet."

1646
01:14:58,160 --> 01:14:59,160
♪♪♪

1647
01:14:59,285 --> 01:15:00,661
[Mark] What are
they rioting about?

1648
01:15:02,121 --> 01:15:06,209
A loss of influence,
a loss of power,

1649
01:15:06,375 --> 01:15:10,880
and a loss of a narrative
that they had controlled

1650
01:15:11,048 --> 01:15:12,673
for a good long while.

1651
01:15:13,883 --> 01:15:18,222
Part of a larger backlash
against change.

1652
01:15:18,388 --> 01:15:19,681
♪♪♪

1653
01:15:19,806 --> 01:15:22,017
I always thought it
was white people,

1654
01:15:22,142 --> 01:15:26,021
the middle class, who didn't
want the integration.

1655
01:15:26,187 --> 01:15:28,190
The Village was Sodom
and Gomorrah,

1656
01:15:28,356 --> 01:15:32,444
and anything that downtown
New York embraced,

1657
01:15:32,569 --> 01:15:32,861
"No, no, no, no."

1658
01:15:33,027 --> 01:15:34,696
♪♪♪

1659
01:15:34,821 --> 01:15:36,530
Well, I... I can't take
any credit.

1660
01:15:36,697 --> 01:15:40,535
I've said all that it's not my
battle, it's God's battle.

1661
01:15:40,701 --> 01:15:42,870
♪♪♪

1662
01:15:42,995 --> 01:15:45,374
[Akia] I think it's easier for
folks to live in shame

1663
01:15:45,499 --> 01:15:47,793
because you can be
controlled in that way,

1664
01:15:47,918 --> 01:15:49,962
where watching black
queer people

1665
01:15:50,087 --> 01:15:52,713
unapologetically be who
they are within their skin

1666
01:15:52,880 --> 01:15:55,801
allows other folks to claim
theirs as well.

1667
01:15:55,926 --> 01:15:59,096
When we legalize,
and even normalize,

1668
01:15:59,263 --> 01:16:01,722
and even glamorize
homosexuality,

1669
01:16:01,889 --> 01:16:03,808
many, many boys and girls

1670
01:16:03,933 --> 01:16:05,561
who don't have
the benefit of homes

1671
01:16:05,686 --> 01:16:08,938
that teach them right from wrong
are easily recruited,

1672
01:16:09,106 --> 01:16:12,066
subverted, great, great damage.

1673
01:16:12,191 --> 01:16:15,111
♪♪♪

1674
01:16:15,279 --> 01:16:19,074
Thank God for a president
who agrees in totality

1675
01:16:19,199 --> 01:16:21,660
of what we morally
stand for here.

1676
01:16:21,785 --> 01:16:24,996
'Disco Sucks' was so all
encompassing

1677
01:16:25,121 --> 01:16:27,915
that we totally lost our way.

1678
01:16:28,083 --> 01:16:29,918
We didn't know what to do.

1679
01:16:30,084 --> 01:16:30,669
'Disco' was now a dirty word.

1680
01:16:30,794 --> 01:16:32,754
No one wanted to use it anymore.

1681
01:16:32,879 --> 01:16:34,755
I hate disco. It sucks, man.

1682
01:16:34,880 --> 01:16:36,799
Disco sucks.

1683
01:16:36,967 --> 01:16:37,843
We went through the
disco period

1684
01:16:37,968 --> 01:16:39,428
along with everybody else.

1685
01:16:39,553 --> 01:16:40,928
I mean, Paul McCartney
made disco records,

1686
01:16:41,053 --> 01:16:42,431
The Stones made disco records.

1687
01:16:42,556 --> 01:16:45,642
It's easy, I think, for the
world out there

1688
01:16:45,808 --> 01:16:47,311
to slag you off and just say,

1689
01:16:47,477 --> 01:16:49,103
"Oh, great, it's the Bee Gees
again," you know?

1690
01:16:49,271 --> 01:16:51,147
Well I resent the idea of people
out there slagging us off,

1691
01:16:51,315 --> 01:16:52,106
and I don't want to
do an interview

1692
01:16:52,273 --> 01:16:53,775
that's going to be like this.
Thanks.

1693
01:16:53,900 --> 01:16:55,776
No, I don't, sorry.

1694
01:16:55,901 --> 01:16:57,361
[Legs] White audiences
in the suburbs

1695
01:16:57,486 --> 01:17:00,449
who wanted to listen
to heavy metal,

1696
01:17:00,574 --> 01:17:01,866
hated this music too.

1697
01:17:01,991 --> 01:17:07,039
MTV and the big hair bands,
you know, came about.

1698
01:17:07,164 --> 01:17:13,378
That became a male dominated
period in terms of Rock.

1699
01:17:13,503 --> 01:17:16,130
But, you know, they were wearing
this spandex that we wore.

1700
01:17:16,255 --> 01:17:19,801
So I was like, "Really, guys,
why do you have a problem

1701
01:17:19,926 --> 01:17:21,803
with me in spandex, and you
don't have a problem

1702
01:17:21,928 --> 01:17:23,804
with David Lee Roth,"
you know?

1703
01:17:23,972 --> 01:17:26,724
There were a lot of people
ready to jump in

1704
01:17:26,849 --> 01:17:28,226
and go back to something

1705
01:17:28,352 --> 01:17:30,062
that they were really
comfortable with,

1706
01:17:30,187 --> 01:17:31,687
that didn't involve gay people
and black people.

1707
01:17:31,855 --> 01:17:34,231
♪♪♪

1708
01:17:34,357 --> 01:17:37,319
And at that point we decided
that we were a disco band

1709
01:17:37,486 --> 01:17:38,236
just to be defiant.

1710
01:17:38,361 --> 01:17:40,030
"Hell yeah, we're disco band."

1711
01:17:40,196 --> 01:17:43,659
Chic couldn't get arrested, and
no one would call us back.

1712
01:17:43,784 --> 01:17:47,663
We were hurt. We didn't
understand how people

1713
01:17:47,788 --> 01:17:52,416
who once loved us, the very
next day, discarded us.

1714
01:17:52,541 --> 01:17:55,879
Hence, the beginning of our
drug and alcohol downfall.

1715
01:17:56,045 --> 01:18:02,678
So, you know, my world started
to crash because of drugs.

1716
01:18:02,803 --> 01:18:06,389
It ramped up faster than you
could have ever imagined.

1717
01:18:06,556 --> 01:18:08,517
Someone came to the
back of the booth,

1718
01:18:08,642 --> 01:18:10,352
1979, and said to me,

1719
01:18:10,477 --> 01:18:13,062
"They say disco is dead, Nicky.
What do you think?"

1720
01:18:13,230 --> 01:18:15,147
And I said, "Yeah."

1721
01:18:16,400 --> 01:18:19,945
For us, like, the whole
world changed.

1722
01:18:20,070 --> 01:18:22,864
We...

1723
01:18:25,075 --> 01:18:28,911
It's making me a little bit
emotional here.

1724
01:18:29,079 --> 01:18:30,539
I get a little emotional
over this

1725
01:18:30,664 --> 01:18:36,712
because this the start
of life for me,

1726
01:18:36,837 --> 01:18:40,464
this was... this was validation.

1727
01:18:41,674 --> 01:18:46,263
I still feel really emotional
about that period

1728
01:18:46,429 --> 01:18:48,889
because it was really
kind of amazing.

1729
01:18:49,057 --> 01:18:53,061
It was like tribal. It was
wonderful to be...

1730
01:18:53,186 --> 01:18:59,234
to feel part of something that
was much bigger than me.

1731
01:18:59,359 --> 01:19:01,570
It's still really moving to me.

1732
01:19:03,362 --> 01:19:08,368
♪♪♪

1733
01:19:11,413 --> 01:19:13,414
Federal health officials
consider it an epidemic.

1734
01:19:13,581 --> 01:19:15,291
[Reporter] It's a disease
first detected

1735
01:19:15,459 --> 01:19:16,959
in the gay community, that has
now spread beyond that.

1736
01:19:17,127 --> 01:19:19,629
My own family

1737
01:19:19,795 --> 01:19:21,255
won't come to San Francisco

1738
01:19:21,380 --> 01:19:23,924
for this parade because they're
afraid by breathing the air

1739
01:19:24,092 --> 01:19:25,259
that they're going to get AIDS.

1740
01:19:25,384 --> 01:19:25,802
When I came down
with this disease,

1741
01:19:25,968 --> 01:19:27,928
I found this button.

1742
01:19:28,053 --> 01:19:29,472
It absolutely reflected
my position.

1743
01:19:29,638 --> 01:19:31,974
You know, I, I may be down,
but I'm not out.

1744
01:19:32,142 --> 01:19:36,187
[Akia] What we lack in is all
those folks that were involved

1745
01:19:36,312 --> 01:19:39,106
in this music, they passed away.

1746
01:19:39,273 --> 01:19:41,359
So a lot of those stories,

1747
01:19:41,485 --> 01:19:42,944
and a lot of these really
beautiful moments

1748
01:19:43,069 --> 01:19:49,034
that came out of people trying
to seek refuge through this --

1749
01:19:49,159 --> 01:19:51,785
I wouldn't even call it disco,
really like, music.

1750
01:19:51,953 --> 01:19:52,620
It's a culture.

1751
01:19:52,745 --> 01:19:53,954
♪ At Last I Am Free ♪ by Chic

1752
01:19:54,121 --> 01:19:57,459
♪ At last I am free ♪

1753
01:19:57,584 --> 01:20:01,463
♪ I can hardly see
in front of me ♪

1754
01:20:01,629 --> 01:20:07,968
♪ I can hardly see
in front of me ♪

1755
01:20:08,136 --> 01:20:10,638
So I went from
The Gallery closing

1756
01:20:10,806 --> 01:20:11,972
to this place called
Buttermilk Bottom,

1757
01:20:12,139 --> 01:20:17,978
where I played until 1981,
and...

1758
01:20:19,606 --> 01:20:22,651
David Rodriguez,
who was my DJ mentor,

1759
01:20:22,816 --> 01:20:23,860
dies of AIDS.

1760
01:20:24,026 --> 01:20:27,030
We were so close,

1761
01:20:27,196 --> 01:20:30,991
and it just blew me away.

1762
01:20:31,493 --> 01:20:35,079
[Jellybean] The AIDS epidemic
was so quick.

1763
01:20:35,204 --> 01:20:35,996
It was really sad,
you know,

1764
01:20:36,121 --> 01:20:39,084
to see the amount
of creative people

1765
01:20:39,209 --> 01:20:42,379
that died in a very short
period of time.

1766
01:20:42,545 --> 01:20:45,673
We've lost a couple
of generations

1767
01:20:45,839 --> 01:20:47,008
of promising great artists.

1768
01:20:47,174 --> 01:20:51,012
♪♪♪

1769
01:20:51,137 --> 01:20:56,017
It was like you didn't know
who was going to be next.

1770
01:20:56,183 --> 01:21:00,688
It took away almost
all of my friends.

1771
01:21:02,398 --> 01:21:04,942
And these are the people...

1772
01:21:05,067 --> 01:21:06,527
[sniffles]

1773
01:21:09,865 --> 01:21:13,450
I really thought some
of them, I would...

1774
01:21:15,579 --> 01:21:19,874
I would grow up with,
or have them to talk to.

1775
01:21:20,249 --> 01:21:23,210
And I think about it now,
sometimes.

1776
01:21:25,088 --> 01:21:27,715
[weeping]

1777
01:21:27,840 --> 01:21:30,051
♪♪♪

1778
01:21:30,218 --> 01:21:33,429
I think by '84, I stopped
going to bars

1779
01:21:33,597 --> 01:21:35,222
because people would move away.

1780
01:21:35,347 --> 01:21:36,641
I was DJing at Xenon,

1781
01:21:36,766 --> 01:21:40,477
and we had a big Gay Night
on Thursday,

1782
01:21:40,603 --> 01:21:42,563
and it kept getting smaller
and smaller.

1783
01:21:42,688 --> 01:21:45,150
There were nights I went home
screaming at God.

1784
01:21:45,275 --> 01:21:51,990
♪♪♪

1785
01:21:52,115 --> 01:21:56,076
I had went to see him
in San Francisco

1786
01:21:56,244 --> 01:21:59,914
about six months
before he passed,

1787
01:22:00,039 --> 01:22:01,583
and I was glad that I did.

1788
01:22:01,708 --> 01:22:06,129
♪♪♪

1789
01:22:06,295 --> 01:22:08,548
But...

1790
01:22:09,298 --> 01:22:13,093
He kept up a brave fight.

1791
01:22:13,261 --> 01:22:16,263
♪♪♪

1792
01:22:21,393 --> 01:22:27,609
I decided I had to step out
of the music thing

1793
01:22:27,734 --> 01:22:31,655
in order to save my
own life from drugs

1794
01:22:31,821 --> 01:22:36,284
because everybody,
every one of my friends

1795
01:22:36,450 --> 01:22:42,456
thought I would be dead
in a couple of years.

1796
01:22:49,963 --> 01:22:51,340
[Billy] I came out in 1985,

1797
01:22:51,508 --> 01:22:54,968
right at the beginning
of the AIDS crisis.

1798
01:22:55,094 --> 01:22:58,013
The communal spaces in which
disco music was played

1799
01:22:58,181 --> 01:23:00,976
were also havens.

1800
01:23:01,142 --> 01:23:03,311
There's a saying
in the church,

1801
01:23:03,436 --> 01:23:06,313
take your burdens
to the Lord.

1802
01:23:06,481 --> 01:23:09,985
"I take my problems
to the dance floor."

1803
01:23:10,151 --> 01:23:12,195
It's the same thing.

1804
01:23:12,361 --> 01:23:15,490
For us, it became gay church.

1805
01:23:15,615 --> 01:23:21,036
It was a place where we
could engage spiritually

1806
01:23:21,204 --> 01:23:24,999
without being judged
for our queerness,

1807
01:23:25,165 --> 01:23:26,918
for our transness,

1808
01:23:27,043 --> 01:23:29,087
particularly...

1809
01:23:29,379 --> 01:23:32,382
in the moments where
I began to start feeling

1810
01:23:32,548 --> 01:23:36,886
put out by the church
because of my gayness,

1811
01:23:37,053 --> 01:23:38,388
because of my queerness.

1812
01:23:38,554 --> 01:23:39,179
It's been very healing for me.

1813
01:23:39,304 --> 01:23:42,182
♪♪♪

1814
01:23:42,349 --> 01:23:46,353
[Nigel] So I was hanging out at
one of my favorite clubs,

1815
01:23:46,478 --> 01:23:50,191
Leviticus, and then I hear
the Good Times bass line.

1816
01:23:50,357 --> 01:23:54,779
[vocalization of Good Times
bass rhythm]

1817
01:23:54,904 --> 01:23:57,072
And I'm hearing, you know, "I
said a hip hop, the hippie..."

1818
01:23:57,240 --> 01:23:59,366
you know, all this stuff.

1819
01:23:59,534 --> 01:24:01,244
And it was, it was great.
It was groovin'.

1820
01:24:01,410 --> 01:24:02,911
You know, as soon
as I hear the song,

1821
01:24:03,079 --> 01:24:04,580
I hear the bass and I go,

1822
01:24:04,748 --> 01:24:06,958
"There's only one guy in the
world who plays bass like that."

1823
01:24:07,083 --> 01:24:08,293
I said, "That's Bernard."

1824
01:24:08,418 --> 01:24:10,044
♪ Rapper's Delight ♪ by
The Sugarhill Gang

1825
01:24:10,169 --> 01:24:12,463
[Nile] I asked the DJ to show me
a copy of the record.

1826
01:24:12,588 --> 01:24:14,089
He was so excited.
He said,

1827
01:24:14,257 --> 01:24:15,967
"Man, I just picked this up
in Harlem today."

1828
01:24:16,092 --> 01:24:18,053
Whoa, wait a minute.
That's a little weird.

1829
01:24:18,261 --> 01:24:21,097
[Grandmaster Flash] Rapper's
Delight was everywhere.

1830
01:24:21,263 --> 01:24:23,391
And it took what we were
doing in the streets -

1831
01:24:23,516 --> 01:24:27,395
little business - now became
big business,

1832
01:24:27,520 --> 01:24:29,105
and that became
the new bar to set.

1833
01:24:29,271 --> 01:24:31,231
♪♪♪

1834
01:24:31,398 --> 01:24:33,317
Walking past a laundromat,

1835
01:24:33,442 --> 01:24:35,904
and I was just hearing these
sounds coming out,

1836
01:24:36,071 --> 01:24:38,572
and they were playing
like, old Planet Rock.

1837
01:24:38,740 --> 01:24:41,075
I just fell in love
with the music,

1838
01:24:41,200 --> 01:24:44,079
and started to fall in love
with the culture.

1839
01:24:44,245 --> 01:24:46,455
Like Rapper's Delight,
what's funny about that

1840
01:24:46,623 --> 01:24:49,750
is as much as I love that song,

1841
01:24:49,875 --> 01:24:53,254
it really, it really didn't hit
me the way it did

1842
01:24:53,379 --> 01:24:56,257
until I realized that it was
an old Disco record.

1843
01:24:56,423 --> 01:24:58,676
You know, it was
Nile Rodgers and Chic.

1844
01:24:58,802 --> 01:25:01,137
And I started to get
more into Disco,

1845
01:25:01,303 --> 01:25:03,597
even as a producer,

1846
01:25:03,722 --> 01:25:07,852
really when I started working
with KRS and BEP.

1847
01:25:07,977 --> 01:25:10,605
[Billy] I believe that disco
pushed the boundaries

1848
01:25:10,730 --> 01:25:13,525
of what masculinity could be.

1849
01:25:13,650 --> 01:25:16,361
And there was a backlash that
came in the Eighties,

1850
01:25:16,486 --> 01:25:21,950
that shut that expansion
of gender

1851
01:25:22,075 --> 01:25:26,120
and performative gender down.
It shut it down.

1852
01:25:26,245 --> 01:25:28,705
For a little while. It just
went underground.

1853
01:25:28,831 --> 01:25:34,462
♪♪♪

1854
01:25:34,629 --> 01:25:36,129
[Mark] I mean, even going back

1855
01:25:36,255 --> 01:25:38,633
to the beginning of house music
in the early Eighties,

1856
01:25:38,758 --> 01:25:40,802
it was always like
lightning in a bottle.

1857
01:25:40,968 --> 01:25:42,887
I moved to Chicago so I can
have an opportunity

1858
01:25:43,012 --> 01:25:44,972
to try to create something
on my own.

1859
01:25:45,138 --> 01:25:47,349
[Mark] What was it, four years
after that demolition thing,

1860
01:25:47,517 --> 01:25:49,811
which was in '79?

1861
01:25:49,977 --> 01:25:51,728
By '83, the earliest house music
was coming out

1862
01:25:51,855 --> 01:25:56,484
of that same city that everybody
thinks destroyed Disco.

1863
01:25:56,609 --> 01:26:00,321
So when Frankie says that House
was Disco's Revenge,

1864
01:26:00,446 --> 01:26:02,656
that's what he's talking about.

1865
01:26:02,781 --> 01:26:04,325
"House music is
disco's revenge."

1866
01:26:04,450 --> 01:26:07,328
It hits it right on the nose.

1867
01:26:07,453 --> 01:26:10,539
It was a little bit
more laid back,

1868
01:26:10,706 --> 01:26:12,749
and it always made me feel sexy.

1869
01:26:12,875 --> 01:26:16,212
♪♪♪

1870
01:26:16,379 --> 01:26:18,173
There was always
some new musician,

1871
01:26:18,298 --> 01:26:21,843
new singer, new producer.

1872
01:26:22,968 --> 01:26:25,346
Disco was always able
to kind of revitalize itself.

1873
01:26:25,513 --> 01:26:26,388
♪ Good Life ♪ by Inner City

1874
01:26:26,556 --> 01:26:29,057
♪ I know you want to go ♪

1875
01:26:29,224 --> 01:26:31,227
[Kevin] I never really paid
attention to that

1876
01:26:31,393 --> 01:26:33,521
"Disco was dead"

1877
01:26:33,687 --> 01:26:35,356
because commercially
they tried to kill it,

1878
01:26:35,481 --> 01:26:37,901
but it evolved.

1879
01:26:38,066 --> 01:26:39,736
Really, it went back
underground.

1880
01:26:39,902 --> 01:26:41,070
♪♪♪

1881
01:26:41,236 --> 01:26:44,365
[Kevin] It just kept evolving
because the 'four on the floor,'

1882
01:26:44,490 --> 01:26:47,576
that's always been
the key to Disco.

1883
01:26:47,744 --> 01:26:49,454
[Earl] They use the
'four on the floor,'

1884
01:26:49,579 --> 01:26:51,204
the bass drum.

1885
01:26:51,330 --> 01:26:53,958
But they don't use a high-hat
in a song like that.

1886
01:26:54,083 --> 01:26:54,750
You don't hear the...

1887
01:26:54,918 --> 01:26:57,629
[vocalization of
high-hat rhythm]

1888
01:26:57,754 --> 01:26:58,379
because they think that's Disco.

1889
01:26:58,545 --> 01:27:00,548
They just use the...

1890
01:27:00,673 --> 01:27:02,799
[vocalization of
bass drum rhythm]

1891
01:27:02,926 --> 01:27:04,093
♪ Good life ♪

1892
01:27:04,259 --> 01:27:05,553
Having this technology,

1893
01:27:05,678 --> 01:27:06,387
it was the next step.

1894
01:27:06,553 --> 01:27:09,389
It opened up the doors.

1895
01:27:09,514 --> 01:27:13,061
I want to make this record,
I'm going to master it,

1896
01:27:13,186 --> 01:27:14,395
I'm going to put it out.

1897
01:27:14,520 --> 01:27:16,396
And can't nobody
tell me I can't.

1898
01:27:16,521 --> 01:27:18,900
♪♪♪

1899
01:27:19,066 --> 01:27:21,736
All these independent labels
started releasing records

1900
01:27:21,861 --> 01:27:23,905
and became sort
of like mini majors.

1901
01:27:24,071 --> 01:27:24,905
♪♪♪

1902
01:27:25,030 --> 01:27:26,990
[Reporter] How hot is
house music now?

1903
01:27:27,115 --> 01:27:29,285
On a scale of one to ten?
It's a twelve.

1904
01:27:29,451 --> 01:27:31,745
♪♪♪

1905
01:27:31,913 --> 01:27:34,456
[Nicky] Frankie did
his own thing.

1906
01:27:34,624 --> 01:27:38,585
Immediately, I was drawn
to house music.

1907
01:27:38,753 --> 01:27:45,258
I knew that this was a successor
to what I was doing

1908
01:27:45,426 --> 01:27:49,472
because it reminded me
of the very early club tracks

1909
01:27:49,638 --> 01:27:51,932
that I had played.

1910
01:27:52,642 --> 01:27:55,602
I would say House music
is refined Disco,

1911
01:27:55,727 --> 01:27:56,478
the new sound of Disco.

1912
01:27:56,646 --> 01:27:58,856
The Warehouse
itself inspired it,

1913
01:27:58,981 --> 01:28:00,482
and what I was doing
at The Warehouse

1914
01:28:00,650 --> 01:28:01,526
is nothing different than
what Larry was doing

1915
01:28:01,651 --> 01:28:03,945
in The Garage.

1916
01:28:04,111 --> 01:28:06,697
We were playing in clubs that
were more so our homes

1917
01:28:06,822 --> 01:28:07,447
than they were anything else.

1918
01:28:07,572 --> 01:28:09,325
♪♪♪

1919
01:28:09,491 --> 01:28:11,953
♪ Move your body ♪

1920
01:28:12,661 --> 01:28:16,874
♪♪♪

1921
01:28:21,087 --> 01:28:25,465
I'm directly influenced by the
work that Frankie Knuckles

1922
01:28:25,590 --> 01:28:28,011
and Larry Levan were doing

1923
01:28:28,177 --> 01:28:31,138
because they were specifically
creating spaces

1924
01:28:31,306 --> 01:28:32,514
for black queer people,

1925
01:28:32,682 --> 01:28:34,474
and they just amplified
what was going on.

1926
01:28:34,599 --> 01:28:39,646
You get to really see a person
blossom in those spaces.

1927
01:28:39,771 --> 01:28:43,692
Historically, as we can see
with the history of disco,

1928
01:28:43,860 --> 01:28:46,654
a lot of nightlife culture is
birthed from queer people

1929
01:28:46,779 --> 01:28:49,156
just trying to exist.

1930
01:28:49,324 --> 01:28:52,325
Where would I be? Where,
what would I be listening to

1931
01:28:52,451 --> 01:28:54,536
if I was not existing in
the time that I'm in?

1932
01:28:54,704 --> 01:28:57,205
[audience cheering]

1933
01:28:57,373 --> 01:29:00,668
[Nile] Alright, are we ready
to get this party going?

1934
01:29:00,834 --> 01:29:03,212
[audience cheering]

1935
01:29:03,379 --> 01:29:06,590
♪ We've come too far ♪

1936
01:29:06,715 --> 01:29:11,678
♪ To give up who we are ♪

1937
01:29:11,846 --> 01:29:15,599
♪ So let's raise the bar ♪

1938
01:29:15,724 --> 01:29:20,437
♪ And our cups to the stars ♪

1939
01:29:20,562 --> 01:29:22,856
[audience cheering]

1940
01:29:22,981 --> 01:29:27,570
So that song, I co-wrote
with Daft Punk

1941
01:29:27,736 --> 01:29:29,030
and Pharrell Williams.

1942
01:29:29,155 --> 01:29:30,615
♪ Get Lucky ♪ by Daft Punk ft.
Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers

1943
01:29:30,740 --> 01:29:32,575
♪I'm up all night to get some ♪

1944
01:29:32,741 --> 01:29:34,576
♪ She's up all night
for good fun ♪

1945
01:29:34,744 --> 01:29:37,370
♪ I'm up all night
to get lucky ♪

1946
01:29:37,496 --> 01:29:42,293
Daft Punk came to my house
to possibly work together.

1947
01:29:42,418 --> 01:29:44,712
So I went to Electric Lady

1948
01:29:44,879 --> 01:29:48,298
for what would ultimately
become Get Lucky.

1949
01:29:48,423 --> 01:29:49,717
I told Guy-Man,

1950
01:29:49,883 --> 01:29:53,596
"You know, Thomas, he's
standing right exactly where

1951
01:29:53,763 --> 01:29:56,057
Bernard Edwards
was, was standing

1952
01:29:56,182 --> 01:29:57,557
when we cut our
first Chic record."

1953
01:29:57,724 --> 01:30:00,770
So Thomas overheard that,
and he was like,

1954
01:30:00,937 --> 01:30:02,480
"How did you do
Chic Records?"

1955
01:30:02,605 --> 01:30:04,648
♪ We've come too far ♪

1956
01:30:04,773 --> 01:30:09,070
♪ To give up who we are ♪

1957
01:30:09,195 --> 01:30:11,739
So I said, "Well, let me
hear the song."

1958
01:30:11,905 --> 01:30:14,282
He turned the song on.
I wrote out a chart.

1959
01:30:14,450 --> 01:30:15,660
I listened to what everybody
was playing.

1960
01:30:15,785 --> 01:30:17,245
I said, "Now do me a favor.

1961
01:30:17,370 --> 01:30:19,496
Turn everybody down
except for the drums,

1962
01:30:19,621 --> 01:30:20,998
and let me play."

1963
01:30:21,124 --> 01:30:23,334
And to me, that felt
like the groove.

1964
01:30:23,459 --> 01:30:25,753
It felt like that's the way the
song should sound.

1965
01:30:25,919 --> 01:30:26,754
♪ I'm up all night
to get lucky ♪

1966
01:30:26,879 --> 01:30:29,089
♪ We're up all night
till the sun ♪

1967
01:30:29,257 --> 01:30:30,799
♪ We're up all night
to get some ♪

1968
01:30:30,967 --> 01:30:33,928
[Nile] Daft Punk somehow
did something amazing

1969
01:30:34,094 --> 01:30:35,929
at a time where nobody
was doing that.

1970
01:30:36,097 --> 01:30:37,472
♪ We're up all night
to get lucky ♪

1971
01:30:37,639 --> 01:30:38,641
♪ We're up all night
to get lucky ♪

1972
01:30:38,807 --> 01:30:44,813
[crowd chatter]

1973
01:30:44,981 --> 01:30:47,191
Now, I don't have my glasses on.

1974
01:30:47,316 --> 01:30:48,526
[laughing]

1975
01:30:48,651 --> 01:30:52,780
I'm going to the gig.
In London.

1976
01:30:52,905 --> 01:30:56,784
After Pride, the stragglers
who are still partying

1977
01:30:56,909 --> 01:30:58,535
after a day of partying.

1978
01:30:58,660 --> 01:31:01,621
Hey, how are you?
Good to see you!

1979
01:31:01,789 --> 01:31:02,623
Good to see you!

1980
01:31:02,748 --> 01:31:04,374
I'm so glad you're here.

1981
01:31:04,499 --> 01:31:06,334
♪♪♪

1982
01:31:06,502 --> 01:31:08,463
[Kathy] It keeps coming back.

1983
01:31:08,588 --> 01:31:11,339
They want to dress like it
because they're feeling it.

1984
01:31:11,507 --> 01:31:13,633
Like my dancers are all...
they're all in their twenties,

1985
01:31:13,801 --> 01:31:16,803
whatever, but they love Disco!

1986
01:31:16,928 --> 01:31:20,473
A very cool thing to
a whole new generation.

1987
01:31:20,599 --> 01:31:23,643
There's a story behind this,
and where it came from.

1988
01:31:23,811 --> 01:31:28,106
♪♪♪

1989
01:31:30,860 --> 01:31:35,364
When I travel, over 50%
of my audience

1990
01:31:35,530 --> 01:31:37,325
are people under 25.

1991
01:31:37,450 --> 01:31:42,079
And these people know every
word to every song I play.

1992
01:31:42,204 --> 01:31:43,498
♪♪♪

1993
01:31:43,623 --> 01:31:45,040
♪ But it's alright ♪

1994
01:31:45,208 --> 01:31:46,249
♪♪♪

1995
01:31:46,374 --> 01:31:48,210
♪ If you give them all ♪

1996
01:31:48,377 --> 01:31:50,670
♪♪♪

1997
01:31:50,795 --> 01:31:56,928
[Nicky] I know that this music
did something to people

1998
01:31:57,053 --> 01:31:57,678
that other music doesn't.

1999
01:31:57,844 --> 01:32:00,347
It not only has a great beat,

2000
01:32:00,472 --> 01:32:02,682
and a great funk to it that
moves your soul,

2001
01:32:02,807 --> 01:32:08,481
but it's got words, and meaning
that really talk to people.

2002
01:32:10,191 --> 01:32:13,902
I do believe that disco was the
beginning of a conversation

2003
01:32:14,070 --> 01:32:17,280
that we're actually deep
in the middle of now.

2004
01:32:17,405 --> 01:32:22,786
We're in a time right now
where all status quos

2005
01:32:22,911 --> 01:32:25,705
are being questioned.

2006
01:32:25,873 --> 01:32:29,794
Imagine a guy like me,
now I'm 70.

2007
01:32:29,919 --> 01:32:32,547
Imagine I'm in the Seventies,
and in the Eighties

2008
01:32:32,713 --> 01:32:34,798
and things are just awesome,
and people are cool,

2009
01:32:34,923 --> 01:32:38,218
and... Yeah, friends for life,

2010
01:32:38,343 --> 01:32:40,763
and they're just,
they're just great.

2011
01:32:40,929 --> 01:32:43,932
I thought by the year 2000,

2012
01:32:44,099 --> 01:32:49,730
that this planet and people
would be just highly educated,

2013
01:32:49,855 --> 01:32:55,736
kind to each other, really cool.

2014
01:32:55,902 --> 01:32:59,824
It was like man, just...
it was all falling apart.

2015
01:32:59,949 --> 01:33:01,157
It was like the antithesis.

2016
01:33:01,284 --> 01:33:04,286
Let's begin this morning with
the deadly shooting overnight

2017
01:33:04,453 --> 01:33:08,164
at a gay nightclub in
Colorado Springs.

2018
01:33:08,290 --> 01:33:09,749
And then...

2019
01:33:11,209 --> 01:33:12,753
I don't know what happened.

2020
01:33:12,878 --> 01:33:16,339
You'd think that the civil
rights struggle ended.

2021
01:33:16,464 --> 01:33:17,967
But it didn't.

2022
01:33:18,133 --> 01:33:20,428
I mean, look at what
we're going through now.

2023
01:33:20,593 --> 01:33:21,928
It didn't end.

2024
01:33:22,053 --> 01:33:25,516
We put a Band-Aid on a wound
that needed stitches.

2025
01:33:25,641 --> 01:33:27,101
♪♪♪

2026
01:33:27,267 --> 01:33:29,102
[Reporter] Three weeks
on from the first reports

2027
01:33:29,270 --> 01:33:32,106
of this virus, it has
now spread here,

2028
01:33:32,272 --> 01:33:33,857
and to other parts of the world.

2029
01:33:33,982 --> 01:33:36,986
But to what extent,
and severity,

2030
01:33:37,152 --> 01:33:39,155
cannot yet be predicted.

2031
01:33:39,321 --> 01:33:40,822
♪♪♪

2032
01:33:40,990 --> 01:33:44,785
We were isolated in
our own silo spaces

2033
01:33:44,910 --> 01:33:47,454
for almost three years.

2034
01:33:47,579 --> 01:33:51,875
With a government that didn't
do anything to help.

2035
01:33:52,000 --> 01:33:55,295
We were just trying to get by.

2036
01:33:55,420 --> 01:33:57,964
We were just trying to hold
onto our mental health.

2037
01:33:58,132 --> 01:34:00,718
We were just trying to figure
out how to not lose our minds.

2038
01:34:00,843 --> 01:34:02,803
We were just trying to figure
out how to eat.

2039
01:34:02,928 --> 01:34:04,804
How to take care
of our families...

2040
01:34:04,972 --> 01:34:07,807
♪♪♪

2041
01:34:07,932 --> 01:34:09,560
[D-Nice] Club Quarantine,
you know,

2042
01:34:09,685 --> 01:34:13,146
to me that was a chance to
actually just play music,

2043
01:34:13,271 --> 01:34:15,523
you know. No one was paying me,

2044
01:34:15,691 --> 01:34:16,691
people chose to stay with me.

2045
01:34:16,859 --> 01:34:18,819
I felt like this was a good time

2046
01:34:18,944 --> 01:34:21,696
to actually show people
who I am.

2047
01:34:21,864 --> 01:34:24,200
It was a moment
during quarantine

2048
01:34:24,366 --> 01:34:26,910
where I was trying
to feed my own soul.

2049
01:34:27,035 --> 01:34:29,871
I needed to feel
something spiritually,

2050
01:34:30,039 --> 01:34:32,040
and I connected with
this song called,

2051
01:34:32,208 --> 01:34:34,168
"Thinking of You,"
by Sister Sledge.

2052
01:34:34,293 --> 01:34:35,878
♪ Thinking of You ♪
by Sister Sledge

2053
01:34:36,044 --> 01:34:39,839
♪ Just keep on doing what
you're doing to me ♪

2054
01:34:39,964 --> 01:34:42,718
♪ Oh, it's ecstasy ♪

2055
01:34:42,884 --> 01:34:45,012
♪♪♪

2056
01:34:45,137 --> 01:34:47,013
My daughter told me,
there's this DJ

2057
01:34:47,181 --> 01:34:48,682
who's playing Thinking of You,

2058
01:34:48,807 --> 01:34:50,726
and he's really loving your
song, you know?

2059
01:34:50,892 --> 01:34:54,021
It's funny how, like,
I listened to those records

2060
01:34:54,146 --> 01:34:55,731
for one reason back then,

2061
01:34:55,897 --> 01:34:58,025
but then later on
when I became a DJ,

2062
01:34:58,150 --> 01:35:00,194
I started to rediscover
these records.

2063
01:35:00,361 --> 01:35:00,945
We are one in here together,

2064
01:35:01,070 --> 01:35:02,905
we are celebrating together,

2065
01:35:03,071 --> 01:35:05,199
we're fighting in this together.

2066
01:35:05,365 --> 01:35:09,120
And I felt like, not only was
it feeding my soul,

2067
01:35:09,245 --> 01:35:11,704
but I was introducing
a whole new world

2068
01:35:11,830 --> 01:35:13,749
to one of the most beautiful
records I ever heard.

2069
01:35:13,915 --> 01:35:17,878
In the darkest time that we've
experienced in our lifetime,

2070
01:35:18,003 --> 01:35:20,880
I wanted to celebrate love,
and life, and family.

2071
01:35:21,048 --> 01:35:24,593
We got a hundred thousand
people in here

2072
01:35:24,759 --> 01:35:25,803
rocking with us right now!

2073
01:35:25,928 --> 01:35:27,722
This is absolutely insane!

2074
01:35:27,888 --> 01:35:29,222
♪♪♪

2075
01:35:29,347 --> 01:35:32,977
Disco endures anyway because
it's bigger than you,

2076
01:35:33,102 --> 01:35:34,727
it's bigger than me,

2077
01:35:34,853 --> 01:35:36,605
it's bigger than any disease,

2078
01:35:36,771 --> 01:35:38,566
it's bigger than any backlash.

2079
01:35:38,691 --> 01:35:40,942
It's bigger than that.
It's classic.

2080
01:35:41,110 --> 01:35:42,945
It's necessary.

2081
01:35:43,111 --> 01:35:47,074
And now disco is having
the kind of resurgence

2082
01:35:47,199 --> 01:35:50,326
that is the kind of thing
that cements it

2083
01:35:50,453 --> 01:35:51,911
in the annals of
everything forever.

2084
01:35:52,079 --> 01:35:54,498
♪♪♪

2085
01:35:54,623 --> 01:35:57,250
[Kevin] What I see is more
talent being born out of this

2086
01:35:57,418 --> 01:35:59,919
to continue it, because
technology will continue.

2087
01:36:00,044 --> 01:36:02,423
People are going to want
to dance forever.

2088
01:36:02,589 --> 01:36:04,924
They won't want to
go back to anything.

2089
01:36:05,049 --> 01:36:06,761
They're going to always
want to dance,

2090
01:36:06,886 --> 01:36:07,803
that's for sure.

2091
01:36:07,969 --> 01:36:10,263
♪♪♪

2092
01:36:10,388 --> 01:36:13,517
[Nile] The deep hidden
meaning of all of our songs

2093
01:36:13,642 --> 01:36:17,771
was about a life that
we wanted to lead.

2094
01:36:17,896 --> 01:36:23,401
We didn't have it yet,
but we aspired to it.

2095
01:36:23,736 --> 01:36:26,280
The great thing about all
the people around us,

2096
01:36:26,446 --> 01:36:28,490
we had a real family set-up.

2097
01:36:28,656 --> 01:36:33,036
♪♪♪

2098
01:36:33,161 --> 01:36:34,871
[Nicky] Club music,
dance music

2099
01:36:34,996 --> 01:36:38,334
brought people
together to dance.

2100
01:36:38,500 --> 01:36:39,834
♪♪♪

2101
01:36:40,002 --> 01:36:42,045
[Nicky] From The Loft,
to The Gallery,

2102
01:36:42,170 --> 01:36:44,548
to The Paradise Garage,

2103
01:36:44,673 --> 01:36:48,384
it became a movement.

2104
01:36:48,511 --> 01:36:50,387
♪♪♪

2105
01:36:50,513 --> 01:36:55,976
[Nicky] We have a bond that
goes way deep and long

2106
01:36:56,142 --> 01:36:59,480
because we connected
on that dance floor,

2107
01:36:59,605 --> 01:37:01,981
where the emotional
charge was beyond

2108
01:37:02,106 --> 01:37:05,026
our wildest dreams.

2109
01:37:05,194 --> 01:37:10,657
♪♪♪

2110
01:37:12,034 --> 01:37:17,830
♪♪♪

2111
01:37:17,998 --> 01:37:19,834
Hopefully this all
means something,

2112
01:37:19,999 --> 01:37:23,504
and that we will all cosmically
find our way back home.

2113
01:37:23,629 --> 01:37:25,880
I really believe we're
on our way back home.

2114
01:37:26,048 --> 01:37:31,011
♪♪♪

2115
01:37:40,855 --> 01:37:43,816
♪♪♪

2116
01:41:32,377 --> 01:41:38,926
♪♪♪

2117
01:41:47,892 --> 01:41:51,855
♪♪♪