Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco

by Peter Shapiro

  Lyrics from “Fight the Power, Part 1” by O’Kelly Isley, Ronald Isley, Marvin Isley, Rudolph Isley, Eric Isley, and Christopher Jasper © 1975, renewed 2003 EMI April Music, Inc., and Bovina Music, Inc. All rights controlled and administered by EMI April Music, Inc., used by permission. International copyright secured. All rights reserved; “African Queens” by Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, and Phil Hurtt © 1977 by Can’t Stop Music, copyright renewed, used by permission. All rights reserved; “New York by Night” by Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, and S. Gaines © 1979 by Can’t Stop Music used by permission. All rights reserved; “Fire Island” by Henri Belolo, Phil Hurtt, and Jacques Morali © 1977 by Can’t Stop Music, copyright renewed, used by permission. All rights reserved; “I Love America,” by Patrick Juvet, Jacques Morali, and Victor Willis © 1978 by Can’t Stop Music used by permission. All rights reserved; “Law of the Land” by Norman G. Whitfield © 1973, renewed 2001 Stone Diamond Music Corp. All rights controlled and administered by EMI Blackwood Music, Inc., used by permission. International copyright secured. All rights reserved; “Smiling Faces Sometimes” by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong © 1971, renewed 1999, Jobete Music Co., Inc. All rights controlled and administered by EMI Blackwood Music Inc. on behalf of Stone Agate Music (a division of Jobete Music Co., Inc.) used by permission. International copyright secured. All rights reserved; “The End” by The Doors © 1967 Doors Music Co., copyright renewed, used by permission. All rights reserved; “Going Back to My Roots, Part 1” by Lamont Herbert Dozier © 1977 Bullet Proof Music used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Lyrics from “Are the Good Times Really Over?” by Merle Haggard © 1981 Sony/ATV Songs LLS. All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing used by permission. All rights reserved; “Love in ‘C’ Minor” by Alec Constandinos © 1977 Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, Welbeck Music Corp., Les Editions Fefee Music. All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing used by permission. All rights reserved; “Stealin’ in the Name of the Lord,” by Paul Kelly © 1970 Sony/ATV Tree, LLC. All rights administered by Sony/ATV Tunes LLC (ASCAP) used by permission. All rights reserved; “At Last I Am Free,” “Chic Cheer,” “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” and “Le Freak” by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers © 1978 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Bernard’s Other Music. All rights on behalf of Sony/ATV Songs LLC administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing used by permission. All rights reserved; “Good Times,” “Can’t Stand to Love You,” “Lost In Music,” “Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song),” “My Forbidden Love,” and “What About Me” by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers © 1979 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Bernard’s Other Music. All rights on behalf of Sony/ATV Songs LLC administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing used by permission. All rights reserved; “Rebels Are We,” “Real People,” and “Chip Off the Old Block” by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers © 1980 Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Bernard’s Other Music. All rights on behalf of Sony/ATV Songs LLC administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing used by permission. All rights reserved.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  1. THE ROTTEN APPLE

  2. “I’M JUST AN OUTLAW, MY NAME IS DESIRE”

  Disco and Sexuality

  3. “LIKE CLONES AND ROBOTS THAT WE ARE”

  Automating the Beat

  4. “ZIPPIN’ UP MY BOOTS, GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS”

  Disco and the Soul Continuum

  5. PRISONERS OF THE NIGHT

  The Disco Craze

  6. “SO WHY SHOULD I BE ASHAMED?”

  Disco Goes Underground

  7. “STAYIN’ ALIVE”

  Disco Today

  Timeline

  Discography

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  Index of Songs

  Permissions Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  Farrar, Straus and Giroux

  19 Union Square West, New York 10003

  Copyright © 2005 by Peter Shapiro

  All rights reserved

  First edition, 2005

  Owing to limitations of space, all acknowledgments for permission to reprint previously published material can be found here.

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  eISBN 9781466894129

  First eBook edition: May 2015