Disco as Pop Culture: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life From a Broken Heart

If disco wasn't part of your life growing up you missed something fantastic. It's not too late though to add it into your dance and clothing repertoire. The platform and stiletto shoe, the gold and silver lamé (for men and women), the glittery glass disco ball, the polyester shirt, Soul Train, the Solid Gold Dancers all evoke that vibrant late 70s early 80s era.





My pop culture is not your pop culture. And that diversity is a great thing because we can sample each other's and create a very tasty melange of experience. So, if you grew up wishing you could dance, look and act like they did in Saturday Night Fever then this should be a Proustian madeleine moment. And, if you find this very retro and a bit hip, I urge you to try and dance in platform shoes and see what all the fun was about.





And in case those disco moves beckon you and are not natural (or remembered).

And who knew fashion could be so dangerous?

"Big-Brimmed hat is hazardous for the driver because it blocks side vision. Another fashion hazard is platform shoes which reduces sensitivity of the foot on the pedals". 1974 copyright Toronto Star Archives.

Fashionable Clothing from the Sears Catalog









1979 Disco sandals in glitzy copper: New styles from Davids. Copyright Toronto Star Archives.

And I will freely admit I learned to dance and dress watching Soul Train in the 70s. Soul surely has to be the foundation of Disco in style and sound.

The Best of Soul Train DVD

There is even sheet music you can borrow for those of you musically inclined.











You may notice at your local library branch we're doing a promotion on popular culture where we're highlighting these subjects and if you click on the links you'll see some great suggestions for books to read and dvds to watch:

A Taste of Honey by Boogie Oogie Oogie

Super Freak by Rick James

Le Freak by Chic

The Hustle by Van McCoy

Fly Robin Fly by Silver Convention

Make Me Believe in You by Patti Jo