Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco

TURN THE BEAT AROUND:THE SECRET HISTORY OF DISCO is a well researched and brilliantly written book by Peter Shapiro that provides an eye-opening look at the underbelly of the disco phenomenon. Focusing on the clubs, djs, and producers that shaped the "disco sound," Shapiro follows the music of the late '60s from the New York City boroughs to the underground gay clubs in Manhattan to the evolution of music that finally swept across America in the '70s. With biting humour, Shapiro provides in-depth critical analysis of the night life culture that created the disco craze and provides ample research to back it up. Not only does the author go into analyzing songs, djs, and nightclubs, he also explains what was going on in daily life that caused people to search for "something" outside of themselves. I found the book exciting and informative. However, if you are looking for a book that focuses specifically on the disco superstars of the day (i.e. Donna Summer, The Bee Gees etc.), this might not be the book for you. Although they are mentioned, TURN THE BEAT AROUND... concentrates on the djs/producers and nightclubs that created disco and not the commercialization of it.

I teach a history of popular music class at the college level and am always looking for extra source material to augment my own notes. Thanks to Shapiro's book, I learned more about disco in the first chapter than I have since I started teaching the class. His research is thorough, including specific names of pioneering individuals, groups, and songs, along with vivid descriptions of related places and events. I appreciate the documentation, which includes at the back of the book, insightful end notes, a bibliography of interesting sources, as well as what every history teacher loves - a time line! I will admit, with so many names I actually took notes so I could keep up with all the personalities. I'm glad I did; I also purchased the DVD Disco: Spinning the Story [[ASIN: B0007X1NVU]] and my list helped me recognize and realize the significance of the interviewees. I wish this book had a soundtrack, but since it doesn't, the DVD is the next best thing.

Turn The Beat Around: The Secret History Of Disco is the story of a music genre born from the social and economic turmoil of the 1970's. Blending elements of post-civil rights African-American culture, the newly out-and-proud gay movement, and the syncopation of the recently developed synthesizer, disco became a craze that flared brilliantly in its time, then fell by the wayside to fond memories and derisive scorn as its pop-culture peers of punk and hip-hop rose in its place. Chapters of Turn The Beat Around explores New York, where disco originated; disco's links to sexuality, its feverish era of popularity, its movement underground, and its legacy today. Turn The Beat Around is a thoroughly researched, plain-terms, no-holds barred scrutiny, recommended for ordinary disco fans and music students alike.

Who knew that disco would ever become respectable enough for a wave of books about it? By the time disco had transitioned from minor club scene to worldwide phenomenon in the late `70s, punk had also arrived, and the two styles were like armed camps, with disco dissed as "gay music" (like that's a bad thing) and punk extolled as raw and real. I guess those sad, grim, grungy straight punks couldn't stand the image of all those queer party boys, mindlessly writhing on the dance floors of every major urban center with their black brothers and sisters, dressed in chiana and sequins and waving fans and feathers while the fog machines cranked and huge speakers thumped out trancelike beats and diva shrieks at earsplitting levels. Punks declared "death to disco" and mounted record-burning campaigns but could do little to stop their least favorite musical form. Author Peter Shapiro, who appears to be straight, seems to know more than any non-queer should about disco, and says it with panache in what is probably the best of the recent slew of books on the subject. Shapiro expertly ties the emergence of the form to the new gay freedom mixed with an increasingly empowered African-American community - the perfect musical marriage between queers and blacks as both consumers and creators of the joyous soundtrack to liberation. The author has obviously done deep research to uncover the personalities behind all those obscure sounds. The dates, personnel, even studio locations are all here. This was no small task; no musical genre has ever been as faceless as disco, with many of the "groups" simply studio musicians hired for a session or two by the real creator, the producer. But Shapiro casts his net much wider, weaving such elements as DJ culture and its superstars, disco's influence on hip hop, legendary venues like Studio 54 and the Paradise Garage and even gay bathhouses, and much more into this rich portrait of a music-based culture pulsing with creativity. A detailed discography, an amusing photo section of period disco performers and fashions, a useful song index, and a notes section round out this wonderful read.