Disco Inferno!

stratovani · #1 04-30-2012, 06:35 PM

I seem to find myself in a 70s Disco kick these days! I've learned how to play the Trammps' Disco Inferno, and it's such a great bass line with such a cool feel and groove! And dig those wild outfits they wore back then!

The Trammps - Disco Inferno - YouTube

One more thing I've noticed - no synths, drum machines, or artificial studio tricks in those days. You had to know how to play an actual instrument, and the level of musicianship was superb!

Phalex · #2 04-30-2012, 06:37 PM

+1!

That's the tune I play for sound check at church. They still haven't taken the hint!

ksandvik · #3 04-30-2012, 06:40 PM

People diss disco but the musicianship on most songs are extraordinary good. Clever arrangements, too. Compare that with today's three-chord three-note dance music.

lucas vigor · #4 04-30-2012, 06:44 PM

And they even had Kelso playing keyboards! How awesome is that?

But seriously, I love this music. You can see hpw stylisticly these types of bands are carrying on from where the Platters, O.Jays and even Sam and Dave left off.

Tie that all in with what was happening in 70's culture (Like the towering inferno movie) and disco was born!

bass10bfb · #5 04-30-2012, 06:48 PM

Great stuff!!!!! Man, music back then was awesome (and it still is today)!!! I believe I will learn a few tunes, starting with that and maybe Play That Funky Music; Brick House; man there are so many great songs from the disco era!! Thanks for the reminder!!!

chuck norriss · #6 04-30-2012, 06:49 PM

MJ Off The Wall is a great disco album, great bass work by Louis Johnson.

This is more funk than disco but still bad (good) Baretta - Original Intro ( 1975 - 1978 ) - YouTube
Gotta talk about this song:
The S.O.S Band - Take Your Time (Do It Right) - YouTube

My brother wrote DISCO SUCKS in the wet cement of the sidewalk when we were kids. I'm going to take a picture of it & print it for his next bday gift.

Lync · #7 04-30-2012, 06:51 PM

We play that tune in my band-fun to play. Cracks me up that the first intro run really doesn't make musical sense, almost like a mistake that they just kept.

Then again, it works so it just proves as much as there are rules, there are no rules.

lucas vigor · #8 04-30-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck norriss

MJ Off The Wall is a great disco album, great bass work by Louis Johnson.

This is more funk than disco but still bad (good) Baretta - Original Intro ( 1975 - 1978 ) - YouTube
Gotta talk about this song:
The S.O.S Band - Take Your Time (Do It Right) - YouTube

My brother wrote DISCO SUCKS in the wet cement of the sidewalk when we were kids. I'm going to take a picture of it & print it for his next bday gift.

That's great! When I was a kid in 77/78, I could not have agreed more. I was absolutely allergic to Disco, and only made fun of it.

But, as I got better on the bass, I started having a grudging admiration for it (one I would never admit to any of my friends) and now as an adult, longing for a simpler, better time.....I freaking LOVE IT!

stratovani · #9 04-30-2012, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lync

We play that tune in my band-fun to play. Cracks me up that the first intro run really doesn't make musical sense, almost like a mistake that they just kept.

Then again, it works so it just proves as much as there are rules, there are no rules.

That is so true! It took me a while to figure it out, but once you do, everything falls into place!

Johnny Crab · #10 04-30-2012, 07:04 PM

You are correct about Disco Inferno.

Even.....the infamous Village People have a couple of songs that are fun to play. IIRC "Macho Man" uses two string chording in some places.

Hollow Man · #11 04-30-2012, 08:37 PM

I play in a disco band, and Disco Inferno is always one of the songs that gets the biggest reaction from the audience. People flood the floor to get down, and we get a huge cheer when we nail the finish. Love that song!

elgecko · #12 04-30-2012, 08:57 PM

I've always enjoyed playing this one.

I Will Survive - YouTube

jerry · #13 04-30-2012, 09:12 PM

I dug almost all the music on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Bee Gee tracks have some very tasty basslines too.

Joe Nerve · #14 04-30-2012, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucas vigor

That's great! When I was a kid in 77/78, I could not have agreed more. I was absolutely allergic to Disco, and only made fun of it.

But, as I got better on the bass, I started having a grudging admiration for it (one I would never admit to any of my friends) and now as an adult, longing for a simpler, better time.....I freaking LOVE IT!

It's crazy how many people this seems to be true for. Count me in the club. Pretty sure I had a disco sucks tee shirt. Even got into a fist fight, and got a black eye cuz of disco. In my car. Friend in the back changed my rock station to a disco station, I turned it back saying no way that sheiit was gonna play on my car stereo, and it turned into an all out fight in the car. Black eyes, blood, and not talking to each other for a week or two. Ahh, the good ol days.

Would now much rather listen to any of the old disco as opposed to most of the new "rock" and screamo stuff I see them playing on the TV in the gym. 10000 X more fun to play too.

which would you rather play:

Neon Trees - Animal - YouTube

Chic- Le Freak - YouTube

And I thik the latter may be the actual song I got into a fight over.

nutdog · #15 04-30-2012, 09:34 PM

Loved it in the 70's. Never understood why everyone hated. Love to play it. People seem to enjoy hearing it when we do.

Doing a show soon that includes some KC and BeeGees. I've been digging the bass in this tune:

Bee Gees- You Should Be Dancing - YouTube

jgroh · #16 04-30-2012, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elgecko

I've always enjoyed playing this one.

I Will Survive - YouTube

This was far and away our most popular song in my previous band. When we started playing it, the dance floor would pack.

abstractart06 · #17 04-30-2012, 09:40 PM

The Disco era was one of the most fun periods that I can remember. The scene was all about dancing your ass off and people actually went out dancing to stay in shape.

As far as the music goes Bands like Chic, The Brothers Johnson, and The Dazz Band, to name a few had musicians with real chops.

otherclef · #18 04-30-2012, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stratovani

The Trammps - Disco Inferno - YouTube

One more thing I've noticed - no synths, drum machines, or artificial studio tricks in those days. You had to know how to play an actual instrument, and the level of musicianship was superb!

+1

Georynn · #19 04-30-2012, 09:49 PM

I'm just gonna leave this here...

Don't Leave Me This Way- Thelma Houston - YouTube

mellowinman · #20 04-30-2012, 09:51 PM

You forced me to do this. Please just scroll past if you don't dig this kind of post. I'm around 15 years old, so it's maybe 1978 or so. I'm the skinniest, youngest looking 15 year old you'd ever see, weighing in at about 90 lbs. Almost the exact same hairstyle I have RIGHT NOW.

My friend Mark and I are wandering around Telemark resort in Cable, WI. We've been looking at these two girls all night. They are GODDESSES to us. We've been kind of following them around, more or less picturing them naked, and being too shy to say anything. We're a pair of right little creeps! These two girls are being chaperoned by an older girl, probably an older sister to one of them. We're in the "nightclub," which is just one room in the resort, the same room where LUTHER ALLISON plays sometimes! (look him up! He used to come out in the hallway and play for us kids, since we weren't allowed in where the alcohol was served.)

This night, the "nightclub" is all ages, and they are playing DISCO. I didn't like disco; I liked KISS and RUSH and THE BEATLES and ALICE COOPER mostly. ROCK AND ROLL, BABY! But disco was how you meet girls, and so we're there just ogling these young girls, and their older sister/chaperone, or whatever comes over to us; just marches over looking all serious, and we know what's going to come next.

"STOP UNDRESSING MY SISTER AND HER FRIEND WITH YOUR EYES, YOU LITTLE PERVERTS!" she's going to scream, and we're feeling guilty and scared, and almost considering running...

She gets up to us and says, "see those two girls over there," and points to them. "See them? SEE THEM? My God, I can't see anything else!" I almost shout, but instead I meekly say, "yes?"

"They want to dance with you, but you'll have to go talk to them."

So the entire conversation was about as cute as some sappy coming of age TV show, consisting of maybe, "hi," and "do you wanna dance?"

"Sure," the blonde girl says to me, and we go out and dance. The song ends, and we're about to walk off the floor, and as another song starts, she says, "I LOVE this song," and takes me by the hand, pulls herself up close to me, and kisses me. Now, I was shy, and scared, and all that, but the prettiest girl I had ever been anywhere near just kissed me, and from that point on, I knew what to do, and we stood there stock still in the middle of that floor, not even pretending to dance, and just made out. (that's what they called face-mashing, tongue-using heavy kissing in the seventies; I don't know if they still do, kids.)

My friend Radar was there. (he was a much older guy who looked like a bigger version of Radar from MASH,) and I remember just catching a glimpse of him going all goggle eyed, and thinking he should eat his heart out, which was a saying we had back then, while I was pretty much eating the face off of this sweet young girl.

So why am I telling this story on here? Because the song was "Disco Inferno," and from that moment on, it was my favorite disco song, and because I'm almost fifty, and married, and I STILL will never forget how high that young lady made me that night.

Burn, baby, BURN!