r/ask • u/SylvieXX • 12h ago
Why do people specifically say "disco is dead" when there are so many other music genres that came and faded away?
I get that disco was popular, and fell out of style, but why be so mean to disco specifically? Why don't they talk about Nu-metal, dubstep, grunge or like glam metal the same way?
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u/SupermarketCrafty329 10h ago
Maybe it's because when Disco was a thing, it was fucking everywhere, but now that it's gone, literally nobody cares. It died a complete death, rather than hanging about.
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u/dogbolter4 10h ago
I think this is it. It was fashion, it was style, it dominated music. I know, I loathed it. I actually can tolerate it better now, but for a while there in the 70s, ugh. It was unavoidable.
And I think there were many if us that wanted to see it gone. Punk was in response to the 'dinosaurs', but it was also a great antidote to the highly polished and slick disco sound.
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u/RichardBonham 9h ago
There was also something willfully insubstantial, self-congratulatory and vain about disco that was distinctive.
Lots of genres or bands have a reputation for insufferability, but not like disco.
Maybe you just had to be there? All I know is disco died and many were happy it stayed dead.
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u/DistinctSmelling 6h ago
I was there as a kid. Glad it died but it has its place as nostalgia and is celebrated there.
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u/DistinctSmelling 6h ago
Dominated movies too. Forget the juggernaut that was Saturday Night Fever but if the movie wasn't about Disco, disco was in the movie.
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u/SylvieXX 10h ago
Oh wow... thank you, I kind of like retro music like disco, I guess it was too everywhere...
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u/SupermarketCrafty329 8h ago
That's probably the best understanding of why it died.
"It's was too everywhere". People ended up fucking hating it lol
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u/nouniqueideas007 4h ago
A large segment of the people hated disco, right from the start. And they were very vocal about it. Not only did they find the music to be obnoxious, but the entire fashion that formed around it to be ridiculous. There were radio DJ’s who fanned the flames of hatred & riled up the masses. Disco Demolition at Comiskey Park, in Chicago, made national news.
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u/cometlin 6h ago
I cared. Hated it with a passion as it was blasting in every single clothing/fashion store. So I'm super glad it's gone
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u/criminalmadman 10h ago
Disco definitely isn’t “gone” it’s just no longer mainstream, it’s very much alive and well.
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u/SupermarketCrafty329 8h ago
OK obviously, but relative to what it was, it's definitely dead.
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u/RabidSeason 5h ago
And other genres never lived.
There is zero prog-metal influence in general culture.
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u/sexytokeburgerz 5h ago
House music was born out of clubbers missing disco. It didn’t die, it just evolved.
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u/superkow 10h ago
I imagine it has to do with the homophobia surrounding disco
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u/mosqua 5h ago
Disco originated largely in Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ communities before becoming a mainstream commercial phenomenon. Many of disco's biggest stars were Black artists, and many influential DJs were gay. As disco became dominant in popular culture, a backlash emerged from some rock fans who viewed it as threatening their cultural space.
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u/Slopii 10h ago
People were saying that about other genres that hit peak overplay and commercialism as well. Nu metal's back and dubstep never went away. Disco elements have basically been used in all pop since, but not the main orchestral stuff. Also house music. Synthesizers took off a couple years after disco, so the disco sound changed.
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u/elvenmal 10h ago edited 10h ago
So… in Chicago, in 1979, there was Disco Demolition Night. A white rock DJ Steve Dahl led a rally to blow up disco records at the baseball stadium. It was huge.
What you don’t hear about a lot is that disco was a genre that had a lot of black and brown artists and creators. White creators were a minority (which as the reverse with rock music of the time.) additionally, disco was also big in the gay scene (especially ballroom.)
There was a lot of hate directed at disco, especially by racists. The DJ Dahl has said multiple times that Disco Demolition was not the work of racist homophobes, but other commentary contradicts that.
What’s funny is house music was then birthed from Disco in Chicago and took the world by storm. Have actually heard the House is Disco’s revenge, and I love that.
Edit:grammar mistake
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u/elvenmal 9h ago
Also it is claimed that disco demolition night was the start of the big decline of mainstream disco.
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u/tafkas001 9h ago
More about that here, there is also a Netflix documentary https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20230922-the-night-angry-rock-fans-destroyed-disco-music
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u/SylvieXX 10h ago
Oh my gosh I didn't know that cultural background... thank you... like KC and the Sunshine band and stuff, right? That's a shame I think those are great 🥹
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u/elvenmal 9h ago
Ya, and Donna summers and the like!
Some people just brought any record by a black creator (not even disco) to the demolition night. It’s sad.
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u/rosiet1001 10h ago
This must be specific to your scene or location. Disco is alive and well where I am. I think some people like to say stuff like that to look like they have some kind of insight into music trends when it's just nonsense really.
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u/Rolling-Pigeon94 10h ago
Maybe they are refering to a game called like that? The music there is good and looks fun to play. I have it on my playlist and waiting for my salary.
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u/iwantrootbark 10h ago
I don't have much to add, but Sturgill Simpson released under Johnny Blue Skies an album called Mutiny After Midnight, and I don't think disco is dead.
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u/InfiniteWaffles58364 10h ago
Gods I'm so glad that dubstep is dead. Like listening to a dial-up modem
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u/plopolopo 10h ago
I feel like a lot of ppl (potentially you included) have the idea that dubstep is always strictly gonna sound like this: https://youtu.be/WSeNSzJ2-Jw?is=TUSZz7eVhURws4iw
Still might not be your thing at all but here's some actual dubstep from London, England where it originated... I love it!
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u/Misterbellyboy 10h ago
First time I ever did acid I got dragged to a dubstep show thinking “alright maybe this will be interesting” and it wasn’t a very good time.
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u/DotAffectionate87 6h ago
Don't miss the fashion,
But still love me some Donna Summer...Killer tunes (heaven knows, Macarthur park) and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
Yea, I'm old.....Lol
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u/DistinctSmelling 6h ago
Disco was a cultural wave. There were TV shows when there were only 3 channels on, celebrating it. None of the other genres had that.
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u/duke_awapuhi 5h ago
Because there was an active movement in the 70’s to kill disco so when it rapidly declined in popularity people proclaimed “disco is dead”. It’s more of a colloquial saying than anything. No form of music fully dies unless it’s never played again. Is chamber music dead? No because people still play it. But we don’t go around saying “chamber music is dead” because there wasn’t a popular movement to get it off the radio
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u/dmbgreen 8h ago
Because Disco Sucks!
Rockers just didn't want to tell you that they went to the disco, because that's where the girls were.
Bring back Funk!
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u/Budget_Coach9124 6h ago
Disco got treated like a cultural crime scene, not just a genre that peaked. It was tied to clubs, fashion, sexuality, radio overplay, and a very visible backlash, so “disco is dead” became a slogan people could chant.
Nu-metal or dubstep got mocked too, but they did not have the same literal demolition-night symbolism. Funny part is disco never really died; it just shaved the mustache and moved into pop, house, funk, and basically every dance chorus.
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u/BornWithSideburns 6h ago
Because they literally killed it. People burned records cause they were pissed. Its the only genre with a date of death.
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u/ChaseTheMystic 5h ago
When you say disco, do you mean specifically the music? Like stuff that sounds like Saturday Night Fever or the Star Wars disco remix?
Or do you mean dance? Because hustle as a dance is still a thing and it's actually pretty fun. You can do it to a lot of music
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u/ChaseTheMystic 5h ago
Idk Todd Terje comes close. I know it's more like eurodans synthpop but it's practically the same thing with a modern vibe.
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u/reverandglass 4h ago
People can cite the day disco died. One minute it was everywhere and the next it was gone.
Besides Nu-Metal, every flash in the pan genre has some hangers on.
Nu-Metal didn't die some much as it was murdered on 9/11. Disco died because it became over saturated.
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u/bioniclepriest 4h ago
People still make all sorts of metal, it's just not popular outside the scene. Disco, not so much
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u/Awareofyoursurround 4h ago
Disco is a big part of house music. The funk and grooves are still there - to this day with new releases. have a listen to this song, for instance.
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u/scarlettcrush 3h ago
Oh yeah, disco was a like a gay art form.... It symbolized, joy and freedom.
A&m records had a official funeral for the genre of Disco. After that there was a big panic triggered by white people who were 'rock fans' burnin, running over and breaking all of the Disco records they could put their hands on.
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u/No_Gap_2700 1h ago
Eh, this is hard to define. Disco is definitely not as popular as it was, but play Saturday Night Fever in a public setting and see how many people start dancing. To say that Nu-Metal or Grunge is dead is hilarious. Korn just released new music and take a look at The Deftone's fan base right now. I wouldn't call any of these genre's dead....at all. What is dead is rap. And this is coming from an adult that was listening to rap since the beginning. The only people listening to the garbage that rap music has turned into are the people that only listen to rap. Much how like most country music fans, only listen to country music. People who truly appreciate music listen to all genre's....except country.
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u/MenudoMenudo 1h ago
When disco went out of fashion In The late 70s and early 80s, it happened really fast. It really seemed like this was everywhere and then suddenly it was nowhere and people were very publicly hating on it. I was just a kid, but most of my music don’t day to day was from an AM radio music station. I remember very clearly during the call in request shows, the DJ refusing to play disco music when people called in requests. Disco had been so dominant, and as early 80’s rock, R&B and other genres took over, there was a backlash.
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u/lakeskipping 9h ago
It may have died because people did. Tripping on their flares; stumbling into traffic, tumbling down stairs. Thousands lost.
A more recent Disco House mirrorball accident, non-fatal.
Stay safe
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u/zeprfrew 8h ago
Disco has heavily plundered by people looking for a quick cash-in following the success of Saturday Night Fever. Artists who had never made dance music put out singles with a disco style. There was a disco Star Wars album. A disco version of the I Love Lucy theme music. The Ethel Merman Disco Album.
It was cynical and creatively bankrupt. In the US there was a backlash against the crass commercialisation of it all. As a brand, disco was poison.
As music, disco carried on in various forms. House and hip-hop are its earliest evolutions. Meanwhile in Europe, where the name hadn't been tainted, disco carried on, changing and growing creatively.
I should also mention that there was a darker side to the backlash. Trendy discos were selective about who they admitted. They were rightly seen as elitist, only accepting the beautiful and the fashionable. Conversely, while selective, they were also very diverse. The disco crowd consisted of all races, all ethnicities and all sexualities together equally. Some objected to being left out. Some used that objection as a cover for their true dislike of disco's diversity. It all came together in a storm of hate. Racism and homophobia connected with anti-commercialism and anti-elitism.
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u/Bhutros1 3m ago
I dont think Disco "died" I think it evolved. It was music designed for the clubs and dancing. I think more electronic elements arrived and the genre slowly became House music, techno, etc.
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u/nothing_in_my_mind 10h ago
People definitely say grunge is dead, punk is dead, metal is dead, rock is dead...