Criticism , anchored to the axioms committed = good , disengaged = bad , in the respect of which it had lived for at least twenty years (but in a few years everything would have changed), could not accept a music that had as its stated objectives: to entertain the listeners; to enrich artists and record companies.
The “disinterested” commitment of the songwriters swept away by songs in which it was enough to make the verse to Donald Duck (Disco Duck) to sell millions of records, the critics could not go smoothly, and in fact it did not pass.
Disco Music sanctioned the birth of a particular attention towards an emerging genre where a few words formed a refrain that, inserted in a catchy context, gave life to the catchphrase of the moment. Disco Duck is an example, capable of climbing the top of the most important world rankings in a few weeks.
The advent of Disco-music marked the end of all that committed music of various songwriters, from Dylan to Joan Baez (see photo).
On November 28, 1975 at Madison Square Garden , with a cast of 14,000 dancers, the ” Disco Dance Party ” was organized to listen to a long series of Disco Music artists, effectively consecrating this musical genre as a trend of absolute relevance. Everyone began a sort of conversion, even the most skeptical critics bent down becoming from detractors to proponents of this new music. The needs of the business were changing.
The record majors began a massive production of disco artists: they saw the light of the likes of KC Sunshine Band , Harold Melvin & Blue Notes, Gloria Gaynor, Micheal Jackson, Jimmy Bo Horne, Anita Word and many others, so much so that the American President Jimmy Carter wanted Disco Music at the inaugural ball for his inauguration (January 20, 1977). It was no coincidence that many rock bands of the decade broke up, tried the solo route and / or experienced a moment of decline (Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake and Palmer to name two). It was no coincidence that, after 1977 , with the success of the Bee Gees (historic white pop group), even rock singers such as Elton John, David Bowie, Kiss and Paul Mc Cartney made very danceable hits.
The disco genre was now assuming endemic proportions, affecting all sectors including the cinema. At the end of 1977 , production began on a film that became a cul t, ” Saturday Night Fever,” with the soundtrack of the Bee Gees and a near-unknown John Travolta main protagonist. The success was so great that it convinced even the last critics. Disco music was officially accepted.
