That’s the way uh-huh, uh-huh….

otherwise known as a little run through my memories of Disco 😉

Disco was more my sister’s thing than mine, what with her being a massive Donna Summer fan ‘n all – but after turning 21, I’d had enough of small town life, and was determined to check out life in the big city. While hunting for somewhere to live, I spent weekends with a friend, and we’d hit the London nightclubs on a Saturday night.

We made an eye catching pair – me, slim and androgynous with dark curly hair, my friend perfectly curvy with long, straight blonde hair. We took care how we dressed, were well spoken, didn’t get drunk or take drugs, and were soon being fast-tracked in ahead of the queues. As regulars, the bouncers kept an eye out for us, although we were both skilled in deflecting trouble. To be entirely honest, we spent a more time chatting and socialising than dancing, but here’s what was memorable from those days.

I was invited to a live performance in a small venue by a cute guy I met at the nightclub. The place was filled by word of mouth – me, I was in the minority in having not heard of Nile Rodgers, but fortunately the cute guy was more hip than I 😉 And clearly Chic didn’t stay below the radar for long…

It was around this time that both Saturday Night Fever and Grease were big hits at the cinema. And while I did channel Sandy from Grease’s tight black trousers, the music wasn’t really my thing, but this one from the Trammps was a different matter…

And being a lover of jazz, I’m a fan of a good horn section, so Car Wash from Rose Royce has to feature. I prefer this video from Soul Train to the one featuring Huggy Bear of Starsky & Hutch fame – which is just too kitsch for me.

Clearly Gloria is a CLASSIC… and has to be included in any disco roundup. I know the clip from Pricilla, Queens of the Desert has become a hit, but I prefer to focus on the original and the best.

But my favourite from this time would be the master, George Benson

Then the 80s rolled around, and I started taking ballroom and latin lessons which was great fun and amazing exercise, but diverted me from the disco world. And by the winter of 1982, I’d become a mother, so I missed the height of the disco years.

So it was a lot of fun to watch the gorgeous grandbugs dancing to a selection of old disco tracks when my son-in-law bought them a disco ball light recently. My granddaughter, especially, has some seriously good moves 🙂

For those of you Dancing Queens (or Kings) – what were your favourite disco numbers? Or if you side stepped the Disco era completely – what was your music or dance preference?

© Debra Carey, 2024