Description
Book SynopsisOpening with David Mancuso's seminal "Love Saves the Day" Valentine's party in February 1970, this title tells the definitive story of disco - from its murky subterranean roots in NoHo and Hell's Kitchen to its gaudy blossoming in midtown Manhattan to the out-of-town networks that emerged in the suburbs and alternative urban hotspots.
Trade Review“
Love Saves the Day is what we need for generations to come: it’s the real history of dance music and dj/club culture.”—Louie Vega, dj/producer, Masters At Work & Nuyorican Soul
"A fantastic history of the birth of disco." -- Tracey Thorn, Everything But the Girl * The Guardian *
“As authoritative as it is gossipy,
Love Saves the Day is the ultimate backstage view of disco, the underground phenomenon that ended up defining a decade. Tim Lawrence talked to virtually everyone who shaped ‘70s urban nightlife, but he keeps his prime focus on the djs who created its seductive soundtrack. With them as your witty, opinionated guides, you’ll find yourself well past the velvet ropes, deep inside a scene that has never been so thoroughly or lovingly illuminated.”—Vince Aletti,
Village Voice“At last disco gets the history it deserves. Tim Lawrence tells the story of ten years that shook the musical world with the scholar’s concern for detail and the fan’s concern for honor. Great tales of the humble and the ahubristic, of money, sex, and the utopia of the sound system. Illuminating and moving.”—Simon Frith, author of
Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music “At long last, a candid, detailed, and authoritative look back on one of dance music’s most seminal moments in time. This book on the genesis of the movement in 1970s New York will delight anyone from the researcher wanting some serious unbiased fact-checking all the way to the casual music lover curious for juicy anecdotes. It’s about time!”—François K., dj and founder and president of Wave Music
“I wish I'd written it myself.”—Barry Walters, Senior Music Critic,
Rolling Stone“[A]n extraordinarily rich work that ought to transform the ways we write the history of popular music. . . . [A] marvelous book. . . .” -- Mitchell Morris * Journal of Popular Music Studies *
"[A] fine, groundbreaking history filled with fresh information and thoughtful perspectives on the disco decade, the result of his hundreds of interviews and exhaustive research. Scores of photographs and signature discographies nicely complement the text." * Library Journal *
"[A]s Tim Lawrence illustrates in
Love Saves The Day, the story of disco is richer than its battered reputation lets on. . . . [A]n exceedingly well-reported history. . . .
Love Saves The Day works as an eye-opening history of a movement that found a nation taking time out to dance."
-- Andy Battaglia * The Onion *
"[P]acked with detail . . . without turning dull; [
Love Saves the Day] offers a non-hagiographic treatment of dance-music icons. . . and, perhaps best of all, Lawrence's riveting storytelling puts you deep in the proto-disco moment. . . .
Love Saves the Day not only gets dance-music history right--it refocuses that history to include those unjustly excluded from it." -- Ethan Brown * New York *
"[T]his is as close to a definitive account of Disco as we're likely to get, and as entertaining as a great night out." -- Richard Smith * Gay Times *
"[T]o some, a respectful history of disco may seem as perverse as a paean to strip malls. Tim Lawrence's
Love Saves the Day boldly overturns that story. . . . I, for one, won't be able to dismiss dance culture so quickly, and his book should become a fixture in the libraries of serious students of American pop." -- Philip Christman * Paste *
"Lawrence has documented the scene with a fan's affection and a scholar's thoroughness. . . . His interview subjects, veteran DJs and clubgoers all, best convey in their own words what it was like to be on the dance floor at the Loft, the Gallery or the Paradise Garage when the crowd--drenched in sweat, screaming and whistling, arms in the air--gave itself up to rapture."
-- Tom Beer * Newsday *
"Thanks to an impressive amount of research Tim Lawrence . . . creates an evocative portrait of the Big Apple DJ demimonde of the 1970s." -- Peter Shapiro * The Wire *
"THE book on club music in America—a massive volume that contains more information about the New York scene than we'd ever hoped to learn! The book fills in gaps that we've always been unsure of, and tells the full story of the evolution of New York dance in the 70s—going way past the hype!" * Dustygroove.com *
"Tim Lawrence's disco culture tome is one of the sharpest books on dance music to date, striking a balance between you-are-there club descriptions, socioeconomic analysis, and musical critique." -- Tricia Romano * Village Voice *
Table of ContentsFigures vii
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
1. beginnings House Parties and Discotheques 5
2. consolidation Party Pariahs and the Path to Permanent Revolution 33
3. pollination The Rise of the Downtown Party Network 55
4. recognition The Crystallization of a Sound 83
5. visibility The Message of Love and the Disco Mix 117
6. expansion Record Pools, Music Labels, New Clubs 155
7. prominence Forums, Formats, Franchises 205
8. ascendancy Eurodisco, Midtown, Downtown, Out-of-Town 251
9. dominance Disco Takes Over 303
10. turbulence Backlash and Survival 363
Epilogue 433
Notes 443
Selected Discography 457
Selected Bibliography 473
Index 477
