Disco was a dirty word, at least when I was a teenager in the 1990s. It was an exiled musical style from a bygone era, only spoken about to ridicule. Even when the 20-year fashion cycle caught up to us and made bell-bottom — apologies, flared — cool again, we didn’t dare speak favourably of disco music, a genre thoroughly ostracized by that point.
I’m still not sure why we were supposed to hate it, though. The funky bass riffs and danceable beats, it always seemed like a genre that should be popular, especially as R&B, soul and electronic dance music were so prominent.
A new documentary makes the case for disco, exploring its origins and legacy — how it came to be, for who and why. DISCO’S REVENGEdirectors Omar Majeed and Peter Mishara sit down with a number of prominent figures from the era along with a trove of archival footage creating an admittedly pretty standard documentary. However, there’s no denying the film’s celebration of the importance of the era and the music to modern culture.
Link: https://exclaim.ca/film/article/disco-s-revenge-film-review
