Apparently, disco never died...it just went into the Witness Protection Programme. Not that I mind. I've always remembered and enjoyed the genre as being part of my childhood growing up. Heck, even the early morning kids' show that I watched on the Buffalo ABC affiliate "Rocketship 7" had a disco-dancing robot.
I gather that Japan was always a haven for disco. It's been unironically loved there and the arrangements have made their way into various J-Pop songs over the decades. There is Morning Musume's（モーニング娘。）megahit "Love Machine"（LOVEマシーン）from 1999 and another one is microstar's "Tiny Spark" which was the final spark for me to get their album "She got the blues" from 2016.
And then I found this one by ex-AKB48 member (graduated in 2007) and current singer-songwriter Michiru Hoshino（星野みちる）. This is her 13th single from May 2016, "Discotheque ni Tsuretette" (Take Me To The Discotheque), and both title and arrangements fairly scream mirror ball and "Saturday Night Fever".
According to the JASRAC website, Hoshino came up with the melody while Hajimu Hase（はせはじむ）provided the lyrics. Although the singer was born several years after disco had allegedly gone into music history, it certainly looks like she had the disco style down pat when she thought up the music, although perhaps "Discotheque ni Tsuretette" has some aidoru-like lightness mixed in.
"Discotheque ni Tsuretette" was also the opening track on Hoshino's September 2015 album "You Love Me". It didn't make too much of a dent in the charts, going up as far as No. 123. Still, I haven't had a problem with the music that she has given us since there are some nice hooks in there, and I am still grateful to Marcos V. for first introducing Hoshino back in 2015 with her “Seikan Renrakusen ~Night Voyage~” (星間連絡船 ～Night Voyage～) which has a different but appealing vibe.
Since we're on the topic of disco, let's go back 40 years or so, shall we?
I definitely agree that Japan seems to have no aversion to disco. I'm no dancer but I definitely have always liked the music. I hope that the genre comes back to the mainstream more widely. Aside from Japan, South Korea seems to be another haven although their version tends to be less classic and more euro.
ReplyDeleteAnother quality release IMO was produced by Mondo Grosso for the Korean girl group, After School: "Heaven" (2013). Not straightforward disco though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7rXylAcvrw
- roelm2
Hello again, roelm.
DeleteI'm definitely no dancer either...certainly not now since I would probably break my hip. Still, it's nice to hear the disco beats from time to time.
I will have to have a listen to "Heaven" since I've enjoyed Mondo Grosso's stuff. Thanks for the tip.