i gotta keep dancing & smiling

Heard this optimistic disco number by Carrie Lucas on this rainy night tonight and it lifted my spirits.

ruby flipper

1970s Top of the Pops dance group Ruby Flipper is providing fun and inspiration lately.

blue songs

Blue Songs by Hercules & Love Affair

I am loving this album! It's getting me through this sad, frosty day.

Album stream:

Hercules & Love Affair - Blue Songs by moshi moshi music

Check out my review of the album on Frontier Psychiatrist!

disco movie themes

The 1970s were so good. I mean doing the bus stop to "Love Theme from King Kong"? And the fashion. I love it.



Here are some other disco movie themes.

bad girls

Donna Summer is well-known for her overplayed hits on her epic album Bad Girls (the title track and "Dim All the Lights"). The modern audience may be a bit tired of her. We've seen and heard it enough. We watched her in a black pantsuit on a well-performed but calculated VH1 performance that lacked any of the gloss or excess of the Studio 54 era. "Hot Stuff" conjures the image of Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza. And too, disco still gets a bad rap from some music snobs. This excellent article by Simon Price points out how disco has inspired many acclaimed indie and alternative music acts.



Donna Summer's Bad Girls still sounds great today, especially in an era of a lot mindless pop, and the album's influence is everywhere. New Order's "Blue Monday" riffs off of the stuttering beat of "Our Love." It's a long record for the period (over 70 minutes and 2 LP's) and a varied one to boot. Aided by the skilled production and songwriting of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, the songs blend seamlessly into each other. Besides the singles, which were played on many radio formats including rock, the album is a bit sparser on orchestrations than one would expect of a disco record. Harold Faltermeyer provides some memorable tunes including the country ballad "On My Honor." And then there's Summer's voice, which has remarkable moments of height and some quiet restraint. On one of her own penned songs, "My Baby Understands," she seems to blur the line between assurance and fear. It's a late night album (the streetgirl image, which inspired the title song, of the album art is quite appropriate). My favorites are the final trilogy of songs: "Our Love," the shimmering "Lucky," and the rhythmic finale of "Sunset People" which makes me think of a bygone era.

eyes of laura mars: photoshoot

you light up my life

This stunning "Galaxy Dress" designed by Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz is made of 24,000 Rainbow LED's. It's on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The two designers run Cute Circuit.

roller roller skate

I love rollerskating jams. One of my favorite singles of '09 is this odd Matias Aguayo tune called "Rollerskate." Like Bjork's Medulla album, everything is constructed purely out of vocal effects. It has a swaying, grooving vibe that will make you feel dizzy.

Here's something circa '79:

yes giorgio

Scott Heim pays tribute to Giorgio Moroder better than anyone else on his blog.