Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco

About this book

A long-overdue paean to the predominant musical form of the 70s and a thoughtful exploration of the culture that spawned it Disco may be the most universally derided musical form to come about in the past forty years. Yet like its pop cultural peers punk and hip hop it was born of a period of profound social and economic upheaval. In Turn the Beat Around critic and journalist Peter Shapiro traces the history of disco music and culture. From the outset disco was essentially a shotgun marriage between a newly out and proud gay sexuality and the first generation of post-civil rights African Americans all to the serenade of the recently developed synthesizer. Shapiro maps out these converging influences as well as discos cultural antecedents in Europe looks at the history of DJing explores the mainstream disco craze at its apex and details the long shadow cast by discos performers and devotees on todays musical landscape. One part cultural study one part urban history and one part glitter-pop confection Turn the Beat Around is the most comprehensive study of the Me Generation to date.