Cheers! :D
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^^ lol. Nope.
Thelma gets it. She sums up the disco sound perfectly at 1:22:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSQ7yylm-kE
lol!
here's Earl Young, the disco beat's original architect, explaining it and the hi hat further:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcrXZNZtLrc
This thread is awesome but I have no real musical education so I am intimidated
in my 6 hour dj set last night the title track - "Guilty" got the best crowd reaction of the night they were singing along..its been mentioned earlier in the thread that Frank Sinatra and Aretha Franklin have both praised Streisands vocal abilties..they are both on record stating that Judy Garland had the greatest voice of all [[Franklin wrote an essay on Garland in the booklet of the exellent Garland box set by 32 Jazz records & Sinatra made the statement at Garland passing in 1969 - "the rest of us will be forgotten..but never Judy"..Streisand her self has commented that Garland was "the greatest" on the racist and homophobic backlash on disco -it was also in part a disturbing misogynistic reaction to the large percentage of female artists in the disco field women had so much less respect in the industry in the 70s the music industry the press managers agents promoters were nearly all male dominated fields thank the lord weve moved on
So is that a good gig or a bad one when GUILTY by Barbra Streisand is the nights high point? :confused:
OMGosh then poor Nona Hendryx , she was DOOMED !:pQuote:
nomis:
on the racist and homophobic backlash on disco -it was also in part a disturbing misogynistic reaction to the large percentage of female artists in the disco field women had so much less respect in the industry in the 70s the music industry the press managers agents promoters were nearly all male dominated fields
Nona WAS doomed. She came out as bisexual in 1975 and that pretty much doomed her career. Vicki, her longtime companion and manager expressed her belief that anyone admitting they were gay back then were basically signing the death warrant of their career. It took Elton John years to recover, same with David Bowie even though with both there were other factors involved. Nona was one of the first several black artists who MTV put into rotation with the single I Need Love, but because she had drag queens in the video, the public raised hell and got the vid yanked. Sad but true. People today are very naive in regards to how nasty people used to be towards anything "gay." Thank God things are better today.
We can only guess which of the triad doomed her most ... or just bad "material" forgive the pun.
Bobby, she came out in '75??
She put out an LP in '77 , so not sure how blacklisted she was . Was there a hit on there she was robbed of??
It's a fact. I never said she was black listed. Most people didn't know who she was in 1977. One of the reasons Labelle broke up was that fans kept saying the songs she wrote for Labelle were about homosexuality, which Nona denied. Fans also gossiped that Patti, Nona and Sarah were having sex together, which was never true. They held hands often onstage and the more thick skulled fans took that to mean more than it did and after a while Patti got tired of the rumors, amongst other things. Patti's husband Armstead talked about this in the seminal 1977 Essence article about the break up of Labelle. Yes there were other issues and yes Patti has always been very cool about her gay following, but she got fed up with people gossiping about things that weren't true. Anyway, Nona's career from 1981 was an uphill battle because maybe most of the people at RCA were fine with her being gay, but they knew the public wouldn't be. I recall when her album Nona came out in 1983--people went nuts over it--until they found out she was gay. I had one black female friend announce to me "Nona Hendryx is GAY. I knew there was something strange about that woman." I never forgot that
Having trouble with this one . Had Nona come out in 1975, and Patti split ties with her in 1976, I don't think that would've sat well with their significant gay fan base. Also what songs were tinged in homosexuality??
What can I read to find out more? How to access that Essence piece?
I'm not seeing the issue with what I posted. By "coming out" I mean Nona made comments in the press that she had been with men and she'd been with women. Nona and Vicki had been a couple since 1970, although it took them a while to tell Patti and Sarah. Homosexuality was absolutely NOT accepted at the time by the public. Patti was fine with gay people and she was fine with Nona and Vicki being a couple, but I'm sure it was still hard to come out back then. In 1976, they put out Nona's song Going Down Makes Me Shiver and as soon as it came out, rumors ran through their fans that it was about female on female oral sex. Nona said it was about spirituality. Check out the lyrics--it could be taken both ways and the double entendre was no accident IMO. Nona was always the "bad girl" anyway. I don't know where you'll find that Essence article, maybe at a library-it came out in 1977 and was called something like Labelle: A whodunit, After 17 Years a Group Breaks Up. I used to have it but can't find it anymore. Anyway Labelle got a rep as a "gay group" back when it wasn't cool, and their record sales went downhill once the rumors started. It's all true. I remember the rumors even though I wasn't sure what gay was, except that it was bad. Similar rumors hit Stevie Nicks when her song Sarah came out. A woman writing a song about another woman meant she was gay to a lot of people even though it was absolutely not true.
Interesting stuff. You said 1975 so definitively that I thought there must've been a specific article that occurred in that year in which she made her personal affairs public. That would've likely to have been in the advocate which was a newspaper rag then and I read it regularly . Had that happened and then they split up shortly after I think that would've been seen as Patti LaBelle not wanting to be associated with any of that .
As it is , reading the lyrics to GOING DOWN , yes I can definitely see why fans talked and why Patty Labelle even might've said if that's where you want to take your music I think you better do it on your own.
Now I'm wondering what was on Hendryx first solo LP?
Boogie there were lots of articles discussing the gay thing and Labelle. I can't distill it into one article but the 1977 Essence article is a good place to start. Both Nona and Armstead talk about the rumors and all the rest of it--and they were both referring to things that happened in the past couple of years.Of Nona and Sarah and Patti "loving each other" Armstead said "It might have been beautiful had it been true but it wasn't." I have spoken to many fans over the years and I was astonished that some felt like this meant Patti was anti-gay. That had nothing to do with it. She has always been pro-gay and was one of the few stars, at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, to come out in support.Look at the Don Kirsher's Rock Concert clip of Labelle doing Gypsy Moths from 1976. The crowd obviously is packed with flamboyant drag queen types, which is just the opposite of the crowd they'd drawn just a year before on the Phoenix tour. This was UNHEARD OF at the time. I know for a fact that by the time Chameleon came out, fights were breaking out between gays and straight people at their shows. Same thing happened at the Supreme's Madison Square Garden show the same year. Gay people were becoming visible and as with all things, there was a backlash when there is change.
There were no songs on Nona's 1977 solo debut that could be construed as being gay centric. It was, however, "probably the hardest rock ever done by a woman" according to Rollingstone Mag.
Hey , how was Heart btw?
You've got me listening to Nona '77! She sounds quite accessible ... nothing jarring. [[not sure why I was expecting that)
This kind of crack me up. Good ol' cowbell rock n roll ....with a universal message ....well at least you ain't dead ! lol!
I think the refraining vocals could have been a little more enthusiastic at the end .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5qbih71Kg
and Patti doesn't seem the least hesitant about Nona's song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIys-Iu8BxM
Hi Boogie--you might need to watch that clip of Going Down again. Patti looks like she's going to cry in most of this concert. It wasn't because of the song it was because of other things happening at the time. I don't know if Patti ever had a problem with the song which could just as easily be about baptism--it's when fans kept saying it was about sex that things got awkward. Patti was never comfortable singing about sex. By the way, look how hot Nona and Sarah look!
Maybe you thought the album Nona Hendryx would be jarring because she's holding a giant bowie knife!
Boogie--Wanna hear something crazy? I remember going to some record store as a kid in Jr high and seeing that album. I recall, vividly, thinking why would ANYBODY buy that crap? All because of the album cover! A few years later, I was her biggest fan. I don't know why Nona always felt the need to seem threatening early on. It definitely hurt her.
BobbyC and Boogie, you should start a Nona/Labelle discussion! We LOVE Nona and Labelle! So much to talk about. I hate that all of these excellent observations and new commentary are buried in a "Diana Ross sings Barbra Streisand" discussion.
Where would I put a Labelle discussion? They were never on Motown.
Peacenharmony: Tout De Suite is a song Nona wrote about Sarah and Patti, and their break up. Nothing sexual in it, gay or straight. The line Always made me laugh/never brought me down/running around in circles like a circus clown is about Sarah
In the Soulful Detroit forum where we talk about everyone who was never on Motown.
https://soulfuldetroit.com/forumdisp...-Detroit-Forum
Just an interesting side note...after reading this thread I discovered that Barry Gibb's recorded demos for both the "Guilty" album and the "Heartbreaker" [[Dionne Warwick) album are available for download. I listened to the "Guilty" demos. While Barry's falsetto does get tiresome after a while, it's interesting to hear him perform all the songs as Streisand must have originally heard them.
I've never been a huge Streisand fan. To me, a little of her goes a long way. But I absolutely love the "Guilty" album and can listen to it over and over. I especially love the final track, "Make it Like a Memory" which to me is like nothing Stresiand [[or the Bee Gees for that matter) ever recorded before or since. Of course, like many things, it took me about 40 years to discover and seriously listen to it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QjV0fNxCMI
Brings a new meaning to the word falsetto lol.
This thread has renewed my interest in “Guilty” which i have not listened to in many a year. It certainly contains some of BG best songs ever.
I love Olivia’s version of “Carried Away”. It seems strange he never recorded a complete album with her considering their friendship.
Listened to Guilty last night and found it still one of my favorite albums.
Just a pop gem. Classic.
I think Ross EA album is more soulful mostly. I think a few mixs may have helped.
I found the bee gees in the mid 70s with albums like Main Course and we are the Children albums.
Loved both.
In the 90s....they released a couple great albums as well....size doesn't matter...love it.
I think Andy's album Shadow Dancing was really good n pop orientated.
Yeah, if you're looking for it, but your comment said that it [[along with hiphop) is eclipsing all other types of music. I disagree with that statement. R&B is almost dead where popular music is concerned. One must do as you suggested and look for it in order to really find any that is being produced today.
The Bee Gees released some quality albums in the 90's. Their body of work stands up alongside any of the other all time greats.
Thank you telling me how well Barry's solo album is doing. He will be delighted. He is already working on vol 2.
A wonderful talent, and a lovely guy too.
No one deserves it more.
I loved Main Course--I had it as a kid. Nights on Broadway and Fanny Be Tender With my Love were on it
I agree. That album got overshadowed by Saturday Night Fever but I much preferred Main Course. People don't seem to remember Fanny but it was a big hit.
Agree.main course is a great album.
Love both Nights on Broadway And Fanny.
Some other great songs.
Love the bee gees.
Got life in a tin can for christmas.been hooked ever since.
Congrats to Barry on Greenfields
I like threads like this that evolve and change subjects as the conversation progresses.
I absolutely love the Bee Gees “main course” album. Aside from some of the early singles which of course are all excellent, this was my first real exposure to The Bee Gees as a group. I still remember being blown away when I heard this album for the first time. I think to this album was really a test balloon for what became “Saturday night fever“, as it was really the first Bee Gees album that was dance or disco oriented. It started their career in the amazing direction it took just a year or so later. And yes, the album did kind of get overshadowed of course by “Saturday night fever“, but I guess that had to be expected.
i’ve never heard any of their 90s albums but it sounds like they’re definitely worth checking out.