I was 20 in 1976. I loved to go out dancing, even if most of the dance music sucked. There was no anthem for the decade, but as far as disco goes, Geez…I’d have to give it to the BeeGees.
No.
Morris County, New Jersey, but did my disco-ing in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway during my 16th and 18th years.
Dancin’ Fool by Frank Zappa was my favorite disco tune.
Too much excellent music came out of the 70’s to narrow it down to just a few. To add to the list - Fleetwood mac, Neil Young, Rush, Genesis, King Crimson, The Grateful Dead, Zappa, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, James Brown - all had an artistic peak in the 70’s.
I turned 20 in '72, and remember the 70s primarily for Punk Rock/New Wave, not disco.
As an anthem, there’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
It was totally under everyone’s radar. Their albums got crappy distribution, and they had no hits. It was only years later that people realized how good they were.
I graduated high school in '73. Lived in Southern California. I absolutely hated disco when it sprang up. I even turned my back on some of my favorite rock acts, Bowie and the Stones, when I felt that they had jumped on the disco bandwagon. Disco drove me to a new and refreshing form of music back then… what was termed punk rock but is more aptly called alternative because it was a viable alternative to arena rock and disco. The Ramones, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols, T-Rex, etc.
The only vaguely disco song I owned was Marianne Faithfull’s “Broken English”.
I’m about 10 years younger than the group targeted here, but to me, “I Will Survive” is the anthem of drunk chicks at karaoke bars.
I turned 18 in 1980.
“Disco Sucks” was my high school’s motto. Pink Floyd’s The Wall was released in '79, but it became more popular in the '80s, so it was a little late to qualify. I would have to agree about Stairway to Heaven or Money being the anthem of the times, but wasn’t Michael Jackson selling all the albums then?
I looked up “anthem” on Webster’s Online and got this:
1 a : a psalm or hymn sung antiphonally or responsively b : a sacred vocal composition with words usually from the Scriptures
2 : a song or hymn of praise or gladness
Hmmm, this is tough, but based on definition 2, I’d have to agree with Disco Duck.
I am inclined to agree. I can think of several extremely popular songs, but the only one I can think of that anyone I knew regarded as a sort of personal anthem was We Don’t Need No Education, from Pink Floyd’s *The Wall * album…
-
No.
-
South Carolina
-
For songs representative of the Disco Era, I think of the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack and anything by the Village People. According the Billboard’s chart of the biggest songs of the 70s, Debby Boone’s “You Light up My Life” comes in at #1, with 10 weeks at #1 during its original run.
One time, Casey Kasem did a special Top 40 Countdown of the 40 Biggest hits of the Disco Era, which they selected as starting with “Rock the Boat” by the Hues Corporation (1974ish).
I think the last major hit of the Disco Era was “Funky Town” by Lipps Inc. Shortly there after, the first “official” rap songs started charting (“Rapture” by Blondie, “General Hospitale” by The Afternoon Delights, and “Rappers Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang.
(I said “official” because I maintain that just about any song that is basically talked thru is “rap,” which would include earlier offerings as “Ringo” by Lorne Greene, “Convoy” by C.W. McCall, and most of Johnny Cash’s career.)
-
Disco sucks. Always did, always will. We ignored it as much as was humanly possible.
-
Southern California, Class of 1973.
-
We were listening to Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, and some of us had discovered Bruce Springsteen. Plus the usual Deadheads.
Remember when Sammy Davis Jr won the first Annual Disco Lifestyle Award? *
And remember him crying when he accepted it?
Man, disco was wierd.
*either 1976 or 77, they never did another one…
Just as I suspected. Thanks everyone for helping out.
I did like disco, but then I LOVE dancing, and feel that the world has enough angsty, dark, deep, ‘meaningful’ crap, and that there’s plenty of room for something fun and lighthearted.
At any rate, I’ve never more than tolerated all the supposed “disco greats” that one always sees on newzines, and VH1/MTV compilations, preferring instead the much lighter and more fun songs like those from KC and the Sunshine Band.
Oh, I almost forgot, I graduated from high school in 1977 in Anchorage, AK. And though I loved the danceability of disco, I much preferred the true “greats” of the 70s, including as some have mentioned Aerosmyth and so on. In fact, I was thinking “Dream On” could be another possible contender being more representative of a 70s anthem.
Disco was such a small piece of the 1970’s. It did not typify the whole decade. It was perhaps the last decade when you interacted with your neighbor. It was the end of an era when people actually stood up for civil rights and fairness. The '80’s just mowed that all down with greed and speed. No need to care for anyone, anymore. Now, we all pretend to survive in a generation of isolationism. No one gives a damn about anything, anymore.
Today (recently), Congress wants to restate the draft, and the media doesn’t even blink! That wasn’t the people I knew. We weren’t afraid to voice an opinion and organize to put the people’s wants and needs over those of a political machine. Now, it’s all about “self”.
Pity. 
- Jinx