# What did older people think of Disco back in the 70s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617 "2019-10-28T20:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kennedy1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@Kennedy1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kennedy1960)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/1 "2019-10-28T20:29:34Z")
The generational gap between the kids who liked rock in the 50s and 60s, and their parents despising it, is very much documented. Punk being thought of by elders as the harbinger of anarchy, especially in the UK and a genre only thugs listened to is also documented. But, what about Disco? What did your average person say who was at or above 50 at any point in the 70s think of that music? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/2 "2019-10-28T20:45:25Z")
Something like, “why would anyone want to dance to that junk when they could dance to something like this?” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-XCvfy6Huyc/hqdefault.jpg "Patti Page - Tennessee Waltz (Original Classic with Lyrics)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XCvfy6Huyc) ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/3 "2019-10-28T20:58:16Z")
As I remember it, middle aged people in the late 1970s were largely ambivalent about it. I’ve never heard any say they hated it, but then I never heard them say they loved it either. I think they respected it as a fun social sign of the times. These same people hated rock though, especially hard rock. ---
**Author:** ![Kennedy1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@Kennedy1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kennedy1960)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/4 "2019-10-28T21:23:21Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > As I remember it, middle aged people in the late 1970s were largely ambivalent about it. I’ve never heard any say they hated it, but then I never heard them say they loved it either. I think they respected it as a fun social sign of the times. **These same people hated rock though, especially hard rock**. Of course they did. It was the devil’s music /s. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/5 "2019-10-28T21:25:20Z")
Most of the adults I knew figured it was a flash in the pan and would be gone soon, so why worry about it? ---
**Author:** ![Kennedy1960](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@Kennedy1960](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kennedy1960)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/6 "2019-10-28T21:30:06Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Most of the adults I knew figured it was a flash in the pan and would be gone soon, so why worry about it? They show a scene older people trying to learn the Hustle in Saturday Night Fever, so I figured that reflected reality. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/7 "2019-10-28T21:30:39Z")
My parents certainly never listened to it on purpose. Now that I’m old, I completely understand that. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/8 "2019-10-28T21:41:25Z")
Alice Cooper’s take on the death of Disco: “No kid wants to be dancing a club, look over and see his mom and dad dancing next to them.” I think that answers the OP. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/9 "2019-10-28T21:44:57Z")
My mom and dad actually signed up for disco dance lessons. They were in their 40s and asked my opinion on good dance songs. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/10 "2019-10-28T22:13:08Z")
Dance music appealed to many of the middle aged people that I knew in the 70’s. Just my perspective as a teen at the time. Groups like the Bee Gees weren’t as threatening as the hard Rock bands. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/11 "2019-10-28T22:17:15Z")
I was in my early 20s and I hated it. I don’t care for dance music and I really dislike repetition in music, so it had no appeal to me whatsoever. At the time, I was more into punk, art rock, and new wave. However, it was clearly a fad. It had nowhere to evolve, so I knew it would die out. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/12 "2019-10-28T22:20:28Z")
I think pretty much \*everybody \*was into Disco for at least a little while. Not everybody will admit it, however. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/13 "2019-10-28T22:23:39Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think pretty much \*everybody \*was into Disco for at least a little while. Not everybody will admit it, however. I’ll admit it. Six months in 1978. I am still ashamed and embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Crossbreed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Crossbreed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crossbreed)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/14 "2019-10-28T22:33:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > However, it was clearly a fad. It had nowhere to evolve, so I knew it would die out. It is now known as techno/electronica. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/15 "2019-10-28T22:51:15Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > As I remember it, middle aged people in the late 1970s were largely ambivalent about it. I’ve never heard any say they hated it, but then I never heard them say they loved it either. I think they respected it as a fun social sign of the times. These same people hated rock though, especially hard rock. > [@CaptMurdock](#): > > ``` > Alice Cooper's take on the death of Disco: > > ``` > > “No kid wants to be dancing a club, look over and see his mom and dad dancing next to them.” > > I think that answers the OP. It also gets at one of the reasons rock fans hated disco during the late 70s: it was safe. It was edgeless dance music that white middle-aged people wouldn’t find objectionable. Granted, there was a decadent side to disco but it was The Establishment’s form of decadence. It wasn’t like rock which was loud, discordant, and proudly reveled in anarchy (never mind the fact non-punk rock was engrained in the entertainment establishment by then). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/16 "2019-10-28T22:54:22Z")
As I remember, as soon as it went mainstream, (ie: George Jefferson was shown being into it) Disco was on the way out. Others say it was the Disco Sucks movement, (ie Steve Dahl and the Disco Demolition debacle) or plain old homophobia. If you knew any of the trailer trash Steve Dahl fans, you could very well believe the homophobia theory. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/17 "2019-10-28T22:54:25Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think pretty much \*everybody \*was into Disco for at least a little while. Not everybody will admit it, however. Not always. Sometimes everybody was Kung Fu fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/18 "2019-10-28T22:57:34Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think pretty much \*everybody \*was into Disco for at least a little while. Not everybody will admit it, however. Even the KISS Army was subjected to it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/19 "2019-10-28T22:59:25Z")
I _still_ enjoy the Bee Gees and Donna Summer. Once in awhile I enjoy their hits. I don’t listen to the one hit wonders like KC and the Sunshine Band and Village People. Their time had passed. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617/20 "2019-10-28T23:03:16Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I think pretty much \*everybody \*was into Disco for at least a little while. Not everybody will admit it, however. The first rock/pop album I ever bought was… “Go West,” by the Village People. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-older-people-think-of-disco-back-in-the-70s/842617.md?page=2)