# WHY DID Disco Stop? (So Suddenly)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 11, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054 "2006-10-11T14:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/1 "2006-10-11T14:33:00Z")
The (closed) thread (Whid Did Disco suck) made me wonder: why did it come to such a screeching halt? I lived through that era, and it seemed that just about as 1979 rolled in . the whole phenom was gone! All of a sudden, every male was stuck with a closet full of white suits and bell bottoms-and women were stuck with even more hideous fashions. As i recall, Sudio 54 9the NYC disco that started the whole thing) closed up 9the owners went to jail)-and then everything seemed to end. yeah, the music was pretty mindless-but people seemed to like the dance clubs-so why did the whole thing fizzle out? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/2 "2006-10-11T14:41:30Z")
I’m going to go with the Darwinian explanation: in competition with other social activities, disco was selected out of the meme pool. Sailboat (do I get credit for coining “meme pool”?) ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/3 "2006-10-11T14:46:29Z")
Gary Meyer and Steve Dahl triggered the death when they destroyed disco records at Soldier Field back in the day. I think the rest of those records were lemmings. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/4 "2006-10-11T15:15:20Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The (closed) thread (Whid Did Disco suck) made me wonder: why did it come to such a screeching halt? I lived through that era, and it seemed that just about as 1979 rolled in . the whole phenom was gone! **All of a sudden, every male was stuck with a closet full of white suits and bell bottoms** -and women were stuck with even more hideous fashions. As i recall, Sudio 54 9the NYC disco that started the whole thing) closed up 9the owners went to jail)-and then everything seemed to end. yeah, the music was pretty mindless-but people seemed to like the dance clubs-so why did the whole thing fizzle out? 😕 [/QUOTE] \ Not _every_ Male! ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/5 "2006-10-11T15:17:38Z")
I think oversaturation of the market kinda got everyone sick of it. I mean, when you have the Stones, Kiss and Cher doing disco songs, maybe that’s too much off a good thing- even if Miss You and I Was Made For Lovin’ You were two of my favs back then. Kinda like when they put Millionaire on five days a week. ---
**Author:** ![aegypt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@aegypt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aegypt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/6 "2006-10-11T15:21:31Z")
Well, the music genre may have died, and dance-related fashions changed, but the same style of dancing, DJs, colored lights, mirrorballs and so on are still very popular today. People still like Abba, although perhaps they think they do it ironically. To a Martian, it may seem as though nothing has really changed since the late seventies. Has it? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/7 "2006-10-11T15:22:14Z")
My WAG is that by the early 80’s record companies had figured out how to repackage Punk into the more tame New Wave, which sparked the 80’s synth pop movement to provide the new dance music. Disco’s days were already numbered but it wasn’t until they found a new cash cow to carve steaks from that it was really dropped. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/8 "2006-10-11T15:43:31Z")
Later in this century, male pattern baldness and the defensiveness associated with it, compared to the massively over-aggressive hype from the 70’s associating hair with virility, will be determined to be the root cause (heh) of a huge number of fashion shifts in america: the return of the buzz cut (or, even better, the shaved head), baseball caps, and, apparently, the end of disco. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/9 "2006-10-11T15:51:04Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Gary Meyer and Steve Dahl triggered the death when they destroyed disco records at Soldier Field back in the day. I think the rest of those records were lemmings. [/QUOTE] Comiskey Park, not Soldier Field. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/10 "2006-10-11T15:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=Marathon] Comiskey Park, not Soldier Field. [/QUOTE] D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/11 "2006-10-11T15:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The (closed) thread (Whid Did Disco suck) made me wonder: why did it come to such a screeching halt? I lived through that era, and it seemed that just about as 1979 rolled in . the whole phenom was gone! All of a sudden, every male was stuck with a closet full of white suits and bell bottoms-and women were stuck with even more hideous fashions. As i recall, Sudio 54 9the NYC disco that started the whole thing) closed up 9the owners went to jail)-and then everything seemed to end. yeah, the music was pretty mindless-but people seemed to like the dance clubs-so why did the whole thing fizzle out? 😕 [/QUOTE] ? It fizzled? For shizzle? Every time I get within 20 yards of a radio (or equiv) playing ‘top 40’ I hear plenty of stuff that’s indistinguishable from the shit they called ‘disco’ back when I was in High School. I’d love to think it was dead and gone, but I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/12 "2006-10-11T17:39:15Z")
It’s still fun to watch a rerun of “Saturday Night Fever”-John Travolta was a lot less repulsive in those days! There were some great scenes in the movie-like the one where’s he’s eating ma’s spghetti dinner with a towel around his neck! I wonder what happened to all those wild polyester shirst (that guys wore , open to the navel)? Like i say, it seemed like disco was here…and then poof-vanished! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/13 "2006-10-11T17:42:27Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] ? It fizzled? For shizzle? Every time I get within 20 yards of a radio (or equiv) playing ‘top 40’ I hear plenty of stuff that’s indistinguishable from the shit they called ‘disco’ back when I was in High School. I’d love to think it was dead and gone, but I don’t think so. [/QUOTE] I agree. The dances change, but dance music is dance music is dance music. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/14 "2006-10-11T19:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] My WAG is that by the early 80’s record companies had figured out how to repackage Punk into the more tame New Wave, which sparked the 80’s synth pop movement to provide the new dance music. Disco’s days were already numbered but it wasn’t until they found a new cash cow to carve steaks from that it was really dropped. [/QUOTE] One day college students are going to be discussing the evolution music and the great battle between Disco and Rock in the late 1970’s the way we discuss the evolution of pointillism and impressionism and how we got to where we are today from the artistic movements of the past. Of course they will also be discussing the great cola wars and McDonalds versus Burger King. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/15 "2006-10-11T21:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=col\_10022] One day college students are going to be discussing the evolution music and the great battle between Disco and Rock in the late 1970’s the way we discuss the evolution of pointillism and impressionism and how we got to where we are today from the artistic movements of the past. Of course they will also be discussing the great cola wars and McDonalds versus Burger King. [/QUOTE] Ha! A few years ago, I went to a student art show at the University of Houston. Several classrooms had been turned into “environments”–interesting stuff. The Big Party Room was decorated in DISCO style! With students in Disco Clothing (of a sort). And a young lady lectured me on the History of Disco. I’m an oldster who remembers Folk, Rock, Folk Rock, Country Rock, Cosmic Cowboy, Blues Rock, Roots Music, Alt.Country, Punk, Nu-Wave, etc. Any genre will offer suckitude. (Sturgeon’s Law?) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/16 "2006-10-12T07:56:20Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I agree. The dances change, but dance music is dance music is dance music. [/QUOTE] Didn’t 70s style disco music originate the **THUMP THUMP THUMP** style of dance music? That seems never to have gone away even though it’s changed a good deal. It seemed that before disco, people danced to the same thing they listened to, which was often rock’n’ roll. I know that disco wasn’t very popular at all at my university, between 1975 and 1980. Rock songs of the time and recent past, like Led Zeppelin and Bad Company were what we danced to. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/17 "2006-10-12T07:57:47Z")
To complete the point I was making, rock music seemed to have a faster, more even beat than disco, and it’s that change of beat that seems to be with us still. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/18 "2006-10-12T11:26:00Z")
Here’s one theory: [Dr. Johnny Fever]Disco’s dead, thank God.[/Dr. Johnny Fever] I suppose one could argue that dead’s stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/19 "2006-10-12T13:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=col\_10022] One day college students are going to be discussing the evolution music and the great battle between Disco and Rock in the late 1970’s the way we discuss the evolution of pointillism and impressionism and how we got to where we are today from the artistic movements of the past. Of course they will also be discussing the great cola wars and McDonalds versus Burger King. [/QUOTE] I’m a bit past my college days, but this is a common topic amongst we late 20’s music geeks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054/20 "2006-10-12T13:48:42Z")
1979 – The End of Disco 1980 – Travolta makes _[Urban Cowboy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Cowboy)_. Coincidence? Or does America hold Travolta to be the epitome of all things hip? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-disco-stop-so-suddenly/376054.md?page=2)