It’s time to squeeze back into those silver lamé hot pants and rollerskate down memory lane to the 1970s and the spangly, sequinned age of disco! Remember when everyone loved to pretend they were too cool to like disco? (There is no denying that there was a fair bit of naffness associated with it, thanks to mainstream representations in popular films like Saturday Night Fever). But its recent revival at the hands of your favourite French electronica megastars has helped reshape its image. Let’s be honest, there’s still not much that can fill a dancefloor like a classic disco track, and if you can see past the clichés it was a period that had plenty going for it both musically and beyond.
Disco: An Encyclopedic Guide To The Cover Art Of Disco approaches the disco aesthetic through the record sleeves of the time, which offer a perfect distillation of what the scene was all about – particularly the funk-infused electro-heavy brand that carried into the 1980s – think beautiful people, inventive graphic design and loveable forays into futurism. Presented by Disco Patrick (honestly) and Patrick Vogt, it’s a large-format book containing over 2,000 album cover designs – hundreds at full size – representing a comprehensive visual history of disco culture. There are also interviews, conducted by Claes “Discoguy” Widlund, with important disco personalities and record label figures, as well as histories, biographies and discographies. And that’s not all – the first 200 orders come with free world exclusive 12″ disco single of Sexy Lady by Something Extra (Canada, 1980). The book is available from publishers Soul Jazz Books.
Courtesy, Soul Jazz Books
