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Disco thumps back to life in this pulsating exploration of the culture and politics of the glitterball world.
W. W. Norton & Company
April 2010
On Sale: March 29, 2010
366 pages
ISBN: 0393066754
EAN: 9780393066753
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In the 1970s, as the disco tsunami engulfed America, the once-innocent question, βDo you wanna dance?β became divisive, even explosive. What was it about this much-maligned music that made it such hot stuff? In this incisive history, Alice Echols captures the felt experience of the Disco Yearsβon dance floors both fabulous and tacky, at the movies, in the streets, and beneath the sheets.
Disco may have presented itself as shallow and disposableβthe platforms, polyester, and plastic vibe of it allβbut Echols shows that it was inseparable from the emergence of βgay macho,β a rising black middle class, and a growing, if equivocal, openness about female sexuality. The disco scene carved out a haven for gay men who reclaimed their sexuality on dance floors where they had once been surveilled and harassed; it thrust black women onto center stage as some of the genreβs most prominent stars; and it paved the way for the opening of Studio 54 and the viral popularity of the shoestring-budget Saturday Night Fever, a movie that challenged traditional notions of masculinity, even for heterosexuals.
As it provides a window onto the cultural milieu of the times, Hot Stuff never loses sight of the eraβs defining soundtrack, which propelled popular music into new sonic territory, influencing everything from rap and rock to techno and trance. Throughout, Echols spotlights the work of precursors James Brown and Isaac Hayes, dazzling divas Donna Summer and the women of Labelle, and some of discoβs lesser known but no less illustrious performers such as Sylvester. After turning the final page of this fascinating account of the music you thought you hated but canβt stop dancing to, you can rest assured that youβll never say βdisco sucksβ again.
 Media BuzzOn Point - February 17, 2011
Studio 360 - July 17, 2010
On Point - April 9, 2010
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