I don't know about you, but it's late, the days are fairly trying lately, and I need a bit of a diversion... so forgive me, but..
Did you know...
...that today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Saturday Night Fever, a strange, huge cultural phenomenon that still resonates to this day? (Well, not really, I mean disco's long gone... but like I said, I need a diversion, and maybe you, dear reader, do as well.)
Follow over the flip for a trip down a flashing multi-colored memory lane.
Yes, it's true, thirty years ago today (though not quite today for us left coasters), December 14, 1978, Saturday Night Fever was released. [Edit: it was released on Dec. 14, 1977, but link's text is my error.]
Why does this matter? Well, as David Freedlander writes in an article quoting Nik Cohn:
You can look at it all as a sort of requiem for a type [of] neighborhood that doesn't exist in the same way today," said rock journalist Nik Cohn, whose 1976 New York Magazine article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night," was turned into a screenplay for the film. "There's this idea that we're totally separate and we're in our neighborhood and we're not coming out."
Perhaps, though dance clubs are still pretty popular...
According to Bruce Schulman, history professor at Boston U. (from the same article by Freedlander):
"It was a way to escape from your shabby, cramped existence where real opportunities are not what they once were," said Bruce Schulman, history professor at Boston University. "Disco represented a last gasp of an ideal of American life where different kinds of people could together on the dance floor and other things wouldn't matter."
Saturday Night Fever is actually a pretty good movie, with strong performances by John Travolta (as "Tony Manero") and Karen Lynn Gorney (as "Stephanie"). Wikipedia has a good summary of the main story line:
The story of the film has Tony Manero connect with the aloof Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) one night at the disco. Despite her initial frosty and superior attitude toward Tony, she agrees to partner with him in the dance contest after much urging. Tony had previously agreed to dance with Annette (Donna Pescow), who had actively pursued Tony, despite his obvious disdain for her. Stephanie has a job in Manhattan as a secretary for a magazine and is poised to move there and has more opportunities to work her way up. This awakens in Tony the need to transcend his working-class roots of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. However, Stephanie herself ultimately reveals her own vulnerabilities.
Also examined throughout the film is Tony's relationship with his family (including an older brother - clearly his parents' favorite child - who abandons a planned career in the priesthood) and his association with his friends.
However, the soundtrack for the film is just as important as the film, and it made the Bee Gees a household name. My mom loved the soundtrack and I have (fond?) memories of listening to their greatest hits when I was a wee little chap. They literally owned the charts for the first few months of 1978, with hits like "Stayin' Alive," "How Deep is Your Love," "More Than a Woman," and others, including my favorite Bee Gees tune (apologies to those not inclined to like the Bee Gees...):
Anyhow, I'm curious if any Kossacks who were around back in the day care to share any memories of that (ahem) glorious time -- at its height thirty years ago today -- when disco reigned o'er the land? I was too young to experience it firsthand, but look forward to anyone who wants to share stories about the disco era, or relating to SNF...
Thanks for reading...