A long-overdue paean to the predominant musical form of the 70s and a thoughtful exploration of the culture that spawned it Disco may be the most universally derided musical form to come about in the past forty years. Yet, like its pop cultural peers punk and hip hop, it was born of a period of profound social and economic upheaval. In Turn the Beat Around, critic and journalist Peter Shapiro traces the history of disco music and culture. From the outset, disco was essentially a shotgun marriage between a newly out and proud gay sexuality and the first generation of post-civil rights African Americans, all to the serenade of the recently developed synthesizer. Shapiro maps out these converging influences, as well as disco's cultural antecedents in Europe, looks at the history of DJing, explores the mainstream disco craze at it's apex, and details the long shadow cast by disco's performers and devotees on today's musical landscape. One part cultural study, one part urban history, and one part glitter-pop confection, Turn the Beat Around is the most comprehensive study of the Me Generation to date.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Preachy, Agonizing.:
This could have been such a great book... the sermonizing is braided into the text in such a way that you can't skip the preachy segments. Wall-to-wall sub-collegiate sociology clichés.
definately the HISTORY of disco:
THIS WAS SOME HARD READING. I LOVE THE DISCO ERA. THIS BOOK HAS VERY SPECIFIC INFORMATION WITH VERY DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF HAPPENINGS THAT LED UP TO THE DISCO ERA. I FELT LIKE I WAS READING A HISTORY BOOK BACK IN SCHOOL INSTEAD OF AN INTERESTING FUN FILLED ACCOUNT OF WHO WAS DOING WHAT. IF YOU WANT STRAIGHT UP FACTS THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU...IF YOU ARE MORE INTO JUICY STORIES OF WHO WAS DOING WHAT AND TO WHOM LIKE AT STUDIO 54 DONT WASTE YOU TIME.
More, More, More...:
TURN THE BEAT AROUND:THE SECRET HISTORY OF DISCO is a well researched and brilliantly written book by Peter Shapiro that provides an eye-opening look at the underbelly of the disco phenomenon. Focusing on the clubs, djs, and producers that shaped the "disco sound," Shapiro follows the music of the late '60s from the New York City boroughs to the underground gay clubs in Manhattan to the evolution of music that finally swept across America in the '70s. With biting humour, Shapiro provides in-depth... more info
Concise history of disco:
I teach a history of popular music class at the college level and am always looking for extra source material to augment my own notes. Thanks to Shapiro's book, I learned more about disco in the first chapter than I have since I started teaching the class. His research is thorough, including specific names of pioneering individuals, groups, and songs, along with vivid descriptions of related places and events. I appreciate the documentation, which includes at the back of the book, insightful end notes, a... more info
