The Cadre, February-Z4, lain, page 0

Disco PhenomenOn. Continues

It's 12:30 a.m. in Charlot tetown and a frosty winter . wind stirs on the U.P.E.I.m campus.Junior Flanagan leans calmly against his pinto ' cruiser,arms folded,studying the line of people that sna— kes from the door of the' Disco Barn.Many have been wai— ting for some time now to get in but they don't resent it. The Disco-Barn is a new student activity,it is a starship of the disco phenomenon now swee- ping urban Canada.They come in various shapes isizes,and have as their common denomina— tor loud music and non-stop dancing.The formula is simple and highly profitable:rent a space, polish the floor,find a bank manager to put up the money for the sound light sys— tem,hire a disc jockey who hates empty dance floors,serve liquor if the law allows it or orange juice and milk if it doesn't,open with a splash, and wait for the money to roll in. _ 7 Discos surfaced first in New York in the early Sixti—. es, when twisters made such places as the Peppermint Lo— unge and Arthur's celebrity pit stops. Their popularity slipped at the end of the decade with the ascendency of acid rock, which drew pe— ople to clubs and concerts not to dance but to listen. When black rhythm and blues pulled them to their feet again in 1971 the discos , began a slow comeback, first 'in New York's chic homosex—

ual clubs. Their rate of a 'growth jumped noticeably two years ago'when gays be— gan to welcome a hetero cr—‘ owd. Inside the discos the music is hard, fast and ear numbingly loud. There is no room to stop and worry, just to dance. Today they are the late night escape from the nine-to—five pres— sures of the daylight world trend~setting showcases for style and tastes.

Style is at the centre of the disco experience. When Limelight owner Yvon Lafrance expanded his club recently, he threw a party for Montreal disco freaks and ordered them to attend in white only. More than; 1,000 showed up, a Symphony of gleaming white conformity. Currently, men lean to work- boots, denim and plaid Viye— lla shirs, preferably second hand. Women have reached back to the Forties for long dresses with gathered shoul— ders finishing the look with sculptured hair, shaded lips and rouged cheeks. "Actual— ly anything goes," says To— ronto designer and disco-re— gular Larry Foden. "What's happening in the Clubs is that people are really star— ting to use their clothes for self-expression." This craving for individuality is evident on the dance fl— oor where free-form experi—

‘ menters jostle for elbow—

room with pople doing such disco-spawned dances as the

‘Bump, Salsa and Hustle.

men‘s u Disco Bow Tm: Toma anmkms um

Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are Canada's dis— co centres, each with two dozen clubs and more on the

way. Controversial liquor laws have stunted their growth on the Prairies (clubs with dance floors

can't serve liquor) but Mar-j itime discos such as Moncto-_ n's Cosmopolitan and Halif—,

ax's Piccadilly draw vast crowds.At two to three doll- ars to get in, discos are a cheap thrill. The interior decors range from Fifties Kitsch (Marvin's, Vancouver) through Suburban Rec Room (David's, Toronto), to Eat- on's Victoriana ( the Pica- dilly, Halifax). Twentyl three-year—old Norey Ste— iger's Monkey Club in Toro— nto is a leafy, glittery tribute to all that is La- tin American in discos. He created his own club because he couldn't afford any more junkets to Montreal and New York. "My wife and I are disco freaks," he says.

"We love to dance and until recently the best dancing» was always in New York and. Montreal." Steiger opened last January and already» he's grossing an average of

7.$6,000 a month, enough to upgrade an already good sou—\‘

nd system with $16,000 worth of gadgets that give his DJ even more aural punch to hurl at the club's dancers. In the disco world the DJ is everything. He controls the sound system from a con- sole that usuallv includes :

_cwo turntables, a tape deck,

a mixer and an equalizer. AlthOugh they rarely earn more than $50 a night, DJS can make or break a club. They are obsessed with ke— eping the dance floor alive with perspiring bodies. "They're manipulative."

But people don't come to di—

“(Spread at 'UPEI '

scoteques to make decisions. They want to be told what

to do, away from the uncert— ain world outside." »A favo-

’ rite bit of audio trickery

employed by the disco DJ is- "double tracking" each turn— table carries the same disc and the DJ cuts from—one to the other to lenghen the song, sometimes to 10 minut‘ es or more.' Using an equal— izer, he can also Shade var— ious frequencies to alter the original sound. The em— phasis is on rhythm which is augumented by flashing light and Strobes.

The discos' popularity is made the DJ a\hit-making fo— rce in the music industry. Lady Marmalade by Labelle was a disco hit long before it reached aboveground suc— cess. Hot Selling disco gr- oups such as The Ritchie Fa— mily and Silver Convention aren't even heard on am rad— io, and record stores now report morning—after stampe— des for new disco music.

' The only sour note in the disco story has been sounded by Canadian musicians, up in arms because clubs that once featured live entertainment are being converted to dis- cos which require only a stack of records and a DJ to keep going. They also acc- use DJS of tampering with re- corded music, remixing it away from its original sha- pe. James Lytle, Secretary of the Ottawa/Hull District Federation of Musicians, says, "We're definitely going to make a stand against ' them. It's going to be war."

'But A.W. Spriggs and Cha- rles Sandeman Allan couldn't care less about the gathering storm. They are young act- ive UPEI students, hitting the scholastic grindstone until the big Tuesday night arrives. Charles, better known as Sherlock Holmes, and A.W. Spriggs, better kn-

' own as A.D.M. T.S.S. will

get scoped up for the even- ing and boogie on down to the Disco Barn. They will dance with future teachers, social workers, physiothera- pists, all of them_Tuesday night bloomers. VIf_there;

rare no partners available ithey will dance by themsel‘

ves.

On Wednesday morning the‘ y'll wake up, wishing they were dead, and put on each other's socks, so they can Walk blearily to their ro— utine Thursday classes.

For disco freaks,work is only a concession to the ne’ cessities. The great'affaiH is to dance.-. 4