Minorities In Disco
A large number of prominent disco artists were African-American, for example Donna Summer ( She Works Hard for the Money), Chaka Khan (I’m Every Woman), Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive), and Earth, Wind and Fire (Boogie Wonderland, September)
Disco was a special place. Some songs celebrated sexuality and female independence, while other songs made no sense at all because in the end, disco was also about the groove. Disco was highly popular as a form of escapism, especially in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
“People were down and they wanted to escape. It was a dark, terrible time after the civil rights movement. There was a revolution, and disco came at the right moment. It was escapism, like in the 20s after the depression, with the Charleston. People needed to dance.”
- George McCrae (x)
YMCA, a song by the Village People that has become a household name across America, has often been applauded by the gay community as a gay anthem. The lyrics of the song itself, on the surface, seem to be upholding the YMCA and its values as a celebration, but it can also be taken as a double entendre for men picking up men at the YMCA, although the original songwriters did not intend for it to be taken that way.
"I think what happened in the '70s was that disco was a melting pot for gays, blacks and Latinos. You had your token whites in the clubs, too, but in the early days before people like Donna Summer it was this group of people that were pretty much underground. I think people were dancing to forget their problems and the injustices on the outside."
- Felipe Rose, 1/6th of the Village People (x)