"Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco" by Peter Shapiro

Almost three decades after it peaked as social phenomenon, disco finally got serious literary treatment in this lengthy, detailed and occasionally exhausting book that seriously ponders its origins, socioeconomic atmosphere of 1970s and why this widely popular music genre eventually had its day in USA (but curiously, survived in Europe). Hats off to Peter Shapiro who approaches the subject with utmost seriousness and authoritatively explains what were the main factors in rise and fall of disco, how it broke in the mainstream and why the passionate backlash that reflected conservative fear of decadence and homophobia.

Tons of fascinating information's: I never knew that the idea of dancing to records (as opposite to live bands) started in the basements of pre-WW2 Germany where rebellious teenagers partied to the forbidden imported records. First discotheques as such started in Paris, UK's Manchester started the trend of worshipping black soul artists of 1960s (phenomenon that later resulted in famous Northern Soul), how Philadelphia Soul gradually mutated in disco, what exactly was the story behind Continental Baths and Stonewall, list of every important club in New York and why some of them were successful while others withered away ... Shapiro follows all of this with devoted enthusiasm and its almost impossible not to get swept away with his contagious passion, though occasionally he really wonders off the subject in order to explain the wider picture - I rolled my eyes when he started going back as 19th century king of marches John Philip Sousa (who preceded Jazz) but most of the time he is spot on with academic musings what was going on in the background, while mainstream public only vaguely understood corporate machinations that pulled the strings. He also patiently explains how disco never really went away but metamorphosed into new genres that will rule the radio waves of 1980s and beyond (connections between disco and punk are particularly enlightening).

One small objection is the way author dismisses European branch of disco (and almost everything that came from old continent) - because Shapiro worships at the shrine of Studio 54, his view of European artists is largely smirking and although he readily admits the frivolous nature of some American music acts, he gleefully points at derivative nature of European recordings. I understand his point of view but since I grew up with all that music inspired by American disco, I don't see anything bad in it - clumsy and campy they might have been, but they were exciting, celebratory and happy, just as their American relatives. On the positive note, Shapiro lists literary hundreds of artists worth searching for and its a joy to check them out. It is one of the best books about music that I have encountered and definitely something worth re-reading, as its wealth of information's is perhaps too much to take in at once.