I recently TORE THROUGH this book and absolutely could not get enough. And those of you who are interested in the subject should get it STAT.
Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture is written by gender studies professor (and ex-DJ herself), Alice Echols. And I think it's a totally fascinating, well-researched book that really spends time not only on the music itself (the author is a true fan and the production and musicianship is discussed by someone who obviously knows what their talking about), but spends considerable time on all the cultural ramifications of the disco "movement."
With chapter titles such as "I Hear A Symphony: Black Masculinity and the Disco Turn," "More, More More: One and Oneness in Gay Disco," "Ladies' Night: Women and Disco," and "Disco and the rise of the 'Gay Macho'", it's obvious that Echols really rolls up her sleeves up to check under the hood of all these issues of sexuality and race and gender that were such a part of the music.
The meteoric rise of (formerly invisible) female sexual expression (uh, "Love to Love You Baby", anyone?), the queering of popular culture, a new embrace (and the new visibility) of 'blackness,' and the new conduit for gay sexual expression (there are disco clubs! and we can dance! with each other!) gave way to a lot of (white, male, straight) anxiety, eventually culminating in the infamous 'Disco Sucks' backlash. Also discussed is disco's self-consciousness, it's vapidity, and its growing emphasis on "style over substance."
It's a great book. And any fan of the music or any person interested in these cultural issues will have a blast. For you Brown U people, it's not quite an MCM course, but it is like listening to a watered down David Savran lecture...with a martini in your hand. And that's definitely a good thing.
The author gave an interview to WNYC's Kurt Anderson and it's a good indicator of what's covered in the book.
Or you can visit the site here: http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2010/07/16/segments/157126
