Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Colorforms took the transfers from a previously released Peanuts set and added a disco ball-illuminated dance floor, whereas the Star Snoopy set came with all new transfers. The dance floor is pretty cool, though. Snoopy as the World Famous Disco Dancer was introduced in the Peanuts strip in October 1978.
Disco was so contentious, in fact, that it led to a near riot in 1979.
The second transfer was illustrated by Mort Drucker.
UPDATE: Rick Shithouse sent me two more (below), and they are impressive.
(Images via eBay)
Disco Dracula is so much more fun than Halloween’s Come See What It’s All About (1979), and actually evokes some groovy, sexualized monster vibes. Read a review and see some hilarious European video at Disco Delivery. As of now, you can listen to the whole album here. A recommended seasonal treat! Lesbian vampire lovers not included.
The cover is a bit of a misnomer, since the album isn’t space disco and has nothing to do with Halloween, but who cares? Dr. Mime N Time is coming out of a goddamn wormhole and Captain K-9 has laser claws! What we have here are pretty standard disco tunes wrapped in a deceitful yet irresistibly kitschy package. All of the songs were written by Jerry Marcellino, who wrote and produced for The Jackson 5 (and solo M.J.), Diana Ross, The Supremes, and lots of others. I made a playlist of all of the songs on the album but two. Listen here.
As far as I can tell, none of the cuts on the album made it onto the show, at least not in the version heard here. That’s why it’s billed as “music themes from and inspired by the series,” I guess, instead of a proper soundtrack. Lauren Rinder and W. Michael Lewis were prominently associated with the disco scene, which is obvious upon first listen. Even the instantly recognizable main theme is much more upbeat and funky than what you remember.
Very little of the spooky incidental music is here, unfortunately, although it’s a fun listen throughout, and an interesting fringe relic (filed under both the Disco and Occult/Supernatural categories!). According to Nimoy, Rinder and Lewis “added their unique talents to the mysteries we were exploring,” and they are credited with all music used on the first season. Good enough.
You’ve heard of space disco, but… epic fantasy disco? Compare the funky version to Leonard Rosenman’s original score below.
Note the play on words in the “artist” name: Aragorn Ballroom, as opposed to Aragon Ballroom, a famous Chicago venue; and, in lieu of `orchestra’, we have ‘orc-estra’.
(Album cover image via Ripping Yarns)
True: Skatetown U.S.A. was Swayze’s film debut. He played Ace, the bad boy.
Need more Patrick Swayze on roller skates? Here he is (red suspenders) in a 1981 A&W Root Beer commercial.
2 Warps to Neptune 