E14: You Should Be Dancing – Saturday Night Fever pt.1

Listen to the full episode here:

The day has finally come: after 79 episodes of Love is the Message, it’s time to talk Travolta. Saturday Night Fever was always coming down the pipe for us, and now we’re giving it the LITM treatment.

In this episode, Tim and Jeremy establish some of the pre-history to the seminal 1977 film. With musical examples drawn from Vince Aletti’s Disco Files playlists, we hear about the rise of the suburbs in the USA, the dynamics between the different boroughs of mid-70s NYC, and consider the suburban disco scene. We ask again what makes disco disco, revisit the Hustle, tune up the Salsoul Orchestra and take a trip to a disco conference.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Saturday Night Fever without the Bee Gees: often-derided and much-mocked but one of the highest selling bands of all time, it was their music which provided the soundtrack to the film. Are they a guilty pleasure? Listen along to find out.

Tracklist:

Carl Douglas - Blue Eyed Soul
Gloria Scott - Just as Long as We’re Together
Babe Ruth - Elusive
Tina Charles - Disco Fever 
Joe Bataan - The Bottle
Van McCoy - The Hustle
Salsoul Orchestra - The Salsoul Hustle
Bee Gees - Spicks and Specks
Bee Gees - Massachusetts
Bee Gees - Jive Talkin’
Bee Gees - You Should be Dancing