When my husband and I married in the year 1980, rock and disco were united. My husband, a serious rock and roll fan ran screaming from the room whenever I pulled out my stack of disco LP’s that were held by our Peaches Crate. Many is the time I remember his need to dash off to the store or visit a friend as I laid the record upon the cheap turntable in our small apartment. I loved to listen to it when I cleaned the house. It kept me moving with its gyrating, thumping beat.
I always thought it was funny how he was such a lover of music, but despised my love of disco with a dying passion. But then again, I was not a fan of his guitar screeching albums either. I remember my hands becoming sweaty as he thumbed through the crate for his most annoying album to get me back for my hours of my relentless dance music.
Being a rocker, dancing was not his forte. His form of dancing was likened to a person trying to kill a bug on the floor with stomping being the only move. I on the other hand was more of the “disco train” style of dancer, ready to dance with many others for one hour long song played after another.
My wardrobe consisted of cocktail dresses that would get me into places like “The Judges Chambers” which was a swank bar in the downtown district. My glitter and sequined outfits gained my entrance into places like “The Talk of the Town” and “Freckles” which were more in tune with the younger playful sorts of disco aficionados. His wardrobe consisted of t-shirts and jeans.
As the years went on, I found my taste in music changing, but will always have fond memories of my disco days and the long nights of writhing on the dance floor with many people of whom I had never met.
Now that I am 49 and look back at our younger years as a couple, I laugh to think of how it must have sounded from outside of our apartment. A war of music if you will, sounding a little something like this;
Round 1:
Me: “Le Freak” – Chic
Him: “Fool in the Rain” – Led Zeppelin
Round 2:
Me: “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” – Santa Esmerelda
Him: “Mississippi Queen” – Molly Hatchett
Round 3:
Me: “Funky Town” – Lipps Inc.
Him: “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” – Meat Loaf
Round 4:
Me: “Love Gun” – Rick James
Him: “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Round 5:
Me: “That’s the Way, I Like It” – K.C. and the Sunshine Band
Him: “Tell Tale Heart” – The Alan Parsons Project
Round 6:
Me: “I Feel Love” – Donna Summer
Him: “Anyway You Want It” – Journey
Round 7:
Me: “Take Your Time Do It Right” – S.O.S. Band
Him: “Barracuda” – Heart
Round 8:
Me: “Disco Inferno” – The Trammps
Him: “Cat Scratch Fever” – Ted Nugent
Round 9:
Me: “In the Bush” – Musique
Him: “Hair of the Dog” – Nazareth
Round 10:
Me: “Lady’s Night” – Kool and the Gang
Him: “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen
As you can see, our music tastes were completely opposite. The sound that he enjoyed made my ears shrivel and what I liked was nothing but constant thumping to him. As time went on, my taste in music has changed quite a bit, but his is still the same. I guess in retrospect I know that what I loved so much was a fleeting fad that was doomed to be short lived. Now the thumping and bumping of disco only resides within my fond memories of the past. On crowded dance floors all a sparkle as the disco ball glimmered from the ceiling , but as my husband has always said, Rock and Roll will never die and he was right.
