Something ultimately harmful seems to be happening – something that needs a warning before it gets totally out of control.
Over the last month or so, the disco market has become saturated with product. The type of music released on singles in this country has dramatically changed, so that material appealing to disco audiences now dominates. “Heavy” groups have practically vanished. MoR has become beatier, teenybopper acts and straight pop purveyors are less in evidence.
In America, which is in the throes of an enormous “disco” boom, this trend could be expected. In fact, it is amazing to see how few of the really big disco hits actually go on to make a sizeable impression on the national Top 100 there. Which is the point of my message here . . .
A hell of a lot of good disco records are coming out here – far too many! Very few of them are going on to the sort of success that they deserve. Disco DJs, radio programmers and even record reviewers are so swamped with potentially useful singles that they haven’t a chance of being able to break more than just a few.
OK, so record producers have discovered that a market exists which they can aim for when concocting their creations (and a surprisingly large number of the disco singles come from Britain and Europe). But, please fellows, ease up before you kill the goose that lays those golden eggs! A look at the British Top 50 shows that disco reaction can definitely make Pop hits, but another look also shows that there is only so much room for disco records.
Ease up before there’s a backlash, as is beginning to be the case in the States. In fact, ease up before it’s too late. Continue reading “March 13, 1976: “Ease up before there’s a backlash”.”
