WXXI TV

This three-part series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution airs its final episode “Stayin’ Alive,” showcasing how Disco stayed alive despites the strong backlash it received from Middle America, who opposed the genres hedonism, femininity, and queerness.

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution – “Stayin’ Alive” airs Tuesday, July 2 at 9 p.m. on WXX-TV

This must-see final episode of the three-part “Disco Soundtrack of a Lifetime” docuseries documents the wellspring of resentment from white, straight, male-dominated, rock-loving middle Americans, as they targeted disco for its hedonism, femininity, and queerness. A vocal “Disco Sucks” movement began to gain momentum, culminating in the “Disco Demolition Derby” at Comiskey Park Stadium in Chicago, where organizers destroyed thousands of disco records in front of a baying audience of baseball fans. In addition, the hedonism and sexual liberation embodied by disco found itself stopped in its tracks by the AIDS crisis. Pushed out of the mainstream, but not forgotten, the pioneers of disco retreated and regrouped. Cult disco DJ Frankie Knuckles left New York for Chicago, where he remixed disco breaks with R&B to produce a new genre of dance music – house. Discover how he and other disco pioneers kept disco alive in the world of electronic dance music. 

This three-part series, Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution, airs its second enticing episode “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now,” highlighting the empowerment of Black and gay icons during the influential Disco era.

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution – “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” airs Saturday, June 29 at 4 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Set against the backdrop of Black power and sexual liberation, the second episode of Disco: Sound of a Revolution takes viewers to the high watermark of disco in the mid ’70s. As disco conquers the mainstream, it turns Black women and gay men into superstars and icons. It is a world where the drag queen Sylvester was king, and Black women found a powerful new voice – one that fused Black Power with a call for sexual freedom. It was the birth of the “disco diva” from Gloria Gaynor and Candi Staton to Donna Summer and Thelma Houston. However, mainstream success by The Bee Gees’ soundtrack album “Saturday Night Fever,” The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,”Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy,” and Studio 54 took disco further and further from its roots of inclusivity and freedom, as straight, white men started to embrace and repackage the sound.