What's In A Name? Disco Gets Genrified

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

In the final episode of our second series, Tim and Jeremy turn to 1974 to consider the emergence of disco as a discernible and self-conscious genre. Does genre allow people to define themselves through the music they listen to, and to consider themselves part of a (physical or imagined) community? Or is genre simply a cynical tool of division promoted by a rapacious media and music business that stifles creativity and interaction?

Tim and Jeremy also consider our present moment of algorithmic listening and Spotify playlists, the performance of sexual pleasure in music, Eurodisco, the importance of strings to the disco sound, and dip into their record bags for a selection of dancefloor fillers fit for this bumper 12" edition of the show.

We'll be taking a short break, but will be back in less than a month to begin a new series, leaving the Anglophone world for the shores of South America, the Caribbean and Africa. In the meantime, expect some more patrons-only content to tide you over.
Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert are authors, academics, DJs and audiophile dance party organisers. They’ve been friends and collaborators since 1997, teaching together and running parties since 2003. With clubs closed and half their jobs lost to university cuts, they’re inevitably launching a podcast.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.
We are committed to making Love is the Message free to everyone who wants it, but if you have the means, please become a supporter by visiting www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod for as little as £3 a month so we can stay free.
Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!
Tracklist:
South Shore Commission - Free Man (Franscois K Remix)
Carol Douglas - Doctor's Orders
Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes - Get Dancing
Gladys Knight - Make Yours a Happy Home
Eddie Kendricks - Date with the Rain
Ultra High Frequency - We're on the Right Track (Tom Moulton Remix)
Silver Convention - Fly, Robin, Fly
Shirley & Company - Shame, Shame, Shame
Ramsey Lewis - Sun Goddess