Search - Disco Inferno on DVD

Classic Disco

Steph In Sobe | Miami Shores | 10/17/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this disc last year in Europe. This is the Best you can get from the Disco Era! Before videos where made, you made the tours of the various TV stations around the world. This disc is from an old TV show from West Germany "Musik Laden". Reason why I bought it was for Kelly Marie. A real treasure to see! The reason this was not 10 stars was the fact that the end of all the tracks are always cut short:). Mostly I believe since the host came out and spoke. All are preformances with the exception of Lipp's Inc.(video)Tracks:1: Village People, YMCA 2: Kelly Marie, Feels Like I'm In Love 3: Lips Inc., Funkytown 4: Odyssey, Use it up 5: James Brown, Rapp Payback 6:Donna Summer, She Works Hard For The Money 7:Baccara, Yes Sir, I Can Dance 8:Alicia Bridges, I love The Nightlife 9: Chic, Le Freak 10:Sugarhill Gang, Rapper's Delight 11:The Gap Band, Burn Rubber On Me 12: Imagination, Changes 13: Billy Ocean, Love Really Hurts W/O You 14: Kool & The Gang, Celebration 15: Sister Sledge, All American Girls 16: Gibson Brothers, Mariana 17: The Jacksons, Blame It On The Boogie 18: Evelyn Thomas, High Energy 19: The Four Tops, Don't Walk Away 20: Bony M, Daddy Cool 21: Odyssey, Going Back To My Roots. All are treasures! The sound and video quality are A+++ Well worth the money if you like and miss the disco sound."

A trip down disco memory lane

Steph In Sobe | 12/03/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a pretty interesting compilation of disco performances from artists of the era. It all seems to come from a european TV show. Everything is lip synched, no actual live performances. It doesn't really bother me, since this is the way it was done, back then. Picture quality is good. The DVD doesn't have any extras. Just the 21 songs. (which I think you can find listed here on amazon.com) One thing I hate, though, is the way they cut the songs short to display a splash screen (title & artist) for 15 seconds. They do this at the end and at the beginning of each song. The biggest offender was Funkytown from Lipps Inc. They cut the song not even halfway through. Talking about Funkytown, I don't think that blonde girl singing is the original singer of that song (Cynthia Johnson was a black girl). What's up with that?! Maybe a replacement vocalist? Anyway the blonde girl is cute, still, and the video was worth watching (what little there was of it). Something I found funny while watching this DVD (not a complain) was how the crowd in front of the artists looked bored out of their skulls. As if they were forced to watch the show. We had better disco TV shows here (Montreal), where the crowd was actually dancing to the music. Anyway, this is still a recommended buy, if you remember those days where disco music was popular. I hope to see more coming out."

Really funny!!!!!!

Tana | Buenos Aires | 06/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I know back in the 70's this was the way videos were made -before the MTV era. It's a shame, since the performers didn't really sing at the shows. Anyway, it's the only way for us to watch this (in the disco era I wasn't even born yet!), so these videos are welcomed!
I was also surprised by the bored faces of some of the people in the crowd, the didn't seem to like disco very much! I'm sure there are better tapes of the disco era from american shows.
The best videos are Jackson's Blame it on the boogie and Boney M's Daddy Cool. (Note that Jacko was in the mood for dancing and not singing the song just-like-it-was-recorded).
If you like disco very much, you will enjoy this DVD. Just like me. But it is for fans ONLY.
----Excuse my horrible english, I'm argentinian ;)"

I hate disco but this is some crazy cool retro stuff!

Slowcloud | Miami, Fla. | 02/20/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an amazing throwback to the 70s. Some if it's pretty damn hilarious, as some have pointed out here. Kelly Marie, Imagination and Baccara are particular travesties to pop music that are obviously forgotten for a reason, but 30 years later, these performances are heightened by their dated qualities.

Most of the stuff is lip-synced, but who cares with all of the dated eye candy. The audience can be freaking amazing to look at. Yes, some are bored (these are a bunch of white Europeans mostly, and as many of these performances are indeed from the Musikladen show, then that means they are Germans, so what would you expect! [I'm half German, so I can make that joke]). But the dated style is extraordinary. I mean, there's a guy dressed as a farmer and another guy in a running outfit and a trucker's cap dancing behind Donna Summer, my Lord! Also it's cool to see the bra-optional fashions seen in clips by Lipps Inc. and The Gap Band, not to mention the skimpy outfits on the girls in the Imagination clip that paved the way for the style of Lady Gaga, Ke$ha and Peaches.

Yes, a lot of the songs are cut short, but it's not like most of them are live, so it's not a horrible loss, and you get enough of the songs so as to not get sick of them, as, let's face it, disco is dated for a reason. However, James Brown is only guy who performs live because he has a real, plugged in band, and his track grooves with nature and strong energy. Michael Jackson, on the other hand, gets carried away with his dancing and does not even try to lip synch, which is cool and shameless. There's nothing like it when the singers get into it: Boney M's singer is downright scary, but, man, is he into performing (plus, their track is one of the few complete ones).

There are some great moments of music history captured here. Check out Sugarhill Gang with their pioneering hip-hop track "Rapper's Delight." Back then, rap seemed like a gimmick that would soon fall out of fashion, like disco did, but who would have thought that song would have paved the way for the leading form of pop music of today. On the other hand, you have "Mariana" by the Gibson Brothers, black guys doing a hybrid of soul and Latin music that, of course, failed to catch on with the same fire.

In conclusion, this is a thoroughly entertaining piece of pop music history, even for someone like me who preferred the post punk and prog rock music of the time.

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