"Disco Dancer" is a song by the American new wave band

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

, written by Mark Mothersbaugh and

Gerald Casale Gerald Vincent "Jerry" Casale ( ) ( ''né'' Pizzute; born July 28, 1948) is an American musician. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and bass player of the new wave band Devo, which released a top 20 hit in ...

. It was the first Devo single that was released without their most prominent drummer, Alan Myers, who was replaced by former

Sparks Sparks may refer to: Places *Sparks, Georgia * Sparks, Kansas *Sparks, Kentucky *Sparks, Maryland * Sparks, Nebraska *Sparks, Nevada *Sparks, Oklahoma *Sparks, Texas * Sparks, Bell County, Texas * Sparks, West Virginia Books * ''Sparks'' (Raffi ...

drummer David Kendrick. It was released in 1988 as the first single from their seventh studio album, ''

Total Devo ''Total Devo'' is the seventh studio album by American new wave band Devo, released on May 24, 1988 by Enigma Records, just under four years after their previous album, '' Shout'' (1984). "Disco Dancer" hit No. 45 on ''Billboards Hot Dance Club ...

''.

Composition

According to Devo bassist and co-songwriter

, he and Mark Mothersbaugh came up with the idea of a character in the vein of

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

's from ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

'' (1977) falling "into a Rip Van Winkle sleep", and then waking up 15 years later to culture shock. In the commentary for their video anthology ''

The Complete Truth About De-Evolution ''The Complete Truth About De-Evolution'' was the third home video release by new wave band Devo. It is a collection of Devo's music videos from 1976 to 1990. It was released on LaserDisc in 1993 by Voyager and on DVD by Rhino Records in 2003. ...

'' (1993), Mothersbaugh stated that the original inspiration for the song came from Indian films and music videos, likely the 1982

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film, '' Disco Dancer''.

Music video

Two videos were made for "Disco Dancer", using remixed versions of the track by producer Ivan Ivan. Both videos are similar, but the 12-inch mix video has additional footage, including a topless woman, and was only on promotional VHS tapes distributed to nightclubs. The video footage was recorded from two parties that the band threw, one in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and the other one in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The NYC footage was recorded in black and white, while the L.A. footage was shot in color, with scenes from both parties being intercut in the video. According to Casale, the video failed to receive airplay after first being aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's "Smash or Trash?," in which a video was aired and viewers would call in and vote on it. The video was "trashed" and MTV refused to air it after that.

Track listing

* 12-inch single (Enigma V-75511) # "Disco Dancer (7-inch Version)" – 4:15 # "Disco Dancer (12-inch Version)" – 6:30 # "Disco Dancer (Bonus Beats)" – 4:20 # "Disco Dancer (7-inch Version)" – 4:15 # "Disco Dancer (12-inch Version)" – 6:30 # "Disco Dancer (Bonus Beats)" – 4:20 * 7-inch single (Enigma 7 75023-7) # "Disco Dancer (7-inch Version)" – 4:15 # "Disco Dancer (Karaoke TV Version)" – 4:15 * CD single (Enigma D3-75511, 7 75511-3) # "Disco Dancer (7-inch Version)" – 4:15 # "Disco Dancer (12-inch Version)" – 6:32 # "Disco Dancer (Bonus Beats)" – 4:26 # "Disco Dancer (Karaoke Version)" – 4:26 * Cassette single (Enigma 4V-75511) # "Disco Dancer (7-inch Version)" – 4:15 # "Disco Dancer (12-inch Version)" – 6:30 # "Disco Dancer (Bonus Beats)" – 4:20 # "Disco Dancer (7-inch Version)" – 4:15 # "Disco Dancer (12-inch Version)" – 6:30 # "Disco Dancer (Bonus Beats)" – 4:20

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{authority control 1998 singles 1998 songs Devo songs Songs written by Gerald Casale Songs written by Mark Mothersbaugh Enigma Records singles