BTW, this is my first time working on an Oldies format, so forgive the overall ignorance of my question.

IS DISCO DEAD?

At our station, I receive more requests for Disco tunes than any other requests. I would say 3 out of every 5 calls is a Disco request. And through a normal day, we do not play that much Disco off the playlogs.

Alot of those song requests also come with a request for me to do a totally disco hour or more.

I can only bask in the gleaming knowledge of some of you guys, but here are the questions;

Do you think a totally Disco program could survive on a 60's 70's oldies format?

Would one hour a week damage the overall listener numbers in any way?

I have programmed Hot Country, AC and CHR and as far as I was concerned, DISCO DIED. But, the phone calls say otherwise.

I would appreciate your honest opine.

MTB

I think Disco could do well, along with some funk thrown in. Just an opinion. My nephew who goes to High School says that A lot of his classmates are into stuff like The Beegees, James brown, and Kc and the Sunshine Band. Even stuff Like ABBA could do really well< Infact Im noticing a lot of stations playing "dancing Queen" By Abba. It must test well sice Im hearing it on 5 different stations.
My Honest opionion is NO DISCO HAS NOT DIED!! Granted this is a subjective opinion, i really truelly believe a disco hour could work. Disco today is Trendy, and I think a lot of these kids are getting into disco. Most of it anyways!

Z100 used to do flashback hours like retro when I worked there in the early to mid 90s. I haven't listened to Z100 in years so I'm not sure if they still do.

When I DJ wedding receptions Disco/retro is still very big.

Ok Here is my thoughts on Disco.

Do people like to hear an occasional song by Kc and The Sunshine Band, the Beegees ect.Yes they do, but the questionn is Do people want to sit through a station that plays entirely disco music, I would bet not. Disco is fun but can also get too syrupy sweet, it also has the cheese factor to it, especially if you're playing stuff like ABBA and The village People which In my opinion are notoriously bad disco artists. Would you want to listen to "YMCA" played in hot rotation?? I would think a vascectomy, or a genital piercing is less painfull than having to listen to "YMCA" in hot rotation.

I would say this, start with an all request disco hour and see how it works. It may do great, or it may fail miserably.
Again, I think Disco would do well in small amounts but an entire disco format? Bust out the insulin shots because this format could be too sugary sweet!

KBIG in LA has done a disco show at least two nights a week for YEARS!

Still sounds good to my ears!

OOPS, Im sorry Mikel, I thought you meant an entire disco format.
Just an Hour of disco would work well. Has any station in portland ever tried an entire disco format??? Just curious.

no/Isn't ABBA more on the order of 70s Pop?

an occasional well known disco tune in low rotation or off the request line wouldn't kill ya, but save the disco hour for a Sat night feature.... When can I expect my check for consultants fee.

When KJR-fm did all 70s format, they weeded out ALL of the dico stuff in a hurry... pretty well left them sounding like top 40 from 1974. then they dumped all the crossover and novelty and sounded like a narrow focused classic hits. As a listener I burned out quicker than the format.

OMG, Break out the polyester leisure suits and bell bottoms! "Saturday Night Fever"! Disco Duck! Let's re-open Earthquake Ethel's out in Beaverton!

DISCO DUCK!

Mikel:
In all the segmentation (cluster) analyses I've done for oldies stations around the country, there is always one sub-group of the oldies core that loves the 70s dance/disco music....KC, Beegees, Van McCoy, etc. Among their defining characteristics are their love of 70s dance/disco, their love of wimpAC (Manilow, streisand), their strong dislike of anything smacking of classic rock (Doors, Kansas, Rascals, Who), and their ethnicity. While the cluster itself is not predominantly Hispanic, the vast majority of Hispanic oldies fans fall into this cluster.
Hope this helps.

I think a lot of this music sounds great today, but I agree with Buns, it is hard to digest for any long period of time.

When KJR-FM first signed on they were trying hard to duplicate the glory of their AM, an AM which tended to lean pop-rock throughout the 70's. Then later, KJR-FM almost evolved into a classic rock, then went to a hybrid classic-AC sound for awhile, and just now seem to be performing well with a classic hits approach. That only took about 15 years of starts and stops.

On my AC we play a couple of BeeGees tunes, "More Than A Woman", and "Night Fever", and our normally quiet phones light up when these come on! Another sleeper is "How Deep Is Your Love", heck just about anything from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, including the under-rated Yvonne Elliman "If I Can't Have You"!...what a smooth, melodic record!

ROGER: Funny, I knew the "Consultant Fee" comment would come up sooner or later. That comment always comes up when a radio guy asks another radio guy anything about radio. Hilarious.

TDANNER: Hispanic, holy tamales, never would have guessed that. But your information is good, thank you for that.

PAULWALKER: I get the same thing here. Play any Disco tune and the phones get hot.

Thanks for all your opines.

MTB

I think we over analyze. If the station is basically "oldies" or some form of retro music, then just mix in the disco and don't make a big deal out of it. Stop trying to put all your toys in separate boxes and just "play that funky music white boy" along with the disco, beach boys, motown, and whatever falls within your target. It's all a part of our memories. The listeners minds will sort it all out and categorize it according to their personal experiences.

The recording industry peaked in 1978. A large share of that music was Disco. I assume that most people in the right age group at the time who didn't hate Disco, probably liked it, at least as much as I did and I'm about as far from Hispanic as you can get! I'm a little like George Carlin: I don't tan; I just try to maintain the "blue".

Yvonne Elliman "If I Can't Have You"!...

I like Yvonne Ellephant I'm In A Zoo, I don't want a hippo baby...........