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

Devo Devo is an American new wave 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 No. 14 ...

, written by

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

and

Gerald Casale Gerald Vincent 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 1980 wi ...

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

David Kendrick David Kendrick (born March 23, 1955) is an American musician who is currently a member of the experimental pop band Xiu Xiu. A former member of Gleaming Spires and Devo, he has recorded and toured with Sparks, Andy Prieboy, and Revolushn. He is ...

. 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 in 1988 by Enigma Records. "Disco Dancer" hit No. 45 on ''Billboards Hot Dance Club Play chart for the week of September 3, 1988. Background Following the rele ...

''.

Composition

According to Devo bassist and co-songwriter

, he and

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 began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

's from ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...

'' (1977) falling "into a

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" () is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in Colonial history of the United States, colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Du ...

sleep", and then waking up 15 years later to

culture shock Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...

. In the commentary for their video anthology '' The Complete Truth About De-Evolution'' (1993), Mothersbaugh stated that the original inspiration for the song came from Indian films and music videos. He elaborated further in a 2020 interview with ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'':

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 VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and the other one in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The NYC footage was recorded in black and white, while the L.A. footage was shot in colour, 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 (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

'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