Disco News Format on TV in 1979?

[stevations]

I was out of the Philly area in 1979 at college but friends told me that a TV News program in Philly went Disco. It sounded like they were telling me that it was a regular broadcast of news but was in a disco style? Did they have a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling and anchors wore tight pants? What channel was it on? Or was this a show about disco music? While we are on the subject....why were rock fans so paranoid about disco? Because a few stations around the country switched formats? I did not hear an uproar over people hating classical or opera. Some said the record industry killed disco because it was popular at clubs but not enough records sold. And if disco died why were there three full powered NYC FM stations in 1981 playing disco. (WKTU 92.3, WRKS 98.7, WBLS 107.5) Almost all commercial 80s music including country was disco-fied with a loud rhythmic bass. (Madonna, Huey Lewis and Michael Jackson sounded like disco to me) Even today you can't go to a wedding without hearing YMCA and Ladies Night. I would like some intelligent insight into these paradoxes. Who ever came up with the Disco Sucks slogan made the smile button creator look like a genius.

 

[radiophiler]

I remember it. KYW-TV-3. You've got to see it to believe it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz2CsroW7YU

 

[ixnay]

Huey Lewis? I thought "Power of Love" or "Stuck With You" were catchy but not discoish. In fact I thought SWY smacked of blue eyed soul.

Back to topic: No, KYW didn't have any glitter balls on the set, nor was Vince Leonard wearing a hard hat like Scar Hodo ;D, but the format lasted halfway through summer '79 (I graduated from HS in June '79) before being put out of its misery. I'd like to see the ratings. IIRC KYW was already struggling behind WPVI and WCAU as it was. Thanks Steveations, for bringing back a key element of my HS days (my mom [then between marriages] preferred KYW and NBC news, even with the disco format). And no, I never thought disco ****ed (though I've always had 2 left feet).

ixnay

 

[OldNumber7]

While we are on the subject....why were rock fans so paranoid about disco? Because a few stations around the country switched formats? I did not hear an uproar over people hating classical or opera. Some said the record industry killed disco because it was popular at clubs but not enough records sold. .... Almost all commercial 80s music including country was disco-fied with a loud rhythmic bass. (Madonna, Huey Lewis and Michael Jackson sounded like disco to me) Even today you can't go to a wedding without hearing YMCA and Ladies Night. I would like some intelligent insight into these paradoxes. Who ever came up with the Disco Sucks slogan made the smile button creator look like a genius.

If you were in college back then (as I was) you have to remember that the radio airwaves and the culture were oversaturated with disco music, so the backlash was inevitable. The backlash was primarily against the synthetic and orchestral dance rhythms (kinda monotonous on the radio) and, secondarily, the sleezy polyester-wearing schmucks from 18-60 who suddenly thought they were totally cool. For music lovers, disco wasn't very good entertainment. Women loved it (and still do) because anyone can dance to it. But disco also coincided with the rise of album oriented rock radio (radio for males), so it didn't take a lot of marketing genius for disco to become an easy target for young males who wanted no part of disco.
I don't suppose it's any coincidence that "disco news" at KYW-3 died the same summer that a Chicago radio station made national headlines by blowing up a stack of disco records at a baseball game.
Lastly, I don't agree that rhythmic music that came later sounds a lot like disco. It doesn't, and it doesn't have the same stigma. Compare Huey Lewis with Donna Summer, and Madonna with the Silvers.

 

[evolve991]

I was 14 when Saturday Night Fever hit the big screen. I hated John Travolta from that moment until Pulp Fiction. I also owned a "Death to Disco" T shirt. I guess you could say I thought Disco sucked LOL to this day I grit my teeth at just a few notes from "Funkytown". The town where I grew up had a 'Teen Center' that was a mini Disco club on Saturday nights....me and my friends would hang out outside til it was over and the "DJ" would slap on some Who,Sabbath or Zeppelin and give those big speakers a real workout for us Rock fans. I'd really like to thank that guy. Strange how I hated Disco but like Techno/Trance and some Danz music.

 

[coops]

This was the death knell for Channel 3...It was an effort to do hip news...Eyewitness News was transformed into your Direct Connection. Among the talent brought in...Ron Hunter....the sports guy Bill Currie, known for his outlandish blazers and a flower in his lapel. It was just awful. I think it is documented in a past Philadelphia Magazine article that back in 1979, channel 3 was attempting to lure Larry Kane back from New York to anchor this format...but went with Hunter instead and Kane returned to Philly to work at channel 10.

 

[gr8oldies]

Please tell me a clip survived and is on YouTube somewhere.

 

[MarcR]

While we are on the subject....why were rock fans so paranoid about disco? Because a few stations around the country switched formats? I did not hear an uproar over people hating classical or opera.

The animus toward Disco was fostered by racism and homophobia, rather than by an aesthetic critique of the music.

 

[ccuphl]

Is that how those promos aired? None of them actually say or show channel 3 or the 3 logo?

 

[DToTheJ]

Don't recall a "disco news show" being done... but I think you just gave RJ an idea for a new show on WMCN! :

 

[evolve991]

racism and homophobia?!? When the silk shirted guys were getting more action with ladies than ever? And it was an equal ratio of whites and blacks in the discoteques. No in my case at least it was that I thought the music really sucked....I never wanted to boogie oogie oogie and wouldn't have gotten so freaked out over a cake in the window that got rained on. I also absolutely will not take you to Funkytown. I did think Breakdancing was pretty wild though but that wasn't Disco oriented.

 

[deepstblu]

This was the death knell for Channel 3...It was an effort to do hip news...Eyewitness News was transformed into your Direct Connection. Among the talent brought in...Ron Hunter....the sports guy Bill Currie, known for his outlandish blazers and a flower in his lapel. It was just awful.

One newscast with Bill Currie was enough to make my mother permanently switch her news watching from Channel 3 to Channel 6.