CHARLES MUDEDE:

“We must not separate her fate from the fate of disco in the late 70s, which was despised by middle America for being too gay and too black.”

SEAN NELSON:

Not to mention too shitty.

Be suspicious of wholesale condemnations of any genre. Believe it or not, there is good disco (I say this as someone who is neither black nor gay). Just about anything done by Giorgio Moroder is inspirational. Loads of Italians did good work in the ’70s and ’80s. Even hits by Diana Ross (“Love Hangover”) and Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell” hold up well. The Wire magazine’s Peter Shapiro has just written a book about the subject, if you need some highbrow legitimization with your musical appreciation.