Nov 26, 2013

The Origins of Saturday Night Fever: Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night by Nik Cohn


The story that changed a whole lot things, I've been meaning to post this for quite some time. Written by Nik Cohn, and published by New York Magazine on June 7, 1976, it would eventually lead to the making of Saturday Night Fever, and the disco-fication of the States and beyond. Not to mention a serious career revival for the Bee Gees. Art by James McMullan.

Over the past few months, much of my time has been spent in watching this new generation. Moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, from disco to disco, an explorer out of my depth, I have tried to learn the patterns, the old/new tribal rites. In the present article, I have focused on one club and one tight-knit group which seem to sum up the experience as a whole. Artist James McMullan also spent many hours observing this development, but his paintings, reproduced here, are less specific; although they deal with the same locations and group, they are generalized images of these Saturday night rituals.

Everything described in this article is factual and was either witnessed by me or told to me directly by the people involved. Only the names of the main characters have been changed. Continued here.


No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails