Open Line: Is Disco Really Dying?

“Disco is dead.”

That was a big phrase when I was a kid in the early ’80s. We celebrated that the good times of the weird era and weird music of the 1970s were behind us, we hoped to be forgotten forever.

But this month it appears that disco is really dying, and it’s sad.

The Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, died Thursday at 63, and now Robin Gibb, part of the Bee Gees, has died at 62—both from cancer. Barry, whose hair was one of the highlights of the ’70s, is the only Gibb brother left.

Thirty years ago, I hoped never to be reminded of how hard Summer worked for the money or of the night fever that made the Bee Gees sing with that falsetto.

Now I’m worried about the health of 61-year-old Harry Wayne Casey from K.C. and the Sunshine Band because the Wikipedia entry on disco music lists Donna Summer, then the Bee Gees, then K.C. and the boys.

At least the music of the Village People will live forever: Former lead singer Victor Willis, who wrote the lyrics to “Y.M.C.A.” and others, won a court ruling this month re-establishing his ownership rights to the songs, The New York Times reported.

Yes, I bought the People’s Go West, featuring “In the Navy,” when I was 10; no, I’m not proud.

Share your disco memories in the space below, or start a conversation about whatever’s on your mind today.