Various Artists - Saturday Night Fever

There is a gaping great big hole here at the Review Centre Disco Music section, and I'm going to fill it with an album that has music that used to fill the dance floors back in the late seventies. Saturday Night Fever is the best selling soundtrack album of all time, and it still sells today. First released in December 1977, I bought the original vinyl after seeing the film, but now I also have this great album on CD.

All the men WERE John Travolta, most wearing suits, some wearing white! Wide ties as there was always a dress code then, later on in the evening as things hotted up top 3-4 buttons undone revealing some chest, maybe even a medallion (hence the phrase medallion man, who wears a gold medallion on a hairy chest as seen through an open shirt)! Flared trousers of course, very tightly fitting around the bum (OOH!) and with a high waistband. The men used to all congregate around the dance floor as the girls all danced in the middle. One or two of the men would be attempting to mimic John Travolta's dance style (from the film), but mostly ended up looking like complete prats! These were the days when you rarely saw 2 men dancing together, and if as a girl you were dancing, you used to get a tap on the shoulder or similar polite request to dance, usually 2 guys each took a girl when dancing together.

Before the night began, a lot of the fun and excitement started as you were getting ready to go out. Back then there was much more time spent on preening, and getting the look just right. Girls looked like girls and men just loved it!

So on with this album!!!

The Bee Gees wrote many of the tracks on the album, and also performed them. Surely everyone will have heard the track "Night Fever"? This is where in the film John Travolta comes into his own! What a mover! And wow was he a looker then! Then there's the mellow romantic "How Deep Is Your Love", the strutting out "Stayin Alive" and the gorgeous romantic "More Than A Woman". There are two versions of this track on the album, the first by the Bee Gees, the second by Tavares. I must admit I prefer Tavares' version, even though it was written by the Bee Gees! Then there's the catchy Yvonne Elliman number "If I Can't Have You", which is another favourite of mine. "A fifth of Beethoven", "Manhattan Skyline", "Calypso Breakdown", "Night On Disco Mountain", "Open Sesame", and then the Bee Gee's brilliantly catchy "Jive Talking". On with "You Should Be Dancing", K.C & the Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes", then to "Salsation" by David Shire, K-Jee's "M.F.S.B" and finally, another dance floor favourite that seemed to go on forever, after which exhausted you had to sit down and have a drink - "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps.

A fantastic album to buy the parents at Christmas if you are unfortunately too young to have lived through the colourful exciting era of the glitter-balls and lit up Disco floors of the late 70's!!! If your dad is around 40 - 55 ask him if he was ever a John Travolta wannabe?!! And if YOU are around that age... You'll know exactly what I mean!!