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8 Disco Songs That Make Me Feel Mighty Real
Some much-deserved love for a much-maligned genre.
On this most recent season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag competition host RuPaul challenged the thirteenth season’s ensemble of queens to perform a salute to disco music. The results were mixed. It was clear they were in trouble when Ru asked some of the younger queens to name their favorite disco songs. Most of them struggled to come up with a title at all, let alone a favorite.
“Disco didn’t die,” RuPaul is fond of saying, “It just changed its name and address.”
It’s a fitting characterization. When disco became the scapegoat for fearful and angry straight white men, its celebration of freedom and femininity became dangerous. The creators and hitmakers of the era fled to house and dance music like it was a witness protection program.
When it’s not a punchline or held up as the epitome of tacky art (and what’s wrong with tacky art anyway?), disco is forgotten by the people who need it most. A good disco song is euphoria incarnate. And who among us couldn’t use a little euphoria right now?
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), Sylvester (1978)
Sylvester learned to sing in the church choir. With his falsettos and unencumbered…
