Evolution Part III-Disco Craze
Disco Craze
The roller skating disco craze was sparked in the very late 1960s,
peaked in the 1970s, and supposedly went dead in the 1980s. If you attend skate
sessions today, however, you will find that “Disco” is just as popular now as it
was back then. It may have a different name such as “jam skating” or “hip hop”
or “flea hopping”, but the style of music and skating still remains the same.
Disco has made its stamp upon our roller skating industry. Many rinks still
feature at least one disco type skate night in their skating schedules. These
nights are attractive to youngsters who want to skate with speed and great
skating moves, to adults who want to listen to the music they grew up with, and
even the seniors who wish to reminisce with friends about roller skating!
Anyone who likes to skate has to admit that disco music has a great beat to
skate to…it makes you want to go with the flow!
Some effects on
skating sessions
During the late 1960s to the
late 1970s roller skating once again rose in popularity due to the “Disco
Craze.” Skating rinks around the county began to play the popular disco music
during public skating sessions. Organists were given one night a week off, then
two nights and soon there was no organ music being played during public skating
sessions. The grand march was replaced with the limbo, four corners, and other
games created for skating sessions. “All skate’s” became longer, soon there
were no couples or trio skates, and regretfully—the dance specials became
obsolete. The roller skating session of days gone by that celebrated and
promoted dance skating and it’s sport was replace with disco balls, light shows,
expensive sound systems, modern music heard on the radio, a live DJ, and
birthday parties! Roller skating became “Big Business” with lots of money to be
made. Some people say that disco died around 1985, but this craze still affects
our skating industry today! ”
In 1970 there were approximately 1,000 roller skating rinks across the United States, by 1980 this number increased to approximately 3,500 skating rinks. These rinks were built by operators trying to cash in on the “disco” craze. Regretfully, the popularity of disco skating was short lived and about half the rinks that opened closed between 1980 and 1985.
East and West Coast
events
However, during its heyday,
disco skating was so popular that ballrooms and night clubs in the US, Canada,
and overseas featured disco skating one night a week instead of their regular
venue. Some of those venues still feature “Disco Skating” one or more nights a
week to this very day! One example is New York City’s Roxy Night Club. Even
today, this popular hot spot features “Disco Skating” every Wednesday Night from
9 p.m. -2 a.m., over 21 only. If someone doesn’t know how to disco skate, they
can attend the Roxy sponsored “Lezly’s Skate School” and take a class,
semiprivate or private lesson!
New York City features outdoor skating in Central Park during the summer months. There are the regular trails for jogging, skating and biking, as well as an outdoor rink style area for roller skating. This area has a cement skating surface, band shell for live bands to play, public address system and snack bar area. The feature here again is jam and disco skating, which survived from the popular disco era. Many skaters travel from surrounding cities and states just to skate and move to the groove in the Big Apple! (Pictured below outdoor skating in Central Park)
Meanwhile on the west coast,
California still paves the way for “Disco Happenings.” The California Outdoor
Skating Association sponsors regular disco events at various rinks and outside
venues held around the state.
"Godfather of Skating", David "D" Miles (pictured right) is President of the California Outdoor Skating Association and runs the events held in San Francisco. This organization also runs events in Redwood City from 9-12 midnight—Saturday Night Disco Skate; On Friday nights—The Midnight Rollers Friday Night Skate in San Francisco at the Ferry Building at Market St. and The Embarcadero on the waterfront.
Golden
Gate Park
Back in 1891,
people were just as excited about skating in Golden Gate Park as they are today.
A roller rink was created by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department
where people could rent skates and enjoy skating. Skating was considered a
trendy thing to do and by 1978 it really began to catch on when the Golden Gate
Park was home to its first skate vendor truck. Soon, many trucks began to line
up along Fulton Street. Because skate rental became readily available, more
people skated. The summer of 1979 saw estimates of 15,000 to 20,000 skaters
using Golden Gate Park on Sunday afternoons with over 35 skate vendor trucks
that rented skates alongside the park border, each truck containing between 200
and 500 pairs of skates.
Sundays
(pictured left) became the day to go skating at Golden Gate Park, and by the
late 1970s—roller disco was at its peak of popularity. Skaters that didn’t want
to stay in one spot to practice their moves would join Dr Funk skating up and
down JFK Drive. Dr Funk would skate and carry a huge boom box and lead the
parade, so that disco skaters could show off the many skills.
As the disco craze began to
fade, skaters would have to share their space at Golden Gate Park with the
skateboarders and bike riders. By 1985, a “Skate Patrol” was formed to create a
safer environment and the park planner decided to close off 6th
Avenue and Kennedy Drive permanently to form an area for skaters only. Land was
landscaped and smooth asphalt put down to make the area look and feel more like
an outdoor skating rink. San Francisco’s most treasured resource the Golden Gate
Park with over 1000 acres of green land became a retreat for roller skaters in
Northern California.
Movies
There are several movies
that have been made about the Disco Skating Craze! Roller Boogie,
directed by Mark L. Lester, with film stars Linda Blair, Jim Gray, Beverly
Garland, Roger Perry, and James Van Patten was made in 1979. The story line was
typical…a fully matured Linda Blair leads a group of teens as they fight their
parents and those damn corporate businessmen from shutting down their local
roller rink. Luckily for them, real-life Canadian champion Jim Bray struts his
stunning skating skills to epic proportions, while the camera zooms in on a
record-breaking amount of short-shorts and bursting cleavage!
The popular movie, “Xanadu” directed by Robert Greenwald with film stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, Gene Kelly made in 1980. You have to believe in magic! Over 25 years after its release, this roller-skating musical is one of the most wonderfully dated disco-era films ever made!
Another film, not so popular movie was “Skatetown, U.S.A.” directed by William A. Levey made in 1979. An all-star cast jam packs this unjustly ignored Disco extravaganza. Scott Baio, Maureen McCormick, and Patrick Swayze compete against one another to the bumpin' sounds of The Jacksons, Earth, Wind & Fire, and even a live performance by Dave Mason! High thighs, ample cleavage and glittery beards date this obscure classic with genuine expertise. Swayze's bad-boy on roller-skates is worth the admission alone!
Then in 2005, “Roll bounce” directed by Malcolm D. Lee was released. The story is set in the 1970s. Roller-skate jams fuel this coming-of-age comedy, as X (Bow Wow) and his friends, who rule their local rink, are shocked when their home base goes out of business. Heading over to the Sweetwater Roller Rink, they find their modest talents are, at first, no competition for their trick skaters and pretty girls who follow their every move. This film was not the box office smash hit that roller skaters hoped for, but it did put some new people in the rink to try their skills at skating!
London’s Disco Today--Recently, this article was featured in a London England Newspaper about roller disco:
"Roller skates and
late-night clubbing: it doesn't sound like a marriage made in heaven, but this
is one of the hottest nights in the capital, impossible to get into after 10pm.
Three rooms offer cheery
seventies hits, funky house music and some pretty good Hip-Hop and R & B, and
the standard of the skating goes up as you descend further into the club. The
seventies room is cheerful drunken fun (with instructors on hand to help
untangle the amateur skaters), while there is some very slick dancing going on
in the third room. The constant crashing into
each other makes for a thoroughly friendly atmosphere, and the skating gimmick
has produced one of the most mixed crowds in London, with students and locals,
gay and straight, and all different races happily spinning round, helping each
other off the floor and flirting in the bar.
I can't skate to save my life, and I found this ridiculously fun. Those who actually know what they're doing will enjoy it even more.”
Conclusion?
Do you think “Roller Disco”
died in the 1980s? Personally, its craze may have faded a bit, but I think that
it continues on and will affect our skating industry for many years yet to
come! It has become quite apparent that not only is Disco Skating still popular
in the United States, but it has really caught on in England, Germany, and many
other European Countries.
Hooray for Disco and anything else that puts people back inside the rinks roller skating!