Feat. Author Frank DeCaro, Donna Pescow & Freda Payne

Moderated by Lyndsey Parker

With a Post-Program Book Signing

Frank DeCaro, Donna Pescow, and Freda Payne will talk about the creative process behind writing the book Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania under the Mirror Ball with a book signing to follow. 

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The GRAMMY Museum is thrilled to welcome Frank DeCaro and special guests to our 200-seat Clive Davis Theater for a special evening moderated by Lyndsey Parker discussing the creative process behind writing Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania under the Mirror Ball with a book signing to follow.

Half a century after the drug-fueled, DJ-driven, glamour-drenched musical phenomenon of disco was born at a New York City loft party, disco’s musical and fashion influences live on in popular culture. Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania under the Mirror Ball by popular culture guru and acclaimed writer Frank DeCaro (Rizzoli New York; October 2024) is a frolicking, entertaining, yet serious tribute to the overlooked art form of disco, which has never been given its proper due, nor taken its true place in the historic struggle for LGBTQ+, gender, and racial equality.

Painting a vivid portrait of this provocative era, DeCaro explores the cultural importance of disco and how the music and dance that originated in queer Black and Latin clubs of the day became a mainstream phenomenon, changing our culture along the way. With glamorous photos from disco’s heyday up through today, DeCaro examines disco’s pervasive influence on pop culture over the last fifty years—exploring disco in music, film, fashion, and cultural history.

Through entertaining texts and year-by-year “must-have” disco playlists—as well as interviews with artists and celebrities of the era, such as disco divas Donna Summer (never-before-published) and Gloria Gaynor; Fran Drescher and Donna Pescow of Saturday Night Fever fame; Village People icons Felipe Rose and David Hodo; fashion legend Norma Kamali; and Deney Terrio, the man who taught John Travolta how to dance, among others—this book champions the diverse origins of disco while celebrating its influence on today’s groundbreaking artists such as Lady Gaga, Duo Lipa, and Miley Cyrus. A must for all lovers of music, style, and pop culture. So let’s go back in time to the days of white polyester suits and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, teen discos and disco fries.

About the Book: https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847899616/