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As Barry Gibb celebrates his upcoming 75th birthday, Ken Bruce presents an evening of disco hits with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

To celebrate Barry Gibb's upcoming 75th birthday, Ken Bruce presents an evening of disco hits with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

How would you sum up the seventies – space hoppers, choppers and klackers? Do you have memories of the long hot summer of 1976 or the cold bitter winter of discontent of 1978? The passing of Elvis, the coming of Thatcher, colour television, hot pants, flares, platform shoes, steak and black forest gateau - the decade was packed with new innovations,and on the dance floor - disco.

But the history of disco goes back much further, to war torn France in the 1940s. Under Nazi occupation all jazz, swing music and dancing was prohibited so secret groups formed in underground dance clubs, dancing to a jukebox or record turntable. Disco comes from the French word discotheque meaning a library of records. By the mid-forties it was a word to describe a club where there is no live music. In the 1960s Annabels opened in London – but it was in the 1970s and New York venues like Studio 54 and The Loft plus a film called Saturday Night Fever that disco reached its peak.

Saturday Night Fever won John Travolta an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Brooklyn born Tony Manero - who works in a dead end job in a hardware store by day but by night is King of the Disco.

Tonight, Ken Bruce squeezes back into his flared trousers to present a special disco themed Sunday Night is Music Night. Stephen Bell conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra with singers Annie Skates, Hazel Fernandes, Lance Ellington and Andrew Playfoot. The show includes hits by Kool and the Gang, Sister Sledge, Earth Wind and Fire, Gloria Gaynor and, of course, the Bee Gees.

First broadcast in 2014.

1 hour, 57 minutes

Last on

Sun 29 Aug 202119:00
BBC Radio 2

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Music Played

  • BBC Concert Orchestra

    High Adventure (Friday Night Is Music Night Sig Tune)

  • BBC Concert Orchestra

    Love's Theme (Discoverture)

  • BBC Concert Orchestra

    The Hustle (Discoverture)

  • BBC Concert Orchestra

    A Fifth Of Beethoven (Discoverture)

  • Lance Ellington & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Disco Inferno

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Ladies Night

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Get Down On It

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Cherish

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Celebration

  • Hazel Fernandes & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Young Hearts Run Free

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    After The Love Has Gone

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Fantasy

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    September

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Boogie Wonderland

  • Annie Skates & BBC Concert Orchestra

    More, More, More

  • Andrew Playfoot & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Don't Take Away The Music

  • Vicki Sue Robinson

    Turn The Beat Around

    • American Dreams (The Best Of The 70's.
    • RCA.

  • Jackie Moore

    This Time Baby

    • I'm On My Way/With Your Love.
    • Passion.
    • 1.

  • Sylvester

    Do Ya Wanna Funk

    • Flair Disco & Dance Party Hits (Various Artists).
    • BMG.
    • 11.

  • MFSB & The Three Degrees

    Love Is The Message

    • Love Train: The Ultimate Sound Of Philadelphia.
    • Sony Music TV.
    • 16.

  • Manu Dibango

    Soul Makossa

    • Makossa Man: The Very Best Of Manu Dibango.
    • Universal Music Operations Ltd.
    • 1.

  • Alicia Bridges

    I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round)

    • The Last Days Of Disco (Film Soundtra.
    • Columbia.

  • Bee Gees

    You Should Be Dancing

    • Polydor.

  • Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip

    I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper

    • Fantastic 70's (Various Artists).
    • Sony Tv/Columbia.

  • Van McCoy

    The Hustle

    • Golden Hits Of The 70's (Various Artists).
    • BR Music.

  • Donna Summer

    I Feel Love

    • Donna Summer - On The Radio.
    • Casablanca.
    • 7.

  • ABBA

    Dancing Queen

    • Abba Gold (40th Anniversary Edition).
    • Polar.
    • 001.

  • Daft Punk

    Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams)

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
    • 1.

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Stayin' Alive

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Jive Talkin'

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    More Than A Woman

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Night Fever

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    You Should Be Dancing

  • Andrew Playfoot & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Boogie Nights

  • Lance Ellington & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Three Times A Lady

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Hot Stuff

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    On The Radio

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Last Dance

  • Hazel Fernandes & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Blame It On The Boogie

  • Annie Skates & BBC Concert Orchestra

    I Will Survive

  • Capital Voices & BBC Concert Orchestra

    Y.M.C.A

Credit

PerformerBBC Concert Orchestra

Broadcasts

  • Fri 22 Aug 201420:00
    BBC Radio 2
  • Fri 12 Dec 201420:00
    BBC Radio 2
  • Sun 21 Jun 202019:00
    BBC Radio 2
  • Sun 29 Aug 202119:00
    BBC Radio 2

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