I will Survive....

Some look on the disco era as a blight on the music industry.  I know a really wonderful guitarist who moved to Los Angeles during that time to seek his fame and fortune.  He quickly was one of the most sought after studio musicians in town, but after three years packed up and moved back to Texas.  He said he could not play one more note of a disco beat and that was all that was being recorded in LA at the time. 

Gaynor Ave

Gloria Ave.

I have no feelings toward the era myself. It was fun when there were disco's crowded with young people having a good time. Of course I was one of those young people back then... they may still be crowding some sort of club but I am no longer of the age nor the desire to find out.

However, once in a while I have a "saturday night fever flash back".  It usually occurs when I am not even thinking of music or dance or even show biz.

Here is a case in point.  Walking Boo on an absolutely beautiful day over the week end,  I suddenly began to sing the disco song "I Will Survive".  At the time I thought it was just wishful thinking as the pressures of the Two and Only -  DVD have taken over even my dog walking time. It has come to that point in this production where the cash flow drain to finish it up over writes the mental possibility of any successful out come.  There are times I think I have produced the worlds most expensive home movie. When I reach a panic I can usually find peace on a walk with Boo.

Nonetheless this time there was no peace as that disco song "I Will Survive" kept invading my attempt to enjoy my walk. Like some sort of viral audio I could not keep it out of my mind and it was beginning to bug me. What bugged me the most is why THAT song was on a subliminal loop, why couldn't I have a great jazz song stuck in my head on the walk? Why this was the sound track illustrating my life at this moment was baffling. It is not even a song that I like very much.

Using the inductive reasoning I have learned on several CSI Television show episodes I finally figured it out. There are two streets a block apart in my neighborhood that sent me into my musical madness.  I circled back and documented them with pictures. I have noticed them before but did not get past the fact that two streets a block away start with the same letter of the alphabet.  It was not until I circled walked the opposite direction that I realized the streets are named Gloria and Gaynor.  That happens to be the name of the famous disco singer who recorded "I Will Survive." The reality that this fact resides in my mind and can be summoned with unconscious will is scary.  The streets were named when the dominate music was swing, I think.  Although it is just a coincidence that they would mean anything together today, this cosmic accident was strong enough to ignite the disco fuse in my mind. 

If the World is a Stage then even the street signs are billboards. I will have to find a dog walking route that includes the street names Eric and Clapton if I ever again want to have a "disco free" stroll.

As you were,

Jay