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THAT’S HOW WE ROLLER DISCO
Good morning, and welcome to Roller Skate Week.
Why a week’s worth of roller skating posts? You can blame WFMU, which reminded me that once, circa 1979, the most popular craze in America was ... roller disco.
Here’s what’s worse: Hollywood noticed and tried to cash in.
Witness the spectacle that is Roller Boogie. Starring Linda Blair!
It gets better. Released the same year: Skatetown USA. Starring Scott Baio, Flip Wilson and Ruth Buzzi!
Have fun spotting Patrick Swayze in hist first motion picture performance.
If there’s a demarcation point anyone could choose to pinpoint just when Western mainstream pop culture jumped the shark, this just might be it.
FUN FACT: We had a roller rink near where I grew up. We used to go every Saturday. It wasn’t disco, but they played lots of Journey, Skynyrd and Kansas, as I recall. I was so bad at it I managed to roll over my own finger. On the other hand, I rather enjoyed wiping out. So much so that they eventually barred me for life.
And yes, in fact I DO have a week’s worth of material for this.
PRODUCTION NOTE: There will be no in-line skates featured during Roller Skate Week. Fuck in-line skates. I have spoken.
Skate or die,
This is dF
Why a week’s worth of roller skating posts? You can blame WFMU, which reminded me that once, circa 1979, the most popular craze in America was ... roller disco.
Here’s what’s worse: Hollywood noticed and tried to cash in.
Witness the spectacle that is Roller Boogie. Starring Linda Blair!
It gets better. Released the same year: Skatetown USA. Starring Scott Baio, Flip Wilson and Ruth Buzzi!
Have fun spotting Patrick Swayze in hist first motion picture performance.
If there’s a demarcation point anyone could choose to pinpoint just when Western mainstream pop culture jumped the shark, this just might be it.
FUN FACT: We had a roller rink near where I grew up. We used to go every Saturday. It wasn’t disco, but they played lots of Journey, Skynyrd and Kansas, as I recall. I was so bad at it I managed to roll over my own finger. On the other hand, I rather enjoyed wiping out. So much so that they eventually barred me for life.
And yes, in fact I DO have a week’s worth of material for this.
PRODUCTION NOTE: There will be no in-line skates featured during Roller Skate Week. Fuck in-line skates. I have spoken.
Skate or die,
This is dF
no subject
He shook his head and replied, "Christ I hope not, son."
no subject
I guess I'm a bit too young to have seen those movies, but I did have to sit through an Australian made-for-TV roller-teen-drama ripoff when I Was in primary school (we're still a bit behind the times, but in the 80s we were VERY behind the times). You think Hollywood did a classy job, you should see what the Aussies came up with...
I remember being sent to a roller rink by my school. I was really good at getting up some speed, but I was unable to brake or turn. Mayhem!
-- JF