It took a fair amount of string-pulling, but we did it. That’s right, we got legendary music writer and critic, Vince Aletti, to sit down with us and talk all things disco. Aletti has been championing disco for decades, ever since the earliest days of the genre, and has most definitely become one of the most important voices on the scene. We can’t tell you what an honour it was to speak to him.

Aletti was the first writer to talk about disco in the pages of Rolling Stone – indeed, he claims that his 1973 piece was the first published piece on disco anywhere. A mighty honour. He’s credited with helping to bring disco into centre stage of popular cultural awareness – and he defended it against early detractors via his regular column in New York print institution, The Village Voice. 

Of course, a discussion of New York disco would not be complete without mention of some of the legendary clubs that helped drive the scene and bring disco to the masses. Perhaps most famous of these was The Loft, David Mancuso’s own club, and a favourite spot of Aletti’s in its seventies heyday. The influence The Loft and its non-commercial agenda had on dance music and the club scene was profound and far-reaching, with Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan and Nicky Siano all in attendance at various times.

Nowadays Aletti has mainly switched his professional focus to the world of photography, but you can still hear the passion he has for the music in the way he talks about it. It was a real privilege to speak with him and we salute his continuing love for the music!

Since when was ‘disco' a dirty word?

Dirty Disco Podcasts

Dirty Soup's Dirty Disco with Vince Aletti

Continuing Dirty Soups series of occasional podcasts, Watchable’s Theo Delaney met up with musician and composer, Steve Nieve. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Nieve has been a key member of Elvis Costello and the Attractions, playing keyboard instruments on most of Costello's seminal work. Nieve has also experienced success as a prolific session musician, featuring on a wide array of notable recordings. Theo spoke to Steve about his musical journey, from imaginary pianos in Bexley Heath, through the Royal College of Music, to recording in Nashville, and developing his own opera. 

We start at the beginning…

Dirty Soup

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