…And House Music Was Born: Constructing a Secular Christianity of Otherness

Liam Maloney

doi:10.1080/03007766.2018.1519099

…And House Music Was Born: Constructing a Secular Christianity of Otherness

Liam Maloney

Music

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The stories of both disco and house music are often marginalized in the broader narrative of popular music, but house music’s stylistic features are reflective of wider sociocultural developments. Taking its cue from disco, house is often seen as a purely evolutionary musical development, when in fact the seeds of house music were sown with the Civil Rights Movement, Stonewall, and gay liberation. This article asserts that disco’s use of gospel elements created a quasi-religious proto-PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) ideology on the dance floors of the 1970s, and that this was an expression of those made Other by aspects of either race or sexuality. This expression of Otherness became the founding principle underpinning house music’s form. This article critically reappraises the narratives of both disco and house and interrogates inconsistencies in popular historical accounts using new qualitative interviews with authoritative individuals (DJs, producers, vocalists, authors). Furthermore, the article offers a thematic analysis of house music’s stylistic tropes, drawing direct parallels to Christianity and disco’s gospel influences to create a secularized religious ideology comparable to a PLUR ideology. Finally, the article explores the church’s response to racially motivated economic sanctions as a potential trigger to the generation of house music.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	231-249
Journal	Popular Music and Society
Volume	41
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2018.1519099
Publication status	Published - 11 Oct 2018

Access to Document

10.1080/03007766.2018.1519099

Cite this

@article{27ecac0ee261420090d5f1ee1083515e,

title = "…And House Music Was Born: Constructing a Secular Christianity of Otherness",

abstract = "The stories of both disco and house music are often marginalized in the broader narrative of popular music, but house music{\textquoteright}s stylistic features are reflective of wider sociocultural developments. Taking its cue from disco, house is often seen as a purely evolutionary musical development, when in fact the seeds of house music were sown with the Civil Rights Movement, Stonewall, and gay liberation. This article asserts that disco{\textquoteright}s use of gospel elements created a quasi-religious proto-PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) ideology on the dance floors of the 1970s, and that this was an expression of those made Other by aspects of either race or sexuality. This expression of Otherness became the founding principle underpinning house music{\textquoteright}s form. This article critically reappraises the narratives of both disco and house and interrogates inconsistencies in popular historical accounts using new qualitative interviews with authoritative individuals (DJs, producers, vocalists, authors). Furthermore, the article offers a thematic analysis of house music{\textquoteright}s stylistic tropes, drawing direct parallels to Christianity and disco{\textquoteright}s gospel influences to create a secularized religious ideology comparable to a PLUR ideology. Finally, the article explores the church{\textquoteright}s response to racially motivated economic sanctions as a potential trigger to the generation of house music.",

author = "Liam Maloney",

year = "2018",

month = oct,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1080/03007766.2018.1519099",

language = "English",

volume = "41",

pages = "231--249",

journal = "Popular Music and Society",

issn = "1740-1712",

publisher = "Taylor & Francis",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - …And House Music Was Born

T2 - Constructing a Secular Christianity of Otherness

AU - Maloney, Liam

PY - 2018/10/11

Y1 - 2018/10/11

N2 - The stories of both disco and house music are often marginalized in the broader narrative of popular music, but house music’s stylistic features are reflective of wider sociocultural developments. Taking its cue from disco, house is often seen as a purely evolutionary musical development, when in fact the seeds of house music were sown with the Civil Rights Movement, Stonewall, and gay liberation. This article asserts that disco’s use of gospel elements created a quasi-religious proto-PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) ideology on the dance floors of the 1970s, and that this was an expression of those made Other by aspects of either race or sexuality. This expression of Otherness became the founding principle underpinning house music’s form. This article critically reappraises the narratives of both disco and house and interrogates inconsistencies in popular historical accounts using new qualitative interviews with authoritative individuals (DJs, producers, vocalists, authors). Furthermore, the article offers a thematic analysis of house music’s stylistic tropes, drawing direct parallels to Christianity and disco’s gospel influences to create a secularized religious ideology comparable to a PLUR ideology. Finally, the article explores the church’s response to racially motivated economic sanctions as a potential trigger to the generation of house music.

AB - The stories of both disco and house music are often marginalized in the broader narrative of popular music, but house music’s stylistic features are reflective of wider sociocultural developments. Taking its cue from disco, house is often seen as a purely evolutionary musical development, when in fact the seeds of house music were sown with the Civil Rights Movement, Stonewall, and gay liberation. This article asserts that disco’s use of gospel elements created a quasi-religious proto-PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect) ideology on the dance floors of the 1970s, and that this was an expression of those made Other by aspects of either race or sexuality. This expression of Otherness became the founding principle underpinning house music’s form. This article critically reappraises the narratives of both disco and house and interrogates inconsistencies in popular historical accounts using new qualitative interviews with authoritative individuals (DJs, producers, vocalists, authors). Furthermore, the article offers a thematic analysis of house music’s stylistic tropes, drawing direct parallels to Christianity and disco’s gospel influences to create a secularized religious ideology comparable to a PLUR ideology. Finally, the article explores the church’s response to racially motivated economic sanctions as a potential trigger to the generation of house music.

U2 - 10.1080/03007766.2018.1519099

DO - 10.1080/03007766.2018.1519099

M3 - Article

SN - 1740-1712

VL - 41

SP - 231

EP - 249

JO - Popular Music and Society

JF - Popular Music and Society

IS - 3

ER -