Editing Disco (section)

====Factors contributing to disco's decline====
Factors that have been cited as leading to the decline of disco in the United States include economic and political changes at the end of the 1970s, as well as [[Occupational burnout|burnout]] from the [[Hedonism|hedonistic]] lifestyles led by participants.<ref name="BeeGees">[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3652|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic BeeGees bio]</ref> In the years since Disco Demolition Night, some social critics have described the "Disco sucks" movement as implicitly [[Machismo|macho]] and bigoted, and an attack on non-white and non-heterosexual cultures.<ref name=allmusicdisco/><ref name=espn/><ref name=Campion/> It was also linked to a wider cultural "backlash", the move towards conservatism,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/jun/18/disco-sucks Ben Myers: "Why 'Disco sucks!' sucked"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320111407/https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2009/jun/18/disco-sucks |date=March 20, 2021 }}, in: [[The Guardian]], June 18, 2009, accessed on March 26, 2020.</ref> that also made its way into US politics with the election of conservative president [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980, which also led to Republican control of the [[United States Senate]] for the first time since 1954, plus the subsequent rise of the [[Christian right|Religious Right]] around the same time.

In January 1979, rock critic [[Robert Christgau]] argued that [[homophobia]], and most likely [[racism]], were reasons behind the movement,<ref name="Christgau" /> a conclusion seconded by [[John Rockwell]]. Craig Werner wrote: "The Anti-disco movement represented an unholy alliance of [[funk]]ateers and [[feminist]]s, progressives, and [[puritan]]s, rockers and reactionaries. Nonetheless, the attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism, [[sexism]] and homophobia."<ref>Easlea, Daryl, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/disco-inferno-680390.html Disco Inferno] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913220555/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/disco-inferno-680390.html |date=September 13, 2011 }}, ''[[The Independent]]'', December 11, 2004</ref> [[Legs McNeil]], founder of the [[fanzine]] ''[[Punk (magazine)|Punk]]'', was quoted in an interview as saying, "the [[hippie]]s always wanted to be black. We were going, 'fuck the blues, fuck the black experience.'" He also said that disco was the result of an "[[Unholy alliance (geopolitical)|unholy]]" union between homosexuals and blacks.<ref name="Reynolds154">Rip it Up and Start Again POSTPUNK 1978–1984 by [[Simon Reynolds]] p. 154</ref>

[[Steve Dahl]], who had spearheaded Disco Demolition Night, denied any racist or homophobic undertones to the promotion, saying, "It's really easy to look at it historically, from this perspective, and attach all those things to it. But we weren't thinking like that,"<ref name="espn">{{cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=behrens/040809 |title=Top Sports Searches – ESPN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504172447/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=behrens%2F040809 |archive-date=May 4, 2010 }}</ref> it was "just kids pissing on a musical genre".<ref>{{cite web |title=The 1979 riot that 'killed' disco |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230922-the-night-angry-rock-fans-destroyed-disco-music |website=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102120513/https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230922-the-night-angry-rock-fans-destroyed-disco-music |archive-date=November 2, 2023 |date=September 22, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>  It has been noted that British [[punk rock]] critics of disco were very supportive of the pro-black/anti-racist [[reggae]] genre as well as the more pro-gay [[new romantic]]s movement.<ref name="allmusicdisco" /> Christgau and Jim Testa have said that there were legitimate artistic reasons for being critical of disco.<ref name="Christgau" /><ref name="Testa" />

In 1979, the music industry in the United States underwent its worst slump in decades, and disco, despite its mass popularity, was blamed. The producer-oriented sound was having difficulty mixing well with the industry's artist-oriented marketing system.<ref>"Are We Not New Wave Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s Theo Cateforis Page 36 {{ISBN|978-0-472-03470-3}}</ref> Harold Childs, senior vice president at [[A&M Records]], reportedly told the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' that "radio is really desperate for rock product" and "they're all looking for some white rock-n-roll".<ref name="Campion" />