Although nagged to write my autobiography for many years now, I must admit to being very reticent about doing it. Okay, if you were part of The Sex Pistols inner circle back in the mid-1970s you knew the role I played in that pop revolution: working with iconic designer Vivienne Westwood, photographed with Chrissie Hynde in that infamous snapshot, my front page SEX T-shirt arrest, DJing at the Pistols’ infamous El Paradise gig, sailing with the ‘God Save the Queen’ boat party, my cameo in The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle and advising Alex Cox when he directed Sid and nancy. I’ve even been called the first Punk! But my fan base from being a pioneering fantasy journalist, genre film critic and guru of Italian movie gore since writing set reports from the original Star Wars were probably completely oblivious to that ultra-important, yet character-building, period of my life.

So I knew any autobiography I wrote would have to have an additional level of interest for the casual reader. Because my love of disco was born in conjunction with embracing the Punk ethos – think about it, both music strands were called tuneless noise, and both supplied their own evergreen anthems with ‘Anarchy in the UK’ and ‘I Will Survive’! – I figured a unique reference work element would be a great extra bonus.

Hence Discomania reviews 100+ disco movies from 1974–2024, reveals why they are artistically important from either the cultural or musical perspective, lists all the relevant tracks featured in each personal choice, and via date of release or subject matter, what uncensored memories they spark in my ever-converging diverging punk, disco and horror lives.

Although written in lockdown alongside my other recent book Starburst: The Complete Alan Jones Film Reviews 1977–2008, Discomania kept being delayed for a number of reasons. People I had to write about, like Vivienne, passed away, meaning continually amending the text. I originally thought the book would fittingly end with Gaspar Noé’s extraordinary disco nightmare Climax too, but then other essential titles were released afterwards that had to also be included. Most importantly, when friends, photographers of the day and fans heard about the project, I had a raft of exclusive, never-before-seen photos offered to me, which has made the book an even more distinctive item.

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

The iconic disco movie that changed the world, sparking the mainstream global dance craze, and highlighting the most career-defining, incandescent screen performance ever from overnight sensation John Travolta finger-pointing in his timeless white polyester suit. The significance of this blockbuster phenomenon cannot be underestimated in both cultural or musical terms. Nobody expected it to be so grittily realistic or hard-nosed. Travolta called it “Taxi Driver with dancing”. The reason a softer cut was also released was so that youngsters could see what all the fuss was about. But it stayed in cinemas for over six months, making a fortune over its $3.5 million budget, and brought The Bee Gees out of the pop wilderness into the disco charts with such evergreen cuts as ‘Stayin’ Alive’, creatinf an entire industry of dance contest movie rip-offs. And the still resonant soundtrack remains the second highest grosser of all time.

Climax (2018)

Trust art exploitation and French extremis maestro Gaspar Noé to craft the best disco movie of the naughty 00s. Think Fame meets A Chorus Line if directed by the Marquis de Sade, as a dance troupe practices in a rural school assembly hall for an upcoming tour. But someone has spiked the booze with LSD and the rehearsal wind-down becomes an orgy of sex, violence and death. With scorching choreography, running the gamut from Busby Berkeley to Bob Fosse and Madonna beyond, and accompanied by full-length instrumental versions of Cerrone’s ‘Supernature’, Giorgio Moroder’s ‘Utopia – Me Giorgio’ and Patrick Hernandez’ ‘Born to be Alive’ classics, Noé’s turbo-charged twisted treat truly is a disco inferno of style, imagination and social comment. Sodom and Gomorrah goes disco in this whirling dervish of celluloid shock.

The Last Days of Disco (1997)

Director Whit (Barcelona) Stillman’s glacial glance at how the 1980s Yuppie ethos emerged during disco’s twilight years is a canny and scintillating depiction of the etiquette and mirrorball atmosphere of the era. Kate Beckinsale made her splashy American feature debut as Chloë Sevigny’s best friend, hitting the discos every Saturday night, looking for Mr. Right Now. Loaded with Stillman’s signature sophistication and acerbic wit, it’s a disarming look at the nightclubbing lifestyle highlighting scalpel-sharp comments on sexual identity, pre-AIDS promiscuity and dysfunctional personality while offering surprisingly visionary orations on why disco will never die. Beginning in high style with Carol Douglas’ ‘Doctors Orders’ and ending with subway passengers collectively dancing to ‘Love Train’ by The O’Jays, Stillman gets the precise feeling of entering the glitzy Disco environment with anxious excitement exactly right.

Tony Manero (2008)

It wasn’t always fun, laughs, good times at the disco. Before directing his Diva trio – Spencer, Jackie and Maria – Chile’s Pablo Larrain earned his art-house reputation with this acclaimed brain-freezer. A disturbingly disco-nnected portrait of psychopathic existence lost in a socially, politically and culturally repressed morass of corruption and underhand American intervention, lowlife thug Raul Peralta (co-writer Alfredo Castro) becomes so obsessed with John Travolta’s persona in Saturday Night Fever, he murders his way to winning a Tony Manero lookalike contest. Shot documentary style, this bleak, shocking and bloody look at what Pinochet’s reign of terror was putting Chile through while disco ruled the world, is a Boogie Nightmare not Wonderland. Hard to know whether to laugh or scream when a cinema projectionist replaces Raul’s beloved Saturday Night Fever with Grease and gets beaten to a pulp for his temerity in this horrific Chile chiller.

Disco (2008)

Although the Claude Francois-centric duo Podium and Cloclo score high on my disco Français meter, it’s this irresistible charmer that wins jazz hands down. Veteran French comedy star Franck Dubosc shines in this enormously entertaining Gallic blockbuster that positioned Disco as an all-encompassing lifestyle no matter what your age, one providing everlasting lessons for love, life, friends and family. Unemployed optimist Dubosc gets his old dance trio The Bee Kings back together to win a holiday trip in a Le Havre dance contest while finding romance with teacher Emmanuelle Béart along the Funky Chicken way in this ‘Windmill of Love’ nostalgia-fest. With its typically French ‘je ne sais quoi’ ambiance and a soundtrack of solid four-to-the-floor bangers from Boney M, Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester and Tina Charles, this is a total uplifting joy and a must-see for the glitterball fan.

Studio 54 (2018)

For those who danced, stared, snorted and had sex in the VIP room (including me, full disclosure!) Studio 54 was the epicentre of late 70s hedonism, redefining what a nightclub should be and its disco-fabulous urban legends came to symbolize a new era of celebrity culture. What sets Matt Tynauer’s superb documentary apart is the full cooperation of Ian Schrager who founded the Manhattan Pleasure Dome with his more attention-seeking partner/MC, the late Steve Rubell. And everything you wanted to know is here: from its early beginnings and the hated velvet rope door policy to the stars who had Access All Areas and the financial scandals that finally got the place closed down. Great vintage TV and newsreel clips, candid talking head interviews and brilliant backgrounding by the likes of Thelma Houston, Candi Staton and Silver Convention make this the ultimate disco chronicle of a unique societal sensation.

Love at First Bite (1979)

The independent break-out hit of its year equated disco with vampirism – both being a nighttime fantasy – and featured perma-tanned, Hollywood lounge lizard George Hamilton as a suave Count Dracula leaving Transylvania for Manhattan to romance the fashion model, Cindy Sondheim (Susan St James), that he thinks is the reincarnation of his one true lost love. A delightful spoof of the classic Bram Stoker horror tale with the chemistry between Hamilton and St. James off the disco charts. The fads, fashions and social mores of the era are staked out with an effervescent wit and comedy gold wisdom. And director Stan Dragoti (who conceived the famous ‘I Love New York’ disco ad campaign) makes the best ever use of the Alicia Bridges’ one-hit disco wonder ‘I Love the Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)’ in the Anything Goes nightclub environment as undead dancers whisk around the flashy floor.

The Spirit of ‘76 (1990)

What’s the best disco movie you’ve never heard of? Lucas Reiner’s barely released but engaging time travel comedy featuring his veteran comedian father Carl and brother Rob, director of Stand By Me and Misery. Oh, and costume designer Sofia Coppola! It’s 2176 and the USA is a desolate wasteland desperate for law and order. So a team of scientists (led by former teen idol David Cassidy) are sent back in time to 1776 to get a copy of the American Constitution. Only a computer glitch means they end up in 1976 discoland instead. Cue the avalanche of culture clash laughs taking in streaking, eight-track tapes, lava lamps and a Tardis load of classic club hits including Van McCoy’s ‘The Hustle’, ‘Love’s Theme’ by The Love Unlimited Orchestra and The Hues Corporation’s ‘Rock the Boat’. Also in the cast, Leif Garrett of ‘I Was Made For Dancin’ fame.

The Music Machine (1979)

British sexploitation industry movers and shakers jumped on the Saturday Night Fever bandwagon with this dance contest knock-off relocated to Camden Town. Based on a thin outline by a member of the BBC TV hit show That’s Life (why host Esther Rantzen makes a surprise judge cameo), it was shot on the fly without permits in the London tourist trap and written off by most contemporary critics as low-rent trash. But in rose-tinted nostalgia hindsight it really isn’t that bad and ticked all the disco boxes while featuring future stars and Oscar-winners like Brenda Fricker, Clarke Peters, Patti Boulaye and David Easter and, even more importantly, an absolutely terrific soundtrack from pop heavyweights and ace session singers who recorded with the likes of Elton John and Donna Summer. So let’s hear it for ‘The Dilly’, ‘Disco Dancer’ and ‘Ready For Love’.

Discomania by Alan Jones is published by Fab Press