SoHo vs. Disco, 1975: Vince Aletti's The Disco Files 1973-78: New York's Underground, Week By Week

Vince Aletti, recently a long-serving editor at this paper, was an early and avid chronicler of the rise of disco in New York City in the early, mid, and late 1970s. In articles like the one above, "SoHo vs. Disco," from the June 16, 1975 Village Voice, Aletti was one of the first to write about characters like David Mancuso and his now much-rhapsodized-about club, the Loft. He authored the supposed first piece ever on disco, in 1973, in Rolling Stone, and throughout the decade he'd supplement his reporting for the Voice with incredibly detailed, minutiae-filled pieces for Record World and other outlets. Now, Zoilus brings the news that DJhistory.com is bringing out a book, called The Disco Files 1973-78: New York's Underground, Week By Week, which reprints Aletti's dispatches from the era, including, apparently, reviews of over 2000 records. There are also replicas of what look to be drink tickets, flyers, invites, actual scans of 45s, and scores of playlists from contemporary DJs. One random one from Larry Levan, from some night at 84 King Street: "Blood and Honey," by Amanda Lear; "Bourgie Bourgie," by Ashford & Simpson; "Deeper" by New Birth; "I Got to Have Your Love," by Fantastic Four; "I'm Here Again," by Thelma Houston; "Locked in This Position," by Barbara Mason and Bunny Sigler; "Say You Will," by Eddie Henderson; "Speak Well," by Philly USA; and "Your Love Is So Good For Me," by Diana Ross. Find the book and a good handful of free PDFed pages at DJhistory.com.