Roller disco - Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Evedawn99 (talk | contribs) at 15:32, 3 January 2025 (→Roller disco themed music: Creating a new Format section with a 1970s source.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 15:32, 3 January 2025 by Evedawn99 (talk | contribs) (→Roller disco themed music: Creating a new Format section with a 1970s source.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Skating rink for dancing on roller skates

A roller disco is a discothèque or skating rink where all the dancers wear roller skates of some kind (traditional quad or inline). The music played is modern and easily danceable; historically disco but in modern times including almost any form of dance, pop, house, R&B, or rock music. Roller discos often involve the usage of a disco ball.

Format

Traditionally, roller discos employ a live disc jockey and incorporate complex sound systems, lighting effects, neon lights, disco balls, and sometimes a separate illuminated dance floor.

As in other discos, Special effects such as Fog machines, sound systems, light systems, neon lights, and flashing traffic lights are often used.

History

The concept originated as a fad in the 1970s when the disco craze was at its height, peaking around 1980 and inspiring several roller-disco magazines. In 1984 the fad arrived in the United Kingdom and many roller discos popped up all over the country. As of 2006, the craze has largely discontinued, although many 1970s era roller-discos are still open and successful. Also, it experienced a mild revival in the early 2000s, especially in the mid-eastern United States, where certain clubs continue to host roller disco nights. Some now use in-line roller-blades. Roller discos are also popular among older children and young teenagers, especially for parties. To minimise the risk of injury, the organisers of roller discos often only allow participants to skate in one direction at a time so that they do not crash into one another, although many roller discos have a "free skate" section in the middle of the roller rink.

At the height of the disco craze in 1979, Billboard reported that there were an estimated "5,000 roller rinks in the U.S.," attracting "more than 28 million young American skaters". According to American record producer Ed Chalpin "99.9% of these rinks" were playing disco music specifically.

"Disco Dip", 1979 promotional song
Produced by Ed Chaplin, the song was "written and choreographed especially for use as a promotional tool" to popularize the concept of roller discos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6y_qm_XcWU

In 1979, Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay Roll-A-Palace was what Billboard called "a typical example" of a disco roller rink, hosting a variety of events and over 5,000 skaters per weekend during its peak popularity.

Roller disco themed music

The same year, Ed Chaplin produced and premiered a song titled the Disco Dip as a promotional tool to enhance interest in the roller disco hobby. The Kalamazoo News described Disco Dip as "the pioneering roller disco record", i.e., "the first roller disco record played in a skating rink". The song and dance debuted at Roll-A-Palace, in collaboration with preeminent nationwide disco station WKTU, after which a series of Disco Dip events, would follow. Written "especially for use as a promotional tool" to promote interest in the roller disco hobby, the dance/song/event was featured three times in Billboard:

A new dance, the disco dip, designed primarily for use at roller rink discos, will be debuted Tuesday at the Roll-A-Disco in Brooklyn. The dance, with music and lyrics by Ed Chalpin of PTX Enterprises, was written and choreographed especially for use as a promotional tool to stimulate interest in the concept of roller discos. The party is being sponsored jointly by WKTU-FM, New York's leading radio station, and the top disco station in the country, and the management of the Roll-A-Disco rink. WKTU is giving away 500 tickets to members of its listening audience.

However, composer Mark Winter of Astound-A Sound Productions of New Jersey claimed his song "Roller Palace" was published a day before Chalpin's product, thereby making "Roller Palace" the first roller disco-themed record.

21st century

In 2020, roller skating and roller discos experienced a resurgence in mainstream popularity across the Western world. The resurgence in popularity for roller skating and roller discos has coincided with a disco revival and a resurgence in other retro phenomena in 2020. Some companies selling roller skates in the US were reported to have sold out of roller skates due to high demand. The resurgence has been powered by social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat which have seen an increase of roller skating-related content. In Hobart, Australia, it was reported that the popularity of roller skating was at its highest since the 1980s. The media has suggested the resurgence in roller skating may be the result of people finding ways to entertain themselves and a form of escape as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in widespread lockdowns, curfews and restrictions across the world.

Gallery

Quad roller skates, produced in an unidentified year and pictured in 2002
Roller skaters at Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay Roll-A-Palace, 1979
A roller disco party at Madrid, Spain's La Casa Encendida, 2011

In popular culture

This section may contain irrelevant references to popular culture. Please help Misplaced Pages to improve this section by removing the content or adding citations to reliable and independent sources. (June 2022)

Film

Roller Boogie (1979), a film about roller disco
Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979) is set in a fictional Los Angeles area roller disco.
La Boum (1980) the main character Vic Sophie Marceau sneaks out to go to a roller disco called La main jaune.
Xanadu (1980), American film
Get Rollin' (1980), American documentary
Joe the King (1999), Independent Film. A scene takes place at a roller disco.
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) gives Goldmember a roller disco in 1975.
In Van Wilder (2002), the main character Van Wilder throws a roller disco party.
Roll Bounce (2005) has a roller disco competition in the plot.
ATL (2006)