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Discomania
Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them
by Alan Jones
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Book Presentation:
Discomania is a large format 450-page full-colour extravaganza of Disco, Punk & Cinema.
Do you believe in Mirrorballs? Alan Jones always has and DISCOMANIA remains his only lifestyle choice, punctuating actions and emotions throughout his entire existence. Everything he has ever felt has been written in Disco.
But Jones was also one of the original Punks, working for British designer icon Vivienne Westwood in her World’s End boutique SEX, a DJ for Malcolm McLaren’s revolutionary band the Sex Pistols at their formative gigs, and appeared in their biopic The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. Not to mention his landmark, front-page ‘Naked Cowboy’ T-shirt arrest, his role in the infamous ‘God Save the Queen’ Jubilee Boat Party and his close friendship with neighbor Sid Vicious.
So why did he also embrace the strobe-lit glamour and glitz of the thrilling Disco movement?
Through 100-plus deluxe reviews of his all-time top Disco movies from 1973 to the present day, the international film critic, broadcaster, festival organiser and pioneering horror journalist reveals all – about his life, loves and scandals in the two exciting musical genres that have marked his extraordinary Dance Card.
Sure, you know Saturday Night Fever, The Bitch, Thank God It’s Friday, Xanadu, 54, and Can’t Stop the Music. But what about White Pop Jesus, Podium, La discoteca del amor, Don’t Go in the House, Brigade mondaine, The Face with Two Left Feet, and Bet on My Disco?
Why is this little-explored, often maligned, yet exhilarating pop enclave so important culturally? What keynote and classic Disco songs of the Golden Era do they feature? What do the author’s chosen favourite Disco icons think of their own work in innovatively contouring the inspiring four-to-the-floor sonic landscape? And what Punk memories does this unprecedented and highly original appraisal evoke, one going way beyond the velvet ropes and epitomizing the Disco zeitgeist?
With a Foreword by S’Express frontman Mark Moore, from First Choice to ‘Last Dance’ – You’ll Love the Night Life!
About the Author:
Alan Jones is co-curator of FrightFest, the UK’s biggest horror and fantasy film event. A renowned expert on Disco, Punk and Horror, Jones has written numerous books, including Dario Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic, The FrightFest Guide to Exploitation Movies, The FrightFest Guide to Grindhouse Movies, and Starburst: The Complete Alan Jones Film Reviews 1977-2008.
Press Reviews:
"Courageous and outrageous" -Jon Savage, The Guardian, 12 March 2025
"Alan Jones – the Oracle of Horror, Punk and Disco" -S’Express frontman and DJ mega-star Mark Moore
"Alan Jones – probably the first punk" -Club promoter Graham Ball, quoted in ‘Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics’ by Dylan Jones (Faber & Faber, 2020)
See the publisher website: FAB Press
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