Denim Disco: December 2025

'' Everything about the 70's was the 40's, if you think about it.

People just don't realise it, but that's where all those wide

shoulders and platforms came from ''

Fashion designer / retailer Johnny Moke, quoted in The Look: Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion

by Paul Gorman

'' You have no idea what a phenomenon this swing thing was in Canvey

Island with kids dressed in 40's gear ''

DJ Chris Hill quoted in The Soul Survivors Magazine #12 - May 2008

In 1971 HAUTE COUTURE designer YVES SAINT LAURENT presented a spring - summer collection inspired by 1940's WARTIME FASHION. It included short dresses, square shouldered jackets and platform shoes. The show was criticised in the press, but the essence of the look was largely adopted by the public and helped to kick off a RETRO TREND that would have a huge influence on THE LOOK OF THE ERA

The influence was mirrored in menswear. TOMMY NUTTER and JOHNNY MOKE were both inspired by the era and had already produced 40's styled tailored jackets with wide lapels and wide legged trousers with turnups, NUTTER working in the salubrious setting of Saville Row and MOKE at a more down-at-heel location in Fulham. The look of GLAM also acquired a retro and tailored appearance when DAVID BOWIE wore a 40's inspired ice-blue suit, designed by FREDDIE BURRETTI for the '' LIFE ON MARS? '' video in 1972 and was pictured in another suit with flared trousers, turn ups and a box jacket on the rear sleeve of his '' PIN UPS '' LP the following year. The later was supplied by TOMMY ROBERTS from his CITY LIGHTS boutique in Covent Garden. The shop stocked a range of ' RETRO FUTURIST ' clothing for both sexes and was obviously popular with fans of Bowie as well as those of ROXY MUSIC who appeared in similarly styled stage wear designed by ANTONY PRICE

Tunes from the 40's SWING ERA were saw a revival in the U.S. Vocal group THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER included versions of GLEN MILLER's '' TUXEDO JUNCTION ' and THE INK SPOTS '' JAVA JIVE '' on their commercially successful LP for Atlantic records in 1975. The label was also home for BETTIE MIDLER who recorded covers of THE ANDREW SISTERS '' BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY '' and GLEN MILLER's '' IN THE MOOD '' . MIDLER was discovered at Manhattan's CONTINENTAL BATHS, an all gay venue where R&B vocal group THE POINTER SISTERS also performed. The group had adopted a 40's style look before recording the LP ''THAT'S A PLENTY'' in '74. On the LP they performed covers of COUNT BASIE's '' LITTLE PONY '' and DIZZY GILLESPIE's '' SALT PEANUTS ''

'' Unlike their older brothers and sisters who took pride in a pair

of dungarees, free-flowing unkempt hair and hang loose dances,

todays young people value sleek clothes, fancy high heeled shoes

and a more stylized, structured form of dancing ''

William Safire '' On The Hustle '' New York Times 1975

The New York DISCOTHEQUE scene had grown in popularity by the mid 70's, with many dances being held in large ballrooms previously used during THE BIG BAND ERA. The soundtrack became increasingly sophisticated in order to match this newly opulent environment. One of the biggest DISCO HITS '75 was ' ' THE HUSTLE '', which VAN McCOY composed after seeing LATINO ADOLESCENTS doing partnered dances with choreographed moves at a club in the SOUTH BRONX. Another was '' GET DANCIN' '' by DISCO-TEX & THE SEX-O-LETTES, a camp number with a RETRO FEEL that harked back to the BURLESQUE ERA. ESTHER PHILLIPS dance driven cover of '' WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES '' and '' SKYLINER '' by DON SEBESKY { a reworking of CHARLIE BARNET's 1945 SWING CLASSIC } continued this nostalgic trend

Back in the UK, DJ CHRIS HILL took things further when he began to regularly feature a selection of 40's SWING MUSIC during his night at THE GOLD MINE CLUB in CANVEY ISLAND. Hill was know for playing cutting edge SOUL, FUNK and DISCO, but the curveball worked and grew to be enormously popular. For a few months in 1975, the BRITISH MEDIA descended on the club to witness a new wave of SWING MANIA, with clubbers in 40's fashion dancing to ' THE HIT'S OF THE BLITZ '

HILL soon realised the SWING RECORDS distracted from his primary focus and returned to new releases, but the resulting publicity pushed up sales of vintage recordings and prompted the budget record label WARWICK to commission an LP of SWING CLASSICS. The talents of producer GORDON SMITH and arranger FREDDIE STAFF combined to produce what the sleeve notes described as ' the very best collection of swing music on one LP '. The traditional instruments were augmented with FUNK sounding ELECTRIC BASSLINES, OVERDRIVEN ELECTRIC GUITAR and DANCE FRIENDLY DRUMS that really cut through the mix and resulted in an interesting period piece. Like other WAWICK releases, the LP was advertised on TV in the UK and presumably shifted a few copies as it turns up in USED RECORD STORES and CHARITY SHOPS to this day

DENIM DISCO PRESENTS THE LP IN ENTIRETY - ALL ABOARD - THE SWINGING STEREO SENSATION!