Buffalo Celebrates Its Disco Heritage

Joyce Kryszak (06/07/2002)

BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) - From chicken wings to Frank Lloyd Wright, Buffalo holds fame nationwide. But did you know that Buffalo also helped put Disco on the map? A locally produced 1970s dance show, called Disco Step By Step, was the world's first television show devoted to the then emerging disco craze.

And this fall, the show will take its rightful place in history as part of a new Disco exhibit at the Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle. A crew from EMP will be on hand in Buffalo Friday, collecting material for the exhibit, at the show's 25th reunion party at the Tralf. 

Long before John Travolta and the Village People, Buffalo was setting the stage for the coming dance phenomenon. In the early 70s, band manager Marty Angelo walked into Buffalo's Mulligan's Brick Bar and pushed an idea, that he'd seen work in bigger cities, on Mike Militello, the club's reluctant owner. 

"I said look it, let me just try it. Let me bring my equipment in and let me just try it," said Angelo. "So, I lugged in all this equipment from the band I was managing. I had their speakers, strung the wires around Mulligan's Allen Street Brick Bar there, and put two turntables back in the kitchen on this old wooden door, lugged in all my records, turned the thing on and blasted them with anything you couldn't hear on the jukebox that people were listening to on FM -- and the place went nuts!" 

That night gave birth to a succession of musical firsts to come for Angelo -- and for Buffalo. The first sound system in a local night club, the first DJ, the first disco, and then, the world's first disco TV show. In 1976, on a local access Cable channel, Angelo launched the humble, but dazzling TV show, called Disco Step by Step, predicting the discomania that would soon sweep the world. 

Marty Angelo was the creator, producer, DJ, and first host for what was to become a surprisingly popular TV show. The instructional dance show, featuring trained dancers, was taped at the former Executive's Club 747. Complete with stainless steel dance floor and soaring dance beats -- the show was an instant hit. 

And it wasn't long before the former WBEN Channel 4 latched on to the show's success. In the fall of 1977, Disco Step by Step went on the air with a host you might recognize. 

But Angelo, who remained the show's producer, says he never doubted the impact disco would have on American culture. 

"Then once it hit, all of a sudden, our show got thrust into the limelight, because everything was disco," said Angelo. "And there we were, we were sitting right on top of it, as the innovators and promoters of it. Then all the record companies started sending groups to Buffalo, they'd fly them in, they'd send us video tapes...I mean we had our pick and choose of who we wanted on that show." 

With guests like the Village People, the one hour show captured the highest ratings for its Saturday afternoon time slot. But there were really only two stars on the show -- the music and the dancing. 

Former DJ John Ceglia was one of the early and most successful masters of the two turntable mixing style. The goal was non-stop music, to keep dancers on the floor. And he says back then, there wasn't any computer sequencing to help keep the beat. 

"So you really had to know the music well. In bar four of this intro, this drummer slows down a little bit, so you have to slightly pitch it up, so your beats wouldn't sound like a train wreck," said Ceglia." 

Ceglia went on to become a club jock at some of the top discotheques, like New York's Studio 54. But he says the best thing disco did for him, was introduce him to his wife Darlene, who was a dance instructor on Disco step by Step. Teaching people how to master the complex hustle dancing was the show's trademark. Carol Kaplan, who is now a local TV news reporter, was one of the regular trained dancers on the show. The award winning journalist says it was glamorous...magical and she's proud of her disco memories. 

"People always love to make fun of disco. And you know what to me it's one of the best memories I have of my teenage years," said Kaplan. "People don't dance like that anymore. It's really become a lost art. To me, hey, you can say what you want about Disco, I wish those days were back again when people got dressed and went out dancing like that. I thought it was wonderful fun." 

Disco pioneer Marty Angelo says the word disco became taboo -- but the style keeps reinventing itself with new names like retro and techno. And this fall, Disco and Angelo's show get the respect they deserve. That's when the Experience Music Project in Seattle opens it's new exhibit - the disco room. Angelo says that should help set the record straight, letting people know what the disco scene was really all about. 

"Maybe we'll straighten history out a little bit," said Angelo. "When they look back at the 70s it won't be just polyester, it won't be just Afro wigs and high heel shoes." 

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