FROM THE CRATES
The heady days when disco was in the Limelight from the crates Kelly McCoy is a veteran Atlanta broadcaster who writes about the days popular music only came on vinyl records, which often were stored in crates. If you were in Atlanta in the late 1970s and early 1980s I’m guessing you sampled the disco scene. Getting all fine and spiffy in the best dancing garb you had, and hitting the clubs always provided a night of sights, sounds, and strutting your stuff in a different way. We were still a relatively small city back then, but anyone wanting a taste of the disco nightlife had ample choices for places to shake your groove thing. Yes, I used the title of a disco song. The big name in town was undeniably The Limelight. We had many fun nights there, at Jeryls Night Club, and Club 2001 VIP. Being on the radio we did appearances with contests, emceed events, and sometimes the DJ may let us mix for a minute. We could make some pretty good coin for doing a twohour gig. On WQXI, we had a Saturday Night Disco party, and we even had billboards that said, “Listen to Your Feet.” The soundtrack for the movie “Saturday Night Fever” gave us some of the best ratings we’d ever had. If you’ll look at the list of Top 40 hits the soundtrack produced, you’ll understand why. Every place had a disco ball. Combine the thumping music with a mixture of colognes and
18
perfumes, cigarette smoke, sounds of laughter and a good time, and outfits so outrageous we had no idea that the wardrobes would be providing Halloween costume ideas for decades to come. As usual, there are always great dancers, and John Travolta’s dancing in “Saturday Night Fever” provided plenty of inspiration for moves most couldn’t make. And the serious lady dancers with short skirts and toned legs were amazing partners. Lighted dance floors in some places added another element of glitz and glamour. Jeryls Disco was s happening place in the prime-time disco days. Jeryls was in an office park in Cobb County not terribly far from a couple of popular apartment communities located on the Chattahoochee that were
MARCH 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com
Former WQXI radio employee, Tom Sullivan, wears a T-shirt promoting the music the station played when disco and dancing were the thing.
home to singles and young professionals who loved to party. Quite a few of our onair personalities were regulars on the scene and contributed to bringing in more clients with various events and promotions. Also housed in the same office park were a few record company
facebook.com/AtlantaSeniorLife
