The given comparison assessment will primarily focus on Stacy Lattisaw’s disco song of 1980 called Dynamite and The Brothers Johnson’s Stomp! In terms of lyrics, the former piece focuses on love and dancing, whereas the latter one particularly emphasizes partying. Both performances call for a certain level of celebration, and the appeal is made for younger audiences. In the case of the melodies, they are highly similar with slightly different connotations and rhythmic properties. For example, Stacy Lattisaw’s disco song between 01:00 and 01:25 utilizes a strong accentuation on a string instrument with prominent use of percussion (RBsound Holland, 2014). A similar melody can be observed in The Brothers Johnson’s Stomp! between 00:15 and 00:40, where the string instruments draw the attention and make an emphasis, and percussion instruments set the dynamic (BrothersJohnsonVEVO, 1980). These segments of the songs are highly similar and typical of the disco music of the 1980s, with the difference can be found only in subtle pacing changes.
Therefore, the forms of these songs are also variant due to the artist’s personal creativity and choices. The string instruments sometimes are used to make the performance more dynamic and active, where they set the key emphasis or transition point. In this regard, one might state that form is similar to alterations in song duration and performers’ pacing. In addition, it is important to analyze the production values of the selected songs, where Stacy Lattisaw’s disco song can be described as a simpler product and The Brothers Johnson’s Stomp! is unique and complex, which made the latter a disco hit of the 1980s. Thus, the evident conclusion can be made by stating that 1980s disco songs share a similar core, and differences are subtle and performer-dependent.
References
BrothersJohnsonVEVO. (1980). The Brothers Johnson – Stomp! (official video) [Video]. Web.
RBsound Holland. (2014). Stacy Lattisaw – Dynamite (long version) HQsound [Video]. Web.