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In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the disco craze swept the nation. Popularized by John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever”, it spread like a wild fire. The youth could not resist the lighted dance floors, many faceted mirrored disco balls, and the flashy outfits with massive lapels and ridiculously pointed collars. The disco craze became a national sport of sorts. Dances became duels to see who could out perform their opponent. Fans even used empty delivery vans and truck trailers for their dance fests. It’s contagious and once you have it, that’s it. You’re done for or so they say.

The disco costume is easily recognized. Some dead giveaways are greased hair, muttonchops, giant sideburns, polyester outfits, bell bottom suit pants, Afro’s, glitter eyeshadow, body glitter, and a ton of makeup. The dance clubs, studios, and trucks features see-through floors in which multi-colored lights flashed erratic, fast-paced strobe effects, quick enough to give a person a seizure. There were usually reflectors all over walls and ceilings to further add to the frenetic lighting, warming the already overheated dance palaces.

To replicate a good disco costume, get a copy of “Saturday Night Fever”, the classic disco movie of the time. Take a few notes and sketch out the look you want. Just remember, polyester is the quintessential fabric of the authentic disco costume.

If you’re an aspiring groovy guy, here are some guidelines. You need a suit with matching pants and jacket, in a solid color. Jackets require the giant, extra pointy lapels and are no longer than hip length. Oh yes, it’s imperative that the pants be wide bell bottoms. Shirts should contrast loudly with the suit color, with a greatly over sized collar which protrudes considerably over the jacket lapel. A vest under the jacket adds to the authentic disco costume look. Wow! Unless you’re an able seamstress, both suits and shirts must be ferreted out in retro shops, as you won’t find anything suitable at the mall. Greased hair, along with Afros were the best hair choices. If you’re not black, forget the Afro. Go for the grease. If your hair’s thin and not highly “greaseable”, purchase a wig in the Travolta style.

Now some tips for you hopeful foxy chickies. A tube top with lots of belly showing is the real thing. Tank tops will not do, a mortal sin of disco costume fashion. Hip hugger, bell bottom pants are de rigeur. Lots of large, colorful and admittedly gaudy jewelry, along with a lot of makeup is a must. Body glitter, anywhere and everywhere, brightly colored eyeshadow, thick fake eyelashes and shiny lip gloss are all necessary to your authentic disco costume. As for hair, chicks should choose either an Afro or a waist length pin straight wig. Oddly enough, women not of color look better in Afros than men, so take your pick. Before you walk out the door, both groovy guys and foxy chickies must complete their disco costume with platform shoes. Go get ‘em!

I find that waking up in the morning has become much much easier and more enjoyable since I bought an alarm clock cd player for myself. I used to just wake up to an alarm clock radio and that had it’s advantages. There was always an element of surprise in the morning. I never knew what music exactly there would be to wake me up, so the morning had a little bit of a thrill to it. Sometimes my alarm radio would wake me up with something mellow and slow, and I would begin my day in a state of relaxation, calmly going down to breakfast. Other times, it would be something loud and jangly, and I would find myself completely pumped before I got out of bed.

But, ultimately my alarm clock cd player is much better than that old clock radio. With a cd alarm clock, I can chose exactly what music I want to wake up to in the morning and that option simply can not be beat, no two ways about it. Oh, sure there is the chance that what I think will be enjoyable to wake up to turns out to be a dud once my alarm clock cd player clicks on with that distinctive click, but that chance is worth it. After all, I can always set my alarm clock cd player for a different song the next day if that is the case, so I always will have the choice of finding what it is that I like to hear, and listening to it first thing in the morning.

The best thing about my new alarm clock cd player is that it works as a good stereo system too. Anyone who has had an old clock radio knows exactly what I am about to talk about. They have this awful tiny sound, that comes from running on only one little tinny speaker. They are good for waking you up with that washed out, awful sound that is practically their trademark, but for nothing else. If, by contrast, you chose to use an alarm clock cd player, you get to wake up every morning to full, rich music which occupies the bass end of the spectrum as well as the treble. For an audiophile like me, there are no two ways about it. The choice is honestly very simple, as far as I am concerned.