American Entertainment 1978: New York Night Fever

Chapter 99 Mixed Recipe

"Of course," Zeke replied confidently, the revelation he received from Michelle that day, the song "Carnival," flashing through his mind.

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This short song, less than two minutes long, has no accompanying music video and is somewhat rough in production. It seems to be a niche experimental work buried by a record company, and is most likely a hidden gem by some unknown singer in later generations, which no one will pay attention to or promote.

But it was precisely this unassuming piece that allowed Zik to vaguely see the future evolution of the music scene.

This song has a beautiful melody and a unique style. It is elegant yet subtly crazy, completely different from the current mainstream music scene, and it blends a wide variety of musical styles.

During this period, Zik carefully analyzed the arrangement logic of this apocalyptic piece and was very confident in his judgment.

The song is based on the framework of traditional American narrative folk. The chord progressions and narrative singing style of the verses are all in the most orthodox folk style. Accompanied by acoustic instruments, mainly piano and acoustic guitar, it retains the clean and simple unplugged texture of folk.

The rhythmic arrangement and multi-layered vocals of the chorus absorb the essence of folk rock. It lacks the roughness of heavy distortion but has the unique driving force of rock sections. Paired with a highly repetitive hook chorus, it follows the mature creative logic of rock fusion folk in the 1970s.

Qi Ke felt that the song could be categorized as pop, but its core was a rock-infused folk song.

But the song's stylistic blend goes far beyond that; it also subtly incorporates disco, country music, and even has a touch of what he calls "new wave."

The bass drum is a simplified version of disco 4/4 stable quarter rhythm, which forms the rhythmic framework of the whole song;

The fingering of the guitar and the simple chord progressions carry a strong flavor of American Southern country music.

Meanwhile, the intro's pauses, cool piano reverb, and ethereal humming, while not using synthesizers as extensively as "Sweet Dreams," create a strikingly similar atmosphere: cool, clean, sophisticated, and undisturbed.

If we delve deeper, we can see echoes of gospel singing and European theatrical chansons—multi-layered harmonies, choral arrangements with hummed choruses: the song title "CarnivaI" (Carnival), a mysterious and dark allegorical atmosphere, and a melody with dramatic twists and turns reminiscent of European small-theater chansons.

It has a trendy exterior, a rock core, folk texture, disco rhythm, country arrangement, and is embellished with gospel and European chanson. It is an extreme blend, yet also an extreme harmony.

This song greatly inspired Zeke, making him convinced that fusion is the future direction of pop music.

Neil thought for a moment, then smiled and patted Zeke's arm: "Great, I look forward to you guys going further down this path and coming up with more new things in disco."

"We will."

Zick wasn't surprised by Neil's reaction. After all, Casablanca already had enough disco artists, and the scene was too homogenized. It was certainly a good thing to have a new direction.

"There's one more thing. Are you interested in attending the New York premiere of 'Friday Night Fever' on the 19th? You could help out and lend a hand. If you need anything in the future, the others on this project will benefit from it. Also, people from Motown Records will be there, so you can make some connections in the Black music industry," Neil asked.

Zeke knew that the company had planned three major premieres for this highly anticipated disco-themed movie: the first at the 54 Club in New York, the second at its home venue in Los Angeles, both featuring top-notch red carpets and grand parties; and the final grand finale in San Francisco, attracting national attention and a gathering of celebrities.

"I'm going back to New York anyway, no problem," Zeke nodded.

He was just about to go back and settle accounts with Jacques Morali.

Attending the premiere would also give him a chance to vent his anger. Previously, when Tino's friends wanted to contact him, this guy hid in Club 54, and this time he could walk in openly and legitimately.

The members of Spiders exchanged glances, then politely declined, saying, "We won't go to New York. We need to focus on writing and preparing our debut album. But we'll still be there for the Los Angeles show."

“Sure.” Neil didn’t insist, and turned to Larry Harris beside him. “Larry, why don’t you go to New York to keep an eye on things? They need a high-level executive there to deal with those guys in Motown.”

Larry rolled his eyes, looking helpless. "Please, Neil, Candy's due date is coming up soon, and I want to spend more time with her."

"Wow, Larry, you're going to be a dad? Congratulations!"

Zik, Tino, Marco, and their group all offered their congratulations, and Larry beamed with joy.

"Thanks." Larry showed a rare hint of tenderness. "Candy's due date is early next month, and she's been a bit nervous these past few days, so I haven't been sleeping well either."

Neil waved his hand nonchalantly, "Simple, why don't you just bring Candy back to New York with you? The private hospitals there have more reliable medical resources, and your parents can help take care of her. Plus, there's Bill Wadlow. After the disco competition recording tomorrow, you can all set off together. You need to keep an eye on him, and also have Zeke talk to him."

Larry nodded helplessly: "Fine, you're the boss. Zeke, you're flying to New York with me the day after tomorrow."

Zeke also wanted to ask who Neil Bill Wardlow and Mo Austin were, or if Larry knew whether it was a boy or a girl, so he could prepare a gift.

But with the film's release imminent and countless tasks to handle, Neil and Larry still had a ton of film promotion matters to deal with after finalizing their schedules and work. They quickly gave a few words of advice and then turned to leave.

Their segment was already recorded, so there was nothing more for Zeke and the Spiders to do backstage.

The Spiders decided to go out and celebrate, while Zeke went back to the dressing room. He wanted to wait for Judy to finish watching the entire episode before they went back together.

He sat down on the sofa and started chatting with Tino.

"Is Motown also a producer of this movie?" Zeke asked. He had only just found out about this. He had never met anyone from Motown since he joined Casablanca, but that might be because he rarely went to the film and television department.

Motown Records is practically the representative label of Black Soul/R&B, having signed artists such as Steve Wonder and Marvin Gay.

Diana Ross, the Jackson Five, and many other artists were known in the industry as the "Sound of Motown." They dominated the Black music market for nearly two decades and had a very deep-rooted foundation.

"They also set up a film division and collaborated with Casablanca's film and television department on this movie. And disco, too, was originally played by black people," Tino said, then sneered, "Ha, they're having the same idea as Neil, trying to break into Hollywood."

"Unfortunately, this path is basically hopeless for them. After all, Hollywood is Italian and Jewish territory. Neil can make it this way, but Berry Gordy? A black man? They have absolutely no chance of getting a seat at the table—"

"Hollywood is Italian and Jewish territory? What do you mean by that? I've never heard of such a thing." Tino's words immediately piqued Zik's interest, and he asked curiously.

"You'll understand when you've climbed higher in life," Tino said with a mysterious smile.

"You're keeping me in suspense?" Zeke rolled his eyes. "Just tell me, you've got nothing better to do."

He knew very well that even if Tino was down on his luck, he was still someone who had mingled in the top circles with the Sinatra family in his early years, and his vision and understanding were far beyond his own. These deep-seated undercurrents in the industry were completely untraceable to outsiders; they could only be heard about in detail from the older generation within the circle.

Tino flicked his cigar ash and said slowly, "Okay, Zeke, have you ever thought about where the funding came from for the major studios, agencies, and even the industry unions that made Los Angeles and California film meccas during Hollywood's golden age, that era of cinematic explosion?"