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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 28, 2007

Get down and disco into the new year

By Stacy Downs
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Dust off your disco ball and invite your best Bee Gees-lovin' pals to dress in their shiniest duds. It shouldn't be a stretch: Cocktail rings and metallic shoes are as white-hot as John Travolta's wide-lapel suit in "Saturday Night Fever."

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DISCO PLAYLIST

"Stayin' Alive," the Bee Gees

"Fifth of Beethoven," Walter Murphy

"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," Leo Sayer

"Got to Be Real," Cheryl Lynn

"Boogie Oogie Oogie," Taste of Honey

"Le Freak," Chic

"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," the Four Seasons

"We Are Family," Sister Sledge

"Shame," Evelyn "Champagne" King

"(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty," KC and the Sunshine Band

"YMCA," Village People

"Last Dance," Donna Summer

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DISCO DRINK

John Travolta's character regularly ordered a Seven and seven at the disco in "Saturday Night Fever." Let it be your party's signature cocktail.

2 ounces Seagram's 7 whiskey

7-Up or other lemon/lime soda

Ice

Lemon wedge for garnish

Pour Seagram's 7 into a highball glass filled with ice. Top it off with 7-Up. Garnish with lemon wedge.

Source: cocktails.about.com

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Celebrate 2008 by partying like it's 1978.

Dust off your disco ball and invite your best Bee Gees-lovin' pals to dress in their shiniest duds. It shouldn't be a stretch: Cocktail rings and metallic shoes are as white-hot as John Travolta's wide-lapel suit in "Saturday Night Fever."

We'll show you how to dance the night away to ring in the new year.

  • Invitations: If you don't have time to make your own invitations, check out the free ones at dressthatman.com /pages/discoPARTY/DISCO invitations.htm. The downloadable templates feature platform shoes and disco balls and even give guests tips on costumes. You can print them on any kind of paper, but a metallic silver paper definitely has the right sparkle factor.

  • Costumes: Look to "Saturday Night Fever" for inspiration.

    "When anybody thinks of that era, you think of that movie," says Kevin Kinkead, co-owner of Boomerang, in Kansas City, Mo., which rents and sells 1970s-era clothing and accessories. Men were the definite peacocks of the disco era with their shiny shirts, tight polyester pants and platform shoes.

    And don't forget the gold chains.

    Ladies in the days of disco often wore sheer chiffon-style ankle-length dresses. "People don't realize the dresses were on the drab side," Kinkead said.

    Dresses can be glammed up with shimmery sheer pantyhose, metallic shoes and glitzy jewelry. Many women attending disco parties go for their interpretation of the era instead of the reality, wearing glittery tops and bell bottoms. And some men wear reproduction shirts because they're flashier, too.

  • Atmosphere: At least one disco ball is required.

    Or, again, you can look to "Saturday Night Fever" for inspiration. Because the famous dance floor cost so much, the filmmakers saved money on the rest of the club set by decorating the walls with colorful blinking Christmas lights and aluminum foil.

    But don't try to re-create the film's dance floor. Instead, play the movie on your TV (set to mute because there are some sad scenes) and admire the flashing colorful squares in the background.

    Hand out sports whistles on strings, aka disco whistles, as party favors. Guests can wear them around their necks and blow them to the disco beat as they dance, as they did back in the day.

  • Camcorder alert: Hold a contest to see whose strut best resembles John Travolta's in the opening scene of "SNF." Make sure "Stayin' Alive" is cranked on the stereo.

    Lower the disco ball and throw confetti when the clock strikes midnight. Play "Last Dance" by Donna Summer as an unsubtle cue that it's time for guests to ease on down the road.

    Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.