One night in early 1976, Irish writer Nik Cohn took a taxi out to Bay Ridge neighborhood in Brooklyn. He was going to club 2001 Odyssey to learn more about the new dance/music craze disco. This was a big thing for Nik Cohn and for Disco. Nik Cohn was a legendary English writer whose writing influenced English musicians. It’s rumored that the Who’s “Pinball Wizard”, from Tommy was written due to Cohn. It’s also rumored that a novel from Cohn was the influence for David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. So, the legendary Nik Cohn coming to America was big for Cohn and with his influence, could also be big for Disco.
Disco was driven by the underclass in New York. The Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ who didn’t find themselves represented by the hippie flower power music of the late 60s or the singer-songwriter music of the early 1970s. Cohn had found out about the 2001 Odyssey club by a local disco dancer. After his visit that night, he came back to the neighborhood a few more times for some background material. And in July 1976, New York Magazine published “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”. The article was a hit. Not just the type of hit that has everyone reading it, but the type of hit that had movie producers coming and throwing money at Cohn for the rights.
Robert Stigwood was primarily a music executive who had started producing movies and he won the bidding. He had just signed a charismatic TV star to a three picture deal and brought in an Australian family band who were starting to make a comeback. And with this crew, John Travolta starred in Saturday Night Fever with music by the Bee Gees. The movie was a hit. The soundtrack an even bigger hit and the next few years were ruled musically by Disco and the Bee Gees.
But it was all a lie. Cohn stepped out of the cab and was promptly vomited on. He got back in the cab having only noticed “…a figure in flared crimson pants and a black body shirt”. Based off that one person’s look and a British Mod that Cohn had known growing up, he wrote the article. Every bit of it was a lie. And yet, over 40 years later, when people think of Disco. They think of the Bee Gees.
and John Travolta in his white suit.
During the German bombing of Britain in 1940, the British government told people that they should eat their carrots because it will help them see during the blackouts.
The government talked about how their fighter pilots are able to shoot down German fighters in the night due to their eating a lot of carrots.
People growing victory gardens grew so many carrots that by 1942, Britain had a “100,000 ton surplus of carrots”.
Only there was never any proof that carrots did anything for people’s vision. It was a story to hide the fact that the British Air Force had new radar technology that could see the German planes even in the dark. This allowed the Royal Air Force to have an advantage against the German fighters. But, this being wartime, they didn’t want to give away their secret. So the carrot story emerged. And it was so successful, that the carrot - vision link was still believed for years after people found out about radar.
The takeaway is that people connect to stories. Stories give people something to hang onto above and beyond the core idea. If you want to sell an idea or a change, then you need to provide a story. Why is this idea important, what will this change enable. And most importantly, what is life/work like as a result of this change. The idea is the starting point, the story will make the reality.