Review: Playboy’s 1979 Roller Disco & Pajama Party Captivates and Reminds of Bygone Era and Budding Star Dorothy Stratten - Page 4

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One might argue that Stratten’s death also marked the beginning of the slow demise of Playboy magazine.  Stratten was on the cusp of legitimizing Playboy as a launching pad for movie careers.  Instead, her death triggered a public war of words between Hefner and grief-stricken Bogdanovich, which Hefner blamed for causing him to suffer a stroke.  Once the diminished Hefner relinquished control of the company to his more buttoned-down daughter, its artistic vision was lost.  The cultivated Christy Hefner could speak Wall Street’s language with eloquence, but she did not have her father’s vision.  It is hard to believe that Playboy’s girl-next-door aesthetic would have been abandoned so completely under its founder’s watchful eye.  The breast implanted bimbos that have appeared in the magazine in recent decades would have been a shock to the Hefner at the Roller Disco/Pajama Party.  (Perhaps this transformation of the magazine also is partly a reflection of our times.)

Some quick words of caution before watching the four pieces on YouTube -- linked below for your viewing.  First, only one generous person has posted these (with original commercials and amusing snark from a local news reporter).  Hopefully, Google’s evil computers will not deactivate the videos for copyright reasons by the time your read this.  (There is a lot of copyrighted music.) 

A smaller issue: I’m not a fan of the second opening song – Sunset People by Donna Summer.  Just be patient and admire the beauty of the images onscreen.  Some of the music is quite good.  Disco is far better pop music than what exists today.  Makin’ It is a gem that anyone under 50 probably has never heard before. 

Finally, the video resolution is not great but it’s good enough.  Let’s just be grateful this remarkable timepiece is preserved for us.  Please enjoy.

Song List:

1. Pinball Playboy Theme by Cook County
2. Sunset People by Donna Summer
3. Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione
4. Have a Cigar by Pink Disco Queen
5. Bad Girls by Donna Summer
6. Ring My Bell by Anita Ward
7. Pump It Up by Fever
8. Move On Up by Destination
9. Come to Me by France Joli
10. Come to Me by France Joli (Instrumental)
11. Heaven Must Have Sent You by Bonnie Pointer
12. Rock & Roll Is Back Again by Village People
13. Makin' It by David Naughton
14. Happy Radio by Edwin Starr
15. Ready for the 80's by Village People
16. Land of Make Believe by Chuck Mangione