Saturday Night Fever Released, Travolta and Bee Gees Rule Universe
Break out the polyester suits, guys
“Would ya just watch the hair? Ya know, I work on my hair a long time and you hit it. He hits my hair.” — Tony Manero
At first, all you see are highly-shined shoes and swishing black flared pants strutting down a New York City street in perfect rhythm to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” Then the camera pans up to a swinging paint can held by an impossibly cocky and good-looking young man. He is 19-year-old Tony Manero, hardware store employee by day, the undisputed king of the 2001 Odyssey disco at night.
Saturday Night Fever, which opened in theaters on December 16, 1977, told the story of Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, who escaped the harsh realities of his life — dead-end job, crummy family life, loser friends, unrequited love — by wowing ’em at the disco with his killer dance moves. He did it in a pristine white polyester suit to one of the best movie soundtracks of all time, making disco a worldwide phenomenon.
The movie and its soundtrack both proved to be incredibly successful. The tie-in single (“Stayin' Alive”) was released before the film to drum up interest, and the movie bolstered sales of the soundtrack when it hit the shelves, which turned out to be one of the top-selling albums…
