During the 1970s, many people were saved out of disco to become Christian believers. Few would have thought that people could ever be saved into disco. Times have changed, though, and no Christian worship industry executive, pastor or theologian could have predicted the meteoric rise of a new type of worship music churches are currently using throughout the U.S.: Disco Worship.
Disco Worship Fast Approaching Pop Worship in Popularity
According to spokesperson Sergio Vandermaas of CRLI (Christian Royalties and Licensing Incorporated), the company that tracks worship song popularity and pays royalties to artists, CRLI has added several Disco Worship songs to their top song playlist and may even add a new Disco Worship category to their other category—Pop Worship—for tracking song usage. “Over the last few months, Disco Worship has been the hottest type of worship all over America. None of us saw that coming,” noted Vandermaas, who said many of the original artists of the disco songs are a little embarrassed that churches are using their songs, but are appreciative of the royalty checks. Vandermaas noted how the royalties had helped Harry Casey, better known as ‘KC’ of the Sunshine Band, through a hard time: “Harry was grateful for his royalty checks because he said he had fallen and broken his hip a few years ago while singing “Shake Your Booty” at a concert at the Kokomo (Indiana) Knights of Columbus Hall. The royalties check helped with his ongoing medical expenses from an arthritic hip. Casey also told Vandermaas, “If this church thing takes off, I might finally be able to retire.”
The Evolution of Disco Worship: The Beat Goes On
When Vandermaas was asked why churches are embracing Disco Worship, he explained, “We’ve been watching worship music evolve as the lyrics have become less important and not all that well written. The beat has become the defining element of modern worship songs, and that is disco’s strength. So what you have now are extended play disco songs being tweaked into worship songs.” The result? Vandermaas, a thin, wiry baby boomer who used to be a disco lover himself, jumped up and exclaimed, “People just want to get up off of that THANG and worship until they feel better!”
Disco Worship Not Without Its Critics
Despite Vandermaas’s positive analysis, not everyone is convinced Disco Worship is a good—or God—thing. Hans Hummergraf, an outspoken critic of Disco Worship on his nationally syndicated “Bible Answerguy” program, says “having people stand for these lengthy songs with banal, repetitive lyrics is a technique of occult, weakening people until they are vulnerable to altered states of consciousness. Besides, most of the songs are hard to sing. My congregation tried the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever,” which is now about Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law from night sweats, but we just couldn’t hit those high falsettos like the Bee Gees could.”
CRLI Top 20 List Reveals Disco Invasion
Despite Hummergraf‘s concerns, Disco Worship continues to grow in popularity. On the CRLI list of the Top 20 Worship Songs in U.S. churches for January 2006, seven are Disco Worship songs (in bold below):
- Shake Your Bible by K.C. & The Sunshine Band
- How Great Is Our God by Chris Tomlin
- Stayin’ Alive by Bee Gees
- Mighty To Save by Reuben Morgan
- Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) by Chris Tomlin
- Worshiplicious by Destiny’s Child
- Get Down Tonight by KC and the Sunshine Band
- Come Now Is The Time To Worship by Brian Doerksen
- Play That Disco Worship, White Boy by Wild Cherry
- Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman
- Worship Inferno by The Trammps
- I Could Sing of Your Love Forever by Martin Smith
- Your Grace Is Enough by Matt Maher
- Worship Orship Orship by A Taste of Honey
- Trading My Sorrows by Darrell Evans
- Holy Is The Lord by Chris Tomlin
- (Jesus Is My) Macho Man by Village People
- Better Is One Day by Matt Redman
- Don't Take Away The Worship by Tavares
- Days of Elijah by Mark Robin
The list below provides an explanation of how these classic disco songs were changed to make them more worshipful.
1. Shake Your Bible (Shake Your Booty - K.C. & the Sunshine Band)
This classic disco song is now a red-hot worship song! Churches finally have a song that encourages believers to "shake shake shake" their Bibles, not their booties, in the air, a practice long encouraged by pastors and guest evangelists.
3. Stayin’ Alive (Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees)
Probably the most popular disco song of all time may very well end up as the most popular Disco Worship song of all time as it climbs the chart. The worship version of this song retains the signature, thumping bass line of the original, but the lead character of the song is no longer the sassy “dancin’ man” but the abrupt, purpose-driven “Christian man” with the new lyric:
"Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I’m a godly man, no time to talk . . . "
Otherwise, the song’s lyrics required little editing to make it worshipful as the original version had many Christian elements. For example, the song ponders the ungodly, liberal influence of the media in the line:
"We can try to understand
The New York Times’ effect on man.
And the atmosphere of a Holy Ghost revival is clearly described when the song exclaims:
Feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’,
And we’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive. "
6. Worshiplicious (Bootylicious – Destiny’s Child)
Although this song’s original version dates to 2001, Vandermaas classifies it as Disco Worship because of its “urban” feel, another characteristic of Disco Worship. The new lyrics portray a confident Christian woman taunting her stiff, rigid Episcopalian boyfriend because he is not ready to worship at her Charismatic church, where the song’s chorus states that the worship is worshiplicious:
"I don't think you ready for this royal worship jelly
Is our church too worshiplicious for ya baby?"
7. Get Down Tonight (Get Down Tonight – KC and the Sunshine Band)
Churches have taken to the rewritten chorus of this song, “Do a little dance, worship a little God, get down tonight,” but it has stirred debate among worship scholars, who disagree on whether this song results in a diminished view of God. “The adjective little clearly modifies God and creates real problems for those who view God as an infinite, omnipotent Creator,” said John Westerland, Professor of New Testament at Biola University. Susan Nelson, Professor of Ecumenical Worship at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, disagrees: “It seems obvious to me that little in this song functions as an adverb meaning brief, or short in duration. We do our dance briefly; we worship God briefly. I mean, these activities are so physically demanding in Disco Worship that a person can only sustain them briefly anyway.” Regardless of the debate, disco worshippers love to sing this song.
9. Play That Disco Worship, White Boy (Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry)
This grinding, funky disco classic is now a heartwarming story of redemption, with the main protagonist (“White Boy”) being redeemed from secular boogie music to disco worship, as indicated in the rewritten line “Lay down your boogie and play that disco worship till you die!”
11. Worship Inferno (Disco Inferno) – The Trammps
This is one of the more controversial disco worship songs because of the word “mother” in the song’s chorus, “Burn baby burn, worship inferno, burn baby burn, burn that mother down.” Conservative critics believe the word mother is short for a curse word and refuse to sing this song. Many worship leaders point out, however, that in Revelation 17, the woman sitting on the beast is called the “mother of prostitutes,” so those churches use this song as a way to engage their congregations in spiritual warfare. In churches that practice extreme spiritual warfare, they transition from “Worship Inferno” into the refrain, “We're gonna turn this mother out!” from the Parliament classic, “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker.
14. Worship Orship Orship (Boogie Oogie Oogie – A Taste of Honey)
The original “Boogie Oogie Oogie” is now a song encouraging people to worship until they “just cain’t worship no more!” Most worshippers fail to realize the song really doesn’t say anything in either the original or the new version, although many worship leaders point out that this is a song “to be felt rather than understood.”
17. (Jesus Is My) Macho Man (Macho Man –Village People)
Apparently first sung at a Wild at Heart Boot Camp event, this song identifies Jesus as the macho man. Churches that sing this song report dramatic increases in the number of men who attend the church and a distinctly more “masculine” worship atmosphere.
19. Don't Take Away the Worship (Don't Take Away the Music) – Tavares
The classic “Don’t Take Away the Music (It’s the only thing I’ve got)” has been revised to identify how many young people in churches across America feel about the importance of worship in their churches. However, churches with an older, senior population prefer the alternate version, “Don’t Take Away the Hymnbook.” CRLI has reported a few fundamentalist churches in the South and Texas singing this disco classic as “Don’t Take Away the Sermon,” but that version does not appear to be catching on.
What’s the Future of Disco Worship in American Churches?
With the surprising explosion of Disco Worship into American churches, the question remains, “Is this for real or is it just another church fad?” Most worship-industry insiders are cautious about its long-term prospects, including Vandermaas. However, several disco groups are riding the current wave as far as it will take them, and are in preliminary discussions about a Disco Worship World Tour and a Disco Worship reality television series. When asked what he thought about the Disco Worship explosion, Harry Casey summed it up best: “I never really thought of disco music as spiritual, you know, but I’m starting to see how God does work in mysterious ways. It seems to me that God has given me a new gig, so don’t be surprised if you see KC and the S-o-n-shine Band at a church near you.”