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The demise of disco was greatly accelerated by the cultural impact of the infamous Disco Demolition Night of 1979 in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. While rockers have used the word in a pejorative sense for years, DJs, artists, impresarios, and aficionados know that disco—both the genre and the subculture—not only has deep roots but has lived on under various aliases, inspiring the evolution of music and keeping people moving in various funky ways. Le freak, c’est toujours chic!

These are the ideas, plot points and storylines that Toronto filmmakers Omar Majeed (“Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam”) and Peter Mishara explore in their documentary feature “Disco’s Revenge,” which had its world premiere Thursday in Hot Docs’ Pop/Life strand.

The film, which screens again Friday, is set for release this year. Elevation Pictures will distribute it in Canada; Republic Pictures has acquired rights outside of Canada.

“Disco’s Revenge...

Madonna, the iconic “Queen of Pop,” stands at a height of 5ft 3 ¼ inches (160.7 cm) with a peak height of 5ft 4 inches (162.6 cm).

At the 2013 Billboard Music Awards held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 19, singer Madonna, whose peak height was 5ft 4 inches (162.6 cm), stood at 5ft 3 ¼ inches (160.7 cm) as she posed in the press room (Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock)

The Impact of Height in Celebrity Self-Perception: Madonna’s Perspective

She once mentioned feeling like a “shrimp” in an interview due to her height, although she believed it was average. For context, the average American woman typically has a height of around 5 feet 4 inches.

I’ve always wanted to be taller. I feel like a shrimp, but that’s the way it goes. I’m five-foot four-and-a-half-inches – that’s actually average. Everything about me is average. Everything’s normal, in the books. It’s the things inside me that make me not average.

Blondie was one of the seminal new wave bands of the 70′s, and their influence is still felt forty years after their introduction (they were inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame in 2006).

Debbie Harry‘s solo career has not reached the same heights as Blondie, but she remains a true rock icon. Today is her 69th birthday, so let’s celebrate with a look at some of her greatest songs, both solo and with Blondie.

This is a good place to start your Essential Debbie Harry Collection.

20. For Your Eyes Only

Year: 1981

Album: The Hunter

Chart Peak: N/A

“For Your Eyes Only” was originally written for the 1981 James Bond film, but the producers turned it down in favor of the Bill Conti song performed by Sheena Easton. Blondie decided to release their song on their ill-fated final album The Hunter. It’s understandable why they went with the Sheena song,...

Interesting news from St. Petersburg, Fl: The parents of Martin Burgoyne, an artist and Studio 54 bartender who was best friends with Madonna during her early career, are putting a trove of photos, art, and drawings featuring Lourdes’ mom on the auction block. Burgoyne died of AIDS in 1986 (He partly inspired Madonna’s song “In This Life” from Erotica), but he hung around with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and other legendary figures of the time.

There’s lots of interesting stuff in his collection. “Some are candid Polaroids of her making goofy faces with Burgoyne. Others are black and whites, intended for an album cover, of Madonna looking poised and fragile … and a full-color sketch for her ‘Burning Up’ Ep album cover. The image is totally ‘80s, all bright block colors. Madonna sports short hair and thick eyebrows.”

Let’s open this discussion up. What would you want from an early ’80s Madonna auction?...

The Shadow, the template for most of comic books’ mystery men, captured America’s imagination in radio and pulp magazines for decades. His paperback revival in the 1960s and 1970s (the latter with spectacular covers from Steranko) led to his brilliant portrayal by Denny O’Neil and Michael William Kaluta in the short-lived DC Comics adaptation. Currently, he’s cutting down the weed of crime for Dynamite Entertainment but this overlooked gem of a film is worth a look. Here are the official details:

Who knows what evil lurks in the shadow of men? The Shadow knows! Adapted from the long-running classic radio program and Walter B. Gibson’s popular pulp fiction, legendary crime-fighting superhero The Shadow comes to life in the 1994 film adaptation The Shadow, starring Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) from visionary filmmaker Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction, Highlander). Brimming with non-stop action and suspense, this wildly entertaining cinematic adventure...

Long story short: Madonna began performing "Give It 2 Me" at Madison Square Garden, welcomed onstage a special guest, and suddenly she was headlong into a duet of "Gangnam Style" with the song's maestro, Psy. Take a look:

First things first: Madonna can dance. She is damn athletic, and even if she's not exactly the provocative thruster and twirler that we remember from American Bandstand, she's got moves. Now, this duet.

You just hate to see Madonna sharing a stage with ephemeral pop phenomena. It felt contrived enough when she equipped Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., two fame-worthy and original stars, for "Gimme All Your Luvin," but Psy? Psy is the Los Del Rio of 2012, except his music is a sped-up Dance Dance Revolution aerobics mix. Here's where it ranks on my list of Madonna duets, ranked great to awful. (Pardon if I've forgotten any obvious ones.)

1. With Jellybean Benitez,...

Here is last week's caption pic winner. This week's caption pic is at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner is ...

"Ann take a note: This is how you do dressage."

Thanks to Donald for this week's winning caption!

Weekend Birthdays! (Note: Birthday shoutouts are for out entertainers, allies, or for any celeb that seems to have a following on Ae). Kip Pardue (above) is 36, Stephen King is 65, Bill Murray is 62, Faith Hill is 45, Ricki Lake is 44, Allison Scagliotti is 22, Toni Basil is 69, Joan Jett is 54, Ani Difranco is 42, and Bonnie Hunt is 51. Battlestar Galactica’s Ron Moore to adapt A Knight’s Tale as drama project for ABC. In ratings news, Glee was down 6% from last week, and if you're a fan of NBC's Up All Night, you'd better enjoy it while it lasts. The season premiere was down 46% from last year's premiere. George Clooney...

Ever wanted to hear Joy Division’s “Isolation” reinterpreted as grinding Latin disco-rock? Try “Illumination,” the opening song on Kick, the latest album by veteran Chilean punk band Panico. Recorded in Franz Ferdinand’s Glasgow studio for the seminal Scot-indie label Chemikal Underground, Kick is a consistently stunning hybrid of funky dance music and moody post-punk—like early Santana remixed by the members of Esg, or like Jellybean Benitez taking on U2’s Boy—and “Illumination” sets the tone, with terse, Bernard Sumner-style guitar-plucking and giddy yelps set over a clattering industrial beat. Panico has moved through dozens of varieties ...