Classic rock band Poco’s “Heart of the Night” pulled off a tricky genre fusion. It feels like it had an influence on Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile.” One of the songs is so much better than the other.
Poco’s ‘Heart of the Night’ combines rock and disco like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars would During the 1970s, two genres dominated the charts: soft rock and disco. It was inevitable that some artists would try to bridge that gap. In some cases, soft rock artists like The Eagles , Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney & Wings, and Elton John started making disco music.
Other acts tried to make songs that combined elements of soft rock and disco. Poco’s “Heart of the Night” did a good job of combining a soft rock core with some of the slick production of disco. It might be the best of Poco’s hits.
When Gaga decided to embrace soft rock for her Bruno Mars duet “Die with a Smile,” she also worked some disco into the mix. That’s not too surprising since dance music is her bread and butter. Listen to “Heart of the Night” and “Die with a Smile,” and you’ll hear two songs born out of the same musical sensibilities, even if they have distinct melodies and production.
Poco understood soft rock better than Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars The main difference between “Heart of the Night” and “Die with a Smile” might be that the former is good while the latter is yawn-inducing. “Heart of the Night” knows that there is a line between being slo.