discofinger

Bambi raises a finger

2009-06-30T23:16:00.002+01:00

We at discofinger.com had nearly managed to write off BLOC weekend as a bad dream punctuated by permanent hearing loss and fake moutstaches, when we stumbled on a treasure trove of discofinger videos.

We've long tailed after Irish celebrity DJ Barry "Bambi" Donovan in the hopes of catching him in one of his signature languid discofingers. Donovan spends most of his time with his finger firmly on the pulse of Dublin's "bird" population, but occasionally deigns to raise it skyward for a particularly deadly tune. This time it was "Soft Emotion" by Azoto during I-f's set.

Estonian discofinger

2009-06-29T12:16:00.006+01:00

We were very pleased to hear that our friends in Estonia are active afficiendos of the discofinger. Martin, our correspondent in Tallinn, Estonia, reports the following:

"This move is quite popular, but a very frequent one over here is also the rockers' finger - a combination of regular discofinger and the small finger combined (typical Butthead rock move). A very common one - the moving fist in the air, instead of discofinger.

Discofinger and the clap is often used during a beatless break in a song, as it is climbing back to full beat / climax."

Much has we suspected, the discofinger is truly a global phenomenon. Pictures provided by Martin below.

Discofinger media sightings

2009-04-05T17:41:00.007+01:00

Not surprisingly, the dance move commonly known as the discofinger has been receiving increased attention since the inception of discofinger.com.

Perhaps the ultimate validation we have received to date--la Repubblica, the largest newspaper in Italy has done a feature on the discofinger and discofinger.com.

La Repubblica writes (in Italian)"The new mania on YouTube, where there is a channel entirely dedicated to this way of dancing. No matter what music or latitude, in any nightclub or concert of the world there are always those who when excited start moving their finger. A bit like Tony Manero, although the similarities end there. And all videos end up on the web."

And in what we at Discofinger.com consider fighting words, the folks at urlesque.com have called the discofinger "the international symbol of terrible dancers" and say we've "inexplicably culled videos of international demonstrations of the discofinger." Inexplicably? Excuse us?

Eliot Glazer, we at Discofinger.com would like to respectfully challenge you to a dance-off.

YTMND features Discofinger

2009-03-23T15:57:00.003Z

Although we at discofinger.com tend to eschew corporate relationships in the blogosphere, we were nonetheless pleased to see that YTMND, that cesspool of the Internet, recently sponsored a discofinger-themed contest.

With over 100 entries, the contest has given us ample material to keep you, the discofinger viewer, entertained. One of our favorites is below (click on the link to see it in action) and we will continue to post more over the coming days/weeks/months/eternity.

Check out the contest winner: The Disco of Solitude

Mr. Pauli discofingers

2009-03-04T11:00:00.000Z

Mr. Pauli and David Vunk may be disco legends, but they aren't afraid to show where it all started. With the finger.

Discofinger action during I-f's set at the CBS Necroparty

2009-03-03T14:00:00.001Z

Intergalactic Gary causes massive discofinger...again

2009-03-02T23:15:00.003Z

This time, it's at Gold Rush in Berlin to one of our favorite songs. We at discofinger find that Intergalactic Gary makes easy work of it, because the crowd can't help but discofinger. That's why we go to so many of his gigs. Seriously.

"You misunderestimated me--I can dance, too!"

2009-01-12T15:56:00.006Z

Alexander Robotnick discofingers at the last Electric City

2008-12-22T10:49:00.004Z

The last Electric City in Dublin was a sad night that was only slightly tempered by Alexander Robotnick doing his trademark discofinger.

For the entire night discofingers were out in force, a fitting tribute to the end of a fine club.

Niko exhibits one of the less subltle forms of discofinger

2008-12-22T10:35:00.001Z

Ibiza party discofinger, baby!

2008-10-31T15:34:00.002Z

The youngest recorded discofinger, ever. The magic starts at 20 seconds.

Alexander Robotnick: King of the Discofinger

2008-10-23T10:22:00.003+01:00

Alexander Robotnick is a long-time, consistent proponent of the discofinger; it is perhaps due to his influence that italo and discofinger are inextricably entwined. Therefore it is with great pleasure that we present his video 'Obsession for the Disco Freaks'. The discofingering happening in the 35-45 second range is classic.

We had the good luck to see Robotnick's recent performance in Dublin, discofinger videos will be forthcoming.

Chandler of TV's 'Friends' discofingers

2008-10-03T18:56:00.001+01:00

"You stole my moves!"

Croatia discofinger

2008-09-30T14:25:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Barry for sending over this video, taken during Electric Elephant in Croatia. We wish all discofingers took place during the day because the video is of stellar quality.

The ghosts of Electric Picnics past

2008-09-22T21:42:00.000+01:00

After witnessing so much discofinger at this year's Electric Picnic, it occurred to us to check the YouTube archives and excavate the discofingers of Electric Picnics past. It appears as if discofinger has been happening for many years at the Electric Picnic, and we are cautiously optimistic that Ireland may well be the discofinger capital of the world.

Bodytonic discofinger in 2005.

Dancepig, a quiet supporter of discofinger, inspires the same during his 2006 Electric Picnic set.

Discofinger during Hot Chip at the 2007 picnic.

Smells like discofinger

2008-09-18T23:47:00.001+01:00

Famed Lunar Disko DJ Andy Doyle enjoys some tunes at Electric Picnic 2008 with discofinger extended.

Modeselektor Electric Picnic discofingers

2008-09-16T14:11:00.005+01:00

From the discofinger complaints department

2008-09-11T17:01:00.002+01:00

We've recently received a letter of complaint from one of our more techno-centric fans, Mike.

"When I first came to discofinger.com, I saw it as a place where people--a community--could join each other in the love of lifting a finger to their favourite tune; be it disco, techno, house or otherwsie.

Recently, however, I have noted that the Disco has fallen from the finger. The website seems to have become a home for the random finger'er, the finger raised with no specific disco being paid homage to......a finger with no meaning.

Is the purpose of discofinger.com, not to witness the finger raised in its natural environment?

A Finger raised in appreciation of a mighty piece of music to which one is giving it the ultimate in kudos. A raised, pumping finger?

I see on the website, a troupe of dancing males, in some sort of act of amateur dance, randomly fingering the air for some sort of convoluted competition, is this what this website was devised for?

I propose we change discofinger for the better, bring it back to the people who saw the finger as so much more. More than a tool to practice mundane manual tasks. Bring it back to the people who saw it as a limb with which one can pump the air in appreciation of a piece of music that has really touched them."

Dear Mike,

We at discofinger.com appreciate your feedback, and have taken a step back to take stock of the current state of discofinger. We think that we agree that a discofinger should be not just an extended digit, but an indicator of musical enthusiasm.

And although we welcome your comments, we must gently request that you reevaluate your judgement of the video in question: 'Mind-blowing double discofinger'

We recognize the flamboyance of the actors on stage, but we ask you to point your eyes at the audience member that appears at 0:12 in the video. You may disagree with his taste, but his movements are nothing but a classic discofinger, fueled by rock-hard esprit de corps.

Mike, we at discofinger.com do our best to capture evidence all types of discofingers. However, we can't do it alone. We'd ask that if you are in the habit of witnessing the type of discofinger that you describe, that you record it and submit it here for the sake of posterity. The future of discofinger.com depends on you.

Love,
Discofinger.com

ps. You may be pleased to see our latest Modeselektor videos which will be posted shortly, as they represent a return to the "classic" bangin' discofinger.

More Electric Picnic discofingers

2008-09-02T22:21:00.002+01:00

Hang Tough types Mark le Tough, Lil Dave and Paddy Canada discofinger during Trusme's set in the Bernard Shaw tent in Bodytonic village.

A can of Dutch Gold and a festival tent and Shane O'Meara is ready to discofinger his socks off.

The festival discofinger buzz

2008-09-02T00:10:00.002+01:00

This year's Electric Picnic in County Laois was especially fruitful, giving us many opportunities to both discofinger and capture discofinger videos. The below were taken during Barry Donovan's (Lunar Disko) set in the Bodytonic tent.

A hot cross-cultural exercise

2008-08-24T21:31:00.003+01:00

In case you did not believe our claims that discofinger is integral to Bollywood, check out this amazing video.

In this article about Bollywood aerobic dance moves, much attention is given to the discofinger. "Pointing: Disco-inspired. Index fingers of both hands point with the rest of your fingers curled. Arms extend toward the ceiling or toward the floor, either alternating or together to the rhythm of the tabla hand drums. Often the movement is a literal interpretation of the Hindi lyrics of Bollywood music. For example, the singer may be referring to the heavens, so dancers point upward."

A more recent take on the Bollywood discofinger has an impressive discofinger silhouette at 2:12.

Incredible India

2008-08-24T21:22:00.005+01:00

When we were recently strongly encouraged to take a Bollywood dance class, in India no less, we did not think it would change our lives. Until we learned that the discofinger is a both crucial and ancient move in Indian culture. This was then reinforced when we went to a club/pub and witnessed the move live. Unfortunately, the videos are of poor quality, but we are choosing to share them in the spirit of global unification.

Defining discofinger

2008-08-17T13:22:00.003+01:00

We're pleased to announce our addition to the official lexicon of the world. The definition has actually been online for nearly a year, but it's only in our recent bout of internet-mania that we've actually Googled ourselves and were reminded of our stellar, unabridged entry. Please feel free to add your own if you're smarter than we are. (Unlikely)

According to urbandictionary.com, these terms are related to discofinger: 'crip walk,' 'disco finger,' 'hot moves,' 'dancing'

We couldn't agree more.

The everlasting romance of discofinger

2008-08-14T16:42:00.002+01:00

From Flickr: Fennell_Wedding_348, originally uploaded by benjamingettinger.

Ask discofinger

2008-08-12T23:36:00.006+01:00

"Dear discofinger - I have really long fingers - so I can't disco more than one finger at a time - any suggestions?" Signed, Kev P

The tangled, incestuous web that is discofinger internet presence has expanded, catching many unsuspecting victims in its grasp. The above email is from our new Facebook page. Official response below.

Dear Kev,
We at discofinger.com embrace diversity and value nothing more than our friends who are differently-abled. That said, we see the one-fingered discofinger approach often, and a long, elegant digit is nothing to be ashamed of.

Remember the discofinger motto: There's no wrong way to discofinger.

Go forth and discofinger,
Your pals at discofinger.com