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Disco is a
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...
of
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...
and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by
four-on-the-floor Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm pattern used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4)." ...
beats,
syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "plac ...
basslines, string sections,
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...
and horns, electric piano,
synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s, and electric rhythm guitars. Disco started as a mixture of music from venues popular with Italian Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans and Black Americans "'Broadly speaking, the typical New York discothèque DJ is young (between 18 and 30) and Italian,' journalist Vince Lettie declared in 1975. ..Remarkably, almost all of the important early DJs were of Italian extraction .. Italian Americans have played a significant role in America's dance music culture .. While Italian Americans mostly from Brooklyn largely created disco from scratch .." in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the 1960s counterculture to both the dominance of
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...
and the stigmatization of dance music at the time. Several dance styles were developed during the period of disco's popularity in the United States, including "the Bump" and "the Hustle". In the course of the 1970s, disco music was developed further mainly by artists from the United States and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. Well-known artists include:
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, the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Giorgio Moroder, Baccara, Boney M.,
Earth Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million rec ...
, Chaka Khan, Chic, KC and the Sunshine Band, Thelma Houston, Sister Sledge,
Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented ...
, The Trammps and the Village People. While performers garnered public attention,
record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
s working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the genre. By the late 1970s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, and DJs would mix dance records at clubs such as Studio 54 in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, a venue popular among celebrities. Nightclub-goers often wore expensive, extravagant outfits, consisting predominantly of loose, flowing pants or dresses for ease of movement while dancing. There was also a thriving
drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhala ...
subculture in the disco scene, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such as
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
and quaaludes, the latter being so common in disco subculture that they were nicknamed "disco biscuits". Disco clubs were also associated with promiscuity as a reflection of the sexual revolution of this era in popular history. Films such as '' Saturday Night Fever'' (1977) and '' Thank God It's Friday'' (1978) contributed to disco's mainstream popularity. Disco declined as a major trend in popular music in the United States following the infamous Disco Demolition Night, and it continued to sharply decline in popularity in the U.S. during the early 1980s; however, it remained popular in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and some European countries throughout the 1980s, and during this time also started becoming trendy in places elsewhere including
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
and the
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, where they were blended with regional folk styles such as '' ghazals'' and
belly dancing Belly dance ( Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different ...
. Disco would eventually become a key influence in the development of electronic dance music, house music, hip hop, new wave, dance-punk, and post-disco. The style has had several newer scenes since the
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, and the influence of disco remains strong across American and European pop music. A revival has been underway since the early 2010s, coming to great popularity in the early 2020s. Albums that have contributed to this revival include '' Confessions On A Dance Floor'', '' Random Access Memories'', '' The Slow Rush'', '' Cuz I Love You'', '' Future Nostalgia'', ''
Hey U X ''Hey U X'' is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Benee, released on 13 November 2020 by Republic Records. ''Hey U X'' was primarily written by Benee and frequent collaborator Josh Fountain, who also executive produced th ...
'', '' Melodrama'', ''
What's Your Pleasure? ''What's Your Pleasure?'' is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Jessie Ware, released on 26 June 2020 by PMR Records and Virgin EMI Records. Ware and co-producer James Ford co-wrote all tracks, along with writers and producer ...
'', '' About Last Night...'', ''
Róisín Machine ''Róisín Machine'' is the fifth solo studio album by Irish singer Róisín Murphy, released 2 October 2020 by Skint Records. The album received critical acclaim upon its release, ranking among the year's best by several publications. Commercial ...
'', and Kylie Minogue's album itself titled '' Disco''.


Etymology

The term "disco" is shorthand for the word ''discothèque'', a French word for "library of phonograph records" derived from "bibliothèque". The word "discothèque" had the same meaning in English in the 1950s. "Discothèque" became used in French for a type of nightclub in Paris, France, after these had resorted to playing records during the Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. Some clubs used it as their proper name. In 1960, it was also used to describe a Parisian nightclub in an English magazine. In the summer of 1964, a short sleeveless dress called "discotheque dress" was briefly very popular in the United States. The earliest known use for the abbreviated form "disco" described this dress and has been found in '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' on July 12, 1964, '' Playboy'' magazine used it in September of the same year to describe Los Angeles nightclubs. Vince Aletti was one of the first to describe disco as a sound or a music genre. He wrote the feature article "Discotheque Rock Paaaaarty" that appeared in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine in September 1973.


Musical characteristics

The music typically layered soaring, often-
reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
erated vocals, often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of electric pianos and "chicken-scratch" rhythm guitars played on an
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
.
Lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...
features less frequently in disco than in rock. "The "rooster scratch" sound is achieved by lightly pressing the guitar strings against the fretboard and then quickly releasing them just enough to get a slightly muted poker oundwhile constantly strumming very close to the bridge." Other backing keyboard instruments include the
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
electric organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since develope ...
(during early years),
string synthesizer A string synthesizer or string machine is a specialized synthesizer designed specifically to make sounds similar to that of a string orchestra. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between electronic organs ...
s, and electromechanical keyboards such as the Fender Rhodes electric piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, and Hohner Clavinet. Donna Summer's 1977 song " I Feel Love", produced by Giorgio Moroder with a prominent Moog synthesizer on the beat, was one of the first disco tracks to use the synthesizer. The
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...
is laid down by prominent, syncopated basslines (with heavy use of broken octaves, that is, octaves with the notes sounded one after the other) played on the
bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
and by drummers using a
drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
, African/ Latin percussion, and electronic drums such as Simmons and Roland drum modules. The sound was enriched with solo lines and harmony parts played by a variety of orchestral instruments, such as harp,
violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
, viola,
cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...
, trumpet,
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
, trombone, clarinet, flugelhorn,
French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
, tuba, English horn,
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...
, flute (sometimes especially the alto flute and occasionally
bass flute The bass flute is a member of the flute family. It is in the key of C, pitched one octave below the concert flute. Despite its name, its playing range makes it the tenor member of the flute family. Because of the length of its tube (approximate ...
), piccolo, timpani and synth strings, string section or a full string orchestra. Most disco songs have a steady
four-on-the-floor Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm pattern used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4)." ...
beat set by a bass drum, a quaver or semi-quaver hi-hat pattern with an open hissing hi-hat on the off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line. A recording error in the 1975 song " Bad Luck" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes where Earl Young's hi-hat was too loud in the recording is said to have established loud hi-hats in disco. Other Latin rhythms such as the rhumba, the samba, and the cha-cha-cha are also found in disco recordings, and Latin polyrhythms, such as a rhumba beat layered over a merengue, are commonplace. The quaver pattern is often supported by other instruments such as the rhythm guitar and may be implied rather than explicitly present. Songs often use syncopation, which is the accenting of unexpected beats. In general, the difference between disco, or any dance song, and a rock or popular song is that in dance music the bass drum hits ''four to the floor'', at least once a beat (which in 4/4 time is 4 beats per measure). Disco is further characterized by a 16th note division of the quarter notes as shown in the second drum pattern below, after a typical rock drum pattern. The orchestral sound is usually known as "disco sound" relies heavily on string sections and horns playing linear phrases, in unison with the soaring, often reverberated vocals or playing instrumental fills, while electric pianos and chicken-scratch guitars create the background "pad" sound defining the harmony progression. Typically, all of the doubling of parts and use of additional instruments creates a rich "
wall of sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...
". There are, however, more minimalist flavors of disco with reduced, transparent instrumentation. Harmonically, disco music typically contains major and minor seven chords, which are found more often in jazz than pop music.


Production

The "disco sound" was much more costly to produce than many of the other popular music genres from the 1970s. Unlike the simpler, four-piece-band sound of funk,
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...
of the late 1960s, or the small
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
organ trios, disco music often included a large band, with several chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), several drum or percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums), a horn section, a string orchestra, and a variety of " classical" solo instruments (for example, flute, piccolo, and so on). Disco songs were arranged and composed by experienced arrangers and orchestrators, and record producers added their creative touches to the overall sound using multitrack recording techniques and
effects unit An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ...
s. Recording complex arrangements with such a large number of instruments and sections required a team that included a conductor, copyists, record producers, and
mixing engineers Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * Mi ...
. Mixing engineers had an important role in the disco production process, because disco songs used as many as 64 tracks of vocals and instruments. Mixing engineers and record producers, under the direction of arrangers, compiled these tracks into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with builds and breaks. Mixing engineers and record producers helped to develop the "disco sound" by creating a distinctive-sounding, sophisticated disco mix. Early records were the "standard" three-minute version until
Tom Moulton Thomas Jerome Moulton (, ; born November 29, 1940) is an American record producer. He experimented with remix in disco music and this led to its wide adoption as a standard practice in the industry. He also invented the breakdown section, and the ...
came up with a way to make songs longer so that he could take a crowd of dancers at a club to another level and keep them dancing longer. He found that it was impossible to make the 45-RPM vinyl
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
of the time longer, as they could usually hold no more than five minutes of good-quality music. With the help of José Rodriguez, his remaster/mastering engineer, he pressed a single on a 10" disc instead of 7". They cut the next single on a 12" disc, the same format as a standard album. Moulton and Rodriguez discovered that these larger records could have much longer songs and remixes. 12" single records, also known as " Maxi singles", quickly became the standard format for all DJs of the disco genre.


Club culture


Nightclubs

By the late 1970s most major US cities had thriving disco club scenes. The largest scenes were most notably in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
but also in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
,
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, and Washington, D.C. The scene was centered on discotheques,
nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...
s, and private loft parties. In the 1970s, notable discos included "
Crisco Disco The Crisco Disco was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of modern dance, LGBT and nightclub cultures. The venue was an important gay club located at 15th Street and 10th Avenue in the "Meatpacking District", a neighborhood in M ...
", "The Sanctuary", "Leviticus", " Studio 54" and " Paradise Garage" in New York, "Artemis" in Philadelphia, "Studio One" in Los Angeles, "Dugan's Bistro" in Chicago, and "The Library" in Atlanta. In the late '70s, Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan was arguably the best known nightclub in the world. This club played a major formative role in the growth of disco music and
nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...
culture in general. It was operated by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager and was notorious for the hedonism that went on within; the balconies were known for sexual encounters, and drug use was rampant. Its dance floor was decorated with an image of the " Man in the Moon" that included an animated cocaine spoon. The " Copacabana", another New York nightclub dating to the 1940s, had a revival in the late 1970s when it embraced disco; it would become the setting of a Barry Manilow song of the same name. In Washington, D.C., large disco clubs such as "The Pier" ("Pier 9") and "The Other Side," originally regarded exclusively as " gay bars", became particularly popular among the capital area's gay and straight college students in the late '70s. By 1979 there were 15,000-20,000 disco nightclubs in the US, many of them opening in suburban shopping centers, hotels and restaurants. The
2001 Club The 2001 Club was a chain of franchised disco nightclubs begun in the Pittsburgh area in 1974 that eventually grew in to one of the most successful disco franchises in the country. Concept and development The original club was opened and develope ...
franchises were the most prolific chain of disco clubs in the country. Although many other attempts were made to franchise disco clubs, 2001 was the only one to successfully do so in this time frame.


Sound and light equipment

Powerful, bass-heavy, hi-fi
sound systems In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
were viewed as a key part of the disco club experience. " oft-party host DavidMancuso introduced the technologies of tweeter arrays (clusters of small loudspeakers, which emit high-end frequencies, positioned above the floor) and bass reinforcements (additional sets of subwoofers positioned at ground level) at the start of the 1970s to boost the treble and bass at opportune moments, and by the end of the decade sound engineers such as Richard Long had multiplied the effects of these innovations in venues such as the Garage." Typical lighting designs for disco dance floors could include multi-coloured lights that swirl around or flash to the beat, strobe light, an
illuminated dance floor An illuminated dance floor, LED dance floor or disco dance floor is a floor with panels or tiles that light up with different colours. They are used for dance. They were popularised for disco by the 1977 film ''Saturday Night Fever,'' which had go ...
and a mirror ball.


DJs

Disco-era
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...
s (DJs) would often remix existing songs using reel-to-reel tape machines, and add in percussion breaks, new sections, and new sounds. DJs would select songs and grooves according to what the dancers wanted, transitioning from one song to another with a DJ mixer and using a
microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...
to introduce songs and speak to the audiences. Other equipment was added to the basic DJ setup, providing unique sound manipulations, such as
reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
, equalization, and echo
effects unit An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ...
. Using this equipment, a DJ could do effects such as cutting out all but the bassline of a song and then slowly mixing in the beginning of another song using the DJ mixer's crossfader. Notable U.S. disco DJs include Francis Grasso of The Sanctuary, David Mancuso of The Loft, Frankie Knuckles of the Chicago
Warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of citie ...
,
Larry Levan Larry Levan (; born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992) was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern ...
of the Paradise Garage, Nicky Siano,
Walter Gibbons Walter Gibbons (April 2, 1954 – September 23, 1994) was an American record producer, early disco DJ, and remixer. He helped pioneer the remix and 12" single in America, and was among the most influential New York DJs of the 1970s. Career Gib ...
, Karen Mixon Cook, Jim Burgess,
John "Jellybean" Benitez John Benitez (born November 7, 1957), also known as Jellybean, is an American musician, songwriter, DJ, remixer, and music producer. He has produced and remixed artists such as Madonna, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters. H ...
, Richie Kulala of Studio 54 and Rick Salsalini. Some DJs were also record producers who created and produced disco songs in the recording studio. Larry Levan, for example, was a prolific
record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
as well as a DJ. Because record sales were often dependent on dance floor play by DJs in leading nightclubs, DJs were also influential for the development and popularization of certain types of disco music being produced for record labels.


Dance

In the early years, dancers in discos danced in a "hang loose" or "freestyle" approach. At first, many dancers improvised their own dance styles and dance steps. Later in the disco era, popular dance styles were developed, including the "Bump", "Penguin", "Boogaloo", "Watergate" and "Robot". By October 1975 the Hustle reigned. It was highly stylized, sophisticated and overtly sexual. Variations included the Brooklyn Hustle,
New York Hustle The hustle is a catch-all name for some disco dances which were extremely popular in the 1970s. Today it mostly refers to the unique partner dance done in ballrooms and nightclubs to disco music.Shell, Niel and John P. Nyemchek, ''Hustle'', Nyemc ...
and
Latin Hustle The hustle is a catch-all name for some disco dances which were extremely popular in the 1970s. Today it mostly refers to the unique partner dance done in ballrooms and nightclubs to disco music.Shell, Niel and John P. Nyemchek, ''Hustle'', Nyemc ...
.Everybody's Doing The hustle
, Associated Press, October 16, 1975
During the disco era, many nightclubs would commonly host disco dance competitions or offer free dance lessons. Some cities had disco dance instructors or dance schools, which taught people how to do popular disco dances such as "touch dancing", "the hustle", and " the cha cha". The pioneer of disco dance instruction was Karen Lustgarten in San Francisco in 1973. Her book ''The Complete Guide to Disco Dancing'' (Warner Books 1978) was the first to name, break down and codify popular disco dances as dance forms and distinguish between disco freestyle, partner and line dances. The book topped the ''New York Times'' bestseller list for 13 weeks and was translated into Chinese, German and French. In Chicago, the ''Step By Step'' disco dance TV show was launched with the sponsorship support of the Coca-Cola company. Produced in the same studio that Don Cornelius used for the nationally syndicated dance/music television show, '' Soul Train'', ''Step by Steps audience grew and the show became a success. The dynamic dance duo of Robin and Reggie led the show. The pair spent the week teaching disco dancing to dancers in the disco clubs. The instructional show aired on Saturday mornings and had a strong following. The viewers of this would stay up all night on Fridays so they could be on the set the next morning, ready to return to the disco on Saturday night knowing with the latest personalized dance steps. The producers of the show, John Reid and Greg Roselli, routinely made appearances at disco functions with Robin and Reggie to scout out new dancing talent and promote upcoming events such as "Disco Night at White Sox Park". In Sacramento, California, Disco King Paul Dale Roberts danced for the Guinness Book of World Records. Roberts danced for 205 hours which is the equivalent of 8 ½ days. Other dance marathons took place after Roberts held the world's record for disco dancing for a short period of time. Some notable professional dance troupes of the 1970s included Pan's People and Hot Gossip. For many dancers, a key source of inspiration for 1970s disco dancing was the film '' Saturday Night Fever'' (1977). This developed into the music and dance style of such films as '' Fame'' (1980), '' Disco Dancer'' (1982), '' Flashdance'' (1983), and '' The Last Days of Disco'' (1998). Interest in disco dancing also helped spawn dance competition TV shows such as '' Dance Fever'' (1979).


Fashion

Disco fashions were very trendy in the late 1970s. Discothèque-goers often wore glamorous, expensive, and extravagant fashions for nights out at their local disco club. Some women would wear sheer, flowing dresses, such as Halston dresses or loose, flared pants. Other women wore tight, revealing, sexy clothes, such as backless
halter top Halterneck is a style of women's clothing strap that runs from the front of the garment around the back of the neck, generally leaving the upper back uncovered. The name comes from livestock halters. The word "halter" derives from the Germanic wo ...
s,
disco pants Disco pants (also known as disco jeans, spandex disco pants and spandex disco jeans) are a type of pants or trousers created in the style of denim jeans and originally made from a combination of nylon and spandex (later polyester) designed to be co ...
, "hot pants", or body-hugging spandex bodywear or "catsuits". Men would wear shiny polyester
Qiana Qiana ( ) is a silky nylon fiber developed in 1962 at the DuPont Experimental Station by Stanley Brooke Speck. The fiber was named qiana when introduced by DuPont in 1968. Initially intended for high-end fashions, it became a popular material in th ...
shirts with colorful patterns and pointy, extra wide collars, preferably open at the chest. Men often wore
Pierre Cardin Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardino (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric sh ...
suits,
three piece suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...
s with a vest and double-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers known as the leisure suit. Men's leisure suits were typically form-fitted in some parts of the body, such as the waist and bottom, but the lower part of the pants were flared in a
bell bottom Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. These are similar to flared jeans. History Naval origins In the early 19th century, when a standardized uni ...
style, to permit freedom of movement. During the disco era, men engaged in elaborate grooming rituals and spent time choosing fashion clothing, both activities that would have been considered "feminine" according to the gender stereotypes of the era. Women dancers wore
glitter Glitter is an assortment of small, reflective particles that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glitter particles reflect light at different angles, causing the surface to sparkle or shimmer. Glitter is similar to confetti, sparkle ...
makeup, sequins, or gold lamé clothing that would shimmer under the lights. Bold colors were popular for both genders. Platform shoes and boots for both genders and
high heel High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the ...
s for women were popular footwear. Necklaces and
medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
lions were a common
fashion accessory In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individua ...
. Less commonly, some disco dancers wore outlandish costumes, dressed in drag, covered their bodies with gold or silver paint, or wore very skimpy outfits leaving them nearly nude; these uncommon get-ups were more likely to be seen at invitation-only
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
loft parties and disco clubs.


Drug subculture

In addition to the dance and fashion aspects of the disco club scene, there was also a thriving
club drug Club drugs, also called rave drugs or party drugs, are a loosely defined category of recreational drugs which are associated with discothèques in the 1970s and nightclubs, dance clubs, electronic dance music (EDM) parties, and raves in the ...
subculture, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud, bass-heavy music and the flashing colored lights, such as
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
Gootenberg, Paul 1954– – Between Coca and Cocaine: A Century or More of U.S.-Peruvian Drug Paradoxes, 1860–1980 – Hispanic American Historical Review – 83:1, February 2003, pp. 119–150. "The relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough ..." (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite ("
poppers Popper is a slang term given broadly to drugs of the chemical class called alkyl nitrites that are inhaled. Most widely sold products include the original isoamyl nitrite or isopentyl nitrite, and isopropyl nitrite. Isobutyl nitrite is also w ...
"),Amyl, butyl and isobutyl nitrite (collectively known as alkyl nitrites) are clear, yellow liquids inhaled for their intoxicating effects. Nitrites originally came as small glass capsules that were popped open. This led to nitrites being given the name 'poppers' but this form of the drug is rarely found in the UK. The drug became popular in the UK first on the disco/club scene of the 1970s and then at dance and rave venues in the 1980s and 1990s. and the "... other quintessential 1970s club drug Quaalude, which suspended motor coordination and gave the sensation that one's arms and legs had turned to '
Jell-O Jell-O is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert ( genericized as jello) is the signature of the brand. "Jell-O" is ...
.'" Quaaludes were so popular at disco clubs that the drug was nicknamed "disco biscuits". Paul Gootenberg states that " e relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough..." During the 1970s, the use of
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
by well-to-do celebrities led to its "glamorization" and to the widely held view that it was a "soft drug". LSD, marijuana, and "speed" (amphetamines) were also popular in disco clubs, and the use of these drugs "...contributed to the hedonistic quality of the dance floor experience." Since disco dances were typically held in liquor licensed-
nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...
s and
dance club Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
s,
alcoholic drink An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...
s were also consumed by dancers; some users intentionally combined alcohol with the consumption of other drugs, such as Quaaludes, for a stronger effect.


Eroticism and sexual liberation

According to
Peter Braunstein Peter Braunstein (born January 26, 1964) is an American former journalist, writer and playwright who became infamous for committing an October 31, 2005 rape and leading police on a multi-state manhunt until his capture and self-injury in Memphis ...
, the "massive quantities of
drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhala ...
s ingested in discothèques produced the next cultural phenomenon of the disco era: rampant promiscuity and
public sex __NOTOC__ Public sex is sexual activity that takes place in a public context. It refers to one or more persons performing a sex act in a public place, or in a private place that can be viewed from a public place. Such a private place may be a ...
. While the dance floor was the central arena of
seduction Seduction has multiple meanings. Platonically, it can mean "to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty", or "to lead astray, usually by persuasion or false promises". Strategies of seduction include conversation and sexual scripts, paralingual ...
, actual sex usually took place in the nether regions of the disco: bathroom stalls, exit stairwells, and so on. In other cases the disco became a kind of 'main course' in a hedonist's menu for a night out." At The Saint nightclub, a high percentage of the
gay male Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including '' ...
dancers and patrons would have sex in the club; they typically had unprotected sex, because in 1980, HIV-AIDS had not yet been identified.Tim Lawrence. "The Forging of a White Gay Aesthetic at the Saint, 1980–84". In: Dancecult, 3, 1, 2011, pp. 1–24. Online version: At The Saint, "dancers would elope to an un onitoredupstairs balcony to engage in sex." The promiscuity and public sex at discos was part of a broader trend towards exploring a freer sexual expression in the 1970s, an era that is also associated with " swingers clubs, hot tubs, nd key parties." In his paper, "In Defense of Disco" (1979),
Richard Dyer Richard Dyer (born 1945) is an English academic who held a professorship in the Department of Film Studies at King's College London. Specialising in cinema (particularly Italian cinema), queer theory, and the relationship between entertainment ...
claims
eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, ...
as one of the three main characteristics of disco.Richard Dyer: "In Defense of Disco." In: Gay Left, 8, Summer 1979, pp. 20-23. Reprinted in: Mark J. Butler (ed): Electronica, Dance and Club Music. New York/London: Routledge 2017, pp. 121-127. As opposed to
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...
which has a very phallic centered eroticism focusing on the sexual pleasure of men over other persons, Dyer describes disco as featuring a non-phallic full body eroticism. Through a range of percussion instruments, a willingness to play with rhythm, and the endless repeating of phrases without cutting the listener off, disco achieved this full body eroticism by restoring eroticism to the whole body for both sexes. This allowed for the potential expression of sexualities not defined by the cock/penis, and the erotic pleasure of bodies that are not defined by a relationship to a penis. The sexual liberation expressed through the rhythm of disco is further represented in the club spaces that disco grew within. In Peter Shapiro's '' Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound'', he discusses eroticism through the technology disco utilizes to create its audacious sound. The music, Shapiro states, is adjunct to "the pleasure-is-politics ethos of post- Stonewall culture." He explains how "mechano-eroticism," which links the technology used to create the unique mechanical sound of disco to eroticism, sets the genre in a new dimension of reality living outside of naturalism and heterosexuality. He uses Donna Summer's singles " Love to Love You Baby" (1975) and " I Feel Love" (1977) as examples of the ever present relationship between the synthesized bass lines and backgrounds to the simulated sounds of orgasms. Summer's voice echoes in the tracks, and likens them to the drug-fervent, sexually liberated fans of disco who sought to free themselves through disco's "aesthetic of machine sex." Shapiro sees this as an influence that creates sub-genres like hi-NRG and dub-disco, which allowed for eroticism and technology to be further explored through intense synth bass lines and alternative rhythmic techniques that tap into the entire body rather than the obvious erotic parts of the body. The New York nightclub The Sanctuary under resident DJ Francis Grasso is a prime example of this sexual liberty. In their history of the disc jockey and club culture, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton describe the Sanctuary as "poured full of newly liberated gay men, then shaken (and stirred) by a weighty concoction of dance music and pharmacoia of pills and potions, the result is a festivaly of carnality." The Sanctuary was the "first totally uninhibited gay discotheque in America" and while sex was not allowed on the dancefloor, the dark corners, the bathrooms and the hallways of the adjacent buildings were all utilized for orgy like sexual engagements. By describing the music, drugs and liberated mentality as a trifecta coming together to create the festival of carnality, Brewster and Broughton are inciting all three as stimuli for the dancing, sex and other embodied movements that contributed to the corporeal vibrations within the Sanctuary. This supports the argument that the disco music took a role in facilitating this sexual liberation that was experienced in the discotheques. Further, this coupled with the recent legalization of abortions, the introduction of antibiotics and the pill all facilitated a culture shift around sex from one of procreation to pleasure and enjoyment fostering a very sex positive framework around discotheques. Further, in addition to gay sex being illegal in New York state, until 1973 the
American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are invo ...
classified homosexuality as an illness. This law and classification coupled together can be understood to have heavily dissuaded the expression of queerness in public, as such the liberatory dynamics of discotheques can be seen as having provided space for self-realization for queer persons. David Mancuso's club/house party, The Loft, was described as having a "
pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofle ...
attitude hatwas revolutionary in a country where up until recently it had been illegal for two men to dance together unless there was a woman present; where women were legally obliged to wear at least one recognizable item of female clothing in public; and where men visiting gay bars usually carried bail money with them."


History


1940s–1960s: First discotheques

Disco was mostly developed from music that was popular on the dance floor in clubs that started playing records instead of having a live band. The first discotheques mostly played swing music. Later on uptempo
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
became popular in American clubs and northern soul and glam rock records in the UK. In the early 1940s, nightclubs in Paris resorted to playing jazz records during the Nazi occupation.
Régine Zylberberg Régine Zylberberg (born Rachelle Zylberberg; 26 December 1929 – 1 May 2022), often known mononymously as Régine, was a Belgian-born French singer and nightclub impresario. She dubbed herself the "Queen of the Night". Early life Rachelle Zy ...
claimed to have started the first discotheque and to have been the first club DJ in 1953 in the "Whisky à Go-Go" in Paris. She installed a dance floor with coloured lights and two turntables so she could play records without having a gap in the music. In October 1959, the owner of the
Scotch Club The Scotch Club in Aachen was one of the first discothèque in Germany, opening on 19 October 1959. It was closed in 1992. Origin of the discothèque On Monday 19 October 1959, the former restaurant The Scotch Club in Aachen, North Rhine Westphalia ...
in Aachen, West Germany chose to install a record player for the opening night instead of hiring a live band. The patrons were unimpressed until a young reporter, who happened to be covering the opening of the club, impulsively took control of the record player and introduced the records that he chose to play. Klaus Quirini later claimed to thus have been the world's first nightclub DJ.


1960s–1974: Precursors and early disco music

During the 1960s, discotheque dancing became a European trend that was enthusiastically picked up by the American press. At this time, when the discotheque culture from Europe became popular in the United States, several music genres with danceable rhythms rose to popularity and evolved into different sub-genres:
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
(originated in the 1940s),
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
(late 1950s and 1960s), funk (mid-1960s) and go-go (mid-1960s and 1970s; more than "disco", the word "go-go" originally indicated a music club). Musical genres, that were primarily performed by African-American musicians would influence much of early disco. Also during the 1960s, the Motown record label developed its own approach, described as having "1) simply structured songs with sophisticated melodies and chord changes, 2) a relentless four-beat drum pattern, 3) a gospel use of background voices, vaguely derived from the style of the Impressions, 4) a regular and sophisticated use of both horns and strings, 5) lead singers who were half way between pop and gospel music, 6) a group of accompanying musicians who were among the most dextrous, knowledgeable, and brilliant in all of popular music (Motown bassists have long been the envy of white rock bassists) and 7) a trebly style of mixing that relied heavily on electronic limiting and equalizing (boosting the high range frequencies) to give the overall product a distinctive sound, particularly effective for broadcast over AM radio." Motown had many hits with early disco elements by acts like the Supremes (for instance " You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1966),
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
(for instance "
Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs ...
" in 1972), The Jackson 5 and Eddie Kendricks (" Keep on Truckin'" in 1973). At the end of the 1960s, musicians and audiences from the Black, Italian and Latino communities adopted several traits from the hippie and psychedelia subcultures. They included using music venues with a loud, overwhelming sound, free-form dancing, trippy lighting, colorful costumes, and the use of hallucinogenic drugs.Disco Double Take: New York Parties Like It's 1975
. Village Voice.com. ''Retrieved on August 9, 2009''.
(1998) "The Cambridge History of American Music", , , p.372: "Initially, disco musicians and audiences alike belonged to marginalized communities: women, gay, black, and Latinos"(2002) "Traces of the Spirit: The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music", , , p.117: "New York City was the primary center of disco, and the original audience was primarily gay African Americans and Latinos." In addition, the perceived positivity, lack of irony, and earnestness of the hippies informed proto-disco music like
MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom ...
's album '' Love Is the Message''. Partly through the success of Jimi Hendrix, psychedelic elements that were popular in rock music of the late 1960s found their way into soul and early funk music and formed the subgenre psychedelic soul. Examples can be found in the music of the Chambers Brothers, George Clinton with his Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Sly and the Family Stone and the productions of Norman Whitfield with The Temptations. The long instrumental introductions and detailed orchestration found in psychedelic soul tracks by the Temptations are also considered as
cinematic soul Cinematic soul is a genre of soul music with a "cinematic" style, combining traditional rock / soul arrangements with orchestral instruments. Style Cinematic soul builds on the foundations of soul music. The backing track can include drums, bass ...
. In the early 1970s, Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes scored hits with cinematic soul songs that were actually composed for movie soundtracks: " Superfly" (1972) and "
Theme from Shaft "Theme from ''Shaft''", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film '' Shaft''. The theme was released as a single (shortened and edited from the longer album version) two ...
" (1971). The latter is sometimes regarded as an early disco song. From the mid-1960s to early 1970s, Philadelphia soul and
New York soul New York soul refers to the soul music recorded and produced in New York City. New York soul was similar to similar in style to Memphis soul from the southern US, but it was more likely to have string arrangements (played by string sections) add ...
developed as sub-genres that also had lavish
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
, lush string orchestra arrangements, and expensive record production processes. In the early 1970s, the Philly soul productions by
Gamble and Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known a ...
evolved from the simpler arrangements of the late-1960s into a style featuring lush strings, thumping basslines, and sliding hi-hat rhythms. These elements would become typical for disco music and are found in several of the hits they produced in the early 1970s: *" Love Train" by the O'Jays (with M.F.S.B. as the backup band) was released in 1972 and topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1973 *" The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (1973) *"
Now That We Found Love "Now That We Found Love" (also known as "Now That We've Found Love") is a song written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and originally recorded by American R&B/soul vocal group The O'Jays for their seventh album, '' Ship Ahoy'' (1973). Heavy D ...
" by The O'Jays (1973), later a hit for Third World in 1978. *" TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" by
MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom ...
with vocals by The Three Degrees, a wordless song written as the theme for '' Soul Train'' and a #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1974. Other early disco tracks that helped shape disco and became popular on the dance floors of (underground) discotheque clubs and parties include: * "
Soul Makossa In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
" by Manu Dibango was first released in France in 1972. It was picked up by the underground disco scene in New York and subsequently got a proper release in the U.S., reaching #35 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1973. * " The Night" by the Four Seasons was released in 1972, but was not immediately popular. It appealed to the Northern soul scene and became a hit in the UK in 1975. * " Love's Theme" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra conducted by Barry White, an instrumental song originally featured on '' Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited'' in July 1973 from which it was culled as a single in November of that year. Subsequently, the conductor included it on his own debut album ''
Rhapsody in White ''Rhapsody in White'' is the first studio album by the American soul group, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, released in 1974. It was a huge success for the group, who backed and was led by Barry White for many singles such as " I'm Gonna Love You ...
'' (1974) where the track reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 early that year. * " Jungle Fever" by
The Chakachas The Chakachas were a Belgium-based group of Latin soul studio musicians. Also known as Les Chakachas, Los Chakachas, or Los Chicles, they were formed by bandleader Gaston Bogaerts, percussion ( conga and tumba); Kari Kenton, vocals and maracas; V ...
was first released in Belgium in 1971, was later released in the U.S. in 1972, where it reached #8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 that same year. * " Girl You Need a Change of Mind" by Eddie Kendricks was released in May 1972, on the album People ... Hold On. Early disco was dominated by record producers and labels such as Salsoul Records (Ken, Stanley, and
Joseph Cayre Joseph Jack Cayre (born August 1, 1941) is an American businessman and real estate developer. Together with his brothers he co-founded the record label Salsoul Records, video tape distributor and producer GoodTimes Entertainment, and video game ...
), West End Records ( Mel Cheren), Casablanca (Neil Bogart), and Prelude (Marvin Schlachter), to name a few. The genre was also shaped by
Tom Moulton Thomas Jerome Moulton (, ; born November 29, 1940) is an American record producer. He experimented with remix in disco music and this led to its wide adoption as a standard practice in the industry. He also invented the breakdown section, and the ...
, who wanted to extend the enjoyment of dance songs — thus creating the extended mix or " remix", going from a three-minute 45 rpm single to the much longer 12" record. Other influential DJs and remixers who helped to establish what became known as the "disco sound" included David Mancuso, Nicky Siano,
Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...
,
Larry Levan Larry Levan (; born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992) was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern ...
,
Walter Gibbons Walter Gibbons (April 2, 1954 – September 23, 1994) was an American record producer, early disco DJ, and remixer. He helped pioneer the remix and 12" single in America, and was among the most influential New York DJs of the 1970s. Career Gib ...
, and Chicago-based Frankie Knuckles. Frankie Knuckles was not only an important disco DJ; he also helped to develop house music in the 1980s. Disco hit the television airwaves as part of the music/dance variety show '' Soul Train'' in 1971 hosted by Don Cornelius, then Marty Angelo's ''
Disco Step-by-Step Television Show ''Disco Step-by-Step'' was a local television show in Buffalo, New York which featured disco music, dance instruction, and hustle dancing. The show was created, written, produced and first hosted by Marty Angelo.{{cite news , title=Dancing Queen ...
'' in 1975, Steve Marcus' ''Disco Magic/Disco 77'', Eddie Rivera's ''Soap Factory'', and Merv Griffin's '' Dance Fever'', hosted by
Deney Terrio Denis George Mahan (born June 15, 1950), better known as Deney Terrio, is an American choreographer and hosted the television musical variety series ''Dance Fever'' from 1979 to 1985. Early life and career Raised in Titusville, Florida, Terrio ...
, who is credited with teaching actor John Travolta to dance for his role in the film '' Saturday Night Fever'', as well as DANCE, based out of
Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the cit ...
. In 1974, New York City's
WPIX-FM WFAN-FM (101.9 FM), is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc. the station simulcasts a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM", or "The FAN", along with co-owned WFAN 660 AM. ...
premiered the first disco radio show.


Early disco culture in the United States

In the 1970s, the key counterculture of the 1960s, the hippie movement, was fading away. The economic prosperity of the previous decade had declined, and unemployment, inflation and crime rates had soared. Political issues like the backlash from the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
culminating in the form of
race riots An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...
, the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, and the Watergate scandal, left many feeling disillusioned and hopeless. The start of the '70s was marked by a shift in the consciousness of the American people: the rise of the
feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such ...
, identity politics, gangs, etc. very much shaped this era. Disco music and disco dancing provided an escape from negative social and economic issues. The non-partnered dance style of disco music allowed people of all races and sexual orientations to enjoy the dancefloor atmosphere. In ''Beautiful Things in Popular Culture'', Simon Frith highlights the sociability of disco and its roots in 1960s counterculture. "The driving force of the New York underground dance scene in which disco was forged was not simply that city's complex ethnic and sexual culture but also a 1960s notion of community, pleasure and generosity that can only be described as hippie", he says. "The best disco music contained within it a remarkably powerful sense of collective euphoria." The birth of disco is often claimed to be found in the private dance parties held by New York City DJ David Mancuso's home that became known as The Loft, an invitation-only non-commercial underground club that inspired many others. He organized the first major party in his Manhattan home on Valentine's Day 1970 with the name "Love Saves The Day". After some months the parties became weekly events and Mancuso continued to give regular parties into the 1990s. Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride. When Mancuso threw his first informal house parties, the gay community (which made up much of The Loft's attendee roster) was often harassed in the gay bars and dance clubs, with many gay men carrying bail money with them to gay bars. But at The Loft and many other early, private discotheques, they could dance together without fear of police action thanks to Mancuso's underground, yet legal, policies. Vince Aletti described it "like going to party, completely mixed, racially and sexually, where there wasn't any sense of someone being more important than anyone else," and Alex Rosner reiterated this saying "It was probably about sixty percent black and seventy percent gay...There was a mix of sexual orientation, there was a mix of races, mix of economic groups. A real mix, where the common denominator was music." Film critic Roger Ebert called the popular embrace of disco's exuberant dance moves an escape from "the general depression and drabness of the political and musical atmosphere of the late seventies." Pauline Kael, writing about the disco-themed film '' Saturday Night Fever'', said the film and disco itself touched on "something deeply romantic, the need to move, to dance, and the need to be who you'd like to be. Nirvana is the dance; when the music stops, you return to being ordinary."


Early disco culture in the United Kingdom

In the late 1960s, uptempo soul with heavy beats and some associated dance styles and fashion were picked up in the British mod scene and formed the northern soul movement. Originating at venues such as the
Twisted Wheel The Twisted Wheel was a nightclub in Manchester, England, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul. History The nightclub was founded by the brothers Jack, Phillip and Ivor ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
, it quickly spread to other UK dancehalls and nightclubs like the Chateau Impney ( Droitwich), Catacombs (Wolverhampton), the Highland Rooms at Blackpool Mecca,
Golden Torch The Golden Torch, more commonly known as The Torch, was a nightclub in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Opened as a mod venue, it later became important to fans of Northern soul. Peter Stringfellow was amongst the many DJs who at some time h ...
(Stoke-on-Trent) and Wigan Casino. As the favoured beat became more uptempo and frantic in the early 1970s, northern soul dancing became more athletic, somewhat resembling the later dance styles of disco and break dancing. Featuring
spins The spins (as in having "the spins")Diane Marie Leiva. ''The Florida State University College of Education''Women's Voices on College Drinking: The First-Year College Experience"/ref> is an adverse reaction of intoxication that causes a state of v ...
, flips, karate kicks and backdrops, club dancing styles were often inspired by the stage performances of touring American soul acts such as Little Anthony & the Imperials and Jackie Wilson. In 1974, there were an estimated 25,000 mobile discos and 40,000 professional disc jockeys in the United Kingdom. Mobile discos were hired deejays that brought their own equipment to provide music for special events. Glam rock tracks were popular, with, for example, Gary Glitter's 1972 single " Rock and Roll Part 2" becoming popular on UK dance floors while it did not get much radio airplay.


1974–1977: Rise to mainstream

From 1974 to 1977, disco music increased in popularity as many disco songs topped the charts. The Hues Corporation's " Rock the Boat" (1974), a US number-one single and million-seller, was one of the early disco songs to reach number one. The same year saw the release of " Kung Fu Fighting", performed by Carl Douglas and produced by Biddu, which reached number one in both the UK and US, and became the best-selling single of the year and one of the best-selling singles of all time with 11 million records sold worldwide, helping to popularize disco to a great extent. Another notable disco success that year was
George McCrae George Warren McCrae Jr. (born October 19, 1944) is an American soul and disco singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby". Biography and career McCrae was the second of nine children, born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He f ...
's " Rock Your Baby": it became the United Kingdom's first number one chart disco single. In the northwestern sections of the United Kingdom, the northern soul explosion, which started in the late 1960s and peaked in 1974, made the region receptive to disco, which the region's disc jockeys were bringing back from New York City. The shift by some DJs to the newer sounds coming from the U.S.A. resulted in a split in the scene, whereby some abandoned the 1960s soul and pushed a modern soul sound which tended to be more closely aligned with disco than soul. In 1975, Gloria Gaynor released her first side-long vinyl
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...
, which included a remake of the Jackson 5's " Never Can Say Goodbye" (which, in fact, is also the album title) and two other songs, "Honey Bee" and her disco version of " Reach Out (I'll Be There)", first topped the Billboard disco/dance charts in November 1974. Later in 1978, Gaynor's number-one disco song was " I Will Survive", which was seen as a symbol of female strength and a gay anthem, like her further disco hit, a 1983 remake of " I Am What I Am"; in 1979 she released " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)", a single which gained popularity in the civil rights movements. Also in 1975, Vincent Montana Jr.'s Salsoul Orchestra contributed with their Latin-flavored orchestral dance song "Salsoul Hustle", reaching number four on the Billboard Dance Chart and their 1976 hits " Tangerine" and "Nice 'n' Naasty", the first being a cover of a 1941 song. Songs such as
Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approxima ...
's 1975 " The Hustle" and the humorous Joe Tex 1977 " Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)" gave names to the popular disco dances "the Bump" and "the Hustle". Other notable early successful disco songs include Barry White's " You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (1974), Labelle's " Lady Marmalade" (1974),
Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes were a disco group of the 1970s, featuring Monti Rock III (born "Joseph Montanez Jr."). The band is best known for their two disco hits "Get Dancin'" and " I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo (Doo Dat Dance)". Career The Se ...
' "
Get Dancin' "Get Dancin'" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and performed by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, led by Monti Rock III. The song was produced by Bob Crewe and arranged by Bruce Miller. The song was featured on their 1975 album, ''Di ...
" (1974), Silver Convention's "
Fly, Robin, Fly "Fly, Robin, Fly" is a song by the German disco group Silver Convention from their debut studio album '' Save Me'' (1975). Sylvester Levay and Stephan Prager wrote the song, and the latter produced it. "Fly, Robin, Fly" was released as the thir ...
" (1975) and " Get Up and Boogie" (1976),
Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor ...
's " Disco Lady" (1976), and Vicki Sue Robinson's hit single, " Turn the Beat Around" (1976). Formed by Harry Wayne Casey (a.k.a. "KC") and Richard Finch, Miami's KC and the Sunshine Band had a string of disco-definitive top-five singles between 1975 and 1977, including " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", "
(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" is a song recorded and released in 1976 by KC and the Sunshine Band for the album ''Part 3''. The song became their third number-one hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, as well as their third number-one on ...
", " I'm Your Boogie Man" and " Keep It Comin' Love". In this period, rock bands like the English Electric Light Orchestra featured in their songs a violin sound that became a staple of disco music, as in the 1975 hit " Evil Woman", although the genre was correctly described as orchestral rock. Other disco producers such as
Tom Moulton Thomas Jerome Moulton (, ; born November 29, 1940) is an American record producer. He experimented with remix in disco music and this led to its wide adoption as a standard practice in the industry. He also invented the breakdown section, and the ...
took ideas and techniques from dub music (which came with the increased Jamaican migration to New York City in the 1970s) to provide alternatives to the "four on the floor" style that dominated. DJ Larry Levan utilized styles from dub and
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and remixing techniques to create early versions of house music that sparked the genre.


Motown turning disco

Norman Whitfield was an influential producer and songwriter at Motown records, renowned for creating innovative " psychedelic soul" songs with many hits for Marvin Gaye, the Velvelettes, the Temptations and Gladys Knight & The Pips. From around the production of the Temptations' album '' Cloud Nine'' in 1968, he incorporated some psychedelic influences and started to produce longer, dance-friendly tracks, with more room for elaborate rhythmic instrumental parts. An example of such a long psychedelic soul track is " Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", which appeared as a single edit of almost seven minutes and an approximately 12-minute-long 12" version in 1972. By the early 70s, many of Whitfield's productions evolved more and more towards funk and disco, as heard on albums by the Undisputed Truth and the 1973 album '' G.I.T.: Get It Together'' by The Jackson 5. The Undisputed Truth, a Motown recording act assembled by Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques, found success with their 1971 song " Smiling Faces Sometimes". Their disco single "You + Me = Love" (number 43) was produced by Whitfield and made number 2 on the US Dance Charts in 1976. In 1975, Whitfield left Motown and founded his own label Whitfield records, on which also "You + Me = Love" was released. Whitfield produced some more disco hits, including " Car Wash" (1976) by Rose Royce from the album soundtrack to the 1976 film ''Car Wash''. In 1977, singer, songwriter and producer Willie Hutch, who had been signed to Motown since 1970, now signed with Whitfield's new label, and scored a successful disco single with his song "In and Out" in 1982. Other Motown artists turned to disco as well. Diana Ross embraced the disco sound with her successful 1976 outing "
Love Hangover "Love Hangover" is a song by the Motown singer Diana Ross, recorded in 1975 and released as a single on March 16, 1976. It rose to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot-Selling Soul Singles. It also hit number one on the Record World ...
" from her self-titled album. Her 1980 dance classics " Upside Down" and "
I'm Coming Out "I'm Coming Out" is a song recorded by American singer Diana Ross. It was written and produced by Chic members Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and released on August 22, 1980, as the second single from Ross' self-titled tenth album '' Diana'' ...
" were written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group Chic. The Supremes, the group that made Ross famous, scored a handful of hits in the disco clubs without her, most notably 1976's " I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" and, their last charted single before disbanding, 1977's "You're My Driving Wheel". At the request of Motown that he produce songs in the disco genre, Marvin Gaye released "
Got to Give It Up "Got to Give It Up" is a song by American music artist Marvin Gaye. Written by the singer and produced by Art Stewart as a response to a request from Gaye's record label that he perform disco music, it was released in March 1977. Upon its releas ...
" in 1978, despite his dislike of disco. He vowed not to record any songs in the genre, and actually wrote the song as a parody. However, several of Gaye's songs have disco elements, including " I Want You" (1975).
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
released the disco single " Sir Duke" in 1977 as a tribute to Duke Ellington, the influential
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
legend who had died in 1974. Smokey Robinson left the Motown group the Miracles for a solo career in 1972 and released his third solo album ''
A Quiet Storm ''A Quiet Storm'' is the 1975 third solo album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Smokey Robinson. The album received generally positive reviews, and spawned the hit single " Baby That's Backatcha", which spent one week at the top ...
'' in 1975, which spawned and lent its name to the "
Quiet Storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...
" musical programming format and subgenre of R&B. It contained the disco single " Baby That's Backatcha". Other Motown artists who scored disco hits include: Robinson's former group, the Miracles, with "Love Machine" (1975), Eddie Kendricks with "Keep On Truckin'" (1973), the Originals with " Down to Love Town" (1976) and Thelma Houston with her cover of the
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in ...
song " Don't Leave Me This Way" (1976). The label continued to release successful songs into the 1980s with Rick James' " Super Freak" (1981), and the Commodores' " Lady (You Bring Me Up)" (1981). Several of Motown's solo artists who left the label went on to have successful disco songs. Mary Wells, Motown's first female superstar with her signature song " My Guy" (written by Smokey Robinson), abruptly left the label in 1964. She briefly reappeared on the charts with the disco song "Gigolo" in 1980. Jimmy Ruffin, the elder brother of the Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, was also signed to Motown, and released his most successful and well-known song " What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as a single in 1966. Ruffin eventually left the record label in the mid-1970s, but saw success with the 1980 disco song "
Hold On (To My Love) "Hold On (To My Love)" is a song written by Robin Gibb and Blue Weaver and performed by American soul singer Jimmy Ruffin, released in 1980 on his album '' Sunrise''. It reached #10 in the US, #29 R&B and #7 in the UK. Personnel * Jimmy Ruffin ...
", which was written and produced by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, for his album '' Sunrise''. Edwin Starr, known for his Motown protest song " War" (1970), reentered the charts in 1979 with a pair of disco songs, "
Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * C ...
" and " H.A.P.P.Y. Radio". Kiki Dee became the first white British singer to sign with Motown in the US, and released one album, ''Great Expectations'' (1970), and two singles "The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday" (1970) and "Love Makes the World Go Round" (1971), the latter giving her first-ever chart entry (number 87 on the US Chart). She soon left the company and signed with Elton John's The Rocket Record Company, and in 1976 had her biggest and best-known single, "
Don't Go Breaking My Heart "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a 1976 duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte Blanche", respectively, and intended as an affectiona ...
", a disco duet with John. The song was intended as an affectionate disco-style pastiche of the Motown sound, in particular the various duets recorded by Marvin Gaye with Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston. Many Motown groups who had left the record label charted with disco songs. The Jackson 5, one of Motown's premier acts in the early 1970s, left the record company in 1975 ( Jermaine Jackson, however, remained with the label) after successful songs like " I Want You Back" (1969) and " ABC" (1970), and even the disco song "
Dancing Machine "Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B outfit the Jackson 5, and was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album '' G.I.T.: Get It Together'' and was released as a remi ...
" (1974). Renamed as 'the Jacksons' (as Motown owned the name 'the Jackson 5'), they went on to find success with disco songs like "Blame It on the Boogie" (1978), " Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979) and "Can You Feel It?" (1981) on the Epic label. The Isley Brothers, whose short tenure at the company had produced the song " This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" in 1966, went on release successful disco songs like "That Lady" (1973) and " It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)" (1979). Gladys Knight and the Pips, who recorded the most successful version of " I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1967) before Marvin Gaye, scored commercially successful singles such as "Baby, Don't Change Your Mind" (1977) and "Bourgie, Bourgie" (1980) in the disco era. The Detroit Spinners were also signed to the Motown label and saw success with the Stevie Wonder-produced song " It's a Shame" in 1970. They left soon after, on the advice of fellow
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
native Aretha Franklin, to Atlantic Records, and there had disco songs like " The Rubberband Man" (1976). In 1979, they released a successful cover of Elton John's "
Are You Ready for Love "Are You Ready for Love" is a song recorded by English musician Elton John in 1977 and first released in the UK in 1979 as the first single from the EP '' The Thom Bell Sessions''. It was written by Leroy Bell, Thom Bell and Casey James, an ...
", as well as a medley of the Four Seasons' song " Working My Way Back to You" and Michael Zager's "Forgive Me, Girl". The Four Seasons themselves were briefly signed to Motown's MoWest label, a short-lived subsidiary for R&B and soul artists based on the West Coast, and there the group produced one album, '' Chameleon'' (1972) – to little commercial success in the US. However, one single, "The Night", was released in Britain in 1975, and thanks to popularity from the Northern Soul circuit, reached number seven on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The Four Seasons left Motown in 1974 and went on to have a disco hit with their song " December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (1975) for Warner Curb Records.


Eurodisco

By far the most successful Euro disco act was
ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...
(1972–1982). This Swedish quartet, which sang primarily in English, found success with singles such as " Waterloo" (1974), " Fernando" (1976), " Take a Chance on Me" (1978), " Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (1979), and their signature smash hit " Dancing Queen" (1976)—ranks as the Fourth best-selling act of all time. In 1970s
Munich, West Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, music producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte made a decisive contribution to disco music with a string of hits for Donna Summer, which became known as the "Munich Sound". In 1975, Summer suggested the lyric " Love to Love You Baby" to Moroder and Bellotte, who turned the lyric into a full disco song. The final product, which contained the vocalizations of a series of simulated
orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region chara ...
s, initially was not intended for release, but when Moroder played it in the clubs it caused a sensation and he released it. The song became an international hit, reaching the charts in many European countries and the US (No. 2). It has been described as the arrival of the expression of raw female sexual desire in pop music. A nearly 17-minute
12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
was released. The 12" single became and remains a standard in discos today. In 1976 Donna Summer's version of " Could It Be Magic" brought disco further into the mainstream. In 1977 Summer, Moroder and Bellotte further released " I Feel Love", as the B-side of "Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)", which revolutionized dance music with its mostly electronic production and was a massive worldwide success, spawning the Hi-NRG subgenre. Giorgio Moroder was described by
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
as "one of the principal architects of the disco sound". Another successful disco music project by Moroder at that time was Munich Machine (1976–1980). Boney M. (1974–1986) was a West German Euro disco group of four West Indian singers and dancers masterminded by record producer Frank Farian. Boney M. charted worldwide with such songs as " Daddy Cool" (1976) " Ma Baker" (1977) and " Rivers Of Babylon" (1978). Another successful West German Euro disco recording act was Silver Convention (1974–1979). The German group Kraftwerk also had an influence on Euro disco. In France, Dalida released " J'attendrai" ("I Will Wait") in 1975, which also became successful in Canada, Europe and Japan. Dalida successfully adjusted herself to disco era and released at least a dozen of songs that charted among top number 10 in whole Europe and wider.
Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of " Comme d'habitude" ( ...
, who re-invented himself as the "king of French disco", released "La plus belle chose du monde", a French version of the Bee Gees song "
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", which became successful in Canada and Europe and "Alexandrie Alexandra" was posthumously released on the day of his burial and became a worldwide success.
Cerrone Marc Cerrone Daryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (, ; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concert shows. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980 ...
's early songs, "Love in C Minor" (1976), " Supernature" (1977) and "Give Me Love" (1978) were successful in the US and Europe. Another Euro disco act was the French diva Amanda Lear, where Euro disco sound is most heard in " Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" (1978). French producer Alec Costandinos assembled the Euro disco group Love and Kisses (1977–1982). In Italy
Raffaella Carrà Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021), better known as Raffaella Carrà (), was an Italian singer, dancer, television presenter, actress and model. She was well known in Europe and Latin America as a result of her many ...
was the most successful Euro disco act, alongside
La Bionda La Bionda were an Italian disco duo consisting of siblings Carmelo (1949–2022) and Michelangelo La Bionda (born 1952). They are considered among the pioneers of the Italo disco music genre. The siblings were born in Ramacca, Sicily and moved ...
, Hermanas Goggi and Oliver Onions. Her greatest international single was "Tanti Auguri" ("Best Wishes"), which has become a popular song with gay audiences. The song is also known under its Spanish title "Para hacer bien el amor hay que venir al sur" (which refers to Southern Europe, since the song was recorded and taped in Spain). The Estonian version of the song "Jätke võtmed väljapoole" was performed by Anne Veski. "
A far l'amore comincia tu "A far l'amore comincia tu" (; "Start making love first") is a song by Italian singer Raffaella Carrà from her album '' Forte forte forte'' (1976). It was written by Franco Bracardi and Daniele Pace, and produced by Gianni Boncompagni. The song ...
" ("To make love, your move first") was another success for her internationally, known in Spanish as "En el amor todo es empezar", in German as "Liebelei", in French as "Puisque tu l'aimes dis le lui", and in English as "Do It, Do It Again". It was her only entry to the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, reaching number 9, where she remains a one-hit wonder. In 1977, she recorded another successful single, "Fiesta" ("The Party" in English) originally in Spanish, but then recorded it in French and Italian after the song hit the charts. "A far l'amore comincia tu" has also been covered in Turkish by a Turkish popstar Ajda Pekkan as "Sakın Ha" in 1977. Recently, Carrà has gained new attention for her appearance as the female dancing soloist in a 1974 TV performance of the experimental gibberish song " Prisencolinensinainciusol" (1973) by
Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian musician, singer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is dubbed "''il Molleggiato''" (the springy one) because of his dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and ...
. A remixed video featuring her dancing went viral on the internet in 2008. In 2008 a video of a performance of her only successful UK single, "Do It, Do It Again", was featured in the '' Doctor Who'' episode " Midnight". Rafaella Carrà worked with Bob Sinclar on the new single " Far l'Amore" which was released on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
on March 17, 2011. The song charted in different European countries. Another prominent European disco act was the
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
group
Luv' Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Finland) as well as Israel, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada ...
from the Netherlands. Euro disco continued evolving within the broad mainstream pop music scene, even when disco's popularity sharply declined in the United States, abandoned by major U.S. record labels and producers. Through the influence of Italo disco, it also played a role in the evolution of early house music in the early 1980s and later forms of electronic dance music, including early 1990s' Eurodance.


1977–1979: Pop preeminence

In December 1977, the film '' Saturday Night Fever'' was released. It was a huge success and its
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...
became one of the best-selling albums of all time. The idea for the film was sparked by a 1976 '' New York'' magazine article titled " Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" which supposedly chronicled the disco culture in mid-1970s New York City, but was later revealed to have been fabricated. Some critics said the film "mainstreamed" disco, making it more acceptable to heterosexual white males. The Bee Gees used Barry Gibb's falsetto to garner hits such as " You Should Be Dancing", " Stayin' Alive", " Night Fever", " More Than A Woman" and " Love You Inside Out". Andy Gibb, a younger brother to the Bee Gees, followed with similarly styled solo singles such as " I Just Want to Be Your Everything", " (Love Is) Thicker Than Water" and " Shadow Dancing". In 1978, Donna Summer's multi-million selling vinyl single disco version of " MacArthur Park" was number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for three weeks and was nominated for the
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
for
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...
. The recording, which was included as part of the "MacArthur Park Suite" on her double live album ''
Live and More ''Live and More'' is the first live album recorded by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, and it was her second double album, released on August 28, 1978 by Casablanca Records. The live concert featured on the first three sides of this doub ...
'', was eight minutes and 40 seconds long on the album. The shorter seven-inch vinyl single version of MacArthur Park was Summer's first single to reach number one on the Hot 100; it does not include the balladic second movement of the song, however. A 2013 remix of "MacArthur Park" by Summer topped the Billboard Dance Charts marking five consecutive decades with a number-one song on the charts. From mid-1978 to late 1979, Summer continued to release singles such as " Last Dance", " Heaven Knows" (with
Brooklyn Dreams ''Brooklyn Dreams'' is an American comic book limited series written by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Glenn Barr. It was published by the DC Comics imprint, Paradox Press in 1994 and later collected into a trade paperback, published by DC u ...
), " Hot Stuff", " Bad Girls", "
Dim All the Lights "Dim All the Lights" is a song by American recording artist Donna Summer released as the third single from her 1979 album '' Bad Girls''. It debuted at number 70 on August 25, 1979, and peaked that year at number two on November 10 and November 17 ...
" and " On the Radio", all very successful songs, landing in the top five or better, on the Billboard pop charts. The band Chic was formed mainly by guitarist Nile Rodgers—a self-described "street hippie" from late 1960s New York—and bassist Bernard Edwards. Their popular 1978 single, " Le Freak", is regarded as an iconic song of the genre. Other successful songs by Chic include the often-sampled " Good Times" (1979), " I Want Your Love" (1979), and " Everybody Dance" (1979). The group regarded themselves as the disco movement's rock band that made good on the hippie movement's ideals of peace, love, and freedom. Every song they wrote was written with an eye toward giving it "deep hidden meaning" or D.H.M.
Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented ...
, a flamboyant and openly gay singer famous for his soaring falsetto voice, scored his biggest disco hit in late 1978 with "
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a 1978 song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released as the second single from Sylvester's fourth album, ''Step II'' (1978). The song was already a ...
". His singing style was said to have influenced the singer
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...
. At that time, disco was one of the forms of music most open to gay performers. The Village People were a singing/dancing group created by
Jacques Morali Jacques Morali (4 July 1947 – 15 November 1991) was a French disco and dance music record producer and songwriter, known for creating acts like The Ritchie Family and Village People. Early life Morali was born in Casablanca, Morocco. ...
and
Henri Belolo Henri Belolo (; 27 November 1936 – 3 August 2019) was a French music producer and songwriter active during the disco era. Born in Morocco, he started his career as a club DJ and A&R man. In the 1970s, with his friend, composer Jacques Moral ...
to target disco's gay audience. They were known for their onstage costumes of typically male-associated jobs and ethnic minorities and achieved mainstream success with their 1978 hit song " Macho Man". Other songs include " Y.M.C.A." (1979) and " In the Navy" (1979). Also noteworthy are The Trammps' " Disco Inferno" (1976), (1978, reissue due to the popularity gained from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack), Evelyn "Champagne" King's "
Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
" (1977),
A Taste of Honey ''A Taste of Honey'' is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 19. It was intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalise British theatre and address social issues that ...
's "
Boogie Oogie Oogie "Boogie Oogie Oogie" is a song by the American band A Taste of Honey from their 1978 self-titled debut album. Released as their debut single in the summer of 1978, the song became an extremely popular "crossover" disco song. It topped the America ...
" (1978), Cheryl Lynn's " Got to Be Real" (1978), Alicia Bridges' "
I Love the Nightlife "I Love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" is a popular disco song recorded by American singer Alicia Bridges in 1978. It went to number two on the US ''Billboard'' National Disco Action Top 30 (now the Dance Club Songs chart) for two weeks. It became ...
" (1978),
Patrick Hernandez Patrick Pierre Hernandez (born 6 April 1949) is a French singer who had a worldwide hit with " Born to Be Alive" in 1979. Biography Born to a Spanish father and an Italian mother in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hernandez grew up in th ...
's "
Born to Be Alive ''Born to Be Alive'' is the first studio album by Patrick Hernandez, released internationally in 1978 and in the US in 1979. It features the eponymous disco hit " Born to Be Alive" as well as a less-successful single, "Disco Queen". Background ...
" (1978), Earth, Wind & Fire's " September" (1978), Peaches & Herb's "
Shake Your Groove Thing "Shake Your Groove Thing" is a song by disco duo Peaches & Herb. The single reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' R&B Chart. It also reached No. 2 for four weeks on the ''Billboard'' Disco chart in 197 ...
" (1978), Sister Sledge's " We Are Family" (1979), Anita Ward's " Ring My Bell" (1979), Kool & the Gang's " Ladies' Night" (1979), Stephanie Mills's "
What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin' ''What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin is the third album by Stephanie Mills. Released in 1979 and produced by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas. Track listing *All songs written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas except where indicated. Personnel *Stepha ...
" (1979),
Lipps Inc. Lipps Inc. ( , a pun on the phrase "lip sync") was an American disco and funk group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is best known for the chart-topping 1980 worldwide hit single "Funkytown", which hit No. 1 in 28 countries and was certifi ...
's " Funkytown" (1980), The Brothers Johnson's " Stomp!" (1980), George Benson's " Give Me the Night" (1980), Donna Summer's " Sunset People" (1980), and
Walter Murphy Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which toppe ...
's various attempts to bring
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...
to the mainstream, most notably his disco song "
A Fifth of Beethoven "A Fifth of Beethoven" is a disco instrumental recorded by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band, adapted from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The record was produced by production music and sound effects recording pro ...
" (1976), which was inspired by
Beethoven's fifth symphony The Symphony No. 5 in C minor of Ludwig van Beethoven, Op. 67, was written between 1804 and 1808. It is one of the best-known compositions in classical music and one of the most frequently played symphonies, and it is widely considered one of ...
. At the height of its popularity, many non-disco artists recorded songs with disco elements, such as Rod Stewart with his " Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" in 1979. Even
mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active ro ...
artists adopted elements of disco.
Progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...
group Pink Floyd used disco-like drums and guitar in their song "
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera ''The Wall,'' written by bassist Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment, and rigid and abusive schooling, features a childre ...
" (1979),It was producer Bob Ezrin's idea to incorporate a disco
riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...
, as well as a second-verse children's choir, into "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2". A few other Pink Floyd songs of the 1970s incorporated disco elements, especially songs like Part 8 of " Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (1975), "
Pigs (Three Different Ones) "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1977 album ''Animals''. In the album's three parts, "Dogs", "Pigs" and "Sheep", pigs represent the people whom Roger Waters considers to be at the top of the social ladder, the ones with ...
" (1977), and " Young Lust" (1979), which all featured a funky, syncopated bass line.
which became their only number-one single in both the US and UK. The
Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...
referenced disco with "
One of These Nights ''One of These Nights'' is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. In July that year, the record became the Eagles' first number one album on ''Billboard''s album chart, yielding three Top 10 singles: " One of These Nights", "Lyi ...
" (1975) and " Disco Strangler" (1979), Paul McCartney & Wings with " Silly Love Songs" (1976) and " Goodnight Tonight" (1979),
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
with " Another One Bites the Dust" (1980),
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...
with " Miss You" (1978) and " Emotional Rescue" (1980),
Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. As both a solo act and member of two successful bands, Stills has co ...
with his album '' Thoroughfare Gap'' (1978), Electric Light Orchestra with "
Shine a Little Love "Shine a Little Love" is a song by the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released as a single in the US and UK in 1979. Summary The song is the first track on their 1979 album ''Discovery''. This was one of the band's ...
" and "
Last Train to London "Last Train to London" is a song from the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the fifth track from their album ''Discovery''. The song was released in 1979 in the UK as a double A-side single with "Confusion". It peaked at number ...
" (both 1979),
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
with " Street Player" (1979), the Kinks with " (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" (1979), the Grateful Dead with " Shakedown Street",
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
with "
Eminence Front "Eminence Front" is a song written and sung by Pete Townshend of the Who. It appears as the sixth track on the group's 1982 studio album, '' It's Hard''. The single reached number 68 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Background and recording In t ...
" (1982), and the
J. Geils Band ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...
with " Come Back" (1980). Even hard rock group
KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
jumped in with " I Was Made for Lovin' You" (1979), and Ringo Starr's album ''
Ringo the 4th ''Ringo the 4th'' is the sixth studio album by English musician Ringo Starr, released on 20 September 1977. Its title is sometimes ascribed to him being the fourth member of the Beatles. Others have suggested that it is his fourth mainstream albu ...
'' (1978) features a strong disco influence. The disco sound was also adopted by artists from other genres, including the 1979 U.S. number one hit " No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" by
easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...
singer
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
in a duet with Donna Summer. In
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
, in an attempt to appeal to the more mainstream market, artists began to add pop/disco influences to their music.
Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...
launched a successful crossover onto the pop/dance charts, with her albums ''Heartbreaker'' and ''Great Balls of Fire'' containing songs with a disco flair. In particular, a disco remix of the track "
Baby I'm Burnin' "Baby I'm Burnin'" is a song by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. It was written by Parton who also produced the track with Gary Klein and Charles Koppelman who served as executive producer. The song was first released on Parton's twentie ...
" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart; ultimately becoming one of the years biggest club hits. Additionally, Connie Smith covered Andy Gibb's "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" in 1977, Bill Anderson recorded "Double S" in 1978, and Ronnie Milsap released "Get It Up" and covered blues singer Tommy Tucker's song "
Hi-Heel Sneakers "Hi-Heel Sneakers" (often also spelled "High Heel Sneakers") is a blues song written and recorded by Tommy Tucker in 1963. Blues writer Mary Katherine Aldin describes it as an uptempo twelve-bar blues, with "a spare, lilting musical framework", ...
" in 1979. Pre-existing non-disco songs, standards, and TV themes were frequently "disco-ized" in the 1970s, such as the '' I Love Lucy'' theme (recorded as "Disco Lucy" by the Wilton Place Street Band), "
Aquarela do Brasil "Aquarela do Brasil" (, 'Watercolor of Brazil'), written by Ary Barroso in 1939 and known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is one of the most famous Brazilian songs. Background and composition Ary Barroso wrote "Aquarela do Bra ...
" (recorded as "Brazil" by The Ritchie Family), and " Baby Face" (recorded by the
Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps was an American disco group in existence from 1975 to 1978. The assemblage of studio musicians (which, contrary to its name, had no fife players) were put together by Harold Wheeler; the group's vocalists we ...
). The rich orchestral accompaniment that became identified with the disco era conjured up the memories of the
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
era—which brought out several artists that recorded and disco-ized some big band arrangements, including Perry Como, who re-recorded his 1945 song "
Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...
", in 1975, as well as Ethel Merman, who released an album of disco songs entitled '' The Ethel Merman Disco Album'' in 1979.
Myron Floren Myron Floren (November 5, 1919 – July 23, 2005) was an American musician best known as the accordionist on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' between 1950 and 1980. Floren came to prominence primarily from his regular appearances on the weekly televis ...
, second-in-command on '' The Lawrence Welk Show'', released a recording of the "
Clarinet Polka "The Clarinet Polka" or "A Hupfata" ( Polish "Polka Dziadek", Estonian "Vanaisa polka" – Grandpa Polka) is a popular musical composition from the end of the 19th century. Since 1971 it has been used as an opener in '' Lato z Radiem'' − one of th ...
" entitled "Disco Accordion." Similarly, Bobby Vinton adapted "The Pennsylvania Polka" into a song named "Disco Polka". Easy listening icon Percy Faith, in one of his last recordings, released an album entitled ''
Disco Party "Disco Party" is a 1976 disco single by Philadelphia-based disco group, The Trammps The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was the ...
'' (1975) and recorded a disco version of his " Theme from ''A Summer Place''" in 1976. Even classical music was adapted for disco, notably
Walter Murphy Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which toppe ...
's "A Fifth of Beethoven" (1976, based on the first movement of
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
's 5th Symphony) and "Flight 76" (1976, based on Rimsky-Korsakov's " Flight of the Bumblebee"), and
Louis Clark Louis Clark (27 February 1947 – 13 February 2021) was an English music arranger and keyboard player. He trained at Leeds College of Music. He is best known for his work with Electric Light Orchestra and '' Hooked on Classics''. Clark started ...
's '' Hooked On Classics'' series of albums and singles. Many original
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
theme songs of the era also showed a strong disco influence, such as '' S.W.A.T.'' (1975), '' Wonder Woman'' (1975), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976), ''NBC Saturday Night At The Movies'' (1976), '' The Love Boat'' (1977), ''
The Donahue Show ''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and ...
'' (1977), '' CHiPs'' (1977), '' The Professionals'' (1977), ''
Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
'' (1978), NBC Sports broadcasts (1978), '' Kojak'' (1977), and ''
The Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on t ...
'' (1979). Disco jingles also made their way into many TV commercials, including Purina's 1979 "Good Mews" cat food commercial and an "IC Light" commercial by
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
's
Iron City Brewing Company Pittsburgh Brewing Company (formerly known as Iron City Brewing Company) is a beer company headquartered in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States best known for producing brands such as Iron City Beer, ...
.


Parodies

Several parodies of the disco style were created. Rick Dees, at the time a radio DJ in Memphis, Tennessee, recorded "Disco Duck" (1976) and "Dis-Gorilla" (1977); Frank Zappa parodied the lifestyles of disco dancers in "Disco Boy" on his 1976 ''Zoot Allures'' album and in "Dancin' Fool" on his 1979 ''Sheik Yerbouti'' album; "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Weird Al" Yankovic (album), eponymous 1983 debut album includes a disco song called "Gotta Boogie", an extended pun on the similarity of the disco move to the American slang word "Dried nasal mucus, booger". Comedian Bill Cosby devoted his entire 1977 album ''Disco Bill'' to disco parodies. In 1980, ''Mad (magazine), Mad Magazine'' released a flexi-disc titled ''Mad Disco'' featuring six full-length parodies of the genre. Rock and roll songs critical of disco included Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" and, especially,
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's "Sister Disco" (both 1978)—although The Who's "
Eminence Front "Eminence Front" is a song written and sung by Pete Townshend of the Who. It appears as the sixth track on the group's 1982 studio album, '' It's Hard''. The single reached number 68 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Background and recording In t ...
" (four years later) had a disco feel.


1979–1981: Controversy and decline in popularity

By the end of the 1970s, anti-disco sentiment developed among
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...
fans and musicians, particularly in the United States. Disco was criticized as mindless, Consumerism, consumerist, Overproduction (music), overproduced and escapism, escapist. The slogans "Disco sucks" and "Death to disco" became common. Rock artists such as Rod Stewart and David Bowie who added disco elements to their music were accused of selling out.Robert Christgau: Pazz & Jop 1978: New Wave Hegemony and the Bebop Question
Robert Christgau for the '' Village Voice'' Pop & Jop Poll January 22, 1978, 1979
The punk subculture in the United States and United Kingdom was often hostile to disco, although in the UK, many early Sex Pistols fans such as the Bromley Contingent and Pamela Rooke, Jordan liked disco, often congregating at nightclubs such as Louise's in Soho and the Sombrero in Kensington. The track "
Love Hangover "Love Hangover" is a song by the Motown singer Diana Ross, recorded in 1975 and released as a single on March 16, 1976. It rose to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot-Selling Soul Singles. It also hit number one on the Record World ...
" by Diana Ross, the house anthem at the former, was cited as a particular favourite by many early UK punks. The film ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' and The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album), its soundtrack album contained a disco medley of Sex Pistols songs, entitled ''Black Arabs'' and credited to a group of the same name. However, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, in the song "Saturday Night Holocaust", likened disco to the cabaret culture of Weimar Republic, Weimar-era Germany for its apathy towards government policies and its escapism. Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo said that disco was "like a beautiful woman with a great body and no brains", and a product of political apathy of that era. New Jersey rock critic Jim Testa wrote "Put a Bullet Through the Jukebox", a vitriolic screed attacking disco that was considered a punk call to arms. Steve Hillage, shortly prior to his transformation from a progressive rock musician into an electronic artist at the end of the 1970s with the inspiration of disco, disappointed his Rockism, rockist fans by admitting his love for disco, with Hillage recalling "it's like I'd killed their pet cat." Anti-disco sentiment was expressed in some television shows and films. A recurring theme on the show ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' was a hostile attitude towards disco music. In one scene of the 1980 comedy film ''Airplane!'', a wayward airplane slices a radio tower with its wing, knocking out an all-disco radio station. July 12, 1979, became known as "the day disco died" because of the Disco Demolition Night, an anti-disco demonstration in a baseball double-header at Comiskey Park in Chicago.Campion, Chris ''Walking on the Moon: The Untold Story of the Police and the Rise of New Wave Rock''. John Wiley & Sons, (2009), pp. 82–84. Rock station DJs Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, along with Michael Veeck, son of Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck, staged the promotional event for disgruntled rock fans between the games of a White Sox doubleheader which involved exploding disco records in Baseball field, centerfield. As the second game was about to begin, the raucous crowd Pitch invasion, stormed onto the field and proceeded by setting Bonfire, fires, tearing out seats and pieces of turf, and other damage. The Chicago Police Department made numerous arrests, and the extensive damage to the field forced the White Sox to forfeit the second game to the Detroit Tigers, who had won the first game. Disco's decline in popularity after Disco Demolition Night was rapid. On July 12, 1979, the top six records on the U.S. music charts were disco songs.From Comiskey Park to Thriller: The Effect of "Disco Sucks" on Pop
by Steve Greenberg (record producer), Steve Greenberg founder and CEO of S-Curve Records July 10, 2009.
By September 22, there were no disco songs in the US Top 10 chart, with the exception of Herb Alpert's instrumental "Rise (instrumental), Rise", a smooth jazz composition with some disco overtones. Some in the media, in celebratory tones, declared disco "dead" and rock revived. Karen Mixon Cook, the first female disco DJ, stated that people still pause every July 12 for a moment of silence in honor of disco. Dahl stated in a 2004 interview that disco was "probably on its way out [at the time]. But I think it [Disco Demolition Night] hastened its demise".


Impact on music industry

The anti-disco movement, combined with other societal and radio industry factors, changed the face of pop radio in the years following Disco Demolition Night. Starting in the 1980s,
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
began a slow rise in American main pop charts. Emblematic of country music's rise to mainstream popularity was the commercially successful 1980 movie ''Urban Cowboy''. The continued popularity of power pop and the revival of oldies in the late 1970s was also related to disco's decline; the 1978 film ''Grease (film), Grease'' was emblematic of this trend. Coincidentally, the star of both films was John Travolta, who in 1977 had starred in '' Saturday Night Fever'', which remains one of the most iconic disco films of the era. During this period of decline in disco's popularity, several record companies folded, were reorganized, or were sold. In 1979, MCA Records purchased ABC Records, absorbed some of its artists, and then shut the label down. Midsong International Records ceased operations in 1980. RSO Records founder Robert Stigwood left the label in 1981 and TK Records closed in the same year. Salsoul Records continues to exist in the 2000s, but primarily is used as a reissue brand. Casablanca Records had been releasing fewer records in the 1980s, and was shut down in 1986 by parent company PolyGram. Many groups that were popular during the disco period subsequently struggled to maintain their success—even those that tried to adapt to evolving musical tastes. The Bee Gees, for instance, had only one top-10 entry (1989's "One (Bee Gees song), One") and three more top-40 songs (despite recording and releasing far more than that and completely abandoning disco in their 1980s and 1990s songs) in the United States after the 1970s, even though numerous songs they wrote and had ''other'' artists perform were successful. Of the handful of groups ''not'' taken down by disco's fall from favor, Kool and the Gang, Donna Summer, the Jacksons and Gloria Gaynor in particular—stand out: In spite of having helped ''define'' the disco sound early on, they continued to make popular and danceable, if more refined, songs for yet another generation of music fans in the 1980s and beyond. Earth, Wind & Fire also survived the anti-disco trend and continued to produce successful singles at roughly the same pace for several more years, in addition to an even longer string of R&B chart hits that lasted into the 1990s. Six months prior to the chaotic event (in December 1978), popular progressive rock radio station WDAI (WLS-FM) had suddenly switched to an all-disco format, disenfranchising thousands of Chicago rock fans and leaving Dahl unemployed. WDAI, who survived the change of public sentiment and still had good ratings at this point, continued to play disco until it flipped to a short-lived hybrid Top 40/rock format in May 1980. Another disco outlet that also competed against WDAI at the time, WGCI-FM, would later incorporate Contemporary R&B, R&B and
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
songs into the format, eventually evolving into an urban contemporary outlet that it continues with today. The latter also helped bring the Chicago house genre to the airwaves.


Factors contributing to disco's decline

Factors that have been cited as leading to the decline of disco in the United States include economic and political changes at the end of the 1970s, as well as Occupational burnout, burnout from the Hedonism, hedonistic lifestyles led by participants.[ Allmusic BeeGees bio] In the years since Disco Demolition Night, some social critics have described the "Disco sucks" movement as implicitly machism, macho and bigoted, and an attack on non-white and non-heterosexual cultures. It was also interpreted being part of a wider cultural "backlash", the move towards conservatism, that also made its way into US politics with the election of conservative president Ronald Reagan in 1980, which also led to Republican control of the United States Senate for the first time since 1954, plus the subsequent rise of the Christian Religious Right around the same time. In January 1979, rock critic Robert Christgau argued that homophobia, and most likely racism, were reasons behind the movement, a conclusion seconded by John Rockwell. Craig Werner wrote: "The Anti-disco movement represented an unholy alliance of funkateers and feminists, progressives and puritans, rockers and reactionaries. Nonetheless, the attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism, sexism and homophobia." Legs McNeil, founder of the fanzine ''Punk (magazine), Punk'', was quoted in an interview as saying, "the hippies always wanted to be black. We were going, 'fuck the blues, fuck the black experience'." He also said that disco was the result of an "Unholy alliance (geopolitical), unholy" union between homosexuals and blacks.Rip it Up and Start Again POSTPUNK 1978–1984 by Simon Reynolds p. 154 Steve Dahl, who had spearheaded Disco Demolition Night, denied any racist or homophobic undertones to the promotion, saying, "It's really easy to look at it historically, from this perspective, and attach all those things to it. But we weren't thinking like that." It has been noted that British punk rock critics of disco were very supportive of the pro-black/anti-racist reggae genre as well as the more pro-gay new romantics movement. Christgau and Jim Testa have said that there were legitimate artistic reasons for being critical of disco. In 1979, the music industry in the United States underwent its worst slump in decades, and disco, despite its mass popularity, was blamed. The producer-oriented sound was having difficulty mixing well with the industry's artist-oriented marketing system. Harold Childs, senior vice president at A&M Records, reportedly told the ''Los Angeles Times'' that "radio is really desperate for rock product" and "they're all looking for some white rock-n-roll". Gloria Gaynor argued that the music industry supported the destruction of disco because rock music producers were losing money and rock musicians were losing the spotlight.


1981–1989: Aftermath


Birth of electronic dance music

Disco was instrumental in the development of electronic dance music genres like house music, house, techno and eurodance. The Eurodisco song '' I Feel Love'', produced by Giorgio Moroder for Donna Summer in 1976, has been described as a milestone and blueprint for electronic dance music because it was the first to combine repetitive synthesizer loops with a continuous Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor bass drum and an Beat (music)#On-beat and off-beat, off-beat hi-hat, which would become a main feature of techno and house ten years later. During the first years of the 1980s, the traditional disco sound characterized by complex arrangements performed by big band, large ensembles of studio session musicians (including a horn section and an orchestral string section) began to be phased out, and faster tempos and synthesized effects, accompanied by guitar and simplified backgrounds, moved dance music toward electronic and pop genres, starting with hi-NRG. Despite its decline in popularity, so-called club music and European-style disco much remained "relatively" successful in the early 1980s with songs like, Aneka's "Japanese Boy", The Gap Band's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me", The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men", Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money", Irene Cara's "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (theme to the film ''Flashdance (film), Flashdance'', Madonna's "Lucky Star (Madonna song), Lucky Star", Laura Branigan's "Self Control (Raf song), Self Control", The Pointer Sisters's album, "Break Out (Pointer Sisters album), Break Out", Exposé (group), Exposé's "Point of No Return (Exposé song), Point of No Return", Val Young's "If You Should Ever Be Lonely", and The Whispers's "Rock Steady (The Whispers song), Rock Steady". However, a revival of the traditional-style disco called nu-disco has been popular since the 1990s. House music displayed a strong disco influence, which is why house music, regarding its enormous success in shaping electronic dance music and contemporary club culture, is often described being "disco's revenge." Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive four on the floor beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalist, and the repetitive rhythm of house was more important than the song itself. As well, house did not use the lush string sections that were a key part of the disco sound.


Legacy


DJ culture

The rising popularity of disco came in tandem with developments in the role of the DJ. DJing developed from the use of multiple record turntables and DJ mixers to create a continuous, seamless mix of songs, with one song transitioning to another with no break in the music to interrupt the dancing. The resulting DJ mix differed from previous forms of dance music in the 1960s, which were oriented towards live performances by musicians. This in turn affected the arrangement of dance music, since songs in the disco era typically contained beginnings and endings marked by a simple beat or riff that could be easily used to transition to a new song. The development of DJing was also influenced by new turntablism techniques, such as beatmatching and scratching, a process facilitated by the introduction of new turntable technologies such as the Technics SL-1200, Technics SL-1200 MK 2, first sold in 1978, which had a precise variable pitch control and a direct drive motor. DJs were often avid record collectors, who would hunt through used record stores for obscure soul music, soul records and vintage funk recordings. DJs helped to introduce rare records and new artists to club audiences. In the 1970s, individual DJs became more prominent, and some DJs, such as Larry Levan, the resident at Paradise Garage, Jim Burgess, Tee Scott and Francis Grasso became famous in the disco scene. Levan, for example, developed a cult following among club-goers, who referred to his DJ sets as "Mass (liturgy), Saturday Mass". Some DJs would use reel-to-reel tape recorders to make remixes and tape edits of songs. Some DJs who were making remixes made the transition from the DJ booth to becoming a record producer, notably Burgess. Scott developed several innovations. He was the first disco DJ to use three turntables as sound sources, the first to simultaneously play two beat matched records, the first user of electronic
effects unit An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ...
s in his mixes and an innovator in mixing dialogue in from well-known movies into his mixes, typically over a percussion break. These mixing techniques were also applied to radio DJs, such as Ted Currier of WKTU and WBLS. Grasso is particularly notable for taking the DJ "profession out of servitude and [making] the DJ the musical head chef". Once he entered the scene, the DJ was no longer responsible for waiting on the crowd hand and foot, meeting their every song request. Instead, with increased agency and visibility, the DJ was now able to use their own technical and creative skills to whip up a nightly special of innovative mixes, refining their personal sound and aesthetic, and building their own reputation.


Post-disco

The post-disco sound and genres associated with it originated in the 1970s and early 1980s with R&B and post-punk musicians focusing on a more electronic and experimental side of disco, spawning boogie (genre), boogie, Italo disco, and alternative dance. Drawing from a diverse range of non-disco influences and techniques, such as the "Multi-instrumentalist, one-man band" style of Kashif (musician), Kashif and
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
and alternative approaches of Parliament-Funkadelic, it was driven by synthesizers, Keyboard instrument, keyboards, and drum machines. Post-disco acts include D Train (music group), D. Train, Patrice Rushen, ESG (band), ESG, Bill Laswell, Arthur Russell (musician), Arthur Russell. Post-disco had an important influence on dance-pop and was bridging classical disco and later forms of electronic dance music.


Early hip hop

The disco sound had a strong influence on early hip hop. Most of the early hip hop songs were created by isolating existing disco bass-guitar lines and dubbing over them with MC rhymes. The Sugarhill Gang used Chic's " Good Times" as the foundation for their 1979 song "Rapper's Delight", generally considered to be the song that first popularized rap music in the United States and around the world. With synthesizers and Krautrock influences, that replaced the previous disco foundation, a new genre was born when Afrika Bambaataa released the single "Planet Rock (song), Planet Rock," spawning a hip hop Electronic dance music, electronic dance trend that includes songs such as Planet Patrol's "Play at Your Own Risk" (1982), C-Bank's "One More Shot" (1982),
Cerrone Marc Cerrone Daryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (, ; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concert shows. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980 ...
's "Club Underworld" (1984), Shannon (American singer), Shannon's "Let the Music Play (song), Let the Music Play" (1983), Freeez's "I.O.U. (Freeez song), I.O.U." (1983), Midnight Star (band), Midnight Star's "Freak-a-Zoid" (1983), Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" (1984).


House music and rave culture

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago in the early 1980s (also see: Chicago house). It quickly spread to other American cities such as Detroit, where it developed into the harder and more industrial techno, New York City (also see: garage house) and Newark – all of which developed their own regional scenes. In the mid- to late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe as well as major cities in South America, and Australia. Early house music commercial success in Europe saw songs such as "Pump Up the Volume (song), Pump Up The Volume" by MARRS (1987), "House Nation" by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House (1987), "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express (1988) and "Doctorin' the House" by Coldcut (1988) in the pop charts. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been infused in mainstream Pop music, pop and
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...
worldwide. House music in the 2010s, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies widely in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmospheric deep house to the more aggressive acid house or the minimalist microhouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres, such as Eurodance, euro house, tech house, electro house and Jump House (music genre), jump house. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, rave culture began to emerge from the house and acid house scene. Like house, it incorporated disco culture's same love of dance music played by DJs over powerful PA system, sound systems, recreational drug and club drug exploration, sexual promiscuity, and hedonism. Although disco culture started out underground, it eventually thrived in the mainstream by the late 1970s, and major labels commodified and packaged the music for mass consumption. In contrast, the rave culture started out underground and stayed (mostly) underground. In part, this was to avoid the animosity that was still surrounding disco and dance music. The rave scene also stayed underground to avoid law enforcement attention that was directed at the rave culture due to its use of secret, unauthorized warehouses for some dance events and its association with illegal club drugs like Ecstasy (drug), ecstasy.


Post-punk

The post-punk movement that originated in the late 1970s both supported punk rock's rule breaking while rejecting its move back to raw
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...
. Post-punk's mantra of constantly moving forward lent itself to both openness to and experimentation with elements of disco and other styles. Public Image Limited is considered the first post-punk group. The group's second album ''Metal Box'' fully embraced the "studio as instrument" methodology of disco. The group's founder John Lydon, the former lead singer for the Sex Pistols, told the press that disco was the only music he cared for at the time. No wave was a subgenre of post-punk centered in New York City. For shock value, James Chance, a notable member of the no wave scene, penned an article in the ''East Village Eye'' urging his readers to move uptown and get "trancin' with some superradioactive disco voodoo funk". His band James White and the Blacks wrote a disco album titled ''Off White''. Their performances resembled those of disco performers (horn section, dancers and so on). In 1981 ZE Records led the transition from no wave into the more subtle mutant disco (Post-disco#Dance-rock, post-disco/punk) genre. Mutant disco acts such as Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Was Not Was, ESG (band), ESG and Liquid Liquid influenced several British post-punk acts such as New Order (band), New Order, Orange Juice (band), Orange Juice and A Certain Ratio.Rip It Up and Start Again POSTPUNK 1978–1984 by Simon Reynolds


Nu-disco

Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with the renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s disco, mid-1980s Italo disco, and the synthesizer-heavy Euro disco aesthetics. The moniker appeared in print as early as 2002, and by mid-2008 was used by record shops such as the online retailers Juno and Beatport. These vendors often associate it with re-edits of original-era disco music, as well as with music from European producers who make dance music inspired by original-era American disco, electro and other genres popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is also used to describe the music on several American labels that were previously associated with the genres electroclash and French house.


Revivals and return to mainstream success


1990s resurgence

In the 1990s, after a decade of backlash, disco and its legacy became more accepted by pop music artists and listeners alike, as more songs, films, and compilations were released that referenced disco. This was part of a wave of Retro style, 1970s nostalgia that was taking place in popular culture at the time. Examples of songs during this time that were influenced by disco included Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart" (1990), U2's "Lemon (U2 song), Lemon" (1993), Blur (band), Blur's "Girls & Boys (Blur song), Girls & Boys" (1994) and "Entertain Me" (1995), Pulp (band), Pulp's "Disco 2000 (song), Disco 2000" (1995), and Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat (song), Canned Heat" (1999), while films such as ''Boogie Nights'' (1997) and '' The Last Days of Disco'' (1998) featured primarily disco soundtracks.


2000s resurgence

In the early 2000s, an updated genre of disco called "nu-disco" began breaking into the mainstream. A few examples like Daft Punk's "One More Time (Daft Punk song), One More Time" and Kylie Minogue's "Love at First Sight (Kylie Minogue song), Love at First Sight" and "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became club favorites and commercial successes. Several nu-disco songs were crossovers with funky house, such as Spiller's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" and Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)", both songs sampling older disco songs and both reaching number one on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in 2000. Robbie Williams' disco single "Rock DJ" was the UK's fourth best-selling single the same year. Jamiroquai´s song "Little L" and "Murder on the Dancefloor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor were hits on 2001 too. Rock band Manic Street Preachers released a disco song, "Miss Europa Disco Dancer", in 2001. The song's disco influence, which appears on ''Know Your Enemy (Manic Street Preachers album), Know Your Enemy'', was described as being "much-discussed". In 2005, Madonna immersed herself in the disco music of the 1970s, and released her album ''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' to rave reviews. In addition to that, her song "Hung Up" became a major top-10 song and club staple, and sampled
ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...
's 1979 song " Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)". In addition to her disco-influenced attire to award shows and interviews, her Confessions Tour also incorporated various elements of the 1970s, such as disco balls, a mirrored stage design, and the roller derby. In 2006, Jessica Simpson released her album ''A Public Affair'' inspired on disco and 1980s Music. The first single of the album ''A Public Affair (song), A Public Affair'' was reviewed as a disco-dancing competition influenced by Madonna's early works. The video of the song was filmed on a skating rink and features a line dance of hands. The success of the "nu-disco" revival of the early 2000s was described by music critic Tom Ewing as more interpersonal than the pop music of the 1990s: "The revival of disco within pop put a spotlight on something that had gone missing over the 90s: a sense of music not just for dancing, but for dancing with someone. Disco was a music of mutual attraction: cruising, flirtation, negotiation. Its dancefloor is a space for immediate pleasure, but also for promises kept and otherwise. It's a place where things start, but their resolution, let alone their meaning, is never clear. All of 2000s great disco number ones explore how to play this hand. Madison Avenue (band), Madison Avenue look to impose their will upon it, to set terms and roles. Spiller is less rigid. 'Groovejet' accepts the night's changeability, happily sells out certainty for an amused smile and a few great one-liners."


2010s resurgence

In 2013, several 1970s-style disco and funk songs charted, and the pop charts had more dance songs than at any other point since the late 1970s. The biggest disco song of the year as of June was "Get Lucky (Daft Punk song), Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, featuring Nile Rodgers on guitar. '' Random Access Memories'' also ended up winning Album of the Year at the 2014 Grammys. Other disco-styled songs that made it into the top 40 were Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (number one), Justin Timberlake's "Take Back the Night (song), Take Back the Night" (number 29), Bruno Mars' "Treasure (Bruno Mars song), Treasure" (number five) Arcade Fire's ''Reflektor'' featured strong disco elements. In 2014, disco music could be found in Lady Gaga's ''Artpop'' and Katy Perry's "Birthday (Katy Perry song), Birthday". Other disco songs from 2014 include "I Want It All (Karmin song), I Want It All" By Karmin, 'Wrong Club" by the Ting Tings, "Blow (Beyoncé song), Blow" by Beyoncé and the William Orbit mix of "Let Me in Your Heart Again" by Queen. In 2014 Brazilian Globo TV, the second biggest television network in the world, aired Boogie Oogie, a telenovela about the Disco Era that takes place between 1978 and 1979, from the hit fever to the decadence. The show's success was responsible for a Disco revival across the country, bringing back to stage, and to Brazilian record charts, local disco divas like Lady Zu and As Frenéticas. Other top-10 entries from 2015 like Mark Ronson's disco groove-infused "Uptown Funk", Maroon 5's "Sugar (Maroon 5 song), Sugar", the Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face" and Jason Derulo's "Want to Want Me, Want To Want Me" also ascended the charts and have a strong disco influence. Disco mogul and producer Giorgio Moroder also re-appeared with his new album ''Déjà Vu (Giorgio Moroder album), Déjà Vu'' in 2015 which has proved to be a modest success. Other songs from 2015 like "I Don't Like It, I Love It" by Flo Rida, "Adventure of a Lifetime" by Coldplay, "Back Together (Robin Thicke song), Back Together" by Robin Thicke and "Levels (Nick Jonas song), Levels" by Nick Jonas feature disco elements as well. In 2016, disco songs or disco-styled pop songs are showing a strong presence on the music charts as a possible backlash to the 1980s-styled synthpop, electro house, and dubstep that have been dominating the current charts. Justin Timberlake's 2016 song "Can't Stop the Feeling!", which shows strong elements of disco, became the 26th song to debut at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the history of the chart. The Martian (film), ''The Martian'', a 2015 film, extensively uses disco music as a soundtrack, although for the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, there's only one thing worse than being stranded on Mars: it's being stranded on Mars with nothing but disco music. "Kill the Lights (Alex Newell & DJ Cassidy song), Kill the Lights", featured on an episode of the HBO television series "Vinyl (TV series), Vinyl" (2016) and with Nile Rodgers' guitar licks, hit number one on the US Dance chart in July 2016.


2020s resurgence

In 2020, disco continued its mainstream popularity and has become a recent fad in popular music. In early 2020, disco-influenced hits such as Doja Cat's "Say So", Lady Gaga's "Stupid Love (Lady Gaga song), Stupid Love", and Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" experienced widespread success on global music charts, with the three songs charting at numbers 1, 5 and 2, respectively, on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. At the time, ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'', declared that Lipa was "leading the charge toward disco-influenced production" a day after her retro and disco-influenced album '' Future Nostalgia'' was released on March 27, 2020. By mid 2020, multiple disco albums and songs had been released. In early September 2020, South Korean group BTS debuted at number 1 in the US with their English–language disco single "Dynamite (BTS song), Dynamite" having sold 265,000 downloads in its first week in the US, marking the biggest pure sales week since Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017). Other critically acclaimed disco albums from the year include Jessie Ware's ''
What's Your Pleasure? ''What's Your Pleasure?'' is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Jessie Ware, released on 26 June 2020 by PMR Records and Virgin EMI Records. Ware and co-producer James Ford co-wrote all tracks, along with writers and producer ...
'' and Róisín Murphy's ''
Róisín Machine ''Róisín Machine'' is the fifth solo studio album by Irish singer Róisín Murphy, released 2 October 2020 by Skint Records. The album received critical acclaim upon its release, ranking among the year's best by several publications. Commercial ...
''. In July 2020, Australian singer Kylie Minogue announced she would be releasing her fifteenth studio album, '' Disco'', on November 6, 2020. The album was preceded by two singles, the lead single from the album, "Say Something (Kylie Minogue song), Say Something", was released on July 23 of the same year and premiered on BBC Radio 2. The second single, "Magic (Kylie Minogue song), Magic", was released on September 24. Both singles received critical acclaim, with critics praising Minogue for returning to disco roots, which were prominent in her albums Light Years (Kylie Minogue album), ''Light Years'' (2000), ''Fever (Kylie Minogue album), Fever'' (2001) and ''Aphrodite (Kylie Minogue album), Aphrodite'' (2010).


See also

* Club Kids * List of number-one dance singles of 1978 (U.S.) * List of number-one dance singles of 1979 (U.S.) * Roller disco * Stealth disco


References

;Works cited * * * ;Notes


Further reading

* Andrea Angeli Bufalini & Giovanni Savastano (2014). ''La Disco. Storia illustrata della discomusic.'' Arcana, Italy. * Vince Aletti, Aletti, Vince (2009). ''The Disco Files 1973–78: New York's underground week by week''. DJhistory.com. . * Marty Angelo, Angelo, Marty (2006). ''Once Life Matters: A New Beginning''. Impact Publishing. . * Beta, Andy (November 2008)
"Disco Inferno 2.0: A Slightly Less Hedonistic Comeback Charting the DJs, labels, and edits fueling an old new craze"
. ''The Village Voice''. * Campion, Chris (2009). "Walking on the Moon:The Untold Story of the Police and the Rise of New Wave Rock". John Wiley & Sons. * Echols, Alice (2010). ''Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture''. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. . * Daniel J. Flynn, Flynn, Daniel J. (February 18, 2010)
"How the Knack Conquered Disco"
''The American Spectator''. * Gillian, Frank (May 2007). "Discophobia: Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco". ''Journal of the History of Sexuality'', Volume 15, Number 2, pp. 276–306. Electronic , print . * Hanson, Kitty (1978) ''Disco Fever: The Beat, People, Places, Styles, Deejays, Groups''. Signet Books. . * Jones, Alan and Kantonen, Jussi (1999). ''Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco''. Chicago, Illinois: A Cappella Books. . * Lawrence, Tim (2004). ''Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979''. Duke University Press. . * Paul Lester, Lester, Paul (February 23, 2007)
"Can you feel the force?"
''The Guardian''. * Michaels, Mark (1990). ''The Billboard Book of Rock Arranging''. . * Narvaez, Richie (2020), ''Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco''. Pinata Books. * Reed, John (September 19, 2007).
DVD Review: ''Saturday Night Fever (30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition)''
Blogcritics. * Nile Rodgers, Rodgers, Nile (2011). ''Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny''. Spiegel & Grau. . * Sclafani, Tony (July 10, 2009)
"When 'Disco Sucks!' echoed around the world"
. MSNBC. {{Authority control Disco, 1970s fads and trends 1970s fashion 1970s in music 2020 in music Dances Musical subcultures LGBT-related music African-American music Latin American culture Italian-American culture American styles of music Dance culture Drug culture DJing