Dance Club Songs was a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States, which ranked the popularity of songs in

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 gener ...

s across the country, based on a national survey of club

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), mobile ...

s. In 1977 it was published under the title National Disco Action, combining the data from 15 major markets, and there were 12 different number ones. The chart methodology of the time allowed for multiple songs ("cuts") from a

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 ...

or album to be bracketed together as a single listing if more than one track from the release was receiving significant play in clubs.

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Gramm ...

had the year's first number one, spending her second consecutive week at number one with "

Don't Leave Me This Way "Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert. It was originally released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, an act signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia Internat ...

" and "Any Way You Like It" on the chart dated January 1. The songs remained atop the chart through the issue dated January 29, before being displaced by "

Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limit ...

", "Starvin'", and "Body Contact Contract" by

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 their 1972 cover version of " Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disco t ...

, three songs from the group's album ''

''. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was the only song to top both the disco chart and the all-genre Hot 100 during 1977, although it did not reach the top spot on the Hot 100 until late April, nearly four months after it first topped the disco listing. In contrast, neither of the two songs by

Love & Kisses Love & Kisses is a 1970s disco group assembled by European producer Alec Costandinos, with a variety of male and female singers. After collaborating on Cerrone's debut album ''Love In C Minor'' (1976), Costandinos assembled Love & Kisses in ...

which topped the disco chart entered the Hot 100 at all. The

Eurodisco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

act's lengthy tracks proved extremely popular with nightclub DJs but were generally not deemed suitable for top 40 radio airplay, limiting their mainstream appeal. The band

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

achieved the year's longest-running number one, spending eight consecutive weeks atop the chart with "

Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" is a song by American band Chic, released as their debut single. It was a hit in the United States, reaching number six on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. In additi ...

". For the final two weeks, the song " Everybody Dance" was also listed. The eight weeks which the songs spent at number also made Chic the act with the highest total number of weeks in the top spot during 1977, one week ahead of

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the releas ...

. The only act with more than one number one during the year was Donna Summer, known as the " Queen of Disco". Combined tracks from her album '' I Remember Yesterday'' spent three weeks in the peak position in July, and in December she returned to the top spot with all the cuts from her next album ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...

''; this was the year's final chart-topper.

Chart history

Notes

References

{{US Dance Chart

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

1977 record charts 1977 in American music

Chart history

Notes

See also

References