Best Disco Recording
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The Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording was an award presented at the
22nd Grammy Awards The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 1980, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1979. This year was notable for being the ...
in 1980. The
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...
of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...
and
producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...
Dino Fekaris Dino George Fekaris (born January 24, 1945) is an American music producer and songwriter. Fekaris was the producer and co-writer, with Freddie Perren, of the 1978 song "I Will Survive", and other songs recorded by Gloria Gaynor. Nominated five ti ...
and
Freddie Perren Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gay ...
won the Best Disco Recording award for the song "
I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...
". However, because of a backlash against
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
, the Academy discontinued the category before the
23rd Grammy Awards The 23rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1981, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1980. Album of the Year went to ...
. In 1998, a similar category,
Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...
, began being awarded to honor vocal or
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
dance tracks, though there were concerns that the genre would be short-lived much like the disco category.


Background

Disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
is a genre of dance music that emerged in the United States during the 1970s. The experimental mixing of records, combined with the newly acquired ability to play longer tracks, resulted in a genre well-suited for dance parties. During 1973–74,
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 "Love Is the Message" displayed "early rumblings of the disco sound", and shortly afterward the songs "
Never Can Say Goodbye "Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by the Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first ...
" by
Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...
, " The Hustle" by
Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit " The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his c ...
, and " Love to Love You Baby" by
Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...
emerged. In 1977, the opening of
Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater and former nightclub at 254 West 54th Street (Manhattan), 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, it served ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, and the success of the disco-focused
feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
''
Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...
'' (which featured
John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...
and music by the
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...
), added to the popularity of the disco genre. The following year,
Paradise Garage Paradise Garage, also known as "the Garage" or the "Gay-rage", was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of dance and pop music, as well as LGBT and nightclub cultures. The club was founded by sole proprietor Michael Brody, and ...
opened in Manhattan's
West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...
, the New York radio station
WKTU WKTU (103.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a rhythmic adult contemporary formatted radio station city of license, licensed to Lake Success, New York, a suburb of New York City. WKTU is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios at 125 West 55th ...
became "all-disco", and the number of
discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...
s in the nation reached nearly 20,000. At the
21st Grammy Awards The 21st Annual Grammy Awards were held in 1979, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1978. Award winners *Record of the Year **Phil Ramone (producer) & Billy Joel for " J ...
in 1979, '' Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track'', was named Album of the Year and the Bee Gees received the award for
Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as t ...
for their contributions to the
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
. By the end of 1979, the disco industry was estimated to be worth more than $4 billion, "more ... than the industries of movies, television or professional sport". However, the disco
fad A fad, trend, or craze is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation, or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short time period. Fads are objects or behaviors tha ...
soon began to decline. On July 12, 1979, just a few months after ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' had reported on the "
ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...
over" of disco music, a "tongue-in-cheek" promotional event known as
Disco Demolition Night Disco Demolition Night was a Major League Baseball (MLB) promotion on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the fiel ...
was held at
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
's
Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a ballpark in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-south side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Built by Wh ...
baseball stadium. During a doubleheader intermission,
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 personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
Steve Dahl Steven Robert Dahl (born November 20, 1954) is an American radio personality. He is the owner and operator of the Steve Dahl Network, a Subscription business model, subscription-based podcasting network. Dahl gained a measure of national attention ...
set ablaze a bin full of disco records, causing a riot within the stadium and gaining international attention. Approximately 10,000 disco records were destroyed, and around 50,000 rioters participated in the event, staying on the field, forcing the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
to forfeit the second game. Nationally, a "backlash" took hold, as public support for disco music faded. According to author Craig Werner, as quoted in the British newspaper ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', the "anti-disco movement represented an unholy alliance of funkateers and feminists, progressives and puritans, rockers and reactionaries. None the less, the attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism, sexism and homophobia." By 1980 "mainstream disco" had ended, by 1985 WKTU had returned to playing
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
, and by the end of the decade the famous dance venues Studio 54, Paradise Garage, and Clubhouse had all closed.


Award

In 1979, the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...
decided to add a Best Disco Recording category for the
22nd Grammy Awards The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 1980, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1979. This year was notable for being the ...
, just as disco was "preparing to die". Nominated works for the award included "
Boogie Wonderland "Boogie Wonderland" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire with the Emotions, released in April 1979 on Columbia Records as the first single from their ninth album, ''I Am'' (1979). The song peaked at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' danc ...
" by
Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...
, "
I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...
" by Gloria Gaynor, "
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. Written by Jackson and released by Epic Records on July 10, 1979, the song is the first track on Jackson's fifth studio album, ''Off the Wall'' (1979). Ad ...
" by
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
, "
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", also written "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy", is a song by British singer Rod Stewart from his ninth studio album, ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (1978). It was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice, and Duane Hitchings, though it inc ...
" by
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
, and " Bad Girls" by Donna Summer. On February 27, 1980, during a live telecast from
Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, an ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, Gaynor was presented the award for Best Disco Recording. Dino Fekaris and
Freddie Perren Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gay ...
also received awards as the
producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...
of the track. Note: User must select the "Disco" category as the genre under the search feature. However, because of the decreasing popularity of disco, the Academy eliminated the award category before the 1981 ceremony was to be held. According to the organization, disco was "no longer a readily definable separate music form", although its influence had "permeated all types of pop music". Despite the award's short span, the award helped solidify Gaynor as one of the best-known female disco artists from the 1970s and the song "I Will Survive" as one of the most recognized and top-selling songs from the genre. Another dance category did not emerge until 1998 when the
Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...
began to honor vocal or
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
dance tracks, though there were concerns that the award would be short-lived much like the disco category. In 2003, the Academy moved the category from the "Pop" field into a new "Dance" field, which currently contains the category
Best Dance/Electronic Album The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards — a ceremony that was established in 1958 — honor quality dance music, dance and electronica albums in any given year. The award was first presented ...
as well.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grammy Award For Best Disco Recording 1980 disestablishments in the United States 1980 establishments in the United States Awards disestablished in the 1980s Awards established in 1980 Disco Disco Recording