Disco is a
genre
Genre () is any style or form 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 fo ...
of
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
and a
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban
nightlife
Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...
, particularly in
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
,
Italian-American
Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
,
Gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
and
Latino communities. Its sound features
four-on-the-floor 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 (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...
bassline
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...
s,
string section
The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...
s,
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
and
horns,
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...
s,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) 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 guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
s.
Discothèques
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 ...
, mostly a French invention, were imported to the United States with the opening of
Le Club, a members-only restaurant and nightclub at 416 East 55th Street 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 ...
, by French expatriate
Olivier Coquelin, on New Year's Eve 1960.
Disco music originated from music popular with
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
,
Latino Americans
Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...
, and
Italian Americans
Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
[ "'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
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
(especially
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
) and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
from the late
1960s
File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the Woodstock, 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong ...
to the mid-to-late 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the
1960s counterculture
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is oft ...
to both the dominance of
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 the stigmatization of dance music. Several dance styles developed during '70s disco's popularity in the United States, including "the
Bump
Bump or bumps may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Bump (dance), a dance from the 1970s disco era
* ''BUMP'' (comics), 2007-08 limited edition comic book series
Fictional characters
* Bobby Bumps, titular character of a series of American si ...
", "the
Hustle", "the Watergate", "the Continental", and "the Busstop".
During the 1970s, disco music developed, mainly by artists from the United States and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. Well-known artists included 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 ...
,
ABBA
ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...
,
Baccara
Baccara was a Spanish female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (born 7 February 1951) and María Mendiola (4 April 1952 – 11 September 2021). The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single " Yes ...
,
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
,
The Jacksons
The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...
,
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...
,
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 ...
,
The O’Jays,
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. The ...
,
Boney M
Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...
,
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 b ...
,
Irene Cara
Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer and actress who rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and for recording the film's title song " Fame", which reach ...
,
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...
,
ELO,
Average White Band
The Average White Band (also known as AWB) was a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They were best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their alb ...
,
Chaka Khan
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...
,
Chic
Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word.
Etymology
'' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...
,
KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", " (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", ...
,
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...
,
The Commodores
Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
The members of the group met as m ...
,
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
,
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...
,
Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...
,
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 ...
,
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 disc ...
,
Barry White
Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...
,
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
,
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...
, and
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 and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...
. While performers gained public attention,
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
s played an important behind-the-scenes role in developing the genre. By the late 1970s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco scenes, and
DJs would
mix dance records at clubs like
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 ...
, popular among
celebrities
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
. Nightclub-goers often wore expensive, extravagant outfits, mainly loose, flowing pants or dresses for ease of movement while dancing. The disco scene also had a thriving
drug
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
, particularly drugs that enhanced the experience of dancing to loud music and flashing lights, such as
cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
and
quaaludes
Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( ) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg ...
, so common in the disco subculture that they were nicknamed "disco biscuits". Disco clubs were also associated with
promiscuity
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...
, reflecting the
sexual revolution
The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...
of the era. Films such as ''
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 ...
'' (1977) and ''
Thank God It's Friday'' (1978) contributed to disco's mainstream popularity.
Disco declined as a major popular music trend in the United States after the infamous
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 ...
on July 12, 1979, and continued its sharp decline in the U.S. during the early
1980s
File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 335px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Space Shuttle Columbia, Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union, Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party of ...
. However, it remained popular in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and some European countries throughout the 1980s, also gaining popularity elsewhere, including
India
India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, where disco aspects blended with regional folk styles like ''
ghazal
''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...
s'' and
belly dancing. Disco eventually became a key influence in the development of
electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
,
house music
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...
,
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
,
new wave,
dance-punk
Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984. Simon Reynolds.Faber an ...
, and
post-disco
Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Dis ...
. The style has seen several revivals since the
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American jets fly over burning oil fields in the 1991 Gulf War; the Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the World ...
, with its influence remaining strong across American and European pop music. A revival, underway since the early
2010s
File:2010s collage v22.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was Death of Muammar Gad ...
, gained great popularity in the early
2020s
The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" or "two thousand ndtwenties"; shortened to "the '20s" and also known as "The Twenties") is the current decade that began on 1 January 2020, and will end on 31 December 2029.
The 2020s began with th ...
. Albums contributing to this revival include ''
Confessions on a Dance Floor
''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' is the tenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 9, 2005, by Warner Bros. Records. A complete departure from her previous studio album '' American Life'' (2003), ...
'', ''
Random Access Memories
''Random Access Memories'' is the fourth and final studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. It pays tribute to late Music history of the United States in the 1970s, 1970s and e ...
'', ''
Future Nostalgia
''Future Nostalgia'' is the second studio album by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa. It was released on 27 March 2020 by Warner Records. Lipa enlisted writers and producers including Jeff Bhasker, Ian Kirkpatrick, Stuart Price, the Mon ...
'', and
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
's''
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 ...
''. Modern artists like
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards.
Lipa worked as a model before v ...
,
Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...
,
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...
,
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...
and
Silk Sonic
Silk Sonic is an American Supergroup (music), musical superduo composed of musicians Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The duo released their debut single, "Leave the Door Open", in March 2021. They later released "Skate (song), Skate" in July 2 ...
continue the genre's popularity, introducing it to a younger generation.
Etymology
The term "disco" is short for ''discothèque'', a French word (derived from "bibliothèque") meaning "library of phonograph records." In the 1950s, "discotheque" had this same meaning in English. ''Discothèque'' came to refer to a Parisian nightclub in French, after clubs resorted to playing records during the Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. Some clubs used it as their proper name. In 1960, an English magazine also used the term to describe a Parisian nightclub.
The ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' defines ''Discotheque'' as "A dance hall, nightclub, or similar venue with recorded music for dancing, typically featuring a large dance floor, elaborate flashing coloured lights, and a powerful amplified sound system. " Its earliest use is as a venue name in 1952; other examples date from 1960. The entry is annotated as "Now somewhat dated". It defines ''Disco'' as "A genre of strongly rhythmical pop music mainly intended for dancing in nightclubs and particularly popular in the mid to late 1970s.", with use from 1975, noting its origin as a shortened form of ''discotheque''.
In summer 1964, a short sleeveless dress called the "discotheque dress" was briefly popular in the United States. The abbreviated form "disco" first appeared describing this dress in ''
The Salt Lake Tribune
''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871."
History ...
'' on July 12, 1964; ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' used it that September to describe Los Angeles nightclubs.
Vince Aletti
Vince Aletti (born 1945) is a curator, writer, and photography critic.
Career
Music industry
Aletti was a contributing writer for ''Rolling Stone'' from 1970 to 1989. He was the first person to write about disco, on 13 September 1973, in ''Disc ...
was one of the first to describe disco as a sound or a music genre. He wrote the 13 September 1973 feature article ''Discotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty!'' for ''
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.
The magazine was first known fo ...
''.
Musical characteristics

The music typically layered soaring, often-
reverb
In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...
erated vocals, often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...
s and "chicken-scratch"
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
s played on an
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...
.
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 featur ...
features less frequently in disco than in
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
. "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
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
,
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 develop ...
(during early years),
string synthesizer
A string synthesizer or string machine is a synthesizer designed to make sounds similar to those of a string section. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between electronic organs and general-purpose synthes ...
s, and electromechanical keyboards such as the
Fender Rhodes
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
electric piano,
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
electric piano, and Hohner
Clavinet
The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...
.
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 ...
's 1977 song "
I Feel Love
"I Feel Love" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, '' I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to ha ...
", produced by
Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...
with a prominent
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial 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 r ...
features prominent, syncopated
bassline
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...
s (with heavy use of broken
octave
In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
s, notes sounded one after the other) played on
bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
and by drummers using a
drum kit
A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...
, African/
Latin percussion
{{for, the company, Latin Percussion
Latin percussion is a family of percussion, membranophone, lamellophone and idiophone instruments used in Latin music.
Instruments Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican styles Folkloric and Santeria
* Trap drums
* Abaku ...
, and
electronic drum
Electronic drums are a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the Drum synthesiser, synthesized or Sampler ...
s such as Simmons and
Roland
Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...
drum modules. In Philly dance and Salsoul disco, the sound was enriched with solo and
harmony parts played by various orchestral instruments, including
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
,
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
,
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
,
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
,
trombone
The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
,
flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...
,
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 o ...
,
English horn
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...
,
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 type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
,
flute
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
,
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
and
synth strings, string section or a full
string orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...
.
Most disco songs feature a steady
four-on-the-floor beat with a bass drum, a
quaver
180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest.
180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together.
An eighth note ( American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...
or semi-quaver
hi-hat
A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock music, rock, popular music, pop, jazz, an ...
pattern often including 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
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 ...
, in which
Earl Young's hi-hat was excessively loud, reportedly established loud hi-hats in disco. Other Latin rhythms like the rhumba, samba, and cha-cha-cha also appear in disco recordings; Latin
polyrhythm
Polyrhythm () is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rh ...
s, such as a rhumba beat layered over a merengue, are common. The quaver pattern is often supported by instruments like the
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
and may be implied rather than explicit.
Songs often use
syncopation
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 (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...
, the accenting of unexpected beats. Unlike rock or pop songs, disco and other dance music feature the
bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
hitting ''four to the floor'' (on every beat, four per measure in 4/4 time). Disco also features a 16th note division of the quarter notes (as shown in the second drum pattern in the picture above, after a typical rock drum pattern).
The orchestral sound known as "disco sound" features string sections and horns playing linear phrases in unison with soaring, often reverberated vocals, or providing instrumental fills, while electric pianos and chicken-scratch guitars create the background "pad" sound defining the
harmony progression. Typically, this doubling of parts and additional instrumentation 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 session m ...
". However, more minimalist disco exists with reduced, transparent instrumentation.
Disco music typically features major and minor seven chords, more common in jazz than pop.
Production
The "disco sound" was more costly than most other 1970s popular music genres. Unlike the simpler sound of four-piece
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
bands, late 1960s
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...
, or 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
organ trio
An organ trio is a form of jazz ensemble consisting of three musicians; a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist ...
s, disco music often featured a large band, with multiple chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), various drum and percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums), a
horn section
A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the term ...
, a
string orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...
, and diverse
classical solo instruments (e.g., flute, piccolo).
Experienced arrangers and
orchestrators arranged
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...
and composed disco songs, with record producers adding creative touches to the sound using
multitrack recording
Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive who ...
techniques and
effects unit
An effects unit, effects processor, 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 (music), distortion/overdrive, ...
s. Recording complex arrangements, often with many instruments and sections, required a team including a
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear
* Conduction aphasia, a language disorder
Mathematics
* Conductor (ring theory)
* Conductor of an abelian variety
* Cond ...
,
copyist
A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript. However, the ...
s, record producers, and
mixing engineers. Mixing engineers played an important role in disco production, as disco songs used up to 64
tracks for 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
Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to:
Time off from duties
* Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
* Break (work), time off during a shift/recess
** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
. Mixing engineers and record producers helped develop the "disco sound" by creating a distinctive, sophisticated
disco mix.
Early records were the "standard" three-minute version until
Tom Moulton devised a way to make songs longer, allowing him to keep club dancers on the floor longer. He found it 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 typically held no more than five minutes of good-quality music. With his remaster/mastering engineer, José Rodriguez, 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 these larger records could accommodate much longer songs and remixes.
12" single records, also known as "
Maxi single
A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...
s", quickly became the standard format for disco DJs.
Club culture
Nightclubs

By the late 1970s, most major US cities had thriving disco club scenes. The largest scenes were primarily in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
but also in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
The scene centered on
discotheque
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 ...
s,
nightclub
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 (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s and private
loft
A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...
parties.
In the 1970s, notable discos included "
Crisco Disco", "The Sanctuary", "Leviticus", "
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 ...
", and "
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 ...
" in New York, "Artemis" in Philadelphia, "Studio One" in Los Angeles, "Dugan's Bistro" in Chicago, and "The Library" in Atlanta.
[
In the late 1970s, Studio 54 in ]Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...
was arguably the best-known nightclub in the world. It was instrumental in the growth of disco music and nightclub
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 (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
culture. Operated by Steve Rubell
Steve Rubell (December 2, 1943 – July 25, 1989) was an American entrepreneur and co-owner of the New York City disco Studio 54.
Early life
Rubell and his brother Donald grew up in a Jewish family in the Crown Heights and Canarsie sections ...
and Ian Schrager
Ian Schrager (born July 19, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, hotel manager, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of S ...
, it was notorious for its hedonism
Hedonism is a family of Philosophy, philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is Motivation, motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of Psycholo ...
: its balconies were known for sexual encounters and rampant drug use. Its dance floor featured an image of the "Man in the Moon
In many cultures, several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body are recognized in the disc of the full moon; they are generally known as the Man in the Moon. The images are based on the appearance of the dark areas (known as lunar m ...
" with an animated cocaine spoon.
The " Copacabana", another 1940s New York nightclub, revived in the late 1970s by embracing disco; it became the setting for a Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...
song of the same name.
In Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, large disco clubs like "The Pier" ("Pier 9") and "The Other Side", originally considered exclusively "gay bar
A gay bar is a Bar (establishment), drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communi ...
s", gained particular popularity among gay and straight college students in the capital area in the late '70s.
By 1979, 15,000-20,000 disco nightclubs existed in the US, many opening in suburban shopping centers, hotels, and restaurants. 2001 Club franchises were the country's most prolific disco club chain. Though many tried to franchise disco clubs, 2001 was the only one to succeed during this period.
Sound and light equipment
Powerful, bass-heavy hi-fi
High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
sound systems Sound system may refer to:
Technology media
* Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience
* High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home
* Public address system, an institution ...
were essential to the disco club experience. The Loft host David Mancuso
David Paul Mancuso (October 20, 1944 – November 14, 2016) was an American disc jockey who created the popular "by invitation only" parties in New York City, which later became known as " The Loft". The first party, called "Love Saves The Day", w ...
introduced tweeter arrays (small, high-frequency loudspeakers above the floor) and bass reinforcements (ground-level subwoofer
A subwoofer (or sub) is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce low-pitched audio frequencies, known as bass and sub-bass, that are lower in frequency than those which can be (optimally) generated by a woofer. The typical frequency range that is ...
s) in the early 1970s to boost treble and bass at opportune moments. By the decade's end, sound engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...
s such as Richard Long amplified the effects of these innovations in venues like the Garage.
Disco dance floor lighting typically includes swirling or flashing multi-colored lights, strobe light
A strobe light or stroboscopic lamp, commonly called a strobe, is a device used to produce regular flashes of light. It is one of a number of devices that can be used as a stroboscope. The word originated from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning ...
s, an illuminated dance floor, 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 personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
s (DJs) remixed songs using reel-to-reel tape machines, adding percussion breaks, sections, and sounds. DJs selected songs and grooves based on dancer preferences, transitioning between songs with a DJ mixer
A DJ mixer is a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys (DJs) to control and manipulate multiple audio signals. Some DJs use the mixer to make seamless transitions from one song to another when they are playing records at a dance club. ...
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 publi ...
to introduce songs and address audiences. DJs added equipment to their basic setup for unique sound manipulations like reverb
In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...
, equalization, and echo effects unit
An effects unit, effects processor, 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 (music), distortion/overdrive, ...
. Using this equipment, DJs could perform effects like cutting out all but a song's bassline and slowly mixing in another using the DJ mixer's crossfader. Notable U.S. disco DJs include Francis Grasso
Francis Grasso (March 25, 1948 – March 20, 2001) was an American disco music disc jockey from New York City, best known for being one of the first people to beatmatch.
Grasso, who attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Long Island Univers ...
of The Sanctuary, David Mancuso
David Paul Mancuso (October 20, 1944 – November 14, 2016) was an American disc jockey who created the popular "by invitation only" parties in New York City, which later became known as " The Loft". The first party, called "Love Saves The Day", w ...
of The Loft, Frankie Knuckles
Francis Warren Nicholls Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), known professionally as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music, a genre of mus ...
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 rural–urban fringe, out ...
, Larry Levan
Lawrence Philpot (July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992), known as Larry Levan ( ), 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 moder ...
of the 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 ...
, Nicky Siano of The Gallery, Walter Gibbons, Karen Mixon Cook, Jim Burgess, John "Jellybean" Benitez, Richie Kulala 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 ...
, and Rick Salsalini.
Some DJs were also record producers who produced disco songs in the recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...
. Larry Levan, for example, was a prolific record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and a DJ. Because record sales often depended on DJs' dance floor play in nightclubs, DJs also influenced the development and popularization of certain types of disco music produced for record labels.
Dance
Initially, disco dancers adopted a "hang loose" or "freestyle" approach, improvising their own styles and steps. Later in the disco era, popular styles 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, and Latin Hustle.[Everybody's Doing The hustle](_blank)
, Associated Press, October 16, 1975
During the disco era, many nightclubs hosted disco dance competitions or offered free lessons. Some cities had instructors or schools teaching popular disco dances like "touch dancing", "the hustle", and " the cha cha". Karen Lustgarten pioneered disco dance instruction 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 forms, distinguishing between freestyle, partner, and line dances. The book was a ''New York Times'' bestseller for 13 weeks and was translated into Chinese, German, and French.
In Chicago, the ''Step By Step'' disco dance TV show launched with Coca-Cola sponsorship. Produced in the same studio as Don Cornelius's nationally syndicated dance/music television show, ''Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...
'', ''Step by Step'' grew successful. Dynamic dance duo Robin and Reggie led the show. The pair spent the week teaching disco dancing in clubs. The instructional show aired Saturday mornings to a strong following. Viewers stayed up Friday nights to be on set Saturday morning, ready to return to the disco Saturday night with the latest personalized steps. Producers John Reid and Greg Roselli routinely appeared at disco functions with Robin and Reggie to scout new dancing talent and promote events like "Disco Night at White Sox Park".
In Sacramento, California, Disco King Paul Dale Roberts danced for the Guinness Book of World Records for 205 hours (8½ days). He briefly held the world record for disco dancing, as other dance marathons followed.
Disco was influenced by art, notably the atypical song ''Bend It'' (1969) by British artists Gilbert & George
Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942) are artists who work together as the collaborative art duo Gilbert & George. They are known for their formal appearance ...
. The song featured special dance moves that unprecedentedly blur the distinction between art and pop culture.
Notable professional dance troupes of the 1970s included Pan's People
Pan's People were a British all-female dance troupe most commonly associated with the BBC TV music chart show ''Top of the Pops'', from 1968 to 1976. The group, founded and led by choreographer Felicity "Flick" Colby in December 1966, accompanie ...
and Hot Gossip
Hot Gossip (1974–1986) was a British television dance troupe and recording group.
Formation
Arlene Phillips moved to London to teach American jazz dance routines, working at Pineapple Dance Studios and the Italia Conti Stage School. ...
. For many dancers, 1970s disco dancing drew key inspiration from films like ''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 ...
'' (1977), '' Fame'' (1980), ''Disco Dancer
''Disco Dancer'' is a 1982 Indian dance-action film, written by Rahi Masoom Raza and directed by Babbar Subhash. It stars Mithun Chakraborty and Kim in leading roles, with Om Puri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supporting roles with ...
'' (1982), ''Flashdance
''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer, Alex Owens, who aspires to become a professional ballerina, alongside Michael Nouri, who plays her ...
'' (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 trendy in the late 1970s. Discothèque-goers often wore glamorous, expensive, and extravagant fashions to disco clubs. Some women wore sheer, flowing Halston
Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer, who rose to international fame in the 1970s.
Halston's minimalist, clean designs, which were often made of cashmere or ...
dresses or loose, flared pants. Others wore tight, revealing clothes like backless halter tops, 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 c ...
, "hot pants", or body-hugging spandex
Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether- polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont.
Name
The name ''spandex'', which is an anagram of t ...
bodywear or "catsuits". Men wore shiny polyester Qiana shirts with colorful patterns and pointy, extra-wide collars, often open at the chest. Men often wore Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin (born Pietro Costante Cardin; 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 geometry, geometric shap ...
suits, three piece suits with a vest, and double-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers, known as the leisure suit
A leisure suit is a casual attire, casual Suit (clothing), suit consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers (pants), . Men's leisure suits were typically form-fitted at the waist and bottom, while the lower part of the pants flared in a bell bottom style to permit freedom of movement.
During the disco era, men practiced elaborate grooming and chose fashionable clothing, activities considered "feminine" by the era's gender stereotypes. Women wore glitter
Glitter is an assortment of flat, small, reflective particles that are precision cut and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glitter particles resemble confetti, sparkles and sequins, but somewhat smaller.
Since prehistoric times ...
makeup, sequin
A sequin ( ) is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament.
Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...
s, or gold lamé that shimmered under the lights. Bold colors were popular for both genders. Platform shoe
Platform shoes are shoes, boots, or Sandal (footwear), sandals with a thick sole, usually in the range of . Platform shoes may also be high heels, in which case the heel is raised significantly higher than the ball of the foot. Extreme heights ...
s and boots were popular for both genders, as were high heel
High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels (colloquially shortened to heels), are a type of shoe with an upward-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 wea ...
s for women. Necklace
A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as sy ...
s 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 in ...
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 very skimpy, nearly nude outfits; such attire was more common at invitation-only New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
loft parties and disco clubs.
Drug subculture
The disco club scene, alongside its dance and fashion aspects, also fostered 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 1 ...
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
, especially drugs enhancing the dancing experience to loud, bass-heavy music and flashing colored lights, including cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
[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
Poppers are recreational drugs belonging to the alkyl nitrite family of chemical compounds. When fumes from these substances are inhaled, they act as potent vasodilators, producing mild euphoria, warmth, and dizziness. Most effects have a r ...
"),[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
Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( ) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg me ...
, which suspended motor coordination
In physiology, motor coordination is the orchestrated movement of multiple body parts as required to accomplish intended actions, like walking. This coordination is achieved by adjusting kinematic and kinetic parameters associated with each bo ...
and gave the sensation that one's arms and legs had turned to 'Jell-O
Jell-O (stylized in all caps) 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 ...
. So popular were Quaaludes at disco clubs that they were nicknamed "disco biscuits".
Paul Gootenberg states " e relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough..." During the 1970s, the use of cocaine by well-to-do celebrities
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
led to its "glamorization" and to the widely held view that it was a "soft drug". LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
, marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
, and "speed" were also popular in disco clubs; their use "...contributed to the hedonistic quality of the dance floor experience." As disco dances were typically held in liquor license
A liquor license (or liquor licence in most forms of Commonwealth English) is a governmentally issued permit for businesses to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages.
Canada
In Canada, liquor licences are issued by the l ...
d nightclub
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 (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...
s and dance clubs, dancers also consumed alcoholic drink
Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...
s; some users intentionally combined alcohol with other drugs, such as Quaaludes, for a stronger effect.
Eroticism and sexual liberation
According to Peter Braunstein, the "massive quantities of drug
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...
s ingested in discothèques produced the next cultural phenomenon
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
of the disco era: rampant promiscuity
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...
and public sex. While the dance floor was the central arena of seduction
In sexuality, seduction means enticing someone else into sexual intercourse or Human sexual activity, other sexual activity. Strategies of seduction include conversation and Sexual script theory, sexual scripts, paralanguage, paralingual featur ...
, actual sex usually took place in the nether regions of the disco: bathroom stalls, exit stairwell
A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway. ...
s, 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 dancers and patrons would have sex in the club; they typically had ]unprotected sex
Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer se ...
, 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 unpoliced upstairs 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 tub
A hot tub is a large tub full of water used for hydrotherapy, relaxation or pleasure. Some have powerful jets for massage purposes. Hot tubs are sometimes also known as "spas" or by the trade name Jacuzzi. Hot tubs may be located outdoors or ...
s, nd key parties."
In "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, scul ...
as one of disco's three main characteristics.[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.] Unlike 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 ...
, whose phallic-centered eroticism focuses on male sexual pleasure, Dyer describes disco as having a non-phallic, full-body eroticism. Through varied percussion instruments, rhythmic playfulness, and endlessly repeating phrases without abrupt cuts, disco achieved this full-body eroticism by restoring it to the entire body for both sexes. This enabled the expression of sexualities not defined by the cock/penis, and erotic pleasure for bodies not defined by a relationship to a penis. The sexual liberation inherent in disco's rhythm is also reflected in the club spaces where disco emerged.
Peter Shapiro, in '' Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound'', discusses eroticism through the technology disco uses to create its audacious sound. The music, Shapiro states, is adjunct to "the pleasure-is-politics ethos of post- Stonewall culture." He explains 'mechano-eroticism'—linking the technology creating disco's unique mechanical sound to eroticism—set the genre in a new dimension beyond naturalism and heterosexuality. Randy Jones and Mark Jacobsen echo this in BBC Radio's "The Politics of Dancing: How Disco Changed the World," describing the loose, hip-focused dance style as "a new kind of communion" celebrating the liberation sparked by the Stonewall riots. With New York state laws against public homosexual behavior, including same-sex dancing, disco's eroticism served as resistance and an expression of sexual freedom.
He cites Donna Summer's singles " Love to Love You Baby" (1975) and "I Feel Love
"I Feel Love" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, '' I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to ha ...
" (1977) to illustrate the link between synthesized bass lines and backgrounds and simulated orgasm sounds. Shapiro likens Summer's echoing voice in the tracks to drug-fervent, sexually liberated disco fans seeking freedom through disco's "aesthetic of machine sex." He sees this influence creating sub-genres like hi-NRG
Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...
and dub-disco, which further explored eroticism and technology through intense synth bass lines and alternative rhythmic techniques that engage the entire body rather than its obvious erotic parts.
The New York nightclub The Sanctuary, under resident DJ Francis Grasso
Francis Grasso (March 25, 1948 – March 20, 2001) was an American disco music disc jockey from New York City, best known for being one of the first people to beatmatch.
Grasso, who attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Long Island Univers ...
, exemplified this sexual liberty. Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, in their history of the disc jockey and club culture, 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". While sex was not allowed on the dancefloor, its dark corners, bathrooms, and adjacent hallways were utilized for orgy-like sexual engagements.
Brewster and Broughton describe the music, drugs, and liberated mentality as a trifecta that formed a festival of carnality, citing these three as stimuli for the dancing, sex, and other embodied movements contributing to the Sanctuary's corporeal vibrations. This supports the argument that disco music facilitated the sexual liberation experienced in discotheques. The recent legalization of abortion and the introduction of antibiotics and the pill shifted sexual culture from procreation to pleasure. This fostered a very sex-positive framework around discotheques.
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 39,200 members who are in ...
classified homosexuality as an illness. This law and classification together heavily dissuaded the public expression of queerness; as such, the liberatory dynamics of discotheques provided a space for self-realization for queer persons. David Mancuso's club/house party, The Loft, was described as having a "pansexual
Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determ ...
attitude hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
was 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 developed largely from popular dance music played in clubs that began using records instead of live bands. The first discotheques primarily played swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...
. Later, uptempo rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
gained popularity in American clubs, and northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
and glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
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 Régina 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 been the first club DJ in 1953 at Paris's "Whisky à Go-Go". She installed a dance floor with colored lights and two turntables to ensure continuous music playback. In October 1959, the owner of the Scotch Club in Aachen, West Germany opted for a record player instead of a live band for the opening night. Patrons were unimpressed until a young reporter, covering the club's opening, impulsively took control of the record player and played his chosen records. Klaus Quirini later claimed to be the world's first nightclub DJ.
1960s–1974: Precursors and early disco music
During the 1960s, discotheque dancing became a European trend enthusiastically embraced by the American press. As discotheque culture gained popularity in the United States, several danceable music genres became popular and evolved into 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 within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
(originated in the 1940s), soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
(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). Music genres primarily performed by African-American musicians influenced much of early disco.
Also during the 1960s, Motown
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
developed an approach, described as: "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
The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, R&B, doo-wop, and soul.
The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthu ...
, 4) a regular and sophisticated use of both horns and strings, 5) lead singers who were halfway 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 disco elements by acts like Eddie Kendricks
Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...
(" Girl You Need a Change of Mind" in 1972, " Keep on Truckin'" in 1973, " Boogie Down" in 1974).
At the end of the 1960s, musicians, and audiences from the Black, Italian, and Latino communities adopted several traits from the hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
and psychedelia
Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...
subcultures. They included using music venues with a loud, overwhelming sound, free-form dancing, trippy lighting, colorful costumes, and the use of hallucinogenic
Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, moo ...
drugs.[Disco Double Take: New York Parties Like It's 1975](_blank)
. Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
.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 hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
s 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''.[
]Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
's success helped introduce late 1960s psychedelic rock elements into soul and early funk music, forming the subgenre psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul (originally called black rock or conflated with psychedelic funk) is a form of soul music which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s. The style saw African-American soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, ...
. Examples include the music of the Chambers Brothers
The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit " Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions ...
, George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
collective, Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...
, and Norman Whitfield
Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...
's productions with The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...
.
The long instrumental introductions and detailed orchestration in psychedelic soul tracks by the Temptations are also considered 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
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...
and Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...
scored hits with cinematic soul songs 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
Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...
developed as a sub-genre also featuring lavish percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
, lush string orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...
arrangements, and expensive record production. In the early 1970s, 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 duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...
's Philadelphia soul productions evolved from simpler late-1960s arrangements into a style featuring lush strings, thumping basslines, and sliding hi-hat rhythms. These elements, which would become typical of disco music, are found in several of their early 1970s hits:
*"Love Train
"Love Train" is a hit single by the O'Jays, written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Released in 1972, it reached No. 1 on both the R&B Singles and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in February and March 1973 respectively, and No. 9 on the UK Singles C ...
" by the O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...
(backed by MFSB) was released in 1972 and topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1973
*" The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & 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 ...
(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).
Third Worl ...
" by The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...
(1973), later a hit for Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...
in 1978
*"TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)
"TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" is a 1974 recording by MFSB featuring vocals by The Three Degrees. It was written by Gamble and Huff as the theme for the American musical television program ''Soul Train'', which specialized in African American ...
" 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 ...
featuring The Three Degrees
The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 12 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Ho ...
on vocals, a wordless theme for ''Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...
'' and a #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1974
Other early disco tracks that shaped disco and became popular in (underground) discotheques and parties include:
* "Jungle Fever
''Jungle Fever'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. Starring Lee, Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, ...
" by The Chakachas was released in Belgium in 1971 and the U.S. in 1972, reaching #8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.
* " Soul Makossa" by Manu Dibango
Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango (12 December 1933 – 24 March 2020) was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father w ...
, initially released in France in 1972, was picked up by New York's underground disco scene and subsequently given a proper U.S. release, charting at #35 on the Hot 100 in 1973.
* " The Night" by the Four Seasons, released in 1972, was not immediately popular. It later appealed to the Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
scene, becoming a UK hit in 1975
* " Love's Theme" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra
The Love Unlimited Orchestra was a 40-piece string-laden orchestra formed by American singer Barry White, and serving as a backing unit for White and for female vocal trio Love Unlimited. From the early 1970s on, they also recorded several sin ...
, conducted by Barry White
Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...
, an instrumental song originally featured on '' Under the Influence of... Love Unlimited'' in July 1973; it was released as a single from the album in November that year, and White later included it on his debut album.
* "Sound Your Funky Horn" by KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", " (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", ...
in 1974
* "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae in 1974
* "Do It" by B.T. Express in 1974
* " Boogie Down" by Eddie Kendricks
Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...
in 1974
* " If You Talk In Your Sleep" by Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
in 1974.
Early disco was dominated by record producers and labels such as Salsoul Records
Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases ...
(Ken, Stanley, and Joseph Cayre), West End Records
West End Records is an American music record label based in New York City. Led by co-founder Mel Cheren, West End was one of the most prominent labels in dance music's history, along with Prelude Records, Salsoul Records, and Casablanca Records. ...
( Mel Cheren), Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
(Neil Bogart
Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks.
Life and career
Born Neil Scott Bogatz i ...
), and Prelude ( Marvin Schlachter). The genre was also shaped by Tom Moulton, who created the extended mix or "remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
" to prolong dance songs, transforming three-minute 45 rpm singles into much longer 12" records. Other influential DJs and remixers who helped establish the "disco sound" included David Mancuso
David Paul Mancuso (October 20, 1944 – November 14, 2016) was an American disc jockey who created the popular "by invitation only" parties in New York City, which later became known as " The Loft". The first party, called "Love Saves The Day", w ...
, 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
Lawrence Philpot (July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992), known as Larry Levan ( ), 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 moder ...
, Walter Gibbons, and Chicago-based Frankie Knuckles
Francis Warren Nicholls Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), known professionally as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music, a genre of mus ...
. Frankie Knuckles was an important disco DJ who also helped develop house music
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...
in the 1980s.
Disco aired on television, notably on the music/dance variety show Don Cornelius's ''Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...
'' (1971), followed by Marty Angelo
Marty Angelo worked in the entertainment business from 1965 to 1980 as a television producer ( Disco Step-by-Step), record promoter, restaurant/nightclub owner and personal manager for rock 'n' roll bands (Raven and Rob Grill and The Grass Roots ...
's ''Disco Step-by-Step Television Show
''Disco Step-by-Step'' was a local television show in Buffalo, New York which featured 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, p ...
'' (1975), Steve Marcus's ''Disco Magic/Disco 77'', Eddie Rivera's '' Soap Factory'', and Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. From 1962 to 1986, G ...
's '' Dance Fever'', hosted by Deney Terrio, who is credited with teaching 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 ...
to dance for his role in ''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 ...
'' (1977), as well as DANCE, based out of Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...
.
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
The 1970s marked the fading of the counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is ofte ...
, such as the hippie movement. Economic prosperity from the previous decade had declined, with unemployment, inflation, and crime rates soaring. Political issues like the backlash from the Civil Rights Movement, culminating in race riots
This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms.
Africa
Americas
United States
Nativist period: 1700s� ...
, the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
, and the Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
, left many disillusioned and hopeless. The early 1970s also marked a shift in American consciousness, shaped by the rise of the feminist movement
The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...
, identity politics
Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...
, and gangs. Disco music and dancing offered an escape from negative social and economic issues. Its non-partnered style allowed people of all races and sexual orientations to enjoy the dancefloor atmosphere.
In ''Beautiful Things in Popular Culture'', Simon Frith
Simon Webster Frith (born 1946) is a British sociomusicologist and rock critic who specializes in popular music culture. He is professor emeritus of Music at University of Edinburgh.Frith has written a number of sociological analyses of popul ...
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 origins of disco are often traced to private dance parties held at New York City DJ David Mancuso's home, which became known as The Loft, an invitation-only non-commercial underground club that inspired many others. His first major party, "Love Saves The Day," was held in his Manhattan home on Valentine's Day 1970. Within months, the parties became weekly, and Mancuso continued holding them regularly into the 1990s. Mancuso required the music to be soulful, rhythmic, and convey messages of hope, redemption, or pride.
When Mancuso hosted his first informal house parties, The Loft's attendees, largely from the gay community
The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individua ...
, were often harassed in gay bars and dance clubs, prompting many gay men to carry bail money. But at The Loft and other early, private discotheque
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 ...
s, they could dance without fear of police action, thanks to Mancuso's underground, yet legal, policies. Vince Aletti
Vince Aletti (born 1945) is a curator, writer, and photography critic.
Career
Music industry
Aletti was a contributing writer for ''Rolling Stone'' from 1970 to 1989. He was the first person to write about disco, on 13 September 1973, in ''Disc ...
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
Alex Rosner is an American sound engineer and designer. He is known as the sound designer for the club The Loft and as the inventor of the DJ mixer.
Early life
Rosner and his father survived the Holocaust and time at Dachau. After the war the ...
added, "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
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
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
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...
, writing about the disco-themed film ''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 ...
'', said the film and disco 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 associated dance styles and fashion was adopted by the British mod scene, forming the northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
movement. Originating at venues such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, it quickly spread to other UK dancehalls and nightclubs, including the Chateau Impney
Chateau Impney Hotel & Exhibition Centre is a Grade II* listed 19th-century house built in the style of an elaborate French château near Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England. Of the large mansions in Worcestershire supported by industrial fo ...
(Droitwich
Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester.
...
), Catacombs (Wolverhampton), the Highland Rooms at Blackpool Mecca, Golden Torch (Stoke-on-Trent), and Wigan Casino. As the beat became more uptempo and frantic in the early 1970s, northern soul dancing became more athletic, resembling the later dance styles of disco and break dancing. Featuring spins
The spins (as in having "the spins") is an adverse reaction of Substance intoxication, intoxication that causes a state of vertigo and nausea, causing one to feel as if "spinning out of control", especially when lying down. It is most commonly as ...
, flips
Flip, FLIP, or flips may refer to:
People
* Flip (nickname), a list of people
* Lil' Flip (born 1981), American rapper
* Flip Simmons, Australian actor and musician
* Flip Wilson, American comedian
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* ...
, karate kicks, and backdrops, club dancing styles often drew inspiration from the stage performances of touring American soul acts like Little Anthony & the Imperials
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
and Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of th ...
.
In 1974, an estimated 25,000 mobile discos and 40,000 professional disc jockeys operated in the United Kingdom. Mobile discos were DJs who brought their own equipment to provide music for special events. Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
tracks were popular; for example, Gary Glitter
Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was convicted of downloading child pornography i ...
's 1972 single "Rock and Roll Part 2
"Rock and Roll" is a song by the English singer Gary Glitter, released in 1972 from his debut studio album, '' Glitter''. Co-written by Glitter and Mike Leander, the song is in two parts: Part 1 is a vocal track with a "Rock and Roll, Rock" ch ...
" was popular on UK dance floors despite receiving little radio airplay.
1974–1977: Rise to mainstream
From 1974 to 1977, disco music gained popularity, with many songs topping charts. The Hues Corporation
The Hues Corporation was an American pop and soul trio, formed in Santa Monica, California in 1969. They are best known for their 1974 single " Rock the Boat", which sold over 2 million copies, hit number one, and helped establish disco as a ...
's " Rock the Boat" (1974), a US number-one single and million-seller, was an early disco chart-topper. That year, "Kung Fu Fighting
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican-British vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other ...
" by Carl Douglas
Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican-British singer best known for his 1974 disco single " Kung Fu Fighting". Based in the United Kingdom, Douglas released three studio albums, including '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great L ...
, produced by Biddu
Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...
, reached number one in both the UK and US. It became the year's best-selling single and, with 11 million records sold worldwide, one of the best-selling singles of all time. It significantly popularized disco. 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 ...
's "Rock Your Baby
"Rock Your Baby" is the debut single by American singer George McCrae. Written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, "Rock Your Baby" became an early landmark recording of disco. It was the only inter ...
": It also became the United Kingdom's first number one disco single.
In the northwestern United Kingdom, the northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
explosion, which started in the late 1960s and peaked in 1974, made the region receptive to disco, which disc jockeys were bringing back from New York City. Some DJs' shift to newer sounds from the United States split the scene, as some abandoned 1960s soul and pushed a modern soul sound that tended to be more closely aligned with disco than soul.
In 1975, 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 ...
released her first vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, 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 ...
, featuring her remake of the Jackson 5
The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...
's "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 ...
", "Honey Bee", and her disco version of " Reach Out (I'll Be There)". The album first topped the Billboard disco/dance charts in November 1974. In 1978, Gaynor's number-one disco hit, "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 ...
", was seen as a symbol of female strength and a gay anthem, a status shared by her 1983 disco remake of " I Am What I Am". In 1979 she released "Let Me Know (I Have a Right) Let Me Know may refer to:
*Let Me Know (Tamar Braxton song), "Let Me Know" (Tamar Braxton song)
*Let Me Know (Róisín Murphy song), "Let Me Know" (Róisín Murphy song)
*Let Me Know (Towa Tei song), "Let Me Know" (Towa Tei song)
*"Let Me Know (I W ...
", a single popular in civil rights movements. Also in 1975, Vincent Montana Jr.'s Salsoul Orchestra
The Salsoul Orchestra was the backing Band (music), band of session musicians for many acts on the New York City label Salsoul Records and, under its own name, recorded several hit singles and albums between 1975 and 1982.
History
The orchestr ...
released their Latin-flavored orchestral dance song "Salsoul Hustle", which reached number four on the Billboard Dance Chart; their 1976 hits included "Tangerine
The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in colour, that is considered either a variety of the mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), or a closely related species, under the name ''Citrus tangerina'', or yet as a hybrid (''Citr ...
", a cover of a 1941 song, and "Nice 'n' Naasty".
Songs such as 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 ...
's 1975 " The Hustle" and the humorous Joe Tex
Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...
1977 "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)
"Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)" is a song composed by Joe Tex and Buddy Killen, and released by Tex as a single in December 1976, bringing the musician back to the top 40 of the US pop and R&B charts simultaneously for the first ...
" named the popular disco dances "the Bump" and "the Hustle". Other notable early disco songs include Barry White
Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...
's " You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (1974); Labelle
Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...
's "Lady Marmalade
"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir''?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "''Do you want to sleep with m ...
" (1974)'; Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes' " Get Dancin'" (1974); 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 ...
's " Shining Star" (1975); Silver Convention
Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird.
History
The group was initiated in Munich, then West Germany, by producers and songwriters Michael Kun ...
's " Fly, Robin, Fly" (1975) and " Get Up and Boogie" (1976); Vicki Sue Robinson's " Turn the Beat Around" (1976); and " More, More, More" (1976) by Andrea True (a former pornographic actress during the Golden Age of Porn
The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the genera ...
, an era largely concurrent with disco's peak).
Formed by Harry Wayne Casey
Harry Wayne Casey (born January 31, 1951), better known by his stage name KC, is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter. He is best known for his band, KC and the Sunshine Band, with co-founder Richard Finch (musician), Richard Fi ...
(a.k.a. "KC") and Richard Finch, Miami's KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", " (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", ...
released disco-definitive top-five singles between 1975 and 1977, including "Get Down Tonight
"Get Down Tonight" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band, released in February 1975 by TK Records as the first single from their second and self-titled album (1975). The song became widely successful, becoming the fi ...
", "That's the Way (I Like It)
"That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band from their self-titled second studio album (1975). The single became the band's second No. 1 hit in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and it is one of the ...
", "(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
"I'm Your Boogie Man" is a song written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, and performed by Casey's band KC and the Sunshine Band, from their fourth album '' Part 3'' (1976).
Background
Richard Finch said that the song was wri ...
", "Boogie Shoes
"Boogie Shoes" is a funk/disco song by KC and the Sunshine Band, which first appeared on their 1975 self-titled album. The song became a hit after it appeared on the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack in 1977. It was subsequently released as ...
", and " Keep It Comin' Love". During this period, rock bands like the English Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
featured a violin sound in their songs that became a staple of disco music, as in the 1975 hit " Evil Woman", though the genre was orchestral rock.
Other disco producers such as Tom Moulton took ideas and techniques from dub music
Dub is a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.&nb ...
(which came with the increased Jamaican migration to New York City in the 1970s) to provide alternatives to the dominant "four on the floor" style. DJ Larry Levan used 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and remixing techniques to create early house music
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...
, sparking the genre.
Motown turning disco
Norman Whitfield
Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...
was an influential Motown records
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...
producer and songwriter, renowned for creating innovative "psychedelic soul
Psychedelic soul (originally called black rock or conflated with psychedelic funk) is a form of soul music which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s. The style saw African-American soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, ...
" songs and many hits for Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
, The Velvelettes
The Velvelettes were an American singing girl group, signed to Motown in the 1960s. Their biggest chart success occurred in 1964, when Norman Whitfield produced "Needle in a Haystack", which peaked at number 45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ...
, The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...
, and Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...
. Around the 1968 production of The Temptations' '' Cloud Nine'', he incorporated psychedelic influences and began producing longer, dance-friendly tracks with more elaborate rhythmic instrumental parts. An example is the 1972 psychedelic soul track "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act the Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy-award winning cover by the Temptations was issued later the same year. This la ...
", which appeared as an almost seven-minute single edit and an approximately 12-minute 12" version. By the early 1970s, many of Whitfield's productions increasingly evolved towards funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
and disco, as heard on albums by the Undisputed Truth
The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Bren ...
and The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...
's 1973 album '' G.I.T.: Get It Together''. The Undisputed Truth
The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Bren ...
, a Motown act assembled by Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques, found success with their 1971 song " Smiling Faces Sometimes". Their 1976 disco single "You + Me = Love" (number 43), produced by Whitfield, reached number 2 on the US dance chart
The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
.
In 1975, Whitfield left Motown, founding his own label Whitfield records
Whitfield Records was a record label, founded in 1975 by former Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield and active until 1982. Whitfield Records was distributed throughout its entire existence by Warner Bros. Records.
Selected discograp ...
, which also released "You + Me = Love". Whitfield produced further disco hits, including "Car Wash
A car wash, or auto wash, is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior, of motor vehicle, cars. Car washes can be #Self-serve car wash, self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or #Autom ...
" (1976) by Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including " Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", " Wishing on a Star", and " Love Don't Live Here Anymore".
Career ...
from the soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
to the 1976 film ''Car Wash''. In 1977, singer, songwriter, and producer Willie Hutch
William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005), better known as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s.
Biog ...
, signed to Motown since 1970, then signed with Whitfield's new label, scoring a successful disco single with "In and Out" in 1982.
Other Motown artists also embraced disco. Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
embraced disco with her 1976 hit " Love Hangover" from her self-titled album. Her 1980 dance classics "Upside Down
Upside Down or Upsidedown may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Upside Down'' (1919 film), a 1919 American silent film
* ''Upside Down'' (2012 film), a 2012 Canadian-French film starring Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst
* ''Up ...
" 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 by Motown, as the second single from Ross' self-titled eleventh ...
" were written and produced by Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...
and Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bassist and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco with musician Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the 53rd greates ...
of Chic
Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word.
Etymology
'' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...
. The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
, Ross's former group, scored disco hits without her, notably 1976's "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking
"I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" is a disco-styled soul single composed by the Holland brothers Eddie and Brian, members of the former Holland–Dozier–Holland team and was released as a single by Motown vocal group The Supremes in 1976 ...
" and, their last charted single before disbanding, 1977's "You're My Driving Wheel".
At Motown's request to produce disco songs, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
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 rele ...
" in 1978 despite his dislike of disco. He vowed not to record songs in the genre and wrote the song as a parody. However, several of Gaye's songs feature disco elements, including " I Want You" (1975). Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
released the disco single " Sir Duke" in 1977 as a tribute to Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life.
Born and raised in Washington, D ...
, 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
legend who died in 1974. Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...
left the Motown group The Miracles
The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...
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 Li ...
" musical programming format and subgenre of R&B. It contained the disco single "Baby That's Backatcha
"Baby That's Backatcha" is a 1975 single written, produced and performed by Smokey Robinson. From the album, '' A Quiet Storm'', this disco/dance record (also featured on the disco charts) was Robinson's first of two solo (without the Miracles) n ...
". Other Motown artists who scored disco hits were Robinson's former group, the Miracles, with "Love Machine" (1975), Eddie Kendricks
Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...
with "Keep On Truckin'" (1973), the Originals with " Down to Love Town" (1976), and Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...
with her cover of the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes song " Don't Leave Me This Way" (1976). The label continued to release successful songs into the 1980s with Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...
's "Super Freak
"Super Freak" is a 1981 single produced and performed by American singer Rick James. The song, co-written by James and Alonzo Miller, was first released on James' fifth album, '' Street Songs'' (1981) and became one of James' signature songs. "F ...
" (1981), and the Commodores
Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
The members of the group met as m ...
' "Lady (You Bring Me Up)
"Lady (You Bring Me Up)" is a 1981 hit single by the Commodores. In the United States, it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart. It reached No. 56 on the UK Singles Chart.
It was written by Commo ...
" (1981).
Several Motown solo artists who left the label found success with disco songs. Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
, Motown's first female superstar with her signature song "My Guy
"My Guy" is a 1964 hit single by American singer Mary Wells for the Motown label. Written and produced by Smokey Robinson of The Miracles, the song is a woman's rejection of a sexual advance and affirmation of her fidelity to her boyfriend, who i ...
" (written by Smokey Robinson), abruptly left the label in 1964. She briefly charted with the disco song "Gigolo" in 1980. Jimmy Ruffin
Jimmy Lee RuffinRibowsky, Mark (2010), ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations'', Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, p. 89. . (May 7, 1936 – November 17, 2014) was an American soul singer, and ...
, the elder brother of the Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...
lead singer David Ruffin
David Eli Ruffin (born Davis Eli Ruffin;Ribowsky, p. 88 January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991) was an American soul singer most famous for his work as one of the lead singers of the Temptations (1964–1968) during the group's "Classic Five" p ...
, also signed to Motown, releasing his most successful and well-known song "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the broken-hearted who h ...
" as a single in 1966. Ruffin left the label in the mid-1970s, but found 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 - le ...
", written and produced by Robin Gibb
Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained global fame as a member of the Bee Gees with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his own successfu ...
of the Bee Gees, for his album ''Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon.
Terminology
Although the S ...
''. Edwin Starr
Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...
, known for his Motown protest song "War
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
" (1970), reentered the charts in 1979 with the disco songs, " Contact" and " H.A.P.P.Y. Radio". Kiki Dee
Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records.
Dee is best known f ...
was the first white British singer to sign with Motown in the US, releasing 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 her first chart entry (number 87 on the US Chart). She soon left, signing with Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
's The Rocket Record Company
The Rocket Record Company is a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after John's hit song " Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the UK ...
, and in 1976 released her biggest and best-known single, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee, released by The Rocket Record Company on 25 June 1976. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte B ...
", 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
Kim Weston (born December 20, 1939) is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and " Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, " ...
.
Many Motown groups who left the label charted with disco songs. The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...
, a premier early 1970s Motown act, left in 1975 (Jermaine Jackson
Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...
, however, remained with the label) after hits like "I Want You Back
"I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 7, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...
" (1969), "ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
" (1970), and the disco song " Dancing Machine" (1974). Renamed 'the Jacksons' (as Motown owned the name 'the Jackson 5'), they found success with disco hits such as "Blame It on the Boogie" (1978), " Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), and "Can You Feel It?" (1981) on Epic.
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...
, whose brief tenure produced "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
"This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" is a Holland–Dozier–Holland song that was a hit for American musical group the Isley Brothers in January 1966 during their brief tenure on Motown's Tamla label. Featuring Ronald Isley on lead voca ...
" in 1966, later released successful disco songs like " It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)" (1979). Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...
, who recorded the most successful version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a ...
" (1967) before Marvin Gaye, scored successful singles such as "Baby, Don't Change Your Mind" (1977) and "Bourgie, Bourgie" (1980) in the disco era. The Detroit Spinners also signed to Motown, had 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 List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
native Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
, for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
, where they had disco songs like " The Rubberband Man" (1976). In 1979, they released a successful cover of Elton John's " Are You Ready for Love" and a medley of the Four Seasons' " Working My Way Back to You" and Michael Zager's "Forgive Me, Girl". The Four Seasons were briefly signed to Motown's MoWest, a short-lived subsidiary for R&B and soul artists based on the West Coast, producing one album, ''Chameleon
Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...
'' (1972) – with little commercial success in the US. However, one single, "The Night", released in Britain in 1975, reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart thanks to popularity from the Northern Soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
circuit. The Four Seasons left Motown in 1974 and had a disco hit with "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" is a song originally performed by American band the Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboardist Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's albu ...
" (1975) for Warner Curb Records
Warner Curb Records was a joint venture between Warner Bros. Records and producer Mike Curb to release his productions. The label was active between 1972 and 1983. In 1983, it folded into Curb Records.
See also
*List of record labels
File:Alvi ...
.
Euro disco
The most successful Euro disco act was ABBA
ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
(1972–1982). The Swedish quartet, singing primarily in English, had hit singles like " Waterloo" (1974), "Take a Chance on Me
"Take a Chance on Me" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA, released on 27 January 1978 in the United Kingdom, by Polar Music, as the second single from their fifth studio album, '' ABBA: The Album'' (1977). Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Fr ...
" (1978), "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA. A disco song, it was first recorded in August 1979 to promote the group's North American and European concert legs of ABBA: The Tour. It was released on 1 ...
" (1979), " Super Trouper" (1980), and their signature hit "Dancing Queen
"Dancing Queen" is a song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, '' Arrival'' (1976). It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus also produced the ...
" (1976).
In the 1970s, Munich, West Germany, music producers Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...
and Pete Bellotte
Peter John Bellotte (born 28 August 1943)Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916–2005 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Inde ...
significantly contributed to disco music with hits for 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 ...
, known as the "Munich Sound". In 1975, Summer suggested the lyric " Love to Love You Baby" to Moroder and Bellotte, who developed it into a full disco song. The song, featuring vocalizations of simulated orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...
s, was not initially intended for release. However, when Moroder played it in clubs, it caused a sensation, leading him to release it. The song became an international hit, charting in many European countries and reaching No. 2 in the US. It has been described as a landmark for expressing 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 surface, compa ...
was released, which became and remains a standard in discos today.
Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby," which peaked at No.2 on the ''Billboard'' charts in 1976, is considered a feminist anthem and genre staple. ''Billboard'' recently ranked the song #1 on its "The 34 Top Disco Songs of All Time" list, with Summer holding all top six spots.
In 1976 Donna Summer's version of "Could It Be Magic
"Could It Be Magic" is a song written by Adrienne Anderson and composed by American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, inspired by Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20.
The song was initially released in 1971 by Featherbe ...
" brought disco into the mainstream. In 1977, Summer, Moroder, and Bellotte released "I Feel Love
"I Feel Love" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, '' I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to ha ...
" as the B-side of "Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)". Its mostly electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic c ...
production revolutionized dance music, becoming a massive worldwide success and spawning the Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...
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 Mus ...
as "one of the principal architects of the disco sound". Another successful disco project by Moroder then was Munich Machine (1976–1980).
Boney M.
Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...
(1974–1986) was a West German Euro disco group composed of four West Indian singers and dancers, masterminded by record producer Frank Farian
Franz Reuther (18 July 1941 – 23 January 2024), known professionally as Frank Farian, was a German record producer and singer who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the pop band No Mercy, and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequent ...
. Boney M. had worldwide hits with songs like " Daddy Cool" (1976), "Ma Baker
"Ma Baker" is a song by disco group Boney M., released as a single in 1977. It was the first single of their second album '' Love for Sale'' and their third consecutive chart-topper in (West) Germany.
The song was a huge success in Europe a ...
" (1977), and "Rivers Of Babylon
"Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari movement, Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group the Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms Psalm 19, 19 and Psalm 137, ...
" (1978). Silver Convention
Silver Convention were a German Euro disco recording act of the 1970s. The group was originally named Silver Bird Convention or Silver Bird.
History
The group was initiated in Munich, then West Germany, by producers and songwriters Michael Kun ...
(1974–1979) was another successful West German Euro disco act. The German group Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...
also influenced Euro disco.
In France, Dalida
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...
released "J'attendrai
"J'attendrai" (French for "I will wait") is a popular French song first recorded by Rina Ketty in 1938. It became the big French song during World War II; a counterpart to Lale Andersen's " Lili Marlen" in Germany and Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Aga ...
" ("I Will Wait") in 1975, finding success in Canada, Europe, and Japan. She then adapted to disco, releasing over a dozen top 10 hits in Europe. 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" ( ...
, the self-proclaimed "king of French disco", released "La plus belle chose du monde", a French version of the Bee Gees' "Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
", successful in Canada and Europe. "Alexandrie Alexandra" was posthumously released on his burial day, becoming a worldwide success. Cerrone
Marc CerroneDaryl 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 concerts. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980s disco s ...
's early songs—"Love in C Minor" (1976), " Supernature" (1977), and "Give Me Love" (1978)—found success in the US and Europe. French diva Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear (; born 18 June or 18 November 1939 or 1941 or 1946 or 1950) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress and former model.
She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on ...
was another Euro disco act, with her Euro disco sound most prominent in "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)
"Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" is a song by French singer Amanda Lear from her second album '' Sweet Revenge'', released as a single in 1978. It was a chart success upon its original release and enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 2004 afte ...
" (1978). French producer Alec Costandinos formed the Euro disco group Love and Kisses (1977–1982).
In Italy Raffaella Carrà
Raffaella Maria Roberta Pelloni (18 June 1943 – 5 July 2021), known professionally as Raffaella Carrà () and sometimes mononymously as Raffaella, was an Italian singer, dancer, actress, television presenter and model. She is often widely cons ...
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 move ...
, Hermanas Goggi and Oliver Onions
George Oliver Onions (13 November 1873 – 9 April 1961), who published under the name Oliver Onions, was an English writer of short stories and novels. He wrote in various genres, but is perhaps best remembered for his ghost stories, notably ...
. Her greatest international single, "Tanti Auguri" ("Best Wishes"), became a popular song with gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
audiences. The song is also known by its Spanish title "Para hacer bien el amor hay que venir al sur" (referring to Southern Europe, as it was recorded in Spain). Anne Veski
Anne Veski (born Anne Vaarmann; 27 February 1956) is an Estonian pop singer.
Biography
Anne Veski was born as Anne Vaarmann in Rapla, Estonia. She graduated from the musical school in the town, after which she entered the Tallinn University ...
performed the Estonian version, "Jätke võtmed väljapoole". " A far l'amore comincia tu" ("To make love, your move first") was another international success, 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 UK Singles Chart entry, reaching number 9, where she remains a one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...
. 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
Ayşe Ajda Pekkan (; born 12 February 1946) is a Turkish singer. She is known by the title "superstar" in the Turkish media. Pekkan became a prominent figure of Turkish pop music with her songs, in which she tried to create a strong female figure. ...
as "Sakın Ha" in 1977.
Carrà recently gained attention as the female dancing soloist in a 1974 TV performance of the experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
gibberish
Gibberish, also known as jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense: ranging across speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsid ...
song "Prisencolinensinainciusol
"Prisencolinensinainciusol" (; stylized on the single cover as "PRİSENCÓLİNENSİNÁİNCIÚSOL") is a song composed by the Italian singer Adriano Celentano, and performed by Celentano and his wife Claudia Mori. It was released as a single in ...
" (1973) by Adriano Celentano
Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing.
Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...
. A remixed video featuring her dancing went viral in 2008. In 2008, a video of her only successful UK single, "Do It, Do It Again", was featured in the ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' episode "Midnight
Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours.
...
". Rafaella Carrà worked with Bob Sinclar
Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ, and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions.
Musical career
A native of Paris, Le Friant began D ...
on the single " Far l'Amore", released on YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on March 17, 2011. The song charted in several European countries. Also prominent European disco acts are Spargo (band), Time Bandits (band)
Time Bandits is a Dutch new wave band best known for their hits "I'm Specialized in You", "Endless Road" and "I'm Only Shooting Love".
Formation
Time Bandits was formed in 1981 by Alides Hidding, who wrote all songs and sang lead vocals. Other ba ...
and 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, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Cana ...
from the Netherlands.
Euro disco evolved within mainstream pop, even as disco's popularity sharply declined in the United States, abandoned by major U.S. labels and producers. Influenced by Italo disco
Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...
, it also shaped early house music
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...
in the early 1980s and later electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
, including early '90s Eurodance
Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...
.
1977–1979: Pop preeminence
''Saturday Night Fever'' (John Badham, 1977)
Released in December 1977, the film ''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 ...
'' was a huge success, and its soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
became one of the best-selling albums of all time. The film was inspired by a 1976 ''New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
'' magazine article, " Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night," which supposedly chronicled mid-1970s New York City disco culture but was later revealed to be fabricated. Some critics said the film "mainstreamed" disco, making it more acceptable to heterosexual white males. Many music historians believe the success of the movie and soundtrack extended the life of the disco era by several years.
Centering on suburban discotheque culture and 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 ...
's character Tony Manero (which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading ...
nomination), ''Saturday Night Fever'' recast the dance floor as a site for patriarchal masculinity and heterosexual courtship. This aligned disco with the perceived mass market, specifically targeting suburban and Middle American audiences.
''Saturday Night Fever'' reappropriated the dance floor for straight male culture, turning it into a space for men to showcase prowess and pursue opposite-sex partners. The film popularized the hustle, a Latin social dance, reinforcing the centrality of the straight-dancing couple in the disco exchange. Notably, the soundtrack, dominated 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 ...
, risked presenting disco as a new incarnation of shrill white pop, deviating from its diverse and inclusive origins. Its unprecedented success, breaking box office and album sale records, unfortunately had an impact beyond mere popularity. The film established an easily reproducible, yet thoroughly de-queered, disco template. By narrowing the narrative to fit conventional suburban heterosexual ideals, it contributed to a distorted and commodified version of disco.
Disco goes mainstream
The Bee Gees used Barry Gibb
Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Along with his younger fraternal twin brothers, Robin Gibb, Robin and Maurice Gibb, Maurice, he rose to global fame as a member ...
's falsetto
Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ...
to garner hits such as "You Should Be Dancing
"You Should Be Dancing" is a song by the Bee Gees, from the album '' Children of the World'', released in 1976. It hit No. 1 for one week on the American ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 1 for seven weeks on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and in ...
", "Stayin' Alive
"Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in December 1977 by RSO Records as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtr ...
", "Night Fever
"Night Fever" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees. It first appeared on the soundtrack to ''Saturday Night Fever'' on RSO Records. Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film ''Saturday Night'', but singer Robin Gibb express ...
", " More Than A Woman", "Love You Inside Out
"Love You Inside Out" is a 1979 single by the Bee Gees from their album, ''Spirits Having Flown''. It was their last chart-topping single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (for one week in June 1979), interrupting Donna Summer's " Hot Stuff", becomin ...
", and "Tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
". Andy Gibb
Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...
, 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
"(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" is a song performed by Andy Gibb, released in September 1977 as the second and final single by RSO Records from his debut album, ''Flowing Rivers'' (1977). The song was his second single that topped the US Billboard ...
", and " Shadow Dancing".
In 1978, Donna Summer's multi-million-selling disco single "MacArthur Park
MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...
" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks and earned a nomination for 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 ...
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 ...
. Included as part of the "MacArthur Park Suite" on her double live album '' Live and More'', the album version was eight minutes and 40 seconds. The shorter seven-inch single became Summer's first Hot 100 number one; it omits the balladic second movement. A 2013 remix of "MacArthur Park" by Summer topped the Billboard Dance Charts, marking five consecutive decades with a number-one song. From mid-1978 to late 1979, Summer released singles including " 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 un ...
), " Hot Stuff", " Bad Girls", " Dim All the Lights" and " On the Radio", all reaching the top five or better on the Billboard pop charts.
The band Chic was formed by guitarist Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...
—a self-described "street hippie" from late 1960s New York—and bassist Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bassist and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco with musician Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the 53rd greates ...
. Their 1978 single, "Le Freak
"Le Freak" is a funk-disco song by American disco band Chic, released in September 1978 by Atlantic Records as the first single from their second album, '' C'est Chic'' (1978). It was written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, a ...
", is regarded as an iconic song of the genre. Chic's other successful songs include the often-sampled "Good Times
''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...
" (1979), " I Want Your Love" (1979), and " Everybody Dance" (1979). The group saw themselves as the disco movement's rock band, fulfilling the hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
movement's ideals of peace, love, and freedom. Every song they wrote aimed to have "deep hidden meaning" (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 ...
, a flamboyant, openly gay singer with a soaring falsetto voice, scored his biggest disco hits in late 1978 with "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a song by American disco/ R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, produced by Harvey Fuqua and Sylvester, and released by Fantasy Records as the second single from the singer's four ...
" and "Dance (Disco Heat)
"Dance (Disco Heat)" is a song by American singer Sylvester. The song appears on his 1978 album '' Step II'' and features backing vocals by Two Tons O' Fun.
Chart performance
The song was Sylvester's first Top 40 hit in the United States, where it ...
". His singing style reportedly influenced 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. The ...
. At the time, disco was a genre especially open to gay performers.
The 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 and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...
were a group created by Jacques Morali 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 Morali ...
for disco's gay audience. Known for their costumes depicting male-associated jobs and ethnic minorities, they achieved mainstream success with their 1978 hit song " Macho Man". Other songs include " Y.M.C.A." (1979) and " In the Navy" (1979).
Noteworthy songs include 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 disc ...
' " Disco Inferno" (1976; reissued 1978 following its popularity from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack), Heatwave
A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
's "Boogie Nights
''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic ...
" (1977), Evelyn "Champagne" King
Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her first hit was disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from the early t ...
'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 adapted into an award-winning film of the same title in 1961.
Set in Salford in North West England, it tells the story of Jo, ...
's " Boogie Oogie Oogie" (1978), Cheryl Lynn
Cheryl Lynn (born Lynda Cheryl Smith; March 11, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is best known for her songs during the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, including the 1978 R&B/disco song " Got to Be Real" from her albu ...
's "Got to Be Real
"Got to Be Real" is a song by American singer Cheryl Lynn from her 1978 self-titled debut studio album. The song, which was released in August 1978 as Lynn's debut single, was written by Lynn, David Paich and David Foster.
Composition
Sheet mus ...
" (1978), Alicia Bridges's " I Love the Nightlife" (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/Austrian mother in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hernandez grew ...
's " Born to Be Alive" (1978), 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 ...
's "September
September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days.
September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent.
In the Northern hemisphere, the b ...
" (1978) and " Boogie Wonderland" (1979), Peaches & Herb
Peaches & Herb is an American vocal duo. Herb Fame (born October 1, 1941) has remained a constant as "Herb" since the duo was created in 1966; seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches", most notably Francine Edna "Peaches" Hurd B ...
's "Shake Your Groove Thing
"Shake Your Groove Thing" is a song by Contemporary R&B, R&B duo Peaches & Herb. The single reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 4 on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B chart ...
" (1978), Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...
's " We Are Family" and "He's the Greatest Dancer
"He's the Greatest Dancer" is a disco song by the American vocal group Sister Sledge. Released on February 3, 1979, the song was written and composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and recorded for the group's successful 1979 album '' We A ...
" (both 1979), McFadden and Whitehead
McFadden and Whitehead were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B duo, best known for their signature tune "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now". They wrote and produced some of the most popular R&B hit record, hits of the 1970s, and were primarily associated ...
's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is a 1979 disco song performed by American R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead, from their debut album '' McFadden & Whitehead'' (1979). They wrote and produced the song along with keyboard player Jerry Cohen.
Background
"A ...
" (1979), Anita Ward
Anita Ward (born December 20, 1956) (sources differ) is an American singer and musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Beginning her professional music career in the late 1970s, Ward is best known for her 1979 million-selling chart-topper R&B/Disco hi ...
's "Ring My Bell
"Ring My Bell" is a disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw as a teenybopper song about children talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American s ...
" (1979), Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...
's "Ladies' Night
A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or alcoholic beverages. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisco ...
" (1979) and " Celebration" (1980), The Whispers
The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...
's " And the Beat Goes On" (1979), Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to stardom as Dorothy Gale in the original seven-time Tony Awards, Tony Award winning Broadway theatre, Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' ...
's " What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" (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 certi ...
's "Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a song by American disco-funk group Lipps Inc., written and produced by Steven Greenberg and released by Casablanca Records in March 1980 as the second single from the group's debut studio album, '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1979). T ...
" (1980), The Brothers Johnson
The Brothers Johnson was an American funk and R&B band consisting of the American brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, with three ...
's " Stomp!" (1980), George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...
's " Give Me the Night" (1980), 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 ...
'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 topp ...
's efforts to bring classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
to the mainstream, especially with his disco hit "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), inspired by Beethoven's fifth symphony
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, also known as the ''Fate Symphony'' (), is a symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1804 and 1808. It is one of the best-known compositions in classical music and one of the most frequently pla ...
.
At the height of its popularity, many non-disco artists recorded songs with disco elements, such as 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 ...
with his "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 ...
" 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 a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
artists adopted elements of disco. Progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
group Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
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 album '' The Wall'', written by the 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
Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...
's idea to incorporate a disco riff
A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...
, 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
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part composition recorded by English rock band Pink Floyd written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright, which was first performed on their 1974 French tour and appeared in their 1975 concept a ...
" (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 the band considers to be at the top of the social ladder, the ones with weal ...
" (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 the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
referenced disco with " One of These Nights" (1975) and " Disco Strangler" (1979), Paul McCartney & Wings with "Silly Love Songs
"Silly Love Songs" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings that was written by Paul and Linda McCartney. The song first appeared in March 1976 on the album '' Wings at the Speed of Sound,'' then it was released as a single backed wit ...
" (1976) and " Goodnight Tonight" (1979), Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
with "Another One Bites the Dust
"Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British Rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album ''The Game (Queen album), The Game'' (1980). It was a worl ...
" (1980), the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
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; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Manassas (band ...
with his album '' Thoroughfare Gap'' (1978), Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangement ...
with " Shine a Little Love" and " Last Train to London" (both 1979), 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 ...
with " Street Player" (1979), the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...
with " (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" (1979), the Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
with "Shakedown Street
''Shakedown Street'' is the tenth studio album (fifteenth overall) by rock band the Grateful Dead, released November 8, 1978, on Arista Records. The album came just over a year after previous studio album '' Terrapin Station''. It was the fina ...
", The Who
The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
with "Eminence Front
"Eminence Front" is a song by the Who, written and sung by lead guitarist Pete Townshend. It appears on the band's tenth studio album '' It's Hard'' (1982). The single entered ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 25 December 1982, reaching number 68.
Ba ...
" (1982), and the J. Geils Band with " Come Back" (1980). Even hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
group KISS
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
jumped in with "I Was Made for Lovin' You
"I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American Rock music, rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, released in 1979 as the lead single off their seventh studio album ''Dynasty (Kiss album), Dynasty''. The song became a smash hit on the pop singles ch ...
" (1979), and Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
'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.
Artists from other genres also adopted the disco sound, including the 1979 U.S. number one hit "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" is a song recorded by American singers Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer, released in October 1979. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts (singer), Bruce Roberts, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and G ...
" by easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
singer Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
in a duet with Donna Summer. To appeal to a more mainstream market, country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
artists added pop/disco influences to their music. Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
successfully crossed over onto the pop/dance charts; her albums ''Heartbreaker'' and ''Great Balls of Fire'' included disco-influenced songs. A disco remix of " Baby I'm Burnin'" notably peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, ultimately becoming one of the year's biggest club hits.
Connie Smith
Connie Smith (born Constance June Meador; August 14, 1941) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Her contralto vocals have been described by music writers as significant and influential to the women of country music. A similarity ...
covered Andy Gibb's "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" in 1977, Bill Anderson recorded "Double S" in 1978, and Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...
released "Get It Up" and covered blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
singer Tommy Tucker's "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.
Non-disco songs, standards, and TV themes were often "disco-ized" in the 1970s, such as the ''I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...
'' theme (recorded by the Wilton Place Street Band as "Disco Lucy"), " Aquarela do Brasil" (recorded by The Ritchie Family
The Ritchie Family are an American vocal group based in Philadelphia that achieved several chart-topper, hits during the disco era. They have reunited and continue to perform. Their latest single "Whatcha Got" was released in 2021.
Background
...
as "Brazil"), and "Baby Face
Babyface or Baby Face can refer to:
Nicknames
* Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber
* Roosevelt Baby Face Willette, "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician
* "Baby Fa ...
" (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 wer ...
). The rich orchestral accompaniment identified with the disco era recalled 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 and ...
era, prompting several artists to record disco versions of big band arrangements, including Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
, 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, and Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
, who released '' 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
''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 t ...
'', released "Disco Accordion," 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 ...
." Bobby Vinton
Stanley Robert Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is an American singer and actor, who hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid tribute to his Polish heritage. One ...
similarly adapted " The Pennsylvania Polka" into "Disco Polka". Easy listening icon Percy Faith
Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian–American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizin ...
, in one of his last recordings, released the album ''Disco Party (album), Disco Party'' (1975) and a disco version of his "Theme from A Summer Place, 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 topp ...
's "A Fifth of Beethoven" (1976, based on the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven), 5th Symphony) and "Flight 76" (1976, based on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee"), and Louis Clark's ''Hooked On Classics'' series of albums and singles.
Many original television theme songs of the era showed a strong disco influence, such as ''S.W.A.T. (1975 TV series), S.W.A.T.'' (1975), ''Wonder Woman (TV series), Wonder Woman'' (1975), ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976), ''NBC Saturday Night At The Movies'' (1976), ''The Love Boat'' (1977), ''The Donahue Show'' (1977), ''CHiPs'' (1977), ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'' (1977), ''Dallas (TV series), Dallas'' (1978), NBC Sports broadcasts (1978), ''Kojak'' (1977), and ''The Hollywood Squares'' (1979).
Disco jingles appeared in TV commercials, including Ralston Purina, Purina's 1979 "Good Mews" cat food commercial and Pittsburgh's Iron City Brewing Company's "IC Light" commercial.
Parodies
The disco style was parodied in various works. Rick Dees, then a Memphis, Tennessee radio DJ, recorded "Disco Duck" (1976) and "Dis-Gorilla" (1977); Frank Zappa parodied disco dancers' lifestyles in "Disco Boy (song), Disco Boy" on his 1976 ''Zoot Allures'' album, and "Dancin' Fool" on his 1979 ''Sheik Yerbouti'' album. "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Weird Al" Yankovic (album), eponymous 1983 debut album features the disco song "Gotta Boogie", an extended pun on the disco move and the American slang word "Dried nasal mucus, booger". Comedian Bill Cosby devoted his 1977 album ''Disco Bill'' entirely to disco parodies. In 1980, ''Mad (magazine), Mad Magazine'' released the flexi-disc ''Mad Disco'', featuring six full-length parodies. Rock and roll songs critical of disco included Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" and, especially, the Who's "Sister Disco" (both 1978); however, the Who's "Eminence Front
"Eminence Front" is a song by the Who, written and sung by lead guitarist Pete Townshend. It appears on the band's tenth studio album '' It's Hard'' (1982). The single entered ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 25 December 1982, reaching number 68.
Ba ...
" (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 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 ...
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
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 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](_blank)
Robert Christgau for the ''Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
'' Pop & Jop Poll January 22, 1978, 1979[
The punk subculture in the United States and the 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 frequenting nightclubs such as Louise's in Soho and the Sombrero in Kensington. Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
's " Love Hangover", the house anthem at Louise's, was a particular favourite of 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, titled ''Black Arabs'' and credited to a group of that name.
However, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, in the song "Saturday Night Holocaust", likened disco to Weimar Republic, Weimar-era Germany's cabaret culture for its escapism and apathy towards government policies. Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo called disco "like a beautiful woman with a great body and no brains" and a product of the era's political apathy. Experimental filmmaker Wheeler Winston Dixon called disco "absolutely brain dead", its around-the-clock radio "just awful", and found Studio 54 "really dull and elitist" and "everything I was against" (preferring CBGB, his "haven", and New Wave acts like Blondie (band), Blondie, The Ramones, and Television (band), Television). David Byrne, The Talking Heads' lead singer, remarked in the liner notes for the compilation album ''Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads'' about their 1979 song "Life During Wartime (song), Life During Wartime"'s lyrics ("this ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around")
The line 'This ain't no disco' sure stuck! Remember when they would build bonfires of Donna Summer records? Well, we liked some disco music! It's called 'dance music' now. Some of it was radical, camp (style), camp, silly, transcendent and disposable. So it was funny that we were sometimes seen as the flag-bearers of the anti-disco movement.
New Jersey rock critic Jim Testa wrote "Put a Bullet Through the Jukebox", a vitriolic screed attacking disco considered a punk call to arms. Steve Hillage, shortly before his transformation from a progressive rock musician into an electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic c ...
artist in the late 1970s, inspired by 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 appeared in some television shows and films. The show ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' often featured hostility towards disco music. The 1980 comedy film ''Airplane!'' features a scene where 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" due to 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 ...
, an anti-disco demonstration during 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, and Michael Veeck, son of Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck, staged the event for disgruntled rock fans between games of a White Sox doubleheader, exploding disco records in Baseball field, centerfield. Before the second game began, the raucous crowd Pitch invasion, stormed onto the field, setting Bonfire, fires and tearing out seats and turf. The Chicago Police Department made numerous arrests, and extensive field damage forced the White Sox to forfeit the second game to the Detroit Tigers, who had won the first game.
Disco's popularity declined rapidly after Disco Demolition Night. 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](_blank)
by Steve Greenberg (record producer), Steve Greenberg founder and CEO of S-Curve Records July 10, 2009. By September 22, the US Top 10 chart contained no disco songs, except for 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 the music industry
The anti-disco movement, along with societal and radio industry factors, changed the face of pop radio in the years following Disco Demolition Night. From the 1980s, country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
slowly rose on the pop chart. This rise to mainstream popularity was epitomized by the 1980 movie ''Urban Cowboy''. Disco's decline was also linked to the continued popularity of power pop and the late 1970s revival of oldies; the 1978 film ''Grease (film), Grease'' exemplified this trend. Coincidentally, 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 ...
starred in both films, having also starred in 1977's ''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 ...
'', an iconic disco film of the era.
As disco's popularity declined, several record companies folded, reorganized, or were sold. In 1979, MCA Records purchased ABC Records, absorbed some of its artists, and closed the label. Midsong International Records closed in 1980. RSO Records founder Robert Stigwood left the label in 1981, and TK Records closed the same year. Salsoul Records
Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch releases ...
continues primarily as a reissue brand in the 2000s. Casablanca Records released fewer records in the 1980s and was closed in 1986 by parent company PolyGram.
Many groups that were popular during the disco period subsequently struggled to maintain their success—even ones who tried to adapt to evolving musical tastes. The Bee Gees, for instance, retreated from the pop mainstream in the early 1980s and spent the first half of the decade writing and producing successful material for other artists such as Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
and Dionne Warwick, finally returning for 1987's E.S.P. (Bee Gees album), E.S.P which spawned the chart topping hit ''You Win Again (Bee Gees song), You Win Again'' in their home country - whilst in the US, they only had one top-10 entry (1989's "One (Bee Gees song), One") and three more top-40 songs, and the band itself had largely abandoned disco in its 1980s and 1990s songs. Chic
Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word.
Etymology
'' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...
never hit the top-40 again after "Good Times
''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...
" topped the chart in August 1979. Of the handful of groups not taken down by disco's fall from favor, Kool and the Gang, 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 ...
, the Jacksons, and 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 ...
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
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 ...
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. Some popular disco tracks released after Disco Demolition Night include "Steppin' Out (Kool & the Gang song), Steppin' Out" by Kool and the Gang (1981), "In the Middle" by Unlimited Touch (1981), "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 by Motown, as the second single from Ross' self-titled eleventh ...
" by Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...
(1980), "My Feet Keep Dancing" by Chic
Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word.
Etymology
'' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...
(1980), "Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a song by American disco-funk group Lipps Inc., written and produced by Steven Greenberg and released by Casablanca Records in March 1980 as the second single from the group's debut studio album, '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1979). T ...
" by 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 certi ...
(1980), "Lady (You Bring Me Up)
"Lady (You Bring Me Up)" is a 1981 hit single by the Commodores. In the United States, it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart. It reached No. 56 on the UK Singles Chart.
It was written by Commo ...
" by The Commodores
Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
The members of the group met as m ...
(1981) and "All American Girls (song), All American Girls" by Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...
(1981).
In December 1978, six months before Disco Demolition Night, popular progressive rock station WDAI (WLS-FM) suddenly switched to an all-disco format, disenfranchising thousands of Chicago rock fans and leaving Dahl unemployed. WDAI, which survived changing public sentiment and maintained good ratings, continued to play disco until it flipped to a short-lived hybrid Top 40/rock format in May 1980. Another disco outlet competing against WDAI, WGCI-FM, later incorporated Contemporary R&B, R&B and pop music, pop songs into its format, eventually evolving into the urban contemporary outlet it remains today. It also helped bring the Chicago house genre to the airwaves.
Factors contributing to disco's decline
The decline of disco in the United States has been attributed to late 1970s economic and political changes, as well as Occupational burnout, burnout from the Hedonism, hedonistic lifestyles.[[ Allmusic BeeGees bio]] In the years since Disco Demolition Night, some social critics have described the "Disco sucks" movement as implicitly Machismo, macho and bigoted, an attack on non-white and non-heterosexual cultures.[ It was also linked to a wider cultural "backlash", the move towards conservatism, This sentiment also influenced US politics, marked by the 1980 election of conservative president Ronald Reagan, Republican control of the United States Senate for the first time since 1954, and the concurrent rise of the Christian Religious Right.
In January 1979, rock critic Robert Christgau argued that homophobia and most likely racism underlay the movement,] a conclusion seconded by John Rockwell. Craig Werner wrote: "The Anti-disco movement represented an unholy alliance of funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
ateers 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'', stated, "the hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
s always wanted to be black. We were going, 'fuck the blues, fuck the black experience.'" He also said disco resulted from 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 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 was "just kids pissing on a musical genre". British punk rock critics of disco supported the pro-black/anti-racist reggae and the pro-gay new romantics movement. Christgau and Jim Testa said there were legitimate artistic reasons to criticize disco.
In 1979, the music industry in the United States faced its worst slump in decades, and disco, despite its popularity, was blamed. The producer-oriented sound struggled to integrate 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".
1981–1989: Aftermath
Birth of electronic dance music
Disco influenced the development of electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
genres like house music, house, techno, and Eurodance
Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...
. The Eurodisco song ''I Feel Love
"I Feel Love" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, '' I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to ha ...
'', produced by Giorgio Moroder for Donna Summer in 1976, is considered a milestone and blueprint for electronic dance music, as it was the first to combine 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
A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock music, rock, popular music, pop, jazz, an ...
, which became 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
A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the term ...
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
Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...
. Despite its decline in popularity, so-called club music and European-style disco remained relatively successful in the early-to-mid 1980s with songs like Aneka's "Japanese Boy", The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men", Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts (song), Two of Hearts", Dead or Alive (band), Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", Laura Branigan's "Self Control (Raf song), Self Control", and Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy". However, a revival of the traditional-style disco called nu-disco has been popular since the 1990s.
House music displayed a strong disco influence, and due to its immense success in shaping electronic dance music and contemporary club culture, it is often described as 'disco's revenge.' Early house music was generally dance-based, characterized by repetitive four-on-the-floor beats, rhythms mainly provided by drum machines, off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house shared several characteristics with disco, it was more electronic and minimalist, and its repetitive rhythm was more important than the song itself. Additionally, 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 coincided with developments in DJing. DJing evolved from using multiple turntables and DJ mixer
A DJ mixer is a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys (DJs) to control and manipulate multiple audio signals. Some DJs use the mixer to make seamless transitions from one song to another when they are playing records at a dance club. ...
s to create a continuous, seamless mix of songs, transitioning from one to another without interrupting the dancing. The resulting DJ mix differed from 1960s dance music, which focused on live musician performances. This, in turn, affected dance music arrangement; disco songs typically began and ended with a simple beat or riff, facilitating transitions to new songs. DJing's development was also influenced by new turntablism techniques like beatmatching and scratching, facilitated by new turntable technologies such as the Technics SL-1200, Technics SL-1200 MK 2, first sold in 1978, which featured precise variable pitch control and a direct drive motor. DJs were often avid record collectors, hunting through used stores for obscure soul music, soul and vintage funk recordings. DJs helped introduce rare records and new artists to club audiences.
In the 1970s, DJs became more prominent; some, such as Larry Levan, resident at 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 ...
, Jim Burgess, Tee Scott, and Francis Grasso
Francis Grasso (March 25, 1948 – March 20, 2001) was an American disco music disc jockey from New York City, best known for being one of the first people to beatmatch.
Grasso, who attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Long Island Univers ...
, gained fame in the disco scene. Levan, for instance, developed a cult following, with clubgoers calling his sets "Mass (liturgy), Saturday Mass". Some DJs used reel-to-reel tape recorders to make remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
es and tape edits. Some remixing DJs, notably Burgess, transitioned from the DJ booth to record production. Scott pioneered several innovations: he was the first disco DJ to use three turntables as sound sources, simultaneously play two beat-matched records, and use electronic effects unit
An effects unit, effects processor, 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 (music), distortion/overdrive, ...
s in his mixes. He also innovated by mixing dialogue from well-known movies, typically over a percussion break. These mixing techniques also influenced 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's role shifted: they were no longer responsible for waiting on the crowd hand and foot or meeting every song request. Instead, with increased agency and visibility, the DJ could use their technical and creative skills to create innovative mixes, refining their sound and aesthetic, and building their reputation.
Post-disco
post-disco
Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Dis ...
genres originated in the 1970s and early 1980s as R&B and post-punk musicians explored disco's electronic and experimental aspects, spawning boogie (genre), boogie, Italo disco
Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...
, and alternative dance. Drawing from diverse 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; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
and alternative approaches of Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
, 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 influenced dance-pop and bridged classical disco with later forms of electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
.
Early hip hop
The disco sound strongly influenced early hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
. Most early hip-hop songs were made by isolating disco bass lines and adding MC rhymes. The Sugarhill Gang based their 1979 song "Rapper's Delight" on Chic's "Good Times
''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...
", widely considered the first song to popularize rap in the United States and worldwide.
Replacing its disco foundation with synthesizers and Krautrock influences, a new genre emerged when Afrika Bambaataa released the single "Planet Rock (song), Planet Rock", spawning a hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
Electronic dance music, electronic dance trend including songs like Planet Patrol's "Play at Your Own Risk" (1982), C-Bank's "One More Shot" (1982), Cerrone
Marc CerroneDaryl 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 concerts. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980s disco s ...
'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), and Chaka Khan
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...
's "I Feel For You" (1984).
House music and rave culture
House music, an electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
genre, originated in Chicago in the early 1980s (also see: Chicago house). It quickly spread to other American cities, including Detroit, where it developed into the harder, more industrial techno; New York City (also see: garage house); and Newark – all developing their own regional scenes.
In the mid-to-late 1980s, house music became popular in Europe and major cities in South America and Australia. Early commercial success for house music in Europe came with songs like "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) reaching the pop charts. Since the early to mid-1990s, house music has been integrated into mainstream Pop music, pop and dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
worldwide.
House music in the 2010s, while retaining core elements such as the prominent kick drum on every beat, varies widely in style and influence, from soulful and atmospheric deep house to more aggressive acid house or minimalist microhouse. House music has also fused with other genres, creating 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
Hedonism is a family of Philosophy, philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is Motivation, motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of Psycholo ...
. 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 originating in the late 1970s supported punk rock's rule-breaking yet rejected its return to raw 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 ...
.[ Post-punk's forward-moving mantra fostered openness and experimentation with disco and other styles.][ Public Image Limited is considered the first post-punk group.][ The group's second album ''Metal Box'' embraced disco's "studio as instrument" methodology.][ John Lydon, the group's founder and former Sex Pistols lead singer, told the press disco was the only music he cared for then.
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 drawing from renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s disco, mid-1980s Italo disco, and synthesizer-heavy Euro disco. The moniker appeared in print as early as 2002 and, by mid-2008, was adopted by record shops like 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 who were previously associated with the genres electroclash and French house.
Revivals and return to mainstream success
1990s resurgence
In the 1990s, following a decade of backlash, disco and its legacy gained acceptance among pop music artists and listeners, spurred by the release of more songs, films, and compilations referencing the genre. This was part of a wave of 1970s nostalgia in popular culture at the time. Some commentators attributed the genre's revival to frequent use of disco music in fashion shows.
Disco-influenced songs of this period include 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) primarily featured 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
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
'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 in 2000. Robbie Williams's 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 in 2001. Rock band Manic Street Preachers released a disco song, "Miss Europa Disco Dancer", in the same year. 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
''Confessions on a Dance Floor'' is the tenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 9, 2005, by Warner Bros. Records. A complete departure from her previous studio album '' American Life'' (2003), ...
'' to rave reviews. One of the singles from the album, "Hung Up", which samples ABBA
ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
's 1979 song "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is a song by Swedish recording group ABBA. A disco song, it was first recorded in August 1979 to promote the group's North American and European concert legs of ABBA: The Tour. It was released on 1 ...
", became a major club staple. In addition to Madonna's disco-influenced attire to award shows and interviews, her Confessions Tour 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 by disco and the 1980s music. The first single of the album, ''A Public Affair (song), "''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.
Music critic Tom Ewing described the early 2000s' "nu-disco" revival as more interpersonal than 1990s pop: "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 2000's great disco number ones explore how to play this hand. Madison Avenue (band), Madison Avenue seek to impose their will, setting terms and roles. Spiller is less rigid; 'Groovejet' accepts the night's changeability, sacrificing certainty for an amused smile and a few great one-liners."
2010s resurgence
In 2011, K-pop girl group T-ara released Roly-Poly (T-ara song), Roly-Poly from their EP ''John Travolta Wannabe''. The song had over 4,000,000 digital downloads, becoming the highest-downloaded K-pop girl group single on the Gaon Digital Chart in the 2010s. In 2013, as several 1970s-style disco and funk songs were released, the pop charts featured more dance songs than at any point since the late 1970s. The biggest disco song of the year was "Get Lucky (Daft Punk song), Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, featuring Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...
on guitar. Its parent album, ''Random Access Memories
''Random Access Memories'' is the fourth and final studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. It pays tribute to late Music history of the United States in the 1970s, 1970s and e ...
'', won Album of the Year at the 2014 Grammys.[ Other disco-styled songs that made it into the top 40 that year were Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (number one), Justin Timberlake's "Take Back the Night (song), Take Back the Night" (number 29), ]Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...
' "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'' Among other releases was 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 world's second-largest television network, aired Boogie Oogie, a telenovela set during the Disco Era (1978–1979), from its peak to its decline. The show's success sparked a Disco revival nationwide, bringing local disco divas like Lady Zu and As Frenéticas back to the stage and Brazilian record charts.
2015 Top-10 entries 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 featured a strong disco influence. Disco mogul and producer Giorgio Moroder reappeared in 2015 with his album ''Déjà Vu (Giorgio Moroder album), Déjà Vu'', a modest success. Other 2015 songs 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 also featured disco elements. In 2016, disco or disco-styled pop songs maintained a strong chart presence, possibly as a backlash to the 1980s-styled synthpop, electro house, and dubstep that had dominated charts. Justin Timberlake's 2016 song "Can't Stop the Feeling!", featuring strong disco elements, became the 26th song to debut at number-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The 2015 film The Martian (film), ''The Martian'' extensively uses disco music as its soundtrack, though for main character astronaut Mark Watney, there's only one thing worse than being stranded on Mars: it's being stranded there with nothing but disco music. "Kill the Lights (Alex Newell & DJ Cassidy song), Kill the Lights", featured on the HBO series "Vinyl (TV series), Vinyl" (2016) with ]Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...
' guitar licks, hit number one on the US Dance chart in July 2016.
2020s resurgence
In 2020, disco remained a prominent mainstream trend in popular music. In early 2020, disco-influenced hits like Doja Cat's "Say So", Lady Gaga's "Stupid Love (Lady Gaga song), Stupid Love", and Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards.
Lipa worked as a model before v ...
's "Don't Start Now" found widespread global chart success, reaching numbers 1, 5, and 2 respectively on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. A day after her retro and disco-influenced album ''Future Nostalgia
''Future Nostalgia'' is the second studio album by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa. It was released on 27 March 2020 by Warner Records. Lipa enlisted writers and producers including Jeff Bhasker, Ian Kirkpatrick, Stuart Price, the Mon ...
'' was released on March 27, 2020, ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' declared Lipa was "leading the charge toward disco-influenced production". By late 2020, multiple disco albums were released, including Adam Lambert's ''Velvet (Adam Lambert album), Velvet'', Jessie Ware's ''What's Your Pleasure?'', and Róisín Murphy's discothèque mixtape, ''Róisín Machine''. 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", selling 265,000 downloads in its first US week, the biggest pure sales week since Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017).
In July 2020, Australian singer Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
announced her fifteenth studio album, ''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 ...
'', for release on November 6, 2020. Preceded by two singles, 'Say Something (Kylie Minogue song), Say Something' (released July 23 and premiered on BBC Radio 2) and 'Magic (Kylie Minogue song), Magic' (released September 24), both received critical acclaim. Critics praised Minogue's return to disco roots, 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 1977 (U.S.)
* 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
*
*
*
Citations
Further reading
* Andrea Angeli Bufalini & Giovanni Savastano (2014). ''La Disco. Storia illustrata della discomusic.'' Arcana, Italy.
*
* 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.
External links
Disco Hall of Fame
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{{Authority control
Disco,
1950s neologisms
1970s fads and trends
1970s fashion
1970s in music
2020s in music
Dances
Dance music genres
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