This article is about the music genre. For the entertainment venue, seeNightclub. For other uses, seeDisco (disambiguation).
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Discothèques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to the United States with the opening ofLe Club, a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street inManhattan, by French expatriateOlivier Coquelin, on New Year's Eve 1960.[5]
Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular amongAfrican Americans,Latino Americans, andItalian Americans[6] inNew York City (especiallyBrooklyn) andPhiladelphia during the late1960s to the mid-to-late 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the1960s counterculture to both the dominance ofrock music and the stigmatization of dance music at the time.[7] Several dance styles were developed during the period of '70s disco's popularity in the United States, including "theBump", "theHustle", "the Watergate", "the Continental",[8] and "the Busstop".[9]
During the 1970s, disco music was developed further, mainly by artists from the United States as well as fromEurope.[10][11] While performers garnered public attention,record producers working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the genre. By the late 1970s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, andDJs wouldmix dance records at clubs such asStudio 54 inManhattan, a venue popular amongcelebrities. Nightclub-goers often wore expensive, extravagant outfits, consisting predominantly of loose, flowing pants or dresses for ease of movement while dancing. There was also a thrivingdrugsubculture in the disco scene, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such ascocaine andquaaludes, the latter being so common in disco subculture that they were nicknamed "disco biscuits". Disco clubs were also associated withpromiscuity as a reflection of thesexual revolution of this era in popular history. Films such asSaturday Night Fever (1977) andThank God It's Friday (1978) contributed to disco's mainstream popularity.
Disco declined as a major trend in popular music in the United States following the infamousDisco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and it continued to sharply decline in popularity in the U.S. during the early1980s; however, it remained popular inItaly and some European countries throughout the 1980s, and during this time also started becoming trendy in places elsewhere includingIndia[12] and theMiddle East,[13] where aspects of disco were blended with regional folk styles such asghazals andbelly dancing. Disco would eventually become a key influence in the development ofelectronic dance music,house music,hip-hop,new wave,dance-punk, andpost-disco. The style has had several revivals since the1990s, and the influence of disco remains strong across American and European pop music. A revival has been underway since the early2010s, coming to great popularity in the early2020s. Modern day artists have continued the genre's popularity, bringing it to a whole new younger generation.[14][15]
The term "disco" is shorthand for the worddiscothèque, a French word for "library of phonograph records" derived from "bibliothèque". The word "discotheque" had the same meaning in English in the 1950s. "Discothèque" became used in French for a type of nightclub in Paris, after they had resorted to playing records during the Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. Some clubs used it as their proper name. In 1960, it was also used to describe a Parisian nightclub in an English magazine.
TheOxford English Dictionary definesDiscotheque as "A dance hall, nightclub, or similar venue where recorded music is played for dancing, typically equipped with a large dance floor, an elaborate system of flashing coloured lights, and a powerful amplified sound system. " Its earliest example is use as the name of a particular venue in 1952, and other examples date from 1960 onwards. The entry is annotated as "Now somewhat dated".[16] It definesDisco 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 onwards, describing the origin of the word as a shortened form ofdiscotheque.[17]
In the summer of 1964, a short sleeveless dress called the "discotheque dress" was briefly very popular in the United States. The earliest known use for the abbreviated form "disco" described this dress and has been found inThe Salt Lake Tribune on July 12, 1964;Playboy magazine used it in September of the same year to describe Los Angeles nightclubs.[18]
Vince Aletti was one of the first to describe disco as a sound or a music genre. He wrote the 13 September 1973 feature articleDiscotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty! that appeared inRolling Stone magazine.[19]
The music typically layered soaring, often-reverberated vocals, often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" ofelectric pianos and "chicken-scratch"rhythm guitars played on anelectric guitar.Lead guitar features less frequently in disco than inrock. "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 [sound] while constantly strumming very close to the bridge."[20] Other backing keyboard instruments include thepiano,electric organ (during early years),string synthesizers, and electromechanical keyboards such as theFender Rhodes electric piano,Wurlitzer electric piano, and HohnerClavinet.Donna Summer's 1977 song "I Feel Love", produced byGiorgio Moroder with a prominentMoog synthesizer on the beat, was one of the first disco tracks to use the synthesizer.[21]
Most disco songs have a steadyfour-on-the-floor beat set by a bass drum, aquaver or semi-quaverhi-hat pattern with an open hissing hi-hat on the off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line.[22][23] A recording error in the 1975 song "Bad Luck" byHarold Melvin & the Blue Notes whereEarl Young's hi-hat was too loud in the recording is said to have established loud hi-hats in disco.[22] Other Latin rhythms such as the rhumba, the samba, and the cha-cha-cha are also found in disco recordings, and Latinpolyrhythms, such as a rhumba beat layered over a merengue, are commonplace. The quaver pattern is often supported by other instruments such as therhythm guitar and may be implied rather than explicitly present.
Songs often usesyncopation, which is the accenting of unexpected beats. In general, the difference between disco, or any dance song, and a rock or pop song is that in dance music thebass drum hitsfour to the floor, at least once a beat (which in 4/4 time is 4 beats per measure).[24] Disco is further characterized by 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 usually known as "disco sound" relies heavily on string sections and horns playing linear phrases, in unison with the soaring, often reverberated vocals or playing instrumental fills, while electric pianos and chicken-scratch guitars create the background "pad" sound defining theharmony progression. Typically, all of the doubling of parts and use of additional instruments creates a rich "wall of sound". There are, however, more minimalist flavors of disco with reduced, transparent instrumentation.
Harmonically, disco music typically contains major and minor seven chords,[citation needed] which are found more often in jazz than pop music.[25]
The "disco sound" was much more costly to produce than many of the other popular music genres from the 1970s. Unlike the simpler, four-piece-band sound offunk,soul music of the late 1960s or the smalljazzorgan trios, disco music often included a large band, with several chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), several drum or percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums), ahorn section, astring orchestra, and a variety of "classical" solo instruments (for example, flute, piccolo, and so on).
Disco songs werearranged and composed by experienced arrangers andorchestrators, and record producers added their creative touches to the overall sound usingmultitrack recording techniques andeffects units. Recording complex arrangements with such a large number of instruments and sections required a team that included aconductor,copyists, record producers, andmixing engineers. Mixing engineers had an important role in the disco production process because disco songs used as many as 64tracks of vocals and instruments. Mixing engineers and record producers, under the direction of arrangers, compiled these tracks into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with builds andbreaks. Mixing engineers and record producers helped to develop the "disco sound" by creating a distinctive-sounding, sophisticateddisco mix.
Early records were the "standard" three-minute version untilTom Moulton came up with a way to make songs longer so that he could take a crowd of dancers at a club to another level and keep them dancing longer. He found that it was impossible to make the 45-RPM vinylsingles of the time longer, as they could usually hold no more than five minutes of good-quality music. With the help of José Rodriguez, his remaster/mastering engineer, he pressed a single on a 10" disc instead of 7". They cut the next single on a 12" disc, the same format as a standard album. Moulton and Rodriguez discovered that these larger records could have much longer songs and remixes.12" single records, also known as "Maxi singles", quickly became the standard format for all DJs of the disco genre.[26]
In the 1970s, notable discos included "Crisco Disco", "The Sanctuary", "Leviticus", "Studio 54", and "Paradise Garage" in New York, "Artemis" in Philadelphia, "Studio One" in Los Angeles, "Dugan's Bistro" in Chicago, and "The Library" in Atlanta.[27][28]
In the late 1970s, Studio 54 inMidtown Manhattan was arguably the best-known nightclub in the world. This club played a major formative role in the growth of disco music andnightclub culture in general. It was operated bySteve Rubell andIan Schrager and was notorious for thehedonism that went on within: the balconies were known forsexual encounters and drug use was rampant. Its dance floor was decorated with an image of the "Man in the Moon" that included an animatedcocaine spoon.
The "Copacabana", another New York nightclub dating to the 1940s, had a revival in the late 1970s when it embraced disco; it would become the setting of aBarry Manilowsong of the same name.
InWashington, D.C., large disco clubs such as "The Pier" ("Pier 9") and "The Other Side", originally regarded exclusively as "gay bars", became particularly popular among the capital area's gay and straight college students in the late '70s.
By 1979 there were 15,000-20,000 disco nightclubs in the US, many of them opening in suburban shopping centers, hotels, and restaurants. The2001 Club franchises were the most prolific chain of disco clubs in the country.[29] Although many other attempts were made to franchise disco clubs, 2001 was the only one to successfully do so in this time frame.[30]
Major disco clubs had lighted dance floors, with the lights flashing to complement the beat.The reflective lightdisco ball was a fixture on the ceilings of many discothèques.
Powerful, bass-heavy,hi-fisound systems were viewed as a key part of the disco club experience.The Loft party hostDavid Mancuso introduced the technologies of tweeter arrays (clusters of small loudspeakers, which emit high-end frequencies, positioned above the floor) and bass reinforcements (additional sets ofsubwoofers positioned at ground level) at the start of the 1970s to boost the treble and bass at opportune moments, and by the end of the decadesound engineers such asRichard Long had multiplied the effects of these innovations in venues such as the Garage."[31]
Some DJs were also record producers who created and produced disco songs in therecording studio. Larry Levan, for example, was a prolificrecord producer as well as a DJ. Because record sales were often dependent on dance floor play by DJs in the nightclubs, DJs were also influential in the development and popularization of certain types of disco music being produced for record labels.
Disco dancers typically wore loose slacks for men and flowing dresses for women, which enabled ease of movement on the dance floor.
In the early years, dancers in discos danced in a "hang loose" or "freestyle" approach. At first, many dancers improvised their own dance styles and dance steps. Later in the disco era, popular dance styles were developed, including the "Bump", "Penguin", "Boogaloo", "Watergate", and "Robot". By October 1975the Hustle reigned. It was highly stylized, sophisticated, and overtly sexual. Variations included the Brooklyn Hustle,New York Hustle, andLatin Hustle.[28]
During the disco era, many nightclubs would commonly host disco dance competitions or offer free dance lessons. Some cities had disco dance instructors or dance schools, which taught people how to do popular disco dances such as "touch dancing", "the hustle", and "the cha cha". The pioneer of disco dance instruction was Karen Lustgarten in San Francisco in 1973. Her bookThe Complete Guide to Disco Dancing (Warner Books 1978) was the first to name, break down and codify popular disco dances as dance forms and distinguish between disco freestyle, partner, and line dances. The book hit theNew York Times bestseller list for 13 weeks and was translated into Chinese, German, and French.
In Chicago, theStep By Step disco dance TV show was launched with the sponsorship support of the Coca-Cola company. Produced in the same studio thatDon Cornelius used for the nationally syndicated dance/music television show,Soul Train,Step by Step's audience grew and the show became a success. The dynamic dance duo of Robin and Reggie led the show. The pair spent the week teaching disco dancing to dancers in the disco clubs. The instructional show aired on Saturday mornings and had a strong following. Its viewers would stay up all night on Fridays so they could be on the set the next morning, ready to return to the disco on Saturday night knowing with the latest personalized steps. The producers of the show, John Reid and Greg Roselli, routinely made appearances at disco functions with Robin and Reggie to scout out new dancing talent and promote upcoming events such as "Disco Night at White Sox Park".
In Sacramento, California, Disco King Paul Dale Roberts danced for the Guinness Book of World Records. He danced for 205 hours, the equivalent of 8½ days. Other dance marathons took place afterward and Roberts held the world record for disco dancing for a short period of time.[32]
Disco was influenced by art with the atypical songBend It (1969) by British artistsGilbert & George. With the song comes special dance moves that blurrs the distinction between art and pop culture in a way never seen before.
Dancers at anEast German discothèque in 1977. Due to the constant scarcity of consumer goods in the thensocialist part of Germany, particularly more exotic fashion items like disco wear, people oftensewed them themselves.
Disco fashions were very trendy in the late 1970s.[33] Discothèque-goers often wore glamorous, expensive, and extravagant fashions for nights out at their local disco club. Some women would wear sheer, flowing dresses, such asHalston dresses, or loose, flared pants. Other women wore tight, revealing, sexy clothes, such as backlesshalter tops,disco pants, "hot pants", or body-huggingspandex bodywear or "catsuits".[34] Men would wear shiny polyesterQiana shirts with colorful patterns and pointy, extra wide collars, preferably open at the chest. Men often worePierre Cardin suits,three piece suits with a vest, anddouble-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers known as theleisure suit. Men's leisure suits were typically form-fitted to some parts of the body, such as the waist and bottom while the lower part of the pants were flared in abell bottom style, to permit freedom of movement.[34]
During the disco era, men engaged in elaborate grooming rituals and spent time choosing fashion clothing, activities that would have been considered "feminine" according to the gender stereotypes of the era.[34] Women dancers woreglitter makeup,sequins, orgold lamé clothing that would shimmer under the lights.[34] Bold colors were popular for both genders.Platform shoes and boots for both genders andhigh heels for women were popular footwear.[34]Necklaces andmedallions were a commonfashion accessory. Less commonly, some disco dancers wore outlandish costumes, dressed indrag, covered their bodies with gold or silver paint, or wore very skimpy outfits leaving them nearly nude; these uncommon get-ups were more likely to be seen at invitation-onlyNew York City loft parties and disco clubs.[34]
In addition to the dance and fashion aspects of the disco club scene, there was also a thrivingclub drugsubculture, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud, bass-heavy music and the flashing colored lights, such ascocaine[35] (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite ("poppers"),[36] and the "... other quintessential 1970s club drugQuaalude, which suspendedmotor coordination and gave the sensation that one's arms and legs had turned to 'Jell-O.'"[37] Quaaludes were so popular at disco clubs that the drug was nicknamed "disco biscuits".[38]
Paul Gootenberg states that "[t]he relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough..."[35] During the 1970s, the use of cocaine by well-to-docelebrities led to its "glamorization" and to the widely held view that it was a "soft drug".[39]LSD,marijuana, and"speed" (amphetamines) were also popular in disco clubs, and the use of these drugs "...contributed to the hedonistic quality of the dance floor experience."[40] Since disco dances were typically held inliquor licensed-nightclubs anddance clubs,alcoholic drinks were also consumed by dancers; some users intentionally combined alcohol with the consumption of other drugs, such as Quaaludes, for a stronger effect.
According toPeter Braunstein, the "massive quantities ofdrugs ingested in discothèques produced the nextcultural phenomenon of the disco era: rampantpromiscuity andpublic sex. While the dance floor was the central arena ofseduction, actual sex usually took place in the nether regions of the disco: bathroom stalls, exitstairwells, and so on. In other cases the disco became a kind of 'main course' in a hedonist's menu for a night out."[37] AtThe Saint nightclub, a high percentage of thegay male dancers and patrons would have sex in the club; they typically hadunprotected sex, because in 1980,HIV-AIDS had not yet been identified.[41] At The Saint, "dancers would elope to an unpoliced upstairs balcony to engage in sex."[41] The promiscuity and public sex at discos was part of a broader trend towards exploring a freer sexual expression in the 1970s, an era that is also associated with "swingers clubs,hot tubs, [and]key parties."[42]
In his paper, "In Defense of Disco" (1979),Richard Dyer claimseroticism as one of the three main characteristics of disco.[43] As opposed torock music which has a veryphallic centered eroticism focusing on the sexual pleasure of men over other persons, Dyer describes disco as featuring a non-phallic full body eroticism.[43] Through a range of percussion instruments, a willingness to play with rhythm, and the endless repeating of phrases without cutting the listener off, disco achieved this full-body eroticism by restoring eroticism to the whole body for both sexes.[43] This allowed for the potential expression of sexualities not defined by the cock/penis, and the erotic pleasure of bodies that are not defined by a relationship to a penis.[43] The sexual liberation expressed through the rhythm of disco is further represented in the club spaces that disco grew within.
InPeter Shapiro'sModulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound, he discusses eroticism through the technology disco utilizes to create its audacious sound.[44] The music, Shapiro states, is adjunct to "the pleasure-is-politics ethos of post-Stonewall culture." He explains how "mechano-eroticism", which links the technology used to create the unique mechanical sound of disco to eroticism, set the genre in a new dimension of reality living outside of naturalism and heterosexuality. Randy Jones and Mark Jacobsen echo this sentiment 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" that celebrates the sparks of liberation brought on the Stonewall riots.[45] As New York state had laws against homosexual behavior in public, including dancing with a member of the same sex, the eroticism of disco served as resistance and an expression of sexual freedom.[46]
He uses Donna Summer's singles "Love to Love You Baby" (1975) and "I Feel Love" (1977) as examples of the ever-present relationship between the synthesized bass lines and backgrounds to the simulated sounds of orgasms. Summer's voice echoes in the tracks, and likens them to the drug-fervent, sexually liberated fans of disco who sought to free themselves through disco's "aesthetic of machine sex."[47] Shapiro sees this as an influence that creates sub-genres likehi-NRG anddub-disco, which allowed for eroticism and technology to be further explored through intense synth bass lines and alternative rhythmic techniques that tap into the entire body rather than the obvious erotic parts of the body.
The New York nightclub The Sanctuary under resident DJFrancis Grasso is a prime example of this sexual liberty. In their history of the disc jockey and club culture,Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton describe the Sanctuary as "poured full of newly liberated gay men, then shaken (and stirred) by a weighty concoction of dance music and pharmacoia of pills and potions, the result is a festivaly of carnality."[48] The Sanctuary was the "first totally uninhibited gay discotheque in America" and while sex was not allowed on the dancefloor, the dark corners, bathrooms. and hallways of the adjacent buildings were all utilized for orgy-like sexual engagements.[48]
By describing the music, drugs, and liberated mentality as a trifecta coming together to create the festival of carnality, Brewster and Broughton are inciting all three as stimuli for the dancing, sex, and other embodied movements that contributed to the corporeal vibrations within the Sanctuary. It supports the argument that disco music took a role in facilitating this sexual liberation that was experienced in the discotheques. The recent legalization of abortion and the introduction of antibiotics andthe pill facilitated a culture shift around sex from one of procreation to pleasure and enjoyment. Thus was fostered a very sex-positive framework around discotheques.[49]
Further, in addition to gay sex being illegal in New York state, until 1973 theAmerican Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as an illness.[48] This law and classification coupled together can be understood to have heavily dissuaded the expression of queerness in public, as such the liberatory dynamics of discotheques can be seen as having provided space for self-realization for queer persons. David Mancuso's club/house party,The Loft, was described as having a "pansexual attitude [that] 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."[50]
Disco was mostly developed from music that was popular on the dance floor in clubs that started playing records instead of having a live band. The first discotheques mostly playedswing music. Later on, uptemporhythm and blues became popular in American clubs andnorthern soul andglam rock records in the UK. In the early 1940s, nightclubs in Paris resorted to playing jazz records during the Nazi occupation.
Régine Zylberberg claimed to have started the first discotheque and to have been the first club DJ in 1953 in the "Whisky à Go-Go" in Paris. She installed a dance floor with colored lights and two turntables so she could play records without having a gap in the music.[51] In October 1959, the owner of theScotch Club inAachen, West Germany chose to install a record player for the opening night instead of hiring a live band. The patrons were unimpressed until a young reporter, who happened to be covering the opening of the club, impulsively took control of the record player and introduced the records that he chose to play. Klaus Quirini later claimed to thus have been the world's first nightclub DJ.[18]
During the 1960s, discotheque dancing became a European trend that was enthusiastically picked up by the American press.[18] At this time, when the discotheque culture from Europe became popular in the United States, several music genres with danceable rhythms rose to popularity and evolved into different sub-genres:rhythm and blues (originated in the 1940s),soul (late 1950s and 1960s), funk (mid-1960s) andgo-go (mid-1960s and 1970s; more than "disco", the word "go-go" originally indicated a music club). Musical genres that were primarily performed by African-American musicians would influence much of early disco.
Also during the 1960s, theMotown record label developed its own approach, described as having "1) simply structured songs with sophisticated melodies and chord changes, 2) a relentless four-beat drum pattern, 3) a gospel use of background voices, vaguely derived from the style ofthe Impressions, 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."[52] Motown had many hits with disco elements by acts likeEddie Kendricks ("Girl You Need a Change of Mind" in 1972, "Keep on Truckin'" in 1973,[53] "Boogie Down" in 1974).
At the end of the 1960s, musicians, and audiences from the Black, Italian, and Latino communities adopted several traits from thehippie andpsychedelia subcultures. They included using music venues with a loud, overwhelming sound, free-form dancing, trippy lighting, colorful costumes, and the use ofhallucinogenic drugs.[54][55][56] In addition, the perceived positivity, lack of irony, and earnestness of thehippies informed proto-disco music likeMFSB's albumLove Is the Message.[54][57]Partly through the success ofJimi Hendrix, psychedelic elements that were popular in rock music of the late 1960s found their way into soul and early funk music and formed the subgenrepsychedelic soul. Examples can be found in the music ofthe Chambers Brothers,George Clinton with hisParliament-Funkadelic collective,Sly and the Family Stone, and the productions ofNorman Whitfield withThe Temptations.
The long instrumental introductions and detailed orchestration found in psychedelic soul tracks by the Temptations are also considered ascinematic soul. In the early 1970s,Curtis Mayfield andIsaac Hayes scored hits with cinematic soul songs that were actually composed for movie soundtracks: "Superfly" (1972) and "Theme from Shaft" (1971). The latter is sometimes regarded as an early disco song.[58] From the mid-1960s to early 1970s,Philadelphia soul developed as a sub-genre that also had lavishpercussion, lushstring orchestra arrangements, and expensive record production processes. In the early 1970s, the Philadelphia soul productions byGamble and Huff evolved from the simpler arrangements of the late-1960s into a style featuring lush strings, thumping basslines, and sliding hi-hat rhythms. These elements would become typical for disco music and are found in several of the hits they produced in the early 1970s:
Other early disco tracks that helped shape disco and became popular on the dance floors of (underground) discotheque clubs and parties include:
"Jungle Fever" byThe Chakachas was first released in Belgium in 1971 and later released in the U.S. in 1972, where it reached #8 on theBillboard Hot 100 that same year
"Soul Makossa" byManu Dibango was first released in France in 1972; it was picked up by the underground disco scene in New York and subsequently got a proper release in the U.S., reaching #35 on the Hot 100 in 1973
In the 1970s, the keycounterculture of the 1960s, the hippie movement, was fading away. The economic prosperity of the previous decade had declined, and unemployment, inflation, and crime rates had soared. Political issues like the backlash from theCivil Rights Movement culminating in the form ofrace riots, theVietnam War, theassassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. andJohn F. Kennedy, and theWatergate scandal, left many feeling disillusioned and hopeless.[citation needed] The start of the '70s was marked by a shift in the consciousness of the American people: the rise of thefeminist movement,identity politics, gangs, etc. very much shaped this era. Disco music and disco dancing provided an escape from negative social and economic issues.[62] Yet, Bench Ansfield argues that disco also reflected those social currents: for instance, in the genre's frequent reference to fire and heat during a decade when American cities were burning down en masse.[63]
InBeautiful Things in Popular Culture,Simon Frith highlights the sociability of disco and its roots in 1960s counterculture. "The driving force of the New York underground dance scene in which disco was forged was not simply that city's complex ethnic and sexual culture but also a 1960s notion of community, pleasure and generosity that can only be described as hippie", he says. "The best disco music contained within it a remarkably powerful sense of collective euphoria."[64] The non-partnered dance style of disco music allowed people of all races and sexual orientations to enjoy the dancefloor atmosphere.[65]
The explosion of disco is often claimed to be found in the private dance parties held by New York City DJ David Mancuso's home that became known asThe Loft, an invitation-only non-commercial underground club that inspired many others.[66] He organized the first major party in his Manhattan home on Valentine's Day 1970 with the name "Love Saves The Day". After some months the parties became weekly events and Mancuso continued to give regular parties into the 1990s.[67] Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride.[50]
When Mancuso threw his first informal house parties, thegay community (which made up much of The Loft's attendee roster) was often harassed in thegay bars and dance clubs, with many gay men carryingbail money with them to gay bars. But at The Loft and many other early, privatediscotheques, they could dance together without fear of police action thanks to Mancuso's underground, yet legal, policies.Vince Aletti described it "like going to party, completely mixed, racially and sexually, where there wasn't any sense of someone being more important than anyone else," andAlex Rosner reiterated this saying "It was probably about sixty percent black and seventy percent gay...There was a mix of sexual orientation, there was a mix of races, mix of economic groups. A real mix, where the common denominator was music."[50]
Film criticRoger Ebert called the popular embrace of disco's exuberant dance moves an escape from "the general depression and drabness of the political and musical atmosphere of the late seventies."[68]Pauline Kael, writing about the disco-themed filmSaturday Night Fever, said the film and disco itself touched on "something deeply romantic, the need to move, to dance, and the need to be who you'd like to be. Nirvana is the dance; when the music stops, you return to being ordinary."[69]
In the late 1960s, uptempo soul with heavy beats and some associated dance styles and fashion were picked up in the Britishmod scene and formed thenorthern soul movement. Originating at venues such as theTwisted Wheel inManchester, it quickly spread to other UK dancehalls and nightclubs like theChateau Impney (Droitwich), Catacombs (Wolverhampton),the Highland Rooms atBlackpool Mecca,Golden Torch (Stoke-on-Trent), andWigan Casino. As the favoured beat became more uptempo and frantic in the early 1970s, northern soul dancing became more athletic, somewhat resembling the later dance styles of disco and break dancing. Featuringspins,flips, karate kicks, and backdrops, club dancing styles were often inspired by the stage performances of touring American soul acts such asLittle Anthony & the Imperials andJackie Wilson.
In 1974, there were an estimated 25,000mobile discos and 40,000 professional disc jockeys in the United Kingdom. Mobile discos were hired deejays that brought their own equipment to provide music for special events.Glam rock tracks were popular, with, for example,Gary Glitter's 1972 single "Rock and Roll Part 2" becoming popular on UK dance floors while it did not get much radio airplay.[70]
From 1974 to 1977, disco music increased in popularity as many disco songs topped the charts.The Hues Corporation's "Rock the Boat" (1974), a US number-onesingle and million-seller, was one of the early disco songs to reach number one. The same year saw the release of "Kung Fu Fighting", performed byCarl Douglas and produced byBiddu, which reached number one in both the UK and US, and became the best-selling single of the year[71] and one of thebest-selling singles of all time with 11 million records sold worldwide,[72][73] helping to popularize disco to a great extent.[72] Another notable disco success that year wasGeorge McCrae's "Rock Your Baby":[74] it became the United Kingdom's first number one disco single.[75][74]
In the northwestern sections of the United Kingdom, thenorthern soul explosion, which started in the late 1960s and peaked in 1974, made the region receptive to disco, which the region's disc jockeys were bringing back from New York City. The shift by some DJs to the newer sounds coming from the U.S. resulted in a split in the scene, whereby some abandoned the 1960s soul and pushed a modern soul sound which tended to be more closely aligned with disco than soul.
In 1975,Gloria Gaynor released her firstvinylalbum, which included a remake ofthe Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" (which, in fact, is also thealbum title) and two other songs, "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. Later in 1978, Gaynor's number-one disco song was "I Will Survive", which was seen as a symbol of female strength and a gay anthem,[76] like her further disco hit, a 1983 remake of "I Am What I Am". In 1979 she released "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)", a single which gained popularity in the civil rights movements. Also in 1975,Vincent Montana Jr.'sSalsoul Orchestra contributed with their Latin-flavored orchestral dance song "Salsoul Hustle", reaching number four on the Billboard Dance Chart; their 1976 hits were "Tangerine" and "Nice 'n' Naasty", the first being a cover of a 1941 song.[citation needed]
Other disco producers such asTom Moulton took ideas and techniques fromdub music (which came with the increasedJamaican migration to New York City in the 1970s) to provide alternatives to the "four on the floor" style that dominated. DJ Larry Levan utilized styles fromdub andjazz and remixing techniques to create early versions ofhouse music that sparked the genre.[77]
Norman Whitfield was an influential producer and songwriter atMotown records, renowned for creating innovative "psychedelic soul" songs with many hits forMarvin Gaye,The Velvelettes,The Temptations, andGladys Knight & the Pips. From around the production of the Temptations albumCloud Nine in 1968, he incorporated some psychedelic influences and started to produce longer, dance-friendly tracks, with more room for elaborate rhythmic instrumental parts. An example of such a long psychedelic soul track is "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", which appeared as a single edit of almost seven minutes and an approximately 12-minute-long 12" version in 1972. By the early 1970s, many of Whitfield's productions evolved more and more towardsfunk and disco, as heard on albums bythe Undisputed Truth and the 1973 albumG.I.T.: Get It Together byThe Jackson 5.The Undisputed Truth, a Motown recording act assembled by Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques, found success with their 1971 song "Smiling Faces Sometimes". Their disco single "You + Me = Love" (number 43) was produced by Whitfield and made number 2 on theUS dance chart in 1976.
In 1975, Whitfield left Motown and founded his own labelWhitfield records, on which also "You + Me = Love" was released. Whitfield produced some more disco hits, including "Car Wash" (1976) byRose Royce from thealbum soundtrack to the 1976 filmCar Wash. In 1977, singer, songwriter, and producerWillie Hutch, who had been signed to Motown since 1970, now signed with Whitfield's new label, and scored a successful disco single with his song"In and Out" in 1982.
Other Motown artists turned to disco as well.Diana Ross embraced the disco sound with her successful 1976 outing "Love Hangover" from her self-titled album. Her 1980 dance classics "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" were written and produced byNile Rodgers andBernard Edwards of the groupChic.The Supremes, the group that made Ross famous, scored a handful of hits in the disco clubs without her, most notably 1976's "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" and, their last charted single before disbanding, 1977's "You're My Driving Wheel".
Several of Motown's solo artists who left the label went on to have successful disco songs.Mary Wells, Motown's first female superstar with her signature song "My Guy" (written by Smokey Robinson), abruptly left the label in 1964. She briefly reappeared on the charts with the disco song"Gigolo" in 1980.Jimmy Ruffin, the elder brother ofthe Temptations lead singerDavid Ruffin, was also signed to Motown and released his most successful and well-known song "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as a single in 1966. Ruffin eventually left the record label in the mid-1970s, but saw success with the 1980 disco song "Hold On (To My Love)", which was written and produced byRobin Gibb of the Bee Gees, for his albumSunrise.Edwin Starr, known for his Motown protest song "War" (1970), reentered the charts in 1979 with a pair of disco songs, "Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio".Kiki Dee became the first white British singer to sign with Motown in the US, and released one album,Great Expectations (1970), and two singles "The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday" (1970) and "Love Makes the World Go Round" (1971), the latter giving her first-ever chart entry (number 87 on the US Chart). She soon left the company and signed withElton John'sThe Rocket Record Company, and in 1976 had her biggest and best-known single, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", 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 withTammi Terrell andKim Weston.
Many Motown groups who had left the record label charted with disco songs.The Jackson 5, one of Motown's premier acts in the early 1970s, left the record company in 1975 (Jermaine Jackson, however, remained with the label) after successful songs like "I Want You Back" (1969) and "ABC" (1970), and even the disco song "Dancing Machine" (1974). Renamed as "the Jacksons" (as Motown owned the name "the Jackson 5"), they went on to find success with disco songs like "Blame It on the Boogie" (1978), "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" (1979), and "Can You Feel It" (1981) on the Epic label.
In the 1970s,Munich, West Germany, music producersGiorgio Moroder andPete Bellotte made a decisive contribution to disco music with a string of hits forDonna Summer, which became known as the "Munich Sound".[79] In 1975, Summer suggested the lyric "Love to Love You Baby" to Moroder and Bellotte, who turned the lyric into a full disco song. The final product, which contained the vocalizations of a series of simulatedorgasms, initially was not intended for release, but when Moroder played it in the clubs it caused a sensation and he released it. The song became an international hit, reaching the charts in many European countries and the US (No. 2). It has been described as the arrival of the expression of raw female sexual desire in pop music. A nearly 17-minute12-inch single was released. The 12" single became and remains a standard in discos today.[80][81]
Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" peaking on theBillboard charts at No.2 in 1976, is considered a feminist anthem and staple in the genre. Billboard recently ranked the song #1 on their list of "The 34 Top Disco Songs of All Time." Summer is featured at all top six spots on the list.[82]
In 1976 Donna Summer's version of "Could It Be Magic" brought disco further into the mainstream. In 1977 Summer, Moroder and Bellotte further released "I Feel Love", as the B-side of "Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)", which revolutionized dance music with its mostlyelectronic production and was a massive worldwide success, spawning theHi-NRG subgenre.[80] Giorgio Moroder was described byAllMusic as "one of the principal architects of the disco sound".[83] Another successful disco music project by Moroder at that time wasMunich Machine (1976–1980).
Boney M. (1974–1986) was a West German Euro disco group of four West Indian singers and dancers masterminded by record producerFrank Farian. Boney M. charted worldwide with such songs as "Daddy Cool" (1976) "Ma Baker" (1977) and "Rivers Of Babylon" (1978). Another successful West German Euro disco recording act wasSilver Convention (1974–1979). The German groupKraftwerk also had an influence on Euro disco.
In France,Dalida released "J'attendrai" ("I Will Wait") in 1975, which also became successful in Canada, Europe, and Japan.Dalida successfully adjusted herself to disco and released at least a dozen of songs that charted in the top 10 in Europe.Claude François, who re-invented himself as the "king of French disco", released "La plus belle chose du monde", a French version of the Bee Gees song "Massachusetts", which became successful in Canada and Europe and "Alexandrie Alexandra" was posthumously released on the day of his burial and became a worldwide success.Cerrone's early songs, "Love in C Minor" (1976), "Supernature" (1977), and "Give Me Love" (1978) were successful in the US and Europe. Another Euro disco act was the French divaAmanda Lear, where Euro disco sound is most heard in "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" (1978). French producerAlec Costandinos assembled the Euro disco groupLove and Kisses (1977–1982).
In ItalyRaffaella Carrà was the most successful Euro disco act, alongsideLa Bionda,Hermanas Goggi (Loretta andDaniela Goggi) andOliver Onions. Her greatest international single was "Tanti auguri" ("Best Wishes"), which has become a popular song withgay audiences. The song is also known under its Spanish title "Hay que venir al sur" (which refers to Southern Europe, since the song was recorded and taped in Spain). The Estonian version of the song "Jätke võtmed väljapoole" was performed byAnne Veski. "A far l'amore comincia tu" ("To make love, your move first") was another success for her internationally, known in Spanish as "En el amor todo es empezar", in German as "Liebelei", in French as "Puisque tu l'aimes dis le lui", and in English as "Do It, Do It Again". It was her only entry to theUK Singles Chart, reaching number 9, where she remains aone-hit wonder.[84] 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 popstarAjda Pekkan as "Sakın Ha" in 1977.
Recently, Carrà has gained new attention for her appearance as the female dancing soloist in a 1974 TV performance of theexperimentalgibberish song "Prisencolinensinainciusol" (1973) byAdriano Celentano.[85] A remixed video featuring her dancing wentviral on the internet in 2008.[86][citation needed] In 2008 a video of a performance of her only successful UK single, "Do It, Do It Again", was featured in theDoctor Who episode "Midnight". Rafaella Carrà worked withBob Sinclar on the new single "Far l'Amore" which was released onYouTube on March 17, 2011. The song charted in different European countries.[87] Also prominent European disco acts areSpargo (band),Time Bandits (band) andLuv' from the Netherlands.
Euro disco continued evolving within the broad mainstream pop music scene, even when disco's popularity sharply declined in the United States, abandoned by major U.S. record labels and producers.[88] Through the influence ofItalo disco, it also played a role in the evolution of earlyhouse music in the early 1980s and later forms ofelectronic dance music, including early '90sEurodance.
In December 1977, the filmSaturday Night Fever was released. It was a huge success and itssoundtrack became one of thebest-selling albums of all time. The idea for the film was sparked by a 1976New York magazine[89] article titled "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" which supposedly chronicled the disco culture in mid-1970s New York City, but was later revealed to have been fabricated.[90] Some critics said the film "mainstreamed" disco, making it more acceptable to heterosexual white males.[91] Many music historians believe the success of the movie and soundtrack extended the life of the disco era by several years.
Organized around the culture of suburban discotheques and the character of Tony Manero, portrayed byJohn Travolta (which earned him anAcademy Award for Best Actor nomination),[92]Saturday Night Fever became a cultural phenomenon that recast the dance floor as a site for patriarchal masculinity and heterosexual courtship. This transformation aligned disco with the interests of the perceived mass market, specifically targeting suburban and Middle American audiences.[65]
The portrayal of the dance floor inSaturday Night Fever marked a reappropriation by straight male culture, turning it into a space for men to showcase their prowess and pursue partners of the opposite sex. 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 theBee Gees, risked presenting disco as a new incarnation of shrill white pop, deviating from its diverse and inclusive origins.[65] The success ofSaturday Night Fever was unprecedented, breaking box office and album sale records. Unfortunately, its impact went beyond mere popularity. The film established a template for disco that was easily reproducible, yet thoroughly de-queered in its outlook. By narrowing the narrative to fit into the conventional ideals of suburban heterosexual culture, the film contributed to a distorted and commodified version of disco.
In 1978, Donna Summer's multi-million-selling vinyl single disco version of "MacArthur Park" was number one on theBillboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks and was nominated for theGrammy Award forBest Female Pop Vocal Performance. The recording, which was included as part of the "MacArthur Park Suite" on her double live albumLive and More, was eight minutes and 40 seconds long on the album. The shorter seven-inch vinyl single version of MacArthur Park was Summer's first single to reach number one on the Hot 100; it does not include the balladic second movement of the song, however. A 2013 remix of "MacArthur Park" by Summer topped the Billboard Dance Charts marking five consecutive decades with a number-one song on the charts.[93] From mid-1978 to late 1979, Summer continued to release singles such as "Last Dance", "Heaven Knows" (withBrooklyn Dreams), "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Dim All the Lights" and "On the Radio", all very successful songs, landing in the top five or better, on the Billboard pop charts.
The band Chic was formed mainly by guitaristNile Rodgers—a self-described "street hippie" from late 1960s New York—and bassistBernard Edwards. Their popular 1978 single, "Le Freak", is regarded as an iconic song of the genre. Other successful songs by Chic include the often-sampled "Good Times" (1979), "I Want Your Love" (1979), and "Everybody Dance" (1979). The group regarded themselves as the disco movement's rock band that made good on thehippie movement's ideals of peace, love, and freedom. Every song they wrote was written with an eye toward giving it "deep hidden meaning" or D.H.M.[94]
Sylvester, a flamboyant and openly gay singer famous for his soaring falsetto voice, scored his biggest disco hits in late 1978 with "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" and "Dance (Disco Heat)". His singing style was said to have influenced the singerPrince. At that time, disco was one of the forms of music most open to gay performers.[95]
TheVillage People were a singing/dancing group created byJacques Morali andHenri Belolo to target disco's gay audience. They were known for their onstage costumes of typically male-associated jobs and ethnic minorities and achieved mainstream success with their 1978 hit song "Macho Man". Other songs include "Y.M.C.A." (1979) and "In the Navy" (1979).
The disco sound was also adopted by artists from other genres, including the 1979 U.S. number one hit "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" byeasy listening singerBarbra Streisand in a duet with Donna Summer. Incountry music, in an attempt to appeal to the more mainstream market, artists began to add pop/disco influences to their music.Dolly Parton launched a successful crossover onto the pop/dance charts, with her albumsHeartbreaker andGreat Balls of Fire containing songs with a disco flair. In particular, a disco remix of the track "Baby I'm Burnin'" peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart; ultimately becoming one of the year's biggest club hits.[100]Additionally,Connie Smith covered Andy Gibb's "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" in 1977,Bill Anderson recorded "Double S" in 1978, andRonnie Milsap released "Get It Up" and coveredblues singerTommy Tucker's song "Hi-Heel Sneakers" in 1979.
Thepunk subculture in the United States and the United Kingdom was often hostile to disco,[102] although, in the UK, many earlySex Pistols fans such as theBromley Contingent andJordan liked disco, often congregating at nightclubs such as Louise's inSoho and the Sombrero inKensington. The track "Love Hangover" byDiana Ross, the house anthem at the former, was cited as a particular favourite by many early UK punks.[107]The filmThe Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle andits soundtrack album contained a disco medley of Sex Pistols songs, entitledBlack Arabs and credited to a group of the same name.
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, 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 that was considered a punk call to arms.[113]Steve Hillage, shortly prior to his transformation from aprogressive rock musician into anelectronic artist at the end of the 1970s with the inspiration of disco, disappointed hisrockist fans by admitting his love for disco, with Hillage recalling "it's like I'd killed their pet cat."[114]
Anti-disco sentiment was expressed in some television shows and films. A recurring theme on the showWKRP in Cincinnati was a hostile attitude towards disco music. In one scene of the 1980 comedy filmAirplane!, a wayward airplane slices a radio tower with its wing, knocking out an all-disco radio station.[115] July 12, 1979, became known as "the day disco died" because of theDisco Demolition Night, an anti-disco demonstration in abaseball double-header atComiskey Park in Chicago.[116] Rock station DJsSteve Dahl andGarry Meier, along with Michael Veeck, son ofChicago White Sox ownerBill Veeck, staged the promotional event for disgruntled rock fans between the games of a White Sox doubleheader which involved exploding disco records incenterfield. As the second game was about to begin, the raucous crowdstormed onto the field and proceeded to setfires and tear out seats and pieces of turf. TheChicago Police Department made numerous arrests, and the extensive damage to the field forced the White Sox to forfeit the second game to theDetroit Tigers, who had won the first game.
Disco's decline in popularity after Disco Demolition Night was rapid. On July 12, 1979, the top six records on the U.S. music charts were disco songs.[117] By September 22, there were no disco songs in the US Top 10 chart, with the exception ofHerb Alpert's instrumental "Rise", asmooth jazz composition with some disco overtones.[117] Some in the media, in celebratory tones, declared disco dead and rock revived.[117]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".[118]
The anti-disco movement, combined with other societal and radio industry factors, changed the face of pop radio in the years following Disco Demolition Night. Starting in the 1980s,country music began a slow rise on the pop chart. Emblematic of country music's rise to mainstream popularity was the commercially successful 1980 movieUrban Cowboy. The continued popularity ofpower pop and the revival ofoldies in the late 1970s was also related to disco's decline; the 1978 filmGrease was emblematic of this trend. Coincidentally, the star of both films wasJohn Travolta, who in 1977 had starred inSaturday Night Fever, which remains one of the most iconic disco films of the era.
During this period of decline in disco's popularity, several record companies folded, were reorganized, or were sold. In 1979,MCA Records purchasedABC Records, absorbed some of its artists and then shut the label down.Midsong International Records ceased operations in 1980.RSO Records founderRobert Stigwood left the label in 1981 andTK Records closed in the same year.Salsoul Records continues to exist in the 2000s, but primarily is used as a reissue brand.[119]Casablanca Records had been releasing fewer records in the 1980s, and was shut down in 1986 by parent companyPolyGram.
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. TheBee 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 asBarbra Streisand andDionne Warwick, finally returning for 1987'sE.S.P., which spawned the chart-topping hit "You Win Again" in their home country, whereas in the US, they only had one top-10 entry (1989's "One") and three other top-40 songs, and the band itself largely abandoned disco in its 1980s and 1990s songs.Chic never hit the top 40 again after "Good Times" topped the chart in August 1979. Of the handful of groups not taken down by disco's fall from favor,Kool & the Gang,Donna Summer,the Jacksons, andGloria Gaynor in particular, stand out. In spite of having helped define the disco sound early on,[120] they continued to make popular and danceable, if more refined, songs for yet another generation of music fans in the 1980s and beyond.Earth, Wind & Fire also survived the anti-disco trend and continued to produce successful singles at roughly the same pace for several more years, in addition to an even longer string of R&B chart hits that lasted into the 1990s. Some popular disco tracks released after Disco Demolition Night include "Steppin' Out" byKool & the Gang (1981), "In the Middle" byUnlimited Touch (1981), "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" byDiana Ross (both 1980), "My Feet Keep Dancing" byChic (1979), "Funkytown" byLipps Inc. (1980), "Lady (You Bring Me Up)" by theCommodores (1981), and "All American Girls" bySister Sledge (1981).
Six months prior to Disco Demolition Night (in December 1978), popular progressive rock radio station WDAI (WLS-FM) had suddenly switched to an all-disco format, disenfranchising thousands of Chicago rock fans and leaving Dahl unemployed. WDAI, who survived the change of public sentiment and still had good ratings at this point, continued to play disco until it flipped to a short-lived hybrid Top 40/rock format in May 1980. Another disco outlet that competed against WDAI at the time,WGCI-FM, would later incorporateR&B andpop songs into the format, eventually evolving into anurban contemporary outlet that it continues with today. The latter also helped bring theChicago house genre to the airwaves.[citation needed]
Factors that have been cited as leading to the decline of disco in the United States include economic and political changes at the end of the 1970s, as well asburnout from thehedonistic lifestyles led by participants.[121] In the years since Disco Demolition Night, some social critics have described the "Disco sucks" movement as implicitlymacho and bigoted, and an attack on non-white and non-heterosexual cultures.[102][106][116] It was also linked to a wider cultural "backlash", the move towards conservatism,[122] that also made its way into US politics with the election of conservative presidentRonald Reagan in 1980, which also led to Republican control of theUnited States Senate for the first time since 1954, plus the subsequent rise of theReligious Right around the same time.
In January 1979, rock criticRobert Christgau argued thathomophobia, and most likelyracism, were reasons behind the movement,[105] a conclusion seconded byJohn Rockwell. Craig Werner wrote: "The Anti-disco movement represented an unholy alliance offunkateers andfeminists, progressives, andpuritans, rockers and reactionaries. Nonetheless, the attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism,sexism and homophobia."[123]Legs McNeil, founder of thefanzinePunk, was quoted in an interview as saying, "thehippies always wanted to be black. We were going, 'fuck the blues, fuck the black experience.'" He also said that disco was the result of an "unholy" union between homosexuals and blacks.[124]
Steve Dahl, who had spearheaded Disco Demolition Night, denied any racist or homophobic undertones to the promotion, saying, "It's really easy to look at it historically, from this perspective, and attach all those things to it. But we weren't thinking like that,"[106] it was "just kids pissing on a musical genre".[125] It has been noted that Britishpunk rock critics of disco were very supportive of the pro-black/anti-racistreggae genre as well as the more pro-gaynew romantics movement.[102] Christgau and Jim Testa have said that there were legitimate artistic reasons for being critical of disco.[105][113]
In 1979, the music industry in the United States underwent its worst slump in decades, and disco, despite its mass popularity, was blamed. The producer-oriented sound was having difficulty mixing well with the industry's artist-oriented marketing system.[126] Harold Childs, senior vice president atA&M Records, reportedly told theLos Angeles Times that "radio is really desperate for rock product" and "they're all looking for some white rock-n-roll".[116]
Disco was instrumental in the development ofelectronic dance music genres likehouse,techno, andEurodance. The Eurodisco songI Feel Love, produced by Giorgio Moroder for Donna Summer in 1976, has been described as a milestone and blueprint for electronic dance music because it was the first to combine repetitive synthesizer loops with a continuousfour-on-the-floor bass drum and anoff-beathi-hat, which would become a main feature of techno and house ten years later.[79][80][127]
During the first years of the 1980s, the traditional disco sound characterized by complex arrangements performed bylarge ensembles of studio session musicians (including ahorn section and an orchestral string section) began to be phased out, and faster tempos and synthesized effects, accompanied by guitar and simplified backgrounds, moved dance music toward electronic and pop genres, starting withhi-NRG. Despite its decline in popularity, so-called club music and European-style disco remained relatively successful in the early-to-mid 1980s with songs likeAneka's "Japanese Boy",The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men",Stacey Q's "Two of Hearts",Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)",Laura Branigan's "Self Control", andBaltimora's "Tarzan Boy". However, a revival of the traditional-style disco callednu-disco has been popular since the 1990s.
House music displayed a strong disco influence, which is why house music, regarding its enormous success in shaping electronic dance music and contemporary club culture, is often described being "disco's revenge".[128] Early house music was generally dance-based music characterized by repetitive four-on-the-floor beats, rhythms mainly provided bydrum machines,[129] off-beat hi-hat cymbals, and synthesized basslines. While house displayed several characteristics similar to disco music, it was more electronic and minimalist,[129] and the repetitive rhythm of house was more important than the song itself. As well, house did not use the lush string sections that were a key part of the disco sound.
The rising popularity of disco came in tandem with developments in the role of the DJ. DJing developed from the use of multiple record turntables andDJ mixers to create a continuous, seamless mix of songs, with one song transitioning to another with no break in the music to interrupt the dancing. The resultingDJ mix differed from previous forms of dance music in the 1960s, which were oriented towards live performances by musicians. It, in turn, affected the arrangement of dance music, since songs in the disco era typically contained beginnings and endings marked by a simple beat or riff that could be easily used to transition to a new song. The development of DJing was also influenced by newturntablism techniques, such asbeatmatching andscratching, a process facilitated by the introduction of new turntable technologies such as theTechnics SL-1200 MK 2, first sold in 1978, which had a precise variablepitch control and adirect drive motor. DJs were often avid record collectors, who would hunt through used record stores for obscuresoul records and vintage funk recordings. DJs helped to introduce rare records and new artists to club audiences.
In the 1970s, individual DJs became more prominent, and some DJs, such as Larry Levan, the resident atParadise Garage,Jim Burgess,Tee Scott, andFrancis Grasso became famous in the disco scene. Levan, for example, developed acult following among clubgoers, who referred to his DJ sets as "Saturday Mass". Some DJs would usereel-to-reel tape recorders to makeremixes and tape edits of songs. Some DJs who were making remixes made the transition from the DJ booth to becoming a record producer, notably Burgess. Scott developed several innovations. He was the first disco DJ to use three turntables as sound sources, the first to simultaneously play two beat-matched records, the first to use electroniceffects units in his mixes, and he was an innovator in mixing dialogue in from well-known movies, typically over a percussion break. These mixing techniques were also applied to radio DJs, such as Ted Currier ofWKTU andWBLS. Grasso is particularly notable for taking the DJ "profession out of servitude and [making] the DJ the musical head chef."[130] Once he entered the scene, the DJ was no longer responsible for waiting on the crowd hand and foot, meeting their every song request. Instead, with increased agency and visibility, the DJ was now able to use their own technical and creative skills to whip up a nightly special of innovative mixes, refining their personal sound and aesthetic, and building their own reputation.[131]
The disco sound had a strong influence on early hip-hop. Most of the early hip-hop songs were created by isolating existing disco bass guitar lines and dubbing over them with MC rhymes.The Sugarhill Gang used Chic's "Good Times" as the foundation for their 1979 song "Rapper's Delight", generally considered to be the song that first popularized rap music in the United States and around the world.
Like disco, house music was based aroundDJs creating mixes for dancers in clubs. Pictured is DJMiguel Migs, mixing usingCDJ players.
House music is a genre ofelectronic dance music that originated inChicago in the early 1980s (also see:Chicago house). It quickly spread to other American cities such as Detroit, where it developed into the harder and more industrialtechno, New York City (also see:garage house), and Newark – all of which developed their own regional scenes.
House music in the 2010s, while keeping several of these core elements, notably the prominentkick drum on every beat, varies widely in style and influence, ranging from the soulful and atmosphericdeep house to the more aggressiveacid house or the minimalistmicrohouse. House music has also fused with several other genres creating fusion subgenres,[129] such aseuro house,tech house,electro house, andjump house.
Strobing lights flash at arave dance event inVienna, 2005
In the late 1980s and early 1990s,rave culture began to emerge from the house and acid house scene.[134] Like house, it incorporated disco culture's same love of dance music played by DJs over powerfulsound systems,recreational drug and club drug exploration, sexual promiscuity, andhedonism. Although disco culture started out underground, it eventually thrived in the mainstream by the late 1970s, and major labels commodified and packaged the music formass 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 avoidlaw 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 likeecstasy.
Thepost-punk movement that originated in the late 1970s both supportedpunk rock's rule-breaking while rejecting its move back to rawrock music.[135] Post-punk's mantra of constantly moving forward lent itself to both openness to and experimentation with elements of disco and other styles.[135]Public Image Limited is considered the first post-punk group.[135] The group's second albumMetal Box fully embraced the "studio as instrument" methodology of disco.[135] The group's founderJohn Lydon, the former lead singer for theSex Pistols, told the press that disco was the only music he cared for at the time.
Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with the renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s disco,[136] mid-1980s Italo disco, and the synthesizer-heavy Euro disco aesthetics.[137] The moniker appeared in print as early as 2002, and by mid-2008 was used by record shops such as the online retailers Juno and Beatport.[138] 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 genreselectroclash andFrench house.
In the 1990s, after a decade of backlash, disco and its legacy became more accepted by pop music artists and listeners alike, as more songs, films, and compilations were released that referenced disco. This was part of a wave of1970s nostalgia that was taking place in popular culture at the time. Some commentators attributed the revival of the genre to frequent use of disco music in fashion shows.[139]
The success of the "nu-disco" revival of the early 2000s was described by music critic Tom Ewing as more interpersonal than the pop music of the 1990s: "The revival of disco within pop put a spotlight on something that had gone missing over the 90s: a sense of music not just for dancing, but for dancing with someone. Disco was a music of mutual attraction: cruising, flirtation, negotiation. Its dancefloor is a space for immediate pleasure, but also for promises kept and otherwise. It's a place where things start, but their resolution, let alone their meaning, is never clear. All of 2000's great disco number ones explore how to play this hand.Madison Avenue look to impose their will upon it, to set terms and roles. Spiller is less rigid. 'Groovejet' accepts the night's changeability, happily sells out certainty for an amused smile and a few great one-liners."[146]
In 2014 BrazilianGlobo TV, the second biggest television network in the world, airedBoogie Oogie, atelenovela about the Disco Era that takes place between 1978 and 1979, from the hit fever to the decadence. The show's success was responsible for a Disco revival across the country, bringing back to the stage and to Brazilian record charts local disco divas likeLady Zu andAs Frenéticas.[citation needed]
Top-10 entries from 2015 such asMark Ronson's disco groove-infused "Uptown Funk",Maroon 5's "Sugar",the Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face" andJason Derulo's "Want To Want Me" also have a strong disco influence. Disco mogul and producer Giorgio Moroder also re-appeared in 2015 with his new albumDéjà Vu, which proved to be a modest success. Other songs from 2015 like "I Don't Like It, I Love It" byFlo Rida, "Adventure of a Lifetime" byColdplay, "Back Together" byRobin Thicke and "Levels" byNick Jonas feature disco elements as well. In 2016, disco songs or disco-styled pop songs continued showing a strong presence on the music charts as a possible backlash to the 1980s-styled synthpop, electro house, and dubstep that had been dominating the charts up until then.[citation needed] Justin Timberlake's 2016 song "Can't Stop the Feeling!", which shows strong elements of disco, became the 26th song to debut at number-one on theBillboard Hot 100 in the history of the chart.The Martian, a 2015 film, extensively uses disco music as a soundtrack, although for the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, there's only one thing worse than being stranded on Mars: it's being stranded on Mars with nothing but disco music.[151] "Kill the Lights", featured on an episode of the HBO television series "Vinyl" (2016) and withNile Rodgers' guitar licks, hit number one on the US Dance chart in July 2016.
British singerDua Lipa has been credited by music critics with leading the revival of disco following the widespread international success of her single "Don't Start Now" and her albumFuture Nostalgia.[152]
In 2020, disco continued its mainstream popularity and became a prominent trend in popular music.[153][154] In early 2020, disco-influenced hits such asDoja Cat's "Say So",Lady Gaga's "Stupid Love", andDua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" experienced widespread success on global music charts, charting at numbers 1, 5 and 2, respectively, on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart. At the time,Billboard, declared that Lipa was "leading the charge toward disco-influenced production" a day after her retro and disco-influenced albumFuture Nostalgia was released on March 27, 2020.[152][155] By the end of 2020, multiple disco albums had been released, includingAdam Lambert'sVelvet,Jessie Ware'sWhat's Your Pleasure?, andRóisín Murphy's discothèque mixtape,Róisín Machine. In early September 2020, South Korean groupBTS debuted at number 1 in the US with their English–language disco single "Dynamite" having sold 265,000 downloads in its first week in the US, marking the biggest pure sales week since Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017).[156]
In July 2020, Australian singerKylie Minogue announced she would be releasing her fifteenth studio album,Disco, on November 6, 2020. The album was preceded by two singles. The lead single, "Say Something", was released on July 23 and premiered onBBC Radio 2;[157] the second single, "Magic", was released on September 24.[158] Both singles received critical acclaim, with critics praising Minogue for returning to disco roots, which were prominent in her albumsLight Years (2000),Fever (2001), andAphrodite (2010).
^"Bernard Edwards, 43, Musician In Disco Band and Pop Producer".The New York Times. April 22, 1996.Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. RetrievedOctober 10, 2022.As disco waned in the late 70's, so did Chic's album sales. But its influence lingered on as new wave, rap and dance-pop bands found inspiration in Chic's club anthems.
^Braunstein, Peter (November 1999)."Disco".American Heritage.50 (7).
^Shapiro 2006, pp. 205–206 "'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 [...]."
^abcHilton, Denny (October 19, 2012)."The birth of disco".OUPblog. Oxford University Press.Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. RetrievedDecember 21, 2020.
^Stratton, J. (2021). "Disco Before Disco: Dancing and popular music in the 1960s and 1970s in England".Journal of Popular Music Studies.33 (1):50–69.doi:10.1525/jpms.2021.33.1.50.
^abGootenberg, 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 ..."
^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.
^abBraunstein, Peter (November 1999)."DISCO".American Heritage. Vol. 50, no. 7. Archived fromthe original on February 5, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 5, 2010.
^Brownstein, Henry H.The Handbook of Drugs and Society. John Wiley & Sons, 2015. p. 101.
^Tim Lawrence: "Beyond the Hustle: Seventies Social Dancing, Discothèque Culture and the Emergence of the Contemporary Club Dancer." In Julie Malnig ed.Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular Dance Reader. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009, pp. 199–214. Online version:"Beyond the Hustle: Seventies Social Dancing, Discotheque Culture and the Emergence of the Contemporary Club Dancer".Timlawrence.info. September 19, 2013.Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. RetrievedOctober 27, 2017..
^abTim Lawrence. "The Forging of a White Gay Aesthetic at the Saint, 1980–84". In: Dancecult, 3, 1, 2011, pp. 1–24. Online version:"The Forging of a White Gay Aesthetic at the Saint, 1980–84".Timlawrence.info. July 2, 2013.Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. RetrievedOctober 27, 2017.
^abcdRichard 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.
^(1998) "The Cambridge History of American Music",ISBN978-0-521-45429-2,ISBN978-0-521-45429-2, 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",ISBN978-0-8147-9809-6,ISBN978-0-8147-9809-6, p.117: "New York City was the primary center of disco, and the original audience was primarily gay African Americans and Latinos."
^"But the pre-Saturday Night Fever dance underground was actually sweetly earnest and irony-free in its hippie-dippie positivity, as evinced by anthems likeMFSB'sLove Is the Message." –Village Voice, July 10, 2001.
^"The First Years of Disco (1972-1974)".discosavvy.com.Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. RetrievedJune 18, 2019.In November 1974, WPIX FM launched the world's first disco radio show, "Disco 102", hosted by Steve Andrews for 4 hours every Saturday night.
^Reynolds, Simon (2016).Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century, pages 206–208, Dey Street BooksISBN978-0062279804
^"This record was a collaboration between Philip Oakey, the big-voiced lead singer of the techno-pop band the Human League, and Giorgio Moroder, the Italian-born father of disco who spent the 1980s writing synth-based pop and film music."Cater, Evan."Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder: Overview".AllMusic. RetrievedDecember 21, 2009.
^abKrettenauer, Thomas (2017). "Hit Men: Giorgio Moroder, Frank Farian and the eurodisco sound of the 1970s/80s". In Ahlers, Michael; Jacke, Christoph (eds.).Perspectives on German Popular Music. London:Routledge. pp. 77–78.ISBN978-1-4724-7962-4.
^Don Henley commented on "One of These Nights"'s disco connection in the liner notes ofThe Very Best Of, 2003.
^Paul Stanley, a guitarist for the rock group Kiss became friends withDesmond Child and, as Child remembered in Billboard, "Paul and I talked about how dance music at that time didn't have any rock elements." To counteract the synthesized disco music dominating the airwaves, Stanley and Child wrote, "I Was Made For Loving You." So, "we made history," Child further remembered in Billboard, "because we created the first rock-disco song."Barnes, Terry (November 27, 1999)."Gifted Child".Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 48. pp. DC-23.Archived from the original on May 22, 2024. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2017.
^Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture,ISBN978-0-415-16161-9,ISBN978-0-415-16161-9 (2001) p. 217: "In fact, by 1977, beforepunk rock spread, there was a 'disco sucks' movement sponsored by radio stations that attracted some suburban white youth, who thought that disco was escapist, synthetic, and overproduced."
^Foster, Buzz (May 17, 2012)."Disco Lives Forever!".Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. RetrievedNovember 4, 2021 – via YouTube.
^abcCampion, ChrisWalking on the Moon: The Untold Story of the Police and the Rise of New Wave Rock. John Wiley & Sons, (2009),ISBN978-0-470-28240-3 pp. 82–84.
^"Are We Not New Wave Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s Theo Cateforis Page 36ISBN978-0-472-03470-3
^"Donna Summer: I Feel Love" (in German). Zentrum für Populäre Kultur und Musik. May 8, 2017.Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. RetrievedMay 26, 2022.
^"Post-disco".Allmusic.Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. RetrievedOctober 31, 2019.
^Fikentscher, Kai (July–August 2000)."The club DJ: a brief history of a cultural icon"(PDF).UNESCO Courier. UNESCO: 47.Archived(PDF) from the original on March 3, 2016. RetrievedMarch 7, 2016.Around 1986/7, after the initial explosion of house music in Chicago, it became clear that the major recording companies and media institutions were reluctant to market this genre of music, associated with gay African Americans, on a mainstream level. House artists turned to Europe, chiefly London but also cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Manchester, Milan, Zurich, and Tel Aviv. ... A third axis leads to Japan where, since the late 1980s, New York club DJs have had the opportunity to play guest-spots.
^"Beatport launches nu disco / indie dance genre page" (Press release). Beatport. July 30, 2008. Archived fromthe original on August 7, 2008. RetrievedAugust 8, 2008.Beatport is launching a new landing page, dedicated solely to the genres of "nu disco" and "indie dance". ... Nu Disco is everything that springs from the late '70s and early '80s (electronic) disco, boogie, cosmic, Balearic and Italo disco continuum ...
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. ElectronicISSN1535-3605, printISSN1043-4070.
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