Disco

Disco is a vibrant form of dance music that employs pulsing beats and steady rhythms, It’s built around electronic instruments like electric drums and synthesizers and contains elements of funk, soul, and salsa. The genre’s name is derived from the American and European discotheques of the 1950s and ‘60s, nightclubs where dancing to pre-recorded music was the norm. These clubs were made for everyone to enjoy, in contrast to the ritzy supper clubs where Cabaret music was performed for well-to-do clientele.

During the 1970s, Disco music’s popularity eclipsed all other forms of dance music in the United States, and threatened to eclipse rock and pop music in sales. The music was especially popular in the underground dance clubs frequented by Blacks, Latinos, and the LGBT community. Many of Disco’s top stars, such as the Village People and Donna Summer, came from these marginalized communities. White artists, like Bee Gees and KC and the Sunshine Band, became ubiquitous on the radio.

In New York, fans crowded into clubs like The Gallery, The Loft, and the celebrity-filled Studio 54 to dance deep into the night. Club deejays became major tastemakers, helping to identify hit songs based on audience reactions. Singles regained popularity over the album format, and 12-inch, 45-rpm extended-play singles were invented to keep up with the genre’s conventions. Rock acts like The Rolling Stones and KISS bought into the Disco craze, releasing the dance singles “Miss You” and “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.”

Actor John Travolta catupulted to fame on the strength of his dance moves in 1977’s disco-themed film Saturday Night Fever. The sountrack album, featuring the Bee Gees and others, remains one of the best-selling albums ever, selling 25 million copies between 1977 and 1980.

Anti-Disco groups comprised of (potentially racist and homophobic) angry rock and punk music fans organized in an attempt to stop Disco’s spread. In 1979, 50,000 people attended Chicago’s Comiskey Park to hold an anti-Disco rally and destroy Disco records. The event ended in a riot. “It was the moment that set the fuse,’ the Village People’s Felipe Rose later told PBS. “Suddenly, radio stations stopped playing disco music — not slowly, overnight.”

Disco as a genre began and ended in the 1970s, but its influence crossed over into pop music, and influenced everything from Michael Jackson’s 1980s monster hit Thriller to Bruno Mars’ 2015 chart-topper “Uptown Funk.” Dance music, with Disco in its DNA, continues to dominate at music festivals and on the streaming music charts.