Disco Music, genre of dance music that has been a major influence on popular dance culture since the late 1970s, when its soul-based vocals, compulsive bass lines, and thumping beats made the music a pop sensation. Originating as the music of a gay, Latino, and black urban club subculture in the United States, disco’s early hits included Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” and Barry White’s orchestral-backed “Love’s Theme” (both 1973), Hues Corporation’s “Rock the Boat” and George McRae’s “Rock Your Baby” (both 1974, the latter reaching number one in the United Kingdom chart). It was Van McCoy’s 10 million-selling single “The Hustle” (1975), however, that established disco as a worldwide musical phenomenon and dance craze. The Philadelphia-based producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s “Philly Sound” (setting soul vocals over vigorous dance rhythms and lush orchestral backing) was characteristic of early disco, while KC and the Sunshine Band pioneered the “Miami Sound” (using Latin percussion, and excited whistles and shouts), becoming in 1975-1976 the first group since the Beatles in 1964 to have three number ones in 12 months in the American chart (with “Get Down Tonight”, “That’s the Way (I Like It)”, and “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty”). Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You, Baby” (1976, produced by Munich-based Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellote) introduced the symphonic synthesizer lines and layered vocals of Euro-disco (later popularized by Abba), and the mass popularity of the film Saturday Night Fever (1977, starring John Travolta) kept its soundtrack (including new Bee Gees songs and classics like the Trammps’ “Disco Inferno”) at number one for 24 weeks, selling more than 30 million copies. The Bee Gees matched another Beatles achievement in 1978 with three singles (“Stayin’ Alive”, “How Deep is Your Love”, and “Night Fever”) simultaneously in the American top 10.
Disco’s mainstream appeal faded in the early 1980s, but the gay disco scene proved resilient, with the success of Sylvester and Village People in the late 1970s continuing as hi-NRG into early 1990s. Disco records, designed for the dance floor, were promoted by disc jockeys in clubs rather than by live bands, and in the mid-1970s 12-inch singles (often with the beats per minute, or bpm, printed on the record) were introduced to help DJs mix records. The release of different remixes (giving songs extended percussion breaks, for example) was also pioneered, emphasizing the importance of studio-based producers rather than individual performers. The evident debt of house music to disco led to a revival in the 1990s, though the music had previously been scorned by rock critics.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Disco’s mainstream appeal faded in the early 1980s, but the gay disco scene proved resilient, with the success of Sylvester and Village People in the late 1970s continuing as hi-NRG into early 1990s. Disco records, designed for the dance floor, were promoted by disc jockeys in clubs rather than by live bands, and in the mid-1970s 12-inch singles (often with the beats per minute, or bpm, printed on the record) were introduced to help DJs mix records. The release of different remixes (giving songs extended percussion breaks, for example) was also pioneered, emphasizing the importance of studio-based producers rather than individual performers. The evident debt of house music to disco led to a revival in the 1990s, though the music had previously been scorned by rock critics.
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
