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Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic communities in the United States in the late 1960s. Disco meant to discover yourself and the true meaning of the dancefloor. In what is considered a forerunner to disco style clubs, in February 1970 New York City DJ, David Mancuso, opened The Loft, a members-only private dance club set in his own home. Most agree that the first disco songs were released in 1973, though some claim Manu Dibango's 1972 Soul Makossa to be the first disco record.
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Disco is a major influence in the world of fashion. It is a dynamic factor in contemporary advertising. It is a message from every consumer that there has been a rediscovery of America's greatest by-product: fun.
Encyclopedia
Disco is a genre of dance music that originated in and was initially popular among African American, gay and Hispanic communities in the United States in the late 1960s. Disco meant to discover yourself and the true meaning of the dancefloor. In what is considered a forerunner to disco style clubs, in February 1970 New York City DJ, David Mancuso, opened The Loft, a members-only private dance club set in his own home. Most agree that the first disco songs were released in 1973, though some claim Manu Dibango's 1972 Soul Makossa to be the first disco record. The first article about disco was written in September 1973 by Vince Aletti for Rolling Stone Magazine. In 1974 New York City's WPIX-FM premiered the first disco radio show.
Musical influences include funk and soul music. The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or sixteenth note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line sometimes consisting of octaves. Strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and unlike in rock, lead guitar is rarely used.
Well-known late 1970s disco performers included The Bee Gees, Amanda Lear, Donna Summer and The Jacksons. Summer would become the first well-known and most popular female disco artist, and also played a part in pioneering the electronic sound that later became a part of disco (see below). While performers and singers garnered the lion's share of public attention, the behind-the-scenes producers played an equal, if not more important role in disco, since they often wrote the songs and created the innovative sounds and production techniques that were part of the "disco sound". Many non-disco artists recorded disco songs at the height of disco's popularity, and films such as Saturday Night Fever and Thank God It's Friday contributed to disco's rise in mainstream popularity and ironically the beginning of its commercial decline.
History
Early history
Disco has its musical roots in the late 1960s. Philly and New York soul were evolutions of the Motown sound. The Philly Sound is typified by lavish percussion, which became a prominent part of mid-1970s disco songs. Music with proto-"disco" elements appeared in the late 1960s, with "Tighten Up" and "Mony, Mony", "Dance to the Music" and "Love Child" . Two early songs with disco elements include Jerry Butler’s 1969 "Only the Strong Survive" and Manu Dibango's 1972 "Soul Makossa" .
The early "disco" sound was largely an urban American phenomenon with such legendary producers and labels such as SalSoul Records (Ken, Joe and Stanley Cayre), Westend Records (Mel Cheren), Casablanca (Neil Bogart), and Prelude (Marvin Schlachter) to name a few. They inspired and influenced such prolific European dance-track producers as Giorgio Moroder and Jean-Marc Cerrone. Moroder was the Italian producer, keyboardist, and composer who produced many songs of the singer Donna Summer. These included the 1975 hit "Love to Love You Baby", a 17-minute-long song with "shimmering sound and sensual attitude". Allmusic.com calls Moroder "one of the principal architects of the disco sound".
The disco sound was also shaped by the legendary Tom Moulton who wanted to extend the enjoyment of the music — thus single-handedly creating the "Remix" which has influenced many other latter genres such as Hip-Hop, Techno, and Pop. DJs and remixers would often remix (i.e., re-edit) existing songs using reel-to-reel tape machines. Their remixed versions would add in percussion breaks, new sections, and new sounds. Influential DJs and remixers who helped to establish what became known as the "disco sound" included David Mancuso, Tom Moulton, Nicky Siano, Shep Pettibone, the legendary and much-sought-after Larry Levan, Walter Gibbons, and later, New York–born Chicago "Godfather of House" Frankie Knuckles. Disco was also shaped by nightclub DJs such as Francis Grasso, who used multiple record players to seamlessly mix tracks from genres such as soul, funk and pop music at discoteques, and was the forerunner to later styles such as hip-hop and house. Karen Cook was the first female disco DJ on record. She spun the vinyl hits from 1975 – 1978. Trained by Sam Meyer, discjockey at Barbary Coast in Houston, her first job was at Mean Green Inn on her college campus of University of North Texas in Denton, TX. She went on to work at the most popular Houston Club at the time, Todds, owned by McFaddin Kendrick. She created such buzz that they hired her not only for their premiere exclusive member-only club, 'Elan, but also enlisted her to program the music for other dj's at their many properties throughout the US. She was famous for the ability to match the tone, beat AND style of a song in a segue and had a technique she used to create the sale of more drinks.
Chart-topping songs
The Hues Corporation's 1974 "Rock The Boat", a U.S. #1 single and million-seller, was one of the early disco songs to hit #1. Other chart-topping songs included "Walking in Rhythm" by The Blackbyrds, "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae and "Love's Theme" by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra. Also in 1975, Gloria Gaynor released the first side-long disco mix vinyl album, which included a remake of The Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" and two other songs, "Honey Bee" and "Reach Out (I'll Be There)". Also significant during this early disco period was Miami's KC and the Sunshine Band. Formed by Harry Wayne Casey ("KC") and Richard Finch, KC and the Sunshine Band had a string of disco-definitive top-five hits between 1975 and 1977, including "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man" and "Keep It Comin' Love".
The Bee Gees used Barry Gibb's falsetto to garner hits such as "You Should Be Dancing". In 1975, hits such as Van McCoy's "The Hustle" and Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" and "Could It Be Magic" brought disco further into the mainstream. Other notable early disco hits include The Jackson 5’s "Dancing Machine" (1974), Barry White’s "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (1974), LaBelle’s "Lady Marmalade" (1975) and Silver Convention’s "Fly Robin Fly" (1975). Chic's "Le Freak" (1978) became a classic and is heard almost everywhere disco is mentioned; other hits by Chic include the often-sampled "Good Times" (1979) and "Everybody Dance" (1978). Also noteworthy are Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real" (1978) and Walter Murphy's various attempts to bring classical music to the mainstream, most notably his hit "A Fifth of Beethoven" (1976).
The rich orchestral accompaniment that became identified with the disco era conjured up the memories of the Big Band era which brought out several artists that recorded and disco-ized some Big Band Music including Perry Como, who re recorded his 1929 and 1939 hit, Temptation in 1975 as well as some unlikely Country artists such as Bill Anderson (Double S) and Ronnie Milsap (High Heel Sneakers). Even the I Love Lucy theme wasn't spared from being disco-ized.
Prominent European pop and disco groups were Luv' from the Netherlands and Boney M, a group of four West Indian singers and dancers masterminded by West German record producer Frank Farian. Boney M charted worldwide hits with such songs as "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker" and "Rivers of Babylon." In France, Dalida released "J'attendrai", which became a big hit in Canada and Japan, and Cerrone's early hit songs - "Love In C Minor", "Give Me Love" and "Supernature" - became major hits in the U.S. and Europe.
As one of the first movies to be scored with disco music before Saturday Night Fever, the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me garnered great popularity from composer Marvin Hamlisch's score, especially the disco-flavored Bond 77 opening track.
1978–1980: Pop Pre-eminence
The release of the film and soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever in December 1977, which became the best-selling soundtrack of all time, turned disco into a happening mainstream music genre. This in turn led many non-disco artists to record disco songs at the height of its popularity. Many of these songs were not "pure" disco, but were instead rock or pop songs with (sometimes inescapable) disco influence or overtones. Notable examples include Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" (1976), The Eagles' "One of These Nights" (1975), The Grateful Dead's "Shakedown Street" (1979), Barry Manilow’s "Copacabana (At The Copa)" (1978), The Rolling Stones' "Miss You" (1978), Bette Midler's "Married Men" (1979), Dolly Parton's "Baby I'm Burning" (1978), Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1979), Wings’ "Goodnight Tonight" (1979), Barbra Streisand's "The Main Event/Fight" (1979), Ann-Margret's "Love Rush" (1979), Kiss' "I Was Made for Lovin' You" (1979), Electric Light Orchestra’s "Shine a Little Love" (1979), Isaac Hayes' "Don't Let Go" (1980), The Spinners' "Working My Way Back To You" (1980), Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" (1980), and George Benson's "Give Me the Night (1980).
Disco hit the airwaves with Marty Angelo's Disco Step-by-Step Television Show in 1975, Steve Marcus' Disco Magic/Disco 77, Eddie Rivera's Soap Factory and Merv Griffin's, Dance Fever, hosted by Deney Terrio, who is credited with teaching actor John Travolta to dance for his upcoming role in the hit movie Saturday Night Fever. Several parodies of the disco style were created, most notably "Disco Duck" and "Dancin' Fool". Rick Dees, at the time a radio DJ in Memphis, Tennessee, recorded "Disco Duck"; Frank Zappa parodied the lifestyles of disco dancers in "Dancin' Fool" on his Sheik Yerbouti album.
Characteristics
The "disco sound", while unique, almost defies a unified description, as it was an ultra-inclusive art form that drew on as many influences as it produced interpretations. Jazz, Classical, Calypso, Rock, Latin, Soul, Funk, and new technologies — just to name a few of the obvious — were all mingled with aplomb. Vocals could be frivolous or serious love intrigues — all the way to extremely serious socially-conscious commentary. The music tended to layer soaring, often-reverberated vocals, which are often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of electric pianos and wah-pedaled "chicken-scratch" (palm muted) guitars. Other backing keyboard instruments include the piano, string synth, and electroacoustic keyboards such as the Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, and Hohner Clavinet. Synthesizers were also fairly common in disco, especially in the late 1970s. The rhythm is laid down by prominent, syncopated basslines (with heavy use of octaves) played on the bass guitar and by drummers using a drum kit, African/Latin percussion, and electronic drums such as Simmons and Roland drum modules). The sound was enriched with solo lines and harmony parts played by a variety of orchestral instruments, such as harp, violin, viola, cello, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, clarinet, flugelhorn, French horn, tuba, English horn, oboe, flute, and piccolo.
Most disco songs have a steady four-on-the-floor beat, a quaver or semi-quaver hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line. This basic beat would appear to be related to the Dominican merengue rhythm. Other Latin rhythms such as the rhumba, the samba and the cha-cha-cha are also found in disco recordings, and Latin polyrhythms, such as a rhumba beat layered over a merengue, are commonplace. The quaver pattern is often supported by other instruments such as the rhythm guitar and may be implied rather than explicitly present. It often involves syncopation, rarely occurring on the beat unless a synthesizer is used to replace the bass guitar.
In 1977, Giorgio Moroder again became responsible for a development in disco. Alongside Donna Summer and Pete Bellotte he wrote the song "I Feel Love" for Summer to perform. It became the first well-known disco hit to have a completely synthesised backing track. The song is still considered to have been well ahead of its time. Other disco producers, most famously Tom Moulton, grabbed ideas and techniques from dub music (which came with the increased Jamaican migration to NYC in the seventies) to provide alternatives to the four on the floor style that dominated. Larry Levan utilized style keys from dub and jazz and more as one of the most successful remixers of all time to create early versions of house music that sparked the genre .
Production
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 of the funk, soul of the late 1960s, or the small jazz organ trios, disco music often included a large pop band, with several chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), several drum or percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums), a horn section, a string orchestra, and a variety of "classical" solo instruments (e.g., flute, piccolo, etc.).
Disco songs were arranged and composed by experienced arrangers and orchestrators, and producers added their creative touches to the overall sound. Recording complex arrangements with such a large number of instruments and sections required a team that included a conductor, copyists, record producers, and mixing engineers. Mixing engineers had an important role in the disco production process, because disco songs used as many as 64 tracks of vocals and instruments. Mixing engineers compiled these tracks into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with orchestral builds and breaks. Mixing engineers helped to develop the "disco sound" by creating a distinctive-sounding disco mix.
Early records were the "standard" 3 minute version until Tom Moulton came up with a way to make songs longer, wanting to take a crowd to another level that was impossible with 45-RPM vinyl discs of the time (which could usually hold no more than 5 minutes of good-quality music). With the help of José Rodriguez, his remasterer, 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. This method fast became the standard format for all DJs of the genre.
Because record sales were often dependent on floor play in clubs, DJs were also important to the development and popularization of disco music. Notable DJs include Rex Potts (Loft Lounge, Sarasota, Florida), Jim Burgess, Walter Gibbons, John "Jellybean" Benitez, Richie Kaczar of Studio 54, Rick Gianatos, Francis Grasso of Sanctuary, Larry Levan, Ian Levine, Neil "Raz" Rasmussen & Mike Pace of L'amour Disco in Brooklyn, Preston Powell of Magique, Jennie Costa of Lemontrees, Tee Scott, John Luongo, Robert Ouimet of The Limelight, and David Mancuso.
The 12-inch single format also allowed longer dance time and format possibilities. In May, 1976, Salsoul Records released Walter Gibbons' remix of Double Exposure's "Ten Percent", the first commercially-available 12-inch single. Motown Records’ "Eye-Cue" label also marketed 12-inch singles; however, the play time remained the same length as the original 45s. In 1976, Scepter/Wand released the first 12-inch extended-version single, Jesse Green's "Nice and Slow." This single was packaged in a collectible picture sleeve, a relatively new concept at the time. Twelve-inch singles became commercially available after the first crossover, Tavares' "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel."
Disco clubs and dancing
By the late 1970s many major US cities had thriving disco club scenes which were centered around discotheques, nightclubs, and private loft parties where DJs would play disco hits through powerful PA systems for the dancers. The DJs played "...a smooth mix of long single records to keep people 'dancing all night long'". Some of the most prestigious clubs had elaborate lighting systems that throbbed to the beat of the music.
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 book The Complete Guide to Disco Dancing (Warner Books, 1978) was the first to name and break down popular disco dances and distinguish between disco freestyle, partner and line dances. The book hit the New York Times Best Seller List for 13 weeks and was translated into Chinese, German and French.
There were also disco fashions that discotheque-goers wore for nights out at their local disco, such as sheer, flowing Halston dresses for women and shiny polyester Qiana shirts for men with pointy collars, preferably open at the chest, often worn with double-knit suit jackets.
Some notable professional dance troupes of the 1970s included Pan's People and Hot Gossip. For many dancers, the primary influence of the 1970s disco age is still predominantly the film Saturday Night Fever (1977). This developed into the music and dance style of such films as Fame (1980), Flashdance (1983), and the musical A Chorus Line (1975).
Drug subculture
In addition to the dance and fashion aspects of the disco club scene, there was also a thriving drug subculture, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such as cocaine (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite "poppers" , and the "...other quintessential 1970s club drug Quaalude, which suspended motor coordination and gave the sensation that one’s arms and legs had turned to Jell-O." According to Peter Braunstein, the "massive quantities of drugs ingested in discotheques produced the next cultural phenomenon of the disco era: rampant promiscuity and public sex. While the dance floor was the central arena of seduction, actual sex usually took place in the nether regions of the disco: bathroom stalls, exit stairwells, and so on. In other cases the disco became a kind of 'main course' in a hedonist’s menu for a night out."
Famous disco bars included the very important Paradise Garage and Crisco Disco as well as "...cocaine-filled celeb hangouts such as Manhattan's Studio 54", which was operated by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. Studio 54 was notorious for the hedonism that went on within; the balconies were known for sexual encounters, and drug use was rampant. Its dance floor was decorated with an image of the "Man in the Moon" that included an animated cocaine spoon.
Backlash
From 1979, The popularity of the film Saturday Night Fever prompted major record labels to mass-produce hits, a move which some perceived as turning the genre from something vital and edgy into a safe "product" homogenized for mainstream audiences. Though disco music had enjoyed several years of popularity, an anti-disco sentiment manifested in America. This sentiment proliferated at the time because of oversaturation and the big-business mainstreaming of disco. Worried about declining profits, rock radio stations and record producers encouraged this trend. According to Gloria Gaynor, the music industry supported the destruction of disco because rock music producers were losing money and rock musicians were losing the spotlight. Many hard rock fans expressed strong disapproval of disco throughout the height of its popularity. Among these fans, the slogan "Disco Sucks" was common by the late 1970s and appeared in written form in places ranging from tee shirts to graffiti.
In the late 1970s, Disco music and dancing fads began to be depicted by rock music fans as silly and effeminate, such as in Frank Zappa's satirical song "Dancin' Fool". Some listeners objected to the perceived sexual promiscuity and illegal drug use that had become associated with disco music. Others were put off by the exclusivity of the disco scene, especially in major clubs in large cities such as the Studio 54 discotheque, where bouncers only let in fashionably-dressed club-goers, celebrities, and their hangers-on. Rock fans objected to the idea of centering music around an electronic drum beat and synthesizers instead of live performers. Some have contended that there was also an element of bigotry to the anti-disco backlash; in his book A Change Is Gonna Come, Craig Werner wrote, "the attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism, sexism and homophobia."
Some historians have referred to July 12, 1979 as "the day disco died" because of an anti-disco demonstration that was held in Chicago. Rock station DJs Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, along with Michael Veeck, son of Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck, staged Disco Demolition Night, a promotional event with an anti-disco theme, between games at a White Sox doubleheader for disgruntled rock fans. During this event, which involved exploding disco records, the raucous crowd tore out seats and turf in the field and did other damage to Comiskey Park. It ended in a riot in which police made numerous arrests. The damage done to the field forced the Sox to forfeit the second game to the Detroit Tigers who won the first game. The stadium suffered thousands of dollars in damage.
The television industry — taking a cue from the music industry — responded with an anti-disco agenda as well. A recurring theme on the television show WKRP in Cincinnati contained a hateful attitude towards disco music. The anti-disco backlash may have helped to cause changes to the landscape of Top 40 radio. Negative responses from the listenerships of many Top 40 stations encouraged these stations to drop all disco songs from rotation, filling the holes in their playlists with New Wave, punk rock, and album-oriented rock cuts.. Indeed, Jello Biafra of anarcho-punk band The Dead Kennedys likened disco to the cabaret culture of Weimar Germany for its apathy towards government policy and its escapism (which Biafra saw as delusional). He sang about this in the song "Saturday Night Holocaust", the B-side of the song "Halloween".
It should be noted that, unlike in the U.S., there was never a focused backlash against disco in Europe, and discotheques and the Disco culture continued past 1980 in Europe.
It was during this backlash and decline that several record companies were folded, reorganized or sold. TK Records closed in 1981. ABC Records was sold to MCA Records in 1979, which shut down the label. Casablanca Records' founder Neil Bogart was forced out in 1980 by label owner PolyGram. RSO Records founder Robert Stigwood left the label in 1981.
Influence on other music
The transition from the late-1970s disco styles to the early-1980s dance styles was marked primarily by the change from complex arrangements performed by large ensembles of studio session musicians (including a horn section and an orchestral string section), to a leaner sound, in which one or two singers would perform to the accompaniment of synthesizer keyboards and drum machines.
In addition, dance music during the 1981–83 period borrowed elements from blues and jazz, creating a style different from the disco of the 1970s. This emerging music was still known as disco for a short time, as the word had become associated with any kind of dance music played in discothèques. Examples of early 1980s dance sound performers include D. Train, Kashif, and Patrice Rushen.
During the first years of the 1980s, the "disco sound" began to be phased out, and faster tempos and synthesized effects, accompanied by guitar and simplified backgrounds, moved dance music toward the funk and pop genres. This trend can be seen in singer Billy Ocean's recordings between 1979 and 1981. Whereas Ocean's 1979 song American Hearts was backed with an orchestral arrangement played by the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, his 1981 song "One of Those Nights (Feel Like Gettin' Down)" had a more bare, stripped-down sound, with no orchestration or symphonic arrangements. This drift from the original disco sound is called post-disco.
During the early 1980s, dance music dropped the complicated melodic structure and orchestration which typified the "disco sound". Examples of well-known songs which illustrate this difference include Kool & the Gang’s "Celebration" (1980), Rick James’ "Super Freak" (1981), Grace Jones's "Pull Up to the Bumper" (1981), Carol Jiani's "Hit N' Run Lover" (1981), Laura Branigan's "Gloria" (1982), The Pointer Sisters’ "I'm So Excited" (1982), Prince’s "1999" (1982), The Weather Girls's "It's Raining Men" (1982), Madonna’s "Holiday" (1983), Irene Cara’s "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" (1983), Angela Bofill's "Too Tough" (1983), Miquel Brown's "So Many Men, So Little Time" (1983), Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" (1983), Cerrone's "Back Track" (1984), Jocelyn Brown's "Somebody Else's Guy" (1984), and Klymaxx's "Meeting in the Ladies Room" (1984).
TV Themes
During the mid to late 1970s a number of TV themes began to be produced (or older themes updated) with disco influenced music. Examples include S.W.A.T (1975), Charlie's Angels (1976), NBC Saturday Night At The Movies (1976), The Love Boat (1977), The Donahue Show (1977), CHiPs (1977), The Professionals (1977), Dallas (1978), Kojak (1978).
DJ culture
The rising popularity of disco came in tandem with developments in turntablism and the use of records to create a continuous mix of songs. The resulting DJ mix differed from previous forms of dance music, which were oriented towards live performances by musicians. This in turn affected the arrangement of dance music, with songs since the disco era typically containing beginnings and endings marked by a simple beat or riff that can be easily slipped into the mix.
Hip hop and electro
The disco sound had a strong influence on early hip hop. Most of the early rap/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 hit "Rapper's Delight", generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. In 1982, Afrika Bambataa released the single "Planet Rock," which incorporated electronica elements from Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express" and "Numbers." The "Planet Rock" sound also spawned a hip-hop electronic dance trend (electro music), which included such songs as Planet Patrol's "Play At Your Own Risk" (1982), C Bank’s "One More Shot" (1982), Cerrone's "Club Underworld" (1984), Shannon's "Let the Music Play" (1983), Freeez's "I.O.U." (1983), Midnight Star's "Freak-A-Zoid" (1983), and Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" (1984).
House music
House music is the direct heir apparent of disco. A large number of disco performers and musicians have stated it was the same thing with a different name. Some might agree that record producers and synthesizer pioneers such as the American Patrick Cowley and Italian Giorgio Moroder, who both had a number of hit disco singles such as Moroder's "From Here to Eternity" (1977) and Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" (1978) and "Hills of Katmandu" (1978) influenced to some degree the development of the later electric dance music genres such as house and its offshoot techno. Both early/proto House music and its stripped down offshoot techno rely on the repetitive bass drum rhythm and hi-hat rhythm patterns introduced by disco. However, as House music evolved over time, the productions became more lush with productions maintaining soulful vocals while re-introducing live instrumentation and live complex percussion mixed with the electronic drums and synthesizers — basically coming full circle back to the Disco musical ideals with a contemporary edge to them. Techno became more mechanical and devoid of organic flourishes, relying more on instrumental compositions or with minimal synthesized vocals.
Early house music, which was developed by innovative DJs such as Larry Levan in New York and Frankie Knuckles in Chicago, consisted of various disco loops overlapped by strong bass beats. House music was usually computer-driven, and longer segments were used for mixing. Clubs associated with the birth of house music include New York's Paradise Garage and Chicago's Warehouse and The Music Box.
Resurgence from the 1990s to the Present Day
In the 1990s, a revival of the original disco style began to emerge. The disco influence can be heard in songs as Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (1988) Gloria Estefan's "Get On Your Feet" (1991), Paula Abdul's "Vibeology" (1992), Whitney Houston's "I'm Every Woman" (1993), U2’s "Lemon" (1993), Diana Ross's "Take Me Higher" (1995), The Spice Girls’ "Who Do You Think You Are" (1997) and "Never Give up on the Good Times" (1997), Gloria Estefan's "Heaven's What I Feel" (1998) & "Don't Let This Moment End" (1999), Cher’s "Strong Enough" (1998), and Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat" (1999).
The trend continued in the 2000s with hit songs such as Kylie Minogue’s "Spinning Around" (2000) and "Love at First Sight" (2002), Sheena Easton's "Givin' Up, Givin' In" (2001), Alcazar's breakthrough single Crying at the Discotheque (2001), Sophie Ellis-Bextor's smash single Murder on the Dancefloor (2002), S Club 7's singles Don't Stop Movin' (2001), Alive (2002) and Love Ain't Gonna Wait For You (2003), The Shapeshifters' "Lola's Theme" (2003),Janet Jackson's "R&B Junkie" (2004) and Madonna’s 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor echoes traditional disco themes, particularly in the single "Hung Up," which samples ABBA's "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)."
In the mid-late part of the decade, many disco songs have been released, becoming hits, including (2005) Gorillaz's Dare, Ultra Nate's "Love's The Only Drug" (2006), Gina G’s "Tonight's The Night" (2006), The Shapeshifters' "Back To Basics" (2006), Michael Gray's "Borderline" (2006), Irene Cara's "Forever My Love" (2006), Bananarama's "Look on the Floor (Hypnotic Tango)", Akcent's "Kings of Disco" (2007), the Freemasons "Rain Down Love" (2007), Claudja Barry's "I Will Stand" (2006), Pepper Mashay's "Lost Yo Mind" (2007), Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s "Me and My Imagination" (2007), Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" (2007) Justice’s "D.A.N.C.E.", "Phanton (Part II)" (2007), Dannii Minogue's "Touch Me Like That"(2007), Cerrone's "Misunderstanding" and "Tatoo Woman" (2008), Sean Ensign's "I Wanna Be With You" (2008), Donna Summer's "I'm a Fire" (2008), Jody Watley's "A Beautiful Life" (2008), Crystal Waters's "Dancefloor" (2008) and Alcazar's comeback single We Keep on Rockin' (2008). Music producer, Ian Levine has also produced many new songs with such singers as George Daniel Long, Hazell Dean, Sheila Ferguson, Steve Brookstein and Tina Charles among others for the compilation album titled, Disco 2008, a tribute to Disco music using original material.
In recent years, artists such as DE SIGNER, Ali Love, Hercules and Love Affair, producer JMV and Lady Gaga have revived the disco sound helping bring further mainstream interest and success.
Nu Disco
Nu-disco is a 21st century dance music genre associated with the renewed interest in 1970s and early 1980s disco,[1] mid-1980s Italo disco, and the synthesizer-heavy Eurodisco aesthetics.[2] 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.[3]. 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 that were previously associated with the genres electroclash and deep house.
Artists associated with Nu Disco include the following:
See also
Further reading
- Brewster, Bill and Broughton, Frank (1999)
Last Night a DJ Saved my Life: the History of the Disc Jockey Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7472-6230-6 Lawrence, Tim (2004) Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3198-5. Angelo, Marty (2006) Once Life Matters: A New Beginning. Impact Publishing. ISBN 0961895446. Shapiro, Peter (2005) Turn The Beat Around - The Secret History Of Disco. Faber And Faber. ISBN-10 0865479526 ISBN-13 978-0865479524 Cook, Karen - First female disco DJ on record. From 1975 - ... She was trained by Sam Meyer, discjockey at Barbary Coast in Houston. Her first job was at Mean Green Inn at the University of North Texas Campus in Denton, TX. then she moved to Houston where she went to work high atop the Sheraton Oaks Town and Country. Then she went on to work at the most popular Houston Club at the time, which was Todds, owned by McFaddin Kendrick. They liked what she did so much that they hired her not only for their premiere exclusive member-only club, 'Elan, but also to program their many properties throughout the US. She met and married Dwight "Shotgun" Cook, popular rock jock from radio station KRBE in 1976. She moved out of the music arena and into family life. They have been married for 32 years and have 2 daughters, both musical. (Christin and Rebecca) She now is Vice President of Soundworks.com amd Christwebs.com in Houston, TX article by Andy Beta for The Village Voice (November 2008)
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