If ever a decade could be identified by a style of music it would be the 1970s and the Disco phenomenum. By definition, Disco is a genre of dance-oriented pop music that was popularized in dance clubs (discothèques) in the mid-1970s, dominating mainstream pop until the late 1970s, but in reality it was much more. Disco became almost a way of life for some young people. It had its own clothing style, its own dance form, its own superstars, its own movies - even its own record size (the 12 inch single) - all of which, when combined, paint the true picture of what the Disco era of the 1970s was all about. The traditional form of Disco is American, but there was an off-shoot form (like rock and jazz) of European (Eurodisco).

While there were a number of well-known mid-1970s disco performers, such as the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, the Village People, Sylvester and KC and The Sunshine Band, disco was primarily a producer's medium, since they created the tracks and wrote the songs. 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, it's eventual decline. While disco music declined in popularity in the early 1980s, it was an important influence on the development of the 1980s and 1990s electric dance music genres of house and techno. It also was an important influence in the 1990s and 2000s on the hip hop subgenres of crunk, hyphy, and snap.

Disco Dancing

Disco has its musical roots in late 1960s soul, especially the Philly and New York soul, both of which 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," "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 term disco was first used in print in an article by Vince Aletti in the September 13th 1973 edition of Rolling Stone Magazine titled "Discotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty!"

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, inspiring and influencing such prolific European dance track producers such as Giorgio Moroder and Jean-Marc Cerrone, who recorded danceable songs for the dance club scene. Moroder, whom Allmusic.com calls "one of the principal architects of the disco sound". was the Italian producer, keyboardist, and composer who produced many songs by singer Donna Summer, included the 1975 hit "Love to Love You Baby", a 17 minute-long song with a "shimmering sound and sensual attitude" Along with Moroder, one of the other influential European disco producers in the 1970s and early 1980s was the French producer Jean-Marc Cerrone.

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 Rap, Hip-Hop 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 DJ's such as Francis Grasso, who used multiple record players to seamlessly mix tracks from genres such as soul, funk and danceable Pop music at discoteques and was the forerunner to later styles such as Rap, Hip-Hop and Pop which followed Disco's lead and did the same.

The Hues Corporation's 1974 "Rock The Boat" was the first disco No.1 single and million-seller. Other chart-topping songs included "Love's Theme" by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra, a chart-topper from earlier in 1974, to be the first to have achieved that distinction. Also in 1974, 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)."

Disco Superstars

Donna Summer	The Bee Gees	Barry White	Gloria Gaynor

ABBA	Boney M	Silver Convention	Tina Charles

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" (1974), The Four Seasons’ "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" (1975), Silver Convention’s "Fly Robin Fly" (1975) and Get Up And Boogie (1976), KC and The Sunshine Band's "That's The Way (I Like It)" (1975) and "Shake, Shake, Shake (Shake Your Bootie)" (1975),
Tina Charles' "Love To Love", and The Bee Gees’ "Jive Talkin'" (1975), Candy Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free" (1976), Amii Stewart's "Knock On Wood" (1979), Eruption's "I Can't Stand The Rain" (1978), Kelly Marie's "Make Love To Me" (1979), Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" (1979), and The Village People's "Y.M.C.A.", "In The Navy", "Macho Man" and "You Can't Stop The Music".

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." All three charted in the U.S.. In France, Dalida released "J'attendrai," which became a big hit in Canada and Japan.

The release of the film and soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever (right), which became the No.1 best-selling soundtrack of all time, turned Disco into a mainstream music genre. This in turn led many non-Disco artists to record disco songs at the height of its popularity, most often due to demand from record companies who needed a surefire hit. Many of these songs were not "pure" disco, but were instead rock or pop songs with disco overtones. Notable examples include Helen Reddy’s "I Can't Hear You No More" (1976); Marvin Gaye’s "Got to Give It Up" (1977); Barry Manilow’s "Copacabana (At The Copa)" (1978); Chaka Khan’s "I'm Every Woman" (1978); Wings’ "Silly Love Songs" (1976) and "Goodnight Tonight" (1979); Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer duet "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (1979); Electric Light Orchestra’s "Last Train to London" and "Shine a Little Love" (1979); and Michael Jackson’s "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," and "Off the Wall" (1979), from his Off The Wall album.

The Disco sound layers soaring, often reverberated vocals, which are often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of electric pianos and "chicken-scratch" 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. The rhythm is laid down by prominent, syncopated basslines 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.

Because record sales were often dependent on floor play in clubs, DJs were important to the development and popularization of disco music. Singles were initially released on 45s. However, this format was subsequently replaced by the better sound quality and longer length of 12-inch singles. 12-inch single "... offered better dynamics, deeper bass and extended play capabilities that simply weren’t available from the 7 inch 45 RPM record or the standard 33 1/3 album." The 12-inch single format also allowed longer dance time and format possibilities. Motown Records’ "Eye-Cue" label was the first to market 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 Fashion

By the late 1970s many major cities around the world including Australia 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. 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." 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. Disco clubs and "...hedonistic loft parties" had a club culture which in the US attracted many African American, gay and hispanic people.

Disco dancing is now recognized worldwide as a dance form in its own right. It has since been refined and standardized and is now classified as Freestyle Dance. Freestyle is still recognizable as 70's disco dancing, with a strong emphasis on originality and the creation of new and exciting moves. Large scale competitions and championships are held all over the world in which disco and freestyle dancers compete for prizes. These competitions will typically include ballroom dance, latin american dance and other social dance forms. As a sport, a talented disco or freestyle dancer can compete professionally and have a career dancing worldwide. For many dancers, the primary influence of the 70's disco age is still predominantly the film Saturday Night Fever. In the 80's this developed into the music and dance style of such films as Fame, Flashdance, and the musical Chorus Line.

Though disco music had enjoyed several years of popularity, an anti-disco sentiment began to be manifested. 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.

Disco music and dancing 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 (e.g., cocaine and Quaaludes) 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 of America 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. To further complicate matters, several prominent hard rock bands recorded songs with disco influences, such as Kiss’ "I Was Made For Lovin' You" (1979) Rod Stewarts' "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1978) and The Rolling Stones’ "Miss You" (1978). Though these fusions of hard rock and disco were initially met with critical and commercial acclaim, many of the bands were subsequently viewed as "sell-outs".

Since the advent of disco and dance music, rock music has absorbed many of the rhythmic sensibilities of funk-influenced dance music, while nevertheless retaining a distinct sound and audience culture. The emergence of the punk and New Wave scenes contributed to disco's decline. However, unlike in the U.S., there was never a focused backlash against disco in the UK or Europe, and discotheques and club culture continued longer in Europe than in the US.

Music historians generally refer to 12th July 1979, as the "day disco died", because of an anti-disco demonstration that was held in Chicago, USA. Rock station DJs Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, along with Michael Veeck, son of Bill Veeck, who was the owner of the Chicago White Sox, staged Disco Demolition Night, a promotional event with an anti-disco theme for disgruntled Rock fans. During this event, which involved exploding disco records, the participants tore out seats and the turf in the field and performed other damage to the stadium. 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. The stadium suffered thousands of dollars in damage.

The anti-disco backlash may have helped to cause changes to the landscape of Top 40 radio. 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. 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), The Weather Girls’ "It's Raining Men" (1982), The Pointer Sisters’ "I'm So Excited" (1982), Prince’s "1999" (1983), Madonna’s "Lucky Star" (1983), Irene Cara’s "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" (1983), Angela Bofill's "Too Tough" (1983), Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" (1983), and the Village People’s "Sex Over The Phone" (1985).

In the 1990s, a revival of the original disco style began to emerge. The disco influence can be heard in songs as 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), 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), La Toya Jackson's "Just Wanna Dance" (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 2000s, many disco-influenced songs have been released, becoming hits, including Ultra Nate's "Love's The Only Drug" (2006), Gina G’s "Tonight's The Night" (2006), Irene Cara's "Forever My Love" (2006), Bananarama's "Look on the Floor (Hynotic Tango)" (2006), Dannii Minogue's "Perfection" (2006), Akcent's "Kings of Disco" (2007), the Freemasons "Rain Down Love" (2007), Claudja Barry's "I Will Stand" (2006), Suzanne Palmer's "Free My Love" (2007), Pepper Mashay's "Lost Yo Mind" (2007) and Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s "Me and My Imagination" (2007).