Disco is a form of dance incorporating various aspects from several dance
styles, including swing, samba, mambo, cha cha, merengue, fox trot, and
tango. It became an American dance sensation in the 1970s and was glorified in the 1977 box office smash Saturday Night Fever. A disco, short for
“discotheque,” is also the place, usually a club, where people go to dance.
In the 1950s, a time of transition in the history of music, nightclubs
began hiring DJs to spin records. It was a cheaper alternative to hiring
live bands, and the music could be more varied and current. The first
disco club opened in Paris, France. Called the Peppermint Lounge, it
would spur the establishment of other discos over the next couple
decades. The first American disco, the Whisky a
Go Go, opened on Sunset Boulevard in West
Hollywood, California, in January 1964.
All the rage
A dance called the Twist took the nightclub
scene by storm in the 1960s. New York City
opened its own Peppermint Lounge and hired
DJs. Many clubs followed suit, adding dancers
in cages to the entertainment stage. In Florida,
home to a large Cuban/Latin population,
dancers began experimenting with salsa and
swing. Thanks to the invention of the synthesizer, 1968 marked the beginning of electronic
music. Cuban dancers used this new music to
create disco. By 1970, disco swing was being
danced all over the United States.
As disco’s popularity increased, nightclubs
became fancier and more tech savvy. The sexual
revolution of the 1960s contributed to an image
of disco as celebrating sexual freedom and drug
use, with a focus on urban nightlife. The most
sophisticated disco to crop up was New York City’s Studio 54. Opening its doors in April 1977, Studio 54 was unlike
many other discos, which were mere warehouses. With its lavish decorations and extravagant dance floor, it became the place for celebrities and
trendy New Yorkers alike to dance until the early morning hours in the
late 1970s, and it remained a hot spot until it closed in 1986.
Influences
In 1977, actor John Travolta (1954–) starred in a movie that would become a cultural icon. Saturday Night Fever heavily influenced and popularized the disco culture. Travolta played a poor urban youth who
escaped the drudgery of daily life by visiting the disco, where he honed
his dance skills. The film’s music was written and performed by the Bee
Gees, a pop trio from Australia who gained a second career through the
sounds of disco.
Other influential and notable disco-era musicians include Donna
Summer (1948–), Chic, Gloria Gaynor (c. 1949–), Patti LaBelle
(1944–), KC and the Sunshine Band, and the Village People. One of the
earliest disco songs to hit the number one spot on music charts was the
Hues Corporation’s 1974 smash single “Rock the Boat.” Other memorable tunes include “Le Freak” (Chic), ”Fly Robin Fly” (Silver
Convention), “I Will Survive” (Gaynor), and “That’s the Way (I Like It)”
(KC and the Sunshine Band).
As is often the case, musicians who find stardom in music trends
often fail to maintain their success. Groups such as the Village People,
Chic, and Silver Convention had records at the top of the charts
throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. But as the disco sound morphed
into hip hop, techno pop, and the “dance sound,” many disco-era stars
were forgotten by all but die-hard fans unless they were able to cross genres. Earth, Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan (1953–) were two artists who
successfully mixed their disco sound with funk and rhythm and blues.
This versatility gave them staying power, and they continued to sell
records even after disco had died.
End of an era
Disco reached its peak in 1978, and in June of that year, New York declared a National Disco Week. It seemed as though the entire entertainment industry had been taken over by disco. Weekly television shows such as Soul Train and Dance Fever attracted millions of viewers.
Fashions changed to reflect the sexy attitude of disco as women wore
fluttery, clingy, short dresses and men wore wide-collar button-down
shirts, polyester suits, and gold jewelry.
Not everyone was enamored of the disco craze. There can often be a
general cultural backlash to a style that permeates every part of society.
The influence of disco was everywhere—in movies, clothes, and music—
and many felt overwhelmed. With the growth of a harder rock and roll
sound and image, many embraced this new style and rebelled against
anything disco, often burning disco records and mocking disco on the
radio and in rock songs. Also helping usher out the disco era was the
resurgence of country music and style as shown in the 1980 movie
Urban Cowboy, which starred John Travolta as a dancing cowboy, excitable and sincere. Tight polyester pants were replaced with tight blue
jeans, and what was once recognized as disco swing suddenly but subtly
became rodeo swing, or cowboy swing. These country-western dances
were easier to master, so even nondancers who had felt left out in the
1970s could now participate. The combination of these factors led to the
demise of disco.
In the twenty-first century, those too young to have experienced the
disco era often see it as strange and somewhat dated, while those who
took part in it often look back on the era with nostalgia. Comedians and
television sitcoms may make fun of disco, its styles and its dancers, but
there is no denying that disco left its mark on the history of American
music and social style.