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Where Did It Come From?
Because of the rise of specialized DJ equipment in the ‘60s, clubs could play records instead of booking a band. Prior to these technological advances, records would skip and jump when people hit the dance floor. Here's a BBC DJ in 1979 about to spin some sweet Disney Disco.
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At The Disco
If you hit the club and you’re not focused on getting up close enough to the stage to wink at the bass player, you can really focus on your dance moves, the crowd, your outfit, and most importantly, the music itself. Disco music is designed for dancing.
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Everyone On The Floor
The disco sound incorporates orchestral, Latino, Motown and international sounds and pairs them with a psychedelic sensibility. The bass drum hits every beat creating a sound called ‘four on the floor’ because the 4/4 beat gets everyone on the dance floor. Everyone. Even if you're Brooke Shields at the Disco Awards and Chuck Berry has to carry you.
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Disco In Canada
In 1976, Patsy Gallant of Campbellton, New Brunswick, scored the biggest hit of her career with the disco smash “From New York to L.A.” Gallant, a career performer who started on stage as a child and hosted her own variety show before pursuing a successful career in musicals, was the first woman to be nominated for a Producer of the Year Juno.
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Queen Of Disco
Patsy Gallant earned the title ‘Queen of Disco’ and membership in the Order of Canada, as presented to Queen Gallant here in 2019 by the Queen of England's rep in Canada, Governor General Julie Payette.
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Maggy May
Among the country's most famous disco fans is Margaret Trudeau, a regular at NYC's famed Studio 54 disco.
That's where she is in this photo, chatting to fellow jive cat Liza Minnelli.
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C'est Chic
In 1979, Billboard called Montreal the second-most important disco music market in North America, after New York City. Montreal had about 50 discos. Country-wide, about 90 radio stations played disco music and Toronto had an all-disco channel, CHIC-AM.
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Peak Disco
By the mid-‘70s, disco had really taken off. The charts were packed with disco tracks, from artists like the Bee Gees, KC and the Sunshine Band (pictured), and the Jacksons. But then a cultural event happened that launched disco into the stratosphere of public consciousness and mass popularity. The disco dance drama "Saturday Night Fever", released in 1977, became a sensation.
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The Fever Hit
John Travolta was nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in "Saturday Night Fever". Famous film critic Gene Siskel listed it as his favourite movie and even bought Travolta's white suit from the film. In 2010, "Saturday Night Fever" was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Disco was officially an art form that could be expressed through not only music and dance, but also film. The movie's soundtrack, anchored by Bee Gees disco hits, is one of the bestselling soundtracks of all time.
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'I Feel Love'
Donna Summer's 1977 disco chart-topper "I Feel Love" was created in the exciting new world of synthesizers. In fact, it was created solely using synth, forever changing the way music is created. In the track, you can hear the seeds of future dance music and elements of house music, which would come. The Financial Times called "I Feel Love" "one of the most influential records ever made". In 2011, the American Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".
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Disco People
Also significant? The Village People. In March 2020 the Library of Congress added their biggest hit, "Y.M.C.A." to the National Recording Registry, describing it as "an American phenomenon". The Village People also racked up major disco hits in the '70s with songs like "Macho Man", "In the Navy", and "Go West".
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Over The Top
By 1978, disco had become such a cultural force that rockers were jumping on the bandwagon. Rod Stewart (pictured) released the disco hit “Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?” and the Rolling Stones put out “Miss You” in 1978. Kiss unleashed “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” in 1979.
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Give It To Me Straight, Doctor
As disco absolutely saturated pop culture, a backlash gained steam. These anti-disco attitudes were reflected by the radio DJ character Dr. Johnny Fever on “WKRP in Cincinnati”, which debuted in 1978.
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Disco Sucks
Meanwhile in Chicago, DJ Steve Dahl was enjoying a morning show slot at WDAI-FM, which played “Chicago’s Best Rock”. But when the station changed its format to disco, he found himself out of a job on Christmas Eve and harbouring a grudge against the genre.
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Disco Demo
Dahl picked up a job at WCKL-FM where he created a promotion with the White Sox to host a “Disco Demolition” between the games of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. What’s a disco demolition, you ask? In this case, it’s where fans who bring a disco record to the game can get in for just $0.98 and all the disco records are blown up. Yes. You read that right. It’s like a book burning, but for records, and staged as an amusement. After the explosion, thousands of fans stormed the field and the second game of the doubleheader had to be cancelled and the riot police were invited to handle the situation. A lot of people point to this 1979 event as the end of the disco era. But there were other factors at play.
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Punk, For Example
Disco was not the final music genre ever generated. New music genres are being generated and influenced constantly. Even now. Even right now. And now. But then? Punk started to happen and punk's lean instrumentation and seemingly non-existent production values were the antitheses of gaudy disco. Their album ‘Anarchy In The UK’ was named the most influential record of the 1970s in a 2005 poll by Q magazine, beating out Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”.
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