82-401: Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-floor pattern), reverberated "intense" vocals and "pulsating" octave basslines, it was particularly influential on the disco scene. Whether hi-NRG
164-443: A horn section , a string orchestra , and a variety of " classical " solo instruments (for example, flute, piccolo, and so on). Disco songs were arranged and composed by experienced arrangers and orchestrators , and record producers added their creative touches to the overall sound using multitrack recording techniques and effects units . Recording complex arrangements with such a large number of instruments and sections required
246-443: A Dance Floor , Random Access Memories , Future Nostalgia , and Kylie Minogue 's album itself titled Disco . Modern day artists like Dua Lipa , Bruno Mars and Silk Sonic have continued the genre's popularity, bringing it to a whole new younger generation. The term "disco" is shorthand for the word discothèque , a French word for "library of phonograph records" derived from "bibliothèque". The word "discotheque" had
328-486: A beat (which in 4/4 time is 4 beats per measure). Disco is further characterized by a 16th note division of the quarter notes (as shown in the second drum pattern in the picture above, after a typical rock drum pattern). The orchestral sound usually known as "disco sound" relies heavily on string sections and horns playing linear phrases, in unison with the soaring, often reverberated vocals or playing instrumental fills, while electric pianos and chicken-scratch guitars create
410-525: A futuristic club populated entirely by Tom of Finland studs." During the same period, a genre of music styled as "hi-NRG" (EDM) became popular in Canada and the UK. The most popular groups of this style are Trans-X and Lime . The genre is also closely related to space disco ; bands of this genre include Koto , Laserdance , and Cerrone . The hi-NRG sound also influenced techno and house music . In 1983 in
492-551: A group of accompanying musicians who were among the most dextrous, knowledgeable, and brilliant in all of popular music (Motown bassists have long been the envy of white rock bassists) and 7) a trebly style of mixing that relied heavily on electronic limiting and equalizing (boosting the high range frequencies) to give the overall product a distinctive sound, particularly effective for broadcast over AM radio." Motown had many hits with disco elements by acts like Eddie Kendricks (" Keep on Truckin' " in 1973, " Boogie Down " in 1974). At
574-431: A hi-NRG DJ, the in-house DJ at London's Heaven nightclub in its early years and subsequently a record producer, defines hi-NRG as "melodic, straightforward dance music that's not too funky." Music journalist Simon Reynolds adds "The nonfunkiness was crucial. Slamming rather than swinging, hi-NRG's white European feel was accentuated by butt-bumping bass twangs at the end of each bar." High-tempo disco music dates back to
656-441: A key influence in the development of electronic dance music , house music , hip hop , new wave , dance-punk , and post-disco . The style has had several revivals since the 1990s , and the influence of disco remains strong across American and European pop music. A revival has been underway since the early 2010s , coming to great popularity in the early 2020s . Albums that have contributed to this revival include Confessions on
738-465: A key part of the disco club experience. The Loft party host David Mancuso introduced the technologies of tweeter arrays (clusters of small loudspeakers, which emit high-end frequencies, positioned above the floor) and bass reinforcements (additional sets of subwoofers positioned at ground level) at the start of the 1970s to boost the treble and bass at opportune moments, and by the end of the decade sound engineers such as Richard Long had multiplied
820-714: A major trend in popular music in the United States following the infamous Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and it continued to sharply decline in popularity in the U.S. during the early 1980s ; however, it remained popular in Italy and some European countries throughout the 1980s, and during this time also started becoming trendy in places elsewhere including India and the Middle East , where aspects of disco were blended with regional folk styles such as ghazals and belly dancing . Disco would eventually become
902-406: 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. Songs often use syncopation , which is the accenting of unexpected beats. In general, the difference between disco, or any dance song, and a rock or pop song is that in dance music the bass drum hits four to the floor , at least once
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#1732780188622984-428: A non-phallic full body eroticism. Through a range of percussion instruments, a willingness to play with rhythm, and the endless repeating of phrases without cutting the listener off, disco achieved this full-body eroticism by restoring eroticism to the whole body for both sexes. This allowed for the potential expression of sexualities not defined by the cock/penis, and the erotic pleasure of bodies that are not defined by
1066-489: A precursor of Italian/Japanese " Eurobeat ", with influences of techno and early Chicago house , primarily focuses on its characteristic sequenced "octave-jumping basslines" above anything else and in this form hi-NRG managed to surge into the mainstream with Stacey Q , Kim Wilde , and Laura Branigan . The octave basslines are also found in electroclash and in both cases may be traced to synth-pop and even further back to Giorgio Moroder (" I Feel Love "). Donna Summer
1148-460: A prominent Moog synthesizer on the beat, was one of the first disco tracks to use the synthesizer. The rhythm is laid down by prominent, syncopated basslines (with heavy use of broken octaves , that is, octaves with the notes sounded one after the other) 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 . In Philly dance and Salsoul disco,
1230-495: A relationship to a penis. The sexual liberation expressed through the rhythm of disco is further represented in the club spaces that disco grew within. In Peter Shapiro 's Modulations: A History of Electronic Music : Throbbing Words on Sound , he discusses eroticism through the technology disco utilizes to create its audacious sound. The music, Shapiro states, is adjunct to "the pleasure-is-politics ethos of post- Stonewall culture." He explains how "mechano-eroticism", which links
1312-399: A stronger effect. According to Peter Braunstein , the "massive quantities of drugs ingested in discothèques 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
1394-480: 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 and record producers, under the direction of arrangers, compiled these tracks into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with builds and breaks . Mixing engineers and record producers helped to develop
1476-498: A young reporter, who happened to be covering the opening of the club, impulsively took control of the record player and introduced the records that he chose to play. Klaus Quirini later claimed to thus have been the world's first nightclub DJ. During the 1960s, discotheque dancing became a European trend that was enthusiastically picked up by the American press. At this time, when the discotheque culture from Europe became popular in
1558-595: Is achieved by lightly pressing the guitar strings against the fretboard and then quickly releasing them just enough to get a slightly muted poker [sound] while constantly strumming very close to the bridge." Other backing keyboard instruments include the piano , electric organ (during early years), string synthesizers , and electromechanical keyboards such as the Fender Rhodes electric piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, and Hohner Clavinet . Donna Summer 's 1977 song " I Feel Love ", produced by Giorgio Moroder with
1640-420: Is immediately identifiable by its iconic basslines, pioneered by producer Giorgio Moroder , often programmed in repeating bass sequences, particularly 16th notes, which is characteristic of the hi-NRG electronic dance sound as in " I Feel Love " performed by Donna Summer and produced by Moroder. The rhythm is characterized by an energetic, staccato, sequenced synthesizer sound of octave basslines or/and where
1722-465: Is more rock-oriented than standard disco music is a matter of opinion. Hi-NRG can be heavily synthesized but it is not a prerequisite, and whether it is devoid of " funkiness " is, again, in the ear of the beholder. Certainly, many artists perform their vocals in R&;B and soul styles on hi-NRG tracks. The genre's tempo ranges between 120 and 140 beats per minute. The tempos cited here do not represent
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#17327801886221804-429: Is often "theatrical" in performance, featuring female (and male) musicians with facetious diva personas and male musicians sometimes in " drag " ( Sylvester , Divine ), cabarets/ musical theater ( Vicki Sue Robinson , Sharon Redd ). This style, that Stock Aitken Waterman were influenced by, had a large cult following among gay club-goers in the 1980s, especially San Franciscan black and white gay men. A second form,
1886-454: Is played for dancing, typically equipped with a large dance floor, an elaborate system of flashing coloured lights, and a powerful amplified sound system. " Its earliest example is use as the name of a particular venue in 1952, and other examples date from 1960 onwards. The entry is annotated as "Now somewhat dated". It defines Disco as "A genre of strongly rhythmical pop music mainly intended for dancing in nightclubs and particularly popular in
1968-531: The Step By Step disco dance TV show was launched with the sponsorship support of the Coca-Cola company. Produced in the same studio that Don Cornelius used for the nationally syndicated dance/music television show, Soul Train , Step by Step' s audience grew and the show became a success. The dynamic dance duo of Robin and Reggie led the show. The pair spent the week teaching disco dancing to dancers in
2050-552: The hippies informed proto-disco music like MFSB 's album Love Is the Message . Partly through the success of Jimi Hendrix , psychedelic elements that were popular in rock music of the late 1960s found their way into soul and early funk music and formed the subgenre psychedelic soul . Examples can be found in the music of the Chambers Brothers , George Clinton with his Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Sly and
2132-490: The recording studio . Larry Levan, for example, was a prolific record producer as well as a DJ. Because record sales were often dependent on dance floor play by DJs in the nightclubs, DJs were also influential in the development and popularization of certain types of disco music being produced for record labels. In the early years, dancers in discos danced in a "hang loose" or "freestyle" approach. At first, many dancers improvised their own dance styles and dance steps. Later in
2214-468: The "disco sound" by creating a distinctive-sounding, sophisticated disco mix . Early records were the "standard" three-minute version until Tom Moulton came up with a way to make songs longer so that he could take a crowd of dancers at a club to another level and keep them dancing longer. He found that it was impossible to make the 45-RPM vinyl singles of the time longer, as they could usually hold no more than five minutes of good-quality music. With
2296-531: The 1960s, the Motown record label developed its own approach, described as having "1) simply structured songs with sophisticated melodies and chord changes, 2) a relentless four-beat drum pattern, 3) a gospel use of background voices, vaguely derived from the style of the Impressions , 4) a regular and sophisticated use of both horns and strings, 5) lead singers who were half way between pop and gospel music, 6)
2378-633: The Gang , and Village People . While performers garnered public attention, record producers working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the genre. By the late 1970s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, and DJs would mix dance records at clubs such as Studio 54 in Manhattan , a venue popular among celebrities . Nightclub-goers often wore expensive, extravagant outfits, consisting predominantly of loose, flowing pants or dresses for ease of movement while dancing. There
2460-515: The Guinness Book of World Records. He danced for 205 hours, the equivalent of 8½ days. Other dance marathons took place afterward and Roberts held the world record for disco dancing for a short period of time. Some notable professional dance troupes of the 1970s included Pan's People and Hot Gossip . For many dancers, a key source of inspiration for 1970s disco dancing was the film Saturday Night Fever (1977). Further influence came from
2542-467: The Stonewall riots. As New York state had laws against homosexual behavior in public, including dancing with a member of the same sex, the eroticism of disco served as resistance and an expression of sexual freedom. He uses Donna Summer's singles " Love to Love You Baby " (1975) and " I Feel Love " (1977) as examples of the ever-present relationship between the synthesized bass lines and backgrounds to
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2624-597: The UK, music magazine Record Mirror began publishing a weekly hi-NRG chart. The style entered the British mainstream, with hits on the UK pop and dance charts (followed by the US dance charts), such as Hazell Dean 's " Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man) " and Evelyn Thomas 's " High Energy ". In the mid-1980s, hi-NRG producers in the dance and pop charts included Ian Levine and Stock Aitken Waterman , both of whom worked with many different artists. Stock Aitken Waterman had two of
2706-510: The United States with the opening of Le Club , a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan , by French expatriate Olivier Coquelin , on New Year's Eve 1960. Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular among African-Americans , Hispanic and Latino Americans , gay Americans , and Italian Americans in New York City (especially Brooklyn ) and Philadelphia during
2788-446: The United States, several music genres with danceable rhythms rose to popularity and evolved into different sub-genres: rhythm and blues (originated in the 1940s), soul (late 1950s and 1960s), funk (mid-1960s) and go-go (mid-1960s and 1970s; more than "disco", the word "go-go" originally indicated a music club). Musical genres that were primarily performed by African-American musicians would influence much of early disco. Also during
2870-479: The United States. Hi-NRG was reliant on technology and was all about "unfeasibly athletic dancing, bionic sex, and superhuman stamina". The freedom associated with it seemed to be embodied by a literal escape from human embodiment, and synchrony with technology. However, this was generally limited to the bodies of men as evidenced by songs titled "Menergy", and "So Many Men, So Little Time". Producers such as Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley created "an aural fantasy of
2952-416: The background "pad" sound defining the harmony progression . Typically, all of the doubling of parts and use of additional instruments creates a rich " wall of sound ". There are, however, more minimalist flavors of disco with reduced, transparent instrumentation. Harmonically, disco music typically contains major and minor seven chords, which are found more often in jazz than pop music. The "disco sound"
3034-470: The bass often takes the place of the hi-hat, alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record. There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines. One form of hi-NRG, as performed by Megatone Records artists and Ian Levine , is any uptempo disco and dance music, whether containing octave basslines or not, that often features covers of "classic" Motown hits ( Boys Town Gang ) and torch songs , and
3116-667: The beginning of another song using the DJ mixer's crossfader. Notable U.S. disco DJs include Francis Grasso of The Sanctuary, David Mancuso of The Loft , Frankie Knuckles of the Chicago Warehouse , Larry Levan of the Paradise Garage , Nicky Siano of The Gallery , Walter Gibbons , Karen Mixon Cook , Jim Burgess , John "Jellybean" Benitez , Richie Kulala of Studio 54 , and Rick Salsalini. Some DJs were also record producers who created and produced disco songs in
3198-490: The capital area's gay and straight college students in the late '70s. By 1979 there were 15,000-20,000 disco nightclubs in the US, many of them opening in suburban shopping centers, hotels, and restaurants. The 2001 Club franchises were the most prolific chain of disco clubs in the country. Although many other attempts were made to franchise disco clubs, 2001 was the only one to successfully do so in this time frame. Powerful, bass-heavy, hi-fi sound systems were viewed as
3280-574: 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, break down and codify popular disco dances as dance forms and distinguish between disco freestyle, partner, and line dances. The book topped the New York Times bestseller list for 13 weeks and was translated into Chinese, German, and French. In Chicago,
3362-557: The chest. Men often wore Pierre Cardin suits, three piece suits with a vest, and double-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers known as the leisure suit . Men's leisure suits were typically form-fitted to some parts of the body, such as the waist and bottom while the lower part of the pants were flared in a bell bottom style, to permit freedom of movement. During the disco era, men engaged in elaborate grooming rituals and spent time choosing fashion clothing, activities that would have been considered "feminine" according to
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3444-418: The dance and fashion aspects of the disco club scene, there was also a thriving club drug subculture , particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud, bass-heavy music and the flashing colored lights, such as cocaine (nicknamed "blow"), amyl nitrite (" poppers "), and the "... other quintessential 1970s club drug Quaalude , which suspended motor coordination and gave
3526-413: The dancers wanted, transitioning from one song to another with a DJ mixer and using a microphone to introduce songs and speak to the audiences. Other equipment was added to the basic DJ setup, providing unique sound manipulations, such as reverb , equalization, and echo effects unit . Using this equipment, a DJ could do effects such as cutting out all but the bassline of a song and then slowly mixing in
3608-487: The dancing, sex, and other embodied movements that contributed to the corporeal vibrations within the Sanctuary. It supports the argument that disco music took a role in facilitating this sexual liberation that was experienced in the discotheques. The recent legalization of abortion and the introduction of antibiotics and the pill facilitated a culture shift around sex from one of procreation to pleasure and enjoyment. Thus
3690-415: The disco became a kind of 'main course' in a hedonist's menu for a night out." At The Saint nightclub, a high percentage of the gay male dancers and patrons would have sex in the club; they typically had unprotected sex , because in 1980, HIV-AIDS had not yet been identified. At The Saint, "dancers would elope to an unpoliced upstairs balcony to engage in sex." The promiscuity and public sex at discos
3772-571: The disco clubs. The instructional show aired on Saturday mornings and had a strong following. Its viewers would stay up all night on Fridays so they could be on the set the next morning, ready to return to the disco on Saturday night knowing with the latest personalized steps. The producers of the show, John Reid and Greg Roselli, routinely made appearances at disco functions with Robin and Reggie to scout out new dancing talent and promote upcoming events such as "Disco Night at White Sox Park". In Sacramento, California, Disco King Paul Dale Roberts danced for
3854-686: The disco era, popular dance styles were developed, including the "Bump", "Penguin", "Boogaloo", "Watergate", and "Robot". By October 1975 the Hustle reigned. It was highly stylized, sophisticated, and overtly sexual. Variations included the Brooklyn Hustle, New York Hustle , and Latin Hustle . During the disco era, many nightclubs would commonly host disco dance competitions or offer free dance lessons. 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 "
3936-519: The effects of these innovations in venues such as the Garage." Typical lighting designs for disco dance floors include multi-colored lights that swirl around or flash to the beat, strobe lights , an illuminated dance floor , and a mirror ball . Disco-era disc jockeys (DJs) would often remix existing songs using reel-to-reel tape machines , and add in percussion breaks, new sections, and new sounds. DJs would select songs and grooves according to what
4018-454: The end of the 1960s, musicians, and audiences from the Black, Italian, and Latino communities adopted several traits from the hippie and psychedelia subcultures. They included using music venues with a loud, overwhelming sound, free-form dancing, trippy lighting, colorful costumes, and the use of hallucinogenic drugs. In addition, the perceived positivity, lack of irony, and earnestness of
4100-441: The entire body rather than the obvious erotic parts of the body. The New York nightclub The Sanctuary under resident DJ Francis Grasso is a prime example of this sexual liberty. In their history of the disc jockey and club culture, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton describe the Sanctuary as "poured full of newly liberated gay men, then shaken (and stirred) by a weighty concoction of dance music and pharmacoia of pills and potions,
4182-585: The first discotheque and to have been the first club DJ in 1953 in the "Whisky à Go-Go" in Paris. She installed a dance floor with colored lights and two turntables so she could play records without having a gap in the music. In October 1959, the owner of the Scotch Club in Aachen, West Germany chose to install a record player for the opening night instead of hiring a live band. The patrons were unimpressed until
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#17327801886224264-410: The full range of beats (BPM) of hi-NRG tracks; rather the tempos are retrieved from one source which is not an expert musical reference, but a sociological study of dance culture. Lyrics tend to be overtly camp , kitschy, tongue-in-cheek, sexually suggestive with double entendres but also occasionally sentimental or maudlin. The sound of high energy dance tracks, particularly electronic dance or disco,
4346-662: The gender stereotypes of the era. Women dancers wore glitter makeup, sequins , or gold lamé clothing that would shimmer under the lights. Bold colors were popular for both genders. Platform shoes and boots for both genders and high heels for women were popular footwear. Necklaces and medallions were a common fashion accessory . Less commonly, some disco dancers wore outlandish costumes, dressed in drag , covered their bodies with gold or silver paint, or wore very skimpy outfits leaving them nearly nude; these uncommon get-ups were more likely to be seen at invitation-only New York City loft parties and disco clubs. In addition to
4428-414: The help of José Rodriguez, his remaster/mastering engineer, 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. Moulton and Rodriguez discovered that these larger records could have much longer songs and remixes. 12" single records , also known as " Maxi singles ", quickly became the standard format for all DJs of the disco genre. By
4510-618: The late 1960s to the mid-to-late 1970s. Disco can be seen as a reaction by the 1960s counterculture to both the dominance of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music at the time. Several dance styles were developed during the period of 70s disco's popularity in the United States, including "the Bump ", "the Hustle ", "the Watergate", and "the Busstop". During the 1970s, disco music
4592-474: The late 1970s, Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan was arguably the best-known nightclub in the world. This club played a major formative role in the growth of disco music and nightclub culture in general. It was operated by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager and was notorious for the hedonism that went on within: the balconies were known for sexual encounters and drug use was rampant. Its dance floor
4674-893: The late 1970s, most major US cities had thriving disco club scenes. The largest scenes were most notably in New York City but also in Philadelphia , San Francisco , Miami , and Washington, D.C. The scene was centered on discotheques , nightclubs and private loft parties. In the 1970s, notable discos included " Crisco Disco ", "The Sanctuary", "Leviticus", " Studio 54 ", and " Paradise Garage " in New York, "Artemis" in Philadelphia, "Studio One" in Los Angeles, "Dugan's Bistro" in Chicago, and "The Library" in Atlanta. In
4756-569: The mid to late 1970s.", with use from 1975 onwards, describing the origin of the word as a shortened form of discotheque . In the summer of 1964, a short sleeveless dress called the "discotheque dress" was briefly very popular in the United States. The earliest known use for the abbreviated form "disco" described this dress and has been found in The Salt Lake Tribune on July 12, 1964; Playboy magazine used it in September of
4838-404: The mid- to late 1980s, as the genre reached its peak. By 1990, however, techno and rave music had superseded hi-NRG in popularity in many dance clubs. Despite this, hi-NRG music is still being produced and played in various forms, including many remixed versions of mainstream pop hits, some with re-recorded vocals. Later in the 1990s, nu-NRG music, a form of trance music evolved from hi-NRG,
4920-461: The mid-1970s. The first hi-NRG song was Donna Summer 's " I Feel Love " from 1977. Other early examples include several British disco songs by Biddu and Patrick Hernandez (" Born to Be Alive ") in 1979. In the early 1980s, high energy music found moderate mainstream popularity in Europe; while opposing both Euro disco and electro on the dance scene, it became mainstream in the gay community in
5002-536: The most successful hi-NRG singles ever with their productions of Dead or Alive 's " You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) " (UK #1, CAN #1, US #11 in 1985) and Bananarama 's " Venus " (US #1, CAN #1, UK #8 in 1986). They also brought the genre full-circle, in a sense, by writing and producing Donna Summer's 1989 hit " This Time I Know It's for Real " (UK #3, CAN #7, US #7). American music magazine Dance Music Report published hi-NRG charts (and related industry news) in
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#17327801886225084-799: The music and dance style of such films as Fame (1980), Disco Dancer (1982), Flashdance (1983), and The Last Days of Disco (1998). Interest in disco dancing also helped spawn dance competition TV shows such as Dance Fever (1979). Disco fashions were very trendy in the late 1970s. Discothèque-goers often wore glamorous, expensive, and extravagant fashions for nights out at their local disco club. Some women would wear sheer, flowing dresses, such as Halston dresses, or loose, flared pants. Other women wore tight, revealing, sexy clothes, such as backless halter tops , disco pants , "hot pants", or body-hugging spandex bodywear or "catsuits". Men would wear shiny polyester Qiana shirts with colorful patterns and pointy, extra wide collars, preferably open at
5166-474: The off-beat, and a heavy, syncopated bass line. A recording error in the 1975 song " Bad Luck " by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes where Earl Young 's hi-hat was too loud in the recording is said to have established loud hi-hats in disco. 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
5248-529: The result is a festivaly of carnality." The Sanctuary was the "first totally uninhibited gay discotheque in America" and while sex was not allowed on the dancefloor, the dark corners, bathrooms. and hallways of the adjacent buildings were all utilized for orgy-like sexual engagements. By describing the music, drugs, and liberated mentality as a trifecta coming together to create the festival of carnality, Brewster and Broughton are inciting all three as stimuli for
5330-609: The same meaning in English in the 1950s. "Discothèque" became used in French for a type of nightclub in Paris, after they had resorted to playing records during the Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. Some clubs used it as their proper name. In 1960, it was also used to describe a Parisian nightclub in an English magazine. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Discotheque as "A dance hall, nightclub, or similar venue where recorded music
5412-625: The same year to describe Los Angeles nightclubs. Vince Aletti was one of the first to describe disco as a sound or a music genre. He wrote the 13 September 1973 feature article Discotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty! that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. The music typically layered soaring, often- reverberated vocals, often doubled by horns, over a background "pad" of electric pianos and "chicken-scratch" rhythm guitars played on an electric guitar . Lead guitar features less frequently in disco than in rock . "The "rooster scratch" sound
5494-401: The sensation that one's arms and legs had turned to ' Jell-O . ' " Quaaludes were so popular at disco clubs that the drug was nicknamed "disco biscuits". Paul Gootenberg states that "[t]he relationship of cocaine to 1970s disco culture cannot be stressed enough..." During the 1970s, the use of cocaine by well-to-do celebrities led to its "glamorization" and to the widely held view that it
5576-452: The simulated sounds of orgasms. Summer's voice echoes in the tracks, and likens them to the drug-fervent, sexually liberated fans of disco who sought to free themselves through disco's "aesthetic of machine sex." Shapiro sees this as an influence that creates sub-genres like hi-NRG and dub -disco, which allowed for eroticism and technology to be further explored through intense synth bass lines and alternative rhythmic techniques that tap into
5658-468: The sound was enriched with solo lines and harmony parts played by a variety of orchestral instruments, such as violin , viola , cello , trumpet , saxophone , trombone , flugelhorn , French horn , English horn , oboe , flute , timpani and synth strings , string section or a full string orchestra . Most disco songs have a steady four-on-the-floor beat set by a bass drum, a quaver or semi-quaver hi-hat pattern with an open hissing hi-hat on
5740-531: The technology used to create the unique mechanical sound of disco to eroticism, set the genre in a new dimension of reality living outside of naturalism and heterosexuality. Randy Jones and Mark Jacobsen echo this sentiment in BBC Radio's "The Politics of Dancing: How Disco Changed the World," describing the loose, hip-focused dance style as "a new kind of communion" that celebrates the sparks of liberation brought on
5822-448: Was a "soft drug". LSD , marijuana , and "speed" (amphetamines) were also popular in disco clubs, and the use of these drugs "...contributed to the hedonistic quality of the dance floor experience." Since disco dances were typically held in liquor licensed - nightclubs and dance clubs , alcoholic drinks were also consumed by dancers; some users intentionally combined alcohol with the consumption of other drugs, such as Quaaludes, for
5904-571: Was also a thriving drug subculture in the disco scene, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such as cocaine and quaaludes , the latter being so common in disco subculture that they were nicknamed "disco biscuits". Disco clubs were also associated with promiscuity as a reflection of the sexual revolution of this era in popular history. Films such as Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Thank God It's Friday (1978) contributed to disco's mainstream popularity. Disco declined as
5986-444: Was around 130 to 140 BPM . In the 1980s, the term "high-energy" was stylized as "hi-NRG". Eurobeat , dance-pop and freestyle artists such as Shannon , Stock Aitken & Waterman, Taylor Dayne , Freeez and Michael Sembello were also labeled as "hi-NRG" when sold in the United States. In the 1980s, "hi-NRG" referred not just to any high-tempo disco/dance music, but to a specific genre, only somewhat disco-like. Ian Levine ,
6068-419: Was born. Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines , string sections , brass and horns , electric piano , synthesizers , and electric rhythm guitars . Discothèques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to
6150-526: Was decorated with an image of the " Man in the Moon " that included an animated cocaine spoon . The " Copacabana ", another New York nightclub dating to the 1940s, had a revival in the late 1970s when it embraced disco; it would become the setting of a Barry Manilow song of the same name . In Washington, D.C. , large disco clubs such as "The Pier" ("Pier 9") and "The Other Side", originally regarded exclusively as " gay bars ", became particularly popular among
6232-412: Was described as having a " pansexual attitude [that] was revolutionary in a country where up until recently it had been illegal for two men to dance together unless there was a woman present; where women were legally obliged to wear at least one recognizable item of female clothing in public; and where men visiting gay bars usually carried bail money with them." Disco was mostly developed from music that
6314-591: Was developed further, mainly by artists from the United States as well as from Europe . Well-known artists included the Bee Gees , ABBA , Donna Summer , Gloria Gaynor , Giorgio Moroder , Baccara , The Jacksons , Michael Jackson , Boney M , Earth Wind & Fire , Rick James , ELO , Average White Band , Chaka Khan , Chic , KC and the Sunshine Band , Thelma Houston , Sister Sledge , Sylvester , The Trammps , Barry White , Diana Ross , Kool &
6396-608: Was fostered a very sex-positive framework around discotheques. Further, in addition to gay sex being illegal in New York state, until 1973 the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as an illness. This law and classification coupled together can be understood to have heavily dissuaded the expression of queerness in public, as such the liberatory dynamics of discotheques can be seen as having provided space for self-realization for queer persons. David Mancuso's club/house party, The Loft ,
6478-442: Was interviewed about her single " I Feel Love ", which was a mostly electronic, relatively high-tempo Euro disco song without a strong funk component. In the interview, she said "this song became a hit because it has a high-energy vibe". Following that interview, the description "high-energy" was increasingly applied to high-tempo disco music, especially songs dominated by electronic timbres. The tempo threshold for high-energy disco
6560-404: 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 funk , soul music of the late 1960s or the small jazz organ trios , disco music often included a large band, with several chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), several drum or percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums),
6642-473: Was part of a broader trend towards exploring a freer sexual expression in the 1970s, an era that is also associated with " swingers clubs , hot tubs , [and] key parties ." In his paper, "In Defense of Disco" (1979), Richard Dyer claims eroticism as one of the three main characteristics of disco. As opposed to rock music which has a very phallic centered eroticism focusing on the sexual pleasure of men over other persons, Dyer describes disco as featuring
6724-423: Was popular on the dance floor in clubs that started playing records instead of having a live band. The first discotheques mostly played swing music . Later on, uptempo rhythm and blues became popular in American clubs and northern soul and glam rock records in the UK. In the early 1940s, nightclubs in Paris resorted to playing jazz records during the Nazi occupation. Régine Zylberberg claimed to have started
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