Disco

Disco is a dance music genre and associated subculture that first appeared in the late 1960s within the nightlife of U.S. cities. Its signature sound relies on steady four-on-the-floor drum patterns, syncopated basslines, strings, brass and horns, electric pianos, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars. The genre arose partly as a response from the 1960s counterculture against rock music's dominance and the stigma then attached to dance music.

The term "disco" is a shortened form of "discothèque," which originally meant a record library, derived from "bibliothèque." In English, "discotheque" carried the same meaning during the 1950s. In Paris, the word "discothèque" came to describe a type of nightclub after venues began playing records during the Nazi occupation of the early 1940s; some clubs even adopted it as their name. By 1960, an English magazine used it to refer to a Parisian nightclub. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "discotheque" as a dance hall or nightclub where recorded music is played for dancing, typically featuring a large dance floor, flashing colored lights, and a powerful sound system. Its earliest recorded use as a venue name dates to 1952, with other examples from 1960 onward, though the entry is now marked as somewhat dated. The dictionary defines "disco" as a strongly rhythmical pop music genre meant for nightclub dancing, especially popular in the mid-to-late 1970s, with usage starting in 1975. In the summer of 1964, a short sleeveless dress called the "discotheque dress" briefly became popular in the U.S., and the earliest known use of the abbreviated "disco" described that dress, appearing in *The Salt Lake Tribune* on July 12, 1964; *Playboy* magazine used it that September for Los Angeles nightclubs. Vince Aletti was among the first to apply "disco" to a sound or music genre, writing the September 13, 1973 *Rolling Stone* article "Discotheque Rock '72: Paaaaarty!"

Discothèques as venues were largely a French invention, brought to the United States when French expatriate Olivier Coquelin opened Le Club, a members-only restaurant and nightclub at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan, on New Year's Eve 1960. Disco music itself began as a blend of sounds from venues popular among African American, Latino American, and Italian American communities in New York City (especially Brooklyn), Baltimore, and Philadelphia from the late 1960s through the mid-to-late 1970s. Several dance styles emerged during disco's 1970s peak, including the Bump, the Hustle, the Watergate, the Continental, and the Busstop.

Throughout the 1970s, disco was further developed mainly by U.S. and European artists. While performers gained public attention, behind-the-scenes record producers were crucial in shaping the genre. By the late 1970s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco clubs, where DJs mixed dance records at venues like Manhattan's Studio 54, a celebrity hotspot. Nightclub-goers often wore expensive, extravagant outfits, typically loose pants or dresses for easy movement while dancing. A drug subculture flourished within disco, especially around substances that enhanced the experience of loud music and flashing lights—cocaine and quaaludes, the latter so common they were nicknamed "disco biscuits." Disco clubs were also linked to promiscuity, reflecting the era's sexual revolution. Films like *Saturday Night Fever* (1977) and *Thank God It's Friday* (1978) helped push disco into the mainstream.

Disco declined as a major U.S. trend after the Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and its popularity sharply dropped in the U.S. during the early 1980s. However, it remained popular in Italy and parts of Europe throughout the 1980s, and it also began trending in places like India and the Middle East, where it blended with regional folk styles such as ghazals and belly dancing. Disco later became a key influence on electronic dance music, house, hip-hop, new wave, dance-punk, and post-disco. The style has seen several revivals since the 1990s, and its influence persists across American and European pop music. A revival that started in the early 2010s gained major popularity in the early 2020s, with modern artists continuing the genre and introducing it to a new younger generation.

Musically, disco typically layers soaring, often-reverberated vocals—frequently doubled by horns—over a background "pad" of electric pianos and "chicken-scratch" rhythm guitars played on an electric guitar. Lead guitar appears less often in disco than in rock. The "rooster scratch" sound is created by lightly pressing guitar strings against the fretboard and quickly releasing them just enough for a slightly muted tone while strumming constantly near the bridge. Other backing keyboard instruments include the piano, electric organ (in early years), string synthesizers, and electromechanical keyboards like the Fender Rhodes electric piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, and Hohner Clavinet. Donna Summer's 1977 song "I Feel Love," produced by Giorgio Moroder with a prominent Moog synthesizer on the beat, was one of the first disco tracks to use a synthesizer. The rhythm is driven by prominent, syncopated basslines.