Disco

Disco is a form of music which emerged in the 1970s. The disco sound is characterized by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars. Good disco was called "groovy", a reference to the grooves on the uncompact disks used to store music at the time. (This is similar to how good contemporary music is called "shiny", a reference to the shiny surface of compact disks).

Disco can be seen as a reaction by the 60s counterculture to both the dominance of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music at the time. Lots of dance styles were developed during the period of disco's popularity in the United States, including "the Bump" and "the Hustle". By the late '70s, most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, and DJs would mix dance records at clubs such as Studio 54 in Manhattan.

The term "disco" actually comes from discothèque, which was invented in France during the Nazi occupation (believe it or not, this is actually true). However, they had to play jazz instead of disco because that was apparently harder for the Nazis to hear.

Disco declined as a major trend in pop music in the US following 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭™, when they burned that mother down.

Production

Disco costed more to produce because disco usually said "coucou", and then went ape with: a large band, several chordal instruments (like guitar, keyboards, and sunthesizer), drum/percussion (like BONGOS!!!!), horn and string sections, and occasionally some classical stuff like a flute or two. But hey, glam-glam isn't cheap.

Early disco records (1970-75) were pressed on the "standard" 3-minute, 7" singles, so they're the only good disco 45s. But then Tom Moulton realized that 45s are indeed inferior. 45s can hold only up to 5 minutes of high-quality music and no more. With the help of José Rodriguez, teh 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. And thus, "Ten Percent" was born. 12" single records and European-flavoured "maxi singles" quickly became the standard format for all disco DJs. They're still better than 7" singles though.

Up in Da Club

Nightclubs

By the late 70s, most major US cities had thriving disco club scenes, except maybe the Midwest. The biggest scenes were most notably in New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Miami, and Washington D.C. The scene focused on discotheques, nightclubs, and private loft parties (such as The Loft™ parties, which arguably marked the beginning of disco).

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.

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 the capital area's gay and straight college students in the late '70s.

A subsection dedicated exclusively to the discussion of Studio 54

In the late '70s, Studio 54 in Midtown Manhattan was arguably the best known nightclub in the world. This club played a major role in the writing of Chic's "Le Freak" (google it if you don't understand it), 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 was decorated with an image of the "Man in the Moon" that included an animated cocaine spoon.

Sound and light equipment, aka "the Hee Hoo Ha Ha"

Powerful, massively bass-heavy, hi-fi sound systems were a key part of The Disco Club Experience™. "David Mancuso, the Loft guy, 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 the effects of these innovations in venues such as the Garage". (source)

Typical lighting designs for disco dance floors could include multi-coloured lights that swirl around or flash to the beat, strobe light, an illuminated dance floor and a mirror ball.

The ever-important DJs

Disco-era disc jockeys (DJs) would often remix songs using reel-2-real tape machines, because dancers liked to move it, move it; The DJs added in percussion breaks (BONGOS!!!!), new sections, and new sounds. DJs would select songs and ｇｒｏｏｖｅｓ according to what the dancers wanted, 'cause they had the hots, for ya baby. Anyways, DJs transitioned from one song to the next with a DJ mixer and using a mic to introdice songs and speak to the audience. Some other equippystuffs got added to Da Setup, so those added cool newfangled sound manipulations, eg reverb, EQ, and echo. 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, Walter Gibbons, Karen Mixon Cook, Jim Burgess, John "Jellybean" Benitez, Richie Kulala of Studio 54 and Rick Salsalini.

See Also

• Illogicopedia:General disco lamer