The Disco Era

Disco is a genre of dance music and a counterculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife scene.  Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated baselines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pianos, synthesizers and electric rhythm guitars.

Discotheques as a venue were mostly a French invention, imported to the United States with the opening of Le Club, a members-only restaurant and nightclub located at 416 East 55th Street in Manhattan, by nightclub owner and promotor, Olivier Coquelin, on New Year's Eve in 1960.  Coquelin is known for creating the first American discotheque in the United States. 

Disco music as a genre started as a mixture of music from venues popular among African Americans, Latino Americans and Italian Americans in New York City (especially Brooklyn) and Philadelphia during the late 1960s to the mid-to-late 1970s.

Several dance styles were developed during the period of disco's popularity in the United States which included recordings by Earth, Wind and Fire.  Disco crossover songs such as "September" and "Let's Groove" became massive staples of the disco dance floor though EWF are also considered an R&B band and pioneers of funk, soul and jazz. Another disco song, Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now was recorded in 1979 by American R&B duo, McFadden and Whitehead. Disco groups of the decade were The Bee Gees, Chic, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Emotions, The Jackson 5, Kool and the Gang, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, The Pointer Sisters and Sister Sledge among many others.

The Disco ee boomed in the 1970s and remains a pervasive influence today due to several key factors among them being Cinematic Magic found in the blockbuster film, Saturday Night Fever (1977) propelling the scene from underground clubs to straight mainstream living rooms. 

The most famous at the 2001 Odyssey club while the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancin'" plays.

Why It Survives Today

Disco never truly died because it simply .. evolved.  Contemporary stars consistently channel the genre's infectious, feel-good energy. At its core, the genre is all about joy, escapism and coming together on the dance floor which is a universal, enduring human desire.