Disco Inferno - Song Information

Song Information

The song was originally performed by The Trammps in 1976 and released as a single. It was inspired by a scene in the 1974 blockbuster film The Towering Inferno in which a discotheque is caught in the blaze. According to Tom Moulton, who mixed the record, the Dolby noise reduction had been set incorrectly during the mixdown of the tracks. When engineer Jay Mark discovered the error and corrected it, the mix had a much wider dynamic range than was common at the time. Due to this, the record seems to "jump out" at the listener. With "Starvin'" and "Body Contact Contract", it topped the U.S. Disco chart for six weeks in the late winter of 1977 and hit number nine on the Black Singles chart, but it was not initially a significant success at pop radio, peaking at number fifty-three on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Disco Inferno" gained much greater recognition once it was included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, this time in extended form, running nearly 11 minutes. Re-released by Atlantic Records, the track peaked at number eleven in the U.S. during the spring of 1978, becoming The Trammps' biggest and most-recognized single. Later, it was included in the Saturday Night Fever musical, interpreted by the 'DJ Monty' in the "Odissey 2001" discothèque.

The song also became an unofficial theme song for former New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams. It was often played at old Yankee Stadium while the scoreboard and video systems displayed the phrase "Bern Baby Bern", a play on the song's refrain and Williams' first name.

In 1996, "Disco Inferno" was included on the soundtrack to the cult comedy classic Kingpin, and featured in two pivotal scenes in which Roy Munson (played by Woody Harrelson) confidently strolls into a bowling alley. The scenes and the song embody the promise of the mid- to late-seventies. The song was also used in the trailer to the Adam Sandler comedy Bedtime Stories. In 2006, the extended version was featured on a remastered version of the Ghostbusters soundtrack.

On September 19, 2005, "Disco Inferno" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.