Music History of The United States in The 1970s - Disco

Disco

For many people, disco is the genre of music most readily associated with the 1970s. First appearing in dance clubs by the middle of the decade, (with such hits as "The Hustle" by Van McCoy), songstresses like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor and Anita Ward (in North America); and Dalida (in Europe) popularized the genre and were described in subsequent decades as the "disco divas." The movie Saturday Night Fever was released in December 1977, starring John Travolta and featuring the music of the Bee Gees and several other artists. It had the effect of setting off disco mania in the United States. The Bee Gees' soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever became the best selling album of all time until 1983 when Michael Jackson's Thriller broke that record.

Almost as quickly as disco's popularity came, however, it soon fell out of favor. The genre started to become increasingly commercialized, and the large number of disco songs flooding the radio airwaves in 1978-1979 resulted in a growing backlash against it, as epitomized by the "Disco Demolition Night" stunt by a Chicago disc jockey at a July 1979 baseball game at Comiskey Park. Disco clubs also gained a reputation as decadent places where people engaged in drug use and promiscuous sex. The popularity of the genre waned, and 1980s "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc. was one of the last disco hits. Along with the demise of disco came the end of the orchestrations and musical instruments (such as strings) which had become associated with disco, in part because of the high cost of producing such music. Electronic and synthesized music quickly replaced the lush orchestral sounds of the 1970s and rock music resurged in popularity with new wave bands such as Blondie ("Heart of Glass"), The Knack ("My Sharona") and Devo ("Whip It"), all who formed their bands in the 1970s. Many artists such as The Bee Gees, who came to be associated with disco, found it difficult to sell records or concert tickets in the 1980s.