Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States’ urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am".
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band, founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "That's the Way ", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Boogie Shoes", "Please Don't Go" and "Give It Up". The band took its name from lead vocalist Harry Wayne Casey's last name ('KC') and the 'Sunshine Band' from KC's home state of Florida, the Sunshine State. The group had six top 10 singles, five number one singles and one number two single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Anita Ward is an American singer and musician. She is best known for her 1979 million-selling chart-topper "Ring My Bell".
Patrick Joseph Cowley was an American disco and Hi-NRG dance music composer and recording artist. Besides Giorgio Moroder, he often is credited as a pioneer of electronic dance music.
Euro disco is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the later 1970s; incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Euro disco compositions feature lyrics sung in English, although the singers often share a different mother tongue.
Gino Soccio is a Canadian disco record producer based in Montreal. His only US Billboard Hot 100 entry was the #48 hit single "Dancer" in 1979, but he did hit #1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart twice. "Dancer" peaked at #46 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1979. Soccio's third biggest hit, "It's Alright" / "Look At Yourself", from his album, Face to Face, reached #2 for 5 weeks also on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. "Turn It Around" was released only as a single in 1984.
Debbie Jacobs is an American singer who had several Disco hits.
Change is an Italian-American post-disco group formed in Bologna, Italy, in 1979 by businessman and executive producer Jacques Fred Petrus (1949–1987) and Mauro Malavasi. They were heavily influenced by legendary disco band Chic. The current incarnation of the group reformed in 2018.
Meco is an American record producer and musician, as well as the name of his band or production team. Meco is best known for his 1977 space disco version of the Star Wars theme from his album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk; both the single and album were certified platinum in the U.S.
Dee D. Jackson is an English singer and musician. In the 1970s, she worked as a film producer in Munich, Germany, before moving into music, working with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.
"Praise" is a 1981 gospel-inspired disco number released by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. The song, written by Gaye, is a tribute to not only his church upbringing but also to the sound of then-label mate Stevie Wonder, who is given a shout out on the song by Gaye. In the song, he persuades a lady to be positive in difficult times and let her "love come shining through". He then moves forward to praise God, similar to how a preacher would recite such passages from The Bible.
Luv' were a Dutch girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe as well as South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original members were Patty Brard, José Hoebee and Marga Scheide. In 1979, Luv' was 'Holland's best export act' and thus received the 'Conamus Export Prize'.
Dynasty was an American band, based in Los Angeles, California, created by producer and SOLAR Records label head Dick Griffey, and record producer Leon Sylvers III. The band was known for their dance/pop numbers during the late 1970s and 1980s. Keyboardist Kevin Spencer and vocalists Nidra Beard and Linda Carriere originally comprised the group.
Biddu Appaiah is an Indian-born, England-based singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer – who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro disco, and Indian pop, he has sold millions of records worldwide, and has received an Ivor Novello award for his work. He has been ranked at number 34 on NME 's "The 50 Greatest Producers Ever" list.
Santa Esmeralda is a U.S./French/Spanish disco group formed in the 1970s; perhaps best known for their hit disco remakes of the 1960s hits "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "House of the Rising Sun". The group featured original lead singer Leroy Gómez in 1977/1978 and singer Jimmy Goings from late 1978 until 1983, and once again original lead singer Leroy Gómez from the 1990s to this day.
Jacques Fred Petrus was a French-Italian businessman and a pioneer of post-disco music.
"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" is a 1979 disco song performed by R&B duo McFadden & Whitehead, from their debut album McFadden & Whitehead. They wrote and produced the song along with keyboard player Jerry Cohen. Released as the lead single from the album, the song spent a week at number one on the R&B singles chart. It also proved to be a successful crossover hit, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number 5 in the UK. The single also made it to number 10 on the disco charts. It eventually went double platinum, selling over 2 million copies.
La Bionda is an Italian musical duo formed by the brothers Carmelo and Michelangelo La Bionda. They are considered pioneers of the Italo disco music genre.
Vicky “D” was a short-lived New York-based post-disco/garage house group best known for their club hit "This Beat Is Mine". Released in late 1981, the song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Club Play Singles chart in February 1982, and peaked at number 42 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1982.
