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, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
A video jockey is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, MuchMusic and Channel V.
Lawrence Philpot, known as Larry Levan, was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club. He developed a cult following who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass". Influential post-disco DJ François Kevorkian credits Levan with introducing the dub aesthetic into dance music. Along with Kevorkian, Levan experimented with drum machines and synthesizers in his productions and live sets, ushering in an electronic, post-disco sound that presaged the ascendence of house music. He DJ'd at Club Zanzibar in the 1980s as well, home to the Jersey Sound brand of deep house or garage house.
Paradise Garage, also known as "the Garage" or the "Gay-rage", was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of dance and pop music, as well as LGBT and nightclub cultures. The 10,000 square feet (930 m2) club was founded by sole proprietor Michael Brody, and occupied a building formerly located at 84 King Street in the SoHo neighborhood. It operated from 1977 to 1987 and featured resident DJ Larry Levan.
The Saint was an American gay nightclub, located in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It operated from 1980 to 1988.
Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio.
The Loft was the location for the first underground dance party organized by David Mancuso, on February 14, 1970, in New York City. Since then, the term "The Loft" has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, nor beverages are sold. Mancuso's vision of a private party is similar to, and inspired by, the rent party and house party. Unlike conventional nightclubs or discotheques, attendance is by invitation only. In the late 1970s, Mancuso abandoned the generally accepted and expected practice of beatmatching, preferring to play songs in their entirety on his renowned audiophile-quality sound system. The Village Voice wrote that Mancuso's sound system was the best in New York and even described him as "more of a party engineer than a DJ." Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride.
Nightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, released on 11 May 1981 by Island Records. Recorded at Compass Point Studios with producers Alex Sadkin and Island Records' president Chris Blackwell, as well as a team of session musicians rooted by rhythm section Sly and Robbie, the album marked her second foray into a new wave style that blends a variety of genres, including reggae, R&B, dub and funk. The album has cover versions of songs by Bill Withers, Iggy Pop, Astor Piazzolla, and others, and original songs, three of which were co-written by Jones.
Manuel Parrish is an American songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez, Lotti Golden, Richard Scher and Aldo Marin, helped create and define electro in the early 1980s.
Cafe con Leche was a weekly Sunday night party held at various nightclubs in New York City. The party's span as a weekly event was over seven years and continues to be celebrated, with its 28th anniversary having taken place at The Q Club in New York City on Sunday, June 27, 2021. As a weekly, Cafe con Leche began at the Danceteria nightclub on January 1, 1993, and ended at Cheetah on July 11, 1999.
Leonard Warren Borisoff, known professionally by the stage name Len Barry, was an American singer, songwriter, lyricist, record producer, author, and poet.
John L. Medora, also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer, songwriter, composer and record producer best known to have teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop".
Ariel Belloso is an Argentine, UK-based DJ and record producer. He began his career playing new wave and disco music at clubs in the city of Rosario during the early 1980s, later in Buenos Aires; and moved to London in 1991, after spending 8 months in Ibiza, where he was influenced by the early house and acid house sounds.
The Glow of Love is the debut studio album by Italian/American ensemble Change, released in April 1980. It includes the singles "A Lover's Holiday", "Searching" and "The Glow of Love"; all three singles simultaneously topped the US dance chart for nine weeks from May to June 1980. The album reached number twenty-nine on the US Billboard Album Chart and ten on the US Billboard Black Albums chart.
David Todd was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania. He began his career in the music industry at a small retail record store in New York around 1970.
Raymond Randall Bettis is an American DJ, remixer, and producer of dance music.
One Half of a Whole Decade is a DJ mix album released by the eponymous record label of house nightclub Ministry of Sound in 1996. As the album's subtitle suggests, the album celebrates and documents the first five years of the Ministry of Sound as a nightclub. It is a box set and contains three discs, the first disc, Rulin', is based around the club's Rulin' garage nights and is mixed by CJ Mackintosh and Todd Terry. The second disc, Frisky?, is based around its Frisky? house nights and is mixed by Seb Fontaine and Jon Pleased Wimmin. The third disc, Logical Progression, is mixed entirely by LTJ Bukem and is based around his Logical Progression drum and bass nights.
Tony Humphries is an American electronic musician and DJ. He was one of the earliest proponents of house music and has been instrumental in spreading the genre on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jean-Philippe Aviance is a French American house and techno DJ and producer from Washington, D.C. His career took off in 1990 when he started DJing for Mother Juan Aviance's voguing house and weekly Kindergarten Parties at the Vault Nightclub in D.C. These weekly parties were frequented by U.S. nightlife personalities like Kevin Aviance, New York City's Club kids such as Amanda Lepore, James St. James and Kenny Kenny. Jean-Philippe was the House of Aviance's first ever DJ.
Richard Long (1933–1986) was an American sound designer. He is known as the preeminent sound designer of the disco era, having installed systems at clubs including Paradise Garage, Dorian Gray, Studio 54, City Hall, and Max's Kansas City.
