Disco

The rise, reign and afterlife of disco — the four-on-the-floor sound that took over the world. From Philly soul and Giorgio Moroder's Munich machine to Studio 54 and the Paradise Garage, from Donna Summer, Chic and the Bee Gees to Disco Demolition Night and the house and nu-disco that carried its DNA into the future. Told through the real performances, music videos, club footage and artifacts.

A chronological documentary of 125 moments spanning 1970–2022 on Loreline.

last updated 2026-07-16

1. 1970 — The Sanctuary. A deconsecrated church turned into one of New York's first true discotheques, where Francis Grasso spun.
2. 1971-07 — Isaac Hayes — Theme from Shaft. Isaac Hayes's wah-wah funk theme won an Oscar in 1972 and pointed the way to disco's orchestral funk.
3. 1972-09 — The O'Jays — Love Train. The Philadelphia sound of Gamble & Huff, all strings and brotherhood, laid the template for disco.
4. 1973 — Nicky Siano and the Gallery. At the Gallery, teenage DJ Nicky Siano used three turntables and taught Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles.
5. 1973-11 — MFSB — TSOP (Soul Train theme). 'The Sound of Philadelphia' became the theme to Soul Train and one of disco's founding grooves.
6. 1973-11 — Love Unlimited Orchestra — Love's Theme. An instrumental number one in 1974, Love's Theme was one of disco's earliest blueprints.
7. 1974 — The Soul Train line. Don Cornelius's Soul Train brought the dancefloor to television and the whole nation learned the moves.
8. 1974-02-18 — The Jackson 5 — Dancing Machine. The Jackson 5's Dancing Machine caught the early dancefloor beat and Michael's robot in 1974.
9. 1974-06 — The Hues Corporation — Rock the Boat. Often called the first true disco hit to top the American charts, in 1974.
10. 1974-08 — Barry White — Can't Get Enough of Your Love. Barry White and his Love Unlimited Orchestra brought lush, orchestral seduction to the pre-disco dancefloor.
11. 1974-08 — B.T. Express — Do It ('Til You're Satisfied). B.T. Express's raw 1974 funk-disco was one of the sound's earliest club hits.
12. 1974-11 — LaBelle — Lady Marmalade. LaBelle's Lady Marmalade brought glam, funk and disco together for a 1975 number one.
13. 1975 — Northern Soul and the dancefloor. Britain's Northern Soul scene — all-nighters at Wigan and Blackpool Mecca — ran parallel to disco and fed its DJ culture.
14. 1975 — The Bump and the line dances. Alongside the Hustle, dances like the Bump swept discos and living rooms alike.
15. 1975 — David Mancuso and the Loft. David Mancuso's invitation-only Loft parties were the underground blueprint for the whole disco culture.
16. 1975-05 — Van McCoy — The Hustle. Van McCoy's 1975 hit named and launched the partnered line dance that swept the nation.
17. 1975-07 — KC and the Sunshine Band — That's the Way (I Like It). The Miami sound of KC and the Sunshine Band was pure, joyful party disco.
18. 1975-08 — Donna Summer — Love to Love You Baby. Giorgio Moroder produced a seventeen-minute seduction that announced the album-side disco epic.
19. 1975-09 — Gloria Gaynor — Never Can Say Goodbye. Gloria Gaynor's 1975 album pioneered the continuous, non-stop DJ-friendly disco side.
20. 1975-09 — Silver Convention — Fly, Robin, Fly. The Munich group's minimal, hypnotic Eurodisco topped the American charts in 1975.
21. 1976 — The Salsoul Orchestra. Salsoul Records and its orchestra gave New York disco its lush, Latin-tinged house style.
22. 1976 — The birth of the 12-inch single. The extended 12-inch single, pioneered by DJs and mastered by Tom Moulton, let a groove run for ten minutes.
23. 1976-03 — Andrea True Connection — More, More, More. A former adult-film star scored one of disco's most enduring hooks in 1976.
24. 1976-03 — Diana Ross — Love Hangover. Diana Ross's shift from ballad to four-on-the-floor mid-song became a dancefloor landmark in 1976.
25. 1976-05 — Tavares — Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel. The brothers Tavares delivered some of the smoothest vocal disco of the mid-seventies.
26. 1976-08 — Wild Cherry — Play That Funky Music. A white funk band's plea to 'play that funky music' became a 1976 number one.
27. 1976-08 — ABBA — Dancing Queen. ABBA's Dancing Queen took the disco sound to the top of the charts around the world in 1976.
28. 1976-09 — Rick Dees — Disco Duck. A novelty number one, Disco Duck showed how far the craze had saturated pop culture by 1976.
29. 1976-09 — Rose Royce — Car Wash. Norman Whitfield's Car Wash was a funk-disco crossover smash and a hit film soundtrack.
30. 1976-09 — Cerrone — Love in C Minor. The French producer Cerrone opened Eurodisco with an orchestral, sixteen-minute suite in 1976.
31. 1976-11 — Thelma Houston — Don't Leave Me This Way. Thelma Houston's 1976 version turned a Philly ballad into a disco classic.
32. 1976-11 — Heatwave — Boogie Nights. Written by Rod Temperton, Heatwave's Boogie Nights was a transatlantic disco-funk smash.
33. 1976-12 — The Trammps — Disco Inferno. 'Burn baby burn' — the Trammps' Disco Inferno became an anthem after Saturday Night Fever.
34. 1977 — The mirror ball. The spinning mirror ball, scattering light across the crowd, became the single symbol of disco.
35. 1977 — The disco look. Flares, sequins, platform shoes and Halston gowns — disco was as much a style as a sound.
36. 1977 — The DJ and the mix. Francis Grasso and the first disco DJs invented beatmatching, keeping the dancefloor moving without a break.
37. 1977 — 2001 Odyssey. The Brooklyn discotheque whose lit-up floor became the set of Saturday Night Fever.
38. 1977 — Giorgio Moroder and the Munich sound. From his Musicland studio, Giorgio Moroder built the pulsing synthesizer sound that defined late disco.
39. 1977-04-26 — Studio 54 opens. The most famous nightclub in the world opened in a former CBS studio on West 54th Street in April 1977.
40. 1977-05 — First Choice — Doctor Love. Philadelphia's First Choice made proto-house classics beloved by DJs for decades.
41. 1977-07 — Baccara — Yes Sir, I Can Boogie. The Spanish duo Baccara scored one of Europe's best-selling disco singles in 1977.
42. 1977-07 — Donna Summer — I Feel Love. Moroder's fully synthesized 1977 track invented the sound of electronic dance music.
43. 1977-09 — Chic — Dance, Dance, Dance. Chic's debut hit announced Rodgers and Edwards as disco's sharpest hitmakers.
44. 1977-11 — Cerrone — Supernature. Cerrone's dark, synth-driven Supernature was a Euro-disco landmark of 1977.
45. 1977-12 — Bee Gees — Stayin' Alive. The Bee Gees' falsetto anthem, from Saturday Night Fever, became the sound of the entire era.
46. 1977-12 — Bee Gees — Night Fever. Another Bee Gees smash from the Fever soundtrack, the best-selling album of its time.
47. 1977-12 — You Should Be Dancing. The Bee Gees track that soundtracks Travolta's solo dance in Saturday Night Fever.
48. 1977-12-14 — Saturday Night Fever. John Travolta's white suit and the Bee Gees soundtrack made the film that put disco on every screen in 1977.
49. 1978 — Halston and the disco wardrobe. Halston's fluid jersey gowns dressed the Studio 54 crowd and defined disco glamour.
50. 1978 — Inside Studio 54. Bianca Jagger on a white horse, Halston, Warhol and Liza — Studio 54 was where the beautiful people danced.
51. 1978 — Disco on television. Variety shows and Top of the Pops filled prime time with disco dancers in glitter and lycra.
52. 1978-04-14 — Donna Summer — Last Dance. Last Dance, the show-closing anthem, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
53. 1978-05 — Sylvester — Dance (Disco Heat). Sylvester and producer Patrick Cowley helped invent the fast, gay Hi-NRG sound.
54. 1978-05-19 — Thank God It's Friday. The 1978 film set in a disco gave Donna Summer's Last Dance an Oscar and captured the craze on screen.
55. 1978-06 — La Bionda — One for You, One for Me. The Italian brothers La Bionda helped invent the Italo-disco template in the late seventies.
56. 1978-07 — Sylvester — You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real). Sylvester's ecstatic falsetto and Hi-NRG sound made him disco's queer icon.
57. 1978-08 — A Taste of Honey — Boogie Oogie Oogie. A Taste of Honey's slap-bass anthem topped the charts and won a Grammy in 1978.
58. 1978-08-28 — Boney M. — Rasputin. Frank Farian's German-based Boney M. made theatrical Eurodisco global with Rasputin and Daddy Cool.
59. 1978-09 — Chic — Le Freak. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards wrote Le Freak after being turned away from Studio 54 — it became a monster hit.
60. 1978-09 — Donna Summer — Live and More. Donna Summer's 1978 double live album made her the first woman with a number-one live LP.
61. 1978-10 — Gloria Gaynor — I Will Survive. Gloria Gaynor's 1978 anthem of defiance became disco's most enduring song.
62. 1978-10 — Donna Summer — MacArthur Park. The Queen of Disco topped the charts in 1978 with a soaring disco reinvention of MacArthur Park.
63. 1978-10 — Eruption — One Way Ticket. The Frank Farian-linked group Eruption gave Euro-disco one of its catchiest 1978 hits.
64. 1978-10 — Village People — Y.M.C.A.. The Village People turned camp into a global phenomenon with Y.M.C.A. and its arm-waving chorus.
65. 1978-11 — Cheryl Lynn — Got to Be Real. Cheryl Lynn's Got to Be Real became one of disco's most sampled and beloved records.
66. 1978-11 — Earth, Wind & Fire — September. Earth, Wind & Fire's September is one of the most joyful and enduring songs of the disco years.
67. 1978-12 — The Jacksons — Blame It on the Boogie. The Jacksons' 1978 dancefloor smash showed the family fully in the disco era.
68. 1979 — Rodgers & Edwards, the hitmakers. Beyond Chic, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards produced Diana Ross's Diana and Sister Sledge — disco's sharpest production team.
69. 1979 — 'Disco Sucks'. By 1979 a rock-radio-driven 'Disco Sucks' movement had turned a musical craze into a culture war.
70. 1979 — Amii Stewart — Knock on Wood. Amii Stewart's electrifying disco reinvention of Knock on Wood topped the charts in 1979.
71. 1979 — Salsoul and the disco orchestra. Vince Montana's Salsoul Orchestra brought Philly's orchestral polish to the New York underground.
72. 1979 — The disco glut. Everyone cashed in — even Ethel Merman and a disco Star Wars — until the market collapsed under its own weight.
73. 1979 — Larry Levan and the Paradise Garage. At the Paradise Garage, DJ Larry Levan turned the DJ set into an art form and shaped house music to come.
74. 1979 — The end of the disco boom. By 1980 the major labels had shuttered their disco divisions and the hits dried up almost overnight.
75. 1979 — Rock radio versus disco. Rock stations and their listeners cast disco as shallow, commercial and 'other' — a backlash with an ugly edge.
76. 1979 — Roller disco. Roller rinks across America became discos on wheels at the end of the seventies.
77. 1979 — The Cosmic club, Italy. At Baldelli's Cosmic in northern Italy, an eclectic 'Afro-cosmic' DJ style laid groundwork for Italo and beyond.
78. 1979-01-19 — Sister Sledge — We Are Family. Written and produced by Chic, We Are Family became a universal anthem.
79. 1979-03 — McFadden & Whitehead — Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now. A defiant Philadelphia anthem of pride and momentum from 1979.
80. 1979-04 — Donna Summer — Bad Girls. Donna Summer's 1979 Bad Girls made her the undisputed Queen of Disco.
81. 1979-04 — Donna Summer — Hot Stuff. Summer's 1979 rock-disco fusion showed the sound could bite as well as glide.
82. 1979-05 — Anita Ward — Ring My Bell. Anita Ward's Ring My Bell, with its synth-drum sound, was a number one in 1979.
83. 1979-06 — Chic — Good Times. Chic's Good Times gave disco one of its greatest basslines — and hip-hop its first sample.
84. 1979-06 — Sister Sledge — Lost in Music. Another Chic-written Sister Sledge classic beloved on dancefloors for decades.
85. 1979-07-12 — Disco Demolition Night. At Comiskey Park in Chicago, a crate of disco records was blown up between games — a riot that came to symbolize the backlash.
86. 1979-07-12 — Steve Dahl and the anti-disco army. The rock DJ Steve Dahl, fired by a disco-format station, led the crowd that stormed the field at Comiskey Park.
87. 1979-08 — Michael Jackson — Off the Wall. Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson turned disco into art on Off the Wall in 1979.
88. 1979-09 — Gibson Brothers — Cuba. The French-Caribbean Gibson Brothers carried the Euro carnival sound across the dancefloors of Europe.
89. 1979-09-16 — Disco's sampled afterlife. From Rapper's Delight to Daft Punk, disco's basslines and grooves became the DNA of hip-hop, house and pop.
90. 1979-11 — Ottawan — D.I.S.C.O.. The French act Ottawan spelled it out with the bright Euro-pop-disco of D.I.S.C.O.
91. 1979-11 — Shalamar — The Second Time Around. Born from the Soul Train dancers, Shalamar carried disco into a slicker post-disco groove.
92. 1980 — The post-disco clubs. As disco faded, clubs like Danceteria and the Mudd Club carried New York nightlife into the eighties.
93. 1980-02-04 — The fall of Studio 54. Owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were jailed for tax evasion, and the club's first era ended in 1980.
94. 1980-03 — Lipps Inc. — Funkytown. Funkytown, one of disco's last great number ones, carried the synth sound into 1980.
95. 1980-06 — Diana Ross — Upside Down. Chic-produced, Upside Down gave Diana Ross a number one and disco a late peak in 1980.
96. 1980-11 — Kano — I'm Ready. The Italian project Kano made electro-disco that DJs spun from Italy to the Bronx.
97. 1981 — The Fun House, New York. Jellybean Benitez's Fun House bridged disco, freestyle and early hip-hop in downtown New York.
98. 1981 — Patrick Cowley and Hi-NRG. San Francisco's Patrick Cowley built the fast, electronic Hi-NRG sound that bridged disco and the future.
99. 1981-09 — Lime — Your Love. The Canadian duo Lime made some of the most beloved Hi-NRG of the early eighties.
100. 1982-05-21 — The Haçienda, Manchester. Manchester's Haçienda carried the disco-into-house torch into the eighties club revolution.
101. 1983-05 — Ryan Paris — Dolce Vita. Ryan Paris's 1983 Dolce Vita is one of Italo disco's most beloved singles, keeping the electronic dancefloor alive into the eighties.
102. 1983-09 — Miquel Brown — So Many Men, So Little Time. A defining Hi-NRG anthem of the early-eighties gay clubs.
103. 1983-10 — Madonna — Holiday. Madonna carried disco's dancefloor spirit into the MTV age with Holiday.
104. 1984 — Chicago house. Out of disco's ashes, Frankie Knuckles and the Warehouse built Chicago house — disco's electronic child.
105. 1984-02 — Hi-NRG on the dancefloor. Stock Aitken Waterman and Hi-NRG acts like Hazell Dean carried the fast disco pulse into the eighties.
106. 1984-06 — Divine — You Think You're a Man. The drag icon Divine became a Hi-NRG star in the early eighties.
107. 1987 — Frankie Knuckles — Your Love. The Godfather of House built the genre directly on disco's foundations in eighties Chicago.
108. 1996-09 — Jamiroquai — Cosmic Girl. Jamiroquai revived acid-jazz-funk-disco for the nineties with Cosmic Girl.
109. 2000-07 — Robbie Williams — Rock DJ. Robbie Williams's Rock DJ was a full-blooded disco revival for a new pop generation.
110. 2000-07 — Modjo — Lady (Hear Me Tonight). The French touch sampled Chic's guitar into one of 2000's biggest dance hits.
111. 2000-11-13 — Daft Punk — One More Time. Daft Punk's filtered disco loops made the French touch a global sound at the millennium.
112. 2001 — The nu-disco underground. Metro Area, Lindstrøm and the nu-disco producers revived the analog disco groove for a new club generation.
113. 2001-09 — Kylie Minogue — Can't Get You Out of My Head. Kylie's nu-disco pop smash carried the four-on-the-floor into the 2000s.
114. 2004-06-21 — Scissor Sisters. The Scissor Sisters brought glam-disco camp roaring back in the 2000s.
115. 2007-06 — Justice — D.A.N.C.E.. The French duo Justice fused disco, funk and electro for the blog-house era.
116. 2013-04-19 — Daft Punk — Get Lucky. Daft Punk brought Nile Rodgers back to the top of the charts in 2013, disco reborn.
117. 2013-05 — Daft Punk — Lose Yourself to Dance. Random Access Memories was a full live-disco resurrection, again with Nile Rodgers and Pharrell.
118. 2014-11 — Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars — Uptown Funk. Uptown Funk carried disco-funk to the biggest audience of the streaming age.
119. 2019-04 — Lizzo — Juice. Lizzo's Juice brought disco-funk joy and self-love to the streaming charts.
120. 2020-03-27 — Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia. Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia made disco the sound of pop again in 2020.
121. 2020-06 — Jessie Ware — What's Your Pleasure?. Jessie Ware's acclaimed album was a sophisticated, full-hearted return to the disco dancefloor.
122. 2020-11 — The Weeknd — Blinding Lights. The synth-disco of Blinding Lights became one of the biggest songs of the streaming era.
123. 2021-03 — Silk Sonic — Leave the Door Open. Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak revived seventies soul-disco for the 2020s.
124. 2022-07-08 — Nile Rodgers, disco's living link. Chic's Nile Rodgers, sampled by everyone from hip-hop to Daft Punk, became disco's ambassador to every new generation.
125. 2022-07-29 — Beyoncé — Renaissance. Beyoncé's Renaissance album was a love letter to disco, house and the Black and queer roots of dance music.

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