Post-disco
Encyclopedia
Post-disco refers to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the commercial death
Disco Demolition Night
Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event that took place on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois, during which a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field. It was held during the twi-night doubleheader baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and...

 of disco music in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 in late 1980s.

The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven, increasingly electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 and experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 side of disco, and were typified by the styles of dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...

, boogie
Boogie (genre)
Boogie is an electronic/funk-influenced variation of post-disco.Boogie, as one of the post-disco subgenres, lacks the four-on-the-floor beat, which is a "traditional" rhythm of disco music. Aside from the moderate influence of synthpop, boogie heavily draws from funk music...

, italo disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...

 and the early alternative dance
Alternative dance
Alternative dance or indie dance is a musical genre that mixes rock subgenres with electronic dance music...

.

Techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

 and house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 music are both rooted in post-disco.

Characteristics

Unlike disco music, post-disco usually lacks the typical shuffling
Shuffle
Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.-Shuffling techniques:...

 hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...

 driven beat, walking basslines and/or string orchestration
Disco orchestration
Disco orchestration is the arranging, orchestration, and musical production and recording techniques that went into the production of mid- to late-1970s disco music.-Role of disco orchestration:...

; it more features drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...

s, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

s, sequencer
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...

s and 4/4 time. Soulful vocals, however, "stayed" in this new disco music. Post-disco is not underground music
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...

 at all — Madonna, New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

, Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 have built their careers on new ideas of the disco electronic "reincarnation".

Term usage

The term "post-disco" was used in 1984 by Cadence Magazine when defining post-disco soul as disco without the loud bass-drum thump. "Post-disco" is also an Allmusic editorial contributor's attempt to isolate a music genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...

 in the era between the indistinct "end" of disco music and the equally indistinct emergence of house music.

History

After the "Disco Sucks" movement, disco records were rejected from the airplay and its circulation has been stopped. Radio stations started to play other formats of music like reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 or new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 and the top mainstream labels and record companies like Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, TK Records
TK Records
TK Records was an American record label started by record distributor, Henry Stone in Miami, Florida, one of several labels that he founded in the 1960s and 1970s...

, RSO
RSO Records
RSO Records was a record label, formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in 1973. The "RSO" stands for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. The company's main headquarters were at 67 Brook Street, in London's Mayfair...

 went bankrupt. Since disco music had been on the way of electronic progression, it split itself into subscenes and styles like Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...

, freestyle
Freestyle music
Freestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...

, italo-disco and electro-funk (boogie
Boogie (genre)
Boogie is an electronic/funk-influenced variation of post-disco.Boogie, as one of the post-disco subgenres, lacks the four-on-the-floor beat, which is a "traditional" rhythm of disco music. Aside from the moderate influence of synthpop, boogie heavily draws from funk music...

). The last one is closely associated with post-disco more than any other offshots of post-disco.

A watershed album of post-disco was Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

's Off The Wall
Off the Wall (album)
Off the Wall is the fifth studio album by the American recording artist Michael Jackson, released August 10, 1979 on Epic Records, after Jackson's critically well received film performance in The Wiz. While working on that project, Jackson and Quincy Jones had become friends, and Jones agreed to...

(produced by Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...

), which helped establish a direction of R&B/dance music and influenced many young producers who were interested in this kind of new music. Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...

, a funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 band, also set the tone for many post-disco and post-punk bands of the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

 and 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

.

Performers

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, DJ Larry Levan
Larry Levan
Larry Levan was a 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"...

 was one of the first artists who implemented dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

 techniques in his productions and mixes for various post-disco artists, including his own group The Peech Boys. Sinnamon
Sinnamon
Sinnamon is an American female R&B and dance music vocal trio, consisting of Barbara Fowler and Marsha Carter from Connecticut, and Melissa Bell from New York. Bell is currently a writer, living in New York City.-History:...

's "Thanks To You", D-Train's "You're the One for Me", The Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait" — all these songs and its attributes and trends of post-disco later influenced a new "never-before-heard" music style. The House music.

DJs, mixer
Mix engineer
A mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...

s, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

s who were experimented with the new sounds are for example Leroy Burgess
Leroy Burgess
Leroy Burgess is a prolific singer/recording artist, songwriter, keyboard player and producer. He is related to Thom Bell and Kool & The Gang members Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald Bell and Amir Bayyan of the Kay-Gees....

, Nick Martinelli
Nick Martinelli
Nick Martinelli is an American R&B and pop record producer. He worked with many R&B and pop music artists during the 1980s, many of which were based in the UK. The acts he worked with include Loose Ends, Five Star, Stephanie Mills and Regina Belle....

, Arthur Baker
Arthur Baker (musician)
Arthur Baker is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol, and the British group New Order.-Early career:...

, François Kevorkian
François Kevorkian
François Kevorkian, alias François K, is a French DJ of Armenian origin, remixer, producer and record label owner. Having started his career in renowned clubs such as the Paradise Garage and Studio 54, the New York City resident is widely considered as one of the forefathers of house...

, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy
Ron Hardy
Ron Hardy was an instrumental DJ in the development of house music. An innovator and originator of the genre, he is highly regarded not only for his iconic performances at the Muzic Box, a Chicago house music club, but for his pioneering edits and mixes of disco, soul music, funk and early house...

, Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles is an American DJ, record producer and remix artist. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer...

, Tom Moulton
Tom Moulton
Tom Moulton is an American record producer, and originator of the remix, the breakdown section, and the 12-inch single vinyl format.-Life and career:Thomas Jerome Moulton was born in Schenectady, New York, United States....

, Shep Pettibone
Shep Pettibone
Robert E. Pettibone, Jr. is a record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. His earliest work known to the public was for one of New York City's top disco/dance radio stations, WRKS 98.7 "Kiss" FM, and later as remixer/producer for the disco label Salsoul...

, Kashif
Kashif (musician)
Kashif Saleem is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer.-Career:Kashif became well-known from playing keyboards in the renowned funk band B.T. Express. He played synthesizer bass using the miniMoog while touring with the group...

.

Example of pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

, electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 and R&B musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

s who followed/contributed to the post-disco wave include Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

, Black Devil
Black Devil
-2004 "Disco Club" reissue:The 2004 reissue had four editions, some of which featured a new "128 bpm" remix by Luke Vibert under his Kerrier District alias:UK: Rephlex CAT 146 EPUK: Rephlex CAT 146 RUK: Rephlex CAT 146 TUK: Rephlex CAT 146 CD...

, Telex
Telex (band)
The Belgian synth-pop group Telex was formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman, and Michel Moers, with the intention of "Making something really European, different from rock, without guitar — and the idea was electronic music." Mixing the aesthetics of disco, punk and experimental electronic...

, D. Train
D. Train
D. Train was an American R&B duo, who scored several significant hits on both the Billboard Dance and R&B charts during the first half of the 1980s.-Overview:...

, Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen is a Grammy Award-winning African American R&B and jazz vocalist, composer and pianist.-Biography:...

, Freeez
Freeez
Freeez were a United Kingdom dance music group from London, known initially as one of the UK's main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s. Initiated by John Rocca, Freeez consisted of various musicians, originally with Rocca and others such as Andy Stennet Freeez were a United Kingdom dance music...

, Mtume
Mtume
Mtume was a funk and soul group that had several R&B hits in the 1980s. Its founder, percussionist James Mtume, previously played with Miles Davis in the 1970s. Other members of the group included Reggie Lucas and Tawatha Agee.-History:...

, Nick Straker Band
Nick Straker Band
The Nick Straker Band, from London, England, was a fusion pop music group, led by musician and vocalist Nick Straker, who had a handful of hits on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. The group also consisted several members of the band New Musik. Their most successful song in the U.S., "A Little...

, Skyy
Skyy (band)
Skyy was an American R&B/funk/disco band based in New York. They are perhaps best known for their 1982 hit, "Call Me," as well as their 1989 "comeback" hits, "Start of a Romance" and "Real Love."-Career:...

, Unlimited Touch
Unlimited Touch
Unlimited Touch was a New York based post disco group who had some regional fame in the early eighties. The group consisted of Audrey Wheeler, Phil Hamilton, Tony Cintron, Sandy Anderson, Stephanie James and Lenny Underwood. Raymond Reid and William Anderson from New York-based band Crown Heights...

, Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow
Kurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...

, Was (Not Was)
Was (Not Was)
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...

, Material
Material (band)
For the rock band of the same name, see The MaterialMaterial is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell.-1978-82: The band:...

, Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid is a New York City post-punk, post-disco band, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are perhaps best known for their track, "Cavern", which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Grandmaster + Melle Mel's old school rap classic, "White Lines "...

, Imagination
Imagination (band)
Imagination were a three piece British soul and funk band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and more than a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983....

, Bobby O, Shannon
Shannon (singer)
Shannon is an American singer. She is best known for her 1983 million-selling record, "Let the Music Play". The record re-defined the electro funk sound that would eventually be called freestyle music.-Biography:...

, Cheryl Lynn
Cheryl Lynn
Lynda Cheryl Smith , known better by her professional name Cheryl Lynn, is a female African-American disco, R&B and soul singer known best for her 1978 disco song, "Got to Be Real".-Early career:...

, Stacy Lattisaw
Stacy Lattisaw
Stacy Lattisaw is an American R&B, dance, and gospel singer. Since the 1990s, she has exclusively sung gospel music, as a callback to her Christian roots.-Career:...

, Central Line
Central Line (band)
Central Line were a British pop and jazz-funk group, based in London, England. They recorded three albums for Mercury Records in the 1980s, and had two hit singles in the United States, as well as one Top 40 success in their native country.-Career:...

, Chas Jankel
Chas Jankel
Charles Jeremy Jankel professionally known as Chaz Jankel, is a musician best known as the keyboard player and guitarist with Ian Dury and the Blockheads...

, Aurra
Aurra
Aurra was a 1980s soul group, who at the time of their biggest success was composed of Curt Jones and Starleana Young. The band started off in 1980, signing to Dream Records and then Salsoul Records...

, B. B. & Q. Band
B. B. & Q. Band
-Studio albums:* The B. B. & Q. Band * All Night Long * Six Million Times * Genie -Compilation albums:* The Best Of The B.B. & Q...

, Level 42
Level 42
Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...

, The Limit
The Limit
The Limit was a 1980s musical group composed of Dutch producers Bernard Oattes and Rob Van Schalk. They released a full-length album in 1984, which yielded the hit "Say Yeah". The song peaked at #17 on the UK Singles Chart and at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play chart.-Albums:-Songs:...

, Timex Social Club
Timex Social Club
The Timex Social Club was an American R&B/Hip hop group, formed in 1982 by students of Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their 1986 hit single, "Rumors" and for being major forerunners to the soon-incipient new jack swing movement.-History:Originally...

, The Deele
The Deele
The Deele is an American 80s R&B band from Cincinnati, Ohio, originally consisting of Indianapolis native Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds along with Antonio "L.A." Reid, Carlos "Satin" Greene, Darnell "Dee" Bristol, Stanley Burke, and Kevin "Kayo" Roberson...

, Dayton
Dayton (band)
Dayton was a post-disco funk band, formed in Dayton, Ohio, United States by Chris Jones from the band Sun and Shawn Sandridge from Over Night Low. Derrick Armstrong , Kevin Hurt , Jennifer Matthews and Rachel Beavers completed the line up...

, The SOS Band
The SOS Band
The SOS Band is an American musical ensemble, founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. Originally known as Santa Monica, the 'SOS' initialism in the band's name stands for Sounds of Success.-History:...

, Shalamar
Shalamar
Shalamar was an American music group, primarily of the 1970s and 1980s, that was originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator Don Cornelius. They went on to be an influential dance trio, masterminded by Soul Train producer Don Cornelius...

, Shakatak
Shakatak
Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band, founded in 1980.-Career:Shakatak scored a number of chart entries, including two Top Ten hits in the UK Singles Chart, "Night Birds" and "Down on the Street" plus a further 12 entries in the Guinness book of British Hit Singles...

, Instant Funk
Instant Funk
Instant Funk were a 1970s disco band, best known for their disco classic, "I Got My Mind Made Up ".-History:Instant Funk came out of New Jersey consisting of Raymond Earl, Scotty Miller and guitarist Kim Miller. The group was then called The Music Machine and they were very successful as a back-up...

, The Whispers
The Whispers
The Whispers are a long-established R&B-dance vocal group from Los Angeles, California, with a consistent track record of hit records dating back to the late 1960s.-Career:...

 and many others.

Albums featuring the new sound include New York Cake
New York Cake
-Production:*Cover: Novella Massaro*Art direction: Michelangelo Farina*Executive Producer: Luciano Ninzatti, Matteo Bonsanto, Stefano Pulga*Associate producer: Claudio Donato*Engineers: Bruno Malasoma, Luciano Ninzatti, Matteo Bonsanto, Stefano Pulga...

(1981) by Kano
Kano (band)
Kano was a post-disco music project formed in 1979 by Italian-based producers/musicians Luciano Ninzatti, Stefano Pulga and Matteo Bonsanto. Kano was the first group to usher in a new style of dance music called Italo-Disco.-History:...

, Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...

(1982) by Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, Straight from the Heart (1982) by Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen is a Grammy Award-winning African American R&B and jazz vocalist, composer and pianist.-Biography:...

 and Madonna (1983) by Madonna.

Popularity chart

Successful records (mostly R&B/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

-oriented) from the post-disco movement include:
Year Song Label Artist U.S. Dance
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...

 
U.S. R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 
U.S. Pop
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 
U.S. M.R.
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...

 
U.K. Pop
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

1980 "Celebration" De-Lite Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...

 
#1 #1 #1 ('81) #7
1981 "Let's Groove
Let's Groove
"Let's Groove" is a 1981 song from the album Raise! by the R&B act Earth, Wind & Fire. The song peaked at #3 in the U.S. and in the UK. It also spent eight weeks at number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart in late-1981/early-1982 and was the second R&B song of 1982 on the year end charts...

"
Columbia Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...

 
#3 #1 #3 #3
1982 "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (song)
"Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" is a song written by Michael Cleveland for R&B–New Wave–dance group Indeep. It features vocals from Reggie and Rose Marie Ramsey, and its protagonists recall how they were bored to death until a DJ played a hot song and saved their lives by giving new energy to the...

"
Sound of New York Indeep
Indeep
Indeep was a 1980s New York-based R&B/New Wave group, best known for its post-disco song "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life."-Career:The group was led by its songwriter-musician Michael Cleveland, and it was known for employing a strong disco-esque bass line and early hip hop lyrics backed by two...

 
#2 #10 #13
"Love Come Down
Love Come Down
"Love Come Down" is a hit single by Evelyn "Champagne" King. It was produced by Morrie Brown and written by Kashif. "Love Come Down" was the first single culled from her multi-platinum, number-one R&B album, Get Loose . In the U.S., it reached number one on the R&B and dance charts and number...

"
RCA Evelyn King
Evelyn King (singer)
Evelyn "Champagne" King is an American R&B, disco and post-disco singer. Some of her best-known songs are "Shame", "Love Come Down," and "I'm in Love."-Biography:...

 
#1 #1 #17 #7
1983 "Give It Up
Give It Up (KC song)
"Give It Up" was a hit song for KC and the Sunshine Band, although it was simply credited as KC in many countries, including the US. Following the backlash against many disco artists on the charts at the beginning of the 1980s, the song was a comeback hit for the act in the US, where it peaked at...

"
Meca KC  #18 '#1
1983 "Billie Jean
Billie Jean
"Billie Jean" is a dance-pop/R&B song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written, composed, and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones from the singer's sixth album, Thriller . Originally disliked by Jones, the track was almost removed from the album after he and...

"
Epic Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

 
#1 #1 #1 #1
1984 "Let's Dance
Let's Dance (David Bowie song)
"Let's Dance" is the title album track on David Bowie's album Let's Dance. It was also released as the first single from that album in 1983, and went on to become one of his biggest-selling tracks....

"
EMI David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

#1 #14 #1 #6 #1
"Cool It Now
Cool It Now
"Cool It Now" is a 1984 hit single by R&B/Pop group New Edition, and is the first single from their eponymous second album, New Edition. The song peaked at #4 in January, 1985 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Overview:...

"
MCA New Edition
New Edition
New Edition is an R&B group formed in Boston in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity during the 1980s. They were the progenitors of the boy band movement of the 1980s and 1990s and led the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync...

#1 #4 #43
"Dr. Beat
Dr. Beat
"Dr. Beat" is the first international single released by the American band Miami Sound Machine led by Gloria Estefan on their first English language but eighth studio album overall Eyes Of Innocence. The single was released worldwide in 1984 becoming a top success across Europe where the album...

"
Epic Miami Sound Machine #17 #6
1987 "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
"Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" is a song written by Enrique Garcia and Gloria Estefan, and released by Gloria Estefan & The Miami Sound Machine in 1987 as the lead single from the album Let it Loose ....

"
Epic Miami Sound Machine #27 #5

Post-disco "revival"

Later in the 2000s, Daft Punk
Daft Punk
Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...

, a house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

al group, adopted post-disco, disco and synthpop sounds of early 1980s to their album Discovery
Discovery (Daft Punk album)
Discovery is the second studio album by the French house duo Daft Punk, released in March 2001. It marks a shift in the sound from Chicago house, which they were previously known for, to disco, post-disco and synthpop-inspired house...

, another artist Les Rythmes Digitales was influenced by post-disco/electro scene of the early 1980s. The Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 musical group Chromeo
Chromeo
Chromeo is an electrofunk duo formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2004.-History:Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 on guitar and lead vocals...

 debuted in 2004 by 80s-influenced electrofunk/boogie
Boogie (genre)
Boogie is an electronic/funk-influenced variation of post-disco.Boogie, as one of the post-disco subgenres, lacks the four-on-the-floor beat, which is a "traditional" rhythm of disco music. Aside from the moderate influence of synthpop, boogie heavily draws from funk music...

 album She's in Control
She's in Control
She's in Control is the debut album by Canadian electrofunk group Chromeo. It was released on February 17, 2004 by Vice Records.-Track listing:*All Songs Written & Arranged By Chromeo.# "Me & My Man" - 4:19# "Needy Girl" - 4:17...

. The Perfect Beats series (Vol. 1-4) are post-disco compilations of various artists (e.g. Imagination
Imagination (band)
Imagination were a three piece British soul and funk band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and more than a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983....

, Level 42
Level 42
Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...

, Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...

). Another compilation series are Nighttime lovers (Vol. 1-10) and mixed-up album The Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams.

Legacy

The 1980s post-disco sounds also inspired many Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 producers. Some rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...

pers such as Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...

 or EPMD
EPMD
EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The group's name is a concatenation of the members' name "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith...

 built their careers on post-disco funk music (they were inspired for example by dance-floor favorites like Zapp
Zapp (band)
Zapp is a soul and funk band formed in 1978 by brothers Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Bobby Glover and Gregory Jackson [Cincinnati Ohio Funk Keyboardist]...

 and Cameo
Cameo (band)
Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 13-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era. Since then, Cameo has recorded several...

). Also Sean "Puffy" Combs
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...

 has been influenced by post-disco R&B in an indirect way.

In popular culture

The word "post-disco has been implicitly mentioned in a 1989 novel
1989 in literature
The year 1989 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.-Literature:...

 named Crazy Love by Elías Miguel Muñoz:

Boogie

Boogie is an electronic/R&B movement of post-disco which has been described by Sean P as "[sic] disco's poor cousin — too slow, too electronic, too R&B... too black, even".
  • Artists include Evelyn "Champagne" King, Kashif
    Kashif
    Kashif is an Arabic word, commonly used as a male given name in the Muslim world. Its meaning is close to the English words 'revealer', 'discoverer', 'uncoverer' or 'pioneer'....

    , D-Train, Freeez
    Freeez
    Freeez were a United Kingdom dance music group from London, known initially as one of the UK's main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s. Initiated by John Rocca, Freeez consisted of various musicians, originally with Rocca and others such as Andy Stennet Freeez were a United Kingdom dance music...

    , Imagination
    Imagination (band)
    Imagination were a three piece British soul and funk band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and more than a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983....

    .

Dance-rock

Another post-disco movement is connected with post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

/no wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...

 genres with fewer R&B/funk influences. An example of this "post-disco" is Gina X
Gina X Performance
Gina X Performance was a German dance-rock/electropop ensemble from Cologne, consisting of vocalist Gina Kikoine and writer/producer Zeus B. Held, Ralph Morgenstern , Hinrich Sickenberger and Lazlo Czigany ....

's "No G.D.M." and artists like Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid is a New York City post-punk, post-disco band, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are perhaps best known for their track, "Cavern", which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Grandmaster + Melle Mel's old school rap classic, "White Lines "...

, Polyrock
Polyrock
Polyrock was an American post-punk/new wave band formed in New York City in 1978 and active until the mid-1980s. Strongly influenced by minimalism, the group was produced by the composer Philip Glass and Kurt Munkacsi...

, Dinosaur L, and Disco Not Disco
Disco Not Disco
-Personnel:"Walking On Thin Ice" *Engineers: Lee DeCarlo, Sam Ginsberg*Drums: Andy Newmark*Bass guitar: Tony Levin*Rhythm guitar: Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken*Editing: Joseph Watt*Producers: Jack Douglas, John Lennon, Yoko Ono"Cavern"...

 [2000]
compilation album. This movement also connects with dance-oriented rock; Michael Campbell, in his book Popular Music in America defines that genre as "post-punk/post-disco fusion." Campbell also cited Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

, who described dance-oriented rock (or DOR) as umbrella term used by various DJs in 1980s.
  • Post-disco/no wave-oriented artists include Ian Dury
    Ian Dury
    Ian Robins Dury was an English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor who initially rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music...

    , Liquid Liquid
    Liquid Liquid
    Liquid Liquid is a New York City post-punk, post-disco band, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are perhaps best known for their track, "Cavern", which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Grandmaster + Melle Mel's old school rap classic, "White Lines "...

    , Arthur Russell
    Arthur Russell
    Arthur Russell may refer to:* Arthur Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill , Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India* Arthur Russell , British athlete...

    , Loose Joints, Was (Not Was)
    Was (Not Was)
    -Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...

    , Material
    Material (band)
    For the rock band of the same name, see The MaterialMaterial is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell.-1978-82: The band:...

    , ESG
    ESG (band)
    ESG are a band that emerged from the South Bronx, New York, U.S. in the early 1980's. Trouser Press called it "one of the most dynamic bands that New York could offer at the top of the '80s." ESG have been influential across a wide range of musical genres, including hip hop, post punk, disco,...

    .
  • AMG-defined dance-rock acts include Devo
    Devo
    Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...

    , New Order
    New Order
    New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

    , Eurythmics
    Eurythmics
    Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...

    , Hall & Oates
    Hall & Oates
    Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

    .

Prominent record labels

  • Charisma Records
    Charisma Records
    Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...

  • Elektra Records
    Elektra Records
    Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

  • Emergency Records
    Emergency Records
    Emergency Records was an independent record label from 1979 to 1989.Founded in the United States in early 1979, Emergency Records specialized in products of the Italian disco sound of the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, the majority of the European production of disco music came from Germany,...

  • Island Records
    Island Records
    Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...

  • Prelude Records
    Prelude Records (record label)
    Prelude Records was a New York-based dance independent record label, active from 1976 to 1986. At one time, François Kevorkian held an A&R position at Prelude. The label owner was Marvin Schlachter.-History:...

  • Radar Records
    Radar Records (U.S. label)
    Radar Records was a small independent New York-based dance/garage label best known for artists Gary's Gang, Toney Lee and various underground acts.-Foundation:It was formed and operated by Eric Matthew around 1982....

  • Salsoul Records
    Salsoul Records
    This article is about the record label. For SalSoul the Puerto Rican Salsa radio station see Cadena Salsoul.Salsoul Records was a New York City based record label founded by brothers Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre . Salsoul released about 300 disco 12-inch singles, and a string of...


  • SAM Records
    SAM Records
    SAM Records was an New York-based independent record company active between 1977-1983 and 1989-1991. The label was operated by Sam Weiss and Daniel Glass, who worked as an Vice President....

  • SOLAR Records
    SOLAR Records
    S.O.L.A.R. Records was an American record label founded in 1977 by Dick Griffey, reconstituted out of Soul Train Records only two years after it was founded with Soul Train television show host and creator Don Cornelius.-Company history:In 1975, Soul Train Records was founded by Dick Griffey and...

  • Sugar Hill Records
    Sugar Hill Records (rap)
    Sugar Hill Records was the name of a rap music record label that was founded in 1979 by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson with Milton Malden and financial funding of Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records.-History:...

  • Tommy Boy Records
    Tommy Boy Records
    Tommy Boy Entertainment is an independent record label started in 1981 by Tom Silverman.-History:...

  • Vanguard Records
    Vanguard Records
    Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...

  • Virgin Records
    Virgin Records
    Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

  • West End Records
    West End Records
    West End Records is a record label, which is known as one of the most prominent labels in dance music’s history along with Prelude Records, Salsoul Records and Casablanca Records.-History:...



Compilations

Released Album Label Info
2000 VA – Disco Not Disco
Disco Not Disco
-Personnel:"Walking On Thin Ice" *Engineers: Lee DeCarlo, Sam Ginsberg*Drums: Andy Newmark*Bass guitar: Tony Levin*Rhythm guitar: Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken*Editing: Joseph Watt*Producers: Jack Douglas, John Lennon, Yoko Ono"Cavern"...

Strut compilation
2002 VA – Disco Not Disco 2
Disco Not Disco 2
Disco Not Disco 2 is a compilation album from the Disco Not Disco series released by Strut Records in 2002. The album is a probe to experimental side of disco and punk genres and underground music scene in general...

Strut compilation
2002–2008 VA – Opération Funk Vol. 1–5
(mixed by Kheops
Khéops
Khéops is a French DJ, and a member of the French hip hop group IAM. He has also a prolific solo career, and runs his own record label, Sad Hill Records, with Def Bond....

)
mix album, compilation
2004 VA – Choice: A Collection of Classics
(mixed by Danny Tenaglia
Danny Tenaglia
Danny Tenaglia is a New York-based DJ and Grammy nominated record producer.-Early life:At the age of ten, Tenaglia first started to collect records. In 1979 he began going to nightclub Paradise Garage, where DJ Larry Levan's genre-less blend of music appealed to him...

)
Azuli mix album, compilation
2004–2009 VA – Nighttime Lovers Vol. 1–10 PTG compilation
2008 VA – Disco Not Disco 3
Disco Not Disco 3
-Personnel:"Launderette"*Violin: Vicky Aspinall*Electric guitar, bass guitar: Keith Levene*Composer, vocals: Vivien Goldman*Composer: George Oban*Bass guitar, piano: Steve Beresford"Mind Your Own Business"*Composer, vocals: Julz Sale...

Strut compilation
2009 VA – Night Dubbin'
(mixed by Dimitri from Paris
Dimitri from Paris
Dimitri from Paris is a French music producer and DJ of Greek origins. His musical influences are rooted in 1970s funk and disco sounds that spawned contemporary house music, as well as original soundtracks from 50s and 60s cult movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Dolce Vita and The Party,...

)
BBE mix album, compilation
2009 VA – The Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams
(compiled by DJ Spinna
DJ Spinna
DJ Spinna is an American hip hop music artist and producer, who, according to Allmusic.com, has "remained strictly an underground artist despite his astonishing talent."-Biography:...

)
BBE mix album, compilation
2010 VA – Boogie's Gonna Getcha: '80s New York Boogie
Boogie's Gonna Getcha: '80s New York Boogie
-Personnel:"Share The Night"*Year: 1983*Composers: Bernard Bullock, Douglas Pittman"Please Don't Break My Heart"*Year: 1985*Composers: John F...

BreakBeats compilation

See also

  • new wave
  • electro
  • old school hip hop
    Old school hip hop
    Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...

  • garage house
  • hi-NRG
    Hi-NRG
    Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...

  • italo-disco
    Italo disco
    Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...

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