Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution

In the 1970s, during the aftermath of the Stonewall Riots, a sense of liberation fueled a new sound in New York. In their quest for a safe space to meet, New York’s gay, black and minority ethnic communities started coming together in apartments and basement bars to dance. It was the beginning of a new kind of music and a pioneering dance floor culture that would change music forever.

Disco hit its peak in the mid-to-late 70s, conquering the mainstream and turning black women and gay men into icons. From Donna Summer’s anthemic, provocative single Love to Love You Baby to Sylvester’s You Make Me Feel Mighty Real, Disco was everywhere. At a time when the post-civil rights generation struggled to be heard politically and socially, their call for liberation was found in disco.

At the end of the 1970s, the founding principles of disco, queerness, diversity and feminism, were coming under increasing attack from a predominantly white, straight, rock-loving audience. Mass marketing and rampant commercialism were beginning to turn the tide. A glut of bad disco singles and the perceived elitism of clubs like Studio 54 fueled a surge in anti-disco feeling.