Out Of the Underground
The Dance music world as we know it today began with Disco, and Disco began well before 1975. Widely differing opinions exist, but the origins of Disco can be traced at least back to early records such as Isaac HayesTheme From Shaft released in 1971. The elements of the dance club as we know it today were coming together in underground clubs like David Mancuso's Loft and Francis Grasso's sets at Sanctuary, both in Manhattan, in 1970.
Although an underground Disco scene existed, the music industry as a whole did not really begin to notice until Disco records hit the mainstream in full force in 1974. Success in dance clubs drove Loves Theme by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra into the upper reaches of music charts. By the summer of 1974, heavy club exposure pushed Rock the Boat by the Hues Corporation and Rock Your Baby by George McRae to #1 on mainstream Pop charts. The Disco revolution was under way. 1975 was the year in which Disco began to spawn club-specific innovations, and, by the end of the year, distinct geographical styles began to emerge.
One of the first and most far-reaching innovations was the creation of the extended Dance mix on records. Early on club DJs extended the length of Dance songs by cutting back and forth between 2 copies of the recording on 2 different turntables. Tom Moulton, dissatisfied with the 3-minute or less length of most popular Dance records, experimented first with creating reel-to-reel tapes of songs mixed together to see how it would impact dancers. Later he began to create extended mixes of individual songs by looping together tapes of specific sections of the songs. The experiments were a success and, in late 1974, Scepter Records label executive Mel Cheren gave Moulton the opportunity to create records with extended mixes of Dance songs.
As 1975 began, one of Tom Moulton's most daring experiments was dominating clubs across the country. He was asked to work on Gloria Gaynor's Never Can Say Goodbye album. He came up with the idea of mixing all of the songs on side one of the album into a seamless Dance medley. The result was a nearly 19-minute Dance mix that quickly caught fire among club DJs. Extended Dance mixes soon formed the core of what was played in clubs.
While New York was the center of most early Disco action, Miami must be recognized as a key early Disco center as well. Henry Stone's T.K. Records family of labels was the home of a distinctive funky R&B sound and artists such as Betty Wright, George McRae and Gwen McRae. Betty Wright's Where Is the Love became one of the biggest Disco hits of 1975. Los Angeles as a Disco center was not far behind.
By late 1975 Disco had become a worldwide phenomenon and Munich, Germany was another hot spot for creation of Disco music. The Munich sound, with an intense beat and minimalist vocals, later evolved into Euro-Disco. Among the hits were Fly Robin Fly by the Silver Convention, produced by Silvester Levay and Michael Kunze, and Donna Summer's Love To Love You Baby, produced by Giorgio Moroder.
By the end of 1975, Disco was recognized by the music industry as a legitimate new genre with feature articles, regular columns, and record charts in the music press. Nightclubs around the world switched to all-Disco music formats. Disco even had its own queen. Gloria Gaynor had been crowned 'Queen Of Discos' with great hoopla at New York's Le Jardin club on March 3, 1975. Disco was out of the underground and its hold on public consciousness was expanding quickly.