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Get those platform shoes and bell-bottoms ready — Join us as we count down our picks for the grooviest and most iconic tracks from the golden era of disco! From dancefloor anthems to timeless classics, these are the songs that defined a generation and kept the party going all night long. Do you secretly love disco, or do you hold that freak flag up loud and proud?
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00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the
00:09grooviest and most iconic tracks from the halcyon era of 70s disco.
00:21Number 20, If I Can't Have You, Yvonne Elliman.
00:30It is impossible to overstate how important the soundtrack to 1977's Saturday Night Fever
00:37was to making disco music a household name.
00:39This was thanks in part to songs like If I Can't Have You, which was written and recorded
00:44by the Bee Gees prior to it being given to Yvonne Elliman for recording on the soundtrack proper.
00:55The former's version was shelved and released later as a B-side, while
00:59Elliman's cut saw Chart's success as the album's fourth single.
01:03This was despite If I Can't Have You actually existing as something of an outlier from Elliman's
01:07usual pop and rock history with her albums.
01:10Still, a great song is a great song, and Elliman does some great work on the track.
01:21Number 19, More More More, The Andrea True Connection.
01:31It was a song where the PR copy pretty much wrote itself for the sex-obsessed 1970s.
01:37More, More, More by the Andrea True Connection focused lyrically on star Andrea True's connection
01:42with the golden age adult film industry.
01:44It was a coquettish ode to getting it on without any sort of pretense about what it was or where
01:49it was going.
01:49Sure, Andrea True could carry a tune, but she wasn't the best singer in the world and didn't
01:55have to be at the end of the day.
01:56More, More, More had that catchy hook that would be notably sampled by Lenn for their own hit
02:00Steal My Sunshine.
02:08It had Andrea True vamping it up for all she was worth, and that was enough.
02:20Number 18, Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe, Barry White.
02:32The discography of Barry White is chock full of disco and funk bangers, taken not only from
02:37his solo career, but also with the Love Unlimited Orchestra.
02:40White was a man who could compose, arrange, conduct, and perform, frequently at the same
02:45time.
02:46Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe is one of White's most notable tunes, a song that
02:50makes the most out of the man's sensual bass voice and those soaring strings.
03:01So many disco songs are simply about sex, but White combines that notion with love and
03:06a whole lot of soul, and the end results still sound great today.
03:17Number 17, Love Hangover, Diana Ross.
03:27Artists the caliber of the boss Diana Ross usually have no problem changing with the times.
03:33After all, this queen of Motown really had nothing to prove during the late 70s, but this
03:37did not stop Miss Ross' forward momentum.
03:40She continued to score hits like this one from her seventh solo album, a self-titled effort
03:45where Love Hangover stuck out in the best possible way.
03:55Ross's breathy vocals are sexy as hell, while the musical arrangements slink around, doing
04:00a proverbial walk of shame all over the track.
04:03The bass is slick, the strings sound sweet, and Diana Ross sings with plenty of soul and
04:08sass.
04:09It is a banger.
04:28The retro sociological discourse of disco has spoken with frequency in recent years about
04:33how this musical movement helped foster acceptance and inclusion for the LGBTQIA plus communities
04:38back in the 1970s.
04:39Artists like Sylvester are often brought up during these discussions, which usually single
04:44out his hit You Make Me Feel Mighty Real as something formative for this movement.
04:56Sylvester never hid his sensuality or androgyny within his performance, and it's this lack
05:01of inhibition that helps propel this song.
05:03You Make Me Feel Mighty Real makes the best out of the singer's falsetto vocals, too, as
05:07Sylvester reaches for the stars with that money chorus.
05:28Soul icon Marvin Gaye wasn't immune to disco fever back in the late 70s.
05:32As evidenced by this hit experiment titled Got To Give It Up, the singer initially pushed
05:37back against recording disco music, but mounting debt and a contentious separation from his
05:41first wife, Anna Gordy, eventually forced Gaye's hand.
05:44Got To Give It Up melds funk, soul, and disco in an up-tempo manner that's easily danceable,
05:49while also retaining a musical arrangement that's involved enough to retain the audience's
05:54and Gaye's attention.
06:03Oh, and it also got singer Robin Thicke into some legal trouble when he was forced to credit
06:07Gaye as a songwriter.
06:14Number 14, Get Down Tonight, KC and the Sunshine Band.
06:26They are one of the acts that's virtually inseparable from the disco era, a group that
06:31may have struggled for relevancy after the genre's exaggerated demise, but remain an iconic
06:36part of disco dominance.
06:44KC and the Sunshine Band thankfully avoided a lot of the more vapid, producer-driven pitfalls
06:49of disco singers from this era, and instead brought a stronger sense of musicality to the
06:53party.
06:54The band aspect of KC definitely shone through on tunes like Get Down Tonight, which highlighted
06:59the group's funk, rock, and pop influences.
07:02It was a song that filled dance floors back then and now.
07:06Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby!
07:11Number 13, Ring My Bell, Anita Ward.
07:14I'm glad you're home.
07:18How did you really miss me?
07:22Let's face facts.
07:23There were a lot of one-hit wonders back in the 1970s, and this definitely also applies
07:28to the disco era.
07:29Still, a lot of fans still appreciate songs like Ring My Bell from Anita Ward.
07:33The tune was written by Frederick Knight, who also produced Ring My Bell for Ward, whose
07:37vocals on the take are charming and cute.
07:47There's a playfulness here that's largely indicative of disco's frequently disposable nature, but
07:51this isn't really an insult.
07:53Instead, it's meant to celebrate these brief, fleeting chart hits for what they were, dance
07:58tunes that were poppy, kitschy, and stylish.
08:01Ring it, ring it, my bell, ring my bell.
08:08Number 12, Heart of Glass, Blondie.
08:17New York City's Blondie could play just about any style of music and make it sound cool,
08:22thanks to that perennial focal point of Debbie freakin' Harry.
08:25She co-wrote this hit with guitarist Chris Stein, an experiment in disco from a group that
08:30had previously been known for their punk and new wave hits.
08:41There's still a lot of snottiness to be had here within Heart of Glass, and Blondie definitely
08:45makes the song their own, while also embracing all of those musical trappings that helped make
08:50this tune a disco dance floor hit.
08:52Heart of Glass, any way you slice it, just slays.
09:03Number 11, Le Freak, Chic.
09:12Here's a great story behind the composition of Le Freak by Chic that's been frequently
09:16told by guitarist and songwriter Niall Rogers.
09:19It tells of how he and bassist Bernard Edwards were inspired to write Le Freak after being
09:23denied entry into New York's exclusive disco club Studio 54.
09:27The song's now famous chorus of Freak Out was initially a profanity, but the songwriting
09:39duo wisely decided to tame things down a bit and wound up with a worldwide hit for their
09:44efforts.
09:45Rodgers' guitar work and Edwards' punctuating bass lines work wonders here on that aforementioned
09:50chorus, and Le Freak really winds up sounding like an electric dance club anthem at the end
09:54of the day.
10:02Number 10, Last Dance, Donna Summer.
10:13She was a queen of the disco scene, a not-so-bad girl from Boston whose theater work in Germany
10:20led to a fateful and ultimately fruitful meeting with super producer Giorgio Moroder.
10:24Summer's collaborations with Moroder would result in smash hits like Hot Stuff and Love
10:28to Love You Baby, the latter of which became somewhat infamous for its erotically charged
10:33extended version.
10:35Last Dance was another huge hit for Summer and Moroder, a cut taken from the soundtrack
10:39to the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday.
10:49The tune starts off slow and pensive before kicking off into the stratosphere in glorious
10:54disco fashion.
10:55All sequined, silk, and sexy, effortless cool.
11:05Number 9, Disco Inferno, The Tramps.
11:16The original release of Disco Inferno by The Tramps did pretty well for this Philly group
11:21back when it was first released on their 1976 studio LP.
11:24However, the inclusion of Disco Inferno on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Live made this
11:29tune even hotter, causing it to chart again at an even higher spot.
11:34Disco Inferno!
11:38Today, it is virtually impossible to separate Disco Inferno or The Tramps from the legacy
11:43of Saturday Night Fever, and this certainly isn't a bad thing.
11:47The group had a bunch of other solid funk, disco, and soul jams during their career, but
11:51Disco Inferno is probably the one that burned the brightest.
12:12It's really sort of telling that the English translation of the French chorus to Lady Marmalade
12:17is Do You Want to Sleep With Me Tonight?
12:25This was, after all, a hit for LaBelle back during this era of free love, sex without consequences,
12:31and overall hedonism.
12:33Lady Marmalade was first given to another disco group, The 11th Hour, but this version
12:37didn't really make a lot of noise.
12:39It took a second go-round with Patti LaBelle's former group in order to turn Lady Marmalade into
12:43a hit.
12:44Then, it was off to the proverbial races, as this fun disco tune became a classic of
12:49the era, hootily cool, and still great to jam today.
13:09It speaks volumes to disco music's longevity that the hard rock legends in KISS kept this
13:141979 disco banger in their set list right on through to the end of their touring career.
13:18The band, after all, was signed for years to one of disco music's premier record labels,
13:23Casablanca, so it seemed like an inevitability.
13:26I was made for lovin' you, baby!
13:29You were made for lovin' me!
13:33KISS did indeed go disco on this tune from their Dynasty album, but the band made it work
13:37within their own parameters, allowing for I Was Made For Lovin' You to retain a rock edge.
13:42It may not exactly be heavy metal or anything, but this KISS classic still manages to tick a
13:47lot of fun boxes along the way to becoming one of the band's most popular tunes.
13:51And I can't get a drum for you, baby!
13:55Can you get a drum for me, oh!
13:59Number 6.
14:00Turn the Beat Around, Vicki Sue Robinson.
14:02Turn the Beat Around, love to hear percussion!
14:09There was a varied musical pedigree to be found within the history of theater and movie actress
14:14Vicki Sue Robinson, a past that drifted between the worlds of folk, rock, and pop, but not
14:19really any disco.
14:20That was until a producer decided to take Robinson from session work obscurity and deliver her
14:25some disco stardom.
14:33Turn the Beat Around would go on to become Vicki Sue Robinson's biggest and most well-known
14:38solo hit.
14:39The tune wisely opens up with a musical hook before Robinson sings one chorus prior to even
14:44delivering the first verse.
14:45We are instantly drawn into the slickly arranged world of disco razzle-dazzle, while Robinson's
14:50warm-sounding vocals and memorable ad-libs really shine.
14:53This one's just a classic.
15:02Number 5.
15:03Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, Michael Jackson.
15:11Disco definitely didn't seem to be dead in 79, as Michael Jackson's career as a solo
15:16artist began to set its creative sights on the future.
15:19Don't Stop Till You Get Enough sounded steeped in the same sort of disco trappings that MJ
15:23had dabbled with alongside his brothers in the Jackson 5.
15:31The string arrangements and guitar accompaniment are lush and funky, and speak largely to how
15:36disco music would influence Jackson's Off The Wall album.
15:38This was a coming-out party of sorts for the artist.
15:41A transition from child star to major adult player for the pop world that Michael Jackson
15:45would eventually dominate in the forthcoming years.
15:55Number 4.
15:56I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor.
16:05We've already mentioned how disco has seen a lot of retroactive appreciation for its inclusionary
16:11spirit for LGBTQIA plus artists and performers of color.
16:14I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor is a bit different, however, since its status as something of an
16:19anthem has remained firmly in place for decades.
16:28This song's meaning is multifaceted, since I Will Survive is first and foremost a breakup song that speaks to
16:34ideas of independence and female empowerment.
16:36Feminists weren't the only group to take inspiration from Gaynor's song, however,
16:40and I Will Survive has endured through the modern day, thanks to both its lyrical message and epic musical content.
16:46I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give, I'll survive, I will survive.
16:54Number 3.
16:55September.
16:56Earth, Wind & Fire.
16:58Do you remember when it was like September?
17:04It would perhaps be reductive to label Chicago, Illinois' Earth, Wind & Fire solely as a funk band or a
17:10disco band.
17:11This highly influential group has released songs that have transcended their genre,
17:15going on to become not only stylistic staples, but part of our culture.
17:19Songs like Boogie Wonderland and September show up on the radio and in wedding playlists,
17:24buzzing through our collective subconscious with joy.
17:34This latter tune remains one of the most iconic Earth, Wind & Fire jams of all time.
17:39A groovy slice of disco-ified soul and funk with a killer vibe that's energetic AF and impossible to ignore.
17:53Number 2.
17:54Dancing Queen.
17:55ABBA.
18:04Sweden's ABBA wasn't just a disco band, but a phenomenon that continues to captivate hearts and minds across the globe.
18:11The songwriting partnership of Benny Anderson and Bjorn Olvius combined the worlds of pop, rock, and, yes, disco,
18:16to forge that solid gold ABBA brand.
18:19Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight is an all-time ABBA banger.
18:23Gimme Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight.
18:27I want somebody help me change the shadows of my head.
18:31While Dancing Queen remains the quartet's most iconic song.
18:34See that girl, watch that sea, dig in the Dancing Queen.
18:41Agnetha Feldskog and Anifried Linkstad take charge on this tune,
18:45letting their lovely voices harmonize in beautiful bliss.
18:48Meanwhile, the lyrical content of Dancing Queen could be taken at face value,
18:52or it could perhaps serve as a slightly more wistful and melancholic look back at the fleeting moments of youth
18:58and how we take them for granted.
19:00Dancing Queen
19:02Feel the beat from the tambourine
19:15Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album, Balance.
19:20Classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
19:23Check out the full track and album below.
19:26Fortune calls, rise and ruin, night and noon, all are prisoners of the moon.
19:39Number 1. Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees.
19:42You can't tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man, no time to talk.
19:48The Bee Gees was another act that really wasn't just a disco band,
19:52but a trio of siblings that felt comfortable composing everything from psychedelic rock to sunshine pop.
19:57It wasn't until the 70s, and specifically the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack,
20:01when the codified and disco-ified image of the Bee Gees as a suited-up strutton street machine took hold.
20:06Genre classics like Tragedy and Night Fever are impossible to resist,
20:10but it's Stayin' Alive that hard-coded the disco DNA with a grip that is as tight as John Travolta's
20:16pants.
20:25It's funky, groovy, and totally cool in the way that the best disco jams were back then,
20:31today and forever.
20:32Stayin' Alive!
20:41Do you secretly love disco or hold that freak flag up loud and proud?
20:46Let us know in the comments.
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