Disco

Disco emerged in the early 1970s as the dance music that was being played by discotheque DJs primarily in New York City, with the first disco club play chart appearing in 1974. The music was characterized by the 4x4 bass drum (i.e. four on the floor) and the prominence of sixteenth-note hi-hat with open hi-hat on the off beats. In its first decade, disco also often featured swirling strings and lush orchestrations rooted in Philly Soul. Also key in the wide pool of influences feeding into the early disco sound were the syncopated grooves and rhythmic chicken scratch guitar of Funk, as well as rhythms and percussion drawn from Hispanic American Music and African Music, most prominently traced to Manu Dibango's “Soul Makossa,” an early hit driven by the emerging dancefloor culture. Further influences included the open, extended compositions of Jazz and effected atmospheres of Psychedelia, which, along with related Rock styles, were prominent on early 1970s dancefloors.