Disco Essentials

When many people think of disco, they imagine its most lasting images: glitter balls, platform shoes and John Travolta strutting through Saturday Night Fever. Yet the best disco music remains so exciting and so sophisticated, it’s much more than kitsch. It’s also remarkably complex for a rhythmically straightforward style that developed in the early ‘70s so club DJs could create seamless musical flows and keep dancers moving with a consistent four-on-the-floor beat. But within that rhythmic structure, music-makers found plenty of room for variation and innovation. And whether these tracks brandish the shimmering Euro-synth sound of ABBA and Donna Summer, the impeccably funky grooves that Chic provided for Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and their celebratory hits, or the cheeky, campy fun of the Village People, all this music was built for pleasure.