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It began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It continued to increase in popularity and in the middle of the 1970s more and more disco songs topped the charts. Because of disco’s increasing popularity, many “non-disco artists” felt they had to record disco songs because of the disco´s popularity rising also into the mainstream (even if it was not “pure” disco, it had to have some disco influence or overtones) Disco music was now a worldwide phenomenon!

Because of several years of popularity, an anti-disco sentiment manifested itself. Many musicians of a variety of rock music styles expressed strong disapproval of the long running popularity of disco and its highly identifiable culture, especially as the decade was coming to a close (later known as the disco era). July 12, 1979 became known as “the day disco died” because of an anti-disco demonstration held in Chicago. Radio DJs organized mass burnings of disco albums and posters. Rock station Dj´s staged “Disco Demolition Night”, an anti-disco promotional event for disgruntled rock fans. On July 21, 1979, six days after the riot, the top six records on the U.S. music charts were disco songs. By September 22, two months later, there were no disco songs in the U.S. Top 10 chart. The media, in celebratory tones, declared disco dead and rock revived.

Some think the music industry supported the destruction of disco because rock music producers were losing money and rock musicians were losing the spotlight. “The attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism, sexism and homophobia.” (Craig Werner)

During the early 1980s, dance music dropped the complicated melodic structure and orchestration which typified the disco sound. But in the late 1980s and increasingly through the 1990s, a revival of the original disco style began to emerge. By the mid to late 2000s, many disco-influenced songs were hits.