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The "Sci-Fi Disco Band MECO" in 1977 in costumes typical of the Space Disco genre

Space disco, a music genre, was a short-lived Euro Disco variation associated with synthesizers and science fiction themes.

The height of space disco's popularity came in 1977–1979, coinciding with the release of the films Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the first use of laser beams as lighting effects in discothèques. Space disco artists, when performing, dressed in a manner inspired by glam rock and science fiction fashion, including "futuristic" or "alien"-like costumes, similar to those seen on the 1970s TV series Buck Rogers, the original Star Trek, Space: 1999, and Battlestar Galactica.

Recently, the genre name "Space Disco" has been used to describe a variant of Deep House music that borrows heavily from underground Disco, early Detroit Techno and Italo Disco.

Popularity

Space Disco was very popular in France and parts of Germany in 1977–1979. Relatively popular artists that contributed to this music style include Meco ("Theme From Star Wars"), Cerrone ("Supernature"), Sarah Brightman (I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper"), Didier Marouani & Space ("Magic Fly") and Sheila B. Devotion ("Spacer").

Space disco spread fast in Germany with the help of Musikladen, a music show produced by the German channel NDR. Disco, another popular music show produced by ZDF, also hosted some Space Disco artists. From Germany, space disco spread to Italy and parts of Greece, and influenced the Italo disco music scene.

Around 1979, just before Space Disco faded, Dee D. Jackson brought it to Latin America (mainly Brazil and Argentina) with the success there of her 1978 album Cosmic Curves. Jackson was British, but worked in Germany, and with the help of Italian producer Giorgio Moroder, managed to score a hit in the global charts of the time with "Automatic Lover".

Etymology

At least one modern history of space disco traces the genre's origins to science fiction themes (outer space, robots, and the future) in the titles, lyrics and cover artwork of dance music in the late 1970s.¹ Plausible associations are drawn between the popularity of Star Wars (released mid-1977), the subsequent surge in interest in science fiction themes in popular culture, and the release of a number of science fiction themed and "futuristic"-sounding (synthesizer and arpeggiator-infused) disco music worldwide.¹

In modern histories, examples of the first space disco usually include the music of the French band Space,¹, although the term "space disco" isn't definitively or singularly linked to this group.

Regional scenes and derivatives

Space Disco and P-Funk

P-Funk somehow became related with Space Disco, at least for a short while. The main reason for this, could be that during the very early 80s, the discothèques in France used to market P-Funk as the continuation of USA's disco after the Disco Demolition Night that took place in USA on 1979. Also, the USA's disco band Chic produced Sheila B. Devotion's biggest hit, "Spacer", which was a milestone of the Space Disco style, so it was natural to tell to the euro disco fans that P-Funk was Space Disco Related. The stage (and first video) appearances of the P-Funk artists, helped a lot in that direction.

Space Disco and Canadian disco

Space Disco had a presence in Canada because of the French-speaking population. In the very early 1980s, it inspired Canadian artists and producers to create their own Hi-NRG disco-like music style. In Europe, this style became known as "Canadian Disco". The best known groups of this music style are Trans-X and Lime. Canadian Disco integrated with the Italo-Disco scene in Europe, while it became a small part of Hi-NRG Disco in the U.S.A.

Space Disco and Italo-Disco

There are many Italo-Disco hits that have sci-fi themes and sound effects that were previously used in Space Disco. Many instrumental Italo-Disco remixes sounded very "space disco" like and some Italo-Disco artists and groups (most notable Koto and Laserdance) had space disco elements in their music until the late 80s. The hybrid between Space Disco and Italo Disco created after 1986 mostly in Eastern Europe is called "Synthesizer Dance" by some fans, and "Spacesynth" by Americans.

Another crossover between Space Disco and Italo Disco was made by Italians producers and DJs in the early 1980s. They used to remix European hits in a "space disco" style. That was the case with the hit "Der Kommissar" by Falco.

Space Disco and French House

Space Disco became the main influence and inspiration for the 1990s French house scene, the last of the Euro disco music styles.

Selected Space Disco artists

• Cerrone
• Space
• Sarah Brightman (during her days with Hot Gossip)
• Sheila B. Devotion (Spacer)
• Dee D. Jackson (Automatic Lover)
• Ganymed (although the group's biggest "hits" weren't space-themed)

Selected Space Disco hits

1977

• Cerrone - "Supernature"
• Droids - "The Force"
• Kebekelektrik - "Magic Fly"
• Meco - "Star Wars: Title Theme"
• Rockets - "Space Rock"
• Space - "Magic Fly"
• Universal Robot Band - "Space Disco"
• Space Project - "Conquest Of The Stars"

1978

• Automat - "Droid"
• Sarah Brightman - "(I Lost My Heart To a) Starship Trooper"
• Galactic Force Band - "Theme From Star Trek"
• Dee D. Jackson - "Automatic Lover"
• Amanda Lear - "Black Holes"
• Laurie Marshall - "Disco Spaceship"
• Mistral - "Starship 109"
• Giorgio Moroder - "Battlestar Galactica"

1979

• Player One - "Space Invaders"
• Sheila & B. Devotion - "Spacer"

1980

• Kano - "I'm Ready"

See also

• Eurodisco
• Italo Disco
• Hi-NRG
• Spacesynth
• French house
• Afro/Cosmic music

References

External links

• The Space Disco story
• A Space Disco radio from "Last FM"