Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording
{{Short description|Award presented at the 22nd Grammy Awards in 1980}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording
| awarded_for = Quality disco recordings
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt = A gold gramophone trophy with a plaque set on a table
| caption = Gilded gramophone trophy presented to Grammy Award winners
| presenter = National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
| country = United States
| year = {{start date and age|1980}}
| year2 = {{end date and age|1980}}
| website = [http://www.grammy.com/ grammy.com]
}}
The Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording was an award presented at the 22nd Grammy Awards in 1980. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,{{cite news|url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/grammys/env-grammy_awards_info,0,5279018.htmlstory?track=center|title=Grammy Awards at a Glance|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309064412/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/env-grammy_awards_info%2C0%2C5838827.htmlstory|archive-date=March 9, 2012|url-status=live}} are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".{{cite web|url=http://www2.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/|title=Overview|access-date=February 8, 2010|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103173212/http://www2.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/|archive-date=January 3, 2011}}
Gloria Gaynor and producers Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren won the Best Disco Recording award for the song "I Will Survive". However, because of a backlash against disco, the Academy discontinued the category before the 23rd Grammy Awards. In 1998, a similar category, Best Dance Recording, began being awarded to honor vocal or instrumental dance tracks, though there were concerns that the genre would be short-lived much like the disco category.
Background
Disco is a genre of dance music that emerged in the United States during the 1970s.{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401805.html |title= As the Ball Turns| date= December 16, 2007| access-date=July 23, 2010 |newspaper= The Washington Post |pages=1–2|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121111030404/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401805.html| archive-date= November 11, 2012|url-status=live}} The experimental mixing of records, combined with the newly acquired ability to play longer tracks, resulted in a genre well-suited for dance parties. During 1973–74, MFSB's "Love Is the Message" displayed "early rumblings of the disco sound", and shortly afterward the songs "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Gloria Gaynor, "The Hustle" by Van McCoy, and "Love to Love You Baby" by Donna Summer emerged. In 1977, the opening of Studio 54 in Manhattan, and the success of the disco-focused feature film Saturday Night Fever (which featured John Travolta and music by the Bee Gees), added to the popularity of the disco genre.
The following year, Paradise Garage opened in Manhattan's West Village, the New York radio station WKTU became "all-disco", and the number of discothèques in the nation reached nearly 20,000. At the 21st Grammy Awards in 1979, Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track, was named Album of the Year and the Bee Gees received the award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for their contributions to the soundtrack album.{{cite news| url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30398-2004Dec27.html|title=Of Note |date= December 28, 2004 |access-date= July 23, 2010 |newspaper= The Washington Post| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121111030411/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30398-2004Dec27.html|archive-date=November 11, 2012 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url= http://www.rockonthenet.com/grammy/popgroup.htm|title=Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group| access-date= July 23, 2010 |publisher= Rock on the Net| website= rockonthenet.com |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080117093554/http://www.rockonthenet.com/grammy/popgroup.htm| archive-date= January 17, 2008| url-status= live}} By the end of 1979, the disco industry was estimated to be worth more than $4 billion, "more ... than the industries of movies, television or professional sport".{{cite news| url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/disco-inferno-680390.html| title= Disco inferno |date=December 11, 2004| access-date= July 23, 2010 |work= The Independent| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110913220555/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/disco-inferno-680390.html |archive-date= September 13, 2011| url-status= live}}
Image:Steve Dahl.jpg and Disco Demolition Night leader Steve Dahl in 2008]]
However, the disco fad soon began to decline. On July 12, 1979, just a few months after Newsweek had reported on the "[take] over" of disco music, a "tongue-in-cheek" promotional event known as Disco Demolition Night was held at Chicago's Comiskey Park baseball stadium.{{cite news|title=Disco night in Chicago a 'turn-on'| url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GP8cAAAAIBAJ&pg=5819,1657082&dq|access-date=October 19, 2010|newspaper=Sarasota Journal| date=July 13, 1979 |location= Sarasota, Florida|page=1C}} During a doubleheader intermission, disc jockey Steve Dahl set ablaze a bin full of disco records, causing a riot within the stadium and gaining international attention.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/sports/baseball/05disco.html?_r=1 |title= The Night Disco Went Up in Smoke| date=July 4, 2009 |access-date= July 23, 2010 |work= The New York Times | first= Joe| last= Lapointe| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180707203216/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/sports/baseball/05disco.html?_r=1|archive-date= July 7, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nlsyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4162,1038893&dq|access-date=October 19, 2010|newspaper= The Gettysburg Times |date=July 13, 1979 |location= Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |page=13|title=Fans Have A Blast In Chicago}} Approximately 10,000 disco records were destroyed, and around 50,000 rioters participated in the event, staying on the field, forcing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit the second game.{{cite news |url= http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/02/27/burn_baby_burn_disco_inferno_at_the_library/ |title=Burn, baby, burn: Disco inferno at the library| first= Stephen |last= Williams| date= February 27, 2005| access-date= July 23, 2010 |work= The Boston Globe |publisher= The New York Times Company |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121026112359/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/02/27/burn_baby_burn_disco_inferno_at_the_library/| archive-date= October 26, 2012| url-status=live}}
Nationally, a "backlash" took hold, as public support for disco music faded.{{cite web |url= http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/quoti-will-survivequot-wins-the-first8212and-last8212grammy-ever-awarded-for-best-disco-recording |title= 'I Will Survive' wins the first—and last—Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording| access-date= July 23, 2010| website= History.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161218233653/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/quoti-will-survivequot-wins-the-first8212and-last8212grammy-ever-awarded-for-best-disco-recording|archive-date=December 18, 2016|url-status=dead}} According to author Craig Werner, as quoted in the British newspaper The Independent, the "anti-disco movement represented an unholy alliance of funkateers and feminists, progressives and puritans, rockers and reactionaries. None the less, the attacks on disco gave respectable voice to the ugliest kinds of unacknowledged racism, sexism and homophobia." By 1980 "mainstream disco" had ended, by 1985 WKTU had returned to playing rock music, and by the end of the decade the famous dance venues Studio 54, Paradise Garage, and Clubhouse had all closed.
Award
| class="wikitable" style="width:100%" |
| bgcolor="#bebebe" |
| bgcolor="#bebebe"
! width="5%" | Year ! width="30%" | Recording ! width="30%" | Artist(s) |
| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center;"| 1980 {{cite web|url=http://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1980-228.html|title=Grammys Awards 1980|publisher=AwardsandShows|access-date=October 25, 2020}} |
| style="background:#FAEB86;"
| Gloria Gaynor, performer; Dino Ferakis, Freddie Perren, producers |
| Boogie Wonderland
| Earth, Wind & Fire, performer; Al McKay, Maurice White, producers |
| Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
| Rod Stewart, performer; Tom Dowd, producer |
| Bad Girls
| Donna Summer, performer; Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte, producers |
| Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
| Michael Jackson, performer; Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, producers |
File:Gloria Gaynor (1976).jpg award winner Gloria Gaynor, in 1976]]
In 1979, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences decided to add a Best Disco Recording category for the 22nd Grammy Awards, just as disco was "preparing to die". Nominated works for the award included "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart, and "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z540AAAAIBAJ&pg=1238,1635739&dq|title=Grammys Draw a Variety of Nominees|date=January 11, 1980|access-date=July 23, 2010|work=The Hour|location=Norwalk, Connecticut}} On February 27, 1980, during a live telecast from Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Gaynor was presented the award for Best Disco Recording. Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren also received awards as the producers of the track.{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search|title=Past Winners Search|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|access-date=March 4, 2010|website=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225154149/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search|archive-date=December 25, 2010|url-status=live}} Note: User must select the "Disco" category as the genre under the search feature.
However, because of the decreasing popularity of disco, the Academy eliminated the award category before the 1981 ceremony was to be held. According to the organization, disco was "no longer a readily definable separate music form", although its influence had "permeated all types of pop music".{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TxkfAAAAIBAJ&pg=1667,2987093&dq|title=Streisand, Sinatra head conservative Grammy nomination list|date=January 14, 1981|access-date=July 23, 2010|work=Anchorage Daily News|publisher=The McClatchy Company|first=Yardena|last=Arar|location=Anchorage, Alaska}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Despite the award's short span, the award helped solidify Gaynor as one of the best-known female disco artists from the 1970s and the song "I Will Survive" as one of the most recognized and top-selling songs from the genre.{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4345/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Gloria Gaynor|access-date=July 23, 2010|work=allmusic|publisher=All Media Guide}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/gloria-gaynor-still-survives/2009/04/15/1239474912961.html|title=Gloria Gaynor still survives|date=April 15, 2009|access-date=July 23, 2010|work=The Age|publisher=Fairfax Media|location=Melbourne, Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122210757/http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/music/gloria-gaynor-still-survives/2009/04/15/1239474912961.html|archive-date=January 22, 2010|url-status=live}}
Another dance category did not emerge until 1998 when the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording began to honor vocal or instrumental dance tracks,{{cite web|url=http://www2.grammy.com/grammy_awards/49th_show/list.aspx#02 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20061220160454/http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/49th_Show/list.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 20, 2006 |title=49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |access-date=July 23, 2010 }} though there were concerns that the award would be short-lived much like the disco category.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5-AgAAAAIBAJ&pg=1300,3595005&dq|title=Grammys finally realize dance music will survive|date=February 23, 1998|access-date=July 23, 2010|work=Sun Journal|publisher=Sun Media Group|location=Lewiston, Maine}} In 2003, the Academy moved the category from the "Pop" field into a new "Dance" field, which currently contains the category Best Dance/Electronic Album as well.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Q8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37|title=Beat Box|first=Michael|last=Paoletta|page=37|date=February 1, 2003|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 25, 2010|quote=For the first time, the best dance recording category is broken out into its own dance field. In previous years, this category was in the pop field...|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609005450/http://books.google.com/books?id=3Q8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq|archive-date=June 9, 2013|url-status=live}}
References
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{{Grammy Award years}}
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Category:1980 disestablishments in the United States
Category:1980 establishments in the United States
Category:Awards disestablished in the 1980s