Disco is an up-tempo style of dance music that originated in the early 1970s, mainly from funk popular with black audiences in large US cities, and derives its name from the French word "discotheque". Like all such musical genres, defining a single point of its development is very, very difficult, as many elements of disco appear on earlier records (such as the 1971 theme from the movie "Shaft" by [Isaac Hayes]?), on balance it can be said that first true disco songs were released in 1973. One of the earliest was "The Love I Lost" by [Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes]?. Initially, most disco songs catered to a nightclub/dancing audience only, rather than general audiences such as radio listeners. 1975 was the year when disco really took off, with hit songs like "The Hustle" and "Love To Love You Baby" reaching the mainstream. Disco's popularity peaked in 1978 and the first half of 1979, driven in part by the late-1977 film "[Saturday Night Fever]?".
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