'Stayin' Alive': The Best (and Worst) Disco Songs of All Time

Disco never really died, and some of the biggest hits from the '70s are still bangers on the dance floor. And, admittedly, there are some we would be fine never hearing again. While there isn't room for all the hits ("Funkytown," "Superfreak," "Give Me the Night"), here are some of the best and worst tunes of the disco era.

Yes, this is disco but it's also a catchy tribute to female empowerment and self-respect that is still on-trend today. Try not to sing along with the words (we bet you have them burned into your memory no matter what your age is). It's a classic for a reason.

A bald-faced attempt to cash in on the disco craze, this is just as bad as you suspect. It sounds as if "Venus" (which was first released in 1959, long before disco) has been set to a disco rhythm, which is awkward and, bluntly, weird.

When "Saturday Night Fever" stormed into theaters and made John Travolta a movie star in 1977 (he had appeared in "Carrie" the previous year, but he was best known for TV work like "Boy in the Plastic Bubble" and "Welcome Back, Kotter"), it also did wonders for the Bee Gees, who had scored hits in the late '60s and '70s but weren't an inescapable household name. This earworm still makes most people want to shake their groove thing whether they want to or not.

Listening to a grown man groan as if he's passing kidney stones isn't attractive. At all. The ditzy sitcom-theme music is also a hard pass.

Donna Summer's soaring vocals over the pulsing electronic beat of producer and co-writer (with Peter Bellotte) Giorgio Moroder, this cemented Summer as the diva of disco and Moroder as the father of disco. When Brian Eno told David Bowie (they were working together on Bowie's album "Heroes"), "This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next 15 years," he was not wrong.

Rick Dees was a DJ in Memphis when he decided this would be a fun, comedic addition to disco. It was a top 10 hit for some unknown reason, but eventually the tedious duck vocals wore out their welcome. Weirdly, it did appear in "Saturday Night Fever" but the scene was deleted and the song didn't get included in the soundtrack.

Yes, this song is a mash-up of disco, blues, and rock — and it works better than anyone could expect. Even devoted disco haters could get out on the dance floor to a Stones song, and if you liked disco, even better.

This truly terrible song has no lyrics beyond "Get up and boogie" (unless you count "that's right" yelled at intervals), and not much of anything else going for it. This clunker is the epitome of lazy.

The Trammps were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, and "Disco Inferno" undoubtedly played a large part, thanks to its infectious bassline and a chorus that practically demands you sing along. This is prime disco, so it's no surprise it won a Grammy for its inclusion in the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack.

This is over 11 minutes. And it really really doesn't need to be. And Carl Wilson is singing. Carl Wilson can't carry a tune, at least not a disco tune. This is simply bad, okay?

This has a slow, silky lead in, but when Houston starts pleading with her guy to stay, the song ramps up to a full-throated demand. This was Houston's biggest hit, and for good reason.

Look, no hate on Elton John. He wasn't really a disco guy. And that's okay. But even he seemed kind of bored and unhappy with this plonky attempt to get in on the trend.

This song combines all the elements of a disco banger — a steady beat, a hooky chorus, and yes, that male falsetto that was the Bee Gees trademark. That this seemed to sum up the dark side of the dance floor in "Saturday Night Fever" is just another reason to love it.

These two Spanish former ballet dancers took their act to Eurovision, where they represented Luxembourg (don't ask) and scored an international hit with this weird song. While they aren't native English speakers, the accent is thick here. Add to that the odd orchestral swoosh, and it's a garbled mess.

Chic co-founder Niles Rodgers says that the "Aaaaaw, freak out!" verse was initially inspired by some other choice words delivered by a Studio 54 bouncer, but the result is an infectious hook that will get you on the dance floor, pronto.

Did we need a disco version of the "Star Wars" theme? No, no we didn't. It somehow managed to make the movie itself seem goofy in proximity to this nightmare. The pew-pew sounds of laser fire only added to the cheapness of it.

Though Gibb died just days before his 30th birthday, "Shadow Dancing" finds him at the height of his career. This song had more than a touch of Bee Gees magic (they were his older brothers, after all). Barry Gibb arranged the strings himself.

Can disco be hokey? Apparently the answer is yes, because this is about poking fun at a companion (the rest of the title mentions "with no big fat woman") whose bump is more than Joe Tex can handle. So that's nice. The fact the song barely qualifies as disco, with a plodding beat and shoddy vocals doesn't help.

Yes, great disco music has come out of Eurovision. While they didn't perform "Dancing Queen" (they performed "Waterloo"), this came out two years later and, even though it doesn't rhyme ("dancing queen" is only sort of a sound-alike for "seventeen") it's infectious even so.

Was there nothing else to feed into the gaping maw that was disco fever? A classic TV theme song? Really? While the theme is catchy, it's more annoying than anything, and slapping a soulless disco treatment on top of it doesn't help.

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