| [Edit]
A discothèque (or discoteque) (pronounced disko-tek) is an entertainment venue or club with recorded music, played by "Discaires" (Disk jockeys), rather than an on-stage band. The word derives from the French word discothèque (a type of nightclub). Discothèque is a portmanteau coined around 1941 from disc and bibliothèque (library) by La Discothèque, then located on the Rue de la Huchette in Paris (Jones + Kantonen, 1999). Previously, most paid entertainment in public venues used live bands.
Today the term discothèque is usually synonymous with nightclub. The term "disco" was originally a 1960s U.S. abbreviation of discothèque, a place where "disco music" was played.
top
Some historical discothèques
Ad Lib, in London, opened 1963 by Nicholas Luard and Lord Timothy Willoughby
La Discothèque, in London, opened 1960
La Discothèque, in Paris (on rue Hachette), opened 1941
2001 Odyssey, in Brooklyn, New York (was rechristened as The Spectrum in 1987; club demolished in late 2005)
Aux Puces, in New York City, one of the first gay discos
Cheetah, in New York City, at Broadway and 53rd Street
Civic Theatre Disco in New Orleans owned and operated by Glen Tortorich. A converted Art Deco theater was billed as the world's largest disco accommodating over 1500 and referred to as the Studio 54 of the South.
Il Mio (an Italian "discoteca"), in New York City,
L’Interdit, in New York City
La Dom, downstairs from Electric Circus; run by Andy Warhol
Shepheard's, in New York City,
The Sanctuary, in New York City, a famous early-1970s gay disco; part of the movie Klute was filmed there
top
Disco
The term disco is derived from discothèque. It generally refers to a specific style of music and dance that coincided with this cultural landmark.
top
See also
|
|
