Plot Synopsis

Directed and produced by Louise Lockwood and Shianne Brown, DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION is a three-part documentary that explores the history of disco -- the preeminent popular music of the 1970s -- as told by the original musicians, promoters, innovators, and modern-day musical icons. Disco embodied the height of 1970s glamour: a dance floor culture born in New York City that went on to take over the world. But its success also obscured its wider significance. Inextricably bound up with the major liberation movements of the 1970s, disco speaks to some of the biggest issues of today: LGBTQ+ identity and female empowerment. The series features appearances by: Vince Aletti, Steve Ashkinazy, Bill Bernstein, Joyce Bogart Trabulus, Jocelyn Brown, Carmen D'Alessio, David Depino, Lisa Farrington, Nona Hendryx, Thelma Houston, Marshall Jefferson, Francois Kevorkian, Tina Magennis, Ana Matronic, George McCrae, David Morales, Tom Moulton, Colleen Murphy, John Parikhal, Kim Petras, Mark Riley, Allen Roskoff, Alex Rosner, Michelle Saunders, Jake Shears, Nicky Siano, Candi Staton, Jeanie Tracy, Barry Walters, Dexter Wansel, Anita Ward, Jessie Ware, Sharon White, Victor Willis, Earl Young, Jamie Principle, Robert Williams, Ron Trent, DJ Hollywood, Honey Dijon, and MNEK. DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION made its U.S. debut on Saturday, June 1, 2024 with all three episodes available to stream at PBS.org, the PBS app, and PBS Passport. The series makes its U.S. linear television debut 2.5 weeks later on Tuesday, June 18 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings). Episodes include:

"Rock the Boat" (U.S. linear television debut on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 9pm): The opening episode of the series looks at the roots of disco -- how it emerged from a basic desire for inclusion, visibility, and freedom among persecuted Black, gay, and minority ethnic communities of New York City. It tells the remarkable story of how a global phenomenon began in the loft apartments and basement bars of New York City, where a new generation of DJs and musicians, like David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Francis Grasso, and Earl Young (The Trammps), pioneered a distinct sound and a new way of spinning records.

"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (U.S. linear television debut on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 9pm): Set against the backdrop of Black power and sexual liberation, the second episode takes viewers to the high watermark of disco in the mid '70s. As disco conquers the mainstream, it turns Black women and gay men into superstars and icons. It is a world where the drag queen Sylvester was king, and Black women found a powerful new voice -- one that fused Black Power with a call for sexual freedom. It was the birth of the "disco diva" from Gloria Gaynor and Candi Staton to Donna Summer and Thelma Houston. However, mainstream success by The Bee Gees' soundtrack album "Saturday Night Fever," The Rolling Stones' "Miss You," Rod Stewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," and Studio 54 took disco further and further from its roots of inclusivity and freedom, as straight, white men started to embrace and repackage the sound.

"Stayin' Alive" (U.S. linear television debut on Tuesday, July 2, 2024 at 9pm): The final episode documents the wellspring of resentment from white, straight, male-dominated, rock-loving middle Americans, as they targeted disco for its hedonism, femininity, and queerness. A vocal "Disco Sucks" movement began to gain momentum, culminating in the "Disco Demolition Derby" at Comiskey Park Stadium in Chicago, where organizers destroyed thousands of disco records in front of a baying audience of baseball fans. In addition, the hedonism and sexual liberation embodied by disco found itself stopped in its tracks by the AIDS crisis. Pushed out of the mainstream, the pioneers of disco retreated and regrouped. Cult disco DJ Frankie Knuckles left New York for Chicago, where he remixed disco breaks with R&B to produce a new genre of dance music -- house. He and other disco pioneers kept disco alive as it evolved into world electronic dance music.