Space disco is a style of Disco that emerged throughout Europe in the mid-to-late 1970s. It is one of the earliest forms of Electro-Disco, with its primary development coming in 1977, partly due to the huge popularity of Star Wars (and to a lesser extent, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), but also due to pioneering singles such as "Magic Fly / Ballad for Space Lovers" by Space and "Supernature / In the Smoke" by Cerrone. As a result, a string of science fiction influenced
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Space disco is a style of Disco that emerged throughout Europe in the mid-to-late 1970s. It is one of the earliest forms of Electro-Disco, with its primary development coming in 1977, partly due to the huge popularity of Star Wars (and to a lesser extent, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), but also due to pioneering singles such as "Magic Fly / Ballad for Space Lovers" by Space and "Supernature / In the Smoke" by Cerrone. As a result, a string of science fiction influenced, space disco Novelty tracks appeared in the charts between 1977 and 1980, such as "Space Invaders" and "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper".
Due to its affiliation with space, the style is perhaps the most atmospheric form of disco. Layers of oscillating synth, commonly played with an arpeggiator (a device popularized at the time by Giorgio Moroder's production on Donna Summer's "I Feel Love"), underlay the electro-disco framework; space-orientated sound effects (laser guns, spaceships, etc) are scattered across the production; bombastic orchestral sections are frequently included, often to evoke the atmosphere of a sci-fi film; and artists sometimes take cues from the cosmic soundscapes of Space Rock. It is usually played at a medium-fast tempo between 120 and 140 bpm.
With its use of futuristic sounds and sometimes vocoders, space disco shares some similarities with Italo-Disco, though has more reliance on the spacy atmosphere and less on the melody at the forefront of the song, as well as the latter having an overall more substantial, heavy, "dry" drum machine beat. Space disco is also sometimes confused with and used as a synonym for Spacesynth, a genre that emerged as a strain of Italo-disco with space disco influences, before developing into its own fully fledged style with swirling, euphoric synth melodies. Several acts created space disco that overlapped with Library Music, for example, Sauveur Mallia and his work with Arpadys. Whilst this scene was most prevalent in France, British musician Brian Bennett also notably explored the mix on Voyage: A Journey Into Discoid Funk.
Whilst declining in popularity after the early 1980s, space disco underwent a revival in the mid-2000s in Oslo, with modern Norwegian disco producers such as Lindstrøm, Todd Terje and Prins Thomas keeping the sound alive. The style was also a huge influence on the development of French House in the 1990s.
Alongside Space, examples of the original wave of space disco performers include Zodiac, Black Devil, Meco, Tantra and Automat, whilst artists such as Moroder and Sparks also incorporated the style into some of their music.
