What's The Difference Between Disco and Funk?

[barbarella]

Ok, so it's not cool to admit that you like Disco, but it's Ok if you like Funk. I don't always get what the difference is. Flashlight by Parliament is revered as Great Funk and Brick House by the Commodores has been called a Great Disco Record but is it Funk or Disco ?

[cheezyridr]

i would think the difference is painfully obvious

[mr dave]

can you spot the difference between nirvana and nickelback?

it's less about what you hear and more about why you're hearing it ($$$).

[gandhara]

I never really cared about the differences honestly, I just know I love the rhythms of both styles. besides, alot of bands and musicians mixed the two, like Crown Heights Affair, Instant Funk, Rose Royce, Slave, One Way etc....

Funk just branches out more than Disco does, like it's not always about the party, club and dance scene.

Also love all that 80's Electro Dance, Hi NRG, Latin Freestyle!!!! it's all cool with me

[Scots_ML]

As someone who lived through the disco years as a teenager I would say that 1975 was when the term disco became popular. Before that it was simply known as soul or funk. Round about 1974 there appears to have been a morphing of the two styles into a popular club groove that later became termed disco. I don’t think anybody used the term "Disco" until mid to late '74. Initially the sound was mostly underground, and was popular with hard core dance freaks with centres in places such as Philadelphia.

In its early years disco coexisted quite nicely alongside other music styles, at least on the radio (which was much more influential than now). Then in 1977 Saturday night fever came along and spoiled everything. What up till then was a burgeoning scene became chewed up, spat out and raped by both the media and record companies eager for a quick pound. When tracks such as bridge over troubled water got the disco treatment everybody knew that discos death toll had been sounded. It was the **** presented as disco at this time that earned it all the hatred it received.

As always happens in cases such as this, the cool crowd (well in the UK at least) left the mainstream to it and moved on to jazz funk.

As regards to funk: Funk maintained its following throughout the 70’s and into the 80’s despite bands who might be classed as funk dipping there toe in the dance scene ( mostly in the form of singles) to earn a few sheckles.

[cheezyridr]

Originally Posted by mr dave

it's less about what you hear and more about why you're hearing it ($$$).

a very interesting way of thinking. i want to agree with you more than i actually do. i dunno, i need to mull it over more. i think somehow that's very close to what i think also, but somewhat different.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

Disco is about dancing vertically
Funk is about dancing horizontally

[someonecompletelyrandom]

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

Disco is about dancing vertically
Funk is about dancing horizontally

This.

[boo boo]

It's foolish to say they're the same but Funk and Disco artists have had a tendency to crossover to one another. Chic are an example of a band that usually falls into both catagories.

Disco was a black thing before it was hijacked by whitey, it got it's start in black gay nightclubs, and eventually crossed over to latino and white gay nightclubs before going mainstream.

Both focus on a R&B flavored, dancable beats and emphasize rhythm over lead instruments.

The main diffefence is that Funk leans more towards jazz and soul while Disco has more pop to it. Funk tends to have more bass while Disco is more about synths and samples. There's more of a tendency for Disco to rely on samples while Funk employs real instruments. And Funk is a lot more aggressive and raw.

Disco artists had a greater focus on producing music specifically to be played in nightclubs, rather than promoting it through touring. And so tourists gained more from Disco than the artists involved.

I certainly wouldn't call P-Funk Disco in any sense of the word.

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

Disco is about dancing vertically
Funk is about dancing horizontally

Post of the week.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by boo boo

Funk tends to have more bass while Disco is more about synths and samples. There's more of a tendency for Disco to rely on samples while Funk employs real instruments.

Disco is about synths and samples? That's news to me. What Disco songs are you talking about?