70 Disco Trivia Questions and Answers: Donna Summer, the Bee Gees and Studio 54

The needle drops, the hi-hat starts to tick, and the mirror ball throws a thousand spinning lights across the floor. You smooth your collar — the one with points that nearly reach your shoulders — and step out into a crowd already moving as one body.

For a few bright years in the 1970s, that was Saturday night. Here are seventy questions from the disco era: the records, the clubs and the characters who filled those floors. Read them aloud at the next get-together, or just see how many still live in your feet.

Saturday Night Fever and the Brothers Gibb

One movie lit the fuse. These are the facts behind it.

1. Which 1977 film put John Travolta in a white suit as Tony Manero?

Saturday Night Fever.

2. The movie grew from a 1976 magazine article — what was strange about it?

Writer Nik Cohn later admitted he had largely made the whole story up.

3. What was the name of the real Brooklyn discotheque filmed for the movie?

2001 Odyssey, in Bay Ridge.

4. Which group recorded most of the soundtrack?

The Bee Gees — the brothers Gibb.

5. How long did that soundtrack sit atop the album chart?

Twenty-four straight weeks, from January to July 1978.

6. Name the three Bee Gees songs from it that topped the Hot 100.

“How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever.”

7. How long did “Night Fever” hold the number-one spot?

Eight weeks.

8. A fourth number one came from Yvonne Elliman. Which song?

“If I Can’t Have You.”

9. Which top prize did the soundtrack win at the 1979 Grammys?

Album of the Year.

10. Roughly how many copies did it sell in the United States?

More than fifteen million.

Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco

No voice ruled the era like hers.

11. Who wore the crown as the Queen of Disco?

Donna Summer.

12. Her 1975 breakthrough was stretched to seventeen minutes. Name it.

“Love to Love You Baby.”

13. What did TIME magazine famously count in that record?

Twenty-two sighs — it called the song a “marathon of 22 orgasms.”

14. Which producer shaped her sound?

Giorgio Moroder.

15. How did their 1977 track “I Feel Love” break new ground?

It was built almost entirely on a synthesizer, pointing the way to electronic dance music.

16. That song came from a concept album about time. Name it.

I Remember Yesterday.

17. What was Summer’s first number-one single, a disco remake of a 1968 ballad?

“MacArthur Park,” in late 1978.

18. Name her two chart-topping hits of 1979.

“Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls.”

19. What was special about her 1979 duet with Barbra Streisand?

“No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” was the first Hot 100 number one credited to two women together.

A Night at Studio 54

The most famous velvet rope in the world hung here.

20. Which New York club became the temple of disco in April 1977?

Studio 54.

21. The building on West 54th Street had been what before?

An opera house and, later, a CBS television studio.

22. Who were the two men behind the club?

Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.

23. What shut it down just weeks after it opened?

A raid for selling liquor without a license.

24. What crime eventually sent the owners to prison?

Tax evasion, after they were caught skimming the club’s cash.

25. When did the original Studio 54 close its doors?

February 1980.

26. What stands at 254 West 54th Street today?

A Broadway theater.

Chic, and a Groove Heard Round the World

A rejection at the door changed pop music.

27. Which band was built around Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards?

Chic.

28. How was their smash “Le Freak” born?

The pair were turned away from Studio 54 on New Year’s Eve and went home fuming.

29. What was the chorus before it became “freak out”?

A curse aimed at the doormen, softened first to “freak off.”

30. Where did “Le Freak” land on the charts in 1978?

Number one — Chic’s first chart-topper, and one of Atlantic Records’ biggest-selling singles.

31. Which 1979 Chic song carried one of the most borrowed basslines ever?

“Good Times.”

32. Which pioneering rap hit was built on that groove?

“Rapper’s Delight,” by the Sugarhill Gang.

33. What did that borrowing finally earn Rodgers and Edwards?

Songwriting credit, after a legal settlement.

The Village People and the Costume Box

Six men, six uniforms, one unforgettable chorus.

34. Which group dressed its members as American fantasy figures?

The Village People.

35. Two French producers created the act and named it after what?

New York’s Greenwich Village.

36. Who sang lead, often dressed as the policeman?

Victor Willis.

37. Name the group’s six costumes.

A cop, a cowboy, a Native American, a construction worker, a biker in leather and a soldier.

38. Which 1978 sing-along has you spelling four letters with your arms?

“Y.M.C.A.”

39. Where did “Y.M.C.A.” peak in America?

Number two — though it reached number one in Britain.

Anthems That Filled the Floor

Every one of these turned a quiet room into a dance floor.

40. Gloria Gaynor’s survival anthem began as a B-side. Name it.

“I Will Survive.”

41. What rare honor did it win at the 1980 Grammys?

The only Best Disco Recording award ever given.

42. Which 1975 instrumental by Van McCoy sparked a nationwide dance craze?

“The Hustle.”

43. In which Grammy category did “The Hustle” win?

Best Pop Instrumental.

44. ABBA’s one and only American number one was a disco tune. Which?

“Dancing Queen.”

45. The Trammps’ 1976 anthem took its “burn” chorus from a disaster film. Name it.

“Disco Inferno.”

46. Which 1979 number one was sung by former schoolteacher Anita Ward?

“Ring My Bell.”

47. A Taste of Honey topped the chart in 1978 with which groove?

“Boogie Oogie Oogie.”

48. Thelma Houston took which 1977 plea to number one?

“Don’t Leave Me This Way.”

49. Who recorded that song first, with Teddy Pendergrass on lead?

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

50. Which Miami band scored five number ones, including “Get Down Tonight”?

KC and the Sunshine Band.

51. Name two more of their chart-toppers.

“That’s the Way (I Like It)” and “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty.”

52. Their “Please Don’t Go” holds what small distinction?

It was the first number-one hit of the 1980s.

53. Rose Royce sang the theme to which 1976 movie set at a Los Angeles garage?

“Car Wash.”

54. Earth, Wind & Fire teamed with the Emotions for which 1979 floor-filler?

“Boogie Wonderland.”

55. Sylvester, out of San Francisco, is remembered for which falsetto classic?

“You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).”

The Dances, the Word and the Craze

Before the records, there was the dance floor itself.

56. From which language does the word “discotheque” come?

French.

57. What did “discotheque” mean at first?

A library of records; the ending echoes the French word for library.

58. Where was the Hustle first danced before it became a hit?

In the Bronx, by Puerto Rican teenagers.

59. Van McCoy’s own story ended sadly young. What happened in 1979?

He died of a heart attack at thirty-nine.

The Night They Tried to Kill Disco

The backlash, when it came, came all at once.

60. What was the 1979 stunt where fans blew up records between ballgames?

Disco Demolition Night.

61. At which Chicago ballpark did it happen, and when?

Comiskey Park, on July 12, 1979.

62. Which radio DJ led the charge?

Steve Dahl.

63. How did you get a cheap ticket that night?

By bringing a disco record to be destroyed — admission was 98 cents.

64. How did the night end?

In a riot, and the White Sox had to forfeit the second game of the doubleheader.

65. Many point to that summer as the moment disco did what?

Began its steep decline.

66. And the Grammys’ Best Disco Recording award — how long did it last?

A single year, 1980, before it was quietly dropped.

Frequently asked questions

When did the disco era run?

Roughly from the mid-1970s to about 1979, when the backlash set in. Its records, of course, never left the dance floor.

Are these good for a party?

Wonderful. Read the clue, let folks call out the answer, then cue up the song to settle it. For more, spin our 1970s music trivia questions and answers or our soul music trivia questions and answers.

Did disco really come from one movie?

No — it was already filling clubs when Saturday Night Fever arrived in 1977. The film simply carried it into every living room in America.

Where can I check these facts?

Every date, title and name here comes from the reputable sources listed just below.

Sources

• Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack) — Wikipedia
• “I Will Survive” — Wikipedia
• “Le Freak” — Wikipedia

Still got the moves? Play our trivia quizzes and find out how much of that Saturday night still lives in you.