Leviticus was the hottest club in NYC in the mid-1970s

After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party?is a story of eight young black men who just wanted to have fun and socialize with others. They identified a social need in New York City in the early 1970s and transformed it into a robust business success that helped birth the disco craze. The recently published book,?After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party,?is a first-hand account that takes the reader on a journey with these young men and in the process, provides a rare and authentic insight into their middle-class life and social culture.?

These young men created a new cultural experience driven by modern, upbeat music and high-energy dancing. There was an unprecedented level of social liberation where blacks and whites, rich and poor, conservative and radical, gay and straight, all came together on the dance floor. Discos created a previously unattainable level of human acceptance. Sadly, nothing has come along to replicate this experience since. It also dramatically impacted how music was selected for airplay. Radio stations were no longer the only ones deciding what songs would be played — and therefore purchased by consumers — disco patrons called the shots by demanding radio stations play songs they loved from the discos.?

The young men in this story were members of a social club formed after graduating from college in 1968. They called themselves The Best of Friends (TBOF.) I was a member of TBOF so?After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party?is a first-hand account. Seven of us were from Queens, New York, and one was from Teaneck, New Jersey. We began by organizing and hosting successful dances with live bands. But starting in 1971, with access to much-improved stereo systems, we promoted discotheques on select nights in several existing nightclubs in midtown Manhattan. Immediately it was clear that these events were filling a void in midtown. Finally, there was a new entertainment and dancing experience that was so exciting many patrons couldn’t get enough of it. Some people came almost every night, and many came weekly. Lines were common because the clubs operated at capacity and patrons had to wait for other guests to leave before being admitted.?

I wrote?After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party?because I realized that the story of TBOF and the considerable impact we had in New York City would be invisible to most Americans otherwise. This book captures the experiences of those who encouraged me to write this book. The good times they had at our clubs are recalled with excitement and fondness as they reminisce about nights at Leviticus, Justine’s, Bogard’s, and other discos.

The early ‘70s was an exciting time for young, middle-class African Americans. It was a period of optimism and hope because attitudes and behaviors toward race seemed to be improving. The civil rights demonstrations of the ‘60s, the 1963 March on Washington, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 all suggested that America had taken a step forward. There was an upwelling of idealism – at least among recent college graduates. In New York City, for the first time, there was a small yet growing cadre of black folks in professional positions in midtown Manhattan. We required jackets for admission to our clubs, so these businessmen and women were already dressed and were our key target audience. They had money in their pockets and were eager to hang out; they just needed a suitable place that catered to them.?

After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party?shines a spotlight on how the disco craze started. But it didn’t last long. The decline of disco began in 1979. Discos died — or may have been murdered by rock ‘n roll fans — but disco music never did. Disco music continued to be played and sampled non-stop since the heyday of disco. There have even been spikes of interest at various times since the glory days of disco. For example, in the late 1990s, nu-disco resurrected interest in ‘70s disco music. The top songs in 2013 were “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Nile Rodgers. Both songs sound like they come right out of the disco/funk music of the ‘70s. These songs were number one and two on the 2013 Billboard charts, demonstrating their popularity and relevance to young people today.

The Best of Friends discos represented a new way to socialize. The experience we created was compelling and inclusive — everyone felt welcomed. I cannot think of any purely social occasion that had greater diversity. Our dance parties grew into a tidal wave that swept across the country and much of the world.?

That tidal wave was disco