Over the years, some rock bands gave in to the disco craze and recorded disco songs with a dance groove. Yep, even the hardest rockers surrendered to the beat, and there's nothing wrong with that. Here are the Top 20 disco songs recorded by Rock bands, some you'd never expect.
1 - Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall Part 2. The deeply progressive rock kings pulled in one disco hit in the height of their fame. Not intentionally, maybe, but it is danceable. Roger Waters was flexible, but isn't that the nature of prog?
2 - Queen - Another One Bites the Dust. It was the #1 hit of 1980 and yes, you can dance to it, bump bump bump, another one..... It stayed on top of the charts for six weeks.
3 - The Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman. This rock band penned one of the coolest disco hits of the 70s. Released in 1979, it brought them back to the charts.
4 - KISS - I Was Made for Loving You. That's right, in 1979 Kiss was trying to revive their career. They recorded a disco song to attempt to gain a hit and save their record deal. It worked. The song was a Top 40 Billboard hit. Did you also know Michael Bolton wrote a song for them? Forever. So this hard rock band had only three hits: one disco and two slow ballads. Irony.
5 - Ozzy Osbourne - Stayin' Alive. Yep, the Black Sabbath Alumnus did a version of the Bee Gees hit from Saturday Night Fever. It's most excellent.
6 - Wings (Paul McCartney) - Magneto and Titanium Man. Great tune about the Marvel Superheroes, and you can dance to it. Bounce that beat.
7 - Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London. Quite fun and very danceable from the Excitable Boy himself.
8 - Rush - The Pass. Most of the Presto album was dance rock. Time Stands Still also fits into dance rock, a big departure from the hard rock / progressive rock trio. They even got Aimee Mann from Til Tuesday (Voices Carry) to do backing vocals. 1989.
9 - The Rolling Stones - Miss You. The Stones did quite a few dance / disco tunes in this period.
10 - ELO - All Over the World. The Electric Light Orchestra were solid rock, sometimes pop rock, but did a couple of disco songs, and this was the best.
11 - J. Geils Band - Love Stinks and Angel is a Centerfold.
12 - David Bowie - Young Americans. Also, Bowie's Let's Dance, which wasn't really disco, but this song and China Girl surely had a dance beat.
13 - Styx - Mr. Roboto, a top hit that was a very different pace for the arena rock band.
14 - Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? He wasn't often hard rock but...
15 - The Eagles - One of These Nights. ...And neither were the Eagles, but the adult soft rock band got on the dance floor for this one. The funk was on.
16 - Bryan Ferry - More Than This, a slow disco vibe, smooth dance. This former Roxy Music vocalist flipped from rock to dance on this one.
17 - Gamma Ray - It's A Sin. A cover of the Pet Shop Boys song by the metal kings themselves, known more for hard and symphonic metall.
18 - Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger from the Breakfast in America album.
19 - The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein, very hip and very cool, one of the best instrumental songs of all time.
20 - Alan Parsons Project - I, Robot was certainly disco from a very rock / prog-rock band.
Honorable Mention:
Sweet - Love is Like Oxygen, and to some extent: Ballroom Blitz fits into the dance scene.
Stepppenwolf - Life Is a Gamble. The entire Skullduggery album played with Disco Rock.
Jethro Tull - Acres Wild and later the electronic-heavy Fallen on Hard Times were a bit dance oriented for such a heavy rock band.
Led Zeppelin - Carouselambra was disco all the way, but not a chart hit. Still, wow. These guys can shred the axe one moment and do the disco beat the next. Nice.
Rock bands have played with disco on occasion, even the hard rockers. It never hurts to explore new genres. No one wants a single style. Sometimes, you feel the beat and can't resist. Rock on. And dance, too. Was there a disco ball above the drum set?
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