In the 1970s, as disco engulfed America, the question, ''Do you wanna dance?'' became divisive, even explosive. In this incisive history, Alice Echols reveals the ways in which disco, assumed to be shallow and disposable, permanently transformed popular music, propelling it into new sonic territory and influencing rap, techno and trance. This account probes the complex relationship between disco and the era's major movements: gay liberation, feminism and African American rights. But it never loses sight of the era's defining soundtrack, spotlighting the work of precursors James Brown and Isaac Hayes, its dazzling divas Donna Summer and the women of Labelle, and some of its lesser known but no less illustrious performers like Sylvester. No one will dis disco again after reading this fascinating account of the music we love to hate but can't stop dancing to.