Early
70's; varied roots...
funk bands inspired by James Brown, Funkadelic, and Sly and the Family Stone (Kool and the Gang, Brass Construction, the Ohio Players) the song-form remnants
of soul music via Europe, the precursors of techno, doing stuff with
synthesizers It was, for a time, Not Bad. It rose from the underground gay clubs into the mainstream. The success led to opportunism and self-parody - the disco we all loved to hate.