Playlist

Country Songs for Disco Lovers

Country music had a moment with disco in the late 1970s, and it’s been having it on and off again ever since. From Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s ‘Islands in the Stream’ to Kacey Musgraves’ ‘High Horse’, there's something for every disco fan in our playlist of Country Songs for Disco Lovers.

Holler Country Music

Country music had a moment with disco in the late 1970s, and it’s been having it on and off again ever since. From Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s ‘Islands in the Stream’ to Kacey Musgraves’ ‘High Horse’, there's something for every disco fan in our playlist of Country Songs for Disco Lovers.

May 9, 2023 3:09 pm GMT
Last Edited May 10, 2023 10:15 am GMT

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Here at the Holler offices, we’re all too familiar with hearing the same old “Anything but country” response when it comes to people talking about what sort of music they’re into. But we’re making it our mission to go out into the world and change that.

With its origins in Philadelphia’s R&B scene and the dance parties thrown in New York City's underground gay community in the late 60s and early 70s, disco might seem like an unlikely bedfellow for the relative conservatism of country music, but country's also never been afraid of hitting the dancefloor and kicking up its heels either.

From the barn dances of the 1930s through to western swing dances in the 50s and on to the line dancing craze of the 80s, country music has always been one-stepping and two-stepping out into the spotlight whenever the opportunity comes around.

Although it predates the modern pop age by a good 30 years or more, country has always ensured its continued popularity and relevance by absorbing whatever genre comes along to try to usurp it. In the 60s black soul music and lushly orchestrated teen pop had encouraged country to shape-shift into Countrypolitan and the Nashville Sound, and by the early-70s it was folk music and West Coast rock that was causing it to switch it up again. Soon the newest perceived threat was coming from disco, and it was time for country to soak it all up.

Beginning as celebration of sexuality and outsider culture in clubs like Studio 54 and Paradise Garage in New York City - which became safe spaces for self-expression for marginalised Black, queer and Latino communities - by the mid-1970s, disco had moved beyond the clubs and onto the airwaves, making stars out of Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer in the process, until it peaked with the release of Saturday Night Fever and its soundtrack in 1977.

It was around this time that Dolly Parton left Nashville behind and took off for LA in search of pop crossover stardom. “I’m not leaving country behind, I’m just taking it with me,” she famously quipped to her detractors - and that’s exactly what she did.

Never a stranger to the dancefloor – Jerry Carrigan’s disco-ready four-on-the-floor rhythm on Dolly’s 1974 classic ‘Jolene’ had already proved she was more than capable of cutting it in the club – in 1977 Dolly released the pop country classic Here You Come Again, followed a year later by Heartbreaker, and brought the Smoky Mountains all the way down into the sweat-soaked nightclubs of urban America.

Country music was finally having its moment with disco, and it’s been having it on and off again ever since. From Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s ‘Islands in the Stream’ to Kacey Musgraves’ ‘High Horse’, there’s always been something incredibly unique about the way disco uses camp to turns its tragedy into empowerment, which taps so perfectly into the storytelling lyricism of country.

So, for those of you who dig Donna Summer but didn't think you could boogie to Bill Anderson, we’ve got a playlist that will send your disco fingers wild. It's mirror balls and neon lights, sequinned tops and sparkly rhinestone suits, it’s country and it’s disco and it’s the greatest night out you’ll ever have.

Check out the full tracklist below:

  1. Kacey Musgraves

    High Horse

  2. Millie Jackson

    Kiss You All Over

  3. Glen Campbell

    Southern Nights

  4. Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers

    Islands in the Stream

  5. Conway Twitty

    Tight Fittin' Jeans

  6. Bill Anderson

    I Can't Wait Any Longer

  7. Barbara Mandrell

    Sometime, Somewhere, Somehow

  8. Dolly Parton

    Potential New Boyfriend

  9. Ronnie Milsap

    Get It Up

  10. George Jones

    I Ain't Got No Business Doin' Business Today

  11. Connie Smith

    If It Ain't Love (Let's Leave It Alone)

  12. Olivia Newton-John

    Jolene

  13. Don Williams

    Tulsa Time

  14. Tony Joe White

    Alone At Last

  15. Eddie Rabbitt

    One and Only One

  16. Dottie West

    A Lesson in Leavin'

  17. Kenny Rogers

    In and Out of Your Heart

  18. The Bellamy Brothers

    Let Your Love Flow

  19. Dolly Parton

    Baby I'm Burnin' Disco Mix

  20. Reba McEntire

    You Keep Me Hangin' On

  21. Hailey Whitters

    Dream, Girl

  22. Kylie Minogue

    Dancing

  23. Thomas Rhett

    VHS

  24. Pearl Charles

    Sweet Sunshine Wine

  25. Brett Eldredge and Thomas Rhett

    You Can't Stop Me

  26. Diplo

    So Long (feat. Cam)

  27. Paul Cauthen

    Cocaine Country Dancing

  28. Glen Campbell and Tanya Tucker

    Why Don't We Just Sleep On It Tonight

  29. Crystal Gayle

    We Should Be Together

  30. Mel McDaniel

    Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On

  31. Sylvia

    Drifter

  32. Dolly Parton

    Two Doors Down

  33. Mac Davis

    Midnight Crazy

  34. Charley Pride

    Night Games

  35. George Strait

    Friday Night Fever

  36. The Oak Ridge Boys

    Trying to Love Two Women

  37. Waylon Jennings

    I've Always Been Crazy

  38. Terri Gibbs

    Somebody's Knockin'

  39. The Bellamy Brothers

    Dancin' Cowboys

  40. Charly McClain

    Who's Cheatin' Who

  41. Randy Travis

    Diggin' Up Bones

  42. Alabama

    Gonna Have A Party

  43. Johnny Paycheck

    Friend, Lover, Wife

  44. Steve Young

    I Got The Same Old blues

  45. Jerry Reed

    Amos Moses

  46. The Charlie Daniels Band

    Trudy

  47. Steven Soles

    Shake the Dust

  48. Kenny Rogers

    She's A Mystery

  49. Emmylou Harris

    On The Radio

  50. Merle Haggard

    That's the Way Love Goes

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Written by Jof Owen
Author - Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Artist