3 Disco AMA Winners From 1979 We Still Dance Along With Today

Sometimes when the beat hits, you have to answer the call. There is something about the drums, the melodies, the performance of the vocalist and the musicians—it can be enough to get you off your comfortable sofa and onto your living room dance floor.

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Well, if you’ve ever wanted to feel like disco dance royalty, then these songs here below are for you. Indeed, we wanted to travel back in time to the end of the 1970s to remember great tracks to boogie along with. These are three disco AMA winners from 1979 we still dance along with today.

Donna Summer

The Boston-born Donna Summer cleaned up at the 1979 American Music Awards. The show’s officials could have renamed the disco section of the pageant after her. Indeed, Summer, who also amazingly co-hosted the AMAs (along with Glen Campbell and Helen Reddy), took home trophies for Favorite Disco Female Artist, Favorite Disco Album (for the 1978 LP, Live And More) and Favorite Disco Song (for the track, “Last Dance”).

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes is known for many things. He boasts one of the best and deepest singing voices. He wrote the songs for the 1971 movie, Shaft. And he voiced the character Chef on South Park for many years. But in 1978, the songwriter and performer added to his resume yet again. That year, he took home the American Music Award trophy for Favorite Disco Male Artist, thanks, in part, to the release of his lively, dance-worthy 1976 LP, Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak). It was a cornucopia of sounds and melodies that compels us to boogie even today.

Village People

Sometimes, a band comes together and becomes timeless. Over the decades, there have been countless acts that have written songs and attempted to become well-known. But one can never tell what the people will respond to. And in the late 1970s, the people were responding to the eclectic group known as the Village People. The music the band wrote back then has subsisted over the years, too. If you go out today to a dance club or a bar, chances are you’ll hear one of the Village People’s classic hits. And in 1979 those songs helped the group win the AMA trophy for Favorite Disco Band/Duo/Group.

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