After splitting into many different subgenres since its inception in the 50s, Soul somewhat drastically changed course in the 80s. With Disco and Funk dominating the charts and the burgeoning Hip-Hop style consuming the streets like wildfire, Soul took a much more mellow route. In many respects, the genre became more laid back, putting an emphasis on smooth. With relaxed tempos and soft melodies, Soul borrowed influences from Jazz and Adult Contemporary styles. Artists like Luther Vandross, Evelyn “Champagne” King, and the UK’s very own Loose Ends helped define this branch of the Soul music family for most people.

1. I’ve Found Lovin – The Fatback Band 
2. Never Too Much – Luther Vandross
3. To Be Real – Cheryl Lynn
4. Somebody Else’s Guy – Jocelyn Brown
5. Ain’t Nobody – Rufus & Chaka Khan
6. Running Away – Roy Ayers
7. Funkin’ For Jamaica – Tom Browne
8. I’m In Love – Evelyn “Champagne” King
9. Hangin’ On A String – Loose Ends
10. Square Biz – Teena Marie

A subgenre of dance music, Disco blends the influences of funk, Latin, and soul music with a solid “four-on-the-floor” beat, prominent electric bass guitar lines, and synthesized keyboard parts. The music charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre’s popularity peaked during the late 1970s. Disco’s initial audiences were club-goers from the African American, Latino, gay, and psychedelic communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s; it was a reaction against both the domination of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music by the counterculture of the time.

1. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
2. Celebration – Kool And The Gang
3. Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now – McFadden and Whitehead
4. Staying Alive – Bee Gees
5. My First My Last My Everything – Barry White
6. Young Hearts Run Free – Candi Staton 
7. It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls
8. Car Wash – Rose Royce
9. I Feel Love – Donna Summer
10. We Are Family – Sister Sledge