Mexican Disco: Funk, Soul and Dance Music from the Late 1970s and 80s
by Daniel Finn
This is Mexican disco from the late 1970s and 80s.
By the late 1970s, disco was everywhere, and in Mexico it landed in a music scene already connected to American funk, soul, rock and pop, alongside established Latin and Mexican styles.
The basic disco framework is familiar. Four-on-the-floor drums, funk basslines, strings, brass and synthesizers. But across these records you also hear Latin percussion, different vocal styles and arrangements coming out of Mexican popular music.
Mexico’s proximity to the United States meant music moved easily between the two countries. American disco records reached Mexican audiences while local musicians, producers and labels recorded their own dance music.
By the late 1970s and early 80s, disco had worked its way into all sorts of Mexican records. Some lean heavily into funk and soul, some move closer to Latin dance music, and others push further into synthesizers and electronic production.
Groups like Los Joao and La Tropa Loca were part of this period, while disco and funk production also appeared across the work of artists from much broader Mexican pop backgrounds.
There isn’t one neat Mexican disco sound. You hear the same basic dance music idea moving through completely different parts of Mexican popular music.
So I’m putting together another playlist.
Mexican disco, funk, soul and dance music from the late 1970s and 80s.