Disco Hits 2

It may have been but one moment in time, but for a craze that lasted less than a decade, the age of disco produced so many iconic tracks that one Essentials playlist simply isn’t enough to contain them all. Enter Disco Hits 2, our ongoing tribute to the dance-floor divas, one-hit wonders, and out-and-out legends who made the music that, to this day, signifies nothing less than good, clean, all-inclusive fun. We’re talkin’ the Bee Gees and their chronic case of got-to-feed-it “Night Fever”; Kool & the Gang and a “Celebration” that never ends; and The Commodores, who lay down a whole load of freaky funk on their ooh-mighty-mighty ode to dancin’ Amazons, “Brick House.”

“And the Beat Goes On,” shout The Whispers. They know the Disco Hits 2 party is going strong in Next Steps.

Diva supreme Diana Ross is feeling the festivities of the night before on her disco ode to romantic overindulgence, “Love Hangover,” but Heat Wave are just getting started, boarding “The Groove Line” for a first-class trip to a Disco Hits 2 party town. There, master of ceremonies Lou Rawls wields a voice of velvet and cognac to greet the ladies with his suave slow-dance message “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine,” while KC & the Sunshine Band stand by to motivate the moving-and-grooving masses with “I’m Your Boogie Man.”

“Take Me Home,” commands Cher, but we’re gonna do our best to get her to stay for one more Disco Hits 2 playlist in Deep Cuts.

“I Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet,” insists the Gonzalez disco-whistle extravaganza, and we’ve mined the Disco Hits archives to make sure you never have to. We’re bringin’ the boogie and makin’ it last, from the dance-trance pulsations of the late Donna Summer’s synthesized sensation “I Feel Love” to the freaky funk of Brass Construction and the club-night chants of “Movin” to Carol Douglas and her dance-pop prescription for disco fulfillment “Doctor’s Orders.” Hey, when even classical composers get in on the game — dig “A Fifth of Beethoven” from Walter Murphy — you know you’re on to something special.

There is a place in the iTunes universe where time has no meaning, where decades collapse and the effervescent sounds of yesteryear remain as bright as a brand-new mirror ball, as fresh as a hot-and-heavy dance-floor proposition. The best part? Getting there is as easy as downloading Disco Hits 2, our playlist of the stone smashes and worthy supporting players that turned a few years of the ’70s into dance-music ground zero. We’ve done the leg work so you don’t have to, bringing together classics like Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” and Earth, Wind & Fire’s wondrous “Boogie Wonderland” with the one-offs (Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting”), novelties (Meco’s “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band”), and successful sonic experiments (à la The Rolling Stones’ disco-rock “Miss You”) that round out an era.