"You Keep Me Hangin' On," The Supremes (1966)

The Billboard Disco chart began in late 1974, Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye," based on a template already established by a Philly Sound, with a big assist from the Temptations/Eddie Kendricks, in 1972. But what was the first disco song or what pre-disco song hinted most at the classic disco sound to come? Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" has some claim, essentially because it got big at David Mancuso's Loft in 1972, generally recognized as the NYC private party danceclub where disco started; or an important early model, anyway. Archie Bell & The Drells were an early disco staple, from "Tighten Up" in '68 to "Let's Groove" in '75. The Isley's "It's Our Thing" in '69 deserves some attention. Uptempo, insistent, even stomping, funky rock & soul was showing the way. But this Supremes nugget-- 1966!-- should not be overlooked. Pathbreaking proto-disco, if you ask me.