When Frankie Knuckles famously described house music as disco's revenge, it set in motion an origin story tantamount to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. House and disco have been inextricably linked ever since and the term disco has morphed into a catch-all term for dance music before house. But, quite simply, that's not true and we didn't go from 'I Feel Love' to 'Strings Of Life' overnight, there was a very important bridge that connected the dots between US and Europe, man and machine.

In 1979, disco had reached its commercial nadir, filtering its way into TV, advertising, comics and even music from Ethel Merman. The backlash was quick and punishing and the implicitly homophobic and racist 'Disco Sucks' rally at Chicago's Comiskey Park that year all but killed the sound in mainstream America. Disco was forced back underground where it would mutate and diversify into a myriad of genres that eventually came to be house music. Boogie, Italo disco, new wave, no wave, punk funk, synth pop, early electro and dub were all part of the post-disco landscape where the proliferation of synthesisers and drum machines helped artists pastiche their creations together.

And it wasn't just musically that post-disco would influence the incoming house and techno scenes. With major labels steering clear of a sound full of glitz and glam, disco became about independent labels in a singles-driven market, giving power to DJs like Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage, Frankie Knuckles at the Power Plant and Ron Hardy at the Muzic Box. Dance music culture was born; the club became a place of worship and the DJ became the preacher.

So, from '79 to the first-ever house record, we take a look at a period where there were no rules and music was open to all sorts of influences. Don't think of it as a stop-gap, but the bridge to music's next big movement that produced some fucking great tunes in the process. Here are 10 of the best.