A Night at the Disco by Alice Harris and Christian John Wikane

Tony Award winner Melba Moore joins bestselling author Alice Harris and noted music journalist Christian John Wikane for their new book A Night at the Disco, which celebrates more than 100 artists who shaped dance music from 1970-1979. Christian will interview Melba about her groundbreaking career, plus the legendary artists and music that created a phenomenon during the 1970s. A book signing will follow the Q&A.

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

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A Night at the Disco is a celebration of groundbreaking dance music from 1970–'79, with an unprecedented collection of photographs of more than 100 artists.
A Night at the Disco is a celebration of groundbreaking dance music from 1970–'79. An unprecedented collection of photographs of more than 100 artists, illuminating the styles and sounds from a decade that sparked a global phenomenon in music and culture. Exclusive comments from Donna Summer, Barry Gibb, Debbie Harry, Giorgio Moroder, founding members of CHIC, Labelle, The Trammps, Village People, Earth, Wind & Fire, and dozens more artists, songwriters and producers, offering fascinating insights that tell the stories behind the beats. From underground New York clubs to discothèques across the globe, A Night at the Disco illustrates how artists spanning soul, pop, disco, funk, jazz and rock defined nightlife during the 1970s and influenced popular music to the present day.
With a foreword by Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire, this is a real treat for music, dance and disco fans everywhere.

is a prominent, best-selling author. Her catalog of art books includes What the Band Wore, The White T, The Blue Jean, The Wedding Album, Blow Me A Kiss, and I Only Have Eyes For You. As iconic and stylish as her coffee-table books, Harris has been inspired by her world travels and career in the fashion and music industries. She resides in New York City with her husband and family.

is a NYC-based music journalist and essayist. Since 2003, he's interviewed more than 500 recording artists, songwriters, and producers, including Paul McCartney, Janelle Monáe, Donna Summer, Pete Seeger, Annie Lennox, Maurice White, Jimmy Scott, Carly Simon, and Kenny Gamble. He is co-producer of the video series "UNSCRIPTED: Conversations with Christian John Wikane," which features his interviews with GRAMMY, Tony, and Emmy-winning artists, and has co-produced and hosted UNSCRIPTED LIVE at the Apollo Theater, City Winery, and Lincoln Center (2024 "American Songbook" series). He's also a contributing writer for PEOPLE Magazine and was Contributing Editor for PopMatters from 2006-2023. He's had the honor of consulting on HBO's Emmy-nominated Tina Turner documentary, TINA (2021), as well as CNN's DIONNE WARWICK: DON'T MAKE ME OVER (2021) and HBO's LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER (2022).

Christian has had the privilege of curating and moderating several events at the Apollo Theater for Apollo Education's Live Wire series, including "Legendary: A Conversation with Dionne Warwick and Melba Moore," "Bold Soul Sisters," a panel discussion featuring Nona Hendryx, Ruth Pointer, Kathy Sledge, and Rochelle Fleming, and "She's A Rebel: An Interview with Martha Reeves, Sarah Dash, and Joshie Jo Armstead." He's also moderated two events for the Brooklyn Museum, "From Studio 54 to Number One" and "The Soulfulness of David Bowie" featuring Carlos Alomar and Robin Clark, and conducted a live Q&A with disco legends D.C. LaRue and Felipe Rose (original cofounder and Native of Village People) for Queer/Art/Film's screening of Thank God It's Friday (1978) at IFC Center.

Since 2010, Christian has authored extensive liner notes for more than 200 album reissues by major and independent record companies in the U.S. and U.K. He's also conducted interviews for several BBC Radio documentaries, Sirius XM's Studio 54 channel, Chase Bank ("Inside Access"), and hosted/produced more than a dozen concerts at Joe’s Pub (the Public Theater), the Blue Note, Iridium Jazz Club, and Wölffer Estate Vineyard. He's guest lectured for Barnard College's "Harlem Semester" Program and presented at EMP Pop Conference, the Parrish Art Museum, Apollo Education's "Master Class" Series, and NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Music. He's the sole author of Casablanca Records: Play It Again, a 50,000-word oral history that documented the 35th anniversary of Casablanca Records and co-author of WHAT THE BAND WORE: FASHION & MUSIC (2023), published by ACC Art Books.

Melba Moore is truly a triple threat in the entertainment industry — winning top honors in music, theatre, and television, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and celebrating the release of her memoirs, This Is It — Marvelous ... and Getting Better (2025). Melba Moore has done it all, twice. At the tender age of 10, Melba notes that it was then that she was introduced to music and that, "I didn’t have any music in my life before my mother married my stepfather. He introduced music into our home and into my life." From that moment forward, Melba began to develop her 5-octave, note-holding soprano that would soon bring audiences to their feet.

The Newark, NJ Arts High School graduate started doing recording sessions after a chance meeting with singer/songwriter/composer Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson). That opportunity in the studio led Melba in the company of the Broadway musical HAIR. First in the ensemble of the show, Melba’s name was tossed into the conversation when actress Diane Keaton left the show and Melba took the female lead and broke all the rules, being the first Black woman to replace a white actress in a featured role on Broadway.

The journey of Melba’s career took her meteorically from there to the lead of PURLIE, a musical adaptation of a play written by acting husband and wife pioneers Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. That role and its musical soundtrack would earn Moore a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1971 and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress. The power of her presence on Broadway got Melba noticed and she became a virtual sensation. Melba Moore became so well known that network television offered her a summer variety series. Starring Melba and actor/singer Clifton Davis, who was starring on Broadway in another show, the duo, who were dating, were given the choice to bring their mass appeal into Middle America.

Soon after the success of the "The Melba Moore/Clifton Davis Show," it was time for her soaring soprano to take her foray into the recording studio. First signed to Buddah Records, Melba had hits like "This Is It," "Lean On Me," and "You Stepped Into My Life," garnering Grammy nominations and international success.

Later signed to Capitol Records, she followed that success with "Love’s Comin At Ya" and then a string of R&B hits followed, including "Read My Lips"—which later won Moore a third Grammy nomination (for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance), making her just the fourth Black artist after Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, and Tina Turner to be nominated in the rock category.

She recorded hits like the #1 "A Little Bit More" with Freddie Jackson and "Falling," a hypnotic ballad that features one of the longest held notes in recorded history. Moore would also record "Lift Every Voice And Sing" (the Negro National Anthem) at the behest of Dr. Dorothy Height, the president of the National Council of Negro Women, who wanted Moore to use her formidable talent to ensure that the song would reach a new generation.

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