After Dark is the story of a group of young men who identified a social need in New York City in 1971 and ignited the most important social and cultural happening of the 1970s – the disco boom. I was a member of the group so this is a first-hand account of events that started 50 years ago this year. Mid-town Buppies, big-time mobsters, dancing queens, unscrupulous promoters, and vengeful shock jocks all come together in After Dark, a from-the-trenches account of the birth and growth of the disco movement. Disco music has earned an unflattering reputation for being garish and flashy, however, it was the voice of a generation that spoke of the power of dance to unite people. My partners and I monetized our love of music and dance with a successful business model that transformed midtown Manhattan into a hot party zone. Three of our discotheques were in the first black-owned clubs in midtown Manhattan. We also owned discotheques in Queens and Brooklyn. These clubs paved the way for Saturday Night Fever, Studio 54, and the nationwide explosion of disco in the late seventies.