After last week's genre-specific blog (it was a Rock Special, so if you missed it you can find it here), I thought I'd do another one in a very different genre today. So this week's Musical Gems are all 70s Disco tracks. It's No.1 of the series, so expect to see more over the coming months.
As always, the tracks are generated by my ipod on its shuffle setting, so there's no rhyme or reason to the order, or as to why certain songs don't appear yet. That's the beauty of my Unearthing Musical Gems blogs, they are completely random!
So without further ado, here is the first batch...
1) Best Of My Love - The Emotions
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Released in 1977, this song was composed by some of the members of another legendary disco band, Earth, Wind and Fire, and won both a Grammy and an American Music Award. It has been used in many films and has been covered by everyone from Mary J Blige to Christina Milian to Sheena Easton to CJ Lewis (the latter reaching no.13 in the UK charts in 1994).
2) More, More, More - Andrea True Connection
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Sung by a porn star and initially released only to discos in 1975, this song went on to be a chart hit, reaching the top ten in the UK, USA, Canada and Ireland and the top 25 in Europe and Australia. It has subsequently been rerecorded by the likes of Samantha Fox, Bananarama, Rachel Stevens and Dannii Minogue, and sampled in numerous songs such as the 1999 hit by the band Led, "Steal My Sunshine".
3) Relight My Fire - Dan Hartman
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Yes, believe it or not, the original version of this song was NOT sung by Take That, but rather Dan Hartman, and was originally released in 1979. It was the follow up to Hartman's other disco smash, "Instant Replay", and featured the late legendary vocalist Loleatta Holloway in the "Lulu bits". In terms of sales it didn't match those of Take That's version, but outlived Take That's two week stay at Number One in the UK charts by four weeks. Regardless of which version is played, it is a guaranteed floorfiller.
4) Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
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Perhaps not quite as popular as her other disco chart topper, "I Will Survive", this track is still a stomping disco number. It was released in 1974 and was originally recorded by the Jackson 5 in 1971 before being recorded by Gaynor. It was subsequently released by The Communards in 1987 with Jimmy Somerville's distinctive falsetto starkly contrasting against Gaynor's soul diva vocal in the earlier version.
5) That's The Way (I Like It) - KC & The Sunshine Band
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Another disco smash, this track has been sampled in more than 32 other tracks, and covered at least 9 times, including by Dead Or Alive and Clock. Released in 1975, it was considered racy at the time because of the sexual connotations or the title track and the "uh-huh"s in the chorus (oh, how times change...).
6) Can You Feel It - The Jacksons
YouTube (original director's cut version) Amazon
Ok, so this is not strictly 70s disco as it was released in 1980, but is included here as one of the final disco smashes before anti-disco protesters finally had their way, and the takeover of disco as one of the premier genres of the era was halted, with punk/rock taking over. Whilst the video is fairly over-indulgent, the track itself has stood the test of time and can still fill a dancefloor in seconds.
7) Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes
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From the film, "Shaft" (obviously), this was recorded in 1971 and went straight to Number 1 in the US on its release. Both written and performed by Hayes, the song describes the film's lead character and, again, was considered risqué at the time. It has been used in many TV shows, has been parodied by Sesame Street, has been covered more than 16 times, and has been sampled more than 30 times in tracks such as "Get Down" by LL Cool J, "Street Tuff" by Rebel MC and Double Trouble, "100 Miles and Runnin'" by N.W.A., "Power To The People" by Public Enemy, "Lovely" by Bubba Sparxxx, and "Reservoir Dogs" by Jay-Z.
8) Movin' - Brass Construction
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A brass and synth lover's dream, this track was cut down from a 16 minute jam session which was recorded by the band in 1976. It is perhaps best known from the sample used in TLC's "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", and The Bucketheads' track "Got Myself Together" in 1992 and 1995 respectively.
9) Every 1's A Winner - Hot Chocolate
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Featuring that distinctive rock guitar riff, this was as big a hit as "You Sexy Thing" but doesn't usually get as much airplay. This brings back memories of me and my Mum playing this at full volume to wind up my Stepdad because he absolutely hated Hot Chocolate (in fact he wasn't too keen on disco as a whole). This track was released in 1978 and followed their popular tracks such as "Brother Louie", "Emma" and "So You Win Again" as well as the aforementioned "You Sexy Thing".
10) Forget Me Nots - Patricia Rushen
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Ok, again this was not a 70s disco number, having been released in 1982 as a post-disco song, but it's often lumped into the disco genre due to its discoey feel. However the shift into the 80s is marked by the introduction of a short sax solo, prevalent in a lot of 80s pop, R&B and soft rock records. It has been sampled many times, most notably in "Fastlove" by George Michael and "Men In Black" by Will Smith.
So what did you think of today's selection? Comments? Criticisms? Did they stir any memories? Send me a comment below!
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