The Kiss Disco Song

KISS : I Was Made For Lovin' You

[Purchase]

On May 26, 1979 the new Kiss single "I Was Made For Lovin' You" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at U.S.#70. The song would peak at #11 in the United States and top the charts in Canada and New Zealand.

What few people knew is that Paul Stanley was a closet disco freak. He would visit Studio 54. Even though he though the whole scene was a "den of iniquity", as he'd describe it in his memoir Face the Music - A Life Exposed, Stanley would dance all night. He thought the scene was all about living in the moment and he was especially taken by the repetitive drum beats.

I had heard all these 126-beats-per-minute songs and listened to the lyrics and thought Gee, I could do that. I went home and set a drum machine to 126 BPM and sat down and started "I Was Made For Lovin' You".

Among die hard KISS fans, it is known as the disco song, but Stanley makes no apologies.

Was it calculated? Yeah. Was it calculated to succeed? Yes, ultimately it was. But was that a bad thing? It started as a challenge to myself to see whether I could write in that style instead of meat-and-potatoes rock and roll. It was no different from the challenge I gave myself with "Hard Luck Woman". The only difference was the style. No apologies for a hit that people worldwide still want to hear and sing along to.

Let's Dance Let's Shout

The Jacksons : Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)

[Purchase]

On January 18, 1979 The Jacksons released "Shake Your Body ( Down to the Ground)", the second single of their 1978 album Destiny. Written and composed by Randy and Michael Jackson, it would sell two million copies, peak at US #3 and become The Jacksons's all time biggest selling single for Epic Records. Here, for the first time, we hear Michael's trademark yelping and hiccuping vocal style. Maybe the only Jacksons tune that stands up to Michael's solo material. The full album version is even better than the single, running 8 minutes. Ranked the #9 best single of 1979 by NME writers.

Don't Blame It On The Sunshine

The Jacksons : Blame It On The Boogie

[Purchase]

On December 17, 1978 The Jacksons released Destiny, an album that sold four million copies worldwide. This is the first time the brothers had full artistic control. Among the first songs they recorded was "Blame It on the Boogie", a song by English singer-songwriter Mick Jackson ( no relation)  that peaked at US#54. 

"I got such a rush," Mick Jackson tells disco-disco.com upon hearing the Jacksons version of his song "I was thrilled because their version was INCREDIBLE! Our version had 100% of our heart and soul in it but the Jackson's version had the magic extra 2% that made it incredible. We actually wrote it with Stevie Wonder in mind - now that would have been an INCREDIBLE version and to this day I think that would have been an amazing version."

"It was an uptempo, finger-poppin'-time type song that was a good vehicle for the band approach we wanted to cultivate," said Michael Jackson. " I had fun slurring the chorus:  'Blame It on the Boogie' could be sung in one breath without putting my lips together."

  In the U.K.both versions were released at the same time. The music press closely watched "the battle of the boogie".The Jacksons' version was more successful, peaking at UK#8 .The Mick Jackson version—hailed by NME as "far superior"—peaked at Number 15 on the chart.

The second Jackson single, "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", would be a bigger hit from Destiny, peaking at US#7.