If you think the plot of Boogie Nights was crazy, you haven't heard the story of Dennis Parker. He starred in straight porn films like the infamous Barbara Broadcast as Wade Nichols. Then in 1979, he recorded a disco album for Casablanca Records. It was called Like An Eagle and was produced by Village People creator Jacques Morali. Only an actor could pull of the music video below, shot guerrilla style in New York City. Love the reaction of the people behind him.
After a role playing Derek Mallory on daytime soap The Edge of Night, Parker would sadly become one of the early victims of the AIDS epidemic.
On March 23, 1979 The Beach Boys released a nearly 11-minute disco version of "Here Comes the Night" as a single from their new album L.A. (Light Album). You can still find some fans who have something nice to say about the album ( after all Dennis Wilson sings on two songs), but most agree Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh who concluded the album "is worse than awful. It is irrelevant".
That's part of what makes the band's attempt to recast this Wild Honey deep cut into a a dance floor filler such an awful concept and creation. Apparently both Brian and Dennis weren't happy with the decision, and I'm not sure how those two get overruled, but here's proof: the worst moment in the entire Beach Boys catalog. And it fell only four places short of the U.S. Top 40, peaking at U.S. #44.
On January 27, 1979 Amii Stewart's disco version of Eddie Floyd's 1966 hit, "Knock On Wood", entered the Billboard Hot 100 at US #85. By April it replaced The Doobie Brothers' "What A Fool Believes" as the number one song in the land. Raised in Washington DC, Stewart had the singing and dancing chops to star in the Broadway production of Bubbling Brown Sugar which brought her to London and face to face with producer Barry Leng. He produced the futuristic disco version of the old Stax single and got her signed to a German label. This is first rate disco cheese, made all the better by Stewart's headgear.
"Knock on Wood" might have been very good to Stewart but she wasn't really a fan of disco. She told the author of Billboard Book of Number Ones "I've never bought a disco record in my life and I don't want to buy one. When I go home and close the door I don't want mu brains to be blown out. I go home and listen to Donald Fagen, Nik Kershaw and Phil Collins."
On January 16, 1979 readers of Billboard Magazine learned "a growing number of affluent, single playboy types are turning the bedrooms of their plush co-op apartments and homes into mini-discos, according to Jack Ransom, head of MGM Stage Equipment, one of the leading suppliers of disco lighting equipment in the country."
The art of seduction circa 1979 begins with a fancy $10,000-$20,000 light show, as well as the pulse pounding sounds of disco music. Ransom says the equipment is especially popular in the oil rich Middle East and in South America.
Why private discos? Ransom has a theory:
Part of it is snobbism but for the most part they are being ordered by people in the public's eye, who love to party but want to enjoy themselves without being constantly oggled, photographed or written about.
Disco was a worldwide phenomenon in 1979. This three minute Australian news story, which focuses some of its time on roller disco, is well worth your time.
Flipping over to the Hot 100 charts , Billboard readers discovered Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" debuting at US#85. Born in Watts, Sylvester James pushed social boundaries with gender-bending performances, his openly gay lifestyle, and his belief that gender was a choice. He had sung with a group of black cross dressers and trans women in L.A. before moving to San Francisco. He became the "Queen of Disco" thanks to this early electronic dance music classic, produced by Patrick Cowley, which had already peaked at U.K. #8 and would break into the US Top 40 in February of 1979.
This same week, Herbie Mann's "Superman" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at US#90. It would peak at #26 in April.
On January 7, 1979 Cerrone's latest euro-disco hit, "Je Suis Music", entered the U.K. charts at #58. The tune, with its lyrics "When we feel the pain,
Better stick together,
Music is the way,
To relieve the pressure", would spend four weeks on the chart, peaking at UK#39.
Cerrone was selling millions of albums worldwide in the 70's. He really did have the golden touch. In 1978, at the "Billboard Disco Forum'' the french drummer and composer swept the night taking home an amazing six awards,
"Disco Artist Of The Year," "Male Disco Artist Of The Year," "Disco Composer Of The Year," "Disco Producer Of The Year," "Disco Arranger Of The Year," and "Disco
Instrumentalist Of The Year." "Je Suis Music" would Cerrone's last visit to the UK charts until the mid 90's.
On December 15, 1978 Gloria Gaynor's epic disco single, "I Will Survive", entered the Billboard Hot 100 at US#87. Originally a B-side to a song called "Substitute", the anthem, celebrating personal strength, would peak at #1 in both the US and UK. Today it is the go-to karaoke tune for millions of people around the world.
In 1978 Giorgio Moroder released "Chase", an infectious disco instrumental from his Oscar winning Midnight Express soundtrack that may have you driving faster than you should. It made the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1979, peaking at number 33, and the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 48. Art Bell would later adopt the song for his Coast to Coast radio show.
On November 3, 1978 Cheryl Lynn's single, "Got To Be Real", entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at US #78. Lynn, a college student at the University of Southern Caifornia, got her break scoring a perfect 30 after singing "You Are So Beautiful" on The Gong Show. Record execs began calling and Columbia/CBS got the contract. "Got To Be Real" was written by Lynn, with help from uber producer David Foster and David Paich of Toto. The disco fave, featuring guitar by Ray Parker Jr and funky bass by David Shields, would top the Hot Soul chart and peak at US #12. She remains the most successful alumnus of The Gong Show.
Hip Hop legend Slick Rick says this was the first 45 he ever bought:
“It would have been in the early days of hip hop. I got ‘Got To Be Real’ from a store called ‘Crazy Eddies’ in the Bronx. Crazy Eddies sold stereos and musical equipment and records and cassettes in the very early ’80s”
On November 19, 1978 the new Village People single, "Y.M.C.A.", entered the U.K. charts at #42. It would hit #1 in the U.K. and peak at #2 in the U.S. Judging from its enthusiastic reception at elementary school dances, it may very well be the most enduring song from the entire decade. By confronting the public with in-your-face homosexuality, especially in the music video, could "Y.M.C.A." be more punk than anything the Sex Pistols recorded?
At first the Young Mens Christian Association threatened to sue the band over trademark infringement. They knew the YMCA's reputation as a popular cruising and hookup spot for gay men. But songwriter Victor Willis says he was thinking about the YMCA's reputation among inner city kids as a place to play basketball and swim. Felipe Rose, who was the Indian in the band, says "It was just a filler song, based on the ex-producer seeing the YMCA sign during lunch and asking us what it meant. Sure, there was ambiguity and they were using a double entendre, but it was really just supposed to be one more song to fill out the album."
Yes, there are many ways to have a good time.
Much of the enthusiasm for the song comes from its cheerleader choreography, first seen nationally in 1979 on American Bandstand in the clip below.
Y —arms outstretched and raised upwards
M —made by bending the elbows from the 'Y' pose so the fingertips meet in front of the chest
Six years after writing and singing lead on The Edgar Winter Group's Top 20 hit "Free Ride", Dan Hartman returned to the charts with "Instant Replay", one of Disco's most infectious pop singles. Is this the biggest hit ever recorded in Connecticut? In October of 1978 "Instant Replay" entered the UK charts at #72 on its way to becoming a Top 10 hit.
The somewhat silly music video features Hartman on keyboards, future Saturday Night Live music director and Hall and Oates bassist G.E. Smith ( This was his big break), future KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent and Sparks drummer Hilly Michaels ( a few year before he began living with Marianne Faithfull). The song would also reach US#29 in 1979.
In 1984 Hartman would enjoy his biggest single, the US#6 hit "I Can Dream About You". He also wrote "Living in America", a US #4 hit for James Brown. A closeted gay man, Hartman was diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980's and died in 1994 at age 43.
On August 13, 1978 Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" debuted on the U.K. charts at #38. Born in Watts, Sylvester James pushed social boundaries with gender-bending performances, his openly gay lifestyle, and his belief that gender was a choice. He had sung with a group of black cross dressers and trans women in L.A. before moving to San Francisco. He became the "Queen of Disco" thanks to this early electronic dance music classic, produced by Patrick Cowley, which peaked at U.K. #8 and in the U.S. the following year at #36.
In the week of November 8, 1977 the U.S./French disco band Santa Esmeralda entered the Hot 100 Billboard chart at #93 with their cover of The Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The cover version would top the disco charts but peak at #15 on the U.S. pop charts, the same high water mark that the Animals original version hit.
In his B rated review of the album, Robert Christgau wrote
I know people who think a flamencoized fifteen-minute disco version of an Eric Burdon song is some sort of sacrilege, but I just hum along. Sacrilege? Eric Burdon? Doesn't anybody remember "San Franciscan Nights"?
On August 30, 1977 Barry White released his comeback album the R and B chart topper Barry White Sings for Someone You Love which featured "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" which held on to the #1 position on the R and B charts for the entire month of October. The song was one of the few hits he didn't write. That credit goes to Ekundayo Paris and Nelson Pigford . If Barry hadn't recorded the si g it would have come across as pure parody.
In July of 1977, Village People released their first single, "San Francisco (You've Got Me)", a Top 50 hit in the U.K. , a #1 song in U.S. dance clubs in September and a gay anthem to this date.
The band was the brainchild of French composer Jacques Morali. He hired Victor Willis to sing his songs and then ordered a casting call for dancers willing to fit the gay fantasy archetypes.the ad read "Macho Types Wanted: Must Dance And Have A Moustache". Morali hired dancers to be an American Indian, a solider, a construction worker, a cowboy and a leatherman. Willis dressed up as a cop.
The fact that America accepted The Village People was a huge step for the gay culture in the 1970's. You can open a lot of minds just by having fun.
French disco drummer Cerrone challenges Giorgio Moroder for the Euro-disco crown with "Love in C Minor", which entered the UK charts in February of 1977. It would peak at #31. In the US, the tune topped the disco charts. His masterpiece, the album Supernature, was still seven months away. Cerrone would sell 25 million albums in his career.
The 16 minute album version begins with a skit where women are checking out his plumbing : "That ain't no banana".
For one week in January of 1977, Jamaican supermodel and actress Grace Jones entered the Billboard Hot 100 with her fairly standard disco single "Sorry". It would appear on her debut album, Portfolio, along with her disco-fied version of "La Vie En Rose". She would only get wilder and more interesting as the years danced by, earning the title "The Queen of the Gay Discos".
From May 22 to July 3, The Philadelphia based Trammps topped the US Disco charts with the one-two punch of "Where the Happy People Go" and "Disco Party". At the end of the year they would release their most famous single, "Disco Inferno". The gospel-drenched vocals of Jimmy Ellis and the instrumentation from members of MFSB is what set the Trammps apart from other disco bands of the era.
From the album Eargasm, Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" topped the US pop charts for four straight weeks on its way to becoming the first platinum single ever. That's despite the fact that it's not a disco song. With leering lyrics like "Lord have mercy girl,
You dance so fine, and you're right on time/ Girl you ought to be on T.V. on Soul Train/ When you get the groove,
It ain't no stopp-in/ Just can't help it, I'm finger pop-pin", the song became an instant seller. Columbia Records president Bruce Lundvall sent Taylor bottles of Dom Perignon champange. "I took a bath in it," Taylor later admitted. "It makes your skin so smooth!"
1 DISCO LADY –•– Johnnie Taylor
2 DREAM WEAVER –•– Gary Wright
3 LONELY NIGHT (Angel Face) –•– The Captain and Tennille
4 LET YOUR LOVE FLOW –•– The Bellamy Brothers
5 RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM –•– Maxine Nightingale
6 DREAM ON –•– Aerosmith
7 BOOGIE FEVER –•– The Sylvers
8 ONLY SIXTEEN –•– Dr. Hook
9 SWEET LOVE –•– The Commodores
10 GOLDEN YEARS –•– David Bowie
11 SHOW ME THE WAY –•– Peter Frampton
12 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY –•– Queen
13 SWEET THING –•– Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan
14 DECEMBER, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) –•– The Four Seasons
15 THERE’S A KIND OF HUSH (All Over the World) –•– The Carpenters
16 MONEY HONEY –•– The Bay City Rollers
17 DEEP PURPLE –•– Donny and Marie Osmond
18 FOOLED AROUND AND FELL IN LOVE –•– Elvin Bishop
I couldn't be more obsessed with a song than I am right now with this 18 minute disco epic Donna Summer wrote with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte for A Love Trilogy. If you enjoyed the New Wave sounds of the 1980's you'll hear many moments that should thrill you.
At 5:28 there is a simple but very catchy marimba solo that might take you back to "Love Plus One" from Haircut 100.
And at 9:26 there is a breakdown that sounds like something Talking Heads might have recorded on '77.
It's all sandwiched between a dance track that is disco at its highest art form. Try it. You'll get it a big kick out of it.
This deep cut from Donna Summer's A Love Trilogy, released on March 4, 1976, is my favorite discovery of the year so far. The Giorgio Moroder/ Pete Bellotte production anticipates their groundbreaking 1977 hit "I Feel Love"--you know, the one that took David Bowie and Brian Eno on the Low road.
The 18 minute A-side "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It" is a triumph of a different order. And then there's a Barry Manilow cover. But "Wasted" is nothing short of amazing.
