Category Archives: Disco
T-CONNECTION-T-CONNECTION.
T-CONNECTION-T-CONNECTION. By December 1978, disco was at the peak of its popularity. So should T-Connection. They should’ve been riding the crest of the disco wave. They weren’t. That age old problem, the difficult second album had tripped them up. Their had career started so well. Magic released in April 1977 reached number 109 in the …
MARLENA SHAW-JUST A MATTER OF TIME.
MARLENA SHAW-JUST A MATTER OF TIME. For the first Lady of Blue Note, Marlena Shaw, 1975 saw her release the most successful album of her career, Who Is This Bitch Anyway? An innovative fusion of soul and jazz, Marlena explored feminist, sexual politics and social issues. This represented Marlena Shaw at the height of her …
THE GET DOWN BOOGIE SOUND.
THE GET DOWN BOOGIE SOUND. Disco which had provided the musical backdrop to the second half of the seventies, went from hero to zero in the space of a year. Suddenly, disco sucked. Disco’s downfall started on Christmas Eve 1978, That’s when Steve Dahl was fired by Chicago radio station WDAI. It had previously been …
DISCO AND BOOGIE IN NYC VOLUME 1: SEEDS OF CLUB MUSIC.
DISCO AND BOOGIE IN NYC VOLUME 1: SEEDS OF CLUB MUSIC. Earlier this year, fashionistas and tastemakers forecasted that the summer of 2013 would be “the summer of disco.” It was official, disco was back in fashion. The advice from those in the know, was dust off your flares, polish your disco ball and let’s …
LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY-LOLEATTA.
LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY-LOLEATTA. Having released two albums for Aware, 1973s Loleatta and 1974s Cry To Me, Loleatta Holloway, the former Queen Of Gospel, released her final single for Aware, Only A Fool. Released in 1975, the single wasn’t a commercial success. That wasn’t the end of Loleatta’s woes. Michael Thevis, owner of Aware was wanted by …
KLEEER-WINNERS.
KLEEER-WINNERS. Kleeer, whose sophomore album Winners was recently released by BBR Records, could be described as a band with an identity crisis. After all, how many bands change their name five times? Kleeer did. Their origins can be traced to The Choice 4, an R&B band who were guided by Van McCoy. Richard Lee was …
INNER LIFE-INNER LIFE I.
INNER LIFE-INNER LIFE I. From 1978 onwards, things were changing at Salsoul. The Salsoul Orchestra played a huge part in Salsoul’s success. They were much more than musicians, with many of its members songwriters, arrangers and producers. This included the Baker, Harris, Young rhythm section, Ron “Have Mercy” Kersey and Vince Montana Jr. So when …
T-CONNECTION-MAGIC.
T-CONNECTION-MAGIC. T-Connection were an unlikely success story of the disco era. First up, they weren’t American, like most disco artists. Instead, they were from the Bahamas. Founded in 1975, T-Connection’s charismatic lead singer and keyboard player Theophilus T. Oakley was a classically trained musician. Along with bassist Kurt Oakley, drummer Berkeley Van Byrd, guitarist Monty …
GLORIA GAYNOR-LOVE TRACKS.
GLORIA GAYNOR-LOVE TRACKS. It’s almost fitting that the song that the song that rejuvenated Gloria Gaynor’s career was I Will Survive. After all, by December 1978, when Gloria Gaynor released Love Tracks, she was one of music’s survivors. She had to be. The last few years hadn’t been easy. Things had started well for Gloria, …
AURRA-A LITTLE LOVE.
AURRA-A LITTLE LOVE. It was in 1975, that Steve Washington formed his first band with his school friends Mark Hicks and Tim Dozier. Born in Newark, Steve was brought up in East Orange, New Jersey. Steve was from a musical family. His uncle was The Ohio Players’ Ralph “Pee Wee” Midlebrooks. During his holidays, Steve …
GLORIA GAYNOR-PARK AVENUE SOUND.
GLORIA GAYNOR-PARK AVENUE SOUND. When Gloria Gaynor released her 1975 debut album Never Can Say Goodbye, it turned out to be a landmark album. Indeed Never Can Say Goodbye is one of the most important albums in the history of disco. Produced by the Disco Corporation Of America, remixer Tom Moulton transformed Side One of …
FIRST CHOICE-HOLD YOUR HORSES.
FIRST CHOICE-HOLD YOUR HORSES. By the time First Choice signed to Gold Mind Records in 1976, they’d already released three albums since forming in Philadelphia 1972. First Choice would go on to release three albums for Gold Mind Records, a subsidiary of Salsoul Records. Their first release was 1977s Delusions, which contained two tracks that …
THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA-NICE ‘N’ NASTY.
THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA-NICE ‘N’ NASTY. Regular readers of this blog will have realized that two of my favorite labels are Philadelphia International Records and Salsoul Records. To me, both labels represent everything that’s good about music. This is real music, music played my real musicians, music that’s soulful and timeless. There isn’t a sampler, sequencer …
KON-ON MY WAY.
KON-ON MY WAY. For self-confessed crate-digger Kon, his raison d’etre is the pursuit of music with the perfect beat or break. He’ll leave no stone unearthed in his search for vinyl. He’s searched dusty basements, backstreet record shops, flea markets, charity shops and nowadays, online auctions looking for vinyl. They’re among his favorite haunts in his …
TAVARES-HARD CORE POETRY.
TAVARES-HARD CORE POETRY. Most groups have just one lead singer, two if they’re really lucky. Not many groups however, have five lead singers. Tavares did. Ralph, Pooch, Chubby, Butch and Tiny each took turns of delivering the lead vocal on each of their albums, including Hard Core Poetry, their 1975 sophomore album, album which was …
THE BEAT GOES ON: SALSOUL CLASSICS MIXED BY TOWA TEI.
THE BEAT GOES ON: SALSOUL CLASSICS MIXED BY TOWA TEI. Recently, there seems to be no end of disco compilations being released. Every week, it seems, another batch of disco compilations hits the shops. Many people have been wondering why? Luckily for them, I can put them out of their misery. This is officially the …
DISCO RECHARGE-TANTRA-THE COLLECTION.
DISCO RECHARGE-TANTRA-THE COLLECTION. The name Celso Valli means different things to different people. No wonder. In just six years, seamlessly, his musical career was transformed. Having joined Italian prog rock band Ping Pong, in 1971, the transformation of Celso Valli began in 1977, when he released Pasta and Fagioli. This was one of the first …
DISCO RECHARGE: THP ORCHESTRA-THP NO. 2 TENDER IS THE NIGHT AND GOOD TO ME.
DISCO RECHARGE: THP ORCHESTRA-THP NO. 2 TENDER IS THE NIGHT AND GOOD TO ME. By 1978, when the THP Orchestra entered the studio to released their third album, THP No. 2 Tender Is The Night, the Canadian production team of Ian Guenther and Willi Morrison had just joined disco’s elite. Their previous album, Too Hot …
ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON.
ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON-ONE WAY FEATURING AL HUDSON. Between 1977 and 1978, Al Hudson and The Soul Partners released a trio of albums on ABC Records. These three albums were a fusion of soul, R&B and funk. Then in 1979, Al Hudson and The Soul Partners changed their name to Al Hudson and The …
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