Previous Disco Grooves

Phil's Previous Disco Grooves

2002

07 January 2002

Salsoul (or more accurately Gold Mind) female trio recorded disco classic "Double cross"for their album "Hold your horses" in 1979 - and it became such a smash on theNew York disco scene that it was soon remixed into this super-special 12" disco versionby Bobby "DJ" Guttadaro. Boogie-bassline-matic.

21 January 2002

A very strong cover version of the George McCrae classic (written by Casey& Finch of KC & the Sunshine Band). It's strong because it was mixedby Mel Cheren of Scepter/Wand records - and it was the last release on thislabel before Mel launched his hugely successful New York disco label West End in 1976.

08 April 2002

Stomping disco rhythm and bassline underline the synthesizers and female vocals of thisgreat disco record from 1979. It's on the Los Angeles's Butterfly label (a sub-label of MCA).

15 April 2002

Randy Muller and Jeff Lane (of Brass Construction and BT Express) wrote and producedthis early promotional 12" single on the Columbia label. It's a great disco stomper witha nice riding rhythm and a good wah-wah and bassline break.

22 April 2002

More West End disco magic this week from the Bombers, originally a Canadianrock group who signed to the New York label in 1978. "Let's dance" has agreat driving bassline riff and rhythm, and the mix slowly climaxes to a break- then builds again at the end.

29 April 2002

Greg Carmichael was better known for his Red Greg label and his work withthe Universal Robot Band and Wish, but here is an early slice ofGreg's rare-groove sound by female soul vocalist Donna McGhee. "Mr. Blindman" isonly available on UK 12" but it's worth finding because it's Greg Carmichael athis finest hour.

06 May 2002

Back to good old disco-soul this week from the Originals. "Down to love town"has a great music, great voices and (unusually for disco music) lyrics thatmake sense. It's best heard in it's highest fidelity on this 12" single fromMotown, and it's quite special because it was also Motown's first commercial12" single ever.

13 May 2002

Very unusual but very danceable funky disco piece from 1978. Samuel JonathanJohnson's "You" includes all the elements that make a great disco track - including sliding violins and plenty of guitar scratching.

27 May 2002

Very nice Leroy Burgess (Black Ivory) produced track from 1979 on the De-lite label.It's mixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez, who became a lot more famous in the 1980's -but this is one of his first mixes.

10 June 2002

Patrick Adams at his finest. "Pazuzu" is a majestic disco instrumental from 1976 by Tony Silvester and the New Ingredient. It's available on this rare "Mercury disco sampler" promo EP, which was released and distributed amongst disco DJ's only. Listen for the deep, thumping bassline, moaning vocals,and best of all the sliding strings.

15 July 2002

Andrea True Connection - N.Y., You got me dancing

A good old-fashioned disco stomper this week. "N.Y., You got me dancing" waswritten by Gregg Diamond who had previously written the international discohit "More, more, more" for Andrea True. The 12" shown above is on Buddahrecords, and the track was successful enough to be in the US Billboard pop charts.

05 August 2002

I'm not normally fond of the craze for discofying classical music into ahot disco record. But here's one that really works by Johnnie Spenceand the Family Tree. It's got great bassline, wah-wah guitar andviolins worthy of Cerrone. Listen for the fantastic disco break towardsthe end of the 12" mix.