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2004 Dance Music Hall of Fame Nominee List

Alright everyone... The head of the Dance Music Hall of Fame just sent me the nominee list for the 2004 awards and I'm sure everyone will want to voice their opinions so lets hear them!

The awards and selection of winners will be cast by a voting body, which DiscoMusic.com is a part of, later in the spring. Here's the list of nominees...

Artists (10 Nominees):

Barry White
Barry White delivered a powerful dose of romance with hard, hypnotic rhythm, wrapped in a gorgeous swath of orchestration. One of the first dance-R&B artists to sell major amounts of albums to both the pop and R&B markets, White used his singular, penetrating voice to combine seduction with the gospel of togetherness and communication. His cultural influence was acknowledged by Lisa Stansfield, Soul II Soul and many other young R&B artists in an early-Nineties revival that rippled through all of urban music -- as well as in the apt invocation of his name and music as an idealized metaphor for manhood, in the television dramedy Ally McBeal.

Bee Gees
The Australian brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, whose rock ballads earned a long hit streak as talented songwriting popstars, were transformed by their mid-Seventies work with Arif Mardin in a rhythmic R&B vein. A career renewal, with the hits ìJive Talkiníî and ìYou Should Be Dancing,î led to their scoring of Saturday Night Fever, the 1977 film that defined disco for a worldwide audience. Their suite of five soundtrack songs, performed by themselves, Yvonne Elliman and another family group, Tavares, fired the greatest sales of any album to that time.

Chic
Chic combined a powerhouse rhythm section -- Bernard Edwards on bass, Tony Thompson on drums and Nile Rodgers on guitar -- with an ironic modern approach to production, image, and lyric content. ìDance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)î with words and music referencing James Brown, disco and the dance marathons of yesteryear, suggested Chic might be a studio group destined to be remembered for one idea, but† ìLe Freakî became the biggest-selling Atlantic single to that date, and ìGood Timesî did no less than give birth to hip-hop, in the hands of DJs who cut it up endlessly.

Donna Summer
In partnership with Munich producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, Donna Summer proved that ìdiscoî and ìartistî were terms that were made to go together, in an unparalleled streak of all-format hits lasting from 1975 to 1980. Her voice was by turns seductive, emotive and powerful, and her songs, launched in what was once a mysterious dance underground, now play as standards of the American songbook in supermarkets and diners and on light-music radio stations everywhere.† Her versatility is reflected in Grammy Awards spanning four categories: rock, R&B, inspirational and dance.

Gloria Gaynor
Gaynor, an R&B and pop traditionalist at heart, brought balladic interpretation to uptempo material and became discoís first diva figure -- as well as being one of the few ever to take a song away from Michael Jackson. Years after all but initiating the concept of the disco record with the epochal ìNever Can Say Goodbyeî medley -- the first full album side produced and programmed for uninterrupted club DJ play -- Gaynor also sang the most celebrated pop tune ever written for the dance floor, ìI Will Survive.î

James Brown
James Brown stands alone in modern popular music for his contributions to R&B, soul, dance and top 40. His unique fusion of blues, gospel and R&B defined soul, now and forever. His accessible and irresistibly danceable hits, including ìThe Paybackî ì(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machineî and his production of Lyn Collinsí ìThink (About It)î form a cornerstone without which dance music and hip-hop would simply not exist.

KC & The Sunshine Band
The partnership of Harry Wayne Casey and Rick Finch formed the nucleus of the most important combination studio band, production team and performing group since Booker T. & the MGís.†Influenced by American R&B and the intense percussion of Bahamian junkanoo, their party anthems, including† ìGet Down Tonightî and ìThatís the Way (I Like It)î brought disco energy, hard funk and rootsy R&B together in a brilliant fusion.††

Kraftwerk
The imprint of Germanyís Kraftwerk is on every electronic dance record ever made. As much performance artists as recording artists, their unlikely R&B/dance crossovers, ìTrans-Europe Expressî and ìNumbersî were commentaries on the modern technological world. But they also remain the incontrovertable precursors of almost any hit dance, R&B or electronica record, up to the present day, if you trace the influences backward.†

MFSB (M.F.S.B.)
Under the direction of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, MFSB is one of the greatest assemblages of talent in the history of record-making, playing rhythm for decadesí worth of Philadelphian soul hits. Its official lineup includes a slate of distinguished songwriters, producers and arrangers in their own right: Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Earl Young, Bobby Eli, and Vincent Montana Jr., alongside drummer Karl Chambers, keyboardist Lenny Pakula, saxman Zach Zachery, percussionist Larry Washington and concertmaster Don Renaldo.

The Trammps
The Trammpsí rollicking early hits, ìZing! Went the Strings of My Heartî and ìHold Back the Night,î updated the historic African-American vocal group tradition of The Coasters and the Temptations in the early Seventies, and established the style of disco music before the word existed. Led by the peerless Philadelphia drummer Earl Young, their body of work is the manifesto of dance: ìDisco Inferno,î ìThatís Where the Happy People Go,î ìDisco Partyî ìLove Epidemicî and ìWhere Do We Go From Here.î

Songs (15 Nominees):

Bad Luck : Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
(Philadelphia International, 1975)
Writers: John Whitehead, Gene McFadden, Victor Christarphen
Producers: Kenneth Gamble, Leon A. Huff
Arranger: Bobby Martin
Mix: Joe Tarsia
With the mighty vamping of the MFSB studio band and the prodigious, testifying lead vocal of Teddy Pendergrass, ìBad Luckî was one of Philadelphiaís most perfectly-realized amalgams of the street and the sanctified. Danceable Philadelphian R&B in its fullest flower, illustrating Gamble & Huffís penchant for bringing timely social comment to a pop-R&B idiom.

Donít Leave Me This Way : Thelma Houston
(Tamla, 1976)
Writers: Kenneth Gamble, Cary Gilbert, Leon A. Huff
Producer: Hal Davis
Arranger: Art Wright
Motown regularly paid tribute to Philadelphia in album-track covers, but rarely released them as singles: when they did, as in the case of ìIím Gonna Make You Love Meî and ìDonít Leave Me This Way,î they were massive hits. Supercharged rhythm playing, a breathtaking tambourine-driven break and an inspired performance by Houston, carried her from being a well-regarded industry secret to a Number One hitmaker.

Fly, Robin, Fly : Silver Convention
(Midland International, 1975)
Writers: Silvester Levay, Stephan Prager
Producer: Michael Kunze
Arranger: Silvester Levay
ìFly, Robin, Flyî was considered by producer Kunze to be an unfinished demo when he took it to the music market MIDEM early in the year. But its sparse, deeply pulsing take on the sophisticated soul of Barry White and Philly turned out to be not only complete, but a refreshing, unique and unpredictable change of pace when disco was being stereotyped as big, showbizzy and overproduced.

Girl You Need A Change of Mind : Eddie Kendricks
(Tamla, 1972)
Writers: Leonard Caston, Anita Poree
Producers: Frank Wilson, Leonard Caston
Arrangers: David Leacraft and LeRoy Fleming
Widely credited as the record that first exemplified the dramatic and rhythmic power of the breakdown and build on the dance floor. With its thoughtful singer-songwriter vibe building to gospel-fired frenzy, Kendricks took a critical step forward in this landmark record, as he transitioned himself from co-lead in the classic lineup of The Temptations to trend-setting solo artist.

Got To Be Real : Cheryl Lynn
(Columbia, 1978)
Writers: Cheryl Lynn, David Paich, David Foster
Producers: David Paich, Marty Paich
Arrangers: David Paich, Marty Paich
Lynn improvised her lyrics to David Paichís piano playing, and with such west coast all-stars as Ray Parker Jr. and James Gadson playing rhythm, she created the quintessential pop/funk/R&B/disco fusion. Its breadth of appeal has spanned from the most glittery drag balls, to the roughest hip-hop parties, then and now. Classic example of a young prodigy taking on the mantle of R&B with confidence and deep talent.

Honeybee / Never Can Say Goodbye / Reach Out, Iíll Be There : Gloria Gaynor
(MGM, 1974)
Writers: Melvin Steals, Mervin Steals / Clifton Davis / Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland, Jr.
Producers: Paul Leka / Tony Bongiovi, Meco Monardo, Jay Ellis
Arrangers: Norman Harris / Harold Wheeler and City Life / Lou Del Gatto
Mix: Tom Moulton
This precedent-shattering disco medley was the first full album side ever programmed for uninterrupted club play. Recorded in Philadelphia and New York, incorporating two classic Motown covers, and introducing the groundbreaking remix concepts of Tom Moulton, it was both the synthesis of all that had gone before, and a giant step into the future. Gaynor was first to be crowned ìQueen of the Discosî by an early DJ organization.

I Feel Love : Donna Summer
(Casablanca, 1977)
Writers: Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Producers: Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Arranger: Thor Baldursson
Donna Summer was already the biggest pop star to come out of disco when ìI Feel Loveî single-handedly ushered in the era of sequenced dance music and transformed pop forever. In it, a simple tape delay added to a classic Munich bass line created a gripping, dizzying new effect, doubling the tempo and ponging from speaker to speaker. At once primal and futuristic, ìI Feel Loveî remains one of the most influential and singular records in pop history.

Love Hangover : Diana Ross
(Motown, 1976)
Writers: Pam Sawyer, Marilyn McLeod
Producer: Hal Davis
Arrangers: Dave Blumberg, Clay Drayton
The audacious song and production concept of ìLove Hangoverî has lost none of its magnetism since its release nearly thirty years ago: this sensual rhythm ballad breaks into a ferocious workout of walking bass, brilliant orchestral and vocal arrangements, and five minutes of witty ad-libbing by pop icon Ross. Its undying raw power is directly connected to its economical production; moreover, the high musical standards of records like ìLove Hangoverî prolonged the attention span of dancers, and in turn, every fan of pop music.

Love is the Message : MFSB featuring The Three Degrees
(Philadelphia International, 1973/1977)
Writers: Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff
Producers: Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff
Arranger: Bobby Martin
Mix: Tom Moulton
The best intentions and the highest calling of music are expressed in this timeless classic of danceable jazz-flavored R&B. Already a dance floor classic in its original album version, the 1977 remix by Tom Moulton added a critical improvised keyboard solo by Leon Huff, along with breakdown sections that have proven definitive to every subsequent form of dance music.

Loveís Theme : Love Unlimited Orchestra
(20th Century, 1973)
Writer: Barry White
Producer: Barry White
Arrangers: Barry White, Gene Page
Barry White combined hard rhythm and ornate string arrangements with a level of ambition and pop craft rarely heard since Phil Spectorís heyday. From the time of his first solo hits to the present day, Whiteís influence as a singer, songwriter, producer and arranger his been acknowledged by everyone who has endeavored to put more music into music. ìLoveís Themeî was the first Number One pop single discovered and broken in the club underground.

Rock Your Baby : George McCrae
(TK, 1974)
Writers: Harry Wayne Casey, Rick Finch
Producers: Harry Wayne Casey, Rick Finch
Miami first staked its claim as one of the centers of R&B-oriented dance with this international Number One, written and produced by the creative duo that was soon to conquer pop as K.C. & the Sunshine Band. Only three people played this hot rhythm track: Finch on bass and drums, Casey on keyboards, and Jerome Smith on guitar. McCrae chose a soft, dreamy delivery to go with the pumping, yet trance-like track. Finch admits that the loud bossa nova rhythm box beat was turned up high to help him keep time on the drum kit.

Shame : Evelyn ìChampagneî King
(RCA, 1978)
Writers: John Henry Fitch, Reuben Cross
Producer: T. Life
Arrangers: T. Life, Sam Peake
Mix: David Todd, Al Garrison
Young Evelyn was only sixteen when she was discovered singing a Sam Cooke song while cleaning at a Philadelphia studio. Instant Funk played the unconventionally fast rhythm, and King sang from a deep well of precocious emotion. David Todd, the first working DJ to be employed in promotion by a record label, directed the remix, adding a wicked whiplash echo to the handclaps. Other producers and artists copied ìShame,î but King never did, instead taking dance music and R&B another stylistic step forward with her groundbreaking electronic hits of the early Eighties.

Soul Makossa : Manu Dibango
(Atlantic, 1973)
Writer: Manu Dibango
Producer: Manu Dibango
Camerounian horn player Dibango was among the first to benefit from the power of club DJs to search out and break the most unlikely records. This wild and hypnotic jazz riff had entered the country on a French import, and within days of its discovery, DJ buzz precipitated a frenzy of covers, bootleg pressings and immediate radio interest. One of dance musicís first of many creative and commercial out-of-nowhere boom tracks.

Ten Percent : Double Exposure
(Salsoul, 1976)
Writers: Allan Felder, T.G. Conway
Producer: Norman Harris
Arranger: Norman Harris
Mix: Walter Gibbons
As an album track, this storming piece of Philly disco would have been a highlight of its season, but in addition to its churning update of the Four Tops/Marvin Gaye style of manly pleading, ìTen Percentî was also the first commercially released 12-inch vinyl single. Its success spawned an entirely new retail format for music that would be the financial cornerstone for successive generations of creative independent labels, producers and artists and a vibrant international network of specialist record stores.

(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real : Sylvester
(Fantasy, 1978)
Writers: Sylvester, James ìTipî Wirrick
Producer: Harvey Fuqua, Sylvester
Arrangers: Sylvester, James ìTipî Wirrick
Mix: Doug Riddick
With his outsize personality, image and talent, Sylvester was the living embodiment of discoís eclectic, all-inclusive underground of devotees, styles, and music. Powerfully euphoric and frankly aphrodisiac, ì(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Realî is a quintessential dance music statement. This transformative hybrid of top 40 pop, R&B and gospel also introduced the innovative synthesizer post-production of Patrick Cowley.

Producers (3 Nominees):

Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff
Gamble and Huff had already risen to the top of independent R&B production with hits for Soul Survivors, Joe Simon, the Intruders, Jerry Butler and Wilson Pickett, when they established their Philadelphia International imprint with the then-CBS Records. Immediately they laid the groundwork both musically and commercially for the dance music movement with their ornate and propulsive productions, combining earthy soul of their artist roster, the elegant classical and jazz arrangements of Thom Bell and Bobby Martin, and the hot, innovative rhythm of drummer Earl Young and conga player Larry Washington. Selected credits: ìTSOPî and ìLove is the Messageî by MFSB; ìLove Trainî and ìFor the Love of Moneyî by the OíJays; ìThe Love I Lostî and ìBad Luckî by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; ìWhen Will I See You Againî by the Three Degrees, and ìIíll Always Love My Mamaî by the Intruders.

Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte
Based in the Musicland Studio in Munich, Germany, Moroder and Bellotte built an impeccable profile for their marquee artist Donna Summer, in a series of atmospheric and innovative concept albums. Starting with Summerís ìLove To Love You Baby,î their productions advanced dance music in every direction, pushing technological, stylistic and cultural envelopes with every new release -- all while keeping the artist in the spotlight. Selected credits: ìI Feel Love,î ìHot Stuff,î ìBad Girls,î ìMacArthur Park Suiteî and† ìLast Danceî by Donna Summer; ìGet on the Funk Trainî by Munich Machine; ìTrouble Makerî and ìZodiac Ladyî by Roberta Kelly. Giorgio Moroder (solo):† ìThe Chaseî and ìEvolutionî by Giorgio Moroder; ìCall Meî by Blondie; ìHarmonyî by Suzi Lane; ìBeat the Clockî by Sparks; ìFlashdance (What a Feeling)î by Irene Cara.

Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards
Rodgers and Edwardsí writing and production partnership anchored dance music in the funkiest R&B, and their refusal to work within the clichÈs of disco resulted in a timeless streak of hits that that samplers of hip-hop and bedroom DJ production canít keep their hands off of.† Selected credits: ìGood Times,î ìDance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)î ìLe Freak,î ìI Want Your Loveî by Chic; ìWe Are Family,î ìHeís The Greatest Dancer,î ìLost in Musicî by Sister Sledge; ìIím Coming Outî and ìUpside Downî by Diana Ross; ìWhyî by Carly Simon. Their credits should arguably include ìRapperís Delightî by Sugarhill Gang, and ìAnother One Bites the Dustî by Queen, but indisputably do encompass the unending list of hip-hop and house records sampled from their productions, including worldwide smashes by Notorious B.I.G., Will Smith, M.C. Lyte, and Modjo, among many others. Rodgers (solo): ìLike a Virginî and ìMaterial Girlî by Madonna; ìLetís Danceî by David Bowie. Edwards (solo): ìAddicted to Loveî and ìI Didnít Mean to Turn You Onî by Robert Palmer; ìSome Like it Hotî by Power Station; ìDonít You Want Meî by Jody Watley; ìWhen Smokey Singsî by ABC.

Remixers (3 Nominees):

Jim Burgess
A star DJ in New Yorkís gay underground in Manhattan and Fire Island, and a classically trained opera singer, Burgess specialized in blue-chip pop smashes whose dance elements he magnified for the club DJ, without ever stepping away from the essence of the original song and production. Selected Credits: ìDa Ya Think Iím Sexy,î by Rod Stewart; ìI Love the Nightlife (Disco Round),î by Alicia Bridges;† ìHot Butterfly,î by Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie; ìIíve Got the Next Dance,î by Deniece Williams; ìRunaway Loveî by Linda Clifford; ìA Loverís Holidayî by Change; ìIf Thereís Loveî by Amant; ìDance to the Drummerís Beatî by Herman Kelly and Life.

Walter Gibbons
Gibbons was one of the most popular DJs in the New York underground when he mixed the first commercial 12-inch single, ìTen Percent,î for Salsoul Records, reportedly for a fee equivalent to a nightís worth of missed work at a club. His radical approach to mixing called for intensely rhythmic percapella breaks, as well as sudden drop-outs, breakdowns and builds that reflected the way DJs worked the crowd with two copies of a record. His approach was not only rhythmically explosive, but musically fascinating, as he uncovered and spotlighted microscopically every nuance of the rhythm and orchestral arrangements. Selected Credits: ìTen Percent,î ìMy Love is Freeî by Double Exposure; ìHit and Runî and ìCatch Me on the Reboundî by Loleatta Holloway; ìItís Good for the Soulî by Salsoul Orchestra; ìDoiní the Best That I Canî by Bettye Lavette; ìLaw and Orderî by Love Committee; ìTime Outî by the Clark Sisters.

Tom Moulton
Moultonës work for Scepter Records and DCA Productions wrote the rulebook for every remix consultant and DJ/producer to the present day. Among concepts originated by Moulton: extending the high frequencies and tightening the bottom for better sounding play at high volume; lengthening tracks for greater musical and emotional impact by repeating key passages. Selected Credits: ìNever Can Say Goodbyeî and ìCasanova Brownî album medleys by Gloria Gaynor; Philadelphia Classics album, including 1977 MFSB ìLove is the Messageî remix; ìDo It (ëTil Youíre Satisfied),î ìExpressî by B.T. Express; ìDisco Inferno,î ìThatís Where the Happy People Go,î ìHold Back the Nightî by The Trammps; ìDo It Anyway You Wannaî by Peopleís Choice; ìMore, More, Moreî by Andrea True Connection; ìHold Your Horsesî and ìDoctor Loveî by First Choice.

DJ's (10 Nominees):

Bobby ìDJî Guttadaro
David Mancuso
David Todd
Francis Grasso
John "TC" Luongo
Larry Levan
Nicky Siano
Pete "DJ" Jones
Tee Scott
Walter Gibbons

What do you think? Who would you choose from each category?

UPDATE Sept 21, 2004:
On Sept. 20, 2004 the first annual Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony kicked off at New York City's Club Spirit on 27th Street. Click to view photos from the Dance Music Hall of Fame

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