THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO --- The Trammps

[remicks]

*****
From Marky's latest chart thread : 8)8)8)

TRAMMPS CROWNED #1 CHAMPS!!!!!


This week , The Trammps grab a 9th consecutive week @ #1--beating the previous holder of this title for 8 weeks, People's Choice for their 1975 chart-topper "Do It Any Way You Wanna."

Let's look at exactly what The Trammps have achieved thus far...

Chart A = first the single "THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO" charted #1 for 7 weeks (2/28 - 4/10/76); then it fell to #2 allowing Donna Summer's 'A Love Trilogy" to reign #1 for 3 weeks; then the LP "WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO" moved into the #1 spot (where it will stay til 7/17/76--that's 11 weeks + 7 weeks = 18 weeks @ #1!!!!!
Chart B = 4 weeks @ #1
Chart C= 7 weeks @ #1 (single); then 9 weeks for LP = 16 consecutive weeks
Chart D = 1 week (single) + 5 weeks (LP)
Chart E = peaked @#5 (1 week for the single /1 week for the LP @ #5)
Chart F = ranked #1 in Boston (3 times); Washington, D.C. (2 times); once in Houston and eventually in Omaha, Nebraska on 8/14/76!!!

All told it will spend 25 weeks in the Top 10!!!!!
__________________________________________________ ____________



***
--- Isn't it time we , as disco aficionados , paid a little interest in this release ? .....probably the biggest one of the entire disco era .....
( at least as so reflected on the charts from those times ) .

Now I know I have definite ideas about That’s Where The Happy People Go .... and I'll be happy to share ......:lol::roll:;-) .....


but first, I’d really like to hear what others have to say about this song, this project .... The Trammps in general ....

I'd like to think that the exalting impact it had then , still exhumes from its grooves now .... 8-) ........ ? ......
so I'm especially curious as to what the latter days have to say about it?

Do you listen to it ? Does it impress you ? Are you moved by it in any way?
Or do you think ho-hum ..... way too old school ...?

Be honest .... one way or another ..... let's put some effort into this and analyze this grand old tune
.... one that spent an incredible HALF YEAR *on the disco chart's TOP 10 !!!



*****

* .....and that's real time ... not because of Marky's erratic posting schedule which would make it a year and three months :p

[Greg Wilson]

The Trammps were massive when I started out deejaying. Their biggest 3 tracks from a UK perspective were 'Hold Back The Night', 'Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart' and, of course, 'Disco Inferno'.

Here's something relating to 'That's Where The Happy People Go' from the text for Feb '76 Time Capsule:

February's Time Capsule opens with The Trammps, arguably the biggest Disco act of the time. This is underlined by the fact that the Philadelphia band had three records on release for three different labels - 'That's Where The Happy People Go' on Atlantic, 'Love Epidemic' on Philadelphia International and 'Rubber Band' on Buddah. This was hot on the heels of 'Hold Back The Night', one of the biggest tracks in UK clubland during recent months, and their Atlantic debut, 'Hooked For Life'. Their best remembered single was yet to come though - this was, of course, 'Disco Inferno', a British hit in 1977, which would go huge in the clubs all over again in 1978, following its inclusion on the soundtrack of 'Saturday Night Fever'.
http://www.discomusic.com/forums/dis...html#post92858

[Noman]

I still listen to it and I think it is one of the absolute best disco albums ever.
(Discogs with seven ratings give's it an average of 5:-) I don't know how the rating on allmusic.com works, but it only got three ... )

[Disco Funk]

Awesome album, my favorite by The Trammps, and definitely one of the best disco albums ever made.

In case some of the newer people on the board were not aware, Collectables released this album on CD a number of months ago, along with Disco Inferno. Too bad '...Happy People...' didn't include a bonus cut of 'It's Alright'. That track was a single-only release on the flip to 'Hooked For Life'.

Disco Funk

[remicks]

*****

What's that you say ????

You don't really know THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO :-o:-o


Greg Wilson's link is the perfect place to listen to this song. (Whether for the first time ... or to hear it again ) It's easily reached as its the opening song to his February 1976 show .
If you aren't familiar , the slow opening, the exquisite piano entry is part of the song ( LP version ) . Often times a DJ would tantalize by beginning with this. Othertimes ....he'd just drop it in on you with that initial trumpet blast.

Here is Greg's radio show :

http://www.samurai.fm/timecapsule/



And here are the song's lyrics :

Trammps
That's where the happy people go

I used to spend most of my time
Just being alone, yes, I did
Nothing to do, no place to go
Just stayed at home

So I put my blues upon the shelf
And I made up my mind
To live a little myself
So I went on down to a disco

Disco, that`s where
The happy people go
(Happy people go)
And they`re just dancing along
To a perfect song at the disco

Disco, that`s where
The happy people go
And they`re just dancing along
To a perfect song at the disco

Now listen, all my friends
They wonder what`s come over me
They all say I`m not the
Same old guy I used to be, yeah

First of all, I got myself together
I danced my blues away
They`re gone forever
Then I ease on down to the disco

Disco, that`s where
The happy people go
(Happy people go)
And they`re just dancing along
To a perfect song at the disco

Clap your hands
Just stomp your feet, alright
Get on down, get on down
Just get on down

Sing the song, children
Boogie, boogie, boogie
Boogie, boogie
Boogie, boogie
Boogie, boogie
Boogie, boogie
Boogie, boogie

Oh, yeah
Keep on, keep on
Keep on

Disco, that`s where
The happy people go


And they`re just dancing along
To a perfect song at the disco




1976




*****

[QUINNY]

At the time, it was just another Trammps record, so far as I was concerned. I DIDN'T LIKE the grandiose intro and the way in which the rhythm pattern shifted back and forth. It sounded rather 'old school' philly to my ears.

However, it did have its moments. I loved the 'break' with the drums, bass and sparse fender? chords, plus the boogie, boogie, boogie refrain. If the whole track had stayed more to that feel, I'd have liked the track a whole lot more and would have played it a whole lot more. As it was, it had its three or four (maybe 6) weeks of fame and the scene moved on.

Today, I love the track for its ability to uplift my spirits whenever I play it.

BTW: Greg, Scrub Board was probably played more than the 'A' side ever was, until it suddenly became a big hit.

[remicks]

****

Judging from Quinnys and Greg Wilson's comments ,

it would appear that THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO was a bigger record here in The States than it was in Great Britain ....

Anyone else from there have thoughts ? Was it not as big for you
What about elsewhere in the world
And what about others from the USA

all comments welcomed !!!!!



It did go beyond the clubs and chart in both regions :
months earlier in England :

THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO

hit #27 on Billboard's TOP 100 on June 6th 1976 in the USA

and reached #35 on March 13th 1976 in Great Britain .


*****

[Eclipse]

I remember it getting lots of play in San Francisco area...

[remicks]

*****

....:roll:..... I hesitate to interrupt all this plethora of input ;-) ( hey, all one can do is send out the invitations .....and hope the peoples then show up )

.... but The Trammps have now completed their run at the top of Marky’s chart …#1 for TEN WEEKS !!! 8) …. and will now continue to hold fast in the TOP TEN or so thruout the summer of 1976.

Here’s what I’d like to point out …. something worth a good pondering .... ;-);-):???:

THAT’S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO was HUGE in the discos in the United States. (Not just me talkin’ ….. the charts say so !!! ) .... while elsewhere in the world .... according to comments here ... the song did "OK" ….but was reacted to more or less as just yet one more Trammps song ..... the "big" one there ... DISCO INFERNO .... was yet to come ....

So what was it then ????
……What was it about this song that made it sooooo big in the USA at this time ??



Let's ask it this way .....
What specifically was happening in the United States at this time … that this song spoke to ?? :???:

:???::???::???::???::???::???:

????



*****

[discokicks]

Originally Posted by remicks

*****
Let's ask it this way .....
What specifically was happening in the United States at this time … that this song spoke to ?? :???:

:???::???::???::???::???::???:

????



*****

I'm thinking that perhaps this song was really the first blatant, hands-down anthem that endorsed this new joy of going out specifically to dance your ass off. You could almost call it disco's 'coming out' song!

Up to this point, it was all about the music moreso than disco being thought of as a phenomenon and lifestyle. It was mostly unknown, rhymthic songs programmed for dancing that only select crowds knew about. The songs that crossed over to radio didn't shout 'this is disco, baby'...most had lyrics pertaining to love and relationships like other pop hits. The word 'disco' really didn't become a household word until 1976 (correct me if I'm wrong). Johnnie Taylor's Disco Lady might be the exception but it's slower, sexy tempo didn't come close to creating the joyous disco sensation like That's Where The Happy People Go.

I bought the 7" version.....I was fifteen at the time and must have heard it on American Bandstand as it never was played on radio here. I was thrilled that there was a slightly longer version on the flip. For me, hearing those harmonious male voices singing 'disco-oh...that's where the happy people go' was an invitation to the fun side of life and, looking back, I could almost say that this was the starting point to my fascination with disco and djing.

[originalbigm]

Certainly one of the definitive albums of the disco era.TWTHPG and it's gospelness espoused the joyousness of dancing and partying with friends and strangers at the local disco without being pretentious (The ultimate good time house party).

I loved it from the first time I listened to it and it remains a constant in my "For listening and groovin playlist".While "Where The Happy People Go" was huge I certainly think "Soul Searchin Time "was equally as great.:-P

[remicks]

****

Originally Posted by discokicks

I'm thinking that perhaps this song was really the first blatant, hands-down anthem that endorsed this new joy of going out specifically to dance your ass off. You could almost call it disco's 'coming out' song!

Up to this point, it was all about the music more so than disco being thought of as a phenomenon and lifestyle. It was mostly unknown, rhythmic songs programmed for dancing that only select crowds knew about. The songs that crossed over to radio didn't shout 'this is disco, baby'...most had lyrics pertaining to love and relationships like other pop hits. The word 'disco' really didn't become a household word until 1976 (correct me if I'm wrong). Johnnie Taylor's Disco Lady might be the exception but it's slower, sexy tempo didn't come close to creating the joyous disco sensation like That's Where The Happy People Go.

I bought the 7" version.....I was fifteen at the time and must have heard it on American Bandstand as it never was played on radio here. I was thrilled that there was a slightly longer version on the flip. For me, hearing those harmonious male voices singing 'disco-oh...that's where the happy people go' was an invitation to the fun side of life and, looking back, I could almost say that this was the starting point to my fascination with disco and djing.

Yes!! :-) ..... I think you are on to something here discokicks ..... there was something very invitational about this song :-) ...... "ease on down to the disco...." .....

Blatantly about disco …..this has a focus on discotheques specifically ….
There are already disco songs explicitly about dancing that are getting mainstream acceptance …..GET UP AND BOOGIE , GET DOWN TONIGHT , DO THE HUSTLE .. …as well as clearly “disco” in style tunes like LOVE HANGOVER , MORE MORE MORE .... DOCTOR's ORDERS that have broken thru to the masses at large …. but you’re right .... this is really the first one championing the place itself ..... the “disco” ……8)8)8) .........................
(was this too explicit though .... an alienating theme that worked against the song's ability for a wider based appeal ??? )

It's very interesting that at age 15 this song appealed to you .... and it wasn’t from repeated exposure from plays on the radio either .….. but from seeing it and hearing it on Bandstand on a very limited basis …… at best once a week for a bit ..........

that's where the happy people go' was an invitation to the fun side of life and, looking back, I could almost say that this was the starting point to my fascination with disco and djing

.
So at age 15 ..... a most impressionable age .... you find yourself curious about going to these places where happy people go ... as were being suggested to exist in this song .....fascinating .....:)8)

_________




At a time when many other big disco songs were crossing over and going toward the top .....HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL…. LADY BUMP... LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY …..others were not ... like TEN PER CENT and this tune of focus here .

--- THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO 's limited crossover appeal is, I think , especially curious considering how VERY big and how long it stayed popular in the clubs . It's most intriguing ... the amount of time this record stayed popular in the clubs ...
why was that ??

Well , it could just be because of the greatness of the record. AS originalbigm cites :

TWTHPG and it's gospelness espoused the joyousness of dancing and partying with friends and strangers at the local disco without being pretentious

I loved it from the first time I listened to it and it remains a constant in my "For listening and groovin playlist". (The ultimate good time house party).

One might say the lasting strength of this record was simply because of its compositional brilliance .... .... it’s clearly a disco masterpiece with an amazingly high energy / feel goodness from start to finish ….
so for that reason alone ... I think it was rational for it to have done well …… but for so long ? …..for months ??

And why wasn't this brilliance more appreciated by radio programmers ?
Or DJs in England who thought it was just average ?? ...... .....

discokicks: ..... disco's coming out song

…… hmmmm most interesting discokicks …..

All very much worth pondering indeed !!!:-);)

to be continued ....



*****

[discokicks]

Originally Posted by remicks

.... this is really the first one championing the place itself ..... the “disco” ……8)8)8) .........................
(was this too explicit though .... an alienating theme that worked against the song's ability for a wider based appeal ??? )

Perhaps Atlantic Records just failed to see the song ever becoming a huge radio hit so didn't bother to heavily promote it. The disco trend amongst the masses was just getting in full swing at this time but perhaps there was a naive opinion that this particular song, as huge as it was in the clubs, didn't have 'radio appeal'.

Originally Posted by remicks

--- THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO 's limited crossover appeal is, I think , especially curious considering how VERY big and how long it stayed popular in the clubs . It's most intriguing ... the amount of time this record stayed popular in the clubs ...
why was that ??

One might say the lasting strength of this record was simply because of its compositional brilliance .... .... it’s clearly a disco masterpiece with an amazingly high energy / feel goodness from start to finish ….
so for that reason alone ... I think it was rational for it to have done well …… but for so long ? …..for months ??

One strong characteristic of TWTHPG, I think, is that it pumps along at disco's distinctive 125 beats per minute. Add the lively instrumentation and the strong vocal stylngs of the Trammps and you've got something totally appealing to the growing attendance of disco club patrons.

Plus, the disco secret is out! More and more people are sampling this new trend and quite possibly, That's Where The Happy People Go was that initial hot tune that seemed to happily welcome everyone to the party.

Also, this was a track that male club djs likely didn't have a problem programming on a nightly ongoing basis. I imagine, just like today, that some male djs hated mixing in lots of female vocals like perhaps Tina Charles or Carol Douglas so mixing in the Trammps would have been a continual treat.

Originally Posted by remicks

And why wasn't this brilliance more appreciated by radio programmers ?
Or DJs in England who thought it was just average ?? ...... .....

Radio has always been slow to catch on...and the impression that I'm getting from the wonderful contributions from UK djs on this forum , the emphasis was more on funkier tunes around this time.

Originally Posted by remicks

It's very interesting that at age 15 this song appealed to you .... and it wasn’t from repeated exposure from plays on the radio either .….. but from seeing it and hearing it on Bandstand on a very limited basis …… at best once a week for a bit ...........

So at age 15 ..... a most impressionable age .... you find yourself curious about going to these places where happy people go ... as were being suggested to exist in this song .....fascinating .....:)8)

:lol: ...what can I say? I grew up in a very rural environment dreaming of big city life and non-stop parties....:lol: (perhaps I should be lying on a couch while I muse....) I do know that my musical tastes were expanding as I slowly realized that there was a much bigger world out there than what I was exposed to.

[QUINNY]

Personally, I'm still finding it incredibly difficult to raise this record to the status it obviously reached in the U.S.A.

Firstly, It did have those two very distinct rhythm patterns that weren't particularly 'fresh' for the time and I personally found very annoying......so it could be construed as slightly 'old philly' sounding and that wasn't the DISCO sound that was emerging or the sound that was creating a buzz with dancers anywhere else. This, I think is an important point, that needs to be thought about.

Secondly, Brit DJs had always had an affinity with the band and they were a band whose releases were eagerly awaited. The Trammps had been around for quite some time as relative unknowns, always making good quality records, always knocking on fame's door, but never really finding the key to open it on a regular basis. There was always something about their records that didn't quite allow them to graze in the grass. They appeared to be a band that no-one knew what to do with, in order to make 'em really happen. Their move to Atlantic certainly changed their direction (yet again) and we werwe probably still trying to make up our minds as to whether or not, they had finally hit the right spot. The fact that TWTHPG sounded so dated didn't help. Disco Inferno, despite its affiliations, was for my money, their true Disco legacy. That record had the whole World moving to the Disco beat.....and how. Maybe it would have been interesting if TWTHPG and Disco Inferno had their release dates swapped.

Thirdly, the fact that radio didn't pick up on it and make it a BIG radio hit speaks volumes. I guess it neither appealed to the emerging potential Disco fans (or the Black radio masses? how did it do on Black radio?). Yes, it would appear that Disco, with this song, was finding itself out on a limb, for whatever reasons. It would appear that most of the population just didn't know what it was about. A year or so down the line and it would have been one of the massive crossover hits that you guys love to slash and burn.

Fourthly, I don't know about you, but I would have been sick to death of playing the song after all those weeks of pre-eminence.

Fifthly, perhaps it was one of the first songs to really shout about Disco and I, for one, was still suspicious of the direction this music was going to take. TWTHPG and its lyrics seemed a tad trite compared with some of the records, with which it was slugging it out, for fame, glory and dancefloor acceptance. For example: A harder, more perfect dancefloor record than Banbarra's Shack Up you'd be hard-pressed to find. Relatively speaking, in the U.S.A. it bombed compared to TWTHPG, but nowadays, betcha most people would prefer it to dance to. I, and many of my Brit DJ contemporaries certainly played it more than TWTHPG back in the day, thus epitomising the different direction we were taking. To be perfectly honest, I just didn't understand or relate to the American concept of Disco and what, to them, made good (great) Disco music. It WAS a foreign concept that I didn't totally share. Perhaps I was, even in 1976, too 'old school' a DJ to fully embrace it.

[tony98]

I really prefer the Trammps Philly album on Golden Fleece, have a listen to Trammps Disco Theme, Love Epedemic, Stop And Think & Where Do We Go From Here. It's all great stuff.