Billboard Disco Compilation/Consensus Charts-Part 1:1974-75

[markydefad]

Originally Posted by DISCODISK

S.O.S (Is this the ABBA song?) still don't know...........

NO MARKY IT ISNT,THOUGH YOU MUST PUT THIS ON YOUR WANTS LIST AS ITS ONE OF THE BEST INDIES THAT EVER GRACED YOUR CHARTS
WAS A MASSIVE NORTHERN SOULER AT THE TIME QUITE SURPRISING REALLY AS ITS NOTHING LIKE PETULA CLARK SOMEBODY MUST HAVE SNEAKED IT IN! IF YOU SEE THIS CHEAP ON EBAY MOST LIKELY A BOOT I.E BLACK AND WHITE NO COLOUR IN LABEL NAME, SOUNDING GREAT TODAY AND GETTING A BIT COLLECTABLE.

IM SURE ALSO THAT CRISPY AND COMPANY WERE ACTUALLY AMERICAN, MAYBEE THEY WERE HIGH

dd,

Ya know, I guess I do have this--it's on that "Cleethorpe's Story" cd, right? I don't recall how it goes--but I'll have to listen!!! Duh.

[DISCODISK]

Originally Posted by markydefad

dd,

Ya know, I guess I do have this--it's on that "Cleethorpe's Story" cd, right? I don't recall how it goes--but I'll have to listen!!! Duh.

thats the one,i made a mistake this was actually bootlegged on a different label [lin dee] i was thinking of the nasco label.dont ask mabout bootlegs ask simon [soussan]

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by nrgbeat

I've noticed that towards the end of 1975, the disco charts had several remakes of songs that had been popular disco hits earlier in the year. (e.g. Brazil by Crispy and Co.) A lot of them were imports too.

IM SURE ALSO THAT CRISPY AND COMPANY WERE ACTUALLY AMERICAN, MAYBEE THEY WERE HIGH

BRAZIL

(Is this another cover of the Ritchie Family?) YES

46) * BRAZIL/ LOVE CAN - Crispy & Co.
(Creole English IMPORT) (4/F) (NEW)

I think Krispie and Company might be Canadian or French.
I only ever saw this tunes on the Canadian comp LP "Tonite at the Discotheque" (Smile Records - SMS-IM 303) this album is actually a very nice comp. including an alternative version of AIE (a mwana) by Wall of Steel, who also do a different song called "Super Queen" that reminds me of Jimmy Castor as a deep voice talks over African/Jazzy disco beat.

Krispie's version of Brazil is really fun, pure Disco, Love Can is as good, this LP is worth finding, and the cover art work is really cool, with a Blond sexy Betty Boop walking the red carpet to da Disco with style! .

[DISCODISK]

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

I think Krispie and Company might be Canadian or French.

hi mixmachine, i seemed to remember years ago i read they were english, today i checked a chart book and it does say crispy & co are american, one possibility is over the years theres been lots of u.s soldiers based in europe some of the men who entertained the others did cut records a couple of examples are the i.g's and sidney youngblood, they cut records in europe they were all based in germany, so it could turn out to be something like that, asuming the book is correct that is!

[remicks]

******

Marky , the first Billboard Disco chart appeared on October 26, 1974 .... based from which your first chart begins here on page one. That and Tom Moulton's first accompanying column..... which also debuted in Billboard on that date .

What I'm wondering is did these begin their run ..... poof .... as if by immaculate conception ?? Was there no fanfare , no introduction ?? No associated article?? Have you seen this actual issue of Billboard?? Or the one before it??



******

[tmob]

Originally Posted by markydefad

November 22,1975

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU ( Is this the Labelle song?) still don't know

32) * WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU - Adrienne Ste Clair
(CBS - France IMPORT) (7/F) (NEW)

This is indeed the Labelle song. It's "Faites Quelque Chose Pour Moi" by Adrienne Ste-Claire. I have it on a Canadian pressing (CBS Canada C5 4101), and it's a very faithful version of Labelle's "What Can I Do for You." I'll try to get the label posted if it's not in there already.

[remicks]

******

Sorry tmob .. I'm not trying to upstage you .... just want to make sure my inquiry doesn't get lost on the previous page .....

******

Marky , the first Billboard Disco chart appeared on October 26, 1974 .... based from which your first chart begins here on page one. That and Tom Moulton's first accompanying column..... which also debuted in Billboard on that date .

What I'm wondering is did these begin their run ..... poof .... as if by immaculate conception ?? Was there no fanfare , no introduction ?? No associated article?? Have you seen this actual issue of Billboard?? Or the one before it??



******

[markydefad]

Originally Posted by remicks

******

Sorry tmob .. I'm not trying to upstage you .... just want to make sure my inquiry doesn't get lost on the previous page .....

******

Marky , the first Billboard Disco chart appeared on October 26, 1974 .... based from which your first chart begins here on page one. That and Tom Moulton's first accompanying column..... which also debuted in Billboard on that date .

What I'm wondering is did these begin their run ..... poof .... as if by immaculate conception ?? Was there no fanfare , no introduction ?? No associated article?? Have you seen this actual issue of Billboard?? Or the one before it??



******

remicks,

I have the page with the the first chart (it's reprinted in Joel Whitburn's Disco book)...but I don't have the whole issue...it's a rather low key affair...just the small chart and the first Moulton column...which just mentions that Gloria Gaynor is still #1 and has been for 5 or 6 weeks...which prompted someone here to ask me how he knew that IF there had been no previous charts...I don't know...maybe they were doing a test run???

[markydefad]

Today, I'm posting 3 articles regarding the disco scene in 1975.
My sincere heartfelt thanks to Toby T. for supplying this valuable information.

1) "DISCOMANIA" by Jim Melanson
(Billboard/ May 17, 1975)

2) "GAY DANCERS ADD TO EXCITEMENT OF DISCO BOOM" by Jean Williams
(Billboard/ May 17, 1975)

[note: [SNARK alert] contains "controversial statement" / READ AT YOUR OWN RISK/ DON'T SAY YOU WEREN'T WARNED!!![/SNARK]

3) "MARC PAUL SIMON ON DISCO PROMOTIONS" by Eliot Sekular
(Record World/ September 6, 1975)

This is the tease....articles to follow...

[markydefad]

This was the first of two articles from the May 17, 1975 issue of Billboard printed under the heading:

A BILLBOARD SPOTLIGHT ON DISCO


“Discomania”by Jim Melanson


“Discotheques are a very important new avenue of promotion and exposure,” CBS Records Executive, 1975.

“Discos are going great. We don’t know how long it’ll last, but we’ll be deeply involved as long as they’re around—be it for six months or for six years,” Atlantic Records Executive, 1975.

Yes, 1975 is shaping up as the year of the disco, as the dance club craze which surfaced in France in the early sixties, had a mild shot at national attention in the U.S. in the mid to late sixties, is now rapidly becoming the darling of the music industry and the public alike.

If discos were a bride in waiting all these years, though, it was the public, notably New York discogoers, who asked for her hand first. Unwittingly, “dance”-loving record buyers sold the industry a bill of goods, and now it’s paying dividends for both.

Notably, the payoff has been across-the-board:

· Aficionados of the highly stylized dance sound favored at the clubs are getting heavier doses of “their” sound to sway to into the early hours of the morning.
· Labels’ sales are reflecting the capitalization of the new avenues of product promotion inside club doors.
· Sound and lighting companies are seeing their sales move forward as new clubs open every week across the country.
· Radio playlists on the AM side of the fence, accused from several quarters of being either too tight or too stagnant, are finding new musical energy by tapping into the disco grapevine far quicker than before.
· Artists are breaking onto the national scene from discotheque exposure, side stepping more traditional venues.
· And, in financially trying times for many, disco owners are finding the ring from their cash registers comforting.


Just how it all happened would be hard, if now impossible, to document. Then again, those closest to the scene, disco DJs and the dancers themselves, will tell you that the “how” is not what’s important. That discos have finally arrived is all that matters.

A great deal of the credit for that “arrival” belongs to discotheque DJs, long overlooked by the industry at large for their contributions to the music scene.


Oftentimes, avid record collectors themselves, club spinners found a way to combine their love of music and make a dollar. Playing records might sound easy to the uninitiated, but do it for a dance audience, demanding in their tastes, for several hours a night and the “artistic” and practical chores of such a job will quickly become evident.

The “beat” and “flow” of a disco record is the all-important ingredient in capturing a dance crowd, and the DJ as an artist is the one who brings it all together and makes it happen. Special mixes, unique cueing techniques, a feel for programming—it’s all part of being a successful spinner.

Constantly creating musical rushes, blending the music with accompanying light shows, knowing your audience’s tastes and not being afraid to introduce them to the untried—get those little tricks down and you’re well on the way to becoming a disco DJ.

Spinning records can be financially rewarding as well……..(last line unreadable—SORRY)…………of $75 a night for their skills. Rates for a mobile spinner run as high as $200 to $300 for a gig.

Spinners and clubs have been around for quite awhile now—so why the sudden notoriety for clubs and their impact on the market?

It began slowly at first—Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” cracking New York radio playlists because of groundswell support received from club reaction; Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra rushing to national fame after disco exposure; Gloria Gaynor, Millie Jackson, the Hues Corporation and George McCrae, not to mention several other disco acts, catapulted in the national spotlight after disco hits—and the pace has quickened ever since.

Somewhere along the line, label staffers started taking notice, on the local level, then regionally and eventually on the national level.

Records were selling in local markets, but without radio airplay or strong marketing campaigns. Why, they asked. Little by little the reports came in, and they all pointed to discotheques. And, if it was happening across the country, it was never so pronounced as in the New York market, traditionally considered the birthplace and home of discos in this country.

The word was that if it was hot and danceable, the discos would be the first place to hear it.

DJs were playing album cuts often overlooked by music directors at radio stations, as well as playing singles, waiting their turn (if ever) for playlist positions, and the results (especially with hindsight) were predictable—if the record was in the “groove,” people were going to buy it. And, at the discos they were getting the chance to hear the product. Area retailers began getting requests for product they didn’t have yet, or on product that they just didn’t offer in sufficient numbers and were now short-stocked on.

Local promotion people started to get the message and began visiting clubs more regularly, delivering new product and checking reaction to records already released. At first, it was a select group: nobody really believed. Steadily, label involvement grew to where special disco mixes were being supplied to the clubs to spur interest in the commercial single version and LP test pressings were given to key spinners as quickly as possible. Pressure on several fronts also came to place disco DJs on product service lists. The question of DJ service still remains a “pressure” point as many DJs claim that they are totally bypassed for a select few. Several labels, conscious of the problem, are still trying to adjust their lists so that they include only “working” spinners and not those only looking for free product.

Noteworthy now, though, is that labels and DJs are well aware of each other, and the symbiotic relationship between the two seems open for further development.

If demands were placed on manufacturers, so too did they fall on radio operations. Similar to r&b’s crossover into pop radio because of the public’s interest, disco product started to make its own inroads. Two years ago, product on a disco playlist could take anywhere from 3 to 4 months to make it to the airwaves. Now, most observers agree, the gap is just a matter of weeks. It’s affecting FM as well as AM programming in that, while AM playlists may be opening up more, FM stations (several around the country) have begun programming entire formats around disco product.

The spillover is happening within the disco field itself too. New York may still be considered the hub for club action in the country, especially when it comes to going on product first, but the growth of discos outside of New York in the last 12 months has been nothing short of phenomenal. Restaurants have converted lounges to cater to disco enthusiasts; chains have sprung up involving a dozen or more clubs in several states; “live” talent clubs have switched to being discos because of the ready dollars available with that route; and investors throughout the country are looking to open new locations every week, hoping to capitalize on a boom similar to the singles bar crazy several years ago.

Discos are generating money on many levels and, if anything, that’s the key to the ever-quickening bandwagon in motion right now.

Whether in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, Houston or Grand Rapids, tastes in any given market differ and the same is true from one disco to another. You have the “straight” clubs, where more of a white rock suburban flavor is usually found, the black discos, with their heavy funk sounds, and Latin clubs and gay locations, with their reputation for anything new and exciting, as long as it has the “beat” to dance to and to do your thing.


Whatever the scene, though, the music remains the key ingredient and it must be good enough to keep the floor packed six to eight hours a night, seven days a week. Most discogoers will tell you that the main emphasis is on having fun, and the music has got to match the mood. It can be light, sexy, or funky, but it’s got to be “up.”

Just how long the disco scene will last is open for speculation, but right now, like the music, it’s “up” and aficionados will tell you it has always been that way and will remain so—it’s just a question of attention.


[Thanks to Toby T. for this article]

[markydefad]

This is the second article from the May 17, 1975 issue of Billboard, printed under the heading

A BILLBOARD SPOTLIGHT ON DISCO


"GAY DANCERS ADD TO EXCITEMENT OF DISCO BOOM"
by Jean Williams
[Toby says Jean was the Soul music reporter for Billboard]


“Seventy percent of the discos across country are gay,” says Marc Simon, president of Provocative Promotions in Los Angeles.

[See article #3 for more info on Mr. Simon's credentials]

“We have conducted a survey sending questionnaires to managers and disk jockeys of the 300 discotheques we service with disco records across country.”

“The two-page questionnaire requests information on the sex, age, race, etc., of the disco patrons,” adds Simon.

Social and economic forces in America have made discotheques the nightspots of the 70’s, he says.

They have been in existence since 1961, but 1974 was the year of the disco boom.

“Until last year, gay and private clubs held a monopoly on that portion of the nightclub scene,” says Arnie Smith, vice president of Provocative Promotions and editor of “Simon Says,” a disco paper.

While referring to gay discos, Jack Wheeler, manager of Studio One disco here, says, “Curiosity and publicity have brought a large contingent of straight people to the once 100 percent gay club.”

Studio One is one of the larger discotheques, housing ten bars, a restaurant, jewelry concession, free nostalgia films, and a dance floor that will comfortably hold 300 frenzied dancers.

“The owners prefer to keep the club gay,” says Wheeler.

“Straight people have always had good nightclubs to frequent, but gays have had to take what they could get,” he continues. “We welcome straight people, but we depend on the gay crowd to support us.”

“Gays tend to go out at least five nights a week; four of those nights we can expect them to come here.”

Cabaret, like Studio One, is one of the larger, more popular discos in the Los Angeles area.

An admitted gay patron at Cabaret, Leo Martin has worked as a bartender in gay and straight discos.

Martin says, “Straight people tell me that they prefer going to gay discos because we offer more in the way of amusements, entertainment and recreational facilities.”

“We give our customers no reason to leave our clubs in favor of straight clubs because we have everything in the form of entertainment here.”

Arnie says, “The economy has driven people to the discotheques.”

“This is an inexpensive way to dance and be entertained. It is extremely difficult for two people to go out for an evening and spend less than $20,” and he continues, “but a couple can go to a disco and spend less than $10.”

The average price of admission to a West Coast disco is $1.50 Friday and Saturday, $1 Sunday, and no cover charge during the week.

Because of the competitive situation in Los Angeles, many clubs are now featuring free admission and are open seven days a week.

The drinks range in price from 90 cents to $1.50 for whiskey, scotch and bourbon, and 90 cents for beer.

Arnie has been a disco disk jockey for nine years and says that he can listen to any album or single and pick the record that will become a disco favorite.

The in-house disk jockeys are proud of their disco sound systems, and the music tends to range from loud, to louder, to loudest.

Of the 25 disk jockeys interviewed, 23 say that 98 percent of the music played is soul records.

The discos are closely related in selecting their music. Of the clubs surveyed, depending on the section of the country (not Midwest), 95 percent were playing the same top ten disco records, with the only variation evident in the numerical listings.

Howard Metz, disk jockey of Cabaret, proudly announced that their sound system speakers were made by Cerwin-Vega, makers of the sound system used in the film “Earthquake.”

Other than the few disk jockeys who are fortunate enough to have record companies service them with product, they purchase their own records.

“With the disk jockeys earning $25 to $55 a night, it is most difficult for them to supply their own records,” says Arnie.

Ron Cutler, a former disk jockey in Philadelphia, has opened Bahama Mamas here.

“Bahama Mamas is a straight disco,” says Cutler. “Opened just two months, we have 3,000 people visiting here a week,” he adds.

Cutler has chosen to use disk jockeys from local radio stations. Machine Gun Kelly of KHJ, L.A., is the in-house disk jockey each Thursday, and air personalities from KHS and K100 have appeared as guests.

Cutler, whose professional name is Ron Diamond, performs the chore of spinning records on the weekends, with J.J. taking over three nights during the week.

Cutler has plans to program a syndicated radio show from Bahama Mamas, and his nightclub is one of the few with no cover charge.

As a professional disk jockey and promoter of record hops with close ties to the discotheques on the East Coast, Cutler tells of the different East to West Coast attitudes toward discos.

“The East Coast can command the $5 to $10 cover charges because nightclubs are the primary form of entertainment there.”

“Here, the disco competition is too great to try to encourage that kind of cover charge. There are just too many places for people to go out here.”

“In the East, there is a mixture of gays and straights in most clubs, but here the discos are either gay or straight,” he adds.

Bahama Mamas is an intimate club with several areas suitable for small social gatherings.

“We are one of the few clubs that do not play 98 percent soul music. We cannot get around the fact that soul is the most danceable, but we only play about 75 percent,” says Cutler.

“The rest is devoted to artists like the Rolling Stones, Doobie Brothers, David Bowie, or Bachman-Turner Overdrive,” he explains.

Cutler says that one of the major problems he has had to face is the lack of product from the record companies; however, record companies are beginning to involve themselves in the disco market.

Skip Blackburn, disco promotion coordinator of Capitol Records, has led his company into the disco market by setting up a national mailing list for Capitol’s disco records and distributing it to discos across the country.

He also supplies the disco disk jockey with product and he says, “Disco promotion has become as important as FM radio and college promotions.”

“We are doing the same type of promotion with discos that we are doing with radio stations,” he adds, and he continues, “I believe that discos are a fad that will last two to three years, but we want to get in on it because it is now a powerful force in exposing new talent.”

Blackburn explains how Capitol produces a disco record. “Producing a disco record means bringing up the heavy rhythm tracks, while using happy sounding instruments like the tambourines and whistles.”

Stuart Goldberg, owner of “Dance Your Ass Off” disco in San Francisco, says his club attracts students, singles and gays, plus people who merely wish to watch the festivities on the inside.


[Thanks to Toby T. for this article]

************************************************** ***


In this issue of Billboard, a Top 15 from Bahama Mamas in Los Angeles was printed...I wrote in the Disco Compilation Consensus Chart for that week...


Well the big news this week this week is obviously the first time the LA chart appears. It's back next week; then gone for two weeks, then returns permanently as Top Audience Response in Los Angeles/ San Diego Discos.

Whole lotta differences from the right coast to the left coast; LA's Top 10 totally comprised of records not on any NYC chart; In general, I'd say, at this point LA is in more of a FUNK GROOVE (Kool & the Gang, Kay Gee's, AWB, EW&F, Bazuka, coming soon: Ohio Players, Isley Brothers, Gary Toms Empire, KC & SB. Their taste is more towards the funky stuff played on radio; as the year progresses, LA gets more in sync with NYC; However, David Bowie will only chart in LA!!!


For the Record, on May 17, 1975, Bahama Mama's in LA charted:

1) DYNOMITE - Tony Camillo's Bazuka
2) SPIRIT OF THE BOOGIE - Kool & The Gang
3) PERSON TO PERSON/ CUT THE CAKE - Average White Band
4) (YOU'VE GOT TO) KEEP ON BUMPIN' - Kay Gees
5) I WANNA DANCE WIT' CHOO (DOO DAT DANCE) - Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes
6) SHAKEY GROUND - The Temptations
7) YOUNG AMERICANS - David Bowie
8. WORK TO DO - Average White Band
9) JAM BAND - Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes
10) SHINING STAR - Earth, Wind & Fire
11) BAD LUCK (just entering here) - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
12) STONE COLD LOVE AFFAIR - The Real Thing
13) TRAMMPS DISCO THEME -The Trammps
14) THE HUSTLE (just entering here) - Van McCoy
15) WHERE IS THE LOVE (just entering here) - Betty Wright

compare to the New York City chart for May 17, 1975:

1) EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD - Consumer Rapport
2) BAD LUCK - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
3) FREE MAN - South Shore Commission
4) EL BIMBO - Bimbo Jet
5) SWEARIN' TO GOD - Frankie Valli
6) STOP AND THINK/ TRAMMPS DISCO THEME - The Trammps
7) HELPLESSLY - Moment Of Truth
8. THE HUSTLE - Van McCoy
9) FOOT STOMPIN' MUSIC/ DISCO STOMP - Bohannon
10) WHERE IS THE LOVE - Betty Wright
11) TAKE IT FROM ME - Dionne Warwicke
12) HIJACK - Herbie Mann (45)/ Barrabas (LP)
13) LOVE DO ME RIGHT - Rockin' Horse
14) PEACE AND LOVE - Ron Butler & The Ramblers
15) ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? - The Brothers

[markydefad]

“Seventy percent of the discos across country are gay,” says Marc Simon, president of Provocative Promotions in Los Angeles.

Who was he and why would he say such an "outrageous" thing????

The man quoted in the opening line from the previous article, from the 5/17/75 issue of Billboard, was interviewed for Record World, a music publication competitor of Billboard, for a September 6, 1975 issue...

From Record World September 6, 1975

“Marc Paul Simon on Disco Promotion”

by Eliot Sekuler


Marc Paul Simon’s Provocative Promotions is the first company to devote itself to national discotheque promotion. Beginning his career with Esther Phillips, Simon was later called in to assist on a number of records released by 20th Century. Among the hits that Provocative Promotions has been associated with are “Rock the Boat,” “Rock Your Baby,” “Kung Fu Fighting,” “The Hustle,” “Get Dancin’,” “Dynomite,” and “Get Down Tonight.” Simon also publishes a disco tip-sheet titled “Simon Says,” and is expanding his firm to handle marketing and radio promotion in addition to work with discotheques.

Record World: When did you become involved in discotheque promotion?

Marc Paul Simon: I was looking for a job about a year and a half ago when a friend—Steve Lindenberg, who was with MCA at the time—called and suggested that I talk to Bob Crewe. Crewe had offered him a job promoting the “Eleventh Hour” album in discotheques. I met with Bob and he introduced me to Paul Lovelace, who gave me the shot. I was given a 5-week promotion on the album, and I was supposed to work the west coast discotheques. Two weeks into it, I realized how much more effectual I could be if I went beyond the west coast and tried to get to the markets in the east. So I started sending out records, calling friends and clubs in different cities that I had been to.

RW: Were discotheques a national phenomenon at the time, or were they confined mostly to the east coast?

Simon: For the most part, it was a big city phenomenon. There were clubs in the south and Midwest, but they were either private clubs or they catered to gay audiences. Your best shot at the time was the east coast, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

RW: What other markets have become important since then?

Simon: I discovered after being into it for a couple of weeks that you could get more activity if you also hit Philadelphia and Washington with New York. All of this was happening already, but nobody had really bothered to put a network together. Record labels had been servicing discotheques but not in any cohesive way. It was always left up to the regional man and then only if he were into discotheques. Russ Regan was really one of the pioneers in that area, and it was his energy and that of Paul Lovelace that really broke Provocative Promotions. After five weeks of working disco promotion, I realized the advantages of working as an independent in terms of freedom to choose suitable product. I could still work for Twentieth as well as other clients because there are very few companies that have enough disco-oriented product to justify having somebody working full-time on discotheques.

RW: Is that still true?

Simon: It still is, generally speaking. We do promotions, not just mailings. It takes a staff of people to work the discotheques because there are so many of them now. I have three people working with me, keeping up the lists, keeping up correspondence and mailings. We compile reaction sheets that gauge the activity of records in all areas that we service and keep up on the availability of records in the local stores. It takes a lot of time to keep up on all that information and to keep up our contacts around the country. There are a few labels that might get into doing disco promotion in-house. Atlantic recently hired a New York disco d.j. to work discotheques for them, and that was a wise move because they have an enormous amount of good disco music. For most labels, it’s probably best done independently because of the cost involved.

RW: At what point did record companies realize that disco exposure could be instrumental in selling records?

Simon: I think that Russ Regan, again, was the first to gauge the potential of the discos. Barry White had recorded “Love’s Theme” eight or nine years ago with a female vocalist, [was it Felice Taylor???] and [ here I think he's referring to the Love Unlimited Orchestra version] it sat on a shelf for nine months after 20th released it until a disc jockey in Florida, a disc jockey in Los Angeles and one in New York started to play it simultaneously. It spread very quickly through the discotheques and got a lot of sales as a result.

RW: What elements make a record a disco hit?

Simon: It’s not different from other hit records. The same ingredients in terms of good vocals, good musical values are there, but you’re looking for a good dance tempo, a good bass line and a steady rhythm without changes in tempo.

RW: Records that run over three minutes generally have less chance of getting top forty airplay. The discos, on the other hand, are looking for longer cuts. How do you deal with that problem?

Simon: A good disco d.j. can take a two and a half or three minute record, mix it back and forth between copies and make the song any length he wants it to be. Some record companies are also doing extended disco versions of records and releasing an edited version for radio use. It’s a good solution to that problem because all they have to do is press a limited run of the disco version, which isn’t too expensive. Another way of dealing with the time problem is to release the record with an extended disco version on the flip side.

RW: Do disco d.j.’s watch each other’s playlists the way radio people do?

Simon: No, I think most disco d.j.’s are very much into their own music. They’ll compare notes with other d.j.’s and they’ll take the time to listen to new records. But I think a disco d.j. is primarily concerned with the music he has at hand and making that music go over with his audience.

RW: Why don’t you describe the various types of discos in terms of the music they play?

Simon: The discotheques that cater largely to black audiences are playing funkier r&b cuts and not very much rock ‘n roll. They may put on an Elton John song, but that’s about as much into pop music as they’re going to get, and even that’s a very rare occurrence. They’re playing funky sounds that lend themselves to the bump. The straight white cubs play mid-range disco music with more rock ‘n roll and pop sounds thrown in. The gay clubs play about 90 percent r&b, but less funky sounding music. The d.j.’s are generally going to choose music that their audience is familiar with, because it’s easier to dance to music that you’ve heard than to music that you’re completely unfamiliar with. That’s why a very big part of the disco d.j.’s job is to introduce new music in a way that’s going to turn his audience on and keep them dancing. A good d.j. is one who can spin a new record and keep the dance floor full. He has to know where to segue it in behind a song with a similar tempo that the audience is already familiar with. If they hear a new sound that has the same tempo as the song they’ve been dancing to, they’ll just keep dancing. That’s where a good disco d.j. shows what he can do.

RW: Since disco d.j.’s are, as you’ve described them, individualistic in choosing music, how do you go about promoting records to them?

Simon: They have individual styles of mixing records, and we help them in choosing what record will follow another, but I think there’s a pretty universal ear for disco music. You can isolate good dance records easily, and most disc jockeys have about 85 percent of the records they’re playing in common so we increase the number of plays on the records we work. The individuality of a d.j.’s style is dependent on what he does with the music as much as the music he chooses. Some d.j.’s will take a long time playing music that builds in tempo. He can stretch that out for fifteen to thirty minutes, making the pace become faster and faster. Suddenly, they’ll bring it down really fast or taper off or have sequences where the music is building and declining like a roller coaster. A radio disc jockey can’t really do that because in between the music there’s an announcement, a station identification break, a commercial, the news, etc. It’s much harder to keep the mood of the audience.
If you spend time in a club, you can tell when a d.j. is having a good night by feeling the energy level in the room; you’ll see people dancing and smiling and you can sense that the d.j. is really in tune with the crowd. You might walk into another club and hear the same music, but the sequencing of records hasn’t been able to draw the energy from the crowd. The talent of the d.j. is really a key factor in making a club successful.

RW: D.J.’s have been known to find records that were released as far back as ten years ago or to speed up a slower song to make it danceable. With so much disco product available, why would they resort to obscure sources?

Simon: It’s a matter of showmanship and a reflection of the character of a particular d.j. They may dig back in their files or pick up odd pieces of music and speed them up or slow them down. Sometimes they’ll mix two records together and come up with something really danceable and exciting. That’s what makes the discotheques interesting.

RW: If a disco record breaks out in New York, will it automatically spread to Los Angeles?

Simon: It doesn’t always happen. Some New York music that’s very popular in the clubs back there has a Latin rhythm line or very heavy drums, and it doesn’t do too much outside of the New York / Philadelphia area. It does make it easier to break a record if you have an area with saturated play—the same principle is true of radio and discotheques.

RW: Do you think the disco audience is buying a lot of singles?

Simon: Definitely. There’s a contagious rhythm to disco music that makes the listener want to hear a song again and again. You can see the correlation between disco play and sales very easily when you start getting sales reports on disco records that have little or no airplay.

RW: What is the average life of a disco record on the dance floor?

Simon: It’s considerably shorter than the life expectancy of a record that gets widespread airplay. A radio record seems to last longer; a disco record may last about two months. They go up very quickly and they’re out very fast.

RW: Why do you think that happens?

Simon: It has to do with the sophistication of the audience. After a couple of weeks of hearing the same record, they want to go on to something new. They’re much more in tune to new music than the average radio listener because discotheques play a lot more music in a shorter period of time than what is heard on the radio. There are some exceptions—”Get Dancin’," for example, was on the disco charts for some 4 or 5 months, which was phenomenal. People didn’t seem to tire of it.

RW: At what point did the manufacturers start cutting records with the disco market specifically in mind?

Simon: In the middle of 1974, Scepter / Wand, T.K., and DeLite began cutting records for the disco market, and a little later on Don Anti, then with Chelsea, set up the first national promotion on a disco record, “Get Dancin’. ” It was amazing that, at first, very few people had a feel for it. A lot of them thought that any uptempo record makes a good disco product, and a lot of companies have been releasing special “disco mixes” that aren’t disco records at all. There’s still a lot of misunderstanding about what will be successful in the discotheques, and it’s not a matter of verbal communication—it’s just listening to a record and having some awareness of dancing. If you’re really a dancer, you can pretty much sit back in a chair and feel your feet begin to move. That’s the best criteria.

RW: Does a record that sounds good on the dance floor necessarily sound good on the radio?

Simon: I don’t think that there are any constants to that. The chances that any record that can entertain a large group of people on the dance floor at least warrants a listening to determine its suitability to radio. There are some records that are going to be turntable hits, and there’s no getting away from that. When I listen to records, I try to determine which records are going to be great dance records and are also going to sell. Before I start working on a record, I send out copies to various parts of the country and get feedback from those markets. I try to find out whether people are going to be curious enough to come up to the d.j. and ask the name of the record or just fill the dance floor and continue dancing to another record. I have to be careful about choosing records that are going to sell as well as get play.

RW: When you begin working on a record, where do you take it?

Simon: I work the entire country and service discotheques in 70 to 80 cities. I’m currently servicing some 350 clubs, and we try to see that they’re the largest and best clubs in each city. In a month’s time, I reach a couple of million people through the discotheques, probably the most concentrated audience of record buyers.

RW: What criteria do you use in deciding whether or not to service a discotheque?

Simon: There are certain guidelines. For the most part, I’d like a club to have upwards of 1500 people in attendance within a week’s time. There are some clubs that get over 10,000 people each week. Some have three or four dance floors, eight bars, billiard rooms, game rooms, swimming pools and any number of entertainment facilities. There are a couple of dozen such clubs existing in the country now, and dozens more that cater to between 5,000 and 10,000 people. The audience is enormous. We service the majority of our records to the major markets because we know that when we service a city like Chicago, Philadelphia, New York or Los Angeles, if the record catches on it’s going to spread to the outlying areas within a couple of weeks. People come into the cities from the suburbs to be entertained on the weekend. If they’ve heard a record and liked it, they’ll ask their local d.j. to play it when they go home, whether it be in the local disco or at the radio station.

RW: Are there specific retail outlets that cater to the disco audience?

Simon: Some of the stores and some chains are setting up disco racks in response to requests they’ve been getting for disco singles and related albums. The Licorice Pizza chain set up a top 30 disco rack here in Los Angeles, there’s one in Atlanta, and the Gramophone in San Francisco started months ago; I believe they were one of the first shops in the country to set up a disco rack outside of New York City, where it’s been happening for a long time. We send out a newsletter, “Simon Says,” to disco d.j.’s and also distributors so they can be aware of the records that I think are going to happen. “Simon Says” lists product from all companies—not just records that I’m working—and it’s compiled from conversations with local d.j.’s and other people who are watching the disco market.

RW: Does exposure in the discos necessarily generate airplay?

Simon: If there are large pockets of activity in the discos on a particular record, and especially if that activity results in sales, I’ll send back a map to the head of promotion for that label and show them where their activity is. They can take that feedback and show it to the regional men or local men, who can call up the stations and tell them which stores are selling how many records, which clubs in the market are playing it, and ask them to listen to it. Frequently, when a disco or several discos in a city start playing a record, the stores don’t even have them in stock yet. The radio stations are constantly calling the stores to find out what’s selling. The discos can serve as a barometer that indicates a record’s acceptability to the audience in the same market.

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A little over one year after the preceding interview, in Tom Moulton's DISCO MIX column in Billboard

Column #100 / October 16, 1976
NEW YORK—A number of record labels were passing out new releases at Billboard’s recent Disco II convention held here.
Just about everyone was courting the favors of Marc Paul Simon, who was passing out the new Donna Summer LP titled “Four Seasons Of Love.”


from the liner notes of "The Casablanca Records Story" by Brian Chin....

"Marc Paul Simon, who headed Casablanca's club promotion department, supplied a coterie of hip DJs with the label's new records--controlled them, some said at time."

A Google search also reveals....


Paul Jabara Shut Out Albums, CDs, Vinyl Records and LPs

(paul Jabara) Track (1) Produced By Arthur G. Wright & Marc Paul Simon/

Marc Paul Simon of Casablanca Records asked Bobby Guttadaro to supervise the soundtrack to "Thank God It's Friday." The movie starred Donna Summer. ...

Marc Paul Simon Founded EarMarc Records in 1979, a subsidiary of Casablanca


How Gay Is Gay? - TIME

Marc Paul Simon, vice president of Casablanca Record and Filmworks in Los Angeles, told a boss about his homosexuality his second day on an earlier job at ...
FFowas discontinued.
DISCO (RIP) PIONEERS

Marc Paul Simon (1951 - 1989) (Casablanca Records),

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So that's the TRUTH behind the "outrageous" statement that recently caused a minor RIFT on the board in a thread by remicks. Obviously remicks was totally accurate in his statement...but lacked the context of the quote...I am happy to provide that context, thanks to info supplied by Toby T...

[Dayna]

Marky..
I am always Fasinated and SO enjoy reading this thread..
It must take alot of your time to give such in depth and accurate info..
Thanks again

[markydefad]

Originally Posted by Dayna

Marky..
I am always Fascinated and SO enjoy reading this thread..
It must take a lot of your time to give such in depth and accurate info..
Thanks again

Thanks for your response, Dayna. Glad you enjoy it!