RECORDS WE HAVE LOVED #2 T Connection - Do What You Wanna Do

[QUINNY]

For this week's mammoth Disco hit we're going back to a time when disco was still relatively fresh and still searching for new directions. Formulaic wasn't a word you could use to describe much of 1977's disco output and this week's record was (to my ears at least) a groundbreaker. Judging by the number of times it appears on compilations from many different countries, this must still be played and danced to by many millions of people (if only in the privacy of their own living rooms), even though BITD it wasn't a worldwide pop chart smash, it certainly tore up dancefloors around the globe to become a true classic.

T. Connection - Do What You Wanna Do

Discuss, enjoy, re-live the moment this blockbuster first massaged your ears and what made this such a great dancer.

[paul]

Ok Quinny, we'll tawk amongst ourselves. If you've ever seen Saturday Night Live, you'll get what I meant. This song was truly tearing it up on the floors. The break in this song was particularly memorable. On top of it's unique disco flava, it celebrated that hedonistic life style many of us relished in. And when I say hedonistic, I mean this in a very positive sense.

[darrens]

I'm too young to remember this record the first time around. In the late 80s when I first got into disco, and also got a copy of British Hit Singles, I was aware of the song's existence, noted that it reached #11 in the UK pop charts, and it was on my list of records I wanted to find.

So I was very pleased when the full 12" version was included on "Classic Disco Mastercuts Volume 1" :D I remember playing it many times in my car on the way to work.

Digressing slightly, I remember the promise in the "sleeve notes" which came with Disco Mastercuts 1 - "Fear not, Volume 2 will come!" It never did. :x

[efunk_adelic]

Another great record featured here.... If it wasn't for a Soul Train show I watched, this song probably would have passed me by until the later years.... Our pop radio stations barely took a chance on early disco songs unless they reached the upper portion of the charts.

It only took one listen on TV for me to promptly buy the 7" single.


The mid-section and long thought out percussion is just one big orgasm :P

[Videoskooter]

Excellent choice. One of their best but, indeed, you have to play the whole 12" because it's a well built-up, catchy, funky floorjam.

But my favo T-Connection still is "Saturday night" with the gorgeous bass-intro.

[mr-monday]

An absolute top funky percussive disco tune. The break just builds and builds with the wicked synth strings. I love it!

[Greg Wilson]

Interesting that Mastercuts was mentioned earlier in the thread by darrens.

Ian Dewhirst, who devised the Mastercuts series, would always buy any copies of 'Do What You Wanna Do' he came across - he told me that he did this as a matter of principle!

Don't know how many copies he amassed in this way.

[Studio74]

Quinny,what a great tune.Sadly never heard it in any Discos (but i´ve played it in bars in my DJ sessions...).But i´ve heard At Midnight played in Lux this year.All T-Connection tracks that i´ve heard are great.

Darrens,they said the same about the Electro and Acid-House Mastercuts...I´m yet to see Disco Mastercuts 2, Electro Mastercuts 2 and Acid-House Mastercuts 2...

Mastercuts are back in business again,but now they´re copying Hed Kendi...

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by Studio74

Quinny,what a great tune.Sadly never heard it in any Discos (but i´ve played it in bars in my DJ sessions...).But i´ve heard At Midnight played in Lux this year.All T-Connection tracks that i´ve heard are great.

Darrens,they said the same about the Electro and Acid-House Mastercuts...I´m yet to see Disco Mastercuts 2, Electro Mastercuts 2 and Acid-House Mastercuts 2...

Mastercuts are back in business again,but now they´re copying Hed Kendi...

Hi Studio74: I compiled 'Classic Electro Mastercuts' and had submitted the tracklistings for two further volumes, but, as you're aware, they never materialised.

Mastercuts was Ian Dewhirst's baby, and once he'd gone (just after 'Classic Electro' was released), although the series continued, it quickly lost the vision that Ian brought to it. In a nutshell, Ian was Mastercuts.

[QUINNY]

I bought about 25 brand new 12" copies of this record once, 'cos I thought it was a record that would be great as a giveaway prize when I did promotion nights. I still have about 6 copies left, somewhere.

Bringing this thread back on course ('cos I just knew these threads would get hi-jacked, even though they shouldn't), for me this record was such an earth shattering event. I distinctly remember when I first heard it. It was early 1977. I had just arrived for my third season in Mallorca and had a couple of days to get my playlist together ready for the opening of the discotheque I was to be working at. The guy who owned the disco was only a couple of years older than me and when in London, he'd always visit the import record shops in Soho and just buy up everything that was less than a month old. This he did on a a fairly regular basis.

Anyhow, I had a huge pile of records to sort through and then I came to this record. I hadn't particularly heard much of the band and the record was yet to chart big on the US disco charts. I put it on the record player in my apartment and WOW!! I couldn't believe it. Here was a record that had everything going for it. Good intro, good tempo, hard disco funk, great percussion break, souring synth, cold end. I couldn't wait to get behind the decks in the club, hear it loud and see it work its magic on the dancefloor. Work magic it certainly did.

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

Bringing this thread back on course ('cos I just knew these threads would get hi-jacked, even though they shouldn't)

Hark at him!

Sorry about that Quinny, but it must be said that you are the master when it comes to taking threads off on a tangent.

Anyhow, back on track. Apart from being a monster in the clubs, 'Do What You Wanna Do' was a pretty big British pop hit also, peaking at number 11. I always remember thinking that the more commercial DJ's, who didn't yet bother with 12", were seriously short-changing their audience by not playing this track in its full glory.

[QUINNY]

Greg: At least you can see the irony. :D
However, these threads really are meant to be very simple and not meant as vehicles for raging debate. They are simply praising those records that can be overlooked, precisely because they were such giant disco hits and are maybe looked upon with a little disdain by more serious fans or collectors. These are the very records which have directly given us the chance to gather here on this site and chew the fat over all the others.
So, is a little decorum amiss?

[Forrrce]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

However, these threads really are meant to be very simple and not meant as vehicles for raging debate. They are simply praising those records that can be overlooked, precisely because they were such giant disco hits and are maybe looked upon with a little disdain by more serious fans or collectors. These are the very records which have directly given us the chance to gather here on this site and chew the fat over all the others.
So, is a little decorum amiss?

Mmmm...I vaguely recall you turning a 'best of MFSB'-type thread into a 'why I hate strings' debate! Have you finally hung up the gloves, dear Q? 8)

[QUINNY]

Forrrce: Let's just say that my reputation of threadcrapper par excellence is vastly over stated. I believe we are all equally guilty. I'll look up that MFSB post again.

If people want to write that T Connection's record is crap, that's OK by me, but this post is all about discussing T. Connection - Do What You Wanna Do. Surely that's simple enough to understand?

[efunk_adelic]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

Hark at him!

Sorry about that Quinny, but it must be said that you are the master when it comes to taking threads off on a tangent.

Anyhow, back on track. Apart from being a monster in the clubs, 'Do What You Wanna Do' was a pretty big British pop hit also, peaking at number 11. I always remember thinking that the more commercial DJ's, who didn't yet bother with 12", were seriously short-changing their audience by not playing this track in its full glory.

DO WHAT YOU WANNA DO ----- debut on the American Charts on March 12, 1977 and stuck around for 17 weeks... It was actually a bigger hit in the UK. Here's it's american chart run....


#87, 72, 62, 52, 52, 52, 96, 85, 72, 61, 50, 48, 48, 46, 46, 52, 94.