First disco song ever released

[QUINNY]

Most of the music I played pre '75 is locked away in a trunk in the attic of my parent's house. That tells me something.
There was such a sea change in '75, that all that went on before suddenly became obsolete.

All the listed records were played by my colleagues and myself (with very few exceptions).

What I felt was this. Once the stronger 4/4 feel came in, it was impossible to play any record that didn't have it, even though they'd been considered great dancers only a few years before. Whether it was technology, deliberate production or what, suddenly every record sounded sooooo much bigger and those older records just didn't compare. As a pro DJ, I had to embrace it, even though my ears and my heart told me it wasn't entirely what I wanted to play.

[MixMasterMax]

On this matter, we agree completely. There was a change that took place when the Hustle went the way of all dances. However, the fact that pre 1975 music is what started the whole craze remains very strong in my mind. Most of the so called Disco artist of 73-74 simply adjusted their productions to meet an ever growing dance fever that was, shal we say "Hustle" friendly. Although you could still dance the hustle, it was more of a free style change. Since I started talking about it, the Hustle, in my oppinion was the very best of the best time as a Disco club patron. Nothing beats dancing hand in hand, spinning around and getting close to your intended target for the night (may be that was not nice but it was a fact). Anyway, would you at least agree (knowing a change occured in the mid 70's) that Disco as a dance sensation started around 1974?

PS: I would be glad to go to go to your parents house and liberate you of all those nasty pre 75 records :lol:

[efunk_adelic]

Originally Posted by MixMasterMax

On this matter, we agree completely. There was a change that took place when the Hustle went the way of all dances. However, the fact that pre 1975 music is what started the whole craze remains very strong in my mind. Most of the so called Disco artist of 73-74 simply adjusted their productions to meet an ever growing dance fever that was, shal we say "Hustle" friendly. Although you could still dance the hustle, it was more of a free style change. Since I started talking about it, the Hustle, in my oppinion was the very best of the best time as a Disco club patron. Nothing beats dancing hand in hand, spinning around and getting close to your intended target for the night (may be that was not nice but it was a fact). Anyway, would you at least agree (knowing a change occured in the mid 70's) that Disco as a dance sensation started around 1974?

PS: I would be glad to go to go to your parents house and liberate you of all those nasty pre 75 records :lol:

I second that.. well, just look :)

[DiscoMan]

Yes and though the Hustle has changed over the years it is still great fun and still very popular. Who still does the Twist or the Swim or even the Bump? But people still Hustle on.

[Nano]

I'm reading attentively this thread. Very interesting, even as this topic was done more than once. I have a small add-up and a question-trigger for you guys. But have in mind that I caught the last wave of the disco sound (I was 15 in 1980), when dancers didn't touch each other anymore (save for the slow dance breaks :) ).

The small add-up: I remember being in a friend's house at the time, this guy wanted to be a DJ and we did some parties (and later even a couple of club jobs) together. He buyed tons of records but didn't know what to use. So there were some visual aids: black guys with colorful suits in the cover was a good sign, for example. On the other hand, a record with more than 3 songs per side was a downer. I remember vividly opening an early Odyssey record (this was when "Going back to my roots" hit big) looking for filler material. I saw there were, like, 6 songs per side! Then I listened to it (first minute of every song or so) and confirmed my "bad feeling".

The question-trigger: the word "disco" is itself very common in Spanish. It means "record" (as in "disco records"). Were English speaking dancers/punters aware of this when they dubbed this music "disco?

[QUINNY]

I must admit I enjoyed trying to Bump my way into a woman's affections 9hey lotsa body action with that, eh?), not that I got to dance that often. The Hustle was merely known in name only by most peole in the UK and Europe. We never really took to it that strongly, although I remember some people giving it a try. Most people just looked on at 'em with a certain "look at those flash/nerdy gits" type of look on their faces.

One day I really must open up that trunk.

[QUINNY]

Nano: I don't think we were aware of any Spanish meaning as the word Disco was, as I'm sure you are aware, an abbreviation of the French word discotheque.
So, as a 15 year old kid, were you confused as to what had been abbreviated back in 1980?

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

To be honest, in the U.K. we'd had Discos since the mid sixties, many of which played soul, funk and other black music almost exclusively. There were a few labels here that tracked down the best dance material and released many great dance tunes and songs.

Sorry Quinny but in my book just throwing one record after another without mixing a Discotheque doesn't make, besides I'll bet you this clubs all had house bands covering (very badly in many cases) everyone else’s music, a no no for me and many others when we used to visit dance clubs in the early days. Same goes for your '20's speak easy observations, these were dancing clubs with live bands but they were no Discos.



At the risk of repeating myself in this new thread :) , IMO the best Club music (later dubbed Disco) was produced before ’76, before SNF, of course I also enjoyed the rest but for me nothing compares to the early sound of club music found in the excellent lists above, club music then consisted of all kinds of different influences presented in an non stop format by a skilled mixing DJ , Jazz, soul, Latin, Funk, Rock, Gospel, Tribal, and other styles all created a unique "soup" of sounds that was never duplicated in later years after the "Disco” label was coined and music created ‘exclusively’ for the dance floor became the norm; All this factor IMO contributed to this “underground feeling” we (clubbers) felt during this early club hopping years, and it was fun to be on the vanguard of something that most of the population didn’t know existed yet, in a world of Rock Bars and local House bands, clubs (Discoteques) with silent and often hidden DJs mixing records (original recordings!) was a new revolutionary concept, and dancing Hustle, Bus Stop and other popular dances in exclusive ‘Discos’ (House parties too) became a weekly if not daily affair for many who rather avoid the local Rock bar scene.

Originally Posted by QUINNY

There was such a sea change in '75, that all that went on before suddenly became obsolete

But isn’t this always the case with western music when it relates to the masses? The great majority of the population treats music as disposable items, before SNF hit records lasted for years in a club setting; afterwards they were lucky to survive for three months, and why? IMO because the masses were introduced for marketing reasons and then club music for the most part became stale, boring, predictable and disposable. I’d like to think that we here are a bit more appreciative of good club music regardless of how old it is.

[discosavvy]

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

before ’76, before SNF, ... club music then consisted of all kinds of different influences presented in an non stop format by a skilled mixing DJ , Jazz, soul, Latin, Funk, Rock, Gospel, Tribal, and other styles all created a unique "soup" of sounds that was never duplicated in later years after the "Disco” label was coined and music created ‘exclusively’ for the dance floor became the norm

Really? All post-1976 disco sounds the same eh?

What about "My Sweet Lord" by Roberta Kelly (gospel influence), "Skate to the Rhythm" by High Inergy (funk influence), "Cuba" by the Gibson Brothers (latin influence), "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer (rock influence), "Turn the Music Up!" by the Players Association (jazz influence), "I Was Made for Lovin' You" by KISS (heavy metal influence), "Hold On I'm Coming" by Precious Wilson (soul influence), "I Could Have Danced All Night" by Mary Welch (musicals influence), "We're Off to See the Wizard (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)" by Meco (film scores influence), "Doin' Your Own Thing" by Tangerue (big band influence), "Love Ballad" by George Benson (orchestral hall influence), "Scotch Machine" by Voyage (Scottish influence), "Tahiti, Tahiti" by Voyage (Tahitian influence), "Aloha-Oe, Until We Meet Again" by Goombay Dance Band (Hawaiian influence), "Take Me to Chinatown" by Ultimate (Chinese influence), "Rasputin" by Boney M (Russian influence), "Sandstorm" by La Bionda (Middle Eastern influence), "Queen of the Rapping Scene (Nothing Ever Goes the Way You Plan)" by Modern Romance (rap influence), "Baby I'm Burnin'" by Dolly Parton (country influence), "Straight Ahead" by Fused (electronica influence), "Jingo" by Candido (is that tribal?), and songs with video game effects, roller-rink echoes, steel drums from Trinidad, Brazilian samba rhythms, 18th century classical music, Italian fiddle, traditional Hungarian, traditional Indian, '60s pop flavor, Motown flavor, etc.

[Mixmachine]

DiscoSavvy, Like I said before I enjoyed and played all kinds of music but some of the songs you mentioned were isolated hits thru a span of many years and many were not even popular for long if at all, many of them are nostalgically mention now and may even be considered classics when compared with what we get today, but in general they were not big club hits at the time, (maybe in some regions) During the pre-’76 era you could still play three and four years old good music and people still responded on the floor, after 77 with few exceptions anything older than three months was history, and it’s a well known fact that music became repetitious with producers imitating each others sound to get music out the door and make a quick buck, one of the contributing reasons why Disco died a quick death...

By the way out of your list only “Cuba”, ”Hot Stuff”, Voyage’s, “Sandstorm” and “Jingo” were considered big hits.Kiss, Dolly and Meco cuts were considered jokes, Kelly only hit it with “Zodiacs” (and that got tired fast) Tangerue was to late and hardly played at all, Benson only really with “Give me the night”, I don’t recall Boney’s “Rasputin” played at all in my area, the Player’s cut never did anything for me and never took off, maybe “Disco Inferno” ?, and the Ultimate cut you mentioned was overshadowed by their other hits, as for the rest, me know no.. :lol:

[QUINNY]

Mixing vs. talking DJs is always a thorny subject.
As to whether or not a Disco is a Disco if the jock didn't mix......that's taking it a bit far. If you've never been a talking DJ, then maybe you just don't know how clever a talking jock can be. It's hardly slamming one record on after another and hey, if a mixing jock doesn't get it right things sound ugly pretty darned quickly. I've not heard one perfect mixing tape from BITD, have you?

Personally, whether it's a talking jock or a mixing jock, they could both bore me if they didn't play the right records.

Pre 1974 there were no 'real' mixing DJs as such were there? They might have been segueing and blending, but no-one was actually mixing and certainly not in every single disco/club. Even the veritable Saturday Night Fever has the jock talking (very badly), so I can only imagine that such animals still existed in 1977, even in New York City.

[MixMasterMax]

"Mixing vs. talking DJs is always a thorny subject"
This statement sort of surprises me. I had to stop and think for a bit and my recollection is that no, the Disco's I went to did not have talking DJ's. I don't recall one. Clever or not a DJ talking would ruin the song, mix and the evening, that was reserved for Radio.

"As to whether or not a Disco is a Disco if the jock didn't mix......that's taking it a bit far."
This was the number one reason why I would attend a Disco. The #1 criteria was that the Jock had to mix and mix good. In fact it was the only reason why I would return to that Disco (OK, maybe the abundance of ladies too). A club could not be considered a Disco if the Jock did not mix.

"I've not heard one perfect mixing tape from BITD, have you?"
I guess you had to be there. Maybe no tapes exist. The truth is that DJ's from back in the day were both fantastic and did make mistakes. I think you may be judging this based on our technology of today and the use of PC's to develop a flawless mix. I have been to club's recently and heard mistakes, so what.

In my humble opinion here are a couple of items I feel must have existed for a "club" to be defined as a "Disco" BITD.
* Continuous mixing (all night long)
* No DJ talking (that was reserved for radio or bad DJ's who had to hide their mixing behind the talking)
* Extensive sound system
* Extensive lighting
* Live acts were announced in advance and were not a regular part of every night.
* Dolly Parton music was not allowed :roll: [/quote]

[DiscoCollector]

Hi there. My first 12" Disco Maxi Single is GRACE JONES with her "Sorry/That's the Trouble" from 1976.
I guess to name it a Disco Song it HAD to get out as a 12" AND! it has to have this 4/4 Beat cause it has to be highly infectable danceble for everyone(unlike PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE which is to me a classic, but i see it more in the context of an rnb classic, not a disco classic).

REAL Disco Songs started with 12" Versions which first were handed to various Djs. So ... in fact my personal view on the first disco song is: it's the first 12" single that came out which had an 4/4 Beat.

What I don't like is how the radio stations treat ole disco music today. Here in Germany they play the same 10 songs over and over again ... I will survive, YMCA, Papa to name a few ...
in a way these songs ARE great, but what about all the other songs that were fantastic? Why does no radio-dj has the guts to play other songs than only these "alltime classics"? Can somebody here explain that to me???

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by DiscoCollector

What I don't like is how the radio stations treat ole disco music today. Here in Germany they play the same 10 songs over and over again ... I will survive, YMCA, Papa to name a few ...
in a way these songs ARE great, but what about all the other songs that were fantastic? Why does no radio-dj has the guts to play other songs than only these "alltime classics"? Can somebody here explain that to me???

It's simple really. (a) they don't have a grasp of Disco music.
(b) their bosses don't have a grasp of Disco music and (c) 95% of the population doesn't have a grasp of Disco music, beyond those old fave raves.
Add that up and the DJ plays what he's told to play. Most radio stations spend big bucks on demographic research and the like and then tailor the playlist to reflect who they're broadcasting or would like to have as listeners in order to grab more advertising revenue.

[MixMasterMax]

I disagree that a phenomena such as Disco can be defined by a change in technology and and accidental one at that. We have 3 cars but my kids think the only "real" car is the one with the dropdown DVD screen. There was so much going on before 1976 in the Disco scene that it is incomprehensible to believe that Disco started when the 1st 12" was pressed. Just my oppinion