First disco song ever released

[galocha]

Originally Posted by born2disco

Define 'disco'.

Good question. For me, a disco song is one that has that steady danceable 4/4 rhythm, those disco-style strings (optional) and that disco-style bass. (I don't know how to define that technically) regardless if they were played at the discos or with the discos in mind.

"One night afair' sounds very disco to me. Do you guys agree with that? Do you know of any earlier track that has those disco elements? I'm trying to find out who invented disco.

[DiscoMan]

I agree with MixMasterMax, I don't remember hearing the word "Disco" being used to describe a new nightlife lifestyle and understanding what that meant until fall (?) '75 or very early in '76. This is an account of my very first awareness of the term "Disco" being used to describe what Disco was.

Timothy's Too made the switch to DJs and recorded dance music by the summer of '74 and, as I rack my memory, they may even have opened as a primarily Disco club with the capability to host show bands. I remember more DJs and records than show bands in those early years.

I don't remember the owners using "Disco" to describe Timothy's Too. They were in business by the Memorial Day weekend and I remember the buzz about this "hot new club" which is what got me in the door. And there really was a new energy about the place. And I remember the crowd being very different from those who went to our usual hangouts.

In Worcester a new Disco Club called "BJ's Disco" opened during the fall (?) of '75. That WAS THE FIRST TIME I saw the term used. BJ's was right next door to a Rock 'n Roll club that featured live show bands. Anyway I was going into the Rock 'n Roll club with my crew one Friday night and commented on how well dressed the people going into BJ's were. One of my pals said (I paraphrase because of the years...) "Yeah, those people are into this new Disco dancing..." I went into BJ's and was hooked. I rarely set foot into a rock'n roll club again. By the spring of '76 Disco was known as Disco and that's all young people talked about and did for the next 4 years.!!!!!!!!

[QUINNY]

I think it took the U.S.A. to define the word Disco.

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.

Any of you guys remember stuff like:

Lunar Funk - Mr. Penguin
Midnite Movers - Follow The Wind
Bohannon - Stop & Go
African Music Machine - Blackwater Gold (Pearl)
First Choice - Smarty Pants/Armed and Extremely Dangerous (sure strong contenders for first disco records)
Denis Coffey - Scorpio (second half at least)
El Chicano - Mas Zacate
NF Porter - Gotta Keep On, Keepin' On
Johnny Taylor - Who's Makin' Love

all of the above were strong 4/4 records pre '74 (but....were they disco?)

[originalbigm]

Have to agree with Mastermax.I can take it back to 1972 that is when I first started working as a DJ.I think one needs to look at the actual music lists of that era. Certainly black music (R&B and Soul) was the dominate genre.But most people went to these clubs because you couldn't hear much of this music on main street airwaves at least in my neck of the woods.As I've eluded to in the past I had to travel to Buffalo every other weekend just to seek out these tunes as it was impossible to buy or hear them up here.Certainly Mastermax reflects the typical playlist of the day.Again out of these genres the "disco sound" evolved .I strongly suggest you read (Sorry Quinny )" Last Night A DJ Saved My Life" as the authors do address the very essence of the 70's emergence of disco in a rather detailed way.

Quote from the book
"In fact,many of the people involved with it's early days blanch at using "disco" to describe the music and clubs they knew and loved.They don't really have an alternative name,but they have a strong need to to distinguish their music,funky and soulful,and their scene small,gritty and underground,from what disco eventualyy became and from how disco is scene by most people today.The last days of disco might have recalled the decadent fall of Rome,but the first days were filled with hope."

This is a statement that some of us who lived and participated in this time can certainly relate to. May I suggest that those of us who worked in the early seventies offer up a list of their popular "club aka disco" songs from that time period so that some of the younger and newer members might get an idea of what we were playing prior to the disco explosion of 1976.I would also suggest that some of you younger folk might seek out and listen to these as they may develop a whole new appreciation of "disco".My list is from 7 " singles or LP's that I still own as I listen to them now they still make me want to get down.

Brother Louie- The Stories 1973
The Ghetto - Donny Hathaway 1972
Good Things Don't Last Forever- Ecstasy,Passion & Pain 1974
Woman Of The Ghetto - Marlena Shaw 1969
Melting Pot- Booker T & The MG's 1971
People Get Up And Drive Your Funky Soul - James Brown 1973
Sexy,Sexy, Sexy, - James Brown 1973
I Can Understand It - New Birt 1972
Changes - Vernon Burch 1975
Keep On Truckin' - Eddie Kendricks 1973
Can't Help What I Am - Eddie Kendricks 1973
Slippin Into Darkness - War
Help Yourself - Undisputed Truth 1974
The Breakdown - Rufus Thomas 1971
Hang On In There Baby - Johnny Bristol 1974
Sister James - Nino Tempo & 5th Ave Sax
Dance To The Music - The Hypnotics
Take A Closer Look (At The Woman Your With)-Wilson Pickett 1973
Looking For A Love - Bobby Womack 1973
Mama Feelgood - Lyn Collins 1973
Time To Get Down- The O'Jays 1972
Bus Stop - Oliver Sain 1974
Trusting Heart - The Trammps 1974
A Little Bit Of Love - Brenda & The Tabulations
Joy - Issac Hayes 1973
Gimme Some More -The JB's 1972
Now Run & Tell That - Denise Lasalle 1972
Finders Keepers - Chairman Of The Board 1973
Party Freaks - Miami 1974
Your Love Was Strange - The Dramatics 1972

[MixMasterMax]

Quinny, The music you listed is all great and may be 4/4 per measure. The point I am trying to make is that pre 1974, what we all know now as Disco was in it's embrionic stage. Although a track from 1971 was not 4/4, it inspired someone else to evolve their music towards the standard we all accept. The reason artist gravitated towards what would be come disco is very simple, $$$$. The audience wanted more of this new dance "thing". In 1974 you could walk into many clubs in NYC which were created specificaly to provide non stop mixed music and lighhts. The music was not R&B, Ballads, Rock, it was something new which grabbed you with it's strong base and breaks. Anyway Here are some of my files from 1973, they were all played at the clubs and were true underground classics which in my mind inspired other artist.

originalbigm, Nice tracks you listed but I can not tell you how much I love Melting Pot :P :lol: :P . That was a monster track in NYC.

Armed & Extremely Dangerous First Choice 1973
Bra Cymande 1973
Dance And Hum Along Jackson 5 1973
Fencewalk Mandrill 1973
Girl You Need a Change of Mind Eddie Kendricks 1973
Giving Up Zulema 1973
I'll Bake Me a Man Barbara Acklin 1973
I've Always Loved My Mama Intruders 1973
Keep on Truckin' Eddie Kendricks 1973
Koke Tribe 1973
Law Of The Land Undisputed Truth 1973
Look Me Up Blue Magic 1973
Love & Happiness First Choice 1973
Love Epidemic The Trammps 1973
Love Train The O'Jays 1973
Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up Barry White 1973
Rain 2000 Titanic 1973
Sex Machine James Brown 1973
Smarty Pants First Choice 1973
Soul Makossa Manu Dibango 1973
Street Dance The Fatback Band 1973
Sultana Titanic 1973
The Love I Lost Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes 1973
Under the Influence of Love Love Unlimited Orchestra 1973
Wild Safari Barrabas 1973
Zing Went the Strings of My Heart The Trammps 1973

[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?