Earliest Examples of Disco Rock/Disco Pop?

[Disco Funk]

So, who were the pop rock artists who jumped on the disco bandwagon before it even became the thing to do? Some might say '75 was the year with tracks like 'Sky High' by Jigsaw,
Four Seasons' 'Oh What A Night', Frankie Valli's 'Swearin' To God', or even Glitter Band's 'Makes You Blind'.

How about going back one year earlier? Would you consider John Lennon's 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night' as an early attempt of a pop rocker doing disco? It seems to have the right ingredients, including the 2/4 beat, the accentuating hand claps, and to a certain extent, a pulsing rhythm. The guitars are a bit driving, but they don't overpower the beat. The song appeared on the Walls & Bridges LP released in Sept '74. I know it was released as a single, but I don't know if that was before the LP.

Any other contenders for early attempts by pop rock artists doing disco?

Disco Funk

[JussiK]

Coco by The Sweet was already disco, what with the syncopated 4/4 drumbeat, the chorus and even a marimba solo. James Last had things like Se A Cabo, and all sorts of strange mor albums out during the early 70's contained interesting rhythm tracks, with an easy listening/bossa structure with an emphasis on drums, and with additional synths and bongos not found on the rock or pop tunes of their eraCheck out The Pop Concerto Orchestra for great Hot Butter/Popcorn-influenced tunes that don't quite fit anywhere - of course that's what disco is all about, being a hybrid not quite funk, not soul nor pure pop. Jacky Giordano is a name to watch, before his legendary Black Devil project of 1978 he produced several bizarre dance-oriented albums, some of which are now out on cd. All of the above acts are European - don't know about the USA or other continents but if u seek hard enough you'll no doubt come up with amazing tracks that still sound fresher than most, soundtracks, sound library albums, (sl)easy listening grooves. About ten-to-five years ago there was an avalanche of everything weird out on small cd labels. Stuff Like That still seems to come out on occasion, keep alert!

[Disco Funk]

Thanks for those names. Actually, now that I think of it, even the group Titanic had a proto-disco rock sound going with a track called 'Santa Fe', which was a bonus cut on the self-titled CD reissue. Well, not really 'disco' but definitely with the 2/4 beat. I think it was a single-only release from '72.
I'm wondering if most of those European acts, which included Titanic, were inspired by Barrabas 'Wild Safari' album?

Disco Funk

[Salsoul1975]

How about Joe Cocker's rendition of Gregg Allman's "Midnight Rider", which made the Top 30 in the autumn of 1972. That song is defenitely a disco-oriented track. Very syncopated, with a section at the end which is reminiscent of the Ritchie Family's "Frenesi" (during the final break before it segues into "Brazil"). I'll also throw in Tony Orlando and Dawn's "Happy Together/Runaway" from early 1972. A remake/medley of two #1's from the '60s, it starts off slow and then leads into a funky, driving bridge which goes uptempo, and then in a back-and-forth down/up-tempo mode. Two great songs that you never see anthologized on '70s compilations.

[JussiK]

I'm wondering if most of those European acts, which included Titanic, were inspired by Barrabas 'Wild Safari' album?
Disco Funk

More likely by Santana, as the bongo-driven stuff under discussion was around years before the Barrabas album, or indeed "Santa Fe" or "Sultana" or "Rain 2000" by Titanic came out. One important source is the Italian action film soundtrack genre, which throbbed with funky rhythms both before and after Shaft - already during the late 60's period which was great for comic strip cinema in Europe, composers like Piero Umiliani, Piero Picconi, Theo Usuelli, Ennio Morricone and Stelvio Cipriani cooked with frenetic afrocuban/brazilain percussion things and added typically loungey choruses, pretty melodies and lots of dramatic strings plus sexy sighings, all to make the public frug madly in nightclubs and decadent parties in penthouse apartments. Which, come to think of it, is again what disco is all about. :o

[Disco Funk]

I think it's pretty cool that the music evolved almost spontaneously at different places on the globe. They weren't exactly the same, but they were going for the same pulsating groove. So, coming up with who put out the earliest 'disco-like' tune might be even harder than I thought. By the way, Titanic also did a track called 'Macumba' that was also proto-disco.

I will check out those other recommended songs. I heard a sound clip on Amazon. Too bad it didn't have more of the upbeat section. Sounded pretty cool though.

I hear the argument about Santana probably having the biggest influence. They certainly enhanced the percussion section in their songs. Love that Woodstock performance of Soul Sacrifice.

Disco Funk