Voyage

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

.. oh I see .. so that's how it worked in America? .. I never understood how a massive Billboard Hot 100 chart & r&b smash like Kool & the Gang "Higher plane" could fare so badly on the US disco charts .. when it was so obviously designed for dancing ..
:icon_question:
.. but from what you say it would appear the dance djs were deliberately refusing to give this song a mention on their feedback playlists as the single was already a big radio hit .. but when those same radio stations were not promoting Kool & the Gang, for example on the release of "Open Sesame", the dance djs got behind the tune .. creating a disco classic ..
:icon_eek:

"Higher Plane" was in 1974 and reached #37 on Billboard. It was a "Funk" record. That got heavy airplay on Urban stations.
"Open Sesame" was a "Disco" record, from 1976. Few radio stations were playing Disco in '76. (Though, the song gained more popularity from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, in 1977.)

As for "...how it worked in America?" I was referring to the Euro tracks mentioned in thread, and gave one reason why they were more successful in the US clubs, than their own countries'. I didn't say it was radio vs. clubs. Or that we refused to play pop tracks. That's a bit much to assume. And I'd never make a blanket statement like that.

But I will say that, in the US (New York & the Northeast, to be more precise), Top 40 Radio didn't get onboard with Disco, (excluding the Philly stuff, and the occassional crossover hit: "Brasil", Never Can Say Goodbye", etc...) until late 1977, early 1978.

[12incher]

If I had to pick a favorite disco group of all time it would be Voyage

[SandraDee]

..many big US disco hits, like Voyage & Costandinos, could never get a foothold on the UK pop dance chart, usually due to minimal national airplay .. nor could they make any impression with the soul/jazz-funk crowd either .. so got overlooked in Britain ..
.. :icon_razz:
.. it's a miracle that songs like "Souvenirs" & "Come in to my heart" were released here at all ..

You're right again, it is a miracle they got released here! These records that were huge worldwide hits had so little following here, maybe with the exception of Scotland who always seemed to like euro/poppy disco.

[discolady75]

Voyage has always been a French success in years. today, "Souvenirs" is THE track you can play to a young audience (18-25) they d immediately recognize, dance on, fly on.
I see the Euro - US Disco is still a discord apple !
As a contemporary Disco Dj (I'm 33 just a baby girl among you!), playing disco, everykind of discos (US, Euro, Electronic, Latina and Afro, some early 80s hi nrg, a bit of italo) in a big club configuration - i still think that playing in a bar where your music is just a decoration element and playing in a place where music is THE thing people comes for, with the right equipment for sound, light, etc.. is clearly not the same experience.
On a dancefloor, i d look for something stronger, powerfull and trancey, a physical trip, variations on landscape, evocation of multi colours, drama as total hedonism.
I can tell you that Eurodisco is the best for these impressions. Consider la Bionda "Sandstorm", the instrumental and electronic version of Havah Nagila by Celso valli, "Remember" a Simonetti prod., Cappuccino "Hell's dance", Kikkrokos, Brigade mondaine, etc...

Only Eurodisco, for me, gathers both powerfull inside hypnose by the beat, layers of electronic bass and very sensuous melodies.
In american disco you got the Soul, Latin, Jazz main essential influence, that i respect a LOT. But something mysterious, pervasive, a little transgressing,"kinky" is missing.

A big piece of popular eurodisco :
YouTube - NIGHT IN CHICAGO
:icon_lol:

[remicks]

*****

Quinny:
After the gritty funk and soul offerings of the early/mid '60s through to the mid '70s, Disco music just sounded like a wee backward step, especially the symphonic, Eurotrash which tried to emulate American music and style, but failed miserably.

What you are calling a throw back Quinny .... I'd rather call the final culmination ... when all the previous sounds jelled into one big awesome orgasmic dance party groove 8) .... all the previous influences ..... big band ....rock ... jazz .... funk .... soul ......latin .... african .... classical .... all converging to become disco : the pinnacle of music ....

It can't and won't ever be topped .....

because .... once the pinnacle is reached .... there's just nowhere higher to go ...... :) :P


*****

I just came across this video of the gang at SOUL TRAIN !!! dancing to Voyages SOUVENIRS.

it's all so beautiful : ... the music, the people , the dancing ....there it is : what I was trying to convey earlier in my words with Quinny , it's all right there being played out before my very eyes.

Now as I take these verifying images in, and the memories of how it was then flow, words defending the music's magnificence are no longer necessary .

VOYAGE SOUVENIRS danced to on Soul Train


******


there is something else here to observe .....I think this was an uncommon and even risky song to put forth onto this show and there therefore seems to be some initial confusion on the Soul Train dance floor ... a hesitation to buy into this hybrid dance music being put before it. Those that do get it .... rush the platforms. The rest of the room seems reluctant to invest itself - (lurkers!) but slowly does -

--- getting into it by the song's middle , then increasingly so, until by the end , all are basking in its glory .

I find it a beautiful thing , this communal process of discovery and sharing and concensus . All a vital part of it- the disco experience .

[Bernie]

Remicks, the Soul Train video is a great find! Back in the '70s New York City had the funkiest, baddest Black radio station, WBLS-FM, run by Frankie Crocker who would play Voyage and Love and Kisses-all 16+ minutes on a regular rotation. This was not silly back them, but actually bad-ass music that everyone got into! It was an amazing time when all the walls of segregation came tumbling down. Stuff like this always reminds me of a, wait for it(!), a Partridge Family episode where the White group has to play for a Black audience in the inner city. A Black guy comes up to them and says to just make sure it has violins in it and that they'll like it! Watch it...

The Partridge Family - Bandala


A big thanks also for quoting something you said previously that needed to resurface and that is:

What you are calling a throw back Quinny .... I'd rather call the final culmination ... when all the previous sounds jelled into one big awesome orgasmic dance party groove 8) .... all the previous influences ..... big band ....rock ... jazz .... funk .... soul ......latin .... african .... classical .... all converging to become disco : the pinnacle of music ....

It can't and won't ever be topped .....

because .... once the pinnacle is reached .... there's just nowhere higher to go ...... :) :P

I'm going to use your quote on the main page of the site because it is perfect in so many ways.

[remicks]

Remicks, the Soul Train video is a great find! Back in the '70s New York City had the funkiest, baddest Black radio station, WBLS-FM, run by Frankie Crocker who would play Voyage and Love and Kisses-all 16+ minutes on a regular rotation. This was not silly back them, but actually bad-ass music that everyone got into! It was an amazing time when all the walls of segregation came tumbling down. Stuff like this always reminds me of a, wait for it(!), a Partridge Family episode where the White group has to play for a Black audience in the inner city. A Black guy comes up to them and says to just make sure it has violins in it and that they'll like it! Watch it...

The Partridge Family - Bandala


A big thanks also for quoting something you said previously that needed to resurface and that is:



I'm going to use your quote on the main page of the site because it is perfect in so many ways.

Thanks Bernie. That is quite an honor!

That Partridge scene is quite fascinating ... interesting that the show's writers perceived "strings" particularly as being a critical element for music that appeals to blacks. (Guess they didn't know much about bass guitar) . That congo player and Shirley banging that cowbell didn't hurt either.

The whole violin thing :
the way it humanizes music , makes it come from the heart , makes it indeed "soulful".



*****

[Winopener]

Very nice find, Voyage on Soul Train. Quite suprised to read how hard was this sound for UK: in Italy album and singles charted top-ten. "Lady America" as the starting single did out farly well in the discos, then someone flipped the record... and the pairing "Scotch machine / Bayou village" in a sudden was everywhere. That shot both single and album on the sales charts.