Goodbye orchestral disco :

[remicks]

*****

" Thousands of examples illustrate the change from the luxuriant disco sound to the generic dance sound occurring from 1979 to 1980, just a few of which are:


* Madleen Kane
*
o Forbidden Love/Thunder in My Heart (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Thor Baldursson and Michaele Lana, with Fritz Sonnleitner, concertmaster of the Munich Symphony Orchestra
o Cherchez Pas (1980); orchestrations: none

* Grace Jones
*
o Don't Mess with the Messer (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Tom Moulton and John Davis, with Don Renaldo, concertmaster of the Philadephia Symphony Orchestra
o Pull up to the Bumper (1981); orchestrations: none

* Kleeer
*
o Winners (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Dennis King and Woody Cunningham, with Gene Orloff, concertmaster of theNew York Philharmonic Orchestra
o Get Tough (1981); orchestrations: none

* Aretha Franklin
*
o Ladies Only (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Van McCoy, with Gene Orloff, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
o Jump, Jump, Jump to It (1981); orchestrations: none

* The Whispers
*
o And the Beat Goes On (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Dick Griffey and Leon Sylvers III, with Janice Gower, concertmaster of theLos Angeles Symphony Orchestra
o It's a Love Thing (1980); orchestrations: none

* Evelyn Thomas
*
o My Head's in the Stars (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Ian Levine and Fiachra Trench, with David Katz of the London Symphony Orchestra
o High Energy (1981); orchestrations: none

* Stacy Lattisaw
*
o When You're Young and in Love (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Van McCoy, with Gene Orloff, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
o Jump to the Beat (1980); orchestrations: none

* Miquel Brown
*
o Symphony of Love (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Alan Hawkshaw and Don Ray, with David Katz, concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, and Albert Speguel, concertmaster of the Paris Syphony Orchestra
o So Many Men, So Little Time (1982); orchestrations: none

* Vicki Sue Robinson
*
o What's Happening in My Life (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Warren Schatz, T. Life, George Andrews, and Sam Peake, with Gene Orloff, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
o Hot Summer Night (1981); orchestrations: none

* Billy Ocean
*
o American Hearts (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Ken Gold and Lynton Naiff, with Harry Bluestone, concertmaster of theLos Angeles Symphony Orchestra
o One of Those Nights (Feel Like Gettin' Down) (1981); orchestrations: none

* Angela Bofill
*
o Angel of the Night (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by David Grusin and Larry Rosen, with David Nadien, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
o Too Tough (1982); orchestrations: none

* Earth, Wind and Fire
*
o Boogie Wonderland (1979); orchestrations arranged, produced, and conducted by Maurice White and Al McKay, with Janice Gower, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra
o Let's Groove (1981); orchestrations: none."








wikipedia



******

[Paulo]

That happened because disco had bacome a dirty word. Sales were droping. There was no reason anymore to spend much money in a big production involving orchestras and brass, if it wouldn't sell. Costs were trimmed. What a shame!:icon_cry:

Thanks to the new sythesizer technology which appeared in the early 80s, all orchestral parts were replaced by synth sounds. Later on, even the drummer was replaced by synth beats.

I am able now to listen to euro-disco or hi-nrg.... but (to me), this radical change in sound was hard to swallow at the time. Today I accept it because I just got used to it, but it is not that I love it. I prefer the original 70's movement to everything done in the 80's.

And it is not only the fact that electronic instrumentation replaced the electric and acoustic instruments: the 70's compositions were better than the 80's songs. Seventies songs had a lot more chord modulations...a lot more light and shade... euro disco songs are all built upon obvious chord progressions... major or minor.

[KoolChris]

Obviously a sad change. Symphonic orchestrations are among the reasons I've always loved the Beatles,
Disco as a whole (I was just listening to the 9:18 "Secret Omen" version of Cameo's "Find my way"... just love it! -especially the last part, where the orchestra just does its thing 'til the fade-out...),
and the Eurythmics' "Touch" LP, with the British Philharmonic Orchestra's participation in "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)", among others.

Since then , everything is more linear, flatter, and seems to rely more on beats.