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Thread: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

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    Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Have you ever heard a hit that sounded like it was released at the wrong time? I can remember hearing Chakachas' "Jungle Fever" thinking it was surely released in the late 70's only to find out it came out before the disco era officially began......or, maybe you heard a song that came out well after the disco boom that was so good you thought it should have come out during the disco boom years to give it more justice....
    Richard B

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Rab,

    Cool Topic :icon_cool:

    When I heard "The Love I Lost" on an "oldies" station a decade or so ago (I know, I know, don't know how I made it thru my yute without knowing that song), I was not prepared to hear the dj state that it set dance floors afire back in 1973 !!! That high-energy tune certainly sounds like it would've come out much, much later in the '70s.

    On the flip side, Kool & the Gang's #1 dance hit "Fresh", in my opinion, certainly sounds like it would've been an album cut on their 1979 Ladies Night LP, but instead, it was recorded/released around 1984/85 !!!

    Go figure !!!

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    I would include Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" in
    this group-it was techno,trance,house,electro AND
    disco all it once.

    Thom

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    I recall Cerrone - Supernature to be an unfamiliar sound just like Donna Summer's IFL. By the way, "I feel love" was intended to represent the "future" on the album as a conclusion of "I remember yesterday" and was also initially known as a "B Sider" track. A major influence to Techno music was born.
    If you buy this record your life, will be better.

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Quote Originally Written by drlove View Post

    On the flip side, Kool & the Gang's #1 dance hit "Fresh", in my opinion, certainly sounds like it would've been an album cut on their 1979 Ladies Night LP, but instead, it was recorded/released around 1984/85 !!!

    Go figure !!!
    Kool & The Gang's music always sounded dated post-"Celebration"; "Cherish", "Misled", "Stone Love" and "Victory" sound like they could've come out earlier than they did.
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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    *****


    That's kind of tough one ....because that was part of the impetus that propelled disco ... the way each new wave of releases continued to sound fresh .... nothing staler than yesterday's sounding disco ....

    But one that particularly sounded like it had been dropped off from another planet at the time to me was :

    DEVIL's GUN

    :icon_cool::icon_mrgreen:

    Here I am .......
    :icon_rolleyes:............ dancing to it ................ :icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:



    well I used to sort of dance like that..... kind of .... a little ...well ....I danced ....anyway


    *****
    Last edited by remicks; September 16th, 2008 at 08:04 PM.
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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    I think Poussez' "Come On and Do It" sounded a bit ahead of its time, maybe a little too much "synth" for the time period

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Are you looking for songs that were influential and well known? Or just songs that sounded out of place and time because they were foreshadowing what would come later?

    The one song that I've mentioned many times that I think was the first true disco tune, and change the direction of dance music forever, was I'll Be Around by The Spinners. It was recorded in the spring of 1972 and emphasized a heavy sounding beat, with a soul funk groove and of course the strings on top. The Love I Lost definitely gets credit for upping the bpms and being a four-on-the-floor disco track. There were earlier examples of the four-on-the-floor drum pattern by Earl Young, but this tune really solidified and exemplified the true disco sound. It was recorded in late 73.

    Other tunes that I think sounded ahead of their time:

    From 1968
    Pigmeat Markham - Here Come The Judge (first rap on record?)


    From 1970
    Sweet Inspirations - This World

    Little Sister - I'm The One

    Little Sister - Somebody's Watching You (earliest (first?) song to use a drum machine instead of a drummer)



    From 1972:
    Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's Just Begun (until I found out the actual year this was recorded, I thought it was from the late 70s)

    The Futures - Stay With Me (early four-on-the-floor philly disco)

    Fatback Band - Goin' To See My Baby (flying hi-hat throughout the whole song, possibly inspired by The Trammps' Zing?)


    From 1973
    There are a lot of tracks from this year that could be considered ahead of their time because music was picking up on the dancefloor sound a la Philly and the East Coast. But this track stands out for various reasons. When I first heard it, on a bootleg compilation, I thought it was a P&P production from the late 70s. I was surprised to find out it was from '73. It was a remix of the ending of another song, Genie Brown's - Can't Stop Talking.
    Tribe - Koke (or Coke)



    From 1974
    Bunny Sigler - Keep Smilin (the first sound to feature the Instant Funk. Awesome bottom on this groover)

    Peppers - Pepper Box (pre-dates the heavy euro-synth sound?)

    John Lennon - Whatever Get You Thru The Night (a lot of people disagree with me on this being a disco tune. I think its the first attempt by a rock artist to do disco. I don't count early tunes by guys like Titanic, even though they're considered dancefloor anthems now)


    If I think of others, I will add them to the thread.

    Disco Funk

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Excellent list of "originals" DF :icon_cool: :icon_cool: :icon_cool:


    I can't help wondering if this one:

    Quote Originally Written by Disco Funk View Post


    From 1972:
    Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's Just Begun (until I found out the actual year this was recorded, I thought it was from the late 70s)


    Disco Funk
    might've been influenced by this one : :icon_confused: ....



    ........... what say you ??

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Quote Originally Written by remicks View Post
    Excellent list of "originals" DF :icon_cool: :icon_cool: :icon_cool:


    I can't help thinking this one:



    might've been influenced by this one : :icon_confused: ....





    *****
    Oh yeah, I forgot about Soul Makossa. Definitely ahead of its time. I'm not sure if one influenced the other. Jimmy Castor actually recorded It's Just Begun a year earlier as a single, which sounds a little different from the 1972 version, which strangely never got a single release. It was Troglodyte and Promise To Remember that were put out on a single.

    I should add these James Brown dancefloor classics, not exactly disco, but gettin' there:
    Talkin Loud And Sayin Nothing from 1970


    I Got Ants In My Pants 1972


    Disco Funk

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Quote Originally Written by Disco Funk View Post
    Oh yeah, I forgot about Soul Makossa.
    Definitely ahead of its time. I'm not sure if one influenced the other. Jimmy Castor actually recorded It's Just Begun a year earlier as a single, which sounds a little different from the 1972 version, which strangely never got a single release. It was Troglodyte and Promise To Remember that were put out on a single.

    Disco Funk
    Well that Jimmy Castor Bunch tune is definitely on the track toward disco. By the way that's an album I bought new, BITD !


    I've never really understood the SOUL MAKOSSA = original disco assertion


    ......... until listening again now :



    :icon_cool:


    *****
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    while my ship was coming in


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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    I love Soul Makossa. I think this song links the African influence of percussion.
    Richard B

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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    Maybe it's just me but to my ear Tantra's "Wishbone" and Sticky Fingers' "Party Song" sound like they could've been released during a later period in time.
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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time

    The track that always sticks in my mind on this topic is Tango In Space by Space from 1977.


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    Re: Disco Hits That Were Ahead of Their Time


    .

    .

    USA-European Connection was avant-garde (so ahead that time hasn't come yet for many, even among Disco lovers!!)


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