Isaac Hayes on Disco

[J Matthew Cobb]

Hello,

I'm a biographer and journalist and I am currently compiling research on Isaac Hayes' Polydor era. Of course, disco was in full swing during this period and Ike was literally trying to play catch up with the genre that he literally experimented with on 1972's "Theme From Shaft." There's tons of information floating in cyberspace concerning Hayes' work at Stax, but barely anything on his New Horizions, For The Sake Of Love, Don't Let Go and Lifetime Thing albums. It's as if the albums were like the plague or something. They were great albums nevertheless. I was wondering if any DJs, historians, industry pros and/or music lovers recall these particular albums during their release...and if you recall how the people reacted to the songs when played in the clubs.

I saw that "Moonlight Lovin' (Menage a Trois)" had been discussed somewhere in this forum, but maybe some of you can recall his Roy Hamilton remake of "Don't Let Go" or even some of the other tunes, including "Stranger In Paradise" and "Out Of The Ghetto." which soared comfortably into the Top 40 and to the top of the Disco Charts (#2).

I hope to hear from you guys...your retrospective would be so appreciated.

TheDiscoKid1980

[Bernie]

Welcome to the DiscoMusic.com forums JMC!

I'm sure others will chime in on your new topic, but to get you started you may want to check out this long-running thread on Isaac Hayes:
http://www.discomusic.com/forums/sho...es-Don-t-Shaft

[JussiK]

A friend of mine started his dj set playing dialoque from the Joan Collins epic The Stud. He then went into "Menage A Trois" while the women discussed the merits of the title character.

[PierreConstantin]

Personnally, I never heard Isaac Hayes disco material anywhere in 1977-1980.

In 1978, I bought a compilation called "Stepping out" (PICT0616.JPG) and «Ménage à trois» was featured here, so I assume it was not completely unknown. It's a good song and the 16 minute version on the 2004 Hip-O select reissue is even better.

In 1979, by chance, I saw a 12" vinyl of «Don't let go» in a record store in Mexico (the 12:50 long version in a generic Polydor sleeve but with some holes so we could see the vinyl was red) and I kind of like this song.

The other ones are nice but not immemorable. I really discover what Hayes did during this period in 1996 with "The best of the Polydor years". By the way on this cd the B-side of «Don't let go», «You can't hold your woman», is longer (6:00 and not 4:48).

[langlang]

issac hayes has always been up-front in the disco field. if shaft is'nt banging disco, i dont know what is. he had juicy(disco freak) in the mid seventies. also disco connection, which i have loved for years and only recently found out the name of and that it was issac. of course, moonlight lovin which is lush, sexy disco at it's best. i thought that dont let go was one of his weaker efforts, but have recently come to appreciate the track more since listening to it again. issac hayes not only deserves high marks for his soul output, but also needs to be celebrated by us disco fiends too.

[darrens]

In my opinion, Isaac's 10 minute version of "Stranger in Paradise" (he doesn't even start singing until 4 minutes in IIRC) is perfection - an absolutely incredible interpretation, and quite unlike anything else he produced (much more disco than funk).

By the way, "Shaft" came out in 1971? Although he did release an extended, discofied remake in 1977.

[Cory Ander]

Hayes' association with the word "disco" may indeed have been brief but don't forget for even a moment that as a songwriter and producer he was one of the earliest pioneers of dance/soul music through his work with Stax records and their artists in the 60s. I kinda wondered why he, Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson and others bothered when theirs was the work that so many others admired and imitated.

[J Matthew Cobb]

Thanks guys for your comments and excellent feedback. I've been hearing that in some places in America "Strangers In Paradise" was played more than "Menage a Trois." Guess it was because it was so euphoric and had all the elements of an epic "getaway" disco number. "Don't Let Go" was a serious hit, putting Ike back on top, even at the height of disco.

I was really curious to read responses from those that heard radio play Hayes' cuts like 'Zeke the Freak" and the aforementioned and if they had any personal observations of Hayes' work on the dancefloor. Also was wondering if Hayes really had a chance to compete against disco's biggest producers and his mainstay competition Barry White.

[boogienights]

"I saw that "Moonlight Lovin' (Menage a Trois)" had been discussed somewhere in this forum, but maybe some of you can recall his Roy Hamilton remake of "Don't Let Go" or even some of the other tunes, including "Stranger In Paradise" and "Out Of The Ghetto." which soared comfortably into the Top 40 and to the top of the Disco Charts (#2)."

"Stranger In Paradise" and "Out of the Ghetto" soared comfortably into the top 40? Which charts are you looking at?

[J Matthew Cobb]

I was a bit off. I'm still researching.
"Strangers In Paradise" (as B-side) of "Moonlight Lovin" peaked at #16 on Billboard's National Disco Action chart.
"Out Of The Ghetto" peaked at #42 pop. 2 notches shy from Top 40. I'm still getting my facts together.