Saturday, December 4, 2010
Im A Man by Macho Video Mix by Glenn Rivera
The 1969 film, Midnight Cowboy is a story of a small town cowboy who move to New York to become a hustler his demeanor at the opening of our story says everything about a belief in machismo and the reflection of his self-power.
I have taken the energy from this tale and weaved it closely with the disco classic, Im A Man by Macho from 1978 Produced and composed by Mauro Malavasi it is a cover from the Spencer Davis Group original released 1967.
Tom Savarese executed the extended mix.
Jon Voight is definitely taking this role to the extreme with his bold performance which I believe assisted this film in winning the 1969 award for best picture. It was originally rated as a X due to much of the content and then later changed to a strong R rating since no-one wanted to uphold an Academy Award winning film being X rated.
This Video Mix is dedicated to Remicks from Disco Music.com for his request of this collage of visions. Thanks as, always, Remick.
Featuring scenes from "Midnight Cowboy" - RENT THE DVD!
Video Mix by Glenn Rivera
Produced by Ken Emmons
Theme from Star Trek - Van McCoy 1976
"Theme from Star Trek" (originally scored under the title "Where No Man Has Gone Before") is an instrumental musical piece written by Alexander Courage for Star Trek, the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry and originally aired between September 8, 1966 and September 2, 1969.
Van McCoy released an instrumental disco version of the song on his 1976 album The Real McCoy.
Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an accomplished musician, music producer, arranger, songwriter, and orchestra conductor. He is known best for his 1975 internationally successful song "The Hustle", which is still played in dance halls and by radio nowadays more than 30 years since his death. He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit and is also noted for producing songs for such recording artists as Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Stylistics, Aretha Franklin, Brenda & The Tabulations, David Ruffin, Peaches & Herb, and Stacy Lattisaw.
Early life
Van McCoy was born on January 6, 1940, in Washington, D.C., the second child of Norman S. McCoy, Sr. and Lillian Ray.[1] He learned to play piano at a young age and sang with the Metropolitan Baptist Church choir as a youngster. By age 12 years, he had begun writing his own songs in addition to performing in local amateur shows alongside his older brother, Norman Jr. The two brothers formed a doo-wop combo named the Starlighters with two friends while in high school. They recorded a single entitled, "The Birdland", a novelty dance record, during 1956, which gained some interest resulting in a tour with drummer Vi Burnsides. The Starlighters produced three singles for End(?label) during 1959. Marriage and other commitments would eventually cause the group to disband during the mid-1950s. Van also sang with a group called the Marylanders.
During 1961 McCoy met Kendra Spotswood (aka. Sandi Sheldon) to whom he became engaged. For the next five years they sang and recorded music together professionally. Their relationship ended when McCoy delayed their wedding plans because of a contract with Columbia Records company.
Career
McCoy entered Howard University to study psychology during September 1958, only to drop out after two years to relocate to Philadelphia, where he formed his own recording company, Rockin' Records, and released his first single, "Hey Mr. DJ", during 1959. This single gained the attention of Scepter Records owner Florence Greenberg, who hired McCoy as a staff writer and A&R Representative. As a writer there, McCoy composed his first success, "Stop the Music", for the female vocal group the Shirelles during 1962. He also managed the band Vando and Share and co-owned the band Maxx during the mid-1960s, supervising such artists as Gladys Knight & The Pips, Chris Bartley, and The Ad Libs. However, he really came into his own after first working for top producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller as a writer and then signing with the major April-Blackwood music publishing concern, connected with Columbia Records. McCoy would go on to write a string of hits as the 1960s progressed. He penned "Giving Up" for Gladys Knight & The Pips, (later a hit for Donny Hathaway), "The Sweetest Thing This Side of Heaven" for Chris Bartley, "When You're Young and in Love" for Ruby and the Romantics, "Right on the Tip of My Tongue" for Brenda & The Tabulations, "Baby I'm Yours" for Barbara Lewis, "Getting Mighty Crowded" for Betty Everett, and "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" for Jackie Wilson. He also put together the hit-making duo of Peaches & Herb, arranging and co-producing their first hit, "Let's Fall In Love", for the Columbia subsidiary Date, in 1966. The same year, McCoy recorded a solo LP for Columbia titled Night-time Is a Lonely Time, and, a year later, started his own short-lived label, Vando, as well as his own production company VMP (Van McCoy Productions).
Van wrote or produced most consistently for The Presidents ("5-10-15-20 (25 Years of Love)"), The Choice Four ("The Finger Pointers", "Come Down to Earth"), Faith, Hope & Charity ("To Each His Own" and "So Much Love") and David Ruffin ("Walk Away from Love"). In the early 1970s, McCoy began a long, acclaimed collaboration with songwriter/ producer, Charles Kipps, and arranged several hits for the soul group The Stylistics as well as releasing his own solo LP on the Buddah label, Soul Improvisations, in 1972. The album included a minor hit, "Let Me Down Easy", but it wasn't a success following poor promotion. He formed his own orchestra, Soul City Symphony and, with singers Faith, Hope and Charity, produced several albums and gave many performances.
Television and film
Van McCoy appeared on the Mike Douglas Show and was a regular guest on the Tonight Show. He wrote and sung the theme song for the movie Sextette that starred Mae West and Timothy Dalton and even made a cameo appearance in it, playing a delegate from Africa. He also contributed some music for A Woman Called Moses, the TV classic that starred Cicely Tyson. Along with Faith Hope & Charity, Brass Construction and Johnny Dark, he appears in episode 4.20 of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.
Mainstream success
In 1975, McCoy released to low expectations the mostly instrumental LP Disco Baby for the Avco (later H&L) label. It should be noted, however, that the title song, "Disco Baby", was written by David Weiss and Hugo & Luigi, and performed by the Stylistics. Unexpectedly, a single called "The Hustle" from the album, written about the dance of the same name and recorded last for the album, went to the very top of both the Billboard pop and R&B charts (also #3 in Britain) and won a Grammy. The album was also Grammy nominated. McCoy, then regarded a disco hitmaker, never repeated the success of the song, although the singles "Party", "That's the Joint", and "Change with the Times" got significant airplay. The latter reached #6 in the Billboard R&B chart and was a Top 40 hit in the UK. There were no further major sellers in the USA, despite a series of follow-up albums, From Disco to Love (the 1975 reissue of Soul Improvisations), The Disco Kid (1975), The Real McCoy (1976), Rhythms of the World (1976), My Favorite Fantasy (1978), Lonely Dancer (1979), and Sweet Rhythm (1979)). However, he scored the UK top 5 again during 1977 with the instrumental success "The Shuffle".
Van also had major success with former Temptation David Ruffin's comeback LP, Who I Am, featuring "Walk Away from Love", a number 1 R&B hit (#9 pop) in the USA and a UK Top 5 success. He went on to produce the next two albums for David Ruffin, which spawned further successes. McCoy produced Gladys Knight and The Pips' Still Together LP, and for Melba Moore ("This Is It" and "Lean on Me"). He discovered Faith, Hope And Charity, whose major success in 1975, "To Each His Own", was another R&B chart-topper for him.
Death
McCoy died from a heart attack in Englewood, New Jersey on July 6, 1979, at the age of 39.
Discography
Singles
Van McCoy
* 1963: Never Trust A Friend / Mr DJ
* 1963: It Ain't No Big Thing / Love Can Mess Up Your Mind
* 1965: Baby Don't Tease Me / Girls Are Sentimental
* 1966: I'll Wait For You / The House That Love Built
* 1967: To Make My father Proud (To make My Mother Smile) / Where There’s A Heartache (There Must Be A Heart) Did My Baby Turn Bad
* 1968: Follow Your Heat / Lonely
* 1969: I Started A Joke / Tony's Theme
* 1974: Soul Improvisations (Part 1) / Soul Improvisations (Part 2)
* 1975: Change With The Times / Good Night, Baby
* 1975: Night Walk / Love Child
* 1976: Party / The Disco Kid
* 1976: The Shuffle / That's The Joint
* 1977: Soul Cha Cha / Oriental Boogie
* 1978: My Favourite Fantasy / You're So Right For Me
* 1979: Lonely Dancer / Decisions
Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
* Killing Me Softly / Love Is The Answer - Avco Records AV-4639 - 1974
* Boogie Down / A Rainy Night In Georgia - Avco 4648 - 1974
* The Hustle / Get Dancin' - Avco 6105 037 - 1975
Albums
* 1966: Night Time Is Lonely Time
* 1972: Soul Improvisations
* 1974: Love Is The Answer
* 1975: Disco Baby
* 1975: The Disco Kid
* 1975: From Disco To Love
* 1976: The Real McCoy
* 1976: Rhythms Of The World
* 1977: Van McCoy And His Magnificent Movie Machine
* 1978: My Favourite Fantasy
* 1979: Lonely Dancer
* 1979: Sweet Rhythm
Album Bad Girls,Donna Summer 1979
Background
By the time Bad Girls was released, Summer felt that she was being exploited by her label Casablanca Records, which had been distributing her work in the U.S. since 1975, and had more or less had full control over distributing her work worldwide since 1977. Since the release of her breakthrough, the sexually explicit "Love to Love You Baby", Summer had been named "the first lady of love" and her record label were keen for her to keep this image up, despite the fact that she was never truly comfortable with it. She was told how to act and dress, and she had generally lost control over her career. Her management had even begun taking over her personal life - advising her which Doctors and lawyers to use. Summer became very depressed and suffered with insomnia for a time. She visited healers and began taking tablets to aid her sleep. In early 1979, she collapsed from exhaustion.Upon Summer's recovery, her sister took her to see a priest and she became a born-again Christian. The depression came to an end as a result and Summer set to work on her new album with long-time partners Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, as well as various others she had not worked with before. By this time, although disco music was still popular, other styles such as punk and heavy metal were also achieving well, so the team decided to incorporate a rockier sound into some of the tracks. Other songs had a more soul/R&B feel to them, and in all it was probably Summer's most diverse album to date. The fusion of rock and disco was particularly evident also she was using the synthesizer to augment the sound for a more electronic and dance oriented electro music in the first two tracks on the album - "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls", which also became the first two singles to be released from the album. Both were huge hits and made Number One on the American singles chart. The former also won Summer a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and became popular again in the 1990s when used in the British film The Full Monty. "Dim All the Lights" also became a huge hit, peaking at number two in the U.S.
Release and reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | (A-) |
| PopMatters | (favorable) |
| Q |  |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) 1979 |
| Rolling Stone | 2003 |
| Virgin Encyclopedia | |
| Yahoo! Music | (favorable) |
The album became her best-selling album ever, achieving triple platinum status in the U.S. and shifting about seven million copies worldwide. It also became her second consecutive number-one album in the U.S. As well as the aforementioned Grammy Award for "Hot Stuff" (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance), the song "Bad Girls" was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Disco Recording. "Dim All the Lights" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and the album itself was nominated for Album of the Year.
1979 ended with Casablanca releasing a compilation of Summer's work plus a couple of newly recorded tracks. At this point, due to the aforementioned feelings that the label was exploiting her, Donna quit the label and signed a new deal with Geffen Records. Her new material with them was more rock/new wave oriented, due to the "disco backlash" that had occurred. Due to its popularity, many rock DJs had gone out of business and people begun opposing disco music - around that time many banners were seen with "disco sucks" written on them. As a result Summer left the disco tag behind, but in an effort to compete with her new label, Casablanca chose to release more singles from the Bad Girls album - namely "Sunset People" and "Walk Away". Both were top 20 and 30 hits respectively, while her new rock-oriented dance material climbed the charts. Casablanca/PolyGram also released a special edition compilation entitled Walk Away - Greatest Hits 1977-1980, which featured a selection of her hits from the Bad Girls period and the preceding years. In 2003 Universal Music, owners of the Casablanca/PolyGram back catalogue since 1998, re-issued Bad Girls as a digitally remastered and expanded deluxe edition.
Track listing
Original LP
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Hot Stuff" | Pete Bellotte, Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey | 5:14 | ||||||
| 2. | "Bad Girls" | Donna Summer, Joe "Bean" Esposito, Edward "Eddie" Hokenson, Bruce Sudano | 4:55 | ||||||
| 3. | "Love Will Always Find You" | Pete Bellotte, Giorgio Moroder | 3:59 | ||||||
| 4. | "Walk Away" | Pete Bellotte, Harold Faltermeyer | 4:29 | ||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 5. | "Dim All the Lights" | Donna Summer | 4:40 | ||||||
| 6. | "Journey to the Center of Your Heart" | Pete Bellotte, Giorgio Moroder | 4:36 | ||||||
| 7. | "One Night in a Lifetime" | Pete Bellotte, Harold Faltermeyer | 4:12 | ||||||
| 8. | "Can't Get to Sleep At Night" | Bob Conti, Bruce Sudano | 4:42 | ||||||
| Side three | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 9. | "On My Honor" | Donna Summer, Harold Faltermeyer, Bruce Sudano | 3:32 | ||||||
| 10. | "There Will Always Be a You" | Donna Summer | 5:07 | ||||||
| 11. | "All Through the Night" | Donna Summer, Bruce Roberts | 6:06 | ||||||
| 12. | "My Baby Understands" | Donna Summer | 3:58 | ||||||
| Side four | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Our Love" | Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder | 4:52 | ||||||
| 14. | "Lucky" | Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Joe "Bean" Esposito, Edward "Eddie" Hokenson, Bruce Sudano | 4:37 | ||||||
| 15. | "Sunset People" | Pete Bellotte, Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey | 6:27 | ||||||
Deluxe edition
In 2003, Universal Music re-issued Bad Girls as a digitally remastered and expanded deluxe edition.
|
Personnel
Musicians
- Donna Summer - lead and background vocals, composition, production
- Giorgio Moroder - bass, synthesizer, guitar, composition, production
- Pete Bellotte - bass, composition, production
- Harold Faltermeyer - composition, drums, keyboards, synclavier
- Charles Sudano - synthesizer and composition
- Joe Esposito - background vocals and composition
- Keith Forsey - background vocals, drums, percussion, and composition
- Bob Conti - drums and composition
- Edward "Eddie" Hokenson - composition
Production
- Producers: Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte, Harold Faltermeyer
- Engineer: Jason Corsaro
- Production manager: Budd Tunick
- Drum programming: Jimmy Bralower
- Art direction: Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff
- Design: Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Jeri McManus
Charts
Chart positions
- Album
- Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Billboard 200 | 1 |
| 1979 | Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 1 |
| 1979 | UK Album chart | 23 |
| 1979 | Norway | 3 |
- Singles
|
|
Pete Bellotte
His greatest success is "Hot Stuff", which has been covered by numerous artists. This also applies to "I Feel Love" and "Love to Love You Baby".
On 20 September 2004 Bellotte was honoured at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony, held in New York, where he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and contributions as producer and songwriter.
GIORGIO MORODER - Oh, L'Amour 1976
Knights in White Satin is a 1976 album composed, produced and performed by Giorgio Moroder.
Side A of the album consists almost solely of a disco version of Moody Blues' 1967 hit "Nights in White Satin", interrupted by a Moroder/Bellotte composition called In the Middle of the Knight. The track is typical of the disco era in that it covers an entire LP side, but atypical as it is quite slow, only 110bpm, and not what was usually considered the standard at the time, 120bpm.
Side 1
1. "Knights in White Satin" (Justin Hayward)
2. "In the Middle of the Knight" (Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte)
3. "Knights in White Satin" (Justin Hayward)
Side 2
1. "Oh, l'amour" (Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte)
2. "Sooner or Later" (Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte)
3. "I Wanna Funk with You Tonite" (Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte)
That's The Trouble (1976) DISCO Grace Jones
Portfolio is the debut album by Grace Jones. It was released in 1977 and the first of three albums made with the legendary disco record producer Tom Moulton. It also includes three singles previously issued on label Orfeus in France and Beam Junction in the U.S. in 1975 and 1976, "I Need A Man", "Sorry" and "That's the Trouble".
Side one of the original vinyl album is a continuous disco medley covering three songs from Broadway musicals, "Send In The Clowns" by Stephen Sondheim from 1973's A Little Night Music, "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line and "Tomorrow" from Annie. Side two opens with Jones' very personal re-interpretation of Edith Piaf's "La Vie en rose" which remains one of her best known recordings, it was the only song from her disco trilogy Portfolio/Fame/Muse to be performed in her Grammy nominated A One Man Show in 1981/1982. An edited version of the track was released as a single in both 1977, 1983 and 1985 and the album version was also included on the 1985 career retrospective Island Life.
Portfolio reached number #52 on the Black Album Chart in the U.S., while climbing to number #109 on Billboards Album Chart, considerably more successful on the dance chart entering the Top Ten. "I Need a Man" reached the coveted number #1 spot on the U.S. Dance Charts, and the double A-side "That's the Trouble"/"Sorry" reached number #7 on the same chart. "La Vie en rose" went gold in Europe and sold very well, plus climbing to the top of the charts in many European countries such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Side A
1. "Send in the Clowns" (Stephen Sondheim) - 7:33
2. "What I Did For Love" (Marvin Hamlisch, E. Kleban) - 5:15
3. "Tomorrow" (Martin Charnin, Charles Strouse) - 5:48
* Non-stop medley: total time - 18:36
[edit] Side B
1. "La Vie en Rose" (Édith Piaf, Louis Gugliemi) - 7:27
2. "Sorry" (Grace Jones, Pierre Papadiamondis) - 3:58
3. "That's the Trouble" (Jones, Papadiamondis) - 3:36
4. "I Need a Man" (Papadiamondis, Paul Slade) - 3:23
I Got You Under My Skin (1976) DISCO Gloria Gaynor
disco version of Cole Porter's 1936 classic
I've Got You was a 1976 album by vocalist Gloria Gaynor. It was her first on Polydor Records, which absorbed her previous label MGM Records, and soon became a force in the disco genre.
I've Got You features the 19 minute disco suite with the songs "Let's Make A Deal", "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Be Mine." The songs from the Soul based side two of the album includes "Touch of Lightning", "Let's Make Love", "Nothing in This World" and "Do It Right."
The album has never been re-released on CD.
Track listing
Side one- "Let's Make A Deal"
- "I've Got You Under My Skin"
- "Be Mine"
- "Touch of Lightning"
- "Let's Make Love"
- "Nothing in This World"
- "Do It Right"
- "Talk, Talk, Talk"
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Jimmy Bo Horne - You Get Me Hot (1979)
If you were anywhere near a club in the mid- to late seventies, there is no way you could have missed Jimmie "Bo" Horne and his positively charged and exceptionally catchy dance jams. Floor-fillers like "Gimme Some", "Get Happy", "Dance Across The Floor", "Spank" and "You Get Me Hot" kept you shaking your booty all night long and even if you had a rough day, you left the discotheque with a big smile on your face. What had hit you was that highly rhythmic and distinctive "happy sound", emanating from Florida, America's "Sunshine State". This positive, bouncy sound was the trademark of many brilliant records issued on T.K., Henry Stone's vast distribution and record label network. But what very few people outside the Black communities of the American south realized in 1978, when "Dance Across The Floor" topped the charts worldwide, was that Jimmie "Bo" Horne was far from a newcomer in the business. Nor did anyone suspect that perhaps he didn't feel totally at ease with being pigeonholed a "Disco artist". "I was unhappy about the fact that my records made me seem like a mediocre singer", Jimmie explained to me on the phone from his home in Florida recently. "It didn't satisfy the passion of my heart, but I was happy that it took care of my family." Jimmie, who has been in the business since the late sixties, recording several deeply soulful forty-fives for early T.K. subsidiaries like Dade and Alston, says he's always regarded himself first and foremost a Soul singer and feels that he was not given the opportunity to express that side of his talent during the Disco explosion of the 70's. But Jimmie, who's celebrating over thirty years in the entertainment industry this year, is not bitter at all. He's still very passionate about making music and unlike many other artists from the "old-school", he is active both as a recording artist and as a live performer, giving shows in both the U.S. and Europe. This is his story.
Jimmie "Bo" Horne (whose first name T.K.'s publicity department accidentally misspelled "Jimmy", an error Jimmie corrected when he was released from that label in the early 80's), was born on September 28, 1949 in West Palm Beach, Florida. An only child, both his parents were school teachers. Jimmie's dad, Jimmie Horne Sr., taught in the school system for thirty-three years, "and only missed three days", as Jimmie proudly declared. The interest in all things musical was awakened at an early age and perhaps he inherited the gift of singing from his mother Minnie who had a beautiful voice."Whenever she would be around the house, cooking or something, she sang a lot of Gospel songs", Jimmie said. "My dad loved jazz, R&B and the ballads that are called standards, you know, Sinatra ballads, Brook Benton ballads, so as a child I was exposed to that kind of music. I also heard Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Arthur Prysock, even Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Perry Como, well, everybody out there. My dad had the LP's and he had his own stereo set, because he could make the cabinets for stereos. Music was just all around me as a child." Besides a taste for serious R&B and standards, Jimmie's dad also gave him the nickname "Bo". "Yes, that came from my father. 'Bo", which was short for 'bowlegged'", Jimmie laughed. "He gave it to me when I was just a little boy. I kept it because people in my neighborhood heard my nickname more than they heard my first name, so when I started cutting music I wanted them to know that I was THAT particular Jimmie."
Jimmie says that he knew that he wanted to be a singer from a very young age. "Yes, I did. I started singing when I was about seven or eight years old. I sang while I was outside, playing. As I got up in middle school, teachers and people around me, realized that I could sing. Then when I got in high school, I got into a glee club, which is like a choral group, where you sing in the school music program. From that, I got a scholarship in voice to go to a college in Daytona Beach called Bethune Cookman College. I attended that school from about 1967 to 1970-71, with a degree in Sociology. By that time, I had cut a couple of records for T.K., while I was studying, because I would come home on the weekends and could schedule time to go into the studio then."
Jimmie 'Bo' HorneJimmie was signed to one of T.K.'s lesser known subsidiaries, Dig Records, in 1967, the same year he was admitted into college. "It was through a DJ by the name of Joe Fisher. Joe was a programmer on a radio station in my area called W.R.B.D., which was one of the hottest stations in the three counties (the city of Miami is in Dade county, Fort Lauderdale is in Broward county and West Palm Beach is in West Palm county). Joe Fisher knew that I could sing because he had seen me perform at clubs and he had put me on some of his shows. Joe had a relation with T.K. Records because, as a DJ, he would play all of T.K.'s products. Joe arranged for me to meet (label boss) Henry Stone and he also told (T.K. staff writers/producers) Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid about my singing ability. I did a show and Willie Clarke came down to see it. He brought Betty Wright with him and she and I were on the same show. Willie liked my voice, so he and Clarence spoke with Joe Fischer and decided to write songs for me. My first records came from the Willie Clarke and Clarence Reid team. My very first single was called 'I Can't Speak' and came out on a T.K. distributed label called Dig around 1969-70. It was a really deep Soul record. After that, I did a a song called 'If You Want My Love', then 'Street Corners'.
Although all three singles failed to make it to the U.S. national R&B chart, they were popular in the American South. "During that time, with segregation before integration, there were many songs that were big hits on the Black radio stations, but never came to the attention of white radio", Jimmie explained. "Often, regardless of how big your hit was on Black radio, unless you crossed over and got airplay on the white stations, the white community wouldn't even know you existed! That's why a lot of people thought that 'Dance Across The Floor' was my first song, when I had had several songs out before that. But those were only big on the Black charts. 'Dance Across The Floor' was the first record I did that crossed over to the white market... The reality of life is that the white radio stations would play a song quicker on a white artist than they would on a Black artist. It had to be five times better than an white artist's record to actually get on the white station's play list. It meant that a lot of great, Black records didn't get promoted. If the record company didn't put enough money into promoting it, then it would just be a good record, it wouldn't go any further."
A happy Jimmie 'Bo' HorneAfter graduating from college with a degree in Sociology, Jimmie took a job as a youth counselor, working for the State of Florida."I did that for about four years", Jimmie said. "I recorded too, but after a while I wanted to see if I could do it, if I could depend upon it. That's when I quit my job and went into recording as a profession, as a full time career".
By 1972 Jimmie was signed to Alston, an Atlantic-distributed T.K. subsidiary, run by Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo. Alaimo was one of the head producers at T.K. and, together with Stone, owned the label and its associated record distribution company Tone Distributors. Jimmie explained how the Alaimo/Stone team ran the operation. "To me, Steve Alaimo was more the creative side, he cared more about the production and the making of the music. My exposure to him was always in the studio, creating projects, I never saw him as a businessman. Henry took mostly care of that. Steve was a partner that was advised by Henry, but in my opinion, Steve was the more creative person."
At Alston, Jimmie recorded a wonderful, but non-charting answer to Betty Wright's biggest hit to date, 1971's "Clean Up Woman", entitled "Clean Up Man". Like the original, it was written and produced by guitarist Willie "Little Beaver" Hale and Clarence Reid. Clarence, together with partner Willie Clarke, was the brain behind many of T.K.'s largest successes in the early- to mid seventies, including Gwen McCrae's "Rocking Chair". "They were very smart. Willie Clarke knew the importance of publishing. During that time it wasn't a normal thing to let Black artists know the importance of publishing, because publishing was where the record companies made the big money. They would only want an artist to come in and be great on stage, but not to even look at publishing or writing. If you wrote a song, then they would give you 'writers' on it, but they would never discuss with you that you needed to know about publishing; that if you're a writer, you shouldn't sell your song. You keep your songs like you do children. But when record deals were hard to come by, as a Black singer, you were just so happy to get a deal to where when you heard yourself on the radio, and you went out and did shows and you made money from it, you thought the world was a better place. But as you get older, and as I know now, it's important for you to know and understand about the business and about publishing".
Clarence Reid by his piano (1976)The omnipresent Clarence Reid, whose name grace more record sleeve credits than anyone's ever going to be able to count, has been described as a musical genius, but also a "real nutcase", "a character", etcetera, by those who's ever had the pleasure of working with him. And they are many. But unlike some of the most famed artists on T.K.'s roster, like Gwen McCrae, KC and Benny Latimore (and although he won't admit it today, even Stax' Isaac "Black Moses" Hayes, who played keys on Reid's hilarious version of "Shaft"), Jimmie firmly denies ever having participated in the making of any of Clarence Reid's X-rated comedy albums, which Reid cut under his Blowfly pseudonym on the T.K. subsidiary Weird World. "No, I never did", Jimmie stated and laughed. "I could not imagine doing it. Those Blowfly records were about cursing and profanity. If a song like that would have come on the radio, and I would have been participating in it, it would have insulted my family. So I never did. But I was always amazed when I heard Blowfly's songs, because many times he would take the rhythm tracks from the hottest, most popular songs of the day and pick fun of them, by giving the song new lyrics. It made me laugh, you know, the songs were such great songs and they sounded just like the original. So at first you didn't notice anything, but then you heard this guy talking about the most terrible things and it made you laugh. Clarence did good with those Blowfly records."
KC & The Sunshine Band 1978. From left to right: Rick Finch, Jerome Smith, KC, Robert JohnsonFollowing the release of three more, non charting singles on Alston, Henry Stone decided that cross-over success had eluded Jimmie for much too long and brought him to work with Harry Wayne Casey (KC) and Richard Finch of the Sunshine Band. KC, who co-wrote Jimmie's first single for 1975 "Don't Worry About It" with Clarence Reid, incidentally received his start in the business with the aid of Reid. Reid co-wrote and co-produced one of the Sunshine Band's earliest hits; "Sound Your Funky Horn" in 1974. "Henry felt that KC was writing the kind of commercial material that was needed to break an artist in the crossover market", Jimmie said. "The R&B songs that Willie and Clarence were writing never made the white Pop charts, because of the lyrics. Don't get me wrong, they were good lyrics and lyrics that people wanted to hear, but they were lyrics that were traditional, R&B, Soul lyrics. KC was writing songs that talked about; 'I want your love, gimme some'.. Very repetitious songs, songs that didn't really talk about 'I wanna do this, I wanna do that'. His were about 'it's your love I need, I need me some sugar', songs that a little child could hear and you would not take offense to them. So, they were simple songs, but they were simple songs that had a dance beat, a Disco beat."
The Sound Of Sunshine LogoKC & The Sunshine Band were at this time on the verge of world wide chart domination with "Get Down Tonight" just around the corner, KC and his bass-playing partner Rick Finch had furnished T.K.with one of its biggest sellers (George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" in 1974), so its hardly surprising that the Horne/Casey/Finch collaboration, which began with "Gimme Some" and was followed by "Get Happy" and "Don't Worry About It", paid off immediately. Jimmie remembers the sessions, where he was backed by the Sunshine Band, well."KC and Finch were really easy to work with because they were young guys, excited about the fact that they were riding the waves of a music that was coming in at a time when they knew how to create that. And being around exciting people only made you enjoy what you did. But when you said 'let me put this particular rhythm and blues vocal run on it', that's when they would tell you, for business purposes 'no, don't do that, that'll make the music too sad'. They interpreted feelings as sadness."
Jimmie 'Bo' Horne"Gimme Some" went to #47 R&B in the U.S. in the summer of 1975. Not long after, Jimmie found himself not only being presented with a Gold Award in Spain, various awards and recommendations in Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Island, Canada, South Africa, Austria, Great Britain and Chile, but was also appearing on now legendary U.S. television shows like "Wolfman Jack", Mike Douglass Show" and "Diana Shore". It was at this time that Jimmie began to realize that there was little room for his soulful endeavors, that he had been labeled a "Disco artist". "If I could have chosen, I would have liked to continue working with Clarence and Willie. And work with KC too. That way I could have had the best of both worlds. It bothered me that songs like 'Gimme Some' didn't really highlight me, what I could do with my voice. It made it easier for me to get paid, but it didn't show my quality as a singer, as a performer. They were songs that were easy to sing, songs that a person with a not-so-good voice easily could sing. It wasn't like when you hear a record by Luther Vandross or James Ingram and you'd said 'ohh, no one can sing that song like Luther.. or like James'."
In 1978, Jimmie's first LP "Dance Across The Floor" was released. It included his previous hits and the title track, which was issued as a single in March that same year, was a smash, reaching #8 R&B and #38 Pop in the U.S. It was also a huge success in other parts of the world. Jimmie toured Europe, went to South America and received a Gold Presentation in Madrid. Although he obviously has mixed feelings about the song -and the entire Disco era-, he says he appreciates what it did for his career. "I have a good feeling for 'Dance Across The Floor', only because it brought me to the attention of the world. 'Gimme Some', 'Dance Across The Floor', 'Spank' and 'Is It In', they all made me money and gave me the opportunity to go to Europe and see people love me. To meet people that could not speak a word of English, but who knew all the words to my songs... Those who knew a little English called me 'the gimme some man' (laughs). I recall when I went to Germany and performed with 'Dance Across The Floor'.. Guys would jump up on stage and say 'ich liebe dich, ich liebe dich' (I love you, I love you). It was a great feeling, I'm telling you. I had read about all these places growing up, and there I was, actually in those places.. and people were loving me for what I was doing... Many times when I go back to Europe, 'Dance Across The Floor' is what they want to hear. Even after all these years! It's good in that way. It's not painful for me to think about how I was pigeonholed as a 'Disco artist', or that people still don't know that I can do so much more. I learned from my mistakes and that is nothing to be sad about. My biggest mistake was that I didn't really realize the importance of making music a business. Now I do. Now I know that in music, it's 75 percent business, 25 percent performance and you can put a 150 percent into the 25 percent, to make those 25 percent exciting. Now I know that."
Nearly all of the material on Jimmie's two albums on Sunshine Sound (KC's, T.K.-distributed label to which Jimmie was transferred from Alston around 1976-77), were penned by KC & Rick Finch. One exception is the often-sampled and remixed "Spank" (which earned Jimmie a double Gold Award in Johannesburg, South Africa!). It was written by trumpeter/songwriter/singer/dancer/arranger Ron Louis Smith. Ron, whom I discovered that Jimmie too regard as an unsung hero of the Miami music music scene of the 70's, was one of the original members of the Sunshine Band and an excellent horn player. Ron Louis Smith 'Party Freaks -Come on' (LP '78)Ron recorded only one LP in his own right, "Party Freaks (Come On)", which came out on Sunshine Sounds in 1978; an LP entirely written and produced by Smith himself. Backed by the Sunshine band and with the keys supplied by T.K. artist Timmy Thomas (remember "Why Can't We Live Together"?), it's must-have if you're into Disco-Funk, as it's full of catchy tracks, like "The Worm" and Come On And Do It". (It normally goes for a very humble sum of money on flea markets, record conventions and shops that deal in used vinyl.) But despite KC's liner notes which read ".. He's going to be a giant star", the record sadly sank without a trace shortly upon release. "In my view, Ron was the most exciting member of the Sunshine band and a pioneer of that group", Jimmie pointed out, before disclosing little known details of KC & The Sunshine Band's history. "Ron could play all those high octaves. When the Sunshine Band first came out, Ron Louis Smith put together a horn section that just blew you away. The original horn section were a powerhouse! Now, not a lot of people know this, but the Sunshine Band came out of a band called the Ocean Liners, which was formed by Ron Louis Smith and his brother Jerome Smith. Jerome did all those hot guitar parts on the Sunshine Band's records. The Ocean Liners were the hottest band in Miami and KC asked for the privilege to be a part of that group, because he loved Soul music. Anyway, as KC gained acceptance in the Ocean Liners, and Rick Finch joined, that group transformed into the Sunshine Junkanoo Band. Once they got to T.K., that's when they made the name change to KC and the Sunshine Band. The reason why there's very few who know the real story of how the Sunshine band began is in my own impression that everything was so focused around KC. I believe it was done that way because of segregation. During that time, a white guy in front of an all-Black band was something that white radio would buy. KC was a little reluctant about it because he felt that the Black music world, the R&B audience, would not accept him. He didn't know that Black people will accept you if they like what you're bringing."
Sleeve of 'Spank (1980 remix)'.In 1979, "Goin' Home For Love", Jimmie's second LP on Sunshine Sounds was issued and generated another club-favorite, "You Get Me Hot". The next year, "Spank" was re-issued in a new and remixed 12" version. The financial problems, which were to bring T.K. out of business, were starting to show. When Jimmie's final T.K. forty-five and 12" "Is It In" (perhaps his funkiest effort to date) hit the streets, the bankruptcy was imminent. Some put the blame on Disco for T.K.'s downfall, because Disco, not R&B, had been what carried the label in the mid-to late seventies. It has been suggested that the decision-makers at T.K (and other record companies as well) failed to pick up the signals that the demand for Disco was rapidly decreasing. Instead they continued to press and ship one million units of a Disco record, thinking they had a platinum hit. But when the record only sold some ten thousand copies and the retailers shipped the remaining unsold 990 000 back, T.K. was left with a huge debt and sky-high piles of useless vinyl. "It had gotten to a point where the company just needed to fulfill obligations", Jimmie commented. "T.K. underestimated the fact that they were responsible to the artists for their livelihood and they overestimated the market, they overestimated how the record would do. They shipped out platinum on many records, like stuff on KC & the Sunshine Band and Peter Brown. The record would do OK, but it wouldn't sell as many as they had estimated."
Why on earth is Jimmie riding a bike on this publicity shot?T.K: went out of business in the early 80's and many of its stalwarts faced huge financial problems; Gwen McCrae and Clarence Reid have both said that they experienced some of the hardest times of their lives at this point. For Jimmie, it was a wake-up call that maybe he hadn't been paying as much attention to the figures and numbers side of his profession as he should have. "My mistake, again, was getting more involved as a singer. I hadn't really cared about understanding why I didn't get a royalty statement in six months.. I didn't take that with the kind of focus that I should have and it has cost me. I didn't know that you should have a good entertainment lawyer. When the company collapsed, I had to go to work and take care of all the responsibilities that the record company had taken care of prior to the demolish of T.K.. When the company collapsed, it put my own responsibility back on me. In the early 70's, I would get what was called a 'draw' from the label. That would take care of your bills, your personal obligations. But after T.K. collapsed, I started to market myself and my name was out there enough to where I was my own agent, I was my own best salesman and I knew how to go out and promote myself. I had to go out and start paying bills and start doing shows which I normally wouldn't do."
Jimmie co-wrote his first post-T.K. single "You're So Good To Me", which came out in 1983 on Sunnyview, an independent label (owned by Henry Stone). Sunnyview is perhaps best remembered for releasing the hip-hop classics "Jam On It" and "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)" by rap/electro group Newcleus in 1983. "Rock It In The Pocket" (on F.H.L. Records) was followed by "Let's Do It" (on Sunnyview), a track Jimmie, although uncredited, wrote the lyrics to. It was produced by Rick Finch and Dave Crawford. Jimmie's stay at Sunnyview, like its existence, was brief. "Henry was distributing Sunnyview through Morris Levy, the gentleman who was investigated by the FBI." Levy was also the man who purchased T.K., buying troubled companies with strong catalogues was his specialty. After a 12" ("Show Me How Much") on former Stax boss Al Bell's California-based Edge Records, a new remix of "Spank" was released in Germany, where it sold close to 20.000 copies.
Throughout the remainder of the 80's Jimmie continued to perform in the U.S. and abroad, sometimes with his old buddies Timmy Thomas, Gwen McCrae and Anita Ward. In 1991, he recorded an album in Italy entitled "'Bo' Horne '91" and in the mid-nineties he signed another deal, but very few heard the result. "'I Wanna Be Your Lover' came out on a label called Rhythm Drive in 1995. It was an independent company and after they put my record out, they realized that they didn't have the money to really, really compete with the majors. They didn't have the money to do what they needed to do in terms of promotion and it was a brand new company, so they didn't really know what they needed to do either. But the company was gracious enough to come back to me and say 'listen, let us tell you that we don't know and we don't have the money, but let us not stop your career'. So, it was an amicable settlement. They let me out of the contract and then I swam and fished for myself." On this album, for the first time, Jimmie was able to really showcase his talent as a songwriter, as he co-wrote every song on the album, except the two covers. Also, on "I Wanna Be Your Lover", the balladeer who had been hidden in Jimmie for so long, got a chance to shine. "Yes it did. I did a song called 'Spend The Night', which was like a Jimmie 'Bo' Horne-ballad with a taste of Barry White. And another song called 'Only One', plus a version of the Teddy Pendergrass song 'Wake Up Everybody'."
Currently in the studio with Rick Finch, Jimmie is excited about his forthcoming record which he promises will contain a little bit of everything. "I'm gonna do more R&B, but I'm also gonna do what I call R&B/Dance music. Others would maybe label it House, but I call it R&B/Dance because that's what House is to me." The new album is scheduled to be released around Christmas or early next year. Keep your eyes on these pages for more information.
SINGLES:
Title: Label: Year: Billboard R&B/Pop Top Pos.:
I Can't Speak Dig 1967-70* -
Sweet Love Power Dade 1967-70* -
Street Corners Dade 1967-70* -
Down The Road Of Love Dade 1967 -
Clean Up Man Alston 1972 -
If You Want My Love Alston 1972-74* -
Two People In Love Alston 1972-74* -
Don't Worry About It Alston 1975 -
Gimme Some (Part One) Alston 1975 #47 Gold (Canada & Europe)
Hey There Jim Dade 1976-77* -
Get Happy Alston 1977 #46
Dance Across The Floor* Sunshine Sound 1978 #8 (Pop #38) Gold (International)
Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover) Sunshine Sound 1978 #60
Spank* Sunshine Sound 1979 #55 Double Gold (International & South Africa)
You Get Me Hot* Sunshine Sound 1979 #18 (Pop #101)
If We Were Still Together Alston 1979 -
Without You Sunshine Sound 1980 #78
Is It In* Sunshine Sound 1980 #77
You're So Good To Me* Sunnyview 1983 -
Rocket In The Pocket* F.H.L. 1984 -
Let's Do It* Sunnyview 1985 -
Show Me How Much* Edge 1987 -
Spank '87* Streetheat 1987 -
Rhythm In My Heart Injection 1989 -
Get This Lovin' Rhythm Drive 1994-95* -
*Also issued on 12" *Exact year unknown
Artists that have sampled Jimmie "Bo" Horne's music:
Artist: Title: Label: Year: Samples:
Ultra Naté Release The Pressure (Dance Mix) Strictly Rhythm 1999 Spank
The Council Prepare For The Shining - 1998 Get Happy
D'Menace Deep Menace Orange 1998 Spank
Da Lench Mob Freedom Got An A.K. EastWest 1992 Dance Across The Floor
Stereo MC's Connected Island 1992 Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover)
Jungle Brothers Beyond This World Warner Bros. 1989 Is it in
Cash Money & Marvelous The Mighty Hard Rocker Sleeping Bag 1988 Dance Across The Floor
Artists that have recorded cover versions of Jimmie "Bo" Horne songs:
Artist: Title: Label: Year:
Pat & Mick Get Happy PWL 1991
Brendon Gimme Some MAGNET 1977 1977
Other instances where Jimmie "Bo" Horne's music has been utilised:
For a year between 1997 and 1998, "Get Happy" was played in the background of The Chris Rock Show on HBO.
Gloria Gaynor: Reach out, I'll be there 1975
disco version of the 1966 Four Tops classic; reached #60 Pop in the USA in early 1975
Gloria Gaynor "How High The Moon"1975
disco version of a 1960 Ella Fitzgerald hit; reached #75 Pop in the USA in late 1975
Donna Summer - Need A Man Blues 1975
The year is 1975 and the song is called ''Need-A-Man Blues.'' And the album is called ''Love To Love You Baby'' and the producer was Pete Bellotte. Donna sings this song like she's dying for desire. It is a great disco song! Record Label is Interfusion Records 1975, and distributed by Cassablanca Records enjoy!!
TAKE IT FROM ME / DIONNE WARWICK 1975
Take It From Me - Dionne Warwick
from album "THEN CAME YOU"
Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940) is an American singer and actress who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.
Best known for her partnership with Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Warwick ranks as the 20th most popular hit-maker of the entire rock era (1955–1999), based on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. According to Billboard Magazine, Warwick ranks second only to Aretha Franklin as the most popular female vocalist with 56 chart singles on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998.
Carol Douglas - Carol's Theme Midnight Love Aff air 1975
Carol Douglas (born April 7, 1948) is an American singer whose hit "Doctor's Orders" (1974) was a pioneer track in the disco genre.
Carol Douglas - aka Carolyn Strickland and Carolyn Cooke - was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. She is the daughter of Minnie Newsome, a jazz performer who has been cited as the inspiration for the Cab Calloway classic "Minnie the Moocher"; Douglas' father was a mortician. Sam Cooke was Douglas' cousin. At the age of 10 Douglas was a contestant and winner on the game show Name That Tune and says "Ebony followed my career for the next three years".
Douglas attended the Willard May School for professional children and afterwards the Quintanos High School for young professionals alongside Gregory Hines, Bernadette Peters, Carol Lynley and Patty Duke. While in high school Douglas sang in a female trio named April May & June who were signed as a management client by Little Anthony and the Imperials.
Douglas made a one-off recording in 1963 for RCA Victor cutting the single "I Don't Mind (Being Your Fool)" under the name Carolyn Cooke: becoming pregnant with her first son at age 15 ended RCA's interest in promoting her.
Douglas also cut several jingles for TV commercials - "[I] used to do voiceovers for Ideal Toys and General Mills with Bernadette Peters" - but recalls: "I never thought I would be a singer", and for most of the 60s Douglas pursued an acting career, appearing in an episode of her classmate's The Patty Duke Show but mostly acting in theatrical productions beginning with One Tuesday Morning starring Clarice Taylor. Later Douglas understudied Jonelle Allen in the off-Broadway production of The Life of Mary McCloud Bethune and co-starred with James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson in the play Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.
Carol Douglas married "high school sweetheart" Ken Douglas in the mid-60s - resumed her musical career in the early 1970s touring nationally on the oldies circuit in a lineup of the Chantels featuring original frontwoman Arlene Smith: with these Chantels, Douglas cut the single "Some Tears Fall Dry" for Capitol.
[edit] Music career
In 1974, Douglas was recruited by Midland International Records via an ad in Showbiz magazine: label vice president/record producer Eddie O'Loughlin had heard the UK hit single "Doctor's Orders" by Sunny and was seeking a female vocalist to cut the track for the U.S. market.
Douglas' audition led to a five year contract and her version of "Doctor's Orders", became a hit reached #2 on Billboard magazine's Disco chart, #9 R&B and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100: the single also reached #4 in France.
Although O'Loughlin was credited as "Doctor's Orders" producer the production had in fact been by Meco Monardo who was also responsible for Gloria Gaynor's "Never Can Say Goodbye" which had ascended the Pop charts at around the same time as "Doctor's Orders": claims have been made for each single to be the hit that broke disco into the Top 40.
Douglas made her album debut in 1975 with The Carol Douglas Album followed in 1976 by Midnight Love Affair and in 1977 by Full Bloom. Monardo's especial expertise was missing in the production of Douglas' post-"Doctor's Orders" tracks which maintained her as a popular club presence with negligible mainstream popularity: the follow-up single to "Doctor's Orders": "A Hurricane is Coming Tonite", became Douglas' only other Hot 100 entry peaking at #81 in April of 1975.
Douglas hit #1 on the Disco charts with her "Midnight Love Affair" single: the song did appear on the Top 100 chart in Cash Box magazine but only via a cover by Tony Orlando and Dawn which reached #94. (In France Douglas' version reached #82.)
Douglas' other recordings included "Headline News" - a minor Edwin Starr hit from 1966 written by "Doctor's Orders" co-writer Roger Greenaway remade by the latter track's originator Sunny - , and in the tradition of "Doctor's Orders" Douglas cut discofied covers of several songs which were current or recent hits in the UK including ABBA's "Dancing Queen", "I Wanna Stay With You" by Gallagher and Lyle and "So You Win Again" by Hot Chocolate. In 1977 she recorded the single "You Make Me Feel The Music" for the soundtrack to the film "Haunted".
Douglas would recall: "I always wanted to do a funky black album, but the label wouldn’t allow it. This is how I lost out on R&B/Disco hits like: “Shame” (Evelyn King), “I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)” (Jocelyn Brown [of Inner City]) and “I Specialize in Love” (Sharon Brown)."
"So You Win Again" was arranged by Michael Zager whose presence on Douglas' 1978 album release Burnin resulted in a critical (if not commercial) upswing. Burnin also featured Douglas' version of the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" - not a Zager arrangement - which became Douglas' only UK chart entry at #66.
Douglas' 1979 album Come Into My Life was an obvious bid to re-charge her club popularity: only six tracks long with production by Greg Carmichael who'd enjoyed several disco hits with studio groups, but the single "I Got the Answer" was only a mild club success.
In 1981, Douglas' cover of the Three Degrees' "My Simple Heart" was released on 20th Century Records as by then the Midland International (aka Midsong) was defunct. "My Simple Heart" was also Douglas' debut on Carrere Records based in Paris where Douglas lived for a time: in the early 80s Carrère handled Douglas' European releases while in the US Douglas was signed to O'Loughlin's Next Plateau label. Her last album to date "I Got Your Body", re-named Love Zone in the US and Canada, was released in 1983 including her latest four 12" singles from 1981 to 1983: "My Simple Heart", "You're Not So Hot", "I got your body" and "Got ya where I want ya". The cut "You're Not So Hot" reached #71 in France (1982).
[edit] Career resurgence
The retro-boom of the 1990s put Douglas back on the road touring and making personal appearances at a number of special events including the Martin Luther King Concert Series, Beatstock '97, Saturday Night Fever 20th Anniversary Reunion and the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony. In 2003, she returned to the recording studio when she was invited to sing backing vocals on Wanda Dee's Goddess Is Here! CD. During this period, she also re-recorded a number of her hits, which were also released.
Douglas is not to be confused with (and is no relation to) Carl Douglas, a fellow pop one-hit wonder whose famous single "Kung Fu Fighting" was in the Billboard Hot 100 at about the same time as Carol Douglas's "Doctor's Orders".
Barbra Streisand - Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) (1975) (Extended 1...
Barbra Streisand's 12" Promo version of her first ever disco hit and single to be made into an extended version. 1975. From the Album 'Lazy Afternoon'. A classic.
disco-soul version of the 1966 Four Tops Motown song "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" with modified lyrics
Disco for Children 1978
The "My First Disco Album" children's album, featuring the Kid Stuff Singers, was released as a record in 1978 by Kid Stuff Records (Kenneth J. Schwartz Records). The songs included
A "Special Disco Remix of the original 'Sesame Street Fever'" LP was released in 1978 in Canada by Sesame Street Records. The following songs were disco in their remixed versions, unlike the originals:
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Midnight Lady - Cerrone 1976
Cerrone (full name: Jean Marc Cerrone) is a French Eurodisco drummer, composer and music producer born in Paris.Based in Paris, Cerrone recorded, composed and performed his solo debut "Love In C Minor", again with Costandinos. Released, in 1976, on his own Malligator imprint, and distributed by Warner Filipacci in France, it shocked audiences with its controversial erotic cover, which was soon to be a Cerrone trademark. It was later released with a new, tamer cover. Likewise, label censors edited out some racy commentary from the album. It also featured a cover of Los Bravos' "Black Is Black" and "Midnite Lady", a dramatic and anthemic, almost soundtrack directed instrumental piece that closed his brilliant debut.errone's Paradise, released in 1977, was recorded with Raymond Donnez, aka "Don Ray". The original French album cover featured a naked model but had a tamer cover for the US release (Cerrone wearing a Hawaiian shirt). His third album Supernature sold over eight million albums worldwide. A departure from the lush orchestration with dizzying electronic instrumentation added to the mix.
Disco Sport Themes 1979
The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates team, winners of that year's World Series, adopted "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge as their anthem. The 1979 Super Bowl also had a Sister Sledge connection. The compilation CD "ESPN Stadium Anthems", released in 2003 by Hollywood Records, includes "We Are Family" as well as Kool and the Gang's "Celebration".
Meanwhile, the rock-disco anthem "San Diego Super Chargers" became the theme song of the San Diego Chargers football team, and remained so in coming decades.
The St. Louis Steamers, a soccer team, adopted "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden and Whitehead as its anthem in 1979, and as of 2004 it was still their anthem.
Meanwhile, the rock-disco anthem "San Diego Super Chargers" became the theme song of the San Diego Chargers football team, and remained so in coming decades.
The St. Louis Steamers, a soccer team, adopted "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden and Whitehead as its anthem in 1979, and as of 2004 it was still their anthem.
Disco at the 1979 Movies
The following disco songs were included on the 1979 movie soundtrack "Roller Boogie": "Hell on Wheels" by Cher, "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind and Fire with the Emotions, "Roller Boogie" by Bob Esty, "Love Fire" by Bob Esty and Michele Aller, "Elektronix (Roller Dancin')" by Bob Esty and Cheeks, and "We've Got the Power" by Ron Green.
The following disco songs were included on the 1979 movie soundtrack "Nocturna": "Love is Just a Heartbeat Away (Nocturna's Theme)" by Gloria Gaynor, "Nighttime Fantasy" by Vicki Sue Robinson, "Bitten by the Love Bug" by Heaven 'N' Hell Orchestra, "Love at First Sight" by Moment of Truth, and "I'm Hopelessly in Love with You" by Moment of Truth.
Disco For Children
The "Mickey Mouse Disco" children's album was released as a record in 1979 by Disney and sold in large quantities. The songs included
It was accompanied by a cartoon movie of the same name. The cassette tape edition of "Mickey Mouse Disco" came out in 1980. There were "Mickey Mouse Disco" watches, pillowcases, and other memorabilia for sale in 1979 and 1980, too.
1979's "Sesame Disco!" from Sesame Street Records, the superior follow-up to 1978's "Sesame Street Fever", also appealed to children with the disco songs
The vocals for "The Girls" on the "Sesame Disco!" album were by Ullanda McCullough, Yvonne Lewis, and Maretha Stewart.
Irwin the Disco Duck released a number of children's disco records during the 1970s, and in 1979 he released, among other things,
Claudja Barry
Jamaican-born Claudja Barry moved to Toronto with her family as a child. She began taking vocal lessons at age 15 and her gift of mixing dance rhythms into an intoxicating visual image landed her spots on various local tv shows while still in school, which in turn led to headlining various shows as well. After graduation, she left for New York, where she eventually landed a role in the hit musical 'Hair', then 'Catch My Soul'. The play toured Europe, where she eventually wound up in Germany in the spring of 1975.
She landed several jobs as a session vocalist and it was during this time that she met Frank Farina, who'd just scored a European hit with "Baby Do You Wanna Bump?" under the pseudonym "Boney M", the hero of an Australian TV series. Due to the success, there was a demand for live appearances so Barry, along with 3 other girls and 1 guy were hired. This line-up did only dancing, lip synching and press appearances. While on a brief European tour she met a young record producer named Jürgen Korduletsch. Following the tour, Barry was replaced by Liz Mitchell in 1976, and began working on her debut as a solo performer with Korduletsch, who was setting up Lollipop Records. With five tracks ready to go, "Sweet Dynamite" and "Love for the Sake of Love" soon became underground German club hits.
She returned part-time to Canada and after a distribution deal with Salsoul Records was set up, the five tracks were remixed and added to five new ones. SWEET DYNAMITE was released in the spring of 1977. A major hit in the European dance clubs, the album also showcased her range with the soulfully haunting "Love For The Sake Of Love". "Why Must A Girl Like Me" and the gritty title song were an expertly-woven mix of soul and funk with Euro-disco. The record also contained the infectious instrumental "Live A Little Bit", a sort of pseudo-African beat with a reggae twinge. Thanks to 12" singles the title track and "Dance, Dance, Dance" were top ten club smashes and made the album an international hit. She was also featured on label-mate Ronnie Jones' debut that year, doing a duet called "It Takes Two".
Returning to Munich, Germany's Arco Studios, Barry and Korduletsch decided to broaden her appeal. The result was '78's album simply entitled CLAUDJA. Somewhat confusing to those who viewed her as strictly a disco-diva, it showcased her versatility, in such tracks as her remake of the Gladys Knight & the Pips classic "Every Beat Of My Heart" and the raucous Motown classic remade three years earlier by the Doobie Brothers - "Take Me In Your Arms". But it was the success of the club mixes of "Dancin' Fever" and "Johnny Johnny Please Come Home" that ensured Claudja her second straight gold record.
Korduletsch had now decided to release the next record on his own Lollipop label with a Canadian distribution deal, the end result being CLAUDJA BARRY later the same year. In what would turn out to be her commercially most-successful record, it was the 12" version of "Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes" that would set the dance floor on fire, fast becoming an import hit when Chrysalis Records snatched up the U.S. rights, just in time to see it become an instant gold smash. The original also contained "I Just Wanna Be Loved By You", the infamous Marilyn Monroe hit. However when Chrysalis bought the rights they decided against including it, "Down By The Water" or "Love Of The Hurtin' Kind." Retitled BOOGIE WOOGIE DANCIN' SHOES, they did include another track from those sessions not on the original album, "Forget About You." Straying from her 'hard-core disco image', both versions also included a rendition of the Staple Singers' "Heavy Makes You Happy". 1978 also saw Claudja in the running for two Juno Awards, but lost most promising female vocalist to Lisa Dalbello, and was runner up for female vocalist, won by Patsy Gallant.
Next up was FEEL THE FIRE, hitting the shelves a year later. Disappointment rang throughout the offices at Chrysalis, as aside from the track "You Make Me Feel The Fire", nothing charted and nothing seemed to catch the attention of a now-changing dance club scene. Partly due to the interference and tampering of the big label, the album seemed to lack the spunk of some of her earlier works. "Stop, He's A Lover" and "One Night Queen" kept her Euro-disco sound alive, but things seemed to be becoming more mechanical, although "Love Seemed So Easy Without You" is a pleasant R&B/pop ballad, showing the range she was capable of. Polygram also released a greatest hits package that year. Again Claudja found her way to the ballot at that year's Junos, winning this time for most promising female vocalist.
By 1981 disco was on it's last leg and Claudja Barry was caught in the middle of the musical crossroads, having a tough time getting North American distribution. She released the 12" single of "Radio Action" that year on the Canadian arm of the Polydor label, scoring a hit on the gay club circuit. MADE IN HONG KONG produced the title track hit as well as the more moderately tempoed "Love Control." However the lack of American distribution impeded it's potential success and it remained a hit in underground circles only.
That year she was again featured doing a duet with Lollipop-mate Ronnie Jones, "The Two Of Us", released Stateside on Handshake Records. '82 saw much of the same - Claudja Barry trying to shed the nearly-taboo by this time 'disco queen' image while not straying far from the sound that brought her to the dance. A dance version of the Harry Belafonte classic "Banana Boat (Day-O)" on a 12" and Atlantic Records released "If I Do It To You", then "Up All Night". TSR Records stepped in that summer and and released "Work Me Over" backed with the remake of "I Will Follow Him", Peggy March's 1963 hit. Oddly though, a full album didn't follow.
1983 saw her form a short term alliance with Personal Records, releasing interesting remakes of The Yardbirds' "For Your Love", and The Cerrones' "Trippin' On The Moon" a year later, which featured a censored version of her German Playboy cover from '79. Two different 12" singles of "Born To Love" also from 1984 were released, as was the 5-track mini-album NO LA DE DA - Part 2 which also featured Aldo Nova.
After appearing on Bobby 0's "Whisper To A Scream" in '85, she landed a small role in the Mario Van Peebles movie "Rappin'" that same year. 1987 saw Barry ink a deal with Epic Records, releasing a 12" with two versions of "Down and Counting", a smash hit in the clubs. This made its way to the I, CLAUDJA album later that year. 3 other singles were cut, but "Secret Affair", "Hot To The Touch" and "Can You Feel My Heart Beat" failed to pack the same punch. "Dead Or Alive", spurred on by the pop group of the same name was also featured on the record.
1988 saw Hot Productions begin releasing her previous records, starting with CLAUDJA BARRY under the new title I WANNA BE LOVED BY YOU, as well as convincing her to collaberate with another of their signees, electronica-group S.I.N. in 1990 for "Good Time". A 1991 deal with RCA saw the release of "Love Is An Island", yet another 12" club hit. "Summer of Love" and "Can We Dance" also made their way to vinyl the following year. CLAUDJA was remastered and issued on CD under the title THE GIRL MOST LIKELY.
In '94 she lent her talents to German rave artists General Base for "Poison". 1995 saw Claudja demonstrate her range at the utmost, releasing a Christmas album entitled DISCO ROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE shortly after Lollipop and Hot Productions issued another 'best of' package called DISCO MIXES. She signed a deal with Critique Records the following year, releasing a 12" single "Ain't Gonna Miss You". Korduletsch meanwhile was beginning to work with other artists as well, producing CALL ON GOD by gospel group The Brower Brothers in '97, of which Claudja was part of the choir.
Claudja Barry's status as one of Canada's greatest disco exports is undeniable, scoring more hits worldwide and selling more albums than any other performer of that genre or time frame. She still performs occassionally, but for the most part has retired from the entertainment business and lives in Germany with her husband/producer Jurgen Korduletsch.
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