Another Blast From The Past

Being the Rock & Roll fan that I am, I wasn't much of a fan of Disco Music when it first hit the scene in the 70s. Remember the Disco Sucks and Disco Is Dead crowd? That was me. But now that it's nostalgia, I have to say some of it was okay (with some being the operative word here). I still think much of it was cheesy and lame, but some it had some real unique sounds that were fun to listen to.

So this week, we depart from the usual rock format and pay tribute to a genre that will bring back memories of drinking, dancing, and chasing women in jam packed night clubs, on Saturday nights.

Warming things up is a song that truly captured pretty much the entire essence of the disco sound. Here is Amii Stewart and her mega hit from 1978, Knock On Wood:



One song was always a favorite with the ladies in the joint. Those of them that were recently dumped or were out because they knew it was a real possibility in the near future, really connected with it. I usually sat this one out, because this is the tune where the women usually made their statements (in varying stages of inebriation). To maintain any chance to get a phone number later in the evening, it was good to let them all go out and dance without the guys (blow off steam). Some people consider this the best disco song of all time, but I am not sure I go to superlative. (It is a good one, though.)This is a live version of the song. It features the original artist Gloria Gaynor with some help from Vicki Sue Robinson and Thelma Houston. The song is I Will Survive:



Disco lasted for the better part of a decade, spanning the latter part of the 70s and early 80s. Kool And The Gang was one group that carried the "happy hit the floor running" sounds of disco, into the 80s. They are best known for their mega-hit Celebration. But my favorite was a catchy little tune called, Fresh:



Rick James was one of those artists that had real engineering talent and the potential to do some great things with it. Up until he immersed himself in the sub-culture of drugs and weirdness, he had some success. He is best known for the song Super Freak. But again, to break ranks with the status quo, I want to share one that I liked far better. Here, he engineered a song that featured Eddie Murphy on vocals, It's called, Party All The Time:



No dance night club in the 80s could resist playing this next tune by the Gap Band. This was always guaranteed to pack the floor at peak times. It was usually played about three times a night. Here is probably my all-time favorite dance tune, its called You Dropped A Bomb On Me:



Enjoy.