DISCO FOR CHILDREN
The "Mousercise" children's album was released in 1982 by Disney. The first track is disco and contains several songs (with both sung and spoken words) related to Winnie the Pooh and Disney themes:
Disco songs featured on the American television show "American Bandstand"
in 1982 included: "Steppin' Out" by Kool and the Gang (February 6
program), "She's a Bad Mama Jama" by Carl Carlton (February 13 program),
"Circles" by Atlantic Starr (May 8 program), and "Forget Me Nots" by
Patrice Rushen (May 29 program).
Disco songs featured on the American television show "Soul Train" in 1982
included: "It's a Love Thing" by the Whispers (March 20 program) and
"Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen (May 29 program).
"Hold Me
Tighter in the Rain" by Billy Griffin is an electro-soul song
which reached #17 Pop in the U.K. in February 1983.
One of the year's best soul songs was "Looking Up to
You" by Michael Wycoff.
The classic "A
Night to Remember" by Shalamar was also released. All three songs are
backed by strings, but the tempo is a little slower than most disco songs.
Songs like these are called "downtempo disco" by some people.
"The Look of Love" by ABC is a hit dance song (#18 Pop in the USA in
January 1983) that is heavily electronic but does incorporate
prominent violins and some horn moments, giving it a disco feel. The other
dance-pop songs on ABC's Lexicon of Love album are notable for
their frequent injections of trumpet, trombone, bass, guitar, and piano
- for instance, the heavy bass in "Date Stamp".
David Christie's "Saddle Up" (#9 Pop in the U.K. in 1982) has real horns
but otherwise
electronic instrumentation, including (apparently) fake bass and keyboard
backings, bringing it into the broad category of electro-dance.
Electro-dance had become the dominant style of popular dance music by 1982.
Michael Jackson's "Baby Be Mine", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'",
"Thriller" (reached #1 Pop in the USA in March 1984),
"Billie Jean" (#1 Pop in both the U.K. and USA in March 1983),
and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" are dance tracks that are heavy on
synths - i.e. synth-pop. Here are
some other non-disco dance songs from 1982: "Love Is In Control (Finger On
The Trigger)" by Donna Summer (electro-dance), "It's Right" by Michelle
Wallace, "You Can't Hurry Love" by Phil Collins, "It's Raining Men" by
the Weather Girls (electro-dance), the extraordinary "Love Come Down" by
Evelyn "Champagne" King (#17
Pop in the USA in November 1982, #1 R&B in the USA for 5 weeks), "Music
and Lights" by Imagination, "You are a Danger" by Gary Low,
"Why" by Carly Simon, "Dancing Tight" by Phil Fearon and Galaxy, "Knock Me
Out" by Gary's Gang, "Don't Let Go of Me" by Mike and Brenda Sutton,
"Die Hard Lover" by Loverde (Hi-NRG),
"She's Got to be
(a Dancer)" by Jerry Knight,
"Rock Shock" by B.B.C.S. & A.,
"Voodoo Man" by Roni Griffith,
"Tease Me" and "Stop! In the
Name of Love" by Gloria Gaynor, "Hold On" by Kreamcicle, and "I Surrender"
by Voyage,
"Mama Used to Say" by Junior (electro-R&B),
the incomparable "I
Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" by Hall and Oates
(electro-R&B),
"Over Like a Fat Rat" by Fonda Rae (garage), "Rock Your Baby (1982 Remix)"
by Disco Connection,
"Keep
in Touch (Body to Body)" by Shades of Love (garage),
"You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat it Too" by Brenda Taylor,
"Too Hot" by Pure Energy, "Dance Fever" by Gwen Guthrie,
"Say That Again" by the B.B. and Q. Band (The Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens Band),
"All Night Long" by the B.B. and Q. Band (The Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens
Band) (electro-dance),
"Take Me Up" by Matrix (electro-dance),
"Space-Disco" by Cosmic Hoffmann (electro-dance),
"Best Love" by Rose Royce (electro-dance-soul),
"Inside Out" by Odyssey, "Passion" by the Flirts,
"I'm
Specialized in Love" by Sharon Brown (electro-dance),
"Love Reaction" and "Shoot Your Shot" by Divine (Hi-NRG),
"Music Turns Me On" by Sparque, "Walk On By" and "Keep
On" by D-Train (a
pioneer of electro-funk), "Do It" by Herley Johnson Jr. (electro-funk),
"Detour" by Karen Young (electro-funk),
"Standing on the Top" by the Temptations featuring Rick James (electro-funk),
"Free and Easy" by Plush (an electro-funk cover of the 1980 Rene and
Angela disco song),
"Reach Up" by Toney Lee, "Moment of My Life" and "I Like It Like That" by
Inner Life, "Donnez Moi (Give It to Me)" by Dusty Springfield,
"Holiday" and "Everybody" and "Borderline"
by Madonna, and just about any other dance song from that year.
"Hooked on Swing" by Larry Elgart and His Manhattan Swing Orchestra,
a #31 Pop (USA) June 1982 release, is a jazz number.
This was also the year for the hit "Do I Do" by Stevie Wonder (#13 Pop in
the USA in July 1982, #2 R&B in the USA for 4 weeks, #1 Dance in the USA
in 1982, #10 Pop in the U.K. in June 1982), which is
very jazzy dance music.
"Baby Don't You Know" by Bobbi Humphrey is another
1982 jazzy dance song and it includes flute playing, violins, and both a
real bass guitar and an electronic bassline.
The Clash merged funk-dance and rock in their hit "Rock the Casbah".
"Dance Like Fred Astaire" by Delegation
and "Call Me Up" by Blue Feather
are funk-dance.
"Disco Gate (Keep on Dancing)" by Mandingo Griot Society is African-styled
dance.
Forrest Thomas recorded a electronic remake of
the classic disco song "Rock the
Boat" and it reached #4 Pop in the U.K. in March 1983.
El Coco came out with their last album in 1982, including the funk song
"Shake It Down".
The group Change released the cool electro-R&B-dance song "The
Very Best in You".
Aretha Franklin's amazing "Jump To It" is another electro-R&B-dance track
that's well known from 1982.
Caviar's "Never Stop Lovin' You" is disco-influenced R&B.
"Le
misunderstanding" by Idris Cheba is disco-backed rap in French.
"I Want to Thank You" by Alicia Myers is a nice gospel-dance tune.
In 1982, the Indian film "Disco Dancer" was released. Bappi Lahiri
composed and Nandu Bhende produced the film's disco songs: "I am a Disco
Dancer", "Auva Auva Koi Yahan Nache", "Ae Oh Aa Zara Mudke", "Jimmy Jimmy
Jimmy Aaja", "Yaad Aa Raha Hai", and "Krishna Dharti Pe Aaja Too". "I am a
Disco Dancer" got played in discotheques in many different countries.
The 1982 soundtrack to the American film "Soup for One" included the disco
song "I Want Your Love" by Chic.
Billboard Magazine's "Disco Top 80" chart (the name it went by as late as
1981) was renamed "Dance/Disco Top 80" in 1982, and the word "Disco" was
dropped entirely in 1983.
"Circles" by Atlantic Starr was featured on the October 22, 1983 episode
of "Soul Train". "I Can't Shake This Feeling" by Klique was a highlight of
the May 14, 1983 episode of "Soul Train".
Chas Jankel performed "Glad to Know You" on the February
26, 1983 broadcast of "American Bandstand".
"Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" by Billy Ocean is definitely a
great party song, which became a big hit in 1984, reaching #1 Pop in the
USA in November 1984, but I don't think it can be classified as disco;
despite the violin-sounding flourishes (apparently arranged by Barry
Eastmond) and the presence of some real instruments including guitar,
and a great saxophone solo, the overall sound is not disco, the bassline
is provided by an electronic synth bass, and the 4/4 beat is the
heavy '80s-like type. Another great non-disco party song this year was
"Tonight" by Kool and the Gang (rock-dance).
"Let's Dance" by David Bowie and "I'm Only Shooting Love" by Time Bandits
are also great but not disco.
Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money" is not disco, nor is "Love
Town" by Booker Newbury III, nor "Get Down Saturday Night" by Oliver
Cheatham (#37 R&B in the USA in spring 1983), nor "Love Game" by Pure Energy,
nor "I.O.U." by Freeez (#2 Pop in the U.K. in summer 1983),
nor "Loving You" by Status IV (electro-dance-funk),
nor "Follow the Brightest Star" by Voyage,
nor "Skiing in the Snow" by Laura Pallas and the Reputations,
nor "So Many Men, So Little Time" by Miquel Brown, nor "I Am What I Am"
by Gloria Gaynor (a U.K. Top 20 hit in 1983; Hi-NRG), nor "You Can't Hide
(Your Love from Me)" by David Joseph (#13 Pop in the U.K. in March 1983;
electro-dance).
"All Night Long (All Night)" by Lionel Richie is a calypso-dance song.
"Paris Latino" by Bandolero is a rap-dance song in Spanish and English
with electro-disco sections.
"The
Crown" by Gary Byrd and the GB Experience featuring Stevie Wonder is
a disco-flavored funk song with rap sections.
"Magic" by Circle City Band is electro-funk.
Julia and Company's "Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba)", which reached #15 Pop
in the U.K. in 1984, is R&B-dance.
"Disco King" by Carrara and "Flashlight on a Disco Night" by Rofo
are electronic dance.
Disco Connection's cover of Patrick Hernandez's "Born to be Alive" is
electro-dance.
A remix of Sister Sledge's 1979 song "Lost in Music" which still retained
its disco flavor became a hit in Britain for a second time during 1984.
"Give It Up" by K.C. was featured on the March 31, 1984 edition of
"American Bandstand".
"I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan is great but it's not disco.
Other popular non-disco electronic dance songs from 1984
included "Freakshow on the Dancefloor" by the Bar-Kays, "You Spin Me
'Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive (Hi-NRG), "High Energy" by Evelyn
Thomas (Hi-NRG), "Disco Band" by Scotch, "Glamorous Life" by Sheila E.,
"We Can Make It" by Purple Flash, "Florida (Move Your Feet)" by Paul
Sharada, "Dr. Beat" by Miami Sound Machine, and "Change of Heart" by
Change.
Carol Jiani (a.k.a. Uchenna Ikejiani) released the non-disco track "Touch
and Go Lover" this year.
Cafe Society's remake of "Relight My Fire" is electro-dance. "Black
Stations/White Stations" by Martha and the Muffins (M + M) is funk-pop.
"You Do It Right" by Hot Luv is electro-funk
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by Sylvester (1978) plays in the
soundtrack of the 1984 documentary "The
Times of Harvey Milk".
Mai Tai's "History" a.k.a. "Our Love is History" (1985) is structurally electro-funk with real rhythm-guitar, bass, and synth backing. Kasso's "Baby Doll" is electro-funk.
1986's "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz is very cool and has several real
instruments in the mix.
The piano-heavy "Move Your Body" by Marshall Jefferson is a nice house song.
"Queen of the Disco" by Whitehouse Connection is electro-R&B-dance with
real bass and real rhythm guitar.
The disco hit "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey plays during a
scene in the 1986 film "At Close Range".
1987's awesome "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley is a Hi-NRG song that has echoes of the disco vibe, especially during the 16 seconds in the middle where the real guitar gets strumming while the background girls sing "oooh give you up, oooh give you up" and Rick follows with "never gonna give, never gonna give...never gonna give, never gonna give". Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies" is an electro-pop tune that has a real bass being played and real drums played usually in a disco pattern so it verges on being disco though the flavor is different; it reached #4 on the Billboard US Hot 100 Singles chart in November 1987 and #5 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1987. "Love an Adventure" by Pseudo Echo, also from 1987, combines an up-tempo dance rhythm and electronics with violins.
"Tribute (Right On)" by The Pasadenas (a #5 Pop hit in the U.K. in 1988) is a great danceable soul song that has a heavy bass, rhythm guitar, horns, and a mix of disco-timed and erratic dance beats. It is considered a disco song by some people. The 1988 electro-dance remake of Penny McLean's "Lady Bump" by The Bump Project featuring Loni Peroni also succeeds in keeping a disco vibe. So does the 1988 electro-dance remake of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes's "The Love I Lost" by Seventh Avenue. And check out all the real instruments on the 1988 dance song "Flashin' Back (Dance Mix)" by Tyrone Davis, very untypical for that year. "Disco Maniac" by Denise and Baby's Gang is italo-styled electro-dance. "Teardrops" by Womack and Womack is electro-dance with electronic bass.
Big Fun's "Can't Shake the Feeling" (1989) is very disco-like for an electronic dance number. There's also a disco influence on some of the music by Ten City, such as their 1989 deep-house track "That's the Way Love Is"; check out the "Underground Mix Version" for disco flavor, as the group emphasized real instruments and powerful vocals. "Express Yourself" by Madonna (1989) is interesting for its use of real rhythm guitar and real horns, though the bassline is fake and the overall sound is very electro-dance particularly with the '80s-styled beats. Loleatta Holloway's 1980 disco song "Love Sensation" was sampled on Black Box's 1989 dance hit "Ride on Time", which soared to #1 Pop in the U.K. in September 1989. Lisa Stansfield's soulful 1989 single "All Around the World" (a #1 Pop hit in the U.K. in November 1989, and a #3 Pop hit in the USA in April 1990) was an outstanding violin-backed pop song. Stansfield chose to refer to her music as "disco" (even though it really isn't).
Disco Music released before 1982:
Disco Music released after the 1980s:
