Here’s a great video by Fire Island done in Chicago with the Legendary Disco Diva Loleatta Holloway (RIP – November 5, 1946 – March 21, 2011), her sounds were heard all over the world and will be missed but never forgotten.
Fire Island – Shout To The Top – Loleatta Holloway, Courtesy of youseguace. Thank you
WOW!! I May Not Be There When You Want Me (But I’m Right On Time) is, without a doubt, one of the greatest dance songs EVER recorded, the second it came on in a club you couldn’t get to the dance floor fast enough! I’d rate it on par with Jeniffer Holliday’s “No Frills Love”. Disco/dance music had/has a magical legacy, for me anyway, and for many people like me who recognise great music.
There are a small number of dance songs that are so good they rise above any classification but are considered “dance” and are embraced by musical genres of all kinds even though they may have been released under the disco label, they were adopted by music lovers across the board. Remember Baby I’m Burning by Dolly and Take Me Home by Cher? Those 2 songs weren’t released under any specific label because they were, simply put, dance songs!
Some of my old favorites were Found a Cure by Ashford and Simpson, I Love the Nightlife by Alicia Bridges (how can anyone overlook that one?)…what else made me shake my groove thang?! I loved Hot Lunch Jam by Irene Cara from the Fame soundtrack. Out Here on My Own and What a Feeling were both huge records for her too, the former being a ballad. Remember Come To Me by France Joli? If My Friends Could See Me by Linda Clifford? Star Love by Cheryl Lynn? or Upside Down and Love Hangover by Diana?
Another song I liked by Diana that I thought was good enough to be a hit but was ignored was Pieces of Ice. She also had Swept Away and Mirror Mirror which were the first songs she released after leaving Motown in 1984 for RCA. I guess I kind of liked Passion by Rod stewart. New York New York by Nena Hagan was a killer!
And of course the Queen, Donna Summer, kept cranking out hit after hit starting with I Feel Love, and from there she released 3 or 4 fantastic records before her smash Bad Girls, which was a double album and had mega hits on all 4 sides! I miss that great music in the clubs but play it at home all the time! Does anyone else have a list of their favorite dance songs from 1977-1982? Those were very good years!
Wow thats a big list of music and musicians, but you and I both know thats just the tip of the iceberg. During those years the music was fierce, the artist were fabulous. Paradise Garage, Studio 54, The Saint, Crisco Disco the mystic of that era. It was another time, yet is so now. Nina Hagen’s New York, New York speaks volumes, she also had On The Radio which was Fabu to.
Donna Summer was the Queen, I got that album on a wheel game while on vaction in Seaside Heights NJ I played that record so many times it was crazy. Donna’s Bad Girls album was one of two in my household growing up.
Some of tunes we’ve been listening to lately have been Divine (I’m So Beautiful) its got a great Dead or Alive sound to it. The Jonny McGovern Camp has some great hits. He mixes it up with Erickatoure Aviance, Princess Xtravaganza, Britney Houston to name a few.
As far as music from that period there was Kano (I’m Ready)ready to rollerskate if I knew how to. This a good listen highly recommended.