Disco lady

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Disco Lady is the title of a disco hit by Johnnie Taylor from 1976.

History of origin

Johnnie Taylor's style was soul music . When he signed with Stax Records in Memphis in December 1965 , the first tracks I Don't Want to Lose Your Love / For These Simple Reasons for the first single (Volt # 143) were recorded in Memphis on January 3, 1966 . It was produced by Isaac Hayes and his partner David Porter, who mostly composed the songs for him. To be modestly successful in the Rhythm & Blues - hit parade were gearing in March 1966 but the big success was until 1968 a long time coming. Only when Don Davis came to Stax as chief producer in September 1968 (he had previously been with soul competitor Motown Records since 1959 ) did the situation improve for Johnnie Taylor. Davis took care of Johnnie Taylor, whose Who's Making Love (October 1968) had a total of 850,000 copies by the end of 1968 and ultimately sold almost two million copies.

Production of an LP

Taylor stayed with Stax Records until they went bankrupt on December 19, 1975. This bankruptcy brought about a turning point for him, because the production of the eighth LP Eargasm was planned at exactly that time . The turning point consisted in the forced change of the record company in December 1975 to Columbia Records ; In any case, the bankruptcy did not affect production. Because the LP was - like almost all Taylor songs before - recorded by United Sound Studio in Detroit and supervised by Taylor's previous producer Don Davis. This is where the music and rhythm tracks were created while Taylor's vocals were recorded at Sundance Studios in Dallas. The first track on the Eargasm LP is the title Disco Lady (composed by Albert James "Al" Vance / Harvey Scales / Don Davis), which Columbia Records had released as a single. In the background the session choir sings “Brandy”. David van dePitte, a former Motown employee, was hired as arranger. The recordings were finished in early January 1976, so that the LP Eargasm and the single Disco Lady were released in the same month.

success

Johnnie Taylor - Disco Lady

The sale of the single was rapid, because within the first four months the million mark was already well exceeded. The pulsating dance song took first place in both charts (6 weeks in the R&B charts and 4 weeks in the pop charts), making it Johnnie Taylor's most successful record. It received the first ever platinum award from the American RIAA on April 22, 1976 for 2.5 million copies sold. It was Columbia Records' top-selling single of all time. The LP Eargasm reached the top position on the R&B LP charts and number 5 on the LP pop charts.

The professional world does not agree on whether this is a real disco song. In any case, the music arrangement is not in disco style, the text is only about a woman dancing disco, who is being watched admiringly by the protagonist. He can imagine her as a dance star on the US TV music show Soul Train . Taylor himself presented his hit in the Soul Train episode of August 21, 1976. He denies that there are sexual innuendos in the text that would have been projected into some passages.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bob Bowman, Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records , 1997, p. 161
  2. was the singer in Taylor's background group "The 7 Sounds"
  3. ^ Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 432
  4. People-Magazine, July 19, 1976, Vol. 6, "Disco Lady" Has Made Preacher Johnnie Taylor a Rich Man - Now What's This About Dirty Lyrics?