The Salsoul Orchestra

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The Salsoul Orchestra was a 1974 New York based American disco - Orchestra , which celebrated the end of the 1970s a number of successes at the height of the music style. Until its dissolution in 1982, it also accompanied numerous disco artists in the studio.

Career

The ensemble was founded in 1974 by the arranger, composer and musician Vincent Montana, Jr. founded. Before that he was a member of MFSB , an association of several studio musicians who initially accompanied numerous Philly soul musicians and later successfully released their own albums. Some musicians in this group followed Montana, Jr. to New York to play in the Salsoul Orchestra. The Big Band he began to combine elements from Philly Soul, Funk and classic disco music, as opposed to MFSB with additional Latin elements. For Salsoul Records , the orchestra recorded almost a dozen studio albums from 1975 to the early 1980s. In addition, the up to 50 musicians at times acted as studio accompaniment for countless artists of the record label.

The group celebrated great success straight away: The debut The Salsoul Orchestra placed 14th in the USA in 1975, and a number of songs also ranked high in the disco charts. Particularly successful were Salsoul Hustle and the cover version of an old Jimmy Dorsey hit, Tangerine , which also achieved good ratings in the pop and R&B hit lists. The follow-up LP Nice 'n' Naasty was able to roughly repeat the success. According to Allmusic , the “amusing” Christmas album Christmas Jollies indicated that the orchestra had a preference for the growing trend of disco novelty recordings. Subsequent works such as Cuchi-Cuchi (1977), with Charo as the lead singer, Up the Yellow Brick Road (1978) with musical songs and a second Christmas album ( Christmas Jollies II , 1981) consistently continued on this path. On the other hand, there are “more serious” albums like Magic Journey with big hits like Run Away , which was sung by Loleatta Holloway .

The Salsoul Orchestra disbanded in 1982. In early 1983, the single Ooh, I Love It (Love Break) was the ensemble's last hit in the American disco charts. In the 1990s, most of the studio works of the Salsoul Orchestra were re-released on CD, and various compilations followed. In 1997 Run Away was re-recorded by the project Nuyorican Soul and the singer India and this time reached number one on the disco charts.

Vincent Montana Jr. died on April 13, 2013.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1975 Salsoul Orchestra US14 (45 weeks)
US 		R&B20 (20 weeks)
R&B
First published: November 1975
1976 Nice 'n' Naasty US61 (14 weeks)
US 		R&B12 (11 weeks)
R&B
First published: October 1976
1977 Christmas jollies US83 (6 weeks)
US 		R&B38 (4 weeks)
R&B
First published: November 1976
Magic Journey US61 (20 weeks)
US 		R&B51 (5 weeks)
R&B
First published: June 1977
Cuchi-Cuchi US100 (15 weeks)
US 		-
First published: November 1977
with Charo
1978 Up the Yellow Brick Road US117 (8 weeks)
US 		R&B52 (3 weeks)
R&B
First published: March 1978
1982 Christmas Jollies II US170 (5 weeks)
US 		-
First published: December 1981

More albums

  • 1978: How Deep Is Your Love
  • 1978: How High?
  • 1979: Street Sense
  • 1982: Heat It Up
  • 2005: Swingin 'with Santa (release: May 10th)
  • 2005: Salsoul (release: August 23)

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1978 Greatest Disco Hits -
Music for Non-Stop Dancing 		US97 (13 weeks)
US 		-
First published: September 1978

More compilations

  • 1994: Anthology Volume 1
  • 1994: Anthology Volume 2
  • 1997: The Best Of
  • 1999: The Best of the Salsoul Orchestra (release: July 1st)
  • 2003: Sound of Salsoul: Best of the Salsoul Orchestra (release: March 3rd)
  • 2003: Greatest Hits
  • 2004: Heat It Up (release: July 19th)
  • 2005: The Anthology (2 CDs; release: May 10th)
  • 2005: Greatest Disco Hits (release: August 23)
  • 2015: The Salsoul Orchestra Story: 40th Anniversary Collection (3 CDs; release: October 30th)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks [↑]: treated together with the previous entry;
[←]: placed in both charts
UK UK US US R&B R&B Dance Dance
1975 Salsoul Hustle
Salsoul Orchestra 		- US76 (6 weeks)
US 		R&B44 (9 weeks)
R&B 		Dance4 (16 weeks)
Dance
First published: August 1975
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Salsoul Rainbow
Salsoul Orchestra 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: November 1975
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Chicago Bus Stop (Ooh, I Love It)
Salsoul Orchestra 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: November 1975
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
1976 You're Just the Right Size
Salsoul Orchestra 		- US88 (5 weeks)
US 		R&B76 (5 weeks)
R&B[Dance: ↑]
First published: May 1976
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Tangerine
Salsoul Orchestra 		- US18 (13 weeks)
US 		R&B36 (11 weeks)
R&B 		Dance6 (8 weeks)
Dance
First published: January 1976
Authors: Johnny Mercer , Victor Schertzinger
Original: Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell with
Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra , 1942
Nice 'n' Naasty
Nice 'n' Naasty 		- US30 (14 weeks)
US 		R&B20 (14 weeks)
R&B 		Dance3 (14 weeks)
Dance
First published: August 1976
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Salsoul 3001
Nice 'n' Naasty 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: 1976
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Don't Beat Around the Bush
Nice 'n' Naasty 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: 1976
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Good for the Soul
Nice 'n' Naasty 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: 1976
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
1977 Ritzy Mambo
Nice 'n' Naasty 		- US99 (1 week)
US 		- -
First published: February 1977
Author: Vincent Montana Jr.
Magic Bird of Fire
Magic Journey 		- - - Dance3 (20 weeks)
Dance
First published: 1977
disco adaptation of Stravinsky's Der Feuervogel
Authors: Igor Stravinsky , Vincent Montana Jr.
Getaway
Magic Journey 		- - R&B33 (11 weeks)
R&B[Dance: ↑]
First published: June 1977
Authors: Bernard Taylor, Peter Corbelenky
Original: Earth, Wind and Fire , 1976
Run Away
Magic Journey 		- - R&B84 (6 weeks)
R&B[Dance: ↑]
First release: October 1977
feat. Loleatta Holloway
Authors: Janice Gugliuzza, Ronnie James, Vincent Montana Jr.
1978 Dance a Little Bit Closer
Cuchi-Cuchi 		UK44 (4 weeks)
UK 		- - Dance18 (13 weeks)
Dance
First published: March 1978
with Charo
Author: Vincent Montana, Jr.
West Side Encounter -
West Side Story (Medley)
Up the Yellow Brick Road 		- - R&B68 (5 weeks)
R&B 		Dance13 (11 weeks)
Dance
First published: April 1978
disc version of the song from the musical West Side Story
Authors: Leonard Bernstein , Stephen Sondheim
Ease On Down the Road
Up the Yellow Brick Road 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: 1978
Author: Charles Smalls
Original: The Hues Corporation , 1974
Fiddler on the Roof (Medley)
Up the Yellow Brick Road 		- - -[Dance: ↑]
First published: 1978
The Fiddler on the Roof from the musical Anatevka
Author: Jerry Bock
Original: Zero Mostel , Maria Karnilova,
Beatrice Arthur , Michael Granger, Leonard Frey
and Paul Lipson, 1964
1979 Street Sense / 212 North 12th
Street Sense 		- - - Dance40 (11 weeks)
Dance
First publication: 1979
Authors: Thor Baldursson, Tom Moulton
How high?
How high? 		- - R&B66 (7 weeks)
R&B 		Dance21 (19 weeks)
Dance
First release: October 1979
feat. Cognac
authors: Colin Jennings, Steve O'Donnell
1982 Take Some Time Out (For Love)
Heat It Up 		- - R&B52 (12 weeks)
R&B 		Dance46 (9 weeks)
Dance
First release: May 1982
feat. Jocelyn Brown
Author: Stan Lucas
Seconds
Heat It Up 		- - - Dance22 (11 weeks)
Dance
First release: 1982
feat. Loleatta Holloway ; Mix: Shep Pettibone
Authors: Ron Kersey, Sam Dees
1983 Ooh, I Love It (Love Break)
 UK83 (2 weeks)
UK 		- - Dance19 (10 weeks)
Dance
First published: February 1983
Author: Vincent Montana, Jr.

More singles

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  1. ↑ Biography + Discography, Discogs.com
  2. ↑ Article on the orchestra at Allmusic
  3. ↑ Chart information, Allmusic
  4. ↑ Status report , official Facebook page, accessed on April 15, 2013
  5. ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles UK US1 US2
  6. ↑ a b The Billboard album by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
  7. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
  8. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0898201864 .

Web links