Various Artists-"Disco 75" 3CD Set 8/20/21 [Robinsongs]

[Motown Eddie]

A brand new series of releases devoted to the rise of Disco in the ‘70s, a genre which began when soul music became the most popular sub-genre of Rhythm & Blues within the African American culture in the USA, from where, the cult of the DJ emerged.
‘Disco 75’ features huge hits along with dancefloor essentials that changed the face of dance music mid-decade; including massive radio-friendly tunes from Shirley [And Company], Jackson Five, KC And The Sunshine Band, Archie Bell And The Drells, The O’Jays, Whispers, The Average White Band, Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes, Disco Tex And The Sexolettes and more.

Designed by Michael Robson and mastered by Simon Murphy this is the definitive collection of the dancefloor sounds of 1975. The best of 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 will follow.


DISC ONE:
1. SHIRLEY [AND COMPANY] – SHAME, SHAME, SHAME
2. MOSES DILLARD & The Lovejoy Orchestra – THEME FROM LOVEJOY
3. HERBIE MANN – HI-JACK
4. DORIS DUKE – A LITTLE BIT OF LOVIN’
5. BLACK STASH – MIGHTY LOVE MAN PT 1
6. GENYA RAVAN – FEEL THE NEED IN ME
7. THE KAY-GEES – GET DOWN
8. ARMADA ORCHESTRA – COCHISE
9. AVERAGE WHITE BAND – PICK UP THE PIECES
10. HAROLD MELVIN & BLUENOTES – BAD LUCK
11. GENE PAGE – SATIN SOUL
12. JESUS ALVAREZ – QUEEN BEE
13. SELDON POWELL AND CO – MOR SHAME PT 1
14. MAJOR LANCE – DON’T YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU
15. FRANKIE VALLI – SWEARIN’ TO GOD
16. DIONNE WARWICKE – TAKE IT FROM ME
17. RHYTHM MAKERS – ZONE

DISC TWO:
1. SEEDS OF THE EARTH – PLANTING SEEDS
2. DE-LITE-FUL – FORGET THAT GIRL
3. CHUCK JACKSON – LOVE LIGHTS
4. CALENDAR – HYPERTENSION
5. RETTA YOUNG – [SENDING OUT AN] S.O.S.
6. BATAAN – THE BOTTLE [LA BOTELLA]
7. DEREK MARTIN – BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
8. SYLVIA – PUSSY CAT
9. THE JACKSON FIVE – FOREVER CAME TODAY
10. CROWN HEIGHTS AFFAIR – DREAMING A DREAM
11. BROTHER TO BROTHER – LET YOUR MIND BE FREE [VOCAL]
12. BROTHER TO BROTHER – LET YOUR MIND BE FREE [INST]
13. THE REFLECTIONS – THREE STEPS FROM TRUE LOVE
14. THE RIMSHOTS -7-6-5-4-3-2-1 [BLOW YOUR WHISTLE]
15. MOMENTS AND WHATNAUTS – GIRLS [FRENCH VERSION]
16. PAT LUNDI – PARTY MUSIC
17. MFSB – SEXY
18. PEOPLES CHOICE – DO IT ANY WAY YOU WANNA
19. ESTHER PHILLIPS – WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
20. BANZAI – CHINESE KUNG FU
21. THE GLITTER BAND – MAKES YOU BLIND

DISC THREE:
1. AL MATTHEWS – FOOL
2. UNIVERSAL MIND – REACH OUT FOR ME
3. ULTRAFUNK – STING YOUR JAWS – PART 1
4. KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND – THAT’S THE WAY I LIKE IT
5. ARMADA ORCHESTRA – FEEL THE NEED IN ME
6. JOHNNY OTIS – JAWS
7. DISCO TEX & THE SEXOLETTES – GET DANCIN’
8. OSCAR TONEY JaR – CHICKEN HEADS
9. THE O’JAYS – I LOVE MUSIC
10. THE SOUL TRAIN GANG – SOUL TRAIN “75”
11. JIMMY JAMES & THE VAGABONDS – I AM SOMEBODY
12. THE WHISPERS – IN LOVE FOREVER
13. BENNY TROY – I WANNA GIVE YOU TOMORROW
14. THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA – CHICAGO BUS STOP
15. JUGGY MURRAY JONES – INSIDE AMERICA
16. ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS – LET’S GROOVE
17. DOOLEY SILVERSPOON – LET ME BE THE NUMBER 1 [LOVE OF YOUR LIFE]

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/disco75_front-555x555.jpg

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/disco-75-robinsongs-present-a-brand-new-compilation-disco-75/

[moe]

Gotta have all of these. Thank you for posting!!!

[SatansBlues]

Wasn't Disco essentially black [[r&b) dance music?

[daviddesper]

I was at least somewhat interested when I saw the title of this release. But either I missed an entire year of music or that is a not-very-impressive list of songs. So I will be taking a pass.

[Danno]

I've got quite a few of the tracks to be honest, but it's pre-ordered already. Not expecting too much in the way of artwork at the price, but really looking forward to this. End of July so hopefully have time to fix my poorly hi-fi by then!

[splanky]

Wasn't Disco essentially black [[r&b) dance music?

Disco, as a genre was probably and in some ways still remains the most complex and
controversial form of black born music. Prior to Gangsta Rap I'd do well to add. Even
discussing it is problematic for a number of reasons, one being so many forget that there
was black dance music before disco full bloomed. Another being many people cannot
tell disco from that other 70's popular primarily black music genre, Funk. A lot of rock
critics for magazines like Rolling Stone and Billboard back in the day, just lumped them
all together. Disco became this super commercial fad and fashion status quo Frankenstein
monster and it just went off from there. When these labels throw together these compilations as this one has they often mix in funk. I've always been primarily more
of a funk fan but I liked some of the earlier disco artists and stuff that came out of Philly.
I even liked Donna Summer. But in 1975 I was listening to EW&F's That's The Way Of The
World, Parliment-Funkadelic, the growing number of complete bands coming out of
Ohio and the jazz fusion rippling from former employees of Cannonball Adderly and Miles
Davis...

[Boogiedown]

What a fun collection! Has a bit of a British slant to it [where's Biddu?, Sunny, Jimmy James?] Many curious titles I don't know , but plenty I do.

Think I'll use this thread to visit these titles !!


I'll start with Gary Glitter ! What a surprise when this glam rocker helped initiate disco.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeG2691ly7c

i remember trying to find this in the stores when it was first getting club play. I was asking for the song that says 'fish fry' ...lol!!

[splanky]

Gary Glitter didn't initiate shit. He jumped on bandwagons...He may have had success
following Disco's rise in the UK but he was no part of it's birth and evolution in America...

[Boogiedown]

Gary Glitter was never a disco artist that I recall. But 'his' band did concoct MAKES YOU BLIND in 1975 [anybody dabbling in disco in 1975 was an initiator] which somehow floated around until late 1976 when it was embraced by the US clubs and became a #4 disco hit in the states. Another secret record [of many] heard only in the discos .....

I don't think MAKES YOU BLIND was ever released in the UK in any form not even an album cut? [ added , it was --- I looked it up]
Another fave from this list :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77LrQEbBk8o

[soulster]

I was into music in 1975 but I don't recognize half of those songs or artists.

[splanky]

There are very few artists on that compilation I don't recognize. It's just that there are
some like Retta Young whose career never really took off though she was a fine singer. Then there are others like The Moments, The Blue Notes and Archie Bell and The Drells
who became legends but were really not strictly disco artists and produced a range of
good material. Pigeon holding Dionne Warwick, Sylvia, Ester Phillips, The Ojays [[!?!)and
The Jackson 5 doesn't quite work for me...

[Boogiedown]

Splanky , the O'Jays I LOVE MUSIC is ranked the third top disco song of the seventies based on its disco chart performance --eight weeks at #1.


I think a lot of these collections are tilted a certain way because of licensing or availability, or lack of, of certain choices. This grouping seems to have acquired access to All Platinum records , a little heavy on those.

But interesting stuff, for instance :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9G1xn3BYbY

Jesus is the male voice heard on SHAME SHAME SHAME

I like this one , trying to do a little Pendergrass/Wynne to my ears ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agP5fNhYILw

[splanky]

Splanky , the O'Jays I LOVE MUSIC is ranked the third top disco song of the seventies based on its disco chart performance --eight weeks

I know that, Boogie. It was among the great work being done in Philly before whole thing
spun out of control...

[Boogiedown]

The Ojays [[!?!).

I would thinks so splanky, but when you posted the above it sounded like you were bewildered as to why this title was included on this collection.

Speaking of Rhetta Young , another All Platinum artist :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUefoRtmTtE

SOS failed everywhere else but in the discos where it reached #9, it broke in the UK reaching the pop chart to #28. These labels were learning that these instrumental b sides helped to lure the disco DJs into playing records like this so they could apply their skills at creating longer versions on the spot using two copies.

and of course Sylvia herself:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ7PeqJeC8M

:rolleyes: fun to listen to , once! ....this one did not chart ! LOL!!

[Boogiedown]

More from Sylvia ..... is that why this set is called Robinsongs??


a bit of Ohio Players here ?:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQOPW2hXxzE



surprised this one didn't chart , a great way for DJs to extend the hit by Shirley ....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtSLy70R6DE

fun vibe

[splanky]

Yes, Boogie, the Robinsongs are productions of Sylvia who put together The Rimshots
and Brother To Brother groups. I wish I knew the story of how she snared Seldon Powell
for her groups because unlike those and Shirley Goodman, he was a serious jazz tenor
saxophonist....Anyway, these things I mention about Sylvia are things I just learned today
after some research. Makes me want an unsung of her more and more....She was responsible
for so much in popular music....

[Boogiedown]

Yes, Boogie, the Robinsongs are productions of Sylvia who put together The Rimshots
and Brother To Brother groups. I wish I knew the story of how she snared Seldon Powell
for her groups because unlike those and Shirley Goodman, he was a serious jazz tenor
saxophonist....Anyway, these things I mention about Sylvia are things I just learned today
after some research. Makes me want an unsung of her more and more....She was responsible
for so much in popular music....

:cool:
I always loved her ...and only more and more ! Quite savvy.

[Boogiedown]

Yes, Boogie, the Robinsongs are productions of Sylvia who put together The Rimshots
and Brother To Brother groups. I wish I knew the story of how she snared Seldon Powell
for her groups because unlike those and Shirley Goodman, he was a serious jazz tenor
saxophonist....Anyway, these things I mention about Sylvia are things I just learned today
after some research. Makes me want an unsung of her more and more....She was responsible
for so much in popular music....


Likely you know this already splanky, but in case you don't, here is Sylvia's initiation into the music business: she is about 20, Mickey about 30:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbyAdxp4DQ

[Boogiedown]

more robinsongs found on this offering:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLI2T2ONobM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulTcO4b8cQE

[Boogiedown]

the other main source they have tapped into is Contempo records. The Armada orchestra, the only act to get two cuts, one being:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-dT9VcRPa4

They also did some Motown:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xW3DNbdikg

[Boogiedown]

JAWS was the big blockbuster that summer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG9gBB4RbS8


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpii5fwwSeQ