Saturday Night Underground Disco (1972-1977)

Unsplash

Enjoy the songs that were played in discos, way before Saturday Night Fever was shown. I was inspired by Bob Stanley’s new compilation album Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night on Ace Records:

“Before there was Saturday Night Fever there was underground disco. DJs across America went out and found the music to play; dancers went out and found the clubs. At this point, in the early seventies, the disco was the venue and not a genre of music.”

(Bob Stanley)

Around the mid-seventies, before the blockbuster movie Saturday Night Fever changed the game forever, most of the disco songs sounded different from what we categorize now as “disco”. The tracks were soulful, well-orchestrated and had subtle percussion breaks. Most of the first disco hits were initially picked up by clubs, before radio-dj’s discovered them as a potential hit records, like Rock Your Baby by George McCrae. The so-called Philly soul sound (First Choice, Three Degrees, MFSB, etc.) dominated the clubs during the early stages of disco, but their success vanished when rock stars like Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones ruined the market a few years later. Disco had become a swear word by then.

Don't forget to check in next week, then I will play the best songs of 2023 so far.

Tracklist:

Eddie Kendricks – Darling Come Back Home (1973)
Margie Joseph & Blue Magic – You & Me (Got A Good Thing Going) (1975)
Moment Of Truth – So Much For Love (1976)
The Salsoul Orchestra – Chicago Bus Stop (1975)
The Stylistics ‎– Baby, Don't Change Your Mind (1976)
Johnny Bristol – Do It To My Mind (1976)
Creative Source – Who Is He, And What Is He To You (1973)
Billy Proctor And Love System ‎– Keeping Up With The Joneses (1975)
Jimmy Ruffin – Fallin' In Love With You (1977)
Satyr ‎– Free And Easy (1976)
Ben E. King – No Danger Ahead (1976)
Camouflage – You’ve Got The Power [A Tom Moulton Mix] (1976)
First Choice – Gotta Get Away (From You Baby) (1976)
The Three Degrees – Can't You See What You're Doing To Me (1973)
MFSB – Freddie's Dead (1972)
Whirlwind – Full Time Thing (Between Dusk And Dawn) (1976)
The Tymes – All You Ever Wanted To Know About Love (1976)
Faith, Hope & Charity – To Each His Own (1975)
B.T. Express – Peace Pipe [A Tom Moulton Mix] (1975)