Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra were incredible musicians and more important to his success than he was. – Lost in the awesomeness of Barry’s boastful baritone is the true propulsive force of the Barry White experience, the Love Unlimited Orchestra. Barry White couldn’t’ve been a successful loverman without a soundtrack, and his backing orchestra comes through every time. Yes, they had a hit of their own with the magnificent instrumental “Love’s Theme,” but some of their best work obviously came on Barry’s hit singles. My favorite, 1978’s underrated “Your Sweetness is My Weakness,” where the horn and string sections in particular really hit a home run. Take some time and listen to any Barry White hit. “You’re The First, My Last, My Everything,” “Playing Your Game, Baby,” orany great number of jams, and concentrate on those tracks. The Love Unlimited Orchestra are true disco legends.
Barry Gibb’s falsetto may be one of the best voices of the disco era. – Before becoming disco kings with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb were major league balladeers. “Massachusetts” and “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” are incredible pop songs with a soul/country edge made amazing because of lead singer Barry Gibb’s high octave falsetto. When transferring the Bee Gees excellence to disco, easily the most key element of that success isn’t the production of “Night Fever,” More Than a Woman” or “Tragedy,” by Barry’s effortless falsetto gliding over the top of those tracks, softening the mix of excellent Bee Gees lyrics and the production of the tracks to create pop domination.
Giorgio Moroder is a genius. – Donna Summer’s 1978 hit “I Feel Love” may be the first electro dance song of all time. Outside of Tom Moulton inventing the 12″ dance remix filling an entire side of an album with a mixed medley of Gloria Gaynor in 1974, Moroder was easily the most innovative of disco producers for the mainstream. Electronic elements, vocoders, heavily synthesized tracks and a number of other innovations were at the heart of his work. Starting from taking Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You” and extending it into a 17 minute musical orgasm to 1983’s hit single the theme to the film Midnight Express, Moroder was a perpetual innovator and one of the most important producers in disco history.
Philadelphia International Records may be the best disco label of all time. – Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff surrounded themselves with soul royalty and created a sound and a label whose greatness cannot be denied. Philadelphia International Records songs are backed by the rhythm section MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother), one of the most soulful yet orchestral backing groups of all time. In doing things with measures of songs that other rhythm sections of the era dared not try, starting with 1974’s hit for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes “The Love I Lost,” (which in many ways established the meter and style of the mainstream disco sound) the label, with a sophisticated yet accessible dance floor beat, unleashed a string of major hits.
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As important to the success as the orchestration were the gritty and husky yet melodic voices of the lead singers and solo stars of the label. Patti Labelle of LaBelle, Thelma Houston, The Three Degrees, Teddy Pendegrass of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, Eddie Levert of the O’Jays, and yes, at the end of their Motown run, even Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5. Philadelphia’s working class aggression blended with percussion, strings, horns, pianos and bossa nova influences? Magical.
The Rolling Stones recorded one of the best disco songs ever. – For being a rock star, Mick Jagger sure spent a lot of time discoing the late 70s away in the secret basement party areas of Studio 54. Between trysts with Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall and yes, David Bowie, he wrote the brilliant “Miss You,” from 1978’s album Some Girls. The song is explicitly not a rock song, as it was mixed by disco remixer Bob Clearmountain into an 8 minute long monster. The addition of Ian McLagan’s electric piano, Sugar Blue’s harmonica and Mel Collins’ saxophone to the typical Stones lineup sets this one apart for sure. Both Charlie Watts on drums and Bill Wyman on bass adopt disco style rhythm parts here, and execute them to perfection.
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