December 25, 1976: Rose Royce, Archie Bell & The Drells, Stanley Black, Dee Dee Sharp, T-Connection

New Spins

ROSE ROYCE: ‘Car Wash’ (MCA 267)
Here it is, truly by DJ and public demand, the single of Norman Whitfield’s monster catchy clapper!

ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS: ‘Everybody Have A Good Time’ (from LP ‘Where Will You Go When The Party’s Over’, Philadelphia Int’l PIR 81567)
Absolutely sizzling 6:15 galloper simply loaded with verve and vitality, and a beat that don’t quit! The chunky ‘I Bet I Can Do That Dance’ has synthetics and funky appeal, while other disco cuts are ‘Nothing Comes Easy’, the title track and ‘Dancin’ Man’.

STANLEY BLACK: ‘La Cumparsita’ (from EP ‘Discover The Tango’, Decca DFE 8684)
Completely straight version of this quintessential Tango, already causing a stir in some gay discos . . . really! Good MoR, too. 

DEE DEE SHARP: ‘I’m Not In Love’ (from LP ‘Phillybusters Vol. IV, Philadelphia Int’l 81658)
Superb dead slow souling of the 10cc classic, previously unissued here, which stands out on an album loaded with the obvious recent biggies by such as the O’Jays, Archie Bell, Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, People’s Choice, MFSB, Blue Notes, etc.

T-CONNECTION: ‘Disco Magic’ (Seville SEV 1021) (mentioned in Billboard column 7/24/76, Billboard chart debut 9/4/76)
Rattling rhythms and synthetic strings on a good fast Brass Construction-type groover.

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: ‘Family Again’ (from LP ‘Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I’m Back’, Epic EPC 81641)
Funkily throbbing ‘Dance To The Music 77’ sort of idea, with lots of rhythm breaks and little vocal. Also of interest to hip jocks should be ‘Let’s Be Together’, ‘Sexy Situation’ and ‘What Was I Thinkin’ In My Head’.

THE DUPARS: ‘Love Cookin” (Contempo 12 inch CX 16)
Venetta Fields and the funky gals coo their thang over a rolling and tumbling bass-bumped beat that’s totally modern, while flipside J. J. Barnes’s ‘The Errol Flynn’ is a mundane old-style Northern dancer, that’s short on appeal.


Mix-Master

Nothing elaborate, just a couple of topical tips! David Brooks of Muswell Hill Pebbles does a nifty segue out of LED ZEPPELIN ‘Trampled Under Foot’ (Swan Song) into KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND ‘Keep It Comin’ Love’ (Jay Boy), which looks unlikely but sounds superb, while I myself do a nice chop-mix just as ELO ‘Livin’ Thing’ (Jet) is about to reach one of its “bomp-bomp-bomp” best bits, cutting straight into the first “bomp-bomp” on Rod Stewart’s ‘Maggie May’ (Mercury). Try ’em and see!


UK Disco Top 20 – December 25, 1976

01 03 Showaddywaddy – Under The Moon Of Love – Bell
02 01 Leo Sayer – You Make Me Feel Like Dancing – Chrysalis
03 02 Stevie Wonder – Isn’t She Lovely – Motown
04 08 KC & The Sunshine Band – Keep It Comin’ Love – Jay Boy
05 05 Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music – Epic
06 12 Electric Light Orchestra – Livin’ Thing – Jet
07 07 ABBA – Money, Money, Money – Epic
08 06 Rose Royce – Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is – MCA
09 04 Tavares – Don’t Take Away The Music – Capitol
10 NE Paul Nicholas – Grandma’s Party – RSO
11 RE Rose Royce – Car Wash – MCA
12 NE Stevie Wonder – I Wish – Motown
13 NE Tina Charles – Dr. Love – CBS
14 10 Billy Ocean – Stop Me – GTO
15 09 Rod Stewart – Get Back – Riva
16 19 Chris Hill – Bionic Santa – Philips
17 16 Yvonne Elliman – Love Me – RSO
18 17 Boney M. – Daddy Cool – Atlantic
18 RE Queen – Somebody To Love – EMI
20 NE Status Quo – Wild Side Of Life – Vertigo
NE = new entry; RE = re-entry

Appeared in Billboard:
#2 (Billboard chart debut 12/18/76)
#3 (Billboard chart debut 10/30/76)
#4 (Billboard chart debut 10/30/76)
#5 (Billboard chart debut 9/4/76)
#8 (Billboard chart debut 12/25/76)
#9 (mentioned in Billboard column 6/5/76, Billboard chart debut 6/19/76)
#11 (Billboard chart debut 10/2/76)
#12 (mentioned in Billboard column 10/16/76, Billboard chart debut 10/23/76)
#18 (mentioned in Billboard column 9/25/76, Billboard chart debut 11/20/76)


Songs mentioned in “DJ Hotline”:

STEVENSON’S ROCKET: ‘Poetry In Motion’ (Magnet)
DR. BUZZARD’S ORIGINAL SAVANNAH BAND: ‘I’ll Play The Fool’ (RCA) (Billboard chart debut 6/26/76)
JOHN VALENTI: ‘Anything You Want’ (Ariola America)
WEBSTER LEWIS: ‘Theme’ (Epic)
THE JACKSONS: ‘Enjoy Yourself’ (Epic) (Billboard chart debut 10/30/76)
WALTER MURPHY BAND: ‘Flight ’76’ (Private Stock)
CLODAGH RODGERS: ‘Save Me’ (Polydor)
SYD LAWRENCE: ‘American Patrol’ (Contour LP cut)
VICKI SUE ROBINSON: ‘Daylight’ (RCA) (mentioned in Billboard column 8/28/76, Billboard chart debut 9/25/76)
KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND: ‘I’m Your Boogie Man’ (Jay Boy LP cut) (Billboard chart debut 10/30/76)
WALTER MURPHY: ‘Disco Bells’ (Major – US import) (Billboard chart debut 12/27/75)
KEITH BARROW: ‘Precious’ (CBS)
GIORGIO: I Wanna Funk With You Tonite’ (GTO) (Billboard chart debut 7/31/76)
PUSSYCAT: ‘Smile’ (Sonet)
THIRD WORLD BAND: ‘Disco Hop’ (Creole) (mentioned in Billboard column 2/14/76, Billboard chart debut 2/21/76)
RUBY JAMES: ‘You Burn A Hole In My Soul’ (Rak)
FLYING SAUCERS: ‘Keep On Coming’ (Alaska)
BRICK: ‘Dazz’ (Bang – US import) (Billboard chart debut 9/4/76)
FOUR SEASONS: ‘We Can Work It Out’ (Warner Bros.)
STEELY DAN: ‘Haitian Divorce’ (ABC)
MIAMI: ‘Kill That Roach’ (Jay Boy) (Billboard chart debut 10/30/76)


Top 50 RM Disco Songs from September 1975 to December 1976

1 Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free – Warner Bros.
2 Silver Convention – Get Up And Boogie – Magnet
3 Elton John & Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Rocket
4 Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music – Epic
5 Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing – Rak
6 Tina Charles – I Love To Love – CBS
7 Tavares – Don’t Take Away The Music – Capitol
8 Fatback Band – Do The Bus Stop – Polydor
9 Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel – Capitol
10 Ritchie Family – Best Disco In Town – Polydor
11 Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug – Island
12 Rick Dees – Disco Duck – RSO
13 Four Seasons – December 1963 – Warner Bros.
14 Andrea True Connection – More, More, More – Buddah
15 Billy Ocean – Love Really Hurts Without You – GTO
16 Bee Gees – You Should Be Dancing – RSO
17 Barry White – You See The Trouble With Me – 20th Century
18 Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist Again – London
19 Miracles – Love Machine – Tamla Motown
20 Melba Moore – This Is It – Buddah
21 Detroit Spinners – Rubberband Man – Atlantic
22 KC & The Sunshine Band – That’s The Way (I Like It) – Jay Boy
23 Hank Mizell – Jungle Rock – Charly
24 Silver Convention – Fly Robin Fly – Magnet
25 Lalo Schiffrin – Jaws – CTI
26 Real Thing – You To Me Are Everything – Pye
27 ABBA – Dancing Queen – Epic
28 Chi-Lites – You Don’t Have To Go – Brunswick
29 Drifters – There Goes My First Love – Bell
30 Leo Sayer – You Make Me Feel Like Dancing – Chrysalis
31 Bryan Ferry – Let’s Stick Together – Island
32 Maxine Nightingale – Right Back Where We Started From – United Artists
33 O’Jays – I Love Music – Philadelphia Int’l
34 Stevie Wonder – Isn’t She Lovely – Motown
35 Fatback Band – Spanish Hustle – Polydor
36 David Dundas – Jeans On – Air
37 People’s Choice – Do It Anyway You Wanna – Philadelphia Int’l
38 Chicago – If You Leave Me Now – CBS
39 Brass Construction – Movin’ / Changin’ – United Artists
40 Real Thing – Can’t Get By Without You – Pye
41 Tina Charles – Dance Little Lady Dance – CBS
42 Jim Capaldi – Love Hurts – Island
43 David Essex – Hold Me Close – CBS
44 George McCrae – I Ain’t Lyin’ – Jay Boy
45 Fatback Band – Yum Yum (Gimme Some) – Polydor
46 Hello – New York Groove – Bell
47 Stylistics – Funky Weekend – Avco
48 Lee Garrett – You’re My Everything – Chrysalis
49 Stretch – Why Did You Do It – Anchor
50 KC & The Sunshine Band – Shake Your Booty – Jay Boy

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: