The first disco critic Vince Aletti stumps for Temptations/Motown alumni Eddie Kendricks and his 1972 solo song, "Girl You Need A Change of Mind," as the first disco song, and he ought to know as well as anybody.
The first pop hit that was first a big hit in early underground discos in 1972: Manu Dibango's Afro-funk global smash hit "Soul Makossa."
"You Can Have Watergate Just Give Me Some Money," The J.B.'s (1973). In general, James Brown's funk, funky breaks, horns, chanted choruses, and hyperkinetic footwork are as elemental to early classic era disco as Philly Soul or Gloria Gaynor.
Willie Henderson was a sax player from Chicago. He played on a bunch of R&B hits (Syl Johnson, Chi-Lites), got into some production work (Tyrone Davis), and put out a few novelty dance numbers like this one, "Dance Master," in 1974. Here's another kind of overlooked disco groove, call it Afro-Jazz funk, that proto-disco DJs were digging up before the music industry straitjacketed the music they were playing as Disco.
No comments:
Post a Comment