examples of DISCO-REGGAE

This is sometimes my favourite type of vintage dancing music, but it's not really a genre - more something people have dabbled with throughout the years.

Any good examples?

Susan Cadogan - Shame
Johnny Clarke - None Shall Escape The Judgement
360 Degrees - Money
Abba - Name Of The Game
Belle Epoque - Miss Broadway
Talking Heads - I Get Wild Wild Gravity
Boney M - lots of things. Most obvious is Rivers Of Babylon, but I don't like it much.

The first one that springs to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tID6rEcYMgc

Not quite sure what you mean but maybe Ken Boothe's "Walk Away From Love"?

Not sure if you'd also include reggae covers of disco but Soul Jazz did a great comnpilation a few years back, including this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4a8t8gDU08

and this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X0u7PbcPBA

that comp is fantastic, 2nded dorian. studio one also put out the 'disco mix' comp a few years back, which is ace.

although rereading dl's second post i think we're thinking of something else to the intentions of this thread

Reggae that is disco; disco that is reggae - take it as you will :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUA1CIipenY&a

@stevie Yeah, I don't think we're on the same tip as those initial suggestions but I'll take any excuse to post those tunes.

and i'll take any chance at listening to them!

Eddy Grant - "Romancing The Stone," "Walking On Sunshine," "Electric Avenue"
Lots of Grace Jones (esp. early '80s)
Linx - first (and maybe only?) album
USA-European Connection - Come Into My Heart"
Stevie Wonder - maybe "Boogie On Reggae Woman" and/or "Master Blaster (Jammin'") (I'd need to doublecheck the disco quotient on these)
Probably some Hot Chocolate songs, too.
some Goombay Dance Band, I think

Delroy Wilson - "I'll Do Anything For You"

Coupla Funkadelic tracks, which only serve to illustrate that US funk/soul artists doing reggae is generally not a great idea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCAVDg2uXWg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO5VV5PISHU

kalyan were really a disco/funk/soca group, but i can't stop playing this album this week and i figure some people here will appreciate how awesome this track is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahF-RyUxiHc

Slits' cover of Heard it Through The Grapevine is almost in this category.

Also, tons of Kid Creole and the Coconts/August Darnell, right?

peter tosh - buk-in-hamm palace

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

Also maybe stuff like:

Gibson Brothers "Cuba" (and other tracks on their LPs probably)
Johnny Chingas "Samba"

Though those probably have as much Latin-American in their rhythms as Jamaican. Probably still have at least as much reggae as "Miss Broadway" (which I always thought of as having more a Bo Diddley beat) or "Name Of The Game" (which I never thought of as reggae or disco, really, though that doesn't mean it's not), though.

Also, wouldn't plenty of Soca fit here? Or is the Caribbean influence in that always calypso rather than reggae? (Hard to know where exactly the line is drawn sometimes.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IornRX6v-kI

Don't know if Sly and Robbie's "Rhythm Killers" qualifies (they cover Ohio Players and Pointer Sisters) and a rock guitar element is pretty pervasive through most of it, but I love that record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O6bBsn2Z4w

rhythm killers is one of the greatest records ever made. i hated it at first, but there are so many great things going on. highly creative music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK8zAssTv7Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSaJB8bnW3Y

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPMkjslzs70

i am so fucking psyched about getting home to listen to these.

If you guys like, I can make a DJ mix based on these tracks?

I Roy's album, Whap'n'Bap'n is full of disco.

Alphabet, in particular is really great.

Although, now that i'm looking at it, the album is listed as Roy Reid.

http://www.roots-archives.com/release/1780

That is I Roy

other super disco jam on the album is called Jive Time.

It sounds like I Roy.

this one melds the two splendidly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTQJwVQMFXY

I love this rhythm so much:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5U4tH4xl_A

wow, beta blog, that steel and skin track is wonderful

Wow indeed. That's great. Gonna have to order that CD. Are the rest of the tracks good quality?

that steel and skin track was the first thing i thought of.

this is the second

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

sorry, that's a terrible sounding video (and why didn't he edit out the 30 seconds of fumbling to put the record on in the beginning?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpY2t2wBYs

Is that Clout as in 'Substitute'?

Delroy Wilson - "I'll Do Anything For You"

Aaaargh...meant Denroy Morgan obviously. (See "Performers With Names That Practically Rhyme" thread. Whenever I think of this song, "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" accidentally sneaks into my head.)

Never thought of Belle Epoque's "Miss Broadway" as reggae. I always buy Beckett 12 inches in the hopes that they will be disco-reggae.

omg yes. a friend was playing that steel an skin album in his car a few months ago and i had forgotten what it was until now!

this is one of my favorite genres of music as well, fwiw

can't forget about this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yn5I7g_DIg

lots of laid back songs, actually

no mention of island records yet is weird guys...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byj0LFfjEDY

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

Thinking lots of British pop-funk stuff from the early '80s (not just Linx, who I mentioned above, but also Junior, the Quick, Imagination, David Grant solo) could fit here as well. (Hot Chocolate obviously a major inspiration for that whole scene.)

good mix here: http://www.largeup.com/2017/07/07/deejay-theory-dancehall-by-day-disco/

this is a jam. (verrry loose cover)

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

Okay, here we go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQn_4cg-Abo

Taggy Matcher seems to specialise in this exact kind of style.

favorite recent discovery: this anti-disco-but-still-pretty-disco/rapso anthem from Brother Resistance (RIP):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rXVDNeP-hw

Nice!

What a wonderfully funky groove, not unlike Kuti/Allen

i dug this out this weekend. so good - sad it took him leaving us for me to fully appreciate it.

sadly I'd never even heard of him until he died, but yes the whole EP is really good!

yep, me neither and it's a shame as so much of the stuff i've heard is so great

some discofied afro reggae from osibisa member kiki gyan. went down a wormhole of the (mostly silly and wild) album art of dutch designers myosotis, came upon this, and thought of this thread.

keep it cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HYChjAFjgs

just one night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRTr_7pOq1o

peace for africa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb5gBme1S10

Kiki Gyan - Disco Dancer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfXAVEUo_eY

another great one by him

Lots of dead youtube embeds itt, but is it really possible no one ever posted Keith Hudson?

Civilisation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIiffl1IQOE

Too Expensive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1GeeXzMmwE

I suppose it is possible, since despite considering Hudson one of my all-time faves, I'd ignored Too Expensive for years due to its (wildly, infuriatingly wrong!!) rep as a failed crossover--a deranged narrative that you should only take on board if you are literally Richard Branson.

Also, it's maybe not quite disco but "Central Kingston" off From One Extreme to Another is also a massive jam and that album really deserves a legit reissue: the version on streaming sounds like a vinyl rip

f**k me! those are both ace. 'civilisation' is sooooo good. thanks. i've been on a huge keith hudson tip recently but had skipped over too expensive.

Central Kingston too; syndrum-tastic! i need to hear the rest of this now.

wow those are great! Is it just me or is there a bit of a an ian dury vibe on 'too expensive'?

I should probably take this to a Hudson thread, but both albums are superb imo. If you're expecting polished soul you'll be disappointed, but if you already dig Hudson's shambolic approach, I can't imagine being disappointed.

As annoyed as I am that I bought the critical line on Too Expensive without even listening to it for so long, the lack of a reissue for From One Extreme is a puzzle since Pressure Sounds put out its dub, Nuh Skin Up, ages ago

I have a bit of an on/off thing with Hudson but these are all killer. Made me wish for a sweaty front room dance.

At one point I took some selections from this thread for this playlist and iirc keith hudson hasnt been mentioned:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6ObTLc46jR2QPzUvtEWESp?si=9AuQfReTSWqAPXmQkovcZQ

nice cover image there, Moka!

"Civilization" was on that Virgin Front Line compilation everybody had - well, my sister had it anyway.

"Civilization" was on that Virgin Front Line compilation everybody had - well, my sister had it anyway.

And, as if by magic; Front Line comp comes out -

https://www.juno.co.uk/products/virgin-front-line-sounds-of-reality/848318-01/

Okay. Serious jam here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGScGuAKmW0

Anyone here familiar with the French Patchworks label which seems to chug out a huge amount of music in this vein? My friend sent me this playlist and it's largely top drawer: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2HOOBwOtmgyPKhY49FEOkK?si=fe9b615c70054664

Xp you're right this is a serious jam

most stuff by eddy grant!

https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/disco-reggae-rockers?fbclid=IwAR32tK6UhQOi4XsFSEblqBPyiG3WNfN9TL758HJfSmEN_F2_WR8td0BmnPg

(sorry for the formatting mishap)

A new disco-reggae compilation.

not going to click through all the youtubes to figure it out, but hopefully this thread didn’t get to 200 posts without mentioning tyrone davis “rise up” (wackies)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OrOahkRgvA

More reggae-disco than disco-reggae, but I just pulled out "Nightflight to Venus" and I'm def adding "Never Change Lovers in the Middle of the Night" to my playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjaXcIAcLY0

Yeah that's a classic. I think I put that on my original mix made from suggestions to this thread. I absolutely love it

Atmosfear's Dancing in Outer Space has a couple of moments when it becomes almost reggae - the laser-ska bit between 2:17 and 2:52, and that liquidy dub bit between about 5:25-6:25 which sounds like the dubwise equivalent of paddling a canoe in choppy waters.

This is joyful and I think it deserves to be included in this thread: https://soundwayrecords.bandcamp.com/album/chi-town-reggae

Great stuff!

I thought I'd posted about it here already, but the Risco Connection comp has been a highlight of my year: https://riscoconnection.bandcamp.com/album/risco-version

xp hah, I opened this thread wondering if it was going to be that!

Moka, how on earth did I miss that extensive spotify playlist you posted way upthread? amazing work!

Annette Brissett - Drums

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

so good. i love Love Power.

pretty cheesy but this is good summertime fun imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epMbespU4JI
margino - you turn me on

shame there's no dub version tbh because the synths are great but the singing is a bit much

Forgive me if this has been posted before (I can't see it) but this compilation looks great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4UJf0NXelY
https://rockashacka.bandcamp.com/album/reggae-funkyfied-2

That Margino track sounds so much like Yvonne Chaka Chaka's "I'm In Love With a DJ". I assume it's the same producer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL4WaCvrFdo

Yep. Attie Van Wyk

agreed, Moka’s Spotify playlist is a complete banger.

Ernest Ranglin’s “Soft Touch” is complete fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0ACPrHCGCM

slight afrobeat flavour too

Great song!

Glad some of you have enjoyed the playlist! I need to do a clean-up and add more… in the meantime I have added some of the great suggestions so far!

Love this playlist, moka. Thanks for taking the time and trouble.

favourite new disco-reggae nature-hippy jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVZqHYdgQ2w
Sheila & Des Majek - Let Us Plant a Tree Today

That's very satisfying, NickB.

What a tune that is

as everyone's kids head back to the covid factory i mean classroom, i submit bunny wailer's "back to school." disco-adjacent groove in the "rapper's delight" vein.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kzgXlC7KCo