...AND THE BEAT GOES ON! The GRAND ILM DISCO POLL results are revealed!

I voted 'groove line' p high, so much more of a jam than 'boogie nights'. The "leave your worries behind" hook is one of the greatest hooks ever.

already this might be the greatest poll in ILM history, God bless you guys.

I too prefer Class Action's version of "Weekend." Kind of sad I had to cut it off my list to make the 50 now.

very american so far

i dunno, disco is pretty international - i count 7.5 out of 20 so far as uk/euro-driven.

hmm I dunno, at first glance i guessed 75% were american style. doesn't matter anyway, just an observation.

80. Heatwave - Boogie Nights (1976)
193 points, 7 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1421526-1365580036-9428_zpse098d0fc.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Z7g6_n7AW8g

*Dr. C, what is your definition of good disco?*

Swagger + a great melody + unstoppable momentum + hooks, hooks, hooks!

e.g Boogie Nights, Best Of My Love, Staying Alive, He's The Greatest Dancer + Funkytown

― Dr. C (Dr. C), 3. maaliskuuta 2004 18:03

When I was about ten, a friend of mine insisted that the chorus in "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave is "Dance with the boogie guitar." I told him it was "Dance with the boogie/Get down," but he said that didn't make any sense. He didn't know about the expression "Get down!"

― Tim Ellison, 1. toukokuuta 2004 21:53

Listen to Heatwave's "Boogie Nights" for the genesis of the Thriller sound -- that rolling plush electronic bass cushion. Rod Temperton doesn't get much credit, but he does play on both records.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), 15. tammikuuta 2005 18:00

fwiw I was like 10 years old when this term was being used in disco ("Boogie Oogie Oogie") and I hated it. Except for Heatwave's "Boogie Nights," Heatwave owns they can do what they want

― available for sporting events (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), 31. tammikuuta 2013 15:08

Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (1977)
195 points, 6 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1546461-1227459217_zps6eef45ef.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Oso0ieD8-tI

Santa Esmeralda all the way! I love the fact that they followed up a debut album that started with a 15-minute disco fantasia on an Animals song ("House of the Rising Sun") with a second album that started with a 15-minute disco fantasia on an Animals song ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"). Or was it the other way around?

― Douglas, 25. helmikuuta 2002 3:00

I don't remember her exact words at the time, but I have a fond image of my mum dancing dreamily to Santa Esmeralda's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" while wearing a lion costume.

― Thea (Thea), 4. maaliskuuta 2004 4:33

And a lot of those Eurodisco guys like Cerrone and Costandinos and Santa Esmeralda were totally making concept albums, completely pretentious ones, with opera parts and everything. They were about as prog as you can get.

― chuck, 25. elokuuta 2004 22:18

Santa Esmeralda are way, way over-the-top disco--both of their first two albums are based around heavily orchestrated 15-minute disco versions of songs by the Animals. They go downhill after that, but sort of in a good way. I own too many records by them.

― Douglas (Douglas), 18. toukokuuta 2005 18:34

Sorry, that should say:

79. Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (1977)

I'm a big Nina Simone fan, but I gotta say this is by far the best version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood".

xpostz - Rod is so good. his music with Heatwave is beautifully intricate - gorgeous harmonies in the service of tight rhythmic songs.

Also, I gotta correct the misinformation in the Santa Esmeralda quotes: neither "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" nor "House of the Rising Sun" are originally by the Animals. The former was first performed by Nina Simone, and the latter is, as most of you probably know, an old folk song. Though undoubtedly Santa Esmeralda's versions of them were informed by The Animals recordings.

Yeah this is an amazing version.

I forgot about this song as soon as I submitted my ballot. Glad it made it, but TOO LOW

blarpfh that should read "remembered this song"

oh man i FORGOT to vote for "The Groove Line," probably would've been in my top 10 :(

Great song, but I think it would've fallen on the funk side of my personal eligibility criteria. Funk has the accent solidly on the one, disco on the one-and-three - I think that's how I carve it up?

I've had some fine discoveries already but 'Just an Illusion' is cream of the crop, even if the groove it goes out on feels somehow limper than it should.

In what may have been my first gig ever, as a kid I was asked to play in a band that was playing that weekend at a party, and was handed the then-new record "The Groove Line" to learn. I never did figure out that little horn lick at the end of the bridge.

Santa Esmerelda the second from my ballot I think.

Just one of the most amazing intros ever.

78. Patrick Cowley - Menergy (1981)
196 points, 4 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1259939-1330541470_zps759391c4.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Lne4izAcT5w

What is the Gayest Song Ever?

Patrick Cowley - "Menergy"

Some magazine or other called the Pet Shop Boys' "New York City Boy" "the gayest song ever recorded" when it came out. It would be a contender except it's not quite as good as the muscular disco tracks it's pastiching.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), 17. helmikuuta 2004 13:13

"Menergy" (the non-Sylvester version) is my favorite Cowley production. The three (four?) times it build and builds and builds and then LITERALLY shoots off only to sink back into that stripped-down arpeggiated bass line and beat combo are just as exhilarating EVERY FUCKING TIME.

The song COMES ON YOU. Sleaziest shit ever.

― Richj (Rich), 10. marraskuuta 2005 18:41

I love Patrick Cowley and agree that he's underrated, though perhaps not specifically on ILM. Not sure i'd really want to choose between him and Arthur TBH! It's a good question/discussion point though mt, I think there are some pretty clear reasons as to why Patrick hasn't been embraced by the critical cognoscenti the way Arthur Russell has, and it would be interesting to think about what it would take to convince everyone that Cowley was an "important figure" in the way that Russell is regarded as being.

Maybe a key issue is that Russell always seems like this wild musical sprite who 'passes through' disco but is not defined by it, whereas Cowley really blew it up from within.

― Tim F, 20. elokuuta 2007 7:34

I think the thing that kills Cowley is that he doesn't have any of the rock backstory so he can't grab cred by association. He doesn't have any good stories, he was just a brilliant studio guy that laid the groundwork for a whole bunch of great gay dance records that haven't been cannonized by hipster record nerds yet. I think his music might signify as being too strictly DANCE and too GAY to be fully embraced by hipsters. EXPERIMENTAL and GAY can work if Soul Jazz curates it, but underground GAY DANCE music that isn't being curated isn't real music in a lot of people minds. When there is a Hi-NRG Soul Jazz comp the tides will turn for this guy.

― Display Name, 20. elokuuta 2007 8:00

Talk to me about Patrick Cowley's 'Menergy'

All these posters being quoted, where are they? This is their moment.

I think Cowley's productions clearly beat Arthur Russell's productions in this poll, so maybe things have changed in 6 years?

rich juzwiak hasn't posted here in quite a while, although he's all over gawker these days.

favorite side effect of this thread is finding out what months are called in finnish.

This list is making me realize how narrow my exposure to disco was and is. I am old enough to remember listening to commercial radio stations devoted completely, or almost completely (I don't really remember), to disco back in probably 78/79, but I'm too young to have been going out clubbing during the disco era. And it's just not something I've dug into deeply.

emil, a youtube playlist is a good idea!

77. Chaka Khan - I'm Every Woman (1978)
196 points, 5 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1419739-1292257429_zps78971d23.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Q8xuUdI1an0

"I'm Every Woman" still sounds like disco perfection... GOD I love that track!

― Eric H. (Eric H.), 16. tammikuuta 2004 3:06

Arif Mardin produced 'Jive Talkin' and 'Nights On Broadway' and 'I'm Every Woman', I think he deserves a round of applause just for those three.

― LondonLee (LondonLee), 17. helmikuuta 2004 17:06

Praga Khan = cheesy techno that lost its sharpness around '92 or so
Chaka Khan = funk/disco goddess
Genghis Khan = mercenary ruler played by John Wayne in notoriously hideous 1956 film The Conqueror
"Khan" = white-suited, granter of O. Henry-esque fantasies

I'd have to go with Chaka. She can outshout 'em all.

― M. Matos, 14. marraskuuta 2001 3:00

Oh now, that one I love.

One of the saddest things ever is that there seems to be no 12" extended mix of "I'm Every Woman" - I'd love for it to just go on and on and never stop... (There is a long remix from the 80s, but that's too housey in a way that doesn't suit this tune.)

Also, even though the comments on this song I found on ILM were mostly praising Nick Ashford for writing it and Arid Mardin for producing it, I think it'd be nothing without Chaka Khan's inspired performance; I can imagine it being totally bland with a lesser singer.

Chaka's heights were so high, that's one of the main things I've learned.

I was the number one vote there. I'm stunned it's as low as it is. The next 76 tracks better be FLAWLESS.

76. Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody (1983)
198 points, 5 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-163681-1268922360_zpsf5fce82a.jpeg

http://youtu.be/ycnuyo3MLbw (music video)
http://youtu.be/tdavRm23lfY (longer version)

"I Feel For You"--classic.

"Ain't Nobody"--immortal.

― ellaguru, 1. heinäkuuta 2007 20:06

I just listened to "Ain't Nobody" and wanted to revive to say "classic" for Chaka Khan, not just for "I Feel For You" but that too. The keyboard riff on "Ain't Nobody" is so classic; Wikipedia says Quincy Jones wanted this song for Thriller but didn't get it; it would have been amazing on there.

― Euler, 5. heinäkuuta 2008 23:32

generally sending a shiver up my spine is a prerequisite for records to make my (oft-updated)"top-ten-of-all-time"; so here's the current one:
1)"ain't nobody" rufus & chaka khan.

― michael w., 6. syyskuuta 2002 9:13

Yet another vote for "Ain't Nobody"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), 21. kesäkuuta 2006 12:15

That one might be a bit controversial, as good as "Ain't Nobody" is, I at least don't really consider it to be disco. But it was nominated and people voted for it, so that's that.

Anyway, one of the best synth lines of the 80s, no?

xp Great song, obv, but doesn't pass the "is it disco" smell test by my estimation.

The dance clip at the beginning of the "Ain't Nobody" video is from archival mambo dancer footage that shows up everywhere (at least in Latin music contexts).

(Or a really close imitation of them.)

Writing 1000 words for RBMA about post-Rufus Chaka is the highlight of my writing career in 2013.

Ain't Nobody is not disco. I'll just pretend Space's Magic Fly took its place, as I have doubts it will make this list

yo imma let you finish but "gloria" is the greatest santa esmerelda song of all time OF ALL TIME

So happy to see Menergy place. Love that song so much, especially how the intro sounds like it's going be a Boards of Canada song before it explodes into life.

I'm just gonna share this exquisite contemporaneous MC Lane Explosion cover of "magic fly" again

http://youtu.be/YpB2asybA7I

The O'Jays - Love Train (Tom Moulton Mix) (1973 - original / 1977 - remix)
199 points, 6 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-2869597-1304871086_zpsca398507.jpeg

http://youtu.be/__lYfFyP0hk

*cues "Love Train" by the O'Jays, sparks joint*

― hstencil, 25. huhtikuuta 2003 23:59

Classic, and with years of good stuff before Philly got big. Backstabbers and Love Train and several others are wonderful.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), 27. huhtikuuta 2003 20:22

When I heard "Love Train", I was in a certain place and I felt a certain way and the song just rushed into me and stuck somewhere, a joyful glue aneurysm waiting to burst and stick to everything.

― David A. (Davant), 2. helmikuuta 2005 11:09

I kinda like it when an LP-closing single feels a little more self-consciously trivial, happy-go-luckier you might say, than the music that preceded it. "Train In Vain" is like that, and so are "Flash Light" and "Love Train". It's as tho they're saying "Here's one you probably know already, just a bit of silly nonsense really, but we enjoyed recording it. Hope you like it." Has a sort of humanizing effect, in a way...I don't know what I mean...

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), 13. lokakuuta 2005 23:33

Possibly the happiest song EVER??

― Amiii Stewart (Amiii Stewart), 17. toukokuuta 2005 20:12

Sorry, that's 75., obviously.

Yay Philly!

damn straight!!

Amii Stewart otm there

I'm just gonna share this exquisite contemporaneous MC Lane Explosion cover of "magic fly" again

http://youtu.be/YpB2asybA7I

― ☞ (brimstead), Saturday, December 7, 2013 11:24 AM (8 minutes ago)

I had not not heard this version before! A bit more atmospheric and dark. Love it.

Directed my Philly votes elsewhere, but I'm happy to see any and all of it place.

74. John Paul King - Love Is in the Air (1977)
201 points, 6 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-2133386-1303595994_zps562c0636.jpeg

http://youtu.be/NNC0kIzM1Fo (music video)
http://youtu.be/H9garIoefS4 (12" version)

My Dad flirted with blues and jazz in the 50s. He played ice hockey. His two favourite songs in the 70s were "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Dury & the Blockheads and "Love is in the Air" by John Paul Young (a song I later discovered was very popular with other people's dads, for some reason or other)

― Dadaismus (Dada), 7. lokakuuta 2005 12:25

No, the latter masterpiece is expressly for the boogieing needs of Smooth Uncles worldwide.

― suzy (suzy), 7. lokakuuta 2005 12:28

I also like Love is in the Air by some Scottish guy named Young, though apparently not related, which they produced.

― mizzell, 9. elokuuta 2007 17:27

john paul young. no-one in australia really ever needs to hear this again ever ever ever, but it is quite good.

― haitch, 13. elokuuta 2007 3:59

I swear to almighty God, everytime I walk into a Borders 'Love Is In The Air' comes on, the John Paul Young version I think. It's the kind of song that would go well with some hot crazy homicidal killing spree, but not when I'm trying to buy books. One of these I will crack and mow down the toothless hoardes, making them eat on their Barbara Kingsolver paperbacks. They only have themselves to blame.

― toofattoskate, 7. marraskuuta 2009 21:36