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

now I regret not putting up Too Much Blood

― Ismael Klata,

oh man

45. Inner Life - Ain't No Mountain High Enough (1981)
288 points, 6 votes, two 1st place votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1864383-1314235086_zps1ba89b21.jpeg

http://youtu.be/fF8jL1zyjNE

Can we all at least agree that the Inner Life version is untouchable?

― Eric H., 23. marraskuuta 2008 0:45

Inner Life's version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" slaughters the original.

― Andy K (Andy K), 9. syyskuuta 2002 16:20

Inner Life - Ain't No Mountain High Enough: disco juggernaut like no other, starts at a gallop and ends up flying through space

― snoop dogey doge (seandalai), 7. marraskuuta 2013 4:30

We can agree that the inner life version is untouchable.

― ♪☺♫☻ (gr8080), 24. marraskuuta 2008 0:52

Sorry, that should be:

Inner Life - Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Larry Levan Mix)

This was my #1. It has everything great about disco: a rollicking groove, a pounding beat, some soaring strings, a far-out synth solo, and of course the energetic, awe-inspiring diva vocal performance by Jocelyn Brown. Perfection.

Also my #1, no way are there 44 disco tracks better than this (I know, I know, that's not how it works)...my favourite version is the John Morales 4AM mix but the Levan (and OG album) mixes are monsters too.

I was just listening to this today.

Incredibly low :( This is a force of nature.

TOO LOW

***TIMPANI DRUMS***

This isn't my favourite disco cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", but it's almost certain to be the highest placed.

The second verse is just among the most transcendent things in all disco. "Remember the day, I set you free..."

what Soulwax did on NY Lipps with FunkyTown really made me fall back in love with it again.

This is good. I've never heard it before.

I marched and slept through today's reveals but this is obvs all great stuff. Apart from 'Funkytown' which I have mixed feelings for. Had I known that 'Give Me The Night' was set to do so well I'd have nommed 'Love x Love' which imo is just as good - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr1qEOYsaok

I share the widespred ambivalence about Funkytown.

'Miss You' is ok but meh at it being higher than *insert pretty much anything that's placed lower*

"More Than A Woman" (Bee Gees), "Why", "Give Me The Night", "Funkytown" and "Native New Yorker" (even if you people do make a compelling case for this one) all set off my "top 50, really?" sensors way more than "Miss You" or say "Rock With You" (both in my top 10). The Stones creating a brilliant disco single is a thing to be celebrated not scorned.

Didn't vote for Inner Life because I prefer the original. A stupid reason since this is obviously brilliant too.

Could someone knowledgeable and benevolent create a list of all the important djs included on the list so far along with their productions? It would help organize all of these (wonderful) discoveries. A+ poll.

Anyway, something like this*:

Patrick Cowley: Menergy, Sea Hunt
Arthur Russell: Is It All Over My Face, Tell You Today
...

*Those two are easy since there are no multiple projects involved

Okay, Ain't No Mountain is truly magnificent - I didn't know it before, but it would've made a worthy no.1

Sure!

PRODUCERS

Greg Carmichael & Patrick Adams: Lady Bug, Barely Breaking Even, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Weekend (the Phreek version, which was produced by Adams only).

Harry Wayne Casey: Keep It Comin' Love, Get Down Tonight, Spank.

Chic: At Last I Am Free, My Feet Keep Dancing, He's the Greatest Dancer, Why.

Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff: You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else, Love Train.

Dan Hartman: Vertigo/Relight My Fire, Love Sensation.

Quincy Jones: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Rock with You.

REMIXERS

Tom Moulton: Love Train, Love Sensation.

Larry Levan: Don't Make Me Wait (he also produced this), Weekend (the Class Action version), Is It All Over My Face?, Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

(x-post)

44. Alicia Bridges - I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round) (1978)
296 points, 8 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1913973-1301599125_zps58c7a85d.jpeg

http://youtu.be/0O9OmyV7BhY

Never really liked the song, but LOVE the way she says "AaaaaaCK-SHON"

― dave225 (Dave225), 7. lokakuuta 2002 18:20

Alicia Bridges' "I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)" sounds country on the verses & then goes disco on the choruses.

― Josefa, 27. tammikuuta 2009 18:18

I love the nightlife easily encompasses not only everything about disco but everything in civilization that is built around the experience of transient pleasure in a crowd of like-minded pleasure seekers.

― Vic Perry, 1. elokuuta 2012 5:5

(xpost) wow. knew about K.C., Jones, Gamble/Huff and Rodgers/Edwards but the rest is invaluable information. thanks!

PS Get Down Tonight didn't place yet (I hope it will) so you probably meant That's The Way

xps Ain't No Mountain reminds me most of the extended jungle remixes from the early-mid 90s for the likes of NuYorican Soul ('Black Gold Of The Sun') - I forget who the remixers were, 4Hero is a name that rings a bell? Anyway I had no idea that those records had disco antecedents, so this is valuable and intriguing information.

PS Get Down Tonight didn't place yet (I hope it will) so you probably meant That's The Way

Yeah, sorry, I always mix those two in my head.

i love this song!

wow, i expected to have no idea how this poll would look in the end but i at least assumed "Funkytown" would do way better than it did.

43. Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free (1976)
298 points, 9 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/candi-staton-young-hearts-run-free-warner-bros-2_zpsae909dff.jpg

http://youtu.be/SBcJR3jJ_zo

"Young Hearts Run Free" is clearly one of the better disco records.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), 31. heinäkuuta 2004 1:19

Also, I want to thank that show for shining a whole new light on "Young Hearts Run Free" for me. I never realized the circumstances surrounding that song with regard to her irl struggles, which makes it mean a hell of a lot more.

― Johnny Fever, 28. helmikuuta 2013 23:06

Lots of old soul shouters made great disco records -- Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free" is inexplicably perfect.

― briania (briania), 1. lokakuuta 2004 19:11

Is there a more joyful song about being stuck in an unfulfilling relationship? Candi complains "just can't break awayyyyyy" and her voice, and the music soars. Instant happiness, as long as you don't think too much about what she's singing.

― Amiii Stewart (Amiii Stewart), 24. toukokuuta 2005 14:59

Classic example of a song I enjoyed (and DJed at weddings) for years without listening to the lyrics and then realised, damn it's bleak. Disco is so good at these.

Yeah, apparently the song was written about the abusive relationship Staton was in with some pimp guy at the time.

this Carly Simon song is crazy, never heard this before

Candi's perennial ubiquity at wedding discos shall forever be a source of mystery to me...

The Alicia Bridges instrumental track is generi-disco but even as a kid her diction astounded me; I'd never heard vowels pronounced that way.

AC-SHON!

OOOOOWWWWW YAAAY

My wife introduced me to the Carly Simon tune just a month ago and it's been stuck in my head since. Never knew about it. Was pretty amazed to learn it's '82.

Homer: "I hate that song."
Marge: "I do too."

OTM.

what Soulwax did on NY Lipps with FunkyTown really made me fall back in love with it again.

― piscesx, Wednesday, December 11, 2013 11:21 PM (Yesterday)

this is OTM, don't want to bog this poll down with 00's edits but:

http://youtu.be/UYESHbg36vs
http://youtu.be/GO7ux5oWSOQ

glad candi stanton made it, it slipped in as my #50, after tuomas emailed me to inform me that "aint no mountain" was on my list in two different places hahaha

42. Patrice Rushen - Haven't You Heard (1979)
301 points, 7 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/img_340837_3663423_0_zps026d5281.jpg

http://youtu.be/QHxc3e2TJXc

Weird, I had a similar *devastated by music* moment in the car last week listening to Patrice Rushen's "Haven't You Heard" from the Levan "paradise" dbl CD. I had recently heard a gospel cover of "Haven't You Heard" that converts the "I've been looking for you" into an address to Jesus, and it was so bizarre-yet-comforting to return to the sexual and secular original and have it sound 10 million times better . . .

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), 20. huhtikuuta 2006 22:08

Last week I played this song approximately 80 zillion times.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), 20. huhtikuuta 2006 23:26

the new lcdss single kinda reminds me of a weird amalgam of the last three tracks on the first disc of the larry levan comp, but little tops "haven't you heard" by patrice rushen with which i regularly piss off my surfer neighbors.

― josh. (disco stu), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 00:20

Disco Stu himself!

I love I love the Nightlife.

This poll made me realize I need more Patrice Rushen in my life, so I bought all of her disco albums.

(Thankfully they're now available as two 2CD comps; a few years ago I tried looking for them and came up with nothing.)

Young Hearts Run Free and I Love the Nightlife are classics which don't generate much enthusiasm in me. they have to be here but maybe top 50 is pushing it. Haven't You Heard sounds good, didn't see that one coming.

"Haven't You Heard" is an absolutely heavenly song.

Oh, it's THIS one - only heard the Daddy's Favourite track which sampled it ("I Feel Good Things For You"), until now.

you can just loop Rushen singing the chorus and playing that piano part into infinity. I don't need the rest.

That's great. I've never heard it before.

I Love the Nightlife really doesn't resonate with me. Seems like old person disco/wedding disco.

41. ABBA - Dancing Queen (1976)
302 points, 8 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1268701-1257779647_zps4df2a248.jpeg

http://youtu.be/xFrGuyw1V8s

If you're going to have bloody ABBA recs at bloody office parties, 'Dancing Queen' is abt the best you can get, I find.

― Andrew L (Andrew L), 15. joulukuuta 2002 21:59

'Dancing Queen' is good because it is the saddest song. Hearing sad songs too many times is quite sad too, in a tired of life sense. And parties, specifically christmas/office parties are very sad, frustrated occasions. The whole thing amounts to melancholy overload. It is wonderful.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), 16. joulukuuta 2002 2:58

I always thought it was their best song, in terms of
structure and uniqueness.The sectional changes are
neat, as the verse builds dynamically/harmonically into
the chorus, which is elaborate for the Abba standard.

― James R., 21. elokuuta 2005 11:37

It's weirdly slow for a song about dancing.

The best thing in the song is the weird mode of address, "You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen" etc. where you are put in the position of being a seventeen year old girl whether you like it or not. Are there any other songs like this?

I also love the line "Feel the beat of the tambourine." Tambourines do not get enough praise.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), 21. elokuuta 2005 14:16

'Dancing Queen' always struck me as one of the saddest hit singles ever. Partly because, yes, the "time of her life" is now, is gone. But also the knowledge that 30 years later, dancing queen is working at the post office in some provincial town listening nostalgically to 'Dancing Queen'.

― baaderonixx, 20. kesäkuuta 2007 18:31

Abba's Dancing Queen: A Unique Song?

I'm still hoping for some song from 1979 that I've totally forgotten about that will instantly transport me back in time.

Have never heard this Patrice Rushen song, as far as I recall.