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

I didn't know this one, then was set on giving it massive points ... then I totally lost my nerve because I wasn't sure whether I actually liked it or whether it was the Alcazar tune I loved instead ... so I pulled it entirely. The title phrase is a bit weird. What dilemmas.

I fuckin' love this tune. MORE DISCO SONGS ABOUT SPACE, PLEASE.

very nice piano intro there.

35. Donna Summer - Last Dance (1978)
315 points, 7 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/jabaralastdance_zps8053c467.jpg

http://youtu.be/A8xv1MXrwNc (music video)
http://youtu.be/VsQsdlYVPCw (12" version)

i'm thinking "Last Dance" without a doubt but will take a listen before voting.

― Bee OK, 21. heinäkuuta 2010 5:38

Does he remember Donna Sumer's "Last Dance"? We played that song together many times. Are you out there? Do you remember?

― Sister Reed (Bimble), 21. tammikuuta 2009 10:22

I have to say, I've always been just a wee bit mystified by what I think has become something of a cult around "I Feel Love." Don't get me wrong, I love Donna Summer, I like the song a lot, and I can understand how it's important, too (probably her most "important" moment), fusing as it does Munich machinery, bubblegum simplicity, and good ol' American disco-porn--and yeah, paving the way for trance, and impressing the hell out of Eno and Bowie in the process! But it's also a deliberately cold record (one of its charms, agreed), and I like a whole bunch of other Donna Summer records better, stuff where her voice actually has a personality. I mean, she has a great voice, but you wouldn't know it from "I Feel Love." Off the top of my head I'm thinking: "Hot Stuff" (Stones do Euro-klezmer-disco), "Could it Be Magic" (Manilow does Euro-opera-disco), "I Remember Yesterday" ("jazz" if it was invented by August Darnell and Stony Browder rather than Louis Armstrong or whoever the hell invented jazz), "Last Dance" and "Macarthur Park," two of the very few songs in rock 'n' roll history which get show music down right, the perfect duet "Heaven Knows," the (pre-Jesus) statement of faith, "On the Radio".... There are even a couple icy-electro moments I slightly prefer to "I.F.L." (or let's say which stand equal to it anyway): the amazing "Our Love" (without which I'm guessing early Depeche Mode wouldn't even exist), "The Wanderer" (coolest Elvis imitation by a black chick ever)...and oh yeah, the 3 hour mix of "Love to Love You Baby" is still pretty outrageous as well.

― dan fitz (danfitz), 26. helmikuuta 2003 5:08

I fuckin' love this tune. MORE DISCO SONGS ABOUT SPACE, PLEASE.

I once did a mix that's all space-themed disco... I might still have it somewhere on my computer, if you want me to share it?

Not that hard for me to fathom being the only one who put "Last Dance" at the top of their list, but stunned that only 6 other people (out of, what, 40 ballots?) voted for it.

xplease

Tuomas some of us might have a mild interest in such a thing, yes

I voted thrice for Summer: "Bad Girls", "Last Dance", and one more.

Damn, looks like I don't have that space disco mix anymore, it seems I never copied it from the hard drive of my previous computer. Oh well, if I ever do a new space mix, I'll let you know.

I once did a mix that's all space-themed disco... I might still have it somewhere on my computer, if you want me to share it?

― Tuomas, Friday, December 13, 2013 6:31 PM (12 minutes ago)

Oh yesssss. I know a fair few, but an entire mix sounds heavenly.

xpost CURSES

Pretty sure we could crowdsource a cool spacedisco playlist!

It's sort of amazing how we're so high up on the list with so little consensus yet.

I know there's absolutely no chance of either of my Donna votes making it, so I'll say now that they were:

"Could It Be Magic"
"I Remember Yesterday"

Could It Be Magic could yet make it?

Okay, with the next tune I have to admit I made a bit of a mistake... For some reason I thought it was from 1984, and it wasn't until I was counting the votes that I realized it was officially released as a single in 1985. (Though from what I've understood it did appear on some kind of private pressing before that, so I guess technically it predates 1985.) However, people voted for it and it's undeniably disco, plus it's an awesome classic, so I hope you can forgive my error...

No. Repoll.

https://lh3.ggpht.com/cUZ5cmriTQ_kyIPDss4vMqf4-pVWYDvJV8QiqsfBJyn4vkTXlJENDYiKRy9Et2ri17Y=w300

The Joubert Singers - Stand on the Word (1985)
316 points, 9 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-531296-1333484579_zps6b7c9911.jpeg

http://youtu.be/loxqSjjRoMQ

this song's growing omnipresence - friday night was the first time i HAVEN'T heard it out this year - is an unexpected development.

― fahn fahn fahn on the suggest bahn (haitch), 16. huhtikuuta 2009 6:43

im tellin you joubert singers 7 inch is the hottest gospel track on the streets

― katie McDermott (lionbrand), 19. tammikuuta 2007 2:00

everything sounds better when you start it with that joubert singers track

― it was very clear that it's a sarcastic song (forksclovetofu), 11. helmikuuta 2013 8:23

Time was running through a disco playlist would've been a source of shame. I did fire it up at work yesterday with my headphones on but not plugged in, and nobody pointed it out for a couple of minutes - which could've been a massive faux pas in my rather staid workplace, but it was The Joubert Singers so I think I'm in the clear there.

― Ismael Klata, 28. marraskuuta 2013 23:44

Can't we just credit this to God?

― boxedjoy, 14. toukokuuta 2013 1:05

Can we reach a final consensus here? Was "Stand On the Word" by The Joubert Singers or Celestial Choir?

And that's 34.

Despite what the Youtube video says, this apparently tune was not remixed or produced by Larry Levan. The thread I linked to has more info.

Oh, well I'm cool with this (even though in my heart I don't really think it's disco)

I think says a lot about the power of disco (and gospel!) that whenever I play "Stand on the Word", the world finds this staunch atheist happily singing along to the lyrics "we must not question the good Lord!".

(xpost)

xps were Chic behind Spacer too?

Ah, I thought I didn't know this, but yeah, the lead vocals came in and yes I do. Yeah, the lyrics are a bit "hmm" but it's stomping enough to carry you through.

xp yes! I only found that out pretty recently (maybe the Glastonbury performance?)

my Summer vote went to "Try Me I Know We Can Make It"

One year off is totally excusable in the case of Stand on the Word. It would be tragic if this was left off the list. Even the atheist in me can't deny it, I stand on the word of disco.

Whatever version, I'm thrilled "Stand By the Word" made it. And, yes, it makes a Jesus Freak of me anew for about 5 minutes.

New York Community Choir is my favourite gospel disco but yeah you can't argue with SotW.

i regret not voting for try me.

stand on the word makes me very emotional

All gospel makes me emotional. If there's a genre that beats disco, gospel is it.

House and disco are the only things that get me praising His name.

I love "Ring My Bell" of course and it was a favorite of mine back when it first came out.

33. Gloria Gaynor - Never Can Say Goodbye (1974)
319 points, 8 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-412327-1302498228_zps1cd52176.jpeg

http://youtu.be/4lirTZa_7SQ

Gloria's "Never Can Say Goodbye" is one of my five fave disco-era tracks, for sure

― dan fitz (danfitz), 26. helmikuuta 2003 5:08

Classic misheard lyric: my Methodist clergyman father once asked me: "Are they saying 'I never can say the Bible'?"

― _Rudipherous_, 5. joulukuuta 2013 6:58

Never Can Say Goodbye is a gorgeous gorgeous song

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), 7. joulukuuta 2013 19:30

67. Gloria Gaynor/The Communards 'Never Can Say Goodbye'

usual suspects: disco, strings, heartbreak, resolve

― stevem (blueski), 15. tammikuuta 2004 18:51

OMG at the Rasputin track. That is amazing.

Sorry, very late on that one

while we're on Rasputin, this belatedly made me laugh:

This could easily have been my no.1.

― Ramnaresh Samhain (ShariVari), Friday, 6 December 2013 19:41 (1 week ago)

posts very much in character, etc

I like this song approximately 2,583 times as much as "I Will Survive."

Pretty sure we could crowdsource a cool spacedisco playlist!

This is all you need really:
http://991.com/newgallery/Geoff-Love-Close-Encounters-588378.jpg

Nick Ingman (not Geoff Love, he just put his name on it to help it sell) at his grooviest. And spaciest obv.

32. Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive (1978)
320 points, 7 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-131082-1324233696_zps8bd06ec8.jpeg

http://youtu.be/zpVQFhRwWQw

Yeah, there's been a lot of this one song, but isn't that because there's still pretty much nothing else like it? Forget that it's a powerful anthem and it's sort of generally fantastic - just think about what this song does. When you've just had a break up it's all too easy to identify with songs about wallowing in self-pity or howling rage at the ex, but that doesn't make them good for you. A friend used to propose that there should be a compilation CD of all the break-up songs that aren't wallow and howl songs, but just focus on moving on. It would be the perfect thing to give to any friend who was suddenly readjusting to independence. She even wanted to call the record "I Will Survive." Problem was, that was the only song she could come up with that fit the bill.

― dad a, 13. heinäkuuta 2007 0:00

If you take it just as asking to be congratulated for not going into cardiac arrest anytime recently, then yeah that's kind of paltry. ("Staying Alive" -- yeah, me too, so what?)

But in the context of the rest of the lyrics I think she means something more like "I will get over this." One thing pop songs can do really well is crystallizing small realizations like, in this case, the moment when you realize that the heartache won't kill you. This song nails that moment.

And again, with AIDS ravaging the gay community, you'd think there'd be times when a sentiment like "I will survive" doesn't seem like such a modest claim.

― dad a, 13. heinäkuuta 2007 19:03

When a song attains that degree of notoriety it tends to become "compilation material". I bet that most people don't even know who the singer is. This is to say that "I will survive" is a classic song because it transcends its author's identity... the kind of music you alway hear at parties but nobody (except the dj maybe) can name the artist...

― Simone, 23. maaliskuuta 2001 3:00

Hmm...maybe it's a girl thing? Because I happen to like it too, and don't really get sick of it. Gloria Gaynor's version, that is -- if it happens to be someone drunkenly singing it on the way out of a club in a parking lot, then I *am* kind of sick of it.

― Nicole, 23. maaliskuuta 2001 3:00

"I Will Survive" is a total classic. heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. beautiful lyrics and a gorgeous, sad, goddamn beautiful arrangement. those strings! the voice!

― jed_ (jed), 24. joulukuuta 2005 4:34

anybody who does not respond emotionally to "I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you" is broken inside imo

― les yeux sans aerosmith (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), 11. heinäkuuta 2010 15:40

yeah. a lot of hit songs lose their luster -- and any sense of excitement or energy -- from being overplayed and overexposed. not this one.

classic.

― Daniel, Esq., 11. heinäkuuta 2010 15:42

LOL

It's worth hearing the extended version of this song, there is a nice extra bit that isn't in the single version people have heard 100000 times.

I was expecting that higher. I disagree with the comments pasted up there, it *is* overplayed. The sentiment is great, of course, but it's pretty rare that it gets any response from me these days.

Oy.

31. Emotions - Best of My Love (1977)
321 points, 10 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/rejoice_zps57066532.jpg

http://youtu.be/WPefERS7EZs

"Best of My Love" all the way. Earth, Wind and Fire were the backing band, weren't they?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), 26. elokuuta 2004 19:35

Your Favorite Moment in a Song

The "Owww" bit from The Emotions 'Best of my Love' which De La Soul also used to great effect in 'Say No Go'

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), 19. elokuuta 2006 1:50

i like the production/sound of "emotions", but i never liked it as much as best of my love. by the emotions.

― scott seward, 14. toukokuuta 2010 20:30

TS: Best Of My Love v. Got To Be Real

YESSSSSS

30. Cheryl Lynn - Got to Be Real (1978)
340 points, 8 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-2594888-1292258001_zps7ca8808c.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Y7hwP6is47M

My roommate just got all these ridiculous remixes of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be Real" and I'm not even remotely tired of it yet. Go disco!

nb My roommate is a raver and the reason I am not tired of CL yet is cause it keeps her from spinning Timo Maas all day.

― adam, 9. kesäkuuta 2002 3:00

Why did you stop playing Role Playing Games?

As Cheryl Lynn so aptly put it in 1978, it's Got To Be Real!

― Marcello Carlin, 23. elokuuta 2004 12:29

Cheryl Lynn's "To Be Real" mentioned years upthread. A couple of other big hits from that epoch that give me the same giddy, bursting-with-joy helium buzz:

Emotions - Best of My Love
Natalie Cole - This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)

― briania, 15. helmikuuta 2008 15:57

Cheryl Lynn "Got To Be Real"

Come on folks, I challenge you to present me with something, anything as good as this shit. Go ahead.

― Bimble, 4. kesäkuuta 2007 9:03

TS: Best Of My Love v. Got To Be Real

Was there ever any money that Bimble was not on?

one of the few songs in my life that a relationship gone South has pretty much ruined a tune i useda love

xpost

Voted for "Got to Be Real"... The Emotions track is cool too, and as someone said in the thread I linked to, having EWF as your backing band is certainly better than having Toto, but there's just something so uplifting, sincere, and, er, "real" about Lynns vocals on that track... I don't get that from "Best of My Love", as pretty as it is.

i'm just glad the emotions placed. i love their voices.