Disco Delivery #13: Move your body all around..

I decided to do something a little different this week.. Instead of posting about a particular album, I just decided to post a bunch of songs that I'm digging at the moment..




Madleen Kane - Let's Make Love (1978, Warner Bros.) | LINK TWO

This one is from Madleen Kane's first album "Rough Diamond" (1978, Warner Bros.). A former model from Sweden, she would be a fixture in the disco/club scene right into the mid '80s. The production team of Michaële, Paul and Lana Sebastian produced this song as well as the entirety of her first two albums, which included some of her biggest hits like "Rough Diamond" and "Forbidden Love." She would later work with Giorgio Moroder and UK Producer Ian Anthony Stephens, yet none of them would really capture her as well as the Sebastians did. With their full, classy, and (at times) almost orchestral production they managed to capture a certain willowy charm and sexiness in what seemed to be an otherwise limited voice (just see her album with Giorgio Moroder)..

This song wasn't a single as far as I know, but is just a great example of that certain pure, carefree sexiness that many disco records captured so well.. Check out that light wah-wah guitar (I believe that's what it is) chugging along in the background..




AKB - Stand Up, Sit Down (1978, RSO) | LINK TWO

A great piece of piano-driven disco from the production team of Andy Kahn and Kurt Borusiewicz, who were best known for producing Karen Young's big disco hit "Hot Shot" (1978, West End). Hot off the heels of their hit with Karen Young, they put together this studio group, named AKB after their combined initials. AKB would put out only one album called "Rhythmic Feet" (1979, RSO) on which this song is included. Not much in terms of lyrics and vocals, which basically consist of "..stand up, sit down, you gotta move your body all around.." But it's got a great backing, with a hot drum pattern, handclaps and those great piano riffs.
LINKS:
AKB @ DISCOMUSEUM.COM




Hank Crawford - I Hear A Symphony (1975, Kudu) | LINK TWO

Noted Saxophone player Hank Crawford dipped his toes into disco territory early on with this cover of the 1965 Supremes hit. Such an exquisite blend of soul, funk and a bit of smooth jazz into what was then the emerging disco sound.. Interesting fact: Patti Austin is the main vocalist on this song, which also made the disco charts for some 9 weeks in 1976.
LINKS:
HANK CRAWFORD - I HEAR A SYMPHONY LP (REVIEW) @ ALLMUSIC.COM




Wardell Piper - Nobody (Can Take You From Me) (1984, Prelude) | LINK TWO

Fast forwarding into the early/mid '80s for a bit of that post-disco, pre-house electro-funk sound.. Earlier on, Wardell had released a dynamite disco album in 1979, which yielded a couple of minor dancefloor hits. Into the early 80s she continued to release singles sporadically. One of those being this one for the once-mighty Prelude label; one of the leading independent disco labels of the time. By 1984 they weren't pumping out as many singles or hits as they once did and would close two years later in 1986, this also being among the last singles they would release. This song, produced by the relatively unknown James Batton, was later included on a CD called "Prelude's Greatest Hits, Vol. 5, yet I don't even think it charted on any of the Billboard charts. Still, this song just has a really great groove with it's sharp, minimalist synth-driven production and Wardell's smooth, controlled vocal. To me this song is just cool as ice..


CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERIES