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Disco Baby
''Disco Baby'' is the second studio album recorded by Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony, released in 1975 on the Avco label. History The album reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart and topped the ''Billboard'' Soul LPs chart. The album features the single, " The Hustle", which peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts. Track listing Personnel *Van McCoy: Vocals, piano *Eric Gale, Hugh McCracken – guitar *George Degens – rhythm and lead guitar *Gordon Edwards – bass *Richard Tee – piano *Ken Bichel; Synthesizers *Leroy Leon Pendarvis, Jr. – clavinet, piano * Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta – Drums * Arthur Jenkins, Jr. – percussion *Philip Bodner, Melvyn Davis, Bernie Glow, Marvin Stamm, Wayne Andre, Garnett Brown, Paul Faulise, Urbie Green, Robert Alexander, Seldon Powell, Michael Rod, Romeo Penque, William Slapin, Frank Wess – horns *Gene Orloff, Kermit Moore, George Ricci, Harold Kohon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony
Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Stylistics, Aretha Franklin, Brenda & the Tabulations, David Ruffin, Peaches & Herb, Lesley Gore and Stacy Lattisaw. Biography Early life Van McCoy was born in Washington, D.C., the second child of Norman S. McCoy, Sr. and Lillian Ray. He learned to play piano at a young age and sang with the Metropolitan Baptist Church choir as a youngster. By the age of 12, he had begun writing his own songs, in addition to performing in local amateur shows alongside his older brother, Norman Jr. The two brothers formed a doo-wop combo named the Starlighters with two friends while in Theodore Roosevelt High School. In 1956, they recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Get Dancin'
"Get Dancin'" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and performed by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, led by Monti Rock III. The song was produced by Bob Crewe and arranged by Bruce Miller. The song was featured on their 1975 album, ''Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes Review''. It reached #1 on the US Disco chart, #3 on the Dance Club Songs, US Dance chart, #8 on the UK Singles Chart, #8 in RPM (magazine), Canada, #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100, #19 in Kent Music Report, Australia, and #32 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, US R&B chart in 1974. The single ranked #100 on Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1975, ''Billboard's'' Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1975. Monte Rock III, calling himself Disco Tex, tells the audience that despite the troubles in the world, they should dance and enjoy themselves. As the song ends, he thanks the audience for their applause. It appears they want him to do an encore of the song. At first, he protests. "I am tired, I can't, I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Average White Band
The Average White Band (also known as AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their albums '' AWB'' and '' Cut the Cake''. The band name was initially proposed by Bonnie Bramlett. They have influenced others, such as the Brand New Heavies, and been sampled by various musicians, including the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, TLC, The Beatnuts, Too Short, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Leena Conquest, Christina Milian, and Arrested Development, making them the 15th most sampled act in history. As of 2022, 50 years after their formation, they continue to perform. Career Formation AWB was formed in early 1972 in London by Alan Gorrie, and Malcolm "Molly" Duncan, with Owen "Onnie" McIntyre, Michael Rosen (trumpet), Roger Ball, and Robbie McIntosh joining them in the original line-up. Hamish Stuart quickly repla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamish Stuart
James Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949) is a British guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stuart attended Queens Park School in Glasgow and left to form his first professional band 'The Dream Police'. He recorded a couple of singles with the Dream Police, before he was invited to join the recently formed Average White Band (AWB) in June 1972. A member of AWB from 1972 to 1982, he went on to work with Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and David Sanborn. He wrote Atlantic Starr's 1986 hit "If Your Heart Isn't in It" and songs for Smokey Robinson, Jeffrey Osborne, George Benson and Diana Ross. Stuart joined Paul McCartney’s band (where he switched between guitar and bass as necessary with McCartney) for McCartney's 1989 comeback album, ''Flowers in the Dirt'', and appearing on several other albums and McCartney's world tours of 1989 and 1993. After collaborating ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Ball (musician)
Roger Ball (born 4 June 1944, Broughty Ferry, Scotland) is a Scottish saxophonist, keyboardist, songwriter and arranger. He is a former original member of the Average White Band (AWB). Biography Ball attended the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 1962, studying architecture. While there he met Malcolm "Molly" Duncan and Alan Gorrie. The three of them relocated to London separately, but joined forces again in 1971 to form the nucleus of the Average White Band (AWB). They were later joined by Onnie McIntyre, Hamish Stuart and Robbie McIntosh, completing the original line-up. These six Scots were an unlikely group to be successful playing American styled funk, but went on to be nominated for three Grammy Awards in the Rhythm & Blues category. Ball was the principal composer of " Pick Up the Pieces" which topped the US ''Billboard'' chart on 22 February 1975. It was written from a rehearsal "jam" over which he superimposed the melody line and the bridge. Since th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pick Up The Pieces (Average White Band Song)
"Pick Up the Pieces" is a 1974 song by the Average White Band from their second album, '' AWB''. On the single, songwriting credit was given to founding member and saxophonist Roger Ball and guitarist Hamish Stuart individually and the entire band collectively. It is essentially an instrumental, apart from the song's title being shouted at several points in the song. Background The guitar line of the song came from Hamish Stuart, while Roger Ball wrote the first part of the horn melody. The song was produced by Arif Mardin. According to Malcolm 'Molly' Duncan, he had disagreed with releasing the song as a single because the song is a "funk instrumental played by Scotsmen with no lyrics other than a shout". He also said about the shouts of "Pick up the pieces": "It's about picking yourself up when things aren't going well. We'd spent a lot of time making no money whatsoever, so it felt very relevant." The song is an extended long version on the live ''Person To Person'' album (197 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Hazel
Edward Earl Hazel (April 10, 1950 – December 23, 1992) was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. His ten-minute guitar solo in the Funkadelic song " Maggot Brain" is hailed as "one of the greatest solos of all time on any instrument". In 2015, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked Hazel at no. 83 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists. Biography Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1950, Hazel grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey because his mother, Grace Cook, wanted her son to grow up in an environment without the pressures of drugs and crime that she felt pervaded New York City. Hazel occupied himself from a young age by playing a guitar, given to him as a Christmas present by his older brother. Hazel also sang in church. At age 12, Hazel met Billy "Bass" Nelson, and the pair q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeffrey Bowen
Jeffrey Bowen is an American songwriter and record producer, notable for his work at both Motown Records and Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus and Hot Wax labels. He is best known for his work with the Detroit male vocal groups Chairmen of the Board and the Temptations. Bowen produced three albums for the Temptations: '' In a Mellow Mood'' (1967), ''A Song for You'' (1975), and ''Wings of Love'' (1976). In 1978, Bowen met and married singer Bonnie Pointer Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer (July 11, 1950– June 8, 2020) was an American singer, best known for having been a member of the vocal group, the Pointer Sisters. Pointer scored several moderate solo hits after leaving the Pointers in 1977, incl .... He produced her 1978 and 1979 self-titled LPs for Motown (also known as Pointer's "red" and "purple" albums, respectively, because of their cover art) as well as her 1984 album ''If the Price Is Right'' for Private I Records. In July 2014, Pointer filed for divorce, which was f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakey Ground
"Shakey Ground" is a 1975 R&B single by The Temptations. It was co-written by Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel, who plays lead guitar on the song. Background Original Funkadelic bassist Billy "Bass" Nelson also plays on the song. Personnel * Lead vocals by Dennis Edwards * Background vocals by Damon Harris, Richard Street, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams * Guitar by Eddie Hazel * Bass by Billy Bass Nelson * Soprano saxophone by Donald Charles Baldwin * Instrumentation by various Los Angeles studio musicians Chart history "Shakey Ground" was the last by the group to reach the number-one spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart: the song also crossed over to the pop chart, reaching number twenty-six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Cover versions The song has been covered by many artists: * Van McCoy covered it for his 1975 album '' Disco Baby''. * Phoebe Snow recorded it for her 1976 album '' It Looks Like Snow''. * Renée Geyer included the song on her 1976 album ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Cook (songwriter)
Roger Frederick Cook (born 19 August 1940) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, who has written many hit records for other recording artists. He has also had a successful recording career in his own right. He is best known for his collaborations with Roger Greenaway. Cook's co-compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles", and the transatlantic million selling songs, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". They were the first UK songwriting partnership to win an Ivor Novello Award as 'Songwriters of the Year' in two successive years. In 1997, Cook became the first and so far only British songwriter to enter the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Biography Early life Cook was born in Fishponds, Bristol, England. Most of the hits he has written have been in collaboration with Roger Greenaway, whom he originally met while they were members of a close harmony group, the Kestrels. Continuing on as a duo, Cook and Green ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Greenaway
Roger John Reginald Greenaway, (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic million selling songs "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)" and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". They were the first UK songwriting partnership to be granted an Ivor Novello Award as 'Songwriters of the Year' in two successive years. In 2009, Greenaway was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Life and career Roger Greenaway was born in Fishponds, Bristol, England. Both Greenaway and Roger Cook were members of the close harmony group the Kestrels. While on tour they decided to begin writing songs together. Their first was "You've Got Your Troubles", a No. 2 UK hit single for the Fortunes (1965), which also made No. 7 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was the first of several successes they enjoyed during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoff Stephens
Geoffrey Stephens (1 October 1934 – 24 December 2020) was an English songwriter and record producer, most prolific in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote a long series of hit records, often in conjunction with other British songwriters including Tony Macaulay, John Carter, Roger Greenaway, Peter Callander, Barry Mason, Ken Howard, Alan Blaikley, Don Black, Mitch Murray, and Les Reed. He also formed The New Vaudeville Band, and their song "Winchester Cathedral" won Stephens the 1967 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Recording. Early life Stephens was born in New Southgate, North London in 1934. At the end of the Second World War, the family moved to Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex to open a guesthouse. There on its easterly location Stephens was able to listen to jazz and American pop on the American Forces Network broadcast from Germany and Radio Luxembourg, which together with listening to classical music at home, instilled a love of music in him. Howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |