Dance Music Hall of Fame Nominees - Songs (cont.)

Songs (cont.)
Honeybee / Never Can Say Goodbye / Reach Out, I’ll Be There – Gloria Gaynor (MGM, 1974)
Writers: Melvin Steals, Mervin Steals / Clifton Davis / Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland, Jr.
Producers: Paul Leka / Tony Bongiovi, Meco Monardo, Jay Ellis
Arrangers: Norman Harris / Harold Wheeler and City Life / Lou Del Gatto
Mix: Tom Moulton
This precedent-shattering disco medley was the first full album side ever programmed for uninterrupted club play. Recorded in Philadelphia and New York, incorporating two classic Motown covers, and introducing the groundbreaking remix concepts of Tom Moulton, it was both the synthesis of all that had gone before, and a giant step into the future. Gaynor was first to be crowned “Queen of the Discos” by an early DJ organization.

I Feel Love – Donna Summer (Casablanca, 1977)
Writers: Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Producers: Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Arranger: Thor Baldursson
Donna Summer was already the biggest pop star to come out of disco when “I Feel Love” single-handedly ushered in the era of sequenced dance music and transformed pop forever. In it, a simple tape delay added to a classic Munich bass line created a gripping, dizzying new effect, doubling the tempo and ponging from speaker to speaker. At once primal and futuristic, “I Feel Love” remains one of the most influential and singular records in pop history.

Love Hangover – Diana Ross (Motown, 1976)
Writers: Pam Sawyer, Marilyn McLeod
Producer: Hal Davis
Arrangers: Dave Blumberg, Clay Drayton
The audacious song and production concept of “Love Hangover” has lost none of its magnetism since its release nearly thirty years ago: this sensual rhythm ballad breaks into a ferocious workout of walking bass, brilliant orchestral and vocal arrangements, and five minutes of witty ad-libbing by pop icon Ross. Its undying raw power is directly connected to its economical production; moreover, the high musical standards of records like “Love Hangover” prolonged the attention span of dancers, and in turn, every fan of pop music.

Love is the Message – MFSB featuring The Three Degrees (Philadelphia International, 1973/1977)
Writers: Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff
Producers: Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff
Arranger: Bobby Martin
Mix: Tom Moulton
The best intentions and the highest calling of music are expressed in this timeless classic of danceable jazz-flavored R&B. Already a dance floor classic in its original album version, the 1977 remix by Tom Moulton added a critical improvised keyboard solo by Leon Huff, along with breakdown sections that have proven definitive to every subsequent form of dance music.

Love’s Theme – Love Unlimited Orchestra (20th Century, 1973)
Writer: Barry White
Producer: Barry White
Arrangers: Barry White, Gene Page
Barry White combined hard rhythm and ornate string arrangements with a level of ambition and pop craft rarely heard since Phil Spector’s heyday. From the time of his first solo hits to the present day, White’s influence as a singer, songwriter, producer and arranger his been acknowledged by everyone who has endeavored to put more music into music. “Love’s Theme” was the first Number One pop single discovered and broken in the club underground.

Rock Your Baby – George McCrae (TK, 1974)
Writers: Harry Wayne Casey, Rick Finch
Producers: Harry Wayne Casey, Rick Finch
Miami first staked its claim as one of the centers of R&B-oriented dance with this international Number One, written and produced by the creative duo that was soon to conquer pop as K.C. & the Sunshine Band. Only three people played this hot rhythm track: Finch on bass and drums, Casey on keyboards, and Jerome Smith on guitar. McCrae chose a soft, dreamy delivery to go with the pumping, yet trance-like track. Finch admits that the loud bossa nova rhythm box beat was turned up high to help him keep time on the drum kit.

Shame – Evelyn “Champagne” King (RCA, 1978)
Writers: John Henry Fitch, Reuben Cross
Producer: T. Life
Arrangers: T. Life, Sam Peake
Mix: David Todd, Al Garrison
Young Evelyn was only sixteen when she was discovered singing a Sam Cooke song while cleaning at a Philadelphia studio. Instant Funk played the unconventionally fast rhythm, and King sang from a deep well of precocious emotion. David Todd, the first working DJ to be employed in promotion by a record label, directed the remix, adding a wicked whiplash echo to the handclaps. Other producers and artists copied “Shame,” but King never did, instead taking dance music and R&B another stylistic step forward with her groundbreaking electronic hits of the early Eighties.