Soul Makossa – Manu Dibango (Atlantic, 1973)
Writer: Manu Dibango
Producer: Manu Dibango
Camerounian horn player Dibango was among the first to benefit from the power of club DJs to search out and break the most unlikely records. This wild and hypnotic jazz riff had entered the country on a French import, and within days of its discovery, DJ buzz precipitated a frenzy of covers, bootleg pressings and immediate radio interest. One of dance music’s first of many creative and commercial out-of-nowhere boom tracks.
Ten Percent – Double Exposure (Salsoul, 1976)
Writers: Allan Felder, T.G. Conway
Producer: Norman Harris
Arranger: Norman Harris
Mix: Walter Gibbons
As an album track, this storming piece of Philly disco would have been a highlight of its season, but in addition to its churning update of the Four Tops/Marvin Gaye style of manly pleading, “Ten Percent” was also the first commercially released 12-inch vinyl single. Its success spawned an entirely new retail format for music that would be the financial cornerstone for successive generations of creative independent labels, producers and artists and a vibrant international network of specialist record stores.
(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real – Sylvester (Fantasy, 1978)
Writers: Sylvester, James “Tip” Wirrick
Producer: Harvey Fuqua, Sylvester
Arrangers: Sylvester, James “Tip” Wirrick
Mix: Doug Riddick
With his outsize personality, image and talent, Sylvester was the living embodiment of disco’s eclectic, all-inclusive underground of devotees, styles, and music. Powerfully euphoric and frankly aphrodisiac, “(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real” is a quintessential dance music statement. This transformative hybrid of top 40 pop, R&B and gospel also introduced the innovative synthesizer post-production of Patrick Cowley.
Producers (3 Nominees):
Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff
Gamble and Huff had already risen to the top of independent R&B production with hits for Soul Survivors, Joe Simon, the Intruders, Jerry Butler and Wilson Pickett, when they established their Philadelphia International imprint with the then-CBS Records. Immediately they laid the groundwork both musically and commercially for the dance music movement with their ornate and propulsive productions, combining earthy soul of their artist roster, the elegant classical and jazz arrangements of Thom Bell and Bobby Martin, and the hot, innovative rhythm of drummer Earl Young and conga player Larry Washington. Selected credits: “TSOP” and “Love is the Message” by MFSB; “Love Train” and “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays; “The Love I Lost” and “Bad Luck” by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes; “When Will I See You Again” by the Three Degrees, and “I’ll Always Love My Mama” by the Intruders.
Giorgio Moroder & Pete Bellotte
Based in the Musicland Studio in Munich, Germany, Moroder and Bellotte built an impeccable profile for their marquee artist Donna Summer, in a series of atmospheric and innovative concept albums. Starting with Summer’s “Love To Love You Baby,” their productions advanced dance music in every direction, pushing technological, stylistic and cultural envelopes with every new release -- all while keeping the artist in the spotlight. Selected credits: “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” “MacArthur Park Suite” and “Last Dance” by Donna Summer; “Get on the Funk Train” by Munich Machine; “Trouble Maker” and “Zodiac Lady” by Roberta Kelly. Giorgio Moroder (solo): “The Chase” and “Evolution” by Giorgio Moroder; “Call Me” by Blondie; “Harmony” by Suzi Lane; “Beat the Clock” by Sparks; “Flashdance (What a Feeling)” by Irene Cara.
Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards
Rodgers and Edwards’ writing and production partnership anchored dance music in the funkiest R&B, and their refusal to work within the clichés of disco resulted in a timeless streak of hits that that samplers of hip-hop and bedroom DJ production can’t keep their hands off of. Selected credits: “Good Times,” “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” “Le Freak,” “I Want Your Love” by Chic; “We Are Family,” “He’s The Greatest Dancer,” “Lost in Music” by Sister Sledge; “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down” by Diana Ross; “Why” by Carly Simon. Their credits should arguably include “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugarhill Gang, and “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, but indisputably do encompass the unending list of hip-hop and house records sampled from their productions, including worldwide smashes by Notorious B.I.G., Will Smith, M.C. Lyte, and Modjo, among many others. Rodgers (solo): “Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl” by Madonna; “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie. Edwards (solo): “Addicted to Love” and “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” by Robert Palmer; “Some Like it Hot” by Power Station; “Don’t You Want Me” by Jody Watley; “When Smokey Sings” by ABC.
