The Feel Sessions: Episode 074: Something Disco

Ya know, I’ve always had a soft spot for Disco… yes, Disco from the 1970’s. Although I was too young to truly experience this era of music, nor was I nearly old enough to get into Studio 54, I did hear my parent’s playing it on their 8-track in the family station wagon. In particular, I recall a period where Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” album was in heavy rotation. Yeah, my parents, like most of America, had a brief stint with Disco - it was everywhere, a pop and cultural phenomenon… you couldn’t avoid it.. my Mom even had a curly perm!

As my DJ career grew throughout the 90’s, I discovered more and more about this often maligned genre, and came to embrace it heavily. Whether it was a mobile DJ gig, a wedding, a corporate event, or even open format nightclubs back then, Disco always meant one thing - FUN. It just has a way of galvanizing people with a universal appeal, and you could always count on these records to get the crowd up and going, and dancing, which was a huge part of Disco culture itself.

Now, coming up with a definitive top ten list is almost impossible for me, on any topic, and I’m definitely not a connoisseur of the genre, for that, I’d have to defer to my friends Patrick Labbate and Jeff Kutash, but some that come to mind right away are Funkytown by Lipps Inc., Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”, Shalamar’s “The Second Time Around”, and one that I can definitely without a doubt put in my top 10 Disco records of all time, “Come To Me” by France Joli, on Polydor Records, 1979.

In July of 1979 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the glory days of disco came crashing down when a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the baseball field between doubleheader games. Now, I’m not gonna go into a deep dive about the history of disco, but my point is this: no matter how you feel about Disco, we wouldn’t have house music without it. Out of the ashes of disco, and fused with a host of other influences and styles, House Music emerged in the early 80’s, and has never stopped evolving since, and ironically, Chicago is credited with being the birthplace of House Music, in the very same city where it’s predecessor died.

Even to this day, old disco records are sampled and used in modern productions, especially in the genre, yes, you guessed it, DiscoHouse.

So, in this mix, I’ve got a set of groovy, feel-good disco tinged house and nu-disco.

Remember, The Feel Sessions is available wherever you get your podcasts, so please subscribe, tell your friends and share the vibes.
You can support the show by rating or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes, as it really helps me out and it’ll only take a minute. Thank you. https://tinyurl.com/ybn7778x

And, if you’re interested in my voice over services, please visit www.robertvox.com

As always, I hope you all find some joy, love, and inspiration.

Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight),
Calvin Harris f. Sam Smith - Promises (Mousse T.'s Extended Disco Shizzle Remix),
Bertrand Burgalat - Icare (Yuksek Remix),
Tensnake - Freundchen,
Shakedown - At Night (Purple Disco Machine Extended Remix),
The Shapeshifters - Lola’s Theme Recut (Superlover Remix),
Moon Rocket - Intro,
Kevin Yost - Messing With My Soul (Brian Tappert Re-Work),
Domestic Technology - Here We Go Again (Bollow Remix),
Angelo Ferreri - I’m Talking To You,
Saison - Moments,
Dirty Disco & Adam Nova - Together,
Lou Rawls - You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine (Kenny Summit, Frankie Knuckles & Eric Kupper’s Unreleased Anthem)