I found Pure Disco 1 and Pure Disco 2 at a local GOODWILL Thrift shop. At first glance, I was leery. I’ve seen collections of hit songs “reinterpreted” by some obscure groups. But, no! In this case, the original artists perform their original hits. I did a little more investigation and learned there’s a Pure Disco 3 and a Pure Disco 4. I’m already tracking them down online so a future FORGOTTEN MUSIC may feature those two gems, too.
Pure Disco 1 includes some of my favorite disco hits: “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer, “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, “If I Can’t Have You” by Yvonne Elliman, and “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by Thelma Houston.
Pure Disco 2 includes “Turn the Beat Around” by Vicki Sue Robinson (GloriaE Estefan also had a hit with her version), “Flashdance” by Irene Cara, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” by ABBA, “Ring My Bell” by Anita Ward, and “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls. There’s plenty of wonderful disco music on these two CDs. How many of these hits do you remember? Are your favorite disco tunes here? GRADE: A
TRACK LIST: PURE DISCO 1:
1. YMCA – Village People
2. Celebration – Kool & The Gang
3. Dancing Queen – Abba
4. Hot Stuff – Donna Summer
5. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
6. You’re The First, The Last, My Everything – Barry White
7. I Need Your Lovin’ – Teena Marie
8. Knock On Wood – Amii Stewart
9. I Love The Nightlife – Alicia Bridges
10. Flashback – Imagination
11. That’s The Way (I Like It) – K.C. & The Sunshine Band
12. Best Disco In Town – Ritchie Family
13. If I Can’t Have You – Yvonne Elliman
14. Oops Upside Your Head (I Don’t Belive You Want To Get Up And Dance) – Gap Band
15. Love Hangover – Diana Ross
16. Cuba – Gibson Brothers
17. Funkytown – Lipps, Inc.
18. Got To Give It Up (Part One) – Marvin Gaye
19. Don’t Leave Me This Way – Thelma Houston
20. I Feel Love (Rollo & Sister Monster Mix Radio Edit) – Donna Summer
21. Bonus Track: The Grease Megamix – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
TRACK LIST: PURE DISCO 2:
1. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
2. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty – KC & The Sunshine Band
3. Turn The Beat Around – Vicki Sue Robinson
4. Macho Man – Village People
5. We Are Family – Sister Sledge
6. Flashdance…What a Feeling – Cara, Irene
7. I Just Want to Be Your Everything – Gibb, Andy
8. Everlasting Love – Carlton, Carl
9. Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe – White, Barry
10. Rock the Boat – Hues Corporation
11. Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players
12. Upside Down – Ross, Diana
13. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
14. The Hustle – McCoy, Van
15. Love’s Theme – Love Unlimited Orch
16. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) – ABBA
17. Fly, Robin, Fly – Silver Connection
18. Ring My Bell – Anita Ward
19. It’s Raining Men – Weather Girls
20. Last Dance – Summer, Donna
21. Diva Megamix: Reach Out I’ll Be There/Hot Stuff/I Found Love [Now That] – Gaynor , Gloria
Gag me with a spoon!
Bob, I guess Disco wasn’t your favorite musical genre.
When (C)rap came along I realized disco wasn’t that bad.
I’m sure no one here is surprised that DiscoDollyDeb has this entire collection. On these two discs, my favorites include Love Hangover, Got to Give It Up, Turn the Beat Around (did you know the late Vickie Sue Robinson was in the original cast of “Hair”?), and Love Rollercoaster (subject of a 1970s urban myth that you can hear someone actually being murdered in the background). If only this collection included the Mary Jane Girls singing In My House and Donna Summer’s Try Me, I Know We Can Make It, my life would be complete.
/I can still do the Hustle with the best of them—until my hip starts giving me trouble.
Deb, I am NOT surprised you have the complete set of PURE DISCO! I didn’t know Vickie Sue Robinson was in the original cast of HAIR, but I had heard the rumor about “Love Rollercoaster.” And I’m sure you can Hustle with the best of them!
So I saw Vickie Sue Robinson when I saw “Hair” with original cast at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood when it first appeared. Cool. Wish I still had the program.
We have it! Like Deb, Jackie was all over these as soon as she saw them, We also have PURE DISCO 3:
Sister Sledge – He’s the Greatest Dancer [a song I’ve always disliked]
Chic – Le Freak [we saw Chic with Nile Rodgers open for Earth, Wind & Fire a couple of years ago]
Village People – In the Navy
The Trammps – Disco Inferno
Peaches & Herb – Shake Your Groove Thing
Kool & the Gang – Ladies Night
Gloria Gaynor – Never Can Say Goodbye
A Taste of Honey – Boogie Oogie Oogie
Donna Summer – Could It Be Magic
The Miracles – Love Machine
Silver Convention – Get Up and Boogie [a classic!]
Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again
France Joli – Come to Me
Patrice Rushen – Forget-Me-Nots
ABBA – Lay Your Love on Me
Sylvester – You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Spinners – Then Came You
Andy Gibb – Shadow Dancing
Blondie – Heart of Glass
The 4 Seasons – December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – You’re the One That I Want
Perhaps Deb could list the Volume 4 songs.
My own highlight: in 1976, we flew to London (with a friend) and rented a car, which we drove down to Rome and back. In you remember 1976 (or you could look it up), you won’t be surprised to hear that there was a LOT of ABBA on the radio that summer. On the way back north, we drove across Italy to Rimini on the Adriatic and stayed three days at a hotel that was – literally – next door to a disco. The walls seemed to be shaking all night and the song I remember most was “Get Up and Boogie” by Silver Convention. Like their other hit (“Fly, Robin, Fly”), this song had exactly SIX words in it (“Get up and boogie…that’s right!). Silver Convention was a West Germany group from Munich.
I yield the floor to Disco Dolly Deb.
Jeff, yes, I remember SILVER CONVENTION and their songs with few words. Thanks for including the TRACK LIST for PURE DISCO 3!
Fly…Robin..up..to…the…sky were the six words in “Fly, Robin, Fly.”
Jeff, six words seems to SILVER CONVENTION’s limit.
I just looked up Volume 4 and there is nothing I like about it, no songs I would say, “Oh, I like that one.” In fact, it has one of my hate songs, that I change the station whenever I hear it – “Brick House.”
Jeff, I’m with you on “Brick House.”
Well, when Joan Osborne covered “Brick House,” I had to make room for it in my life.
No thanks. Not a fan of disco. The only genres I hated worse was hair metal and area rock(Styx, Kansas, Reo Speedwagon)
Steve, I’m with you on STYX, KANSAS, and REO SPEEDWAGON. But, I do like BOSTON.
Any collection that doesn’t include “Doctor’s Orders” is meaningless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfCzMhZQ92U
Dan, maybe “Doctor’s Orders” is on PURE DISCO 4. Thanks for the link!
I absolutely hated disco. If it still exists–which I’m not sure about–I still do. But there were two songs that were considered disco that I loved, “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees and “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones. It probably helps that I’d liked the Bee Gees when they started out as a rock band, and consider the Stones to be the best band ever. The Stones later produced another “sorta disco” song, “Emotional Rescue” that I also liked.
Michael, I like “Stayin’ Alive,” “Miss You,” and “Emotional Rescue,” too. DISCO morphed into DANCE MUSIC in the 1980s.
George, I have listened to most of these songs and that’s mainly because I still listen to a lot of pop music from the 60s through 80s. In fact, the 80s were the best decade of the Grammy’s.
Prashant, I’m fond of the music from the 1980s, too. I’ll be featuring it in an upcoming FORGOTTEN MUSIC in the months ahead.
I liked a lot of disco, though I guess by the sound, not the names or group names. Seems odd that a disco collection would skip The Bee Gees. Probably a permissions issue.
I also love EDM (electronic dance music) which is, imho, the direct descendant of Disco. According to one of my millennial children, EDM is music for kids who want to go to raves and drop some E. And, of course, me!
Deb, I listen to a lot of Electronic Dance Music when I’m driving around and listening to Sirius/XM Radio. Channel 53 is CHILL which plays a lot of EDM that I like. I’m a big fan of Nora En Pure and wish she would put out a CD of her music.
Channel 53—EDM Chill is one of my presets too! I also have Chanel 54—Studio 54 Disco preset right next to it.