There are disco tracks that are so iconic that, when I start making the shortlist for this newsletter, I immediately put them on the list. No discussion needed.
I already see the broad outlines of the story I want to write: Latin influences in disco.
It’s a Capitol disco release, so I presume it isn’t East Coast but West Coast disco. A Latin connection via Los Angeles, maybe? The band name certainly sounds very Latin. And the percussion! Man, this is probably the disco record with the best percussion ever…
In short, it promises to be an interesting story about an aspect that isn’t often discussed: the Latin community and disco.
Except…
When I start researching Gonzalez and “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet”, I discover a whole world I know nothing about.
It isn’t Los Angeles.
It isn’t the West Coast.
It isn’t Latin.
And it isn’t even the US.
Gonzalez is a UK band from London, about whom Record Mirror writes in 1979: “In eight years of gigging diligently they have sold - at a liberal estimate - zilch records”
Ouch…
Sometimes researching the story of a song takes you in a direction you never expect. And here’s a story I never see coming.
So…
No, we’re not going to zoom in on Latin influences in disco or the West Coast scene. 😁
Our destination is London in the early seventies and a band that gets its lucky break during peak disco, thanks to a remix by John Luongo. Everything suddenly looks promising. Until it doesn’t.
This is the story of Gonzalez, “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet”, and the power of a (good) remix.
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What Connects Gonzalez to Tainted Love?
OK, let me start by asking you a question. What’s the connection between “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet” and “Tainted Love”?
Anyone?
The connection is Gloria Jones. She originally sings “Tainted Love” in 1965 and composes and produces this disco song for Gonzalez.
The reason I give you this fact at the start of our story is to illustrate that Gonzalez isn’t really your typical disco group. They come out of the jazz-funk tradition that becomes important in the UK during the second half of the seventies and early eighties.
But Gonzalez goes back even further.
The band forms in 1970 and plays the sort of funk that gets you noticed by a major record company. They sign with EMI and release their first album in 1974.
And they receive some critical acclaim. John Deacon, bassist of Queen, considers them his favourite band in the mid-seventies.
But that doesn’t exactly translate into hits. Or even album sales.
So, no money coming in.
Part of the problem is that Gonzalez isn’t exactly a small band. Depending on when you count, you arrive at a number of members somewhere in the low to mid double digits.
Try paying that many people every month!
Yeah, it doesn’t work. (Pun intended.)
And we’re not talking about amateurs here. This is a collection of top session musicians who, apart from their studio work, also appear as a backing band for a number of artists at the time.
Some better-known names join their ranks for shorter or longer spells. Viola Wills is a member at one point. And so is Carl Douglas. Remember him from “Kung Fu Fighting”?
Both artists score hits… after they leave Gonzalez.
EMI doesn’t lose confidence after the first album fails to generate impressive sales or any hits. A second album, Our Only Weapon Is Our Music, is released a year later, but “the weapon” also malfunctions and the album goes nowhere.
And then there’s a three-year hiatus before album No. 3 arrives in 1978 on Capitol Records.
That album is called Shipwrecked.
I must say, they have a strange logic when it comes to naming their albums. I presume they must have known that the third album was a make-or-break moment?
So why call it Shipwrecked? 😁
But hey, positive things happen to positive-thinking people.
And something does happen in 1977.
A single enters the UK dance charts.
That single is “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet”, the song written and produced, as we already know, by Gloria Jones.
Close, But No Cigar
The information is a bit scant, so we’ll call on our good friend “timing” to help us piece the story together.
What that three-year hiatus tells me is that EMI is a bit unsure about what to do with the band. Should they release another album or not?
A hit is needed, and disco is becoming very popular. It’s also the ideal launchpad for aspiring bands.
Enter “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet”.
This was the original version of 1977
But not the version we listen to today when we talk about this song. That version hasn’t been made yet.
No, I’m talking about an earlier version that lacks a number of the strong elements that make the song so irresistible on the dancefloor.
It’s disco made by people who aren’t necessarily big fans of the genre.
Close, but no cigar.
It becomes a small hit in the UK dance charts. Better than nothing, but hardly the start of a promising and, especially, successful career.
Gloria Jones, however, believes in it and uses her connections to get the record in front of EMI’s American record company, Capitol Records.
In my “A Taste of Honey” episode, I already told the story of how Capitol was the last major to enter the disco market. And when you’re late to the party, you have to scramble to find something at the buffet.
A Taste Of Honey and How "Boogie Oogie Oogie" Saved a Major Record Label from Missing the Disco Boom (completely)
By 1978, disco was the dominant force in American music. Saturday Night Fever had transformed a thriving underground movement into a $4 billion industry by 1979. Record labels scrambled to cash in, eager to press anything that could set a dancefloor ablaze.
Chances are that the guests who arrived earlier have already eaten everything. Or at least the very best bits.
So what do we have?
A band that needs a hit and has released a disco song that isn’t quite ready for the big dancefloor. A record company looking for repertoire, which understands what it takes to turn promise into results.
And that’s why John Luongo gets a phone call from Capitol’s president…
Enter John Luongo
John Luongo:
John Luongo is one of the most talented remixers of his era.
One of the reasons his remixes are so good is that he always wants to add something new. He’s the first remixer to make additional production part of the deal. He’s obsessed with the idea of using sounds that have never been heard on dance tracks before, invariably beginning his sessions by telling the engineer that “we have to do something that’s never been heard before by human ears”
And he uses whatever is at hand to make music, including things he finds in a shop on the way to the studio.
Singer Lenny Zakatek would later say:
“Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet” becomes a major dance hit in the US and UK in 1979. It reaches No. 1 on the UK dance chart and No. 7 in the US, but it also crosses over to the pop charts, reaching No. 26 in the US and No. 15 in the UK.
So, after almost nine years, Gonzalez is finally there.
Success!
One Hit, One Remix, One Album
Capitol forgets about the 1978 album Shipwrecked and cobbles together a new album featuring the long version of the “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet” remix.
So that’s already eight minutes filled.
Now let’s find something to fill another twenty.
The biggest problem, of course, is that Gonzalez has only one disco record. And only one remixed song.
The rest of the album doesn’t really play nicely with the single.
But cobbling together an album around one hit is one thing. Building a career on that success is quite another. And for that, Gonzalez needs new material. Not that the band doesn’t want to make more disco. It gives them their breakthrough.
Of course they want more!
So a new album is planned for 1979, produced by none other than Pete Bellotte.
Oh, you’ve never heard it?
Well, I consider myself to have a pretty deep knowledge of the genre, especially Pete Bellotte’s productions. But this is news to me too.
I don’t know what happened. Who dropped the ball? The record company? The band? Or is it our old friend, the disco backlash?
Who can tell?
Move It to the Music isn’t really a bad album. Great, catchy title.
Nobody moves, though.
After this flop, Gonzalez makes one more album and keeps going for a few more years.
But it isn’t to be.
The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse
The story of Gonzalez is ultimately a sad one.
In an interview with Music Week, singer Lenny Zakatek says he regrets that they didn’t take the band on the road in the US, because their live performances are very convincing.
Knowing that they’re all session musicians, and reading the impressive list of artists one or more of them have worked with, I believe him.
But timing, once again, tells the most important part of the story.
By the time “Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet” becomes a hit, the disco backlash is already gathering momentum, and disco is turning into something radioactive. That’s probably why Capitol ignores their Pete Bellotte-produced album, and their career goes nowhere.
The song, however, gets a second life.
Ten years later, in 1989, Pat & Mick, two English radio personalities, record a version produced by Stock Aitken & Waterman.
And it becomes an even bigger UK hit than the original, reaching No. 4.
Funny how that works.
A band spends almost a decade looking for a breakthrough. A remixer finally gives them the hit they need. But the moment their big chance arrives, the musical landscape is already changing.
And ten years later, the very same song becomes a hit all over again.
Gonzalez may not have stopped dancing yet.
But the music industry certainly stopped dancing with them.
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So You Wanna Hear More ?
I thought you would !
It’s fun to write about music but let’s be honest. Music is made to listen to.
Every week, together with this newsletter, I release a 1 hour beatmix on Mixcloud and Youtube. I start with the discussed twelve inch and follow up with 10/15 songs from the same timeframe/genre. The ideal soundtrack for…. Well whatever you like to do when you listen to dance music.
Listen to the Soundtrack of this week’s post on MIXCLOUD
Or on Youtube :