Summerās here (something thatās been impossible to ignore in Europe these past few weeks š), so what better time to give you a sneak peek at what usually happens every week on the B-Side?
Iām currently enjoying a holiday, which for me means reading, listening to music, and spending quality time with my partner, friends, and family. The regular schedule resumes next week, but to bridge the gap, I thought weād turn up the temperature even more with a selection of ten disco records that were every bit as sexy, if not sexier, than Musiqueās In The Bush.
š Welcome, Iām Pe Dupre, thanks for stopping by.
This is The Twelve Inch, a community about the history of dance music from 1975 to 1995, told one twelve-inch record at a time.
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š§ The Crate of Carnal Knowledge, 10 Disco Records That Turned Up the Heat š„
First things first.
My sincere apologies to everyone reading this somewhere in Europe.
I know.
Itās hot.š„µ
Iām experiencing it myself as I write this.
So suggesting we spend the next half hour talking about discoās naughtiest records is probably irresponsible.
And yetā¦
ā¦here we are. š
Putting together this playlist was both great fun and surprisingly difficult. Not because there arenāt enough candidates, quite the opposite.
I could easily have made a Top 50.
Probably a Top 100.
Disco loved a good double entendre. Sometimes subtle, sometimes about as subtle as a brick through the bedroom window. So I forced myself to stop at ten.
Think of this as a guided tour through discoās more mischievous side. Some of these records were banned by radio stations. Some were whispered about. Others somehow slipped through the net altogether.
No prudish posturing here. Weāre all adults. Besides, youāve read two chapters about sex and disco last week. Now itās time to hear it.
Letās drop the needleā¦
š It All Starts With Donna
Every good story needs a beginning, and so does this playlist.
If one record opened the bedroom door for disco, it was Donna Summerās Love To Love You Baby. Today weāre so familiar with it that itās easy to forget just how shocking it sounded in 1975. Twenty-three simulated orgasms later, the world of dance music had changed forever.
Of course we also know Donna herself was considerably more reserved than the record might suggest. The famous album-length version only exists because Casablanca boss Neil Bogart, reportedly calling Giorgio Moroder from the middle of a rather drug induced orgy party, wanted something long enough to fill an entire side of an LP.
The seventies really wereā¦ different. š
ā¤ļø Barry White Didnāt Need To Shout
If Donna introduced discoās most famous moans, Barry White had already proved that you didnāt actually need them. His voice did most of the heavy lifting.
Iām convinced, underwear around the world simply dropped down the moment Barry opened his mouth. š Gravity had nothing to do with it.
If you remember our discussion about the original meaning of āfunk,ā on last weekās B-side, Barry White might just have been one of the funkiest men who ever lived.
Iām Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby, presented here in a magnificent live version, is enough to make you sweat without any help from the current European heatwave.
š Some People Didnāt Need To Pretend
Iāve already devoted an entire episode to Andrea Trueās More, More, More, so I wonāt repeat the whole story here.
The short version? Andrea started her career in adult films. Letās just say she probably needed less acting than most singers recording sexy disco records.
The title really tells you everything you need to know. She promised āMore, More, Moreāā¦and she certainly had the professional experience to back it up. š
š„ Ben Liebrand Turned Up The Temperature
Track four is another familiar friend to regular readers.
Poussez!ās Come On And Do It.
If you thought Donna Summer was pushing boundaries, wait until the breakdown arrives. Especially because Iāve chosen the later Ben Liebrand remix, where somebody clearly decided there simply wasnāt enough moaning on the original.
An understandable production decision, obviouslyā¦ š
Legend has it that one of Dutch televisionās best-known personalities provided those additional vocal contributions.
Whoever she wasā¦
She fully understood the assignment.
š§“ Unlimited Supplies
One of my personal favourites comes next.
Slickās Sexy Cream.
Apart from being a fantastic disco record, it features none other than The Sweethearts of Sigma, the wonderful voices behind countless Philadelphia soul classics. Iāll eventually dedicate an entire episode to Slick because they deserve one.
As for the creamā¦
Wellā¦
It isnāt something you buy at the chemist.
Nor does it come in a handy tube.
The good news is that supplies appear to be unlimited, provided the circumstances are right and everyone involved is suitably enthusiastic.š¤©
One detail has always amused me though. They seem determined to rub it absolutely everywhere. Which brings us rather neatly back to that original meaning of āfunk.ā š
š Barbara Markay Doesnāt Believe In Euphemisms
Human beings have invented an astonishing number of ways to avoid saying the word āsex.ā Sometimes I wonder whether weāve spent more time inventing euphemisms than actually having it. š
Barbara Markay clearly had no patience for any of that.
No beating around the bushā.
Or indeed āin the bushā.
As she sings:
āItās time to stop all this Puritan shock. Cause they are dead and we are Aliiive.ā
Wellā¦
Fair point. š
š Beyond Hope
Now hereās a record that probably escaped the attention of roughly 99.9% of humanity. With a title like Itās All Rite to Fuck All Nite, radio programmers somehow failed to embrace it.
I know.
Difficult to understand. š¤
The chorus doesnāt exactly hide its intentions either. āItās all rite to fuck all nite and itās ok to suck all day.ā I suspect this wasnāt destined for Sunday morning family radio.
It did, however, make my Top 10. Iām probably beyond saving anyway.
š Cruising After Dark
You already know that gay men were the beating heart of disco culture. Yet surprisingly few disco records dealt openly with gay sexuality.
The Boys Town Gangās Cruisinā The Streets is one of the rare exceptions.
If you only know the radio edit, youāre missing half the story. The full twelve-inch contains an extended spoken section set on what is clearly implied to be San Franciscoās Folsom Street.
Thereās cruising. Flirting. Negotiating. A prostitute. Police officers. And a sequence that leaves remarkably little to the imagination.
When I was DJing in the eighties, I loved dropping just that spoken section into my sets. Not every party appreciated it quite as much as I did thoughā¦ š
š¤ Arthur Russell Wasnāt Exactly Being Subtle
If Sexy Cream made you smileā¦ Loose Joints practically removes all remaining doubt. Arthur Russell wasnāt interested in leaving much to interpretation.
When your lyrics include:
āI masturbated till my KY faded. Unh, Iām exhausticated. Itās all over your face. Tell me how does it taste?ā
ā¦even someone with the imagination of a beige wall will probably understand whatās going on. No radio station wanted anything to do with it.
The clubs certainly did. Released on West End and mixed by FranƧois Kevorkian, it became a Paradise Garage favourite. Larry Levan wasnāt exactly building his reputation on safe choices.
Thank goodness.
š We All Know What Grace Was Talking Aboutā¦
We finish where elegance meets innuendo.
Grace Jones.
Pull Up To The Bumper.
Apparently some people genuinely believed this was a song about traffic. Bless them.
With lyrics like: āPull up to my bumper baby In your long black limousine Pull up to my bumper baby And drive it in between.ā
ā¦Iām struggling to think of any motorway interpretation. š
Curiously, in many non-English-speaking countries nobody seemed terribly bothered. The record received plenty of radio airplay, including here in Belgium, where I still hear it regularly. Perhaps not understanding every word occasionally has its advantages. š
šŖ© Enjoyā¦ Responsibly
So there you have it.
Ten records that demonstrate just how enthusiastically disco pushed boundaries.
Or perhapsā¦
ā¦how enthusiastically disco pushed, full stop. š
Iāve gathered them all into one handy playlist for your listening pleasure.
Whether you use it for serious music appreciation, a romantic evening, or simply to discover ten wonderfully cheeky pieces of dance music history is entirely your business.
I was brought up not to ask awkward questions.
And Iām certainly not going to start now.
Whatever your plansā¦
Enjoy.
Love To Love You Baby (Full Album Mix) (Donna Summer)
Iām Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby (Barry White)
More More More (A Tom Moulton Mix) (Andrea True Connection)
Come On And Do It! (Ben Liebrand Remix) (Poussez!)
Sexy Cream (Slick)
Itās All Rite To Fuck All Night (Barbra Markay)
Cruising The Streets (Full Version) (Boys Town Gang)
Is It All Over My Face? (Loose Joints)
Groove Me (Fern Kinney)
Pull Up To The Bumper (Grace Jones)
The Twelve Inch is a growing community of people who love disco, eighties, and early-nineties dance music.
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OMG Pe, this was hilarious. Love your tongue in cheek style in this one.
Interesting list of songs! I knew some of them of course, such as "Love to Love You Baby." My husband used to play the song in his classroom when he taught high school. There's no way he'd be able to do that today here!