We didn’t play La Toya, Janet, Cuba. The NYC music scene was decided by Club-play DJs. I can tell you, we did play Jermaine’s “Let’s Get Serious”, but we did not seek out artists (none). They sought us out to play their music. And, for the most part, we weren’t on board with most of them. If you could hear the music in the radio, it was death in the clubs. I remember telling a patron after she asked me to play one of those “pop”, radio tracks, like Janet or something, “go out to your car, or go home, turn on the radio if you want to hear that, you don’t need me to play the fuckin’ radio music.” We (NYC DJs) didn’t take requests and we didn’t play ANY music that was on the radio. We had lots of dance music radio stations in the city which ONLY played club music. Top 40 was not happening.
I can absolutely imagine! 😁 Thanks so much for taking the time to read the article and for sharing these firsthand memories Donald. That’s exactly the kind of context that makes the history come alive.
I’m sorry. The 80s brought the beginning of the downfall of music. It was arguably the worst decade for musicians. Chuck Sissel was just ok on the acting circuit and rejected totally in the NY music scene. We didn’t like him, and, didn’t play the track often.
More evidence from here in the UK that Motown were no strangers to disco:
1) Along with Pye, there were one of the first companies to provide disco DJ's with promos.
2) On the back of the summer 1974 soul boom, Motown supplied DJ's in northern clubs with reaction cards in order to ascertain which oldies to reissue; The Supremes Baby Love and R Dean Taylor There's A Ghost In My House were early beneficiaries of this UK only release policy.
3) In July 1976, the company were promoting "four different albums programmed for non-stop disco music": Discotech Vols 1 & 2, Discotech the Magic Disco Machine and Motown Magic Disco Machine Vol 2.
4) Finally, Marvin Gaye's A Funky Space Disco Reincarnation was the first release in the Motown "Eye Cue" series, where the A side was split into 4 sections specially designed for DJ's to tee up in the booth. Other releases in the series included What You Gave Me by Diana Ross and the High On Your Love Suite by Rick James. These releases also listed the bpm on the label
Super interesting information, Paul. Some of it I knew, some of it I didn’t, so thanks for sharing. And yes, it confirms once again that Motown had a (healthy) relationship with disco, just as PIR and many other Black-owned and Black-run labels did at the time. I’m sure I’ll return to that topic in future episodes, probably sooner rather than later, as Marvin Gaye will be getting his first episode soon.
Thanks, as always, for reading and taking the time to react. It’s much appreciated.
Rebbie also scored on the dance and R&B singles charts with the freestyle-flavored “Reaction” in ‘86 and “Plaything” in ‘88. La Toya’s highest peak on the Hot 100 was #56 with 1984’s “Heart Don’t Lie” (truthfully a pretty good reggae-flavored pop song that should have at least gone Top 40) and had a late career peak in 2004 with “Just Wanna Dance,” a U.S. Dance chart hit at #13.
Thanks for supplying the extra facts, Robert. I now know I was a bit too quick to dismiss Rebbie’s career as non-consequential 😁 That was me speaking purely from a European perspective. It’s always fascinating to see how differently both sides of the Atlantic can react to the same artist and their success.
Thanks for helping fill in another piece of the puzzle!
This was fantastic, Pe! It is indeed very hot in our corner of the world. As you know, I love it, and much prefer heat to cold, but it is indeed sizzling hot 🥵
I loved the tracks. Some I knew (Dazz, Jermaine), but I didn't know the stories behind them; others were completely new to me. All fantastic. So well chosen. And that La Toya write-up had me in stitches 😂 Absolutely brilliant 🤣
Haha… I really should do a full episode on one of her songs. I’m pretty sure I can do even better than this short passage. The good news is that a lack of material certainly won’t be the problem 😁
Thanks for reading and reacting, Andy. I’ve seen a few videos and photos, and it looks like Paris is treating you well. It’s a great city. We’ve been there several times, always in the summer. We usually choose August because that’s when many Parisians head off to the seaside for their holidays 😁 These days, though, the ever-growing number of tourists seems to make up for the locals who have left.
By the way, if you haven’t already, make sure to visit the Palais Garnier (Opera Building). I found it to be one of the hidden treasures of the city. Absolutely stunning, and every bit as impressive as the more famous Paris landmarks.
Thank you, Pe! And yes, exactly: there is no shortage of material if you ever want to do a deep dive on her career! 🤣
Merci bien ! Yes, I'm having a great time. It's a city I always keep coming back to. My husband and I do our traditional long weekend in Paris once a year, so this is the first time I'm staying for an extended period, and loving every minute.
Yes, the Palais Garnier is truly stunning! It's part of some of the routes I've been doing as it's halfway through where I'm staying (Le Marais) and other parts of town such as the Arc de Triomphe, for example. Paris certainly knows how to make an impression!
I hope you're enjoying your holiday and that the Spanish sun is treating you kind. Otra cerveza, por favor! 🍺☀️😎
I previously only knew let "Let it Whip" by the Dazz Band, but I really dug "Hot Spot." I'm a sucker for dance tracks with some distorted electric guitar!
Such an interesting collection of artists! I always loved "Let it Whip" but never followed where they went after that. La Toya...well...how about Rebbie?! She had a Top 40 hit...although I don't remember it.
Let It Whip was their big breakthrough. In Europe, though, they also did very well with Let It All Blow. I always thought Rebbie Jackson had passed us by without anyone really noticing. She certainly did in Europe. But it seems Centipede had its moment back then, at least judging from Dan Epstein’s reaction.
While researching the piece, I came across an interesting story. Their father originally wanted to form a girl group with the three Jackson sisters. They already had songs lined up and plans in place, but the whole project fell apart before any recordings were made. It sounds like a fascinating story in its own right. 😁
Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan. Have a great weekend!
That would be an interesting story to see on screen! Unfortunately I'm sure since Janet didn't want any part of the recent "Michael" movie she'd probably never let it happen.
Enjoy your weekend to Pe! Since Frank and I are retired, our weekends are pretty much the same as our weekdays!
A very cool selection, Pe — looking forward to diving in.
But while I don't have stats or chart numbers to back it up, Rebbie's "Centipede" is surprisingly well-remembered in the US, at least among those of us who were paying attention to the radio (or on the dance floor) at the time. That keyboard riff alone, man...
Haha… that’s the fun of writing this blog/newsletter, Dan. It gives me the chance to hear details like these. Over here it completely passed us by, but clearly not in the US. It’s always fascinating to discover how differently a song or artist can be experienced depending on where you live(d).
Great to hear this story. Thanks for reading and taking the time to react, Dan. Have a great weekend!
We didn’t play La Toya, Janet, Cuba. The NYC music scene was decided by Club-play DJs. I can tell you, we did play Jermaine’s “Let’s Get Serious”, but we did not seek out artists (none). They sought us out to play their music. And, for the most part, we weren’t on board with most of them. If you could hear the music in the radio, it was death in the clubs. I remember telling a patron after she asked me to play one of those “pop”, radio tracks, like Janet or something, “go out to your car, or go home, turn on the radio if you want to hear that, you don’t need me to play the fuckin’ radio music.” We (NYC DJs) didn’t take requests and we didn’t play ANY music that was on the radio. We had lots of dance music radio stations in the city which ONLY played club music. Top 40 was not happening.
I can absolutely imagine! 😁 Thanks so much for taking the time to read the article and for sharing these firsthand memories Donald. That’s exactly the kind of context that makes the history come alive.
I’m sorry. The 80s brought the beginning of the downfall of music. It was arguably the worst decade for musicians. Chuck Sissel was just ok on the acting circuit and rejected totally in the NY music scene. We didn’t like him, and, didn’t play the track often.
More evidence from here in the UK that Motown were no strangers to disco:
1) Along with Pye, there were one of the first companies to provide disco DJ's with promos.
2) On the back of the summer 1974 soul boom, Motown supplied DJ's in northern clubs with reaction cards in order to ascertain which oldies to reissue; The Supremes Baby Love and R Dean Taylor There's A Ghost In My House were early beneficiaries of this UK only release policy.
3) In July 1976, the company were promoting "four different albums programmed for non-stop disco music": Discotech Vols 1 & 2, Discotech the Magic Disco Machine and Motown Magic Disco Machine Vol 2.
4) Finally, Marvin Gaye's A Funky Space Disco Reincarnation was the first release in the Motown "Eye Cue" series, where the A side was split into 4 sections specially designed for DJ's to tee up in the booth. Other releases in the series included What You Gave Me by Diana Ross and the High On Your Love Suite by Rick James. These releases also listed the bpm on the label
Super interesting information, Paul. Some of it I knew, some of it I didn’t, so thanks for sharing. And yes, it confirms once again that Motown had a (healthy) relationship with disco, just as PIR and many other Black-owned and Black-run labels did at the time. I’m sure I’ll return to that topic in future episodes, probably sooner rather than later, as Marvin Gaye will be getting his first episode soon.
Thanks, as always, for reading and taking the time to react. It’s much appreciated.
Have a great rest of the weekend!
Rebbie also scored on the dance and R&B singles charts with the freestyle-flavored “Reaction” in ‘86 and “Plaything” in ‘88. La Toya’s highest peak on the Hot 100 was #56 with 1984’s “Heart Don’t Lie” (truthfully a pretty good reggae-flavored pop song that should have at least gone Top 40) and had a late career peak in 2004 with “Just Wanna Dance,” a U.S. Dance chart hit at #13.
Thanks for supplying the extra facts, Robert. I now know I was a bit too quick to dismiss Rebbie’s career as non-consequential 😁 That was me speaking purely from a European perspective. It’s always fascinating to see how differently both sides of the Atlantic can react to the same artist and their success.
Thanks for helping fill in another piece of the puzzle!
This was fantastic, Pe! It is indeed very hot in our corner of the world. As you know, I love it, and much prefer heat to cold, but it is indeed sizzling hot 🥵
I loved the tracks. Some I knew (Dazz, Jermaine), but I didn't know the stories behind them; others were completely new to me. All fantastic. So well chosen. And that La Toya write-up had me in stitches 😂 Absolutely brilliant 🤣
Bon week-end, mon ami!
Haha… I really should do a full episode on one of her songs. I’m pretty sure I can do even better than this short passage. The good news is that a lack of material certainly won’t be the problem 😁
Thanks for reading and reacting, Andy. I’ve seen a few videos and photos, and it looks like Paris is treating you well. It’s a great city. We’ve been there several times, always in the summer. We usually choose August because that’s when many Parisians head off to the seaside for their holidays 😁 These days, though, the ever-growing number of tourists seems to make up for the locals who have left.
By the way, if you haven’t already, make sure to visit the Palais Garnier (Opera Building). I found it to be one of the hidden treasures of the city. Absolutely stunning, and every bit as impressive as the more famous Paris landmarks.
Thank you, Pe! And yes, exactly: there is no shortage of material if you ever want to do a deep dive on her career! 🤣
Merci bien ! Yes, I'm having a great time. It's a city I always keep coming back to. My husband and I do our traditional long weekend in Paris once a year, so this is the first time I'm staying for an extended period, and loving every minute.
Yes, the Palais Garnier is truly stunning! It's part of some of the routes I've been doing as it's halfway through where I'm staying (Le Marais) and other parts of town such as the Arc de Triomphe, for example. Paris certainly knows how to make an impression!
I hope you're enjoying your holiday and that the Spanish sun is treating you kind. Otra cerveza, por favor! 🍺☀️😎
Some fantastic selections for a heat wave, Pé, I really enjoyed these!
Thanks Mark. Much appreciated. Have a great rest of the weekend!
I previously only knew let "Let it Whip" by the Dazz Band, but I really dug "Hot Spot." I'm a sucker for dance tracks with some distorted electric guitar!
Haha… good to know, Matt. I’ll be sure to warn you whenever I include more distorted electric guitar in future posts 😁
Thanks for reading and listening. It’s much appreciated.
Have a great rest of the weekend!
Such an interesting collection of artists! I always loved "Let it Whip" but never followed where they went after that. La Toya...well...how about Rebbie?! She had a Top 40 hit...although I don't remember it.
Let It Whip was their big breakthrough. In Europe, though, they also did very well with Let It All Blow. I always thought Rebbie Jackson had passed us by without anyone really noticing. She certainly did in Europe. But it seems Centipede had its moment back then, at least judging from Dan Epstein’s reaction.
While researching the piece, I came across an interesting story. Their father originally wanted to form a girl group with the three Jackson sisters. They already had songs lined up and plans in place, but the whole project fell apart before any recordings were made. It sounds like a fascinating story in its own right. 😁
Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan. Have a great weekend!
That would be an interesting story to see on screen! Unfortunately I'm sure since Janet didn't want any part of the recent "Michael" movie she'd probably never let it happen.
Enjoy your weekend to Pe! Since Frank and I are retired, our weekends are pretty much the same as our weekdays!
Fun tunes I've never heard before. I didn't know that interesting backround on Cuba Gooding Sr and Jr and on Jermaine and LaToya.
Thanks Ellen! Have a great weekend!
A very cool selection, Pe — looking forward to diving in.
But while I don't have stats or chart numbers to back it up, Rebbie's "Centipede" is surprisingly well-remembered in the US, at least among those of us who were paying attention to the radio (or on the dance floor) at the time. That keyboard riff alone, man...
Haha… that’s the fun of writing this blog/newsletter, Dan. It gives me the chance to hear details like these. Over here it completely passed us by, but clearly not in the US. It’s always fascinating to discover how differently a song or artist can be experienced depending on where you live(d).
Great to hear this story. Thanks for reading and taking the time to react, Dan. Have a great weekend!
Thanks, you too!