C+C Music Factory - "Gonna Make You Sweat" (1990). Daft Punk became international pop superstars in 2013 with the release of the album Random Access Memories and the hit single "Get Lucky." "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" was issued on a new album by Houston: Ride to the Rainbow but the track's relative success was not enough to forestall Houston's planned departure from Motown.[1]. "Billie Jean" earned Grammy Awards for Best R&B Male Vocal and Best R&B Song. One of the first songs she recorded was "Turn the Beat Around," written by the brothers Gerald and Peter Jackson. On July 29, 2013, a collaboration between Thelma and Los Angeles-based producer Janitor, entitled "Enemy", premiered on SoundCloud. "Bad Romance" is a close collaboration with dance-pop producer RedOne. The first time was a version produced by dance music veteran Bobby Orlando. [1] After marrying and having two children, she joined the Art Reynolds Singers gospel group and was subsequently signed as a recording artist with Dunhill Records. The song is a defining record of early 1990s dance music introducing an athletic style to the music. It includes the movement of various kinetic sculptures by artist Jim Whiting in time to the music. The Fall of 1990 saw the release of Houston's first album in six years, Throw You Down, a long-planned collaboration with producer Richard Perry which briefly extended Houston's career as a minor R&B chart presence. Along with contemporaries Technotronic, they were part of what came to be known as jock anthems for their ubiquitous presence in athletic competitions. So, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (John Denver) is a country song, right? Their combination of electronic tracks with Neil Tennant's highly stylized and literate lyrics defined their role in the development of dance music. 4AD label head Ivo Watts-Russell suggested the collaboration after each act expressed interest in exploring the rising house music genre. Influenced by her growing interest in Eastern mysticism, "Ray Of Light" is an upbeat look at female power. It earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal, and the celebrated accompanying music video earned the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. The show was canceled in August and for the next several years her work was limited to demo recordings and performing at small venues. It was built around a range of samples and released as the debut record from the trio Deee-Lite. [4] In 1976 Houston sang backing vocals for Motown labelmate Jermaine Jackson on his album My Name Is Jermaine.[1]. The original pop-R&B recording was also a massive success. Daybreaker Live! In 2014, the two Scandinavian acts joined forces. The recording topped the US dance chart and climbed to #13 on the mainstream pop chart. Thelma Houston - "Don't Leave Me This Way". "Ray of LIght" received some of the strongest positive critical reviews of Madonna's career. The impact was a futuristic sound that profoundly influenced the development of synth-pop and techno. In 1974, producers reworked the song as a disco record for rising R&B vocalist Gloria Gaynor. The song became a significant anthem for the gay community in its battles against the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. Following the counterculture of the 60s, the and the 70s created a trend of relaxing music as well as dance music. "You Use to Hold Me So Tight" became Houston's most successful post-1970s release with a No. In 1985, it a re-recorded version produced by Stephen Hague appeared on the debut Pet Shop Boys album Please. A collection of the best of pop culture: lists about movies, books, songs, and TV. It is also frequently included on lists of the greatest pop hit singles of all time. "Bad Romance" also includes some lyrics in French. He recruited the 1976 Miss Black Minnesota, Cynthia Johnson, to deliver the distinctive lead vocal. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was mentioned by VH1 as being among the greatest dance songs in 2000, and was ranked number eighty-six on the channel's countdown of The 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders. The song hit #8 on the US pop chart and became the first of four #1 dance hits by Shannon. "Alejandro" is her "fear of sex" monster. However, it was the follow-up "Le Freak" that became the legendary disco classic. Thelma Houston - "Don't Leave Me This Way". was something different with a live band, an R&B vocalist Aloe Blacc, and even influences from country music. French electronic music duo Daft Punk are known for their blend of house music with elements of classic disco. The first Upstairs at Eric's included two #1 dance hits in the US "Don't Go" and "Situation." Vicki Sue Robinson recorded her lead vocal in a single take on September 26, 1975. Houston also co-wrote and sang back-up on the song "Be Yourself" for Patti LaBelle's 1989 album of the same title. Ultimately, an out-of-court settlement solved the legal issues. On the May 19, 1985 NBC broadcast Motown Returns to the Apollo Houston performed "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" in the guise of Dinah Washington. C+C Music Factory - "Gonna Make You Sweat". These are the 25 best dance-pop songs over more than four decades.​. Thelma Houston (née Jackson; born May 7, 1946)[1] is an American singer and actress. [1], Houston was born in Leland, Mississippi. After storming to the top of both dance and pop charts, the recording ran into legal troubles for excluding vocalist Martha Wash from both the credits and the music video. Motown "Don't Leave Me This Way" was first recorded by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes in 1975. She wrote the lyrics with the Nervo Twins, Miriam and Olivia Nervo. [1] She and her three sisters grew up primarily in Long Beach, California. On August 14, 2007, Houston released her first studio album in seventeen years, A Woman's Touch. RCA producer Warren Schatz was impressed enough with Vicki Sue Robinson's voice that he thought she could be a disco star. "West End Girls," the debut single from Pet Shop Boys, was released twice. Michael Jackson says that when he wrote "Billie Jean," it was one of those rare times when you know the song will be a hit. Dance music itself was beginning to go underground as new wave synthpop, power ballads, and pop-oriented R&B took over the mainstream charts. Best 70s disco dance songs, the top hits of the disco era. During the December 22, 1984 Billboard magazine interview, Houston admitted to "'no real commercial success' since the single 'Don't Leave Me This Way' broke on the Pop charts in late 1976" indicating that the disco backlash had left her with "no real base of audience support" and that her current album Qualifying Heat, executive produced by Houston herself, was a concentrated initiative to restore her as a viable chart presence; the album featured three cuts from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – including the single "You Used to Hold Me So Tight" – and production work from Glen Ballard, Dennis Lambert, Cliff Magness and – in his first known recording work – Lenny Kravitz (then billed as Romeo Blue), who each produced a cut apiece. "Gonna Make You Sweat" was their first single. [1] In 1971 she signed with Motown Records but her early recordings with them were largely unsuccessful. The music video received strong support from MTV and an unlikely endorsement by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Producer Chris Barbosa, a key figure in the development of freestyle dance music, is given primary credit for the unique sound of the rhythm track on "Let the Music Play.". Or country pop. Except, some musicians don't see it that way. "Rockit" topped the dance chart and hit the top 10 on the R&B singles chart. Legendary Philadelphia soul team Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff co-wrote the song, and it appeared on the 1975 Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes album Wake Up Everybody.Never released as an official single in the US, it reached #3 on the US … "Groove Is In the Heart" was written in the late 1980s and performed live as early as 1989, but it wasn't recorded until 1990. The British group, the Communards, released a version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" in 1987. Madonna is easily the most successful dance music artist of all-time hitting #1 on the dance chart more than 45 times. [1] However Houston's vocal prowess on that track secured her a nomination for a Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Vicki Sue Robinson - "Turn the Beat Around". Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston - 1976 23. The orchestral arrangement with a dense percussion breakdown is emblematic of many early disco hits. She sang "Don't Leave Me This Way" on American Idol on April 22, 2009, and on America's Got Talent on September 16, 2009. Following the success of "West End Girls," the Pet Shop Boys, consisting of the duo Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, became one of the most successful dance music acts of all time. In 1986, just six years after Lipps Inc. hit #1 with "Funkytown," the Australian band Pseudo Echo released a cover version. became a huge smash hit topping the US dance chart and mainstream pop radio chart. "Don't Leave Me This Way" won Houston the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammys for 1977. His single "World, Hold On" became a smash in dance clubs around the world. With Donna Summer's breathy, erotic vocals, the recording earned high praise from critics. "Do It Again" was reportedly written by the trio after an "epic night out" in Bergen, Norway. The pair recorded two legendary synth-pop albums before an acrimonious breakup. From the pained love songs to the perky dance tracks, R&B has it all. It was primarily a studio outfit, and they scored a significant disco hit with their first release "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)." M.L.S, Library Science, Indiana University. The track earned positive attention from dance clubs. However, that recording never came to fruition and instead Thelma Houston, newly signed to Motown, was offered the song. This list of The Top 100 Disco Songs of All-Time had been previously listed as The Top 100 Dance Songs of All-Time. When he first heard "I Feel Love," famed electronic music producer Brian Eno reportedly said, "This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next fifteen years.". RuPaul was a pioneer introducing drag culture into the mainstream and bringing respectful attention to individuals who choose to step outside of traditional gender roles in their lives. In 1999 a series of remixes brought "Situation" back to #1 on the US dance chart. They took the song all the way to #2 on the US pop chart. In 1978, a fifteen-minute remix of "I Feel Love" by San Francisco DJ Patrick Cowley became an underground hit. Thelma Houston (née Jackson; born May 7, 1946) is an American singer and actress. They connected with the vocalist via engineer Al Garrison, Vicki Sue Robinson's boyfriend. That snippet has been used many other times as a sample for other recordings including in the worldwide #1 smash "Macarena." A remix of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was released, and once again charted on the Hot Dance Club Play chart at No. It also hit #1 in many other countries around the world. Gloria Gaynor - "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1974), Bee Gees - "You Should Be Dancing" (1976), Vicki Sue Robinson - "Turn the Beat Around" (1976). 12 – Love Rollercoaster by Ohio Players. It was also a major dance hit. Gloria Gaynor returned in 1978 with another career-defining disco hit "I Will Survive" which became a #1 pop smash. It sold over seven million copies. Actress LaWanda Page, known for her appearances in the TV show Sanford and Son, recorded spoken-word segments for "Supermodel (You Better Work)." [1] Her most notable single during that period was "You've Been Doing Wrong for So Long" which peaked at No. She thought it was self-indulgent and beautiful. Its use of electronic sound effects influenced later dance recordings. The Pet Shop Boys record won the Brit Award for Best Single and an Ivor Novello Award for Best International HIt. With the lead single from her 1978 album The Devil in Me: "I'm Here Again", Houston returned to the style of "Don't Leave Me This Way" without recapturing the earlier single's success. Cher's massive comeback hit single "Believe" was one of the first commercial recordings to use Auto-Tune sound effects extensively. This is the first new material from Thelma Houston in six years. "Let the Music Play," the debut single from singer Shannon, is considered a landmark in the development of both dance pop and the more specific sub-genre high energy. Take Your Time (Do It Right) - S.O.S. It became Cher's biggest pop hit of all time reaching #1 on charts around the world including in the U.S. In 2018, the Library of Congress selected "Le Freak" to add to the National Recording Registry. Before the release of the single, David Guetta had significant pop chart success at home in France and two top 10 hits in the U.K. "When Love Takes Over" sent him into the top 10 on pop charts around the world. It was a top 5 pop hit in the UK and reached #3 on the US disco chart. 30 of 31 "Dark Lady" by Cher Houston continued recording music into the 1980s, beginning with the RCA release Breakwater Cat which reunited her with Jimmy Webb who produced her debut single Sunshower and which like their earlier collaboration was a commercially overlooked critical success. "Wake Me Up!" She also appeared in multiple RuPaul music videos. Barbara Mandrell was born December 25, 1948, in Houston, Texas, into a very religious Christian family to parents Irby and Mary Mandrell. It was the group's only pop hit in the U.S. The reason R&B is so rooted in American culture is because it caught the mainstream music at the perfect time – post-WW II, when the entire nation was looking for something to lighten the mood. Legendary Philadelphia soul team Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff co-wrote the song, and it appeared on the 1975 Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes album Wake Up Everybody. Italian-only release (Fonit Cetra CDL378), The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.), List of number-one dance hits (United States), List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart, "Dynamic Thelma Houston She's No Kin To Whitney, But She, Too, Can Belt Out A Song", "THELMA HOUSTON - full Official Chart History", "Thelma Houston Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography", "Thelma Houston Biography – Official Site, Agent", "Introducing Thelma Houston & JANITOR New EP, "fortytwo" Out NOW!! She is featured on British singer-songwriter Morrissey's new single "Bobby, Don't You Think They Know? "One More Time" is a definitive song in their catalog. You learn so much from the songs – strength, spirit, soul, and harmony. The original version of "Pump Up the Volume" came from Colourbox and was a highly percussive nearly instrumental song. Singer Steve Edwards in a British house singer who has appeared on a wide range of dance recordings. When Thelma Houston recorded the song for Motown a year later, her arrangement reached for the sky; the version accelerates steadily, a gentle … Houston took acting classes and received her first role in the 1975 made-for-television film Death Scream. Her version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" continues to be popular today. "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson is one of the top landmark pop records of the second half of the 20th century. Besides its US success "Don't Leave Me This Way" became a hit in at least twelve countries, including the UK where it reached Number 13[5] despite the concurrent single release of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes original, which reached Number 5. It won the Best Dance Recording Grammy. 19 in 1995. "Believe" was the first in a string of three consecutive #1 dance hit songs by Cher in the U.S. A R Kane added additional guitar, and then the samples and scratch mixing of DJs Chris "C.J." Gloria Gaynor's recording of "Never Can Say Goodbye" is part of a 19-minute-long disco suite on the first side of the album of the same name. The re-calculating of the original dance charts had to be revised to include downloads and online internet sales, which changed the charts to a great degree. "Staying Alive," "Night Fever," and "How Deep Is Your Love" are legendary pop hits of the era. By 1983, much of dance music was driven underground, but the bubbling rhythm line of "Let the Music Play" sounded different to audiences and returned dance music to the pop mainstream. [7], Houston provided lead vocals on several tracks of guitarist Scott Henderson's 1997 Atlantic album, Tore Down House,[1] and in 1998 she made cameo appearances in two films: in 54 Houston portrayed herself singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" supposedly at Studio 54, and in Beloved Houston played 'One of The Thirty Women'.[7]. Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, formerly of the pop group 10CC, directed the clip. "Gonna Make You Sweat" is frequently used for sporting events. The album Future Shock climbed to #43 on the album chart and earned a platinum certification for sales. Before its release, most disco records used acoustic orchestras for backing tracks on their recordings. In recent years she has been invited to sing this song on dozens of TV shows and specials including NBC's Today Show, ABC's Motown 45 and The Disco Ball...A 30-Year Celebration, and PBS' specials American Soundtrack: Rhythm, Love and Soul, Soul Superstars, and Old School Superstars. Michael Masser, its producer and co-writer (with Gerry Goffin), had created the song for Thelma Houston in 1973, but it was Diana who delivered … The accompanying music video includes a memorable appearance from Lady Miss Kier saying, "Deee-groovy!" "Bad Romance" was showered with critical acclaim as it hit #1 on the dance chart and #2 on the pop chart. "You Should Be Dancing" remains the only Bee Gees record to hit #1 on the disco chart where it stayed for seven weeks. The following year she recorded songs for the soundtrack of the film The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings starring Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones. The accompanying music video, influenced by the experimental film Koyaanisqatsi and directed by Jonas Akerlund, won the MTV Video Music Award for Video Of the Year. Houston regularly performs at Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco. In 1999, a new batch of remixes sent "Situation" back to the top of the dance chart in the U.S. for the second time. Their cover went all the way to #2 on the U.S. dance chart. The group consisted of two DJs Dmitry and Towa Tei as well as vocalist Lady Miss Kier. In 1998 she collaborated with electronic music artist William Orbit. Many of the tracks were worked out on tour by Laswell and his collaborator in the avant-garde music outfit Material, Michael Beinhorn. Gloria Estefan returned the song to #1 on the dance chart in 1994 with her cover version. "Groove Is In the Heart" hit #1 on the dance chart and reached #4 on the pop chart. Billboard is celebrating the first 40 years of the Dance Club Songs chart, which launched in 1976. 41 R&B[6] – and Houston would not cut another album for six years. In that same year Sheffield Lab released "I've Got the Music in Me" a Direct to disc recording by Thelma Houston and Pressure Cooker that went on to become a benchmark vinyl recording for audiophiles. In 1969, Houston released her debut album, entitled Sunshower, produced, arranged and composed by Jimmy Webb except for one track. In the U.S. it went to #1 on the dance chart. Bob Sinclar featuring Steve Edwards - "World Hold On (Children Of the Sky)". T.S. By 1980, the peak of disco's presence on the mainstream pop chart was over. In 2002 and 2003, she unleashed three more #1 dance hit songs. Swedish DJ Tim Bergling, aka Avicii, was one of the hottest young artists in dance music when he took the stage to play "Wake Me Up!" Intended as a one-off performance troupe, the Sisters of Glory remained together – with the addition of Mavis Staples and Lois Walden, and without Chaka Khan – to perform at Woodstock '94. Robyn is a Swedish pop artist who scored a series of pop hits around the world but failed to hit the US pop charts after two top 10 pop hits in 1996-1997 as a teenager. It was announced in February 1977 that Houston would star as Bessie Smith in a filmation of the play Me and Bessie, to be produced by Motown; after an announcement that December that Houston was set to portray Bessie Smith in a biopic to be produced in 1978 by Columbia Pictures nothing more was heard of the project. Houston performed with the Sisters of Glory for the Pope in Vatican City and in 1995 Houston, Phoebe Snow, CeCe Peniston, Lois Walden and Albertina Walker recorded the Warner Brothers album Good News in Hard Times as the Sisters of Glory. Never released as an official single in the US, it reached #3 on the US disco chart after Thelma Houston's cover version of the song became a legendary smash. It also spent a week at the top of the pop chart. The collaborators never recorded again as M/A/R/R/S because the first record was too much of an unpleasant ordeal. live at the 2013 Ultra Music Festival. It also hit the top of the dance chart becoming the first of a series of hits that made Cher one of the world's top dance artists late in her career. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest contributes a guest rap. Also in 1977 Houston teamed up with Jerry Butler to record the album Thelma & Jerry and that November 1977 she co-starred in the film Game Show Models. It went all the way to #1 on the disco chart for a month and broke into the pop top 10. Pet Shop Boys performed "West End Girls" at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. "Whole Lotta Love" was Led Zeppelin's only US Top 10 hit, charting at #4. It was one of the biggest dance hits of the year.