Jazz-Funk & Disco: Part 3

Part 3: Disco gets electro-fied and the DJ becomes the producer

08 — THE DJ REWRITES THE RECORD

The history of Disco cannot be separated from the history of the DJ.

In the early 1970s, DJs were beginning to discover that they could transform the experience of a record on the dancefloor by controlling how and when it was played and reading the floor.

One of the key figures was Tom Moulton, who began creating extended versions of records specifically for DJs and dancers.

Instead of a three-minute single that rushed from verse to chorus, the extended mix could build gradually.

The rhythm sections could run for several minutes, while the instruments could build up gradually within the groove, solos could be added and the breakdown could become an event.

The DJ could mix from one record into another while the club became the laboratory, and the 12-inch single became the format that allowed the experiment to flourish.

The larger format provided more room for the grooves, which offered better volume control and allowed extended mixes to become part of the record-buying dancefloor and DJ culture.

Then came Double Exposure — Ten Percent on Salsoul Records.

Walter Gibbons' extended remix became a landmark release and is widely recognised as the first commercially released 12-inch single.



09 — THE DISCO PRODUCERS TAKE OVER

As Disco developed, producers became increasingly important and the studio became an instrument within itself.

Arrangements could be built specifically for clubs. Strings could be layered, percussion could be added, bass could be reinforced and drums could be edited and the 12-inch format gave producers room to experiment.

Labels such as Salsoul, T.K. Disco, Casablanca, Prelude, West End, SAM, Cotillion and Philadelphia International became essential parts of the Disco ecosystem.

Each label developed its own identity.

Salsoul became synonymous with powerful orchestral Disco and Latin percussion, T.K. helped establish the Miami sound, Casablanca pushed Disco toward a huge, glamorous, international sound, Philadelphia International brought Soul sophistication, West End became hugely influential among New York DJs and Prelude would become particularly important as Disco evolved into the electronic sound of the early 1980s.

The labels were connected by one thing:
They understood the DJ.


10 — THE ELECTRONIC REVOLUTION

Then the machines arrived.

Synthesizers became increasingly affordable, drum machines began appearing in studios, electronic bass began replacing traditional instruments and sequencers allowed producers to build repeating patterns.

Disco started evolving into something new and undefined by genre, so for now I'll call it Electro Disco Boogie Funk.

The sound of the early 1980s was becoming cleaner, harder and more futuristic.

D-Train — You're the One for Me.
The Jones Girls — Nights Over Egypt.
Yarbrough & Peoples — Don't Stop the Music.
The S.O.S. Band — ust Be Good To Me
Indeep — Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life
Stacy Lattisaw — Jump To The Beat
Raw Silk — Do It To The Music
Melba Moore — Love's Comin' At Ya
Evelyn King — Love Come Down

These records still have the DNA of Disco and Funk but the technology changed.

The musicians were increasingly sharing the studio with machines and that change would have an enormous influence on the future of music created for the club.