Author: Kim Simpson

“Disco Inferno” (1976) – The Trammps * Written by Leroy Green and Ron “Have Mercy” Kersey * 45: “Disco Inferno” / “You Touch My Hot Line” * LP: Disco Inferno * Producer: Baker, Harris and Young Productions * Mixed by Tom Moulton * Label: Atlantic * Charts: Billboard disco (#1, 1977); Billboard Hot 100 (#11, 1978)

First released in 1976, the Trammps’ “Disco Inferno,” with its sonically expansive Tom Moulton mixing treatment, had already hit #1 on the Billboard disco chart before getting a recharge from its appearance on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. In his Heart of Rock and Soul (1989), Dave Marsh writes of hearing the record at the height of its spring 1978 popularity at the New York Yankees’ batting practice on opening day and finally catching the vision of disco: “Reggie Jackson stepped to the plate… [and] began sending balls flying out of the park… Reggie was crushing the ball as well as he would six months later against the Dodgers in the last game of the World Series, when he hit three that counted. [Marsh forgot that Jackson had actually done this in the ’77 World Series.] [Y]ou could feel Reggie get pumped right along with the music… Jackson made me feel the vitality of the music as a bubbling stew of drum and bass, building and building and boiling over and building again til you were wrung out and breathless” (pp. 59-60). That “til you were wrung out” element is an important part of the disco story. The Trammps gave it its perfect anthem, bearing a title that played off of both The Towering Inferno—the 1974 film that contained a burning discotheque scene—and of Dante’s Inferno, which tells of a special hell reserved for the hedonists “who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites.” And yet the song itself still shows no signs of burning out.

“Heisser Sommer” (1968) – Chris Doerk and Frank Schöbel * Written by Gerd Natschinski and Jürgen Degenhardt * East Germany LP: Heisser Sommer * Label: Amiga

The East German film Heisser Sommer (hot summer) masquerades as a Beach Blanket Bingo knockoff but is at heart a cultural missive in which the “need for restraint” and the “good of the group” are reigning concepts. With its brash musical numbers, rich colors, and pretty cast, it makes for weirdly mesmerizing viewing. The Heisser Sommer title song lingers thanks to a high and shimmering string arrangement. This was a popular technique since the days of Percy Faith, but by the late sixties/early seventies it came into vogue to express deep emotion (Delfonics, “La La Means I Love You,” 4 Seasons/Walker Brothers, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”), mystical ethereality (Spirit, “Taurus”), desertion (Ennio Morricone, “Una pistola per Ringo”), decay (Johnny Rivers, “Poor Side of Town”), foreboding (Temptations, “Papa was a Rolling Stone”). Those last three concepts—desertion, decay and foreboding—are likely what you’ll hear telegraphed loudest, though, when you watch those kids shout out their opener on the streets of East Berlin.

“O-O I Love You” (1967) –  The Dells * Written by Bobby Miller * Producer: Bobby Miller * 45: “O-O I Love You” / “There Is” * LP: There Is * Arranger: Charles Stepney * Label: Cadet * Charts: #61 (Billboard Hot 100); #22 (Billboard R&B)

In the late sixties, the Dells came into clearest focus when the Chicago doo wop vets updated two of their earlier hits, “Oh What a Night” (1956) and “Stay in My Corner” (1965), transforming them into showcases for the group’s pleading, seamless vocal interchanges against the starry, shimmering backdrop of Charles Stepney’s instrumental arrangements. Those two tracks, especially the full six minutes of “Stay in My Corner,” may be the ultimate Dells experiences, but an earlier one called “O-O I Love You” previews the highly-charged, emotionally drawn-out direction they were headed toward. When the hammy basso recitation by Chuck Barksdale begins (“and…uh…words are born”), you assign it to the throwback throwaway category. But then lead tenor Johnny Carter takes over and you lose yourself and drift off to the aching, majestic bridge. Lead baritone Marvin Junior then emerges with a burst of fireworks, setting up a final recitation by Barksdale, who now sounds entirely seductive. Junior and Carter then close things out with more dueling fireworks before fading into the silence of the stunned.

“Mindbender (Confusion’s Prince)” (1965) – The Grateful Dead * Written by Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh * LP: Birth of the Dead  (2003) * Producers: Tom Donahue, Bobby Mitchell * Label: Rhino

The five original members of the Grateful Dead recorded their first demos as The Emergency Crew at Golden State Recorders on Harrison Street (two blocks away from where the Giants now play). This was the studio of choice for Autumn Records, co-owned by legendary disk jockey Tom Donahue, which had generated the first conception of a “San Francisco sound” with the misty jangle of the Beau Brummels. Although the future Dead had already generated a live buzz as the Warlocks, they scrapped the name for the sessions, having gotten wind of another band already recording under that name. The six demos are true curiosities, sporting a decidedly Autumn sound and a short-lived intra-band understanding that bassist Phil Lesh would serve as a primary vocalist. The track “Mindbender,” in particular, follows a trail through the minor-key moods of early Beau Brummels into the espionage exotica of Monty Norman’s “James Bond Theme,” a 1964 US radio hit for Billy Strange.

“Te juro que te amo” (1972) – Los Terrícolas * Written by Bruno Lauzi, Mogol, Oscar Prudente, and J. Ramirez * 45: “Te juro que te amo” / “Lloraras” * Venezuela LP: Lloraras * Label: Discomoda

Nowadays one will likely hear the Terricolas’ mid-seventies Mexican radio ballad, with its eerie sci-fi organ and disembodied female backing vocal, fighting through static on an AM station. The band name, which translates to the Earthlings, contributes to the record’s odd dimensionality. They were a group of young adults from Venezuela who released the record in 1972, then saw it get much bigger in 1975. Counterfeit versions of the original combo will occasionally surface in Latin American oldies circuits or mimed videos due to messy legal ownership of the name. The “Te juro que te amo” single had followed the familiar seventies procedure of reworking a European schlager hit to regional effect. This one had originally been a 1970 Italian hit for singer Michele (Maisano) as “Ti giuro che ti amo,” although the J. Ramirez who gave it Spanish lyrics is a puzzle. (Adapted from a previous post at Boneyard Media.)

“Steal Away” (1964) – Jimmy Hughes * Written by Jimmy Hughes * 45: “Steal Away” / “Lolly Pops, Lace and Lipstick” * Produced by Rick Hall * Label: Fame

From Leighton, Alabama, Jimmy Hughes was Percy Sledge’s cousin, and his soaring, imploring “Steal Away” (which includes the disquieting line “your folks are sleeping, let’s not waste any time”) found its way into Billboard’s Top 20 in 1964. This was one of producer Rick Hall’s early successes for the FAME Studio in Muscle Shoals – the first hit, in fact, to be recorded in that building. The song would naturally influence plenty of soul yet to come and help shape the Muscle Shoals sound, but it also bore the unmistakable musical imprints of the Southern gospel standard “Steal Away to Jesus,” written in the mid-1800s by a former slave named Wallace Willis.

“666” (1970) – Dave Bixby * Written by Dave Bixby * LP: Ode to Quetzalcoatl

Before breaking away in the early seventies, Dave Bixby belonged to an insular religious cult in Grand Rapids, Michigan, known as “The Group,” an offshoot of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His Ode to Quetzalcoatl album featured a combination of lonely acoustic guitar, heavy reverb, and affable vocals, making for a hypnotic (if not disquieting) listen that developed a cult of its own over time. The track “666” on side 2 is one of the record’s crescendos on the way to the flute-enhanced finality of “Peace.” In 2014, Far Off Sounds unveiled a short documentary called God’s Singing Man that found the lost troubadour to be every bit as charismatic as the album’s fans might have hoped.

“Yamaha Mama” (1966) – Gary McFarland and Gabor Szabo * Written by Gabor Szabo * LP: Simpatico * Producer: Bob Thiele and Gary McFarland * Label: Impulse

On the cover of their 1966 Simpatico album, vibraphonist Gary McFarland (left, Yamaha YA6) and guitarist Gabor Szabo (right, 250 Big Bear) – both of whom left this world before their time – look like they’ve gotten lost. Listeners of music such as this, though, with its guitars and incantations channeled in from the ether where Szabo and McFarland presently ride their space bikes, are the ones who run an ongoing, larger risk of getting lost in the two musicians’ otherworldly sounds. Producer Bob Thiele, always on the hunt for a commercial tie in during his tenure at Impulse, likely had a hand in choosing this track’s title and photo concept.

“Brown Paper Bag” (1970) – Syndicate of Sound * Written by Steve Jenkins * 45: “Brown Paper Bag” / “Reverb Beat” * Producer: Garrie Thompson * Label: Buddah Records * Charts: Billboard #73

San Jose’s Syndicate of Sound had three US charting singles. The first two, the garage band classics “Little Girl” and “Rumors,” happened in 1966, while the third one, “Brown Paper Bag,” appeared in 1970. Newly signed to Neil Bogart’s Buddah label, which was at the tail end of its bugglegum experiment with hits by the 1910 Fruitgum Co. and Ohio Express, among others, the band in all likelihood aimed their record toward preteens. At the time of its release, though, the George Baker Selection was already on the radio with their “Little Green Bag,” hampering promotional efforts for “Brown Paper Bag.” Another publicity challenge: the otherwise loveable Creedence-tinged stomper focused overtly on the plight of a wino.

“Shall We Dance” (1981) – Bram Tchaikovsky* Written by Bram Tchaikovsky * LP: Funland * 45: “Shall We Dance” / “Miracle Cure” * Producers: Nick Garvey and Bram Tchaikovsky * Label: Arista

Bram Tchaikovsky, from Lincolnshire, UK, was the stage name for Peter Bramall, formerly of the Motors. Because promotional images tended to show him standing as one of the blokes among his touring band, “Bram Tchaikovsky” was usually referred to as a group. (Joel Whitburn’s chart books still list the name this way, in the B section.) When Bram Tchaikovsky toured with Alice Cooper in 1980, then, the bill featured two groups that suffered from solo artist vs. band name confusion. (Alice had fixed the problem earlier by legally changing his name.) It was US touring that likely gave Tchaikovsky the stateside chart edge he didn’t enjoy back home. His 1979 “Girl of My Dreams” cracked the Top 40, while “Shall We Dance” — in spite of its potential for even broader early-eighties appeal, with its stuttering guitar, minimalist bursts of fluorescent keyboard, and promise of bliss via the dance floor — bubbled under at #109. Tchaikovsky, sadly, would resign from the music biz after this.