"Disco Lady" is a 1976 single by American singer
Johnnie Taylor that went on to become his biggest hit. It spent all four weeks of April 1976 at No. 1 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and six weeks atop the ''Billboard''
R&B chart
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
in the U.S. It was also the first single to be certified platinum by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
; ultimately it sold over 2.5 million copies. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1976; Cash Box had it the year's No. 1 song.
The single was Taylor's first for
, where he signed after his long-time label,
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
...
, went bankrupt. The song was produced by Taylor's long-time producer,
Don Davis. Among the guests on the song were four members of
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
: bassist
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...
, keyboardist
Bernie Worrell, guitarist
Glenn Goins, drummer
Tiki Fulwood, and
background vocals by BRANDYE (Cynthia Douglas, Donna Davis, Pamela Vincent).
"Disco Lady" was the first Hot 100 No. 1 hit with the word "disco" in the title (though the song was a ballad and not a disco record). The single also reached No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
In the finale of ''
The Paul Lynde Halloween Special'', broadcast in October 1976,
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and game-show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well know ...
and the entire cast sing Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" (gender-neutralized to "Disco Baby").
It earned Taylor his second
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
nomination for
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
In 1998, a remake of the song "Disco Lady 2000" (along with a "radio slam" remix) can be heard on the album ''Taylored to Please'' released by
Malaco Records.
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
References
External links
Lyrics of this song*
Songs about disco
1976 singles
Johnnie Taylor songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
Songs written by Don Davis (record producer)
1976 songs
Songs written by Harvey Scales
Columbia Records singles
Song recordings produced by Don Davis (record producer)
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