Disco Lady

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"Disco Lady"
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Single by Johnnie Taylor
from the album Eargasm
B-side"You're the Best Girl in the World"
ReleasedJanuary 1976
Recorded1975
Genre
Length4:02 (Promo Version)
4:28 (Album Version)
LabelColumbia
SongwritersHarvey Scales, Albert Vance, Don Davis
ProducerDon Davis
Johnnie Taylor singles chronology
"Try Me Tonight"
(1975)
"Disco Lady"
(1976)
"Somebody's Gettin' It"
(1976)

"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 in the U.S.[5] It was also the first single to be certified platinum by the RIAA;[6] ultimately it sold over 2.5 million copies.[7] Billboard ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1976, while Cashbox had it as the year's No. 1 song.[8]

The single was Taylor's first for Columbia Records, where he signed after his long-time label, Stax Records, went bankrupt. The song was produced by Taylor's long-time producer, Don Davis.[9] Among the guests on the song were four members of Parliament-Funkadelic: bassist Bootsy Collins, 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.[10]

In the finale of The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, broadcast in October 1976, Paul Lynde and the entire cast sing Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" (gender-neutralized to "Disco Baby").[11]

It earned Taylor his second Grammy Award 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

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[23] Gold 75,000^
United States (RIAA)[24] Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b Sendra, Tim. Various Artists - Sounds of the Seventies: 1976 - Take Two (1991) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
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  5. ^ Billboard Hot 100, Week of April 24, 1976 – Billboard.com. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
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  8. ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1976
  9. ^ Disco Lady song review, Allmusic.com
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  14. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 16 July 1976
  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ a b Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 17, 1976
  18. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  19. ^ New Zealand End Of Year Charts 1976
  20. ^ Musicoutfitters.com
  21. ^ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 25, 1976
  22. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  24. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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