| 20 Disco Greats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1981 | |||
| Genre | Pop, MOR | |||
| Length | 57:45 (Disco Greats) 59:01 (Love Songs) | |||
| Label | Warwick | |||
| Producer | Tony Hiller | |||
| Brotherhood of Man chronology | ||||
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| 20 Love Songs | ||||
 Cover of 20 Love Songs | ||||
20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs is a double album released by British pop group Brotherhood of Man which was released as two separate albums, but sold together as a 'buy one get one free' package, as was the popular trend at the time.
This album was a collection of cover versions, following on from their successful Sing 20 Number One Hits album released a year earlier. The songs contained were cover versions of hit songs from the UK charts spanning the years 1972 to 1981. The album was released by Warwick Records (United Kingdom) in November 1981, but failed to replicate the success of the previous one, thus ending their contract with the label. Some months later, the group commented on the album; "we recorded [the album] to keep the group together and get our faces on the TV screen where they were advertised". On the lack of new material present they said "we didn't bother to release a single or record a proper album because we knew they wouldn't make any impact". [1]
The album contained no single releases. The label on the 20 Disco Greats record gives the title as Dance Yourself Dizzy, while the label on 20 Love Songs gives the title as In Love. [2] Although listed separately, the songs "Copacabana" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" merge into each other, and have been listed as one track on subsequent compilation releases. The song "She's out of My Life" is listed as such, but is sung (by member Sandra Stevens) as "He's out of My Life". A noticeable trend on the album was the tendency to reverse the sex of the original performer. Where songs had been originally performed by males, they were performed here by the female members, such as Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" sung by Sandra and Nicky and Baccara's "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" by Martin and Lee.
Of the covers contained, the earliest was Harry Nilsson's version of "Without You", which was a No.1 hit in March 1972, while the most recent was Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday", which had reached No.2 in August 1981. [3] [4] Of the 40 tracks, 13 had been UK No.1s, while all the rest were UK top 20 hits apart from "Copacabana" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me", which reached No.42 and No.23 respectively. [5] [6] The album contained three songs by The Bee Gees, as well as Barbra Streisand's "Woman in Love", which was written by them. ABBA - a group Brotherhood of Man had been compared to many times during their career, were included with a cover of their song "Lay All Your Love On Me", which at the time was the group's most recent (although one of their less significant) hit. [7]
The album was released on Vinyl and Cassette, and although has never been released on Compact Disc, many of the tracks have appeared on various compilation CDs of the group in recent years. The cover photos were taken at Tokyo Joe's night club (now defunct) in Mayfair, London. [8] [9] During the photo-shoot, the group were presented with gold discs of their previous album by Ian Miles, managing director of Warwick records. [10]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dance Yourself Dizzy" | Adrian Baker / Eddie Seago | Liquid Gold, 1980 | 3:38 |
| 2. | "Use It Up and Wear It Out" | Sandy Linzer / L. Russel Brown | Odyssey, 1980 | 2:52 |
| 3. | "Blame It on the Boogie" | Mick Jackson / David Jackson / Elmar Krohn | Based on version by The Jacksons, 1978 | 2:44 |
| 4. | "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" | Rod Stewart / Carmine Appice | Rod Stewart, 1978 | 3:07 |
| 5. | "Copacabana (At the Copa)" | Barry Manilow / Bruce Sussman / Jack Feldman | Barry Manilow, 1978 | 2:16 |
| 6. | "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" | Biddu | Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, 1976 | 3:06 |
| 7. | "Feels Like I'm in Love" | Ray Dorset | Kelly Marie, 1980 | 2:43 |
| 8. | "Stayin' Alive" | Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb | The Bee Gees, 1977 | 2:40 |
| 9. | "Singin' in the Rain" | Arthur Freed / Nacio Herb Brown | Based on version by Sheila B. Devotion, 1978 | 3:02 |
| 10. | "Y.M.C.A." | Henri Belolo / Jacques Morali / Victor Willis | The Village People, 1978 | 2:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "D.I.S.C.O." | Daniel Vangarde / Jean Kluger | Ottawan, 1980 | 3:09 |
| 2. | "Lay All Your Love on Me" | Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus | ABBA, 1981 | 2:42 |
| 3. | "Night Fever" | Barry Gibb / Robin Gibb / Maurice Gibb | The Bee Gees, 1978 | 3:08 |
| 4. | "Brown Girl in the Ring" | Frank Farian, , based on a Traditional | Boney M, 1978 | 2:58 |
| 5. | "Happy Birthday" | Stevie Wonder | Stevie Wonder, 1981 | 3:35 |
| 6. | "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" | Frank Dostal / Rolf Soja | Baccara, 1977 | 2:36 |
| 7. | "Ring My Bell" | Frederick Knight | Anita Ward, 1979 | 2:27 |
| 8. | "Knock on Wood" | Eddie Floyd / Steve Cropper | Based on version by Amii Stewart, 1979 | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Le Freak" | Nile Rodgers / Bernard Edwards | Chic, 1978 | 2:49 |
| 10. | "Pop Muzik" | Robin Scott | M, 1979 | 3:02 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Silly Love Songs" | Paul McCartney | Wings, 1976 | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Woman in Love" | Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb | Barbra Streisand, 1980 | 3:00 |
| 3. | "Tragedy" | Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb | The Bee Gees, 1979 | 3:19 |
| 4. | "With You I'm Born Again" | David Shire / Carol Connors | Billy Preston and Syreeta, 1979 | 3:09 |
| 5. | "Crying" | Roy Orbison / Joe Melson | Based on version by Don McLean, 1980 | 2:58 |
| 6. | "One Day I'll Fly Away" | Joe Sample / Will Jennings | Randy Crawford, 1980 | 3:05 |
| 7. | "She's out of My Life" | Tom Bahler | Michael Jackson, 1980 | 2:39 |
| 8. | "Without You" | Peter Ham / Tom Evans | Based on version by Nilsson, 1972 | 2:49 |
| 9. | "More Than in Love" | Barry Leng / Simon May | Kate Robbins and Beyond, 1981 | 2:53 |
| 10. | "Evergreen" | Barbra Streisand / Paul Williams | Barbra Streisand, 1976 | 2:49 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miss You Nights" | Dave Townsend | Cliff Richard, 1976 | 3:08 |
| 2. | "My Eyes Adored You" | Bob Crewe / Kenny Nolan | Frankie Valli, 1974 | 2:52 |
| 3. | "How 'Bout Us" | Dana Walden | Champaign, 1981 | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Song Sung Blue" | Neil Diamond | Neil Diamond, 1972 | 2:39 |
| 5. | "Being with You" | Smokey Robinson | Smokey Robinson, 1981 | 2:46 |
| 6. | "Chanson D'Amour" | Wayne Shanklin | Based on version by The Manhattan Transfer, 1977 | 2:34 |
| 7. | "Woman" | John Lennon | John Lennon, 1981 | 2:56 |
| 8. | "A Little Bit More" | Bobby Gosh | Dr Hook, 1976 | 2:54 |
| 9. | "I Wanna Stay with You" | Benny Gallagher / Graham Lyle | Gallagher and Lyle, 1976 | 2:51 |
| 10. | "All by Myself" | Eric Carmen | Eric Carmen, 1975 | 3:21 |
Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
"Save Your Kisses for Me" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed for the United Kingdom by Brotherhood of Man in The Hague, Netherlands. The lyrics and music were written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, and Martin Lee, the latter two being members of the band. The song became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in many countries, including the UK, where it became the biggest-selling song of the year. Overall, it remains one of the biggest-selling Eurovision winners ever, and the biggest such seller in the UK.
"Figaro" is a song by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released as a single in January 1978 and became the group's third and final number one hit in the UK.
"Angelo" is a song by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. Released as a single in June 1977, it became the group's second UK number one hit.
Martin Lee is an English singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group Brotherhood of Man.
Good Things Happening is the first album released by the new lineup of pop group Brotherhood of Man. This lineup consisted of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens and was to be the main lineup of the group's history and would hold for the next ten albums. It contains their first europeen hit "Lady" which was a hit in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Oh Boy! is the third album released by pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in 1977 and featured the UK top 10 hit, "Oh Boy ". It was released earlier in some European countries as Midnight Express.
Images is the fourth album by pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in 1977 and featured the No.1 hit, "Angelo".
B for Brotherhood is the fifth album by pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in June 1978 and released on Pye Records. The album featured the UK No.1 single "Figaro" and top 20 hit "Beautiful Lover". On the UK albums chart it reached No.18 and was certified silver for sales of over 60,000 copies.
Twenty Greatest is the sixth album released by British pop group Brotherhood of Man and their first compilation. It was released in 1978 and became their biggest selling album, peaking at No.6 in the UK and being certified gold. As the title suggests, it is a collection of twenty songs, including their three number one hits, "Save Your Kisses for Me", "Angelo" and "Figaro" alongside their current single release, "Middle of the Night".
Higher Than High is a 1979 album released by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in June and contained four singles.
Singing a Song is a 1979 album by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in December and was their final album for Pye Records after several years with the label.
Good Fortune is a 1980 album by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. The album was recorded on manager Tony Hiller's label, Dazzle Records, but went unreleased in the UK. The album did get a release however in Australia and New Zealand on RCA Records. Today the album is virtually impossible to get hold of and is considered to be the 'holy grail' among fans.
Sing 20 Number One Hits is the tenth album by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was the first of two consecutive cover version albums by them. Released in 1980, it became the group's second biggest-selling album.
Lightning Flash is the 12th album by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. Released on EMI Records in 1983, it remains their final commercially released studio album.
Sandra Stevens is an English singer and member of pop group Brotherhood of Man.
Nicky Stevens is a singer, famous as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. She is the only Welsh person to have won the Eurovision Song Contest.
Lee Sheriden is an English singer/songwriter and musical director, best known as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man.
Love and Kisses from Brotherhood of Man is the second album released by the new line-up of British pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in the UK the day before their 1976 Eurovision win with "Save Your Kisses for Me", which the album contained. In some European countries the album was released in October 1975 with a slightly different track listing.
Song Bird is a studio album by American country music artist Margo Smith. It was released in July 1976 via Warner Bros. Records and was produced by Norro Wilson. Songbird was the third studio recording of Smith's music career. The album contained a total of ten tracks, including the single release, "Save Your Kisses for Me." The album would reach chart positions and the single would become a major hit.
