Let Your Body Go Downtown

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"Let Your Body Go Downtown" is a song co-written by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran, [1] [2] [3] and recorded by the Martyn Ford Orchestra as a single on 18 March 1977 on the Mountain record label. A 12-inch single was also released. [4] In an interview in 2024, Ford revealed he had asked close friends De Paul and Moran to write the song for him. [5]

The single was also released in France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands on Vertigo Records. [6] It was a BBC Radio 1 "Record of the Week" and playlist by a number of UK regional radio stations. [7] As noted by Record World magazine, it took the single three months to enter the UK Singles Chart. [8] However, the song reached No. 38 on that chart, [9] [10] No. 34 on the NME singles chart, [11] No. 37 on the EveryHit Retrocharts [12] and No. 11 on the UK Disco Chart, published by Record Mirror . [13] It was also released as a track on the album Ronnie Jones Presents Let-Your-Body-Go-With-The-Disco released on the Phillips record label in Italy [14] and it received numerous radio plays there as listed in "Radiocorrier". [15] A live performance of the song featuring Ford, his orchestra and backing singers was shown on the 12 May 1977 edition of Top of the Pops . [16]

The song was followed by another de Paul/Moran penned release, "Going to a Disco", [17] in a similar vein, [18] also released on the Mountain record label in 1977 as a 7 inch and 12 inch single [19] [20] but did not chart although it received a positive review from the British DJ James Hamilton, [21] [22] as well as in the British mainstream press. [23] It is also mentioned alongside "Let Your Body Go Downtown" in the books The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music [24] and Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2006. [25]

"Let Your Body Go Downtown" is still played on the radio, [26] [27] most recently on the Ana Matronic Disco Devotion radio show on BBC Radio 2, [28] on Funky Tuesday [29] and on Disco Magic. [30]

References

  1. ↑ [ dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Martyn Ford". IMDb.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Eurovision 2023: The Eurovision Song Contest singers you didn’t know were from Yorkshire by Nathan Hyde published 17th Jun 2022, Yorkshire Post
  4. ↑ "Martyn Ford Orchestra - Let Your Body Go Downtown". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  5. ↑ "Interview with MARTYN FORD". Dmme.net. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  6. ↑ "The Martyn Ford Orchestra - Let Your Body Go Downtown". Discogs.com. 1977. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  7. ↑ 26 March 1977, Record Week
  8. ↑ Record World, 28 May 1977, p. 73
  9. ↑ "let+your+body+go+downtown - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  10. ↑ "A CANTERBURY TALE -". Recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  11. ↑ New Musical Express, 28 May 77
  12. ↑ "Retrochart for Mid May 1977". Everyhit.com.
  13. ↑ "Record Mirror articles, interviews and reviews from Rock's Backpages". Rocksbackpages.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  14. ↑ "Ronnie Jones Presents Various - Let Your Body Go With The Disco". Discogs.com. 1977. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Radiocorriere, 26 August 1979
  16. ↑ "12/05/77, Top of the Pops - BBC One". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  17. ↑ "Martyn Ford - Going To A Disco". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  18. ↑ "Martyn Ford". IMDb. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  19. ↑ "Martyn Ford - Going To A Disco". Discogs.com. 12 August 1977. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  20. ↑ page 4, Music Week, 6 August 1977
  21. ↑ "James Hamilton - Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  22. ↑ "September 10, 1977: Meco, Eddie Henderson, Pioneers, Smokey Robinson, Giorgio". Jameshamiltondiscopage.com. 10 September 1977. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  23. ↑ Kent Evening Post, 19 August 1977, p. 21
  24. ↑ The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music, Colin Larkin, Virgin, 2002, ISBN   9781852279479
  25. ↑ Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2006, Graham Betts, Collins, 2006, ISBN   9780007200771
  26. ↑ "The Martyn Ford Orchestra - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2018.[ dead link ]
  27. ↑ "DISCO Magic with Dr. Rob - The World's Most Sophisticated Radio Show (Remembering the Glory)". Discomagic.org. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  28. ↑ "21/05/2017, Ana Matronic's Disco Devotion - Music Played - BBC Radio 2". BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  29. ↑ "Funky Session 2 hours of pure Fun(k!) #14". Funkytuesday.dk. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  30. ↑ "DISCO Magic with Dr. Rob - The World's Most Sophisticated Radio Show (Remembering the Glory)". Discomagic.org. Retrieved 23 March 2023.



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