The National Disco Action Top 40 was a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, which ranked the popularity of dance singles in nightclubs across the country, based on a national survey of club disc jockeys. Launched in 1976, the chart combined the data from 15 major markets, and there were 12 different number ones. The chart methodology of the time allowed for multiple songs ("cuts") from a 12-inch single or album to be bracketed together as a single listing if more than one track from the release was receiving significant play in clubs.
Thelma Houston had the year's first number one, spending her second consecutive week at number one with "Don't Leave Me This Way" and "Any Way You Like It" on the chart dated January 1. The songs remained atop the chart through the issue dated January 29, before being displaced by "Disco Inferno", "Starvin'", and "Body Contact Contract" by the Trammps, three songs from the group's album Disco Inferno . [1] "Don't Leave Me This Way" was the only song to top both the disco chart and the all-genre Hot 100 during 1977, although it did not reach the top spot on the Hot 100 until late April, nearly four months after it first topped the disco listing. [2] In contrast, neither of the two songs by Love & Kisses which topped the disco chart entered the Hot 100 at all. [3] The Eurodisco act's lengthy tracks proved extremely popular with nightclub DJs but were generally not deemed suitable for top 40 radio airplay, limiting their mainstream appeal. [4]
The band Chic achieved the year's longest-running number one, spending eight consecutive weeks atop the chart with "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)". For the final two weeks, the song "Everybody Dance" was also listed. The eight weeks which the songs spent at number also made Chic the act with the highest total number of weeks in the top spot during 1977, one week ahead of Village People. The only act with more than one number one during the year was Donna Summer, known as the "Queen of Disco". [5] Combined tracks from her album I Remember Yesterday spent three weeks in the peak position in July, and in December she returned to the top spot with all the cuts from her next album Once Upon a Time ; this was the year's final chart-topper.
Issue date | Title(s) | Artist(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
January 1 | "Don't Leave Me This Way" / "Any Way You Like It" | Thelma Houston | [6] |
January 8 | [7] | ||
January 15 | [8] | ||
January 22 | [9] | ||
January 29 | [10] | ||
February 5 | "Disco Inferno" / "Starvin'" / "Body Contact Contract" | The Trammps | [11] |
February 12 | [12] | ||
February 19 | [13] | ||
February 26 | [14] | ||
March 5 | [15] | ||
March 12 | [16] | ||
March 19 | "Do What You Wanna Do" | T-Connection | [17] |
March 26 | [18] | ||
April 2 | [19] | ||
April 9 | [20] | ||
April 16 | [21] | ||
April 23 | [22] | ||
April 30 | [23] | ||
May 7 | "I Need a Man" | Grace Jones | [24] |
May 14 | [25] | ||
May 21 | "Got to Give It Up" | Marvin Gaye | [26] |
May 28 | "Devil's Gun" / "We Got Our Own Thing" | C. J. & Company | [27] [28] |
June 4 | [29] [30] | ||
June 11 | [31] [32] | ||
June 18 | [33] [34] | ||
June 25 | [35] [36] | ||
July 2 | "I Feel Love" / "I Remember Yesterday Medley" / "Love's Unkind" / "Take Me" [a] | Donna Summer | [37] [38] |
July 9 | [39] [40] | ||
July 16 | [41] [42] | ||
July 23 | "Accidental Lover" / "I Found Love (Now That I Found You)" | Love & Kisses | [43] |
July 30 | [44] | ||
August 6 | [45] | ||
August 13 | "Quiet Village" / "African Queens" / "Summer Dance" | The Ritchie Family | [46] |
August 20 | [47] | ||
August 27 | [48] | ||
September 3 | "San Francisco (You've Got Me)" / "Hollywood" / "Fire Island" | Village People | [49] [50] |
September 10 | [51] [52] | ||
September 17 | [53] [54] | ||
September 24 | [55] [56] | ||
October 1 | [57] [58] | ||
October 8 | [59] [60] | ||
October 15 | [61] [62] | ||
October 22 | "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" / "Everybody Dance" [b] | Chic | [63] [64] |
October 29 | [65] [66] | ||
November 5 | [67] [68] | ||
November 12 | [69] [70] | ||
November 19 | [71] [72] | ||
November 26 | [73] [74] | ||
December 3 | [75] [76] | ||
December 10 | [77] [78] | ||
December 17 | Once Upon a Time... (all cuts) | Donna Summer | [79] |
December 24 | [80] | ||
December 31 | [81] | ||
The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands.
Disco Inferno is the fourth studio album by American soul-disco group, The Trammps, premiered in discothèques on December 29, 1976 for New Year's Eve celebrations, and then widely released through Atlantic Records in January 1977.
The Dance Club Songs was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by Billboard magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the United States.
"Jive Talkin'" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as a single in May 1975 by RSO Records. This was the lead single from the album Main Course. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and top-five on the UK Singles Chart in the middle of 1975. Largely recognised as the group's comeback song, it was their first US top-10 hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (1971).
"I Feel Love" is a song by the American singer Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, I Remember Yesterday (1977). The album concept was to have each track evoke a different musical decade; for "I Feel Love", the team aimed to create a futuristic mood, employing a Moog synthesizer.
"Turn the Beat Around" is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, and performed by American actress and singer Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976, originally appearing on her debut album, Never Gonna Let You Go (1976). Released as a single, the song went to #10 on the Billboard pop charts, and #73 on the Billboard soul chart. The song earned Robinson a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The track also went to number one on the Billboard disco chart for four weeks. "Turn the Beat Around" is considered a disco classic and is featured on many compilation albums.
"Thunder in My Heart" is a song by English-Australian singer Leo Sayer, from his fifth studio album, Thunder in My Heart (1977). The song was written by Sayer and Tom Snow, while produced by Richard Perry. It was released through Warner and Chrysalis Records in 1977, as the first single from the album. The disco song consists of a bassline and strings. "Thunder in My Heart" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the production. It peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100. A dance remix of the song by British disc jockey Meck titled "Thunder in My Heart Again" was released on 6 February 2006, and topped the UK Singles Chart.
"If I Can't Have You" is a disco song written by the Bee Gees in 1977. The song initially appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in a version by Yvonne Elliman, released in November 1977. The Bee Gees' own version appeared a month later as the B-side of "Stayin' Alive".
"We Are Family" is a song recorded by American vocal group Sister Sledge. Composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, they both offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released on April 30, 1979 as a single from the album of the same name (1979) and began to gain club and radio play, eventually becoming the group's signature song.
"Don't Leave Me This Way" is a song written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert. It was originally released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass, an act signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label. "Don't Leave Me This Way" was subsequently covered by American singer Thelma Houston in 1976 and British duo the Communards in 1986, with both versions achieving commercial success.
"Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 studio album of same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream success until 1978, after being included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, when a re-release hit number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Kiss You All Over" is a 1978 song performed by American group Exile, written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. It was included on the band's third album, Mixed Emotions (1978), and featured lead vocalist Jimmy Stokley and guitarist J.P. Pennington on vocals. On the American Top 40 broadcast of May 26, 1979, Casey Kasem reported that Chapman stated his source of inspiration for "Kiss You All Over" was "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" by Barry White. The song was a number one single in the United States, but proved to be Exile's only big hit in the pop market.
"Shame" is the debut single by American singer Evelyn "Champagne" King, written by John H. Fitch Jr. and Reuben Cross. It was released in 1977 by RCA Records as part of King's debut album, Smooth Talk. The extended remix was produced for the twelve-inch vinyl single and would later replace the album version of the song in late-1970s reprints of the album. "Shame" was successful on Billboard music charts and would become one of King's signature songs, though it varied on international music charts. The song was covered by Zhané for the 1994 film A Low Down Dirty Shame and Kim Wilde in 1996.
"Don't Talk Just Kiss" is a song by English pop trio Right Said Fred, released in November 1991 by Tug Records as the second single from their debut album, Up (1992). The song was written by Richard Fairbrass, Fred Fairbrass and Rob Manzoli, and produced by Tommy D. It features uncredited duet vocals by American R&B and dance music singer Jocelyn Brown, although she appears in the accompanying music video, which was directed by James Le Bon. The single reached number three in the United Kingdom in December 1991 and became a top-10 hit in several international territories. "Don't Talk Just Kiss" was released in the United States in February 1992, peaking at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart.
"Dance, Dance, Dance " is a song by American R&B band Chic. It was the group's first single, a hit in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom and Canada. In addition, along with the tracks "You Can Get By" and "Everybody Dance", the single reached number one on the disco chart. Luther Vandross provided backup vocals. He was working as a session vocalist at the time.
The Players Association was a New York based studio group, put together by drummer/arranger Chris Hills and producer Danny Weiss in 1977 on Vanguard Records.
"Everybody Dance" is a song by American band Chic. The disco song, which features Norma Jean Wright on lead vocals and Luther Vandross, Diva Gray, Robin Clark and David Lasley on background vocals, was released as the second single from the band's self-titled debut album Chic (1977). According to guitarist Nile Rodgers, it was the first song specifically written for Chic, and, due to its historical status and popularity, is usually played as the opening song of the band's live set. It was later heavily sampled by British group Steps on their song "Stomp" and echoed by the Manic Street Preachers on their single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love".
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" is a song by American disco/R&B singer Sylvester. It was written by James Wirrick and Sylvester, and released by Fantasy Records as the second single from the singer's fourth album, Step II (1978). The song was already a largely popular dance club hit in late 1978, as the B-side of his previous single "Dance (Disco Heat)", before it was officially being released in December. It rose to the number one position on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Music critic Robert Christgau has said the song is "one of those surges of sustained, stylized energy that is disco's great gift to pop music".
"How to Dance" is a song by Austrian house music trio Bingoboys from their debut studio album, The Best of Bingoboys. The song features American female rapper Princessa. The song was first released in the United States in 1990 and was given a European release in March 1991. "How to Dance" peaked at number two in Austria and reached the top 10 in Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. In the US, it climbed to number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for one week in March 1991.
This is the discography of American disco and soul band the Trammps.