A new spotlight: THE First 100 BILLBOARD DISCO CHART No. 1s. More: tomorrow.

Caffè  Lattè looks back on:

 

60 YEARS

OF THE

BILLBOARD

DISCO/DANCE

CHART

 

Billboard began ranking the top Disco and Dance tracks in 1974. Six decades of dancefloor favourites have kept us in discotheques and clubs to this day. This is a focus on the first 100 number ones on that chart which span the Disco Era:

 

THE FIRST 100 NUMBER ONE TRACKS

Oct. 26^th, 1974:         The Disco Chart debuts in Billboard.

 

1974

1.

NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE

Gloria Gaynor 4 weeks

The Chart’s first #1 was recorded by the then Queen of Disco with a remake of The Jackson 5’s 1971 R&B No. 1 and Pop #2 hit on Motown. 

2.

EXPRESS

B.T. Express 5 weeks

Originally known as Brooklyn Trucking Express, this pioneering disco group was formed in Brooklyn, New York. The outfit scored 2 other early Disco Chart Top 10s: “Do It (‘Til You’re Satidfied)” and “Peace Pipe”.

3.

I’LL BE HOLDING ON

Al Downing 3 weeks

The only Disco Chart entry for the black singer/ songwriter/pianist Al Downing. The last #1 of 1974.   

1975

4.

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

Shirley (& Company) 4 weeks

The Chart’s first #1 of 1975 was a hit featuring Shirley Goodman. She had been half of the duo Shirley & Lee during the 1950s and 1960s, best remembered for the hit “Let The Good Times Roll”.   

5.

HIJACK

Herbie Mann 3 weeks

The only Disco Chart entry for the Brooklyn, New York singer born Herbert Jay Solomon in 1930.

6.

BAD LUCK

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes 11 weeks

At the time, the longest run at #1 on the Disco Chart, featured lead vocals by Teddy Pendergrass. The group only charted 4 songs on the chart, but its record reign at the top was not equalled until 1983.

7.

EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD

Consumer Rapport 5 weeks (non-consecutive)

The only chart appearance by the disco studio group from New York. The song was from the Broadway musical “The Wiz”. Vocalist Frank Floyd was a pit singer in the show.

8.

FREE MAN

South Shore Commission 1 week

The Chart’s only entry from the R&B/ funk group formed in Washington D.C.   

9.

FOREVER CAME TODAY

The Jackson 5 4 weeks (non-consecutive)

The Chart’s first #1 was a cover of a Jackson 5 Motown hit. The siblings scored their own Disco #1 with a remake of The Supremes’ 1968 hit on the same label. This marked the one and only chart entry under the name Jackson 5, as the group quit Motown and signed with Epic, charting henceforth as The Jacksons.   

10.

DREAMING A DREAM

Crown Heights Affair 1 week

The first of 5 chart entries for the New York group led by vocalist Phil Thomas. Follow-up single “Every Beat Of My Heart” peaked at #2 for 2 weeks.