Disco Fever – my first contribution to an official CD compilation

In early 1999, I met with Derek Smith from Gallo, and he asked for my opinions and ideas for a South African Disco compilation. In July 1999, Disco Fever was released with a credit to me in the booklet – 40 years old and I was starting a new career!

Tracks

1. Key:
2. Track Number. Track Title [Composer(s)] – Artist Year [Track Time] Comments
3. Magic Carpet Ride [Kay, Moreve] – Buffalo featuring Peter Vee 1979 [4:28] Steppenwolf cover
4. Living For The City [Stevie Wonder] – Disco Rock Machine 1978 [7:19] Stevie Wonder cover
5. The House Of The Rising Sun [Traditional, arranged by Dan Hill and Kevin Kruger] – Hot R.S. 1977 [14:35] (Traditional cover, made famous by The Animals)
6. Hiroshima [P. Crossley, T. Owen, A. Oakley] – People Like Us 1987 [6:39]
7. Eloise Concerto – Rouge 1978 [17:32]:
   1. Eloise [Paul Ryan] (Barry Ryan cover)
   2. Love Lost [Zane Cronjé]
   3. Eloise Finalé [Paul Ryan] (Barry Ryan cover)
8. Time Of The Season [Rod Argent] – Neil Cloud 1978 [6:33] The Zombies cover
9. You’re Living Inside My Head [John Ireland] – John Ireland 1978 [6:25] based on Greensleeves
10. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida [Doug Ingle] – Hot R.S. 1979 [7:47] Iron Butterfly cover
11. You Really Got Me [Ray Davies] – Disco Rock Machine 1978 [7:12] The Kinks cover
12. Born To Be Wild (Medley) – Buffalo featuring Peter Vee 1978 [14:07]:
    1. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’ [Levine, Cordell] Crazy Elephant cover
    2. Mony Mony [Gentry, James, Cordell, Bloom] Tommy James and The Shondells cover
    3. Born To Be Wild [Mars Bonfire] Steppenwolf cover
13. Reflections (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) Of My Life [Campbell/McAleese/Morricone] – Neil Cloud 1978 [17:38] Ennio Morricone / Hugo Montenegro / The Marmalade covers
14. Delta Queen [T. Tassenberg] – Hot R.S.. 1977 [7:49] Proudfoot cover
15. Time To Love [Trevor Rabin] – Disco Rock Machine 1978 [7:18]
16. Give [Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse] – Harari 1979 [5:16]
17. Money Runner [Quincy Jones] – Hot R.S. 1980 [6:28] Quincy Jones cover
18. Loving Styles [Trevor Rabin] – Disco Rock Machine 1978 [7:15]
19. Burn Out [Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse] – Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse 1984 [4:57]

Release information

2CD: July 1999, Gallo, CDREDD 627

Credits

Thanks to: John Ireland, Brian ‘Vagabond’ Currin, Dion Singer, Gary Van Riet, Lana-Jane Miller, Terry Owen, the good people at EMI, Peter Pearlson (Forest Studios) for all his hard work, Terry Fairweather, the crowd at Apula and everybody else who made this compilation possible.

Compiled by Derek Smith.
Digitally re-mastered at Forest Studios by Peter Pearlson.

Review

by Brian Currin, 1999

In the late 70s disco music internationally was dominated by such artists as The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Chic, Gloria Gaynor, Village People, etc. The rhythm was everything and musicianship was secondary.

In South Africa, however, disco seemed to take on a distinct harder edge, with a number of classic hard rock and heavy metal songs being given the disco treatment. Paul Ryan’s classic ‘Eloise’ was extended to 17 minutes by Zane Cronjé’s Rouge, HOT RS covered Iron Butterfly’s ‘In-A-Gadda-Da -Vida’ (cleverly combining it with Frankie Vaughan’s 1957 UK #1 smash hit ‘Garden Of Eden’) and Peter Vee’s Buffalo covered Steppenwolf’s heavy metal anthem ‘Born To Be Wild’.

Ex-Rabbitt Trevor Rabin with his Disco Rock Machine recorded the Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ while his colleague, Neil Cloud (Rabbitt’s drummer), covered ‘Time Of The Season’ originally done in 1968 by Rod Argent’s Zombies.

All these tracks and others (like John Ireland’s ‘Living Inside My Head’) are on this Gallo collection compiled by Derek Smith.