Disco Inferno
{{Short description|1976 single by the Trammps}}
{{About|the song by The Trammps}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Disco Inferno
| cover = Disco Inferno by The Trammps 1978 US vinyl re-release.jpg
| alt =
| caption = 1978 US vinyl reissue picture sleeve
| type = single
| artist = the Trammps
| album = Disco Inferno
| B-side =
- "You Touch My Hot Line" (original)
- "That's Where the Happy People Go" (reissue)
| released = December 28, 1976
| recorded = 1976
| studio = Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| genre = Disco
| length =
- 10:59 (album version)
- 3:35 (radio edit)
| label = Atlantic
| writer =
- Leroy Green
- Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey
| producer = Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey
| prev_title = Ninety-Nine and a Half
| prev_year = 1976
| next_title = I Feel Like I've Been Livin' (On the Dark Side of the Moon)
| next_year = 1977
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|MCxMBmKG-SE|"Disco Inferno"}}}}
{{External music video|header=no|{{YouTube|2tlB2PxAL-o|"Disco Inferno" (radio edit)}}}}
}}
File:Disco Inferno by The Trammps US vinyl 1977 release.png
"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.{{cite web|title=The Trammps Billboard singles|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-trammps-p5685/charts-awards/billboard-singles|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=January 21, 2012}}{{cite news|first=Andrew |last=Dys |work=The Herald |location=Rock Hill, SC |title='Disco Inferno' singer Jimmy Ellis of Rock Hill dies at 74 |url=http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/03/08/3804499/singer-of-disco-inferno-jimmy.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120310011550/http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/03/08/3804499/singer-of-disco-inferno-jimmy.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |date=March 8, 2012 |access-date=March 9, 2012 }}
It was also covered in 1993 by American-born singer Tina Turner on What's Love Got to Do with It,{{cite web |url=http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/DISCO-INFERNO-lyrics-Tina-Turner/506E94B28D58149448256918002B5DEF |title=Disco Inferno Lyrics - Tina Turner |publisher=Sing365.com |access-date=June 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210091830/http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/DISCO-INFERNO-lyrics-Tina-Turner/506E94B28D58149448256918002B5DEF |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |url-status=dead }} and in 1998 by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper on the A Night at the Roxbury soundtrack.{{cite web|url=http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/n/nightattheroxburylyrics/discoinfernolyrics.html |title=Disco Inferno Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper - Night At The Roxbury Soundtrack Lyrics |publisher=Lyricsondemand.com |access-date=June 28, 2014}} Among others who covered this are Damien Lovelock, Hardsonic Bottoms 3, and Vicki Shepard.
{{TOC limit|2}}
Song information
The song was originally recorded by the Trammps in 1976 and released as a single. It was inspired by the 1974 blockbuster film The Towering Inferno, in which a party in a top floor ballroom is threatened by a fire that breaks out below.{{cite web|url=http://blindedbysound.com/features/deepsoul/deepsoul-the-trammps---disco-inferno/|title=DeepSoul: The Trammps - "Disco Inferno"|publisher=DeepSoul.com|access-date=June 3, 2012}} According to Tom Moulton, who mixed the record, the Dolby noise reduction had been set incorrectly during the mixdown of the tracks. When engineer Jay Mark discovered the error and corrected it, the mix had a much wider dynamic range than was common at the time. Due to this, the record seems to "jump out" at the listener. With "Starvin'" and "Body Contact Contract", it topped the U.S. Disco chart for six weeks in the late winter of 1977.{{cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=263}} On the other U.S. charts, "Disco Inferno" hit number nine on the Black Singles chart, but it was not initially a significant success at pop radio, peaking at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=587}}
"Disco Inferno" gained much greater recognition when the nearly-11-minute album version was included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. Re-released by Atlantic Records, the track peaked at number 11 in the U.S. during the spring of 1978, becoming the Trammps' biggest and most-recognized single. Later, it was included in the Saturday Night Fever musical, interpreted by 'DJ Monty' in the "Odissey 2001" discothèque. A cover version of the track was issued by the group Players Association in March 1978 on the Vanguard record label both in 7" and 12" format. It was produced by Danny Weiss and also issued as a track on their 1979 LP Born to Dance.
In 2004, a 12" version with the 10:54-minute version and "Can We Come Together" (from the album Where the Happy People Go) on the B side was released in the UK.{{cite web |title=The Trammps - Disco Inferno / Can We Come Together |url=https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=The%20Trammps&title=Disco%20Inferno%20%2F%20Can%20We%20Come%20Together |access-date=December 12, 2021 |language=EN}} This version was certified Silver in 2021 by the British Phonographic Industry.
On September 19, 2005, "Disco Inferno" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/trammps_frontman_jimmy_ellis_of_disco/299983 |title=Trammps Frontman Jimmy Ellis of Disco Inferno Fame Dies | E! Online UK |date=March 9, 2012 |publisher=Eonline.com |access-date=June 28, 2014}}
In 2009, the song was featured in Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, the second downloadable content pack for 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV, on the in-game disco radio station "K-109: The Studio". Also in 2009, at the same time as the release of The Ballad of Gay Tony, it and Grand Theft Auto IV's first downloadable pack, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned were packaged and released together through physical media under the title Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, in which the song appears in both episodes on the same radio station (the song was not present in the initial downloadable release of The Lost and Damned).
Personnel
;The Trammps
- Jimmy Ellis – lead vocal
- Robert Upchurch – lead and baritone vocal
- Earl Young – bass vocal
- Harold Wade – first tenor
- Stanley Wade – second tenor
;Additional Personnel
- Ronald Baker – bass guitar
- Earl Young – drums
- Norman Harris, Bobby Eli, T.J. Tindall – guitars
- T.G. Conway – keyboards
- Don Renaldo and His Strings and Horns
Charts
{{More citations needed|section|date=January 2018}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
class="wikitable sortable" |
Chart (1977)
!Peak |
---|
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=7738& RPM May 14, 1978]
| style="text-align:center;"|70 |
UK Singles (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|16 |
US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|53 |
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
US Cash Box Top 100
| style="text-align:center;"|70 |
class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1978) !Peak |
Australia (Kent Music Report)
| style="text-align:center;"|32 |
Canada Top Singles (RPM)
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)
| style="text-align:center;"|13 |
UK Singles (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|16 |
US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|11 |
US Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19780527.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 27, 1978 |access-date=April 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214225537/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19780527.html |archive-date=February 14, 2015 |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|8 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Trammps|title=Disco Inferno/Can We Come Together|award=Silver|relyear=2012|certyear=2021|id=17706-5793-1|access-date=December 10, 2021|note=with "Can We Come Together"|refname=BPI}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
Tina Turner version
{{Infobox song
| name = Disco Inferno
| cover = Tina-Turner-Disco-Inferno.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Tina Turner
| album = What's Love Got to Do with It
| B-side = "I Don't Wanna Fight" (single edit)
| released = {{start date|1993|8|16}}{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|magazine=Music Week|page=23|date=August 14, 1993}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| length = 4:03
| label = Parlophone
| writer =
- Leroy Green
- Ron Kersey
| producer =
- Tina Turner
- Chris Lord-Alge
- Roger Davies
| prev_title = I Don't Wanna Fight
| prev_year = 1993
| next_title = Why Must We Wait Until Tonight
| next_year = 1993
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|HM-5ryTVCwE|"Disco Inferno"}}}}
}}
American singer and actress Tina Turner covered "Disco Inferno" for the What's Love Got to Do with It soundtrack. Released as a single in August 1993 by Parlophone, it was produced by Turner with Chris Lord-Alge and Roger Davies. It charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, and reached the top 20 also in Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The single included remixes by the Beatmasters.
=Critical reception=
In a 1998 retrospective review of What's Love Got to Do with It, the Daily Vault felt "Disco Inferno" "has a dated title to begin with and the arrangement's enthusiasm doesn't live up to Turner's singing".{{cite web|title= What's Love Got To Do With It – Tina Turner |publisher= The Daily Vault |date= July 23, 1998 |access-date= November 22, 2020 |url= http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=3720}} Upon the release, Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song four out of five, writing, "From the woman whose interpretations are often a million miles away from the original, this is a disappointingly standard interpretation of the old Trammps hit. Having said that, it is a highly commercial song and Tina's one-of-a-kind voice has many admirers, so another big hit is in prospect."{{cite magazine|first= Alan |last= Jones |title= Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles |magazine= Music Week |date= August 21, 1993 |page= 14 |accessdate= March 30, 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1993/Music-Week-1993-08-21.pdf}} A reviewer from People Magazine noted its "dance dramaturgy" and the "characteristic flair and energy that have made Tina the envy of every singer this side of Aretha."{{cite magazine|url= https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-whats-love-got-to-do-with-it-vol-40-no-15/ |title= Picks and Pans Review: What's Love Got to Do with It |magazine= People |date= October 11, 1993 |access-date= November 13, 2020}} Sam Wood from Philadelphia Inquirer found that the "joyous, over-the-top treatment" of the disco classic "reeks of campy white polyester suits and oily sweat under a dance-floor glitter ball."Wood, Sam (July 13, 1993). "Musical Mementos of the Movies". Philadelphia Inquirer. Toby Anstis reviewed the song for Smash Hits, giving it four out of five. He said, "Tina pulls off this cover really well. It's nice hearing a rauchy female rock voice like that. I think I prefer this version to the original. I'd boogie to that any time at a party. I think I'd go and see the film about her soon too. Yeah, she's great."{{cite magazine|author= Anstis, Toby |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/smashhits90s/36672778436/in/album-72157684357392172/ |title= New Singles |magazine= Smash Hits |date= August 18, 1993 |page= 47 |accessdate= December 15, 2022}}
=Track listings=
{{col-begin|width=74%}}
{{col-2}}
- UK 7-inch and cassette; Australian cassette single
- "Disco Inferno" (album version) – 4:03
- "I Don't Wanna Fight" (single edit) – 4:25
- UK, European, and Australian CD single
- "Disco Inferno" (album version) – 4:03
- "I Don't Wanna Fight" (single edit) – 4:25
- "Disco Inferno" (12-inch version) – 5:33
- "Disco Inferno" (12-inch dub) – 6:57
{{col-2}}
- UK 12-inch single
- "Disco Inferno" (12-inch version) – 5:33
- "Disco Inferno" (12-inch dub) – 6:57
- "Disco Inferno" (album version) – 4:03
- Australian CD single
- "Disco Inferno" (album version) – 4:03
- "Tina's Wish" – 3:08
- "The Best" (single edit) – 4:08
- "Proud Mary" – 5:25
{{col-end}}
=Charts=
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
==Weekly charts==
{{col-2}}
==Year-end charts==
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
scope="col"| Chart (1993)
!scope="col"| Rank |
---|
scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop){{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1993|title=Jaaroverzichten 1993|publisher=Ultratop|language=nl|access-date=July 15, 2020}}
| 94 |
scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40){{cite news|url=https://timarit.is/page/2621535?iabr=on#page/n15/mode/2up|title=Árslistinn 1993|newspaper=Dagblaðið Vísir|language=is|page=16|date=January 4, 1994|access-date=June 1, 2020}}
| 30 |
scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40){{cite web|url=http://www.top40web.nl/jaarlijsten/jr1993.html|title=Jaarlijsten 1993|publisher=Stichting Nederlandse Top 40|language=nl|access-date=October 12, 2015}}
| 143 |
scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week){{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1994/Music-Week-1994-01-15.pdf|title=Airplay Top 50 1993|magazine=Music Week|date=January 15, 1994|page=41|access-date=May 3, 2024}}
| 31 |
{{col-end}}
Cyndi Lauper version
{{Infobox song
| name = Disco Inferno
| cover = Disco Inferno.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cyndi Lauper
| album = A Night at the Roxbury
| recorded = 1999
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Disco
| length = 3:18
| label = Jellybean Records
| writer =
- Leroy Green
- Ron Kersey
| producer =
- Cyndi Lauper
- Mark Saunders
- Jan Pulsford
| prev_title = Early Christmas Morning
| prev_year = 1998
| next_title = Shine
| next_year = 2001
}}
American singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper performed this song live for the first time at New York, Bryant Park on June 21, 1998.
In the Billboard magazine dated May 16, 1998, in the "Dance Trax" column, there was a story on remixers Bobby Guy and Ernie Lake, aka Soul Solution: "They are working with Cyn on a chest-pounding rendition of 'Disco Inferno'. The cut will be featured on the forthcoming soundtrack to A Night At Roxbury."
Although the original release date of the maxi single was August 3, 1999, it was distributed from July 24 in some regions. The single was officially released in the U.S. in August 1999. Lauper performed it at many shows, including her Summer Tour '99, around the time of its release. The song was nominated for a Grammy in the category of 'Best Dance Recording' for the 1999 awards.
=Official versions=
- Boris & Beck Roxy Edit Dub
- Boris & Beck Roxy Dub
- Club Mix
- Rescue Me Mix
- Soul Solution A Capella
- Soul Solution Drumapella
- Soul Solution Mix
- Soul Solution Radio Edit
==Accolades==
=Charts=
class="wikitable" |
Chart (1999)
!Peak |
---|
align="left"|US Hot Dance Club Play (Billboard){{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/299876/cyndi-lauper/chart?f=359 |title=Cyndi Lauper - Chart history |publisher=Billboard |access-date=October 11, 2016}}
| style="text-align:center;"|8 |
align="left"|US Hot Dance Singles Sales (Billboard){{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/cyndi-lauper-mn0000122754/awards |title=Cyndi Lauper | Awards |publisher=AllMusic |date=June 22, 1953 |access-date=October 11, 2016}}
| style="text-align:center;"|12 |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://soultrain.com/2013/07/02/soul-retrospective-the-trammps-disco-inferno/ Soultrain.com]
{{Saturday Night Fever soundtrack}}
{{The Trammps}}
{{Tina Turner singles}}
{{Cyndi Lauper singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs from Saturday Night Fever
Category:Songs written by Ron Kersey