Disco/Reggae Crossover for Your Summer Apocalypse Playlist
It's just a groove to make you move through the End Times
By T. Bloom
I adore both reggae and disco, and consider it a great tragedy of white heteronormative existence that so many people only seem to enjoy these genres ironically, and are so incurious about them. Fix yourselves! (Everyone else, you’re doing fine.)
And there’s no time like the present: this summer has seen temperature records shattering and critical ocean currents on the verge of collapse, so “Summer Playlist” is seeming more and more like a year-round vibe.
Here, I can make this super easy for you. The label Soul Jazz has put forth at least two interesting compilation albums full of disco hits reimagined as reggae anthems: Hustle! and Disco Reggae Rockers (those are Spotify links, you can also find them on Apple and YouTube). Some of the tracks are better than others! I’m starting you off with five of the very bestest, embedded below.
You will impress people with these, because it’s always fun to recognize a famous song midway through a cover. (I’ve also included them in this entertaining playlist of Nu-disco and variously disco-flavored jams, which you’re welcome to bop to while trying to stay alive in wet bulb conditions.)
These crossover gems are representative of the innovation that was such a staple of music in the ‘70s. Genres have always been extremely fluid, with many artists working across every theoretical border of race, nationality, gender, and tradition in order to exchange their gifts and spread the love they felt for others’ work.
You know what else is extremely fluid right now? Antarctic sea ice. Stay cool, kids!
“Ring My Bell” • Blood Sisters
The sexual innuendo of Anita Ward’s version is timeless, and in the hands of Blood Sisters it’s a far more languid and laid-back invitation. Fun fact, this song was originally written for an eleven-year-old to sing, envisioned as “a teenybopper song, about kids talking on the telephone.”
“I’m Every Woman” • Latisha
Chaka announced herself with this song in ‘78, and Whitney made it her own in ‘92. Latisha’s cover overflows with an untroubled self-possession — less of a declarative diva statement and more of a warm, confident assurance.
“Young Hearts Run Free” • Hortense Ellis
The 1976 Candi Staton version was further immortalized in 1996 thanks to Harold Perrineau’s flawless performance to Kym Mazelle’s version in Romeo + Juliet. Howzabout you let Jamaican singer Hortense Ellis cool it down a bit for you? Surely Mercutio would approve.
Move On Up • Devon Russell
You’re surely more familiar with Curtis Mayfield’s 1970 version, which spawned the disco track released by Destination in 1979.
“Caught You In A Lie” • Derrick Harriott
Not a disco track originally — a cover of Louisa Marks’ 1975 Lover’s Rock single of the same name. Nevertheless, honestly just too enjoyable to leave off this list!
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