20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs
| 20 Disco Greats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1981 | |||
| Genre | Pop, MOR | |||
| Length | 57:45 (Disco Greats) 59:01 (Love Songs) | |||
| Label | Warwick | |||
| Producer | Tony Hiller | |||
| Brotherhood of Man chronology | ||||
| ||||
| 20 Love Songs | ||||
 Cover of 20 Love Songs | ||||
20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs is a double album released by British pop group Brotherhood of Man which was released as two separate albums, but sold together as a 'buy one get one free' package, as was the popular trend at the time.
Background[edit]
This album was a collection of cover versions, following on from their successful Sing 20 Number One Hits album released a year earlier. The songs contained were cover versions of hit songs from the UK charts spanning the years 1972 to 1981. The album was released by Warwick Records (United Kingdom) in November 1981, but failed to replicate the success of the previous one, thus ending their contract with the label. Some months later, the group commented on the album; "we recorded [the album] to keep the group together and get our faces on the TV screen where they were advertised". On the lack of new material present they said "we didn't bother to release a single or record a proper album because we knew they wouldn't make any impact".[1]
The album contained no single releases. The label on the 20 Disco Greats record gives the title as Dance Yourself Dizzy, while the label on 20 Love Songs gives the title as In Love.[2] Although listed separately, the songs "Copacabana" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" merge into each other, and have been listed as one track on subsequent compilation releases. The song "She's out of My Life" is listed as such, but is sung (by member Sandra Stevens) as "He's out of My Life". A noticeable trend on the album was the tendency to reverse the sex of the original performer. Where songs had been originally performed by males, they were performed here by the female members, such as Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" sung by Sandra and Nicky and Baccara's "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" by Martin and Lee.
Of the covers contained, the earliest was Harry Nilsson's version of "Without You", which was a No.1 hit in March 1972, while the most recent was Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday", which had reached No.2 in August 1981.[3][4] Of the 40 tracks, 13 had been UK No.1s, while all the rest were UK top 20 hits apart from "Copacabana" and "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me", which reached No.42 and No.23 respectively.[5][6] The album contained three songs by The Bee Gees, as well as Barbra Streisand's "Woman in Love", which was written by them. ABBA - a group Brotherhood of Man had been compared to many times during their career, were included with a cover of their song "Lay All Your Love On Me", which at the time was the group's most recent (although one of their less significant) hit.[7]
The album was released on Vinyl and Cassette, and although has never been released on Compact Disc, many of the tracks have appeared on various compilation CDs of the group in recent years. The cover photos were taken at Tokyo Joe's night club (now defunct) in Mayfair, London.[8][9] During the photo-shoot, the group were presented with gold discs of their previous album by Ian Miles, managing director of Warwick records.[10]
Track listing[edit]
20 Disco Greats[edit]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dance Yourself Dizzy" | Adrian Baker / Eddie Seago | Liquid Gold, 1980 | 3:38 |
| 2. | "Use It Up and Wear It Out" | Sandy Linzer / L. Russel Brown | Odyssey, 1980 | 2:52 |
| 3. | "Blame It on the Boogie" | Mick Jackson / David Jackson / Elmar Krohn | Based on version by The Jacksons, 1978 | 2:44 |
| 4. | "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" | Rod Stewart / Carmine Appice | Rod Stewart, 1978 | 3:07 |
| 5. | "Copacabana (At the Copa)" | Barry Manilow / Bruce Sussman / Jack Feldman | Barry Manilow, 1978 | 2:16 |
| 6. | "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" | Biddu | Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, 1976 | 3:06 |
| 7. | "Feels Like I'm in Love" | Ray Dorset | Kelly Marie, 1980 | 2:43 |
| 8. | "Stayin' Alive" | Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb | The Bee Gees, 1977 | 2:40 |
| 9. | "Singin' in the Rain" | Arthur Freed / Nacio Herb Brown | Based on version by Sheila B. Devotion, 1978 | 3:02 |
| 10. | "Y.M.C.A." | Henri Belolo / Jacques Morali / Victor Willis | The Village People, 1978 | 2:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "D.I.S.C.O." | Daniel Vangarde / Jean Kluger | Ottawan, 1980 | 3:09 |
| 2. | "Lay All Your Love on Me" | Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus | ABBA, 1981 | 2:42 |
| 3. | "Night Fever" | Barry Gibb / Robin Gibb / Maurice Gibb | The Bee Gees, 1978 | 3:08 |
| 4. | "Brown Girl in the Ring" | Frank Farian, , based on a Traditional | Boney M, 1978 | 2:58 |
| 5. | "Happy Birthday" | Stevie Wonder | Stevie Wonder, 1981 | 3:35 |
| 6. | "Yes Sir I Can Boogie" | Frank Dostal / Rolf Soja | Baccara, 1977 | 2:36 |
| 7. | "Ring My Bell" | Frederick Knight | Anita Ward, 1979 | 2:27 |
| 8. | "Knock on Wood" | Eddie Floyd / Steve Cropper | Based on version by Amii Stewart, 1979 | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Le Freak" | Nile Rodgers / Bernard Edwards | Chic, 1978 | 2:49 |
| 10. | "Pop Muzik" | Robin Scott | M, 1979 | 3:02 |
20 Love Songs[edit]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Silly Love Songs" | Paul McCartney | Wings, 1976 | 3:20 |
| 2. | "Woman in Love" | Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb | Barbra Streisand, 1980 | 3:00 |
| 3. | "Tragedy" | Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb | The Bee Gees, 1979 | 3:19 |
| 4. | "With You I'm Born Again" | David Shire / Carol Connors | Billy Preston and Syreeta, 1979 | 3:09 |
| 5. | "Crying" | Roy Orbison / Joe Melson | Based on version by Don McLean, 1980 | 2:58 |
| 6. | "One Day I'll Fly Away" | Joe Sample / Will Jennings | Randy Crawford, 1980 | 3:05 |
| 7. | "She's out of My Life" | Tom Bahler | Michael Jackson, 1980 | 2:39 |
| 8. | "Without You" | Peter Ham / Tom Evans | Based on version by Nilsson, 1972 | 2:49 |
| 9. | "More Than in Love" | Barry Leng / Simon May | Kate Robbins and Beyond, 1981 | 2:53 |
| 10. | "Evergreen" | Barbra Streisand / Paul Williams | Barbra Streisand, 1976 | 2:49 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Artist, Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Miss You Nights" | Dave Townsend | Cliff Richard, 1976 | 3:08 |
| 2. | "My Eyes Adored You" | Bob Crewe / Kenny Nolan | Frankie Valli, 1974 | 2:52 |
| 3. | "How 'Bout Us" | Dana Walden | Champaign, 1981 | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Song Sung Blue" | Neil Diamond | Neil Diamond, 1972 | 2:39 |
| 5. | "Being with You" | Smokey Robinson | Smokey Robinson, 1981 | 2:46 |
| 6. | "Chanson D'Amour" | Wayne Shanklin | Based on version by The Manhattan Transfer, 1977 | 2:34 |
| 7. | "Woman" | John Lennon | John Lennon, 1981 | 2:56 |
| 8. | "A Little Bit More" | Bobby Gosh | Dr Hook, 1976 | 2:54 |
| 9. | "I Wanna Stay with You" | Benny Gallagher / Graham Lyle | Gallagher and Lyle, 1976 | 2:51 |
| 10. | "All by Myself" | Eric Carmen | Eric Carmen, 1975 | 3:21 |
Personnel[edit]
- Martin Lee – vocals
- Lee Sheriden – vocals
- Nicky Stevens – vocals
- Sandra Stevens – vocals
- Tony Hiller – Producer
- Colin Frechter – Arranger
- Paul Chave – Photography
References[edit]
- ^ New Straits Times "A Lightning flash in the pan?", 13 June 1982
- ^ Dutch Brotherhood of Man site. "Album Discography". Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ Official Charts. "Earliest hit ("Without You")". Official Charts. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ Official Charts. "Latest hit ("Happy Birthday")". Official Charts. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ "somewhere in the night | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
- ^ "i'll go where your music takes me | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
- ^ "abba | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
- ^ Album sleeve information
- ^ "Inside the secret world of Clubs and Speakeasies | londonlaunch.com". www.londonlaunch.com. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
- ^ "News" (PDF). Music Week.
