Blondie released Call Me, January 29, 1980 and it became their second # 1 hit and biggest-selling single. It stayed in the #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks. It was Billboard's #1 single for the year-end chart.
Giorgio Moroder composed the music and Debbie Harry wrote the lyrics for the main theme song for American Gigolo starring Richard Gere.
I'm Your Boogie Man by KC and the Sunshine Band's fourth album Part 3, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 June 11, 1977. It was well received by music critics with John Rockwell saying, "another alluring, catchy, sleepily kinetic dance" and Record World stating that "it's poised to go all the way".
It reached #3 on the Billboard Soul Chart and Billboard ranked it as the #11 song of 1977. It is certified gold in the US.
The first single from Rod Stewart's Blondes Have More Fun, his ninth studio album, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, February 10, 1979 and stayed there for four weeks. It went to #1 in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Stewart donated the royalties from the song to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Billboard ranked it as #4 on its Top Singles of 1979 year-end chart. The song is certified double-platinum in the US have sold at least 2,000,000 copies.
KC and the Sunshine Band's first #1 hit Get Down Tonight reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 August 30, 1975. It was released on their second album KC and the Sunshine Band in February of that year. It also reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles, Cash Box, and Record World.
R&B/Disco group Chic released their second studio album C'est Chic, August 11, 1978. It is the band's best-selling album, reaching #1 on Billboard's R&B charts and #4 on Billboard's album chart. C'est Chic was Billboard's 1979 R&B Album of the Year. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA for selling over a million copies.
It spawned two singles, Le Freak, which went to #1 in December 1978, and I Want Your Love, the successful follow-up which went to #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs.
The soundtrack album from the movie Saturday Night Fever reached #1 on the Billboard 200 January 21, 1978 and stayed there for 24 weeks. It generated three singles from the Bee Gees and one from Yvonne Elliman. It is the second biggest-selling soundtrack of all time. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1979. It won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B album in 1979.
The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004 and, in 2014, was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry for being culturally significant.
Ray Simpson, born January 15, 1954 in New York City, is best known as the former lead singer and Cop for Village People. He sang backup for the group in its formative years. When the original lead singer Victor Willis left the Village People in 1979, Simpson became the front man. He appeared with the rest of the band in the movie Can't Stop the Music in 1980.
His sister is Valerie Simpson of the duo Ashford & Simpson.
Ray lives in New Jersey with his wife Leslie and daughter Alayna.
More disco! Silver Convention's Fly, Robin, Fly reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, bumping off KC and the Sunshine Band's That's the Way (I Like It), which had sat at the top of the charts for a week. They are the first German act to have a #1 song on American music charts. Fly, Robin, Fly won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1976.
It stayed at #1 for three weeks, when it was replaced by That's the Way (I Like It).
Hey, I'm a child of the seventies, back when disco was king! These are the songs we cranked up loud whenever they came on the radio. KC and the Sunshine Band's single That's the Way (I Like It) reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 22, 1975. It stayed at #1 for a week, then got replaced by Silver Convention's Fly, Robin, Fly the following week. Three weeks later, That's the Way (I Like It) reached #1 for a second time for a week.
It was released June 10, 1975 from their second studio album KC and the Sunshine Band.
Beyonce released her single Love On Top from her album 4, September 12, 2011. It went to #1 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Beyonce was inspired by Etta James and the song includes elements of old school R&B and disco.
It won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
The Bee Gees' hit single Night Fever, which appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, March 18, 1978 and remained there for 8 more weeks. It finished at #2 on the year-end charts. It is certified platinum in the US, selling 2.5M copies.
R&B band Chic, third single from their album C'est Chic, Le Freak, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 December 9, 1978. It reached #1 on the Disco charts for seven weeks. Billboard magazine ranked it as the number 3 song for 1979. Le Freak is certified 4 x platinum.
It was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2018, for being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
The Goddess of Disco Donna Summer's MacArthur Park reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 November 11, 1978 and stayed for 3 weeks. It was written and composed by Jimmy Webb. Richard Harris was the first to record it and in 1968 it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Waylon Jennings recorded it in 1969 and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1970.
Donna's cover of the song garnered her first nomination for a Grammy, for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Pop Muzik, the 1979 hit by English musician Robin Scott or M, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 November 3, 1979. It reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and West Germany.
Glenn Hughes, born July 18, 1950 in Bronx, New York, was the original leather man for the Village People. He was working as a toll collector at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel when he responded to an ad for "macho" singers and dancers.
He was listed as People Magazine's Most Beautiful People in 1979.
Goddess of Disco Donna Summer released her seventeenth and final studio album Crayons May 20, 2008. It was her first full-length album in fourteen years. Unfortunately, it only reached #17 on the Billboard 200 charts.
Stamp Your Feet was the first single, released April 15, 2008. The second single I'm A Fire reached #1 on the Billboard dance/club chart, her 13th #1 on that chart.
Goddess of Disco, Donna Summer released her seventh studio album Bad Girls April 25, 1979. It became her best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of her career. It topped the Billboard 200 for six non-consecutive weeks, and the Billboard R&B albums for three weeks.
Two singles, Hot Stuff and Bad Girls, both reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dim All the Lights reached #2.
Hot Stuff won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female at the 22nd Grammy Awards in February 1980.
The album was nominated for Album of the Year (losing to Billy Joel's 52nd Street), Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Femal R&B Vocal Performance. Dim All the Lights was nominated for Best Disco Recording.
The Village People released their second studio album Macho Man, February 27, 1978. The single of the same name reached #25 in September, becoming their first charting hit. Key West, the second single from the album reached #4 on the Billboard Dance Chart.
The album has been certified platinum with 1M sales in the US.
Donna Summer released her fourth studio album Four Seasons of Love October 11, 1976. It was her third gold album and it peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200. Both singles released went to #1 on the disco charts.
The Queen of Donna Summer reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Bad Girls, the second release from the album of the same name, this week in 1979. It spent five weeks in the top spot. It was the second biggest hit of 1979.
It won American Music Awards in 1980 for Favorite Pop/Rock Single and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.
