Today, Tomorrow, Forever - Today, Tomorrow, Forever (1979)

One of many records that I snagged out of crates that were headed for oblivion (a.k.a. the storage warehouse) at my old job. The A side is funkier, weirder, and arguably more interesting than the B side, which is still good but falls into a comparatively standard disco groove. It's not gonna change your life, but it's a super fun record, and the synth break in "Astro Boogie" alone is worth the price of admission.

Track listing:

1. It's a Groove (Keep On Dancin')

2. Astro Boogie

3. Mad House

4. Blipped (All Over Myself)

5. Taking Me Higher

6. I'm for You

7. It's Your Love

8. Get On Down

Yeah, I was at a hyperdrive party that was, uh, really jammin' back

You should also hear:

Kleeer - I Love to Dance (1979)

T-Connection - Totally Connected (1979)

The Mike Theodore Orchestra - High on Mad Mountain (1979)

Unrelenting, funky, immaculately crafted disco from Detroit producer and frequent Dennis Coffey collaborator Mike Theodore. Unlike so many "The (Blank) Orchestra" disco acts, The Mike Theodore Orchestra was, effectively, an actual orchestra -- on Discogs, 66 people, most of them musicians, are credited for working on High on Mad Mountain, including 7 (seven) separate percussionists. Also unlike so many would-be disco epics, these four extended tracks actually earn their sweeping scope through perfectly executed builds, deceptively intricate arrangements, weirdness, and sheer groove.

Track listing:

1. High on Mad Mountain

2. Wonder Man

3. Disco People

4. Dragons of Midnight

Backside, frontside, do your boogie

If you like this, listen to:

The Andrea True Connection - More, More, More (1976)

France Joli - France Joli (1979)

Easy Going - Fear (1979)

10/1. It's been pretty spooky around here anyway, but I'm officially kicking off OPIUM HUM's annual celebration of all things spooky with this absolute masterpiece of queer-horror-fueled Italo-disco featuring horror soundtrack luminary/former Goblin keyboardist Claudio Simonetti. Why are you still reading this? Get the damn album.

Track listing:

1. I Strip You

2. Fear

3. To Simonetti

4. Put Me in the Deal

I strip you, I touch you

Your clothes are full of sparks

I catch you, I lose you

I chase you in the dark

Similar vibes:

Black Devil - Disco Club (1978)

The Creatures - Expansion / L'altro Mondo Studios (1983) 

Wally Badarou - Back to Scales To-Night (1980)

Related:

M - The Official Secrets Act (1980)

Debut solo record from synth/keyboard session man Wally Badarou; I'm not even going to try to start naming all the great artists he's played with. Laid-back, synth-fueled, reggae-tinged lite funk/pop-rock/R&B that's positively perfect for summer nights. Yes, his second album, Echoes, is his masterpiece, but DO NOT sleep on this record.

Track listing:

1. Back to Scales Tonight

2. Sing Me Your Song

3. One Day, Won't Give It Away

4. Dream on the Sand

5. London Town (Instrumental)

6. He Was a Rasta in London Town

7. She Turns Me On

8. Lady Finger Blue (Instrumental)

9. Preachin'

Leaving this place

If you like this, listen to:

Wayne Henderson - Emphasized (1979)

Kimiko Kasai - Kimiko (1982)

Booker Newberry - Love Town (1984)

A great set of soulful disco/boogie from the largely unsung Booker Newberry III. There's even a little new jack in there. The title track is the only hit record Newberry had a solo artist, but the entire record's a funky, synth-y joy to behold.

One caveat: digitally speaking, I've only ever been able to find the 2005 CD reissue version, which omits two tracks and adds a whole bunch of others. It's cool because the bonus tracks are almost all total bangers, but there are some questionable sequencing choices -- for instance, slow-jam "Island" is the second damn track, killing the album's momentum just as it gets going -- and with 6 original album tracks intermingled with 9 bonus tracks, it plays more like a greatest hits collection than an album. So basically what I'm saying is, don't download this. Sike, get it, you won't regret it.

Track listing:

1. Love Town

2. Island

3. I Get Romantic

4. Handle with Care

5. Attitude

6. Shadows

7. Love Drums

8. Teddy Bear

9. Shower of Love

10. Lovin' on Borrowed Time

11. The Way You Do It

12. You and I

13. Doin' What Comes Naturally

14. Love Town (Foggy Mix)

15. Shadows (12" Mix)

A midnight madness

A moonlight gladness

Also listen to:

Shadow - Love Lite (1979)

Alexander O'Neal - Alexander O'Neal (1985)

The Andrea True Connection - More, More, More (1976)

A nice, generous slice of disco nirvana. Airy, laid-back workouts full of big hooks, locked-in grooves, and extended solos. True got her start as a porno actress, which somehow eventually led to her being hired as commercial spokesperson for a Jamaican real estate firm. While she was in Jamaica, the government banned asset transfer to the US, meaning that in order to return to the States, she would have to either forfeit all of her earnings or spend them; she opted for the latter, demoed "More, More, More", the demo got remixed, the remix became a surprise hit, and she landed a record deal. I love that story.

Track listing:

1. Party Line

2. Keep It Up Longer

3. More, More, More

4. Fill Me Up (Heart to Heart)

5. Call Me

I'm always ready

If you like this, listen to:

France Joli - France Joli (1979)

Musique - Musique II (1979)

Carlo Maria Cordio - Shadows and Memories (1979)

Lovely, laid-back instrumental disco/lite-funk. Cinematic orchestral melodies, space-age synths, gentle drumming, sparse piano lines, wordless choirs. Been looking for this for the past two years, and finally tracked it down last night. That's two white whales in one week, baby! Also: don't forget to breathe, we're gonna get through this, I swear.

Track listing:

1. Moon Sacrifice

2. Flying in the Sunshine

3. Seagulls Flight

4. Theme for a Dream

5. After the Dark

6. Peaceful Moment

7. Velvet Harmonies

8. Soul Vibrations

9. Wind of Summer Night

10. Shadows and Memories

Sleepwalker

You should also hear:

Shakatak - Night Birds (1982)

Seaside Lovers - Memories in Beach House (1983)

Supermax - Supermax Meets the Almighty (1981)

Related:

Supermax - World of Today (1977)

London Aircraaft - Rockets (1984)

More excellence from weirdo disco great Supermax, this time with a more abstract, psychedelic bent. For the A-side, this lands us in 80s Eloy-ish territory at times, while on the flipside, it's more like a very plastic form of reggae -- one that entails chanting "Viva la ganja" and "Natty, natty, natty dread." Though these moments are questionable at best, the whole package is just so fucking weird, I can't help but love it.

Track listing:

1. As Long as There Is You

2. Tonight

3. Hammer

4. Today I Fall in Love Again

5. Madness

6. We Are the Gang

7. Aya Jah Jah

8. Superdub

9. Sunshine People

Woke up this morning and saw myself

In a completely different life

I saw some things I can't explain

You should also listen to:

Adrian Gurvitz - Sweet Vendetta (1979)

Change - The Glow of Love (1980)

Kleeer - I Love to Dance (1979)

Super groovy, relentlessly fun NYC disco with a gritty funk edge and some more laid-back, buttery-smooth moments. Sounds like the kind of sexy, sweaty, coke-y party that we'd all rather be at.

Track listing:
1. Tonight's the Night (Good Time)
2. Keeep Your Body Workin'
3. Happy Me
4. I Love to Dance
5. It's Magic
6. To Groove You
7. Amour
8. Kleeer Sailin'

You make it easy for me to love you

You'd also like:

Brick -
Good High (1976)

Cerrone -
Love in C Minor (1976)

France Joli - France Joli (1979)

Heavenly disco from French-Canadian singer France Joli. Four long, slow-building tracks whose immaculate, detail-heavy production is just as conducive to headphone listening as it is to shaking your fat ass.

Track listing:
1. Come to Me
2. Let Go
3. Don't Stop Dancing
4. Playboy

The only one you love

You'd also like:

The Players' Association -
The Players' Association (1977)

Adrian Gurvitz -
Sweet Vendetta (1979)

Taana Gardner - Taana Gardner (1979)

Sultry, hella-groovy disco. Gardner's a gifted, emotive vocalist, and her higher-register voice occasionally suggests what it might sound like if Kate Bush made a disco record. If the opening groove on "When You Touch Me" hasn't been sampled for a rap song, folks are seriously dropping the ball.

Track listing:
1. When You Touch Me
2. We Got to Work It Out
3. Just Be a Friend
4. Paradise Express
5. Work That Body

Ain't nothing above it
Oh, how I love it

Also listen to:

THP -
THP #2: Tender Is the Night (1978)

Musique -
Musique II (1979)

Ava Cherry & The Astronettes - People from Bad Homes (1995)

Related:
David Bowie - Liveandwell.com (2000)

Raw, unfinished, early 70s studio sessions for a David Bowie-produced project, featuring then-girlfriend and backing singer Ava Cherry, that never got off the ground. In retrospect, it comes off as a dry run of Young Americans. And though there are some scratch vocal tracks strewn about, there's really a lot to love here, including a majestic version of "God Only Knows" that absolutely buries Bowie's version, as well as songs that he ended up rewriting and putting on his own albums, including "I Am a Laser" (which became "Scream Like a Baby") and "I Am Divine" ("Somebody Up There Likes Me".)

Note: "I Am Divine" was actually one of those super-secret songs that you had to rewind from the beginning of the first track to hear.

Track listing:
1. I Am Divine
2. I Am a Laser
3. Seven Days
4. God Only Knows
5. Having a Good Time
6. People from Bad Homes
7. Highway Blues
8. Only Me
9. Things to Do
10. How Could I Be Such a Fool
11. I'm in the Mood for Love
12. Spirit in the Night

And she looks like a magnet
And she comes like a warm rain

You should also hear:

The Diddys Featuring Paige Douglas -
Agony and Extasy (1975)

Daryl Hall -
Sacred Songs (1980)

Musique - Musique II (1979)

Airy, buoyant NYC disco that's helping me to see the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel that is finals week. If "Squirt your warm juices/On my back and neck" is your idea of double entendre, then "Love Massage" is the song for you. Better times and year-end lists are on their way.

Track listing:
1. Glide
2. Love Massage
3. Good and Plenty Lover
4. Number One

Make it hot and juicy

You'd also enjoy:

Cerrone -
Love in C Minor (1976)

The Players' Association -
The Players' Association (1977)

Mandré - Mandré Two (1978)

Related:
Maxayn - Maxayn (1972)

Phenomenal, synth-tastic funk excellence from Andre Lewis, who's known more for his work as a Motown producer than for the two amazing albums he made under the Mandré pseudonym. The A side is all bangers, then the B side drifts into the outer reaches of the cosmos. Yet another record that I saved from possible burial in an unmarked grave (i.e. getting put in a box in a dusty warehouse) then selflessly brought home. I'm a model human being. But who the fuck would box up an LP that looks like that?? Raises serious concerns about my coworkers' taste levels.

Track listing:
1. Love Comes Rushin' In
2. I Like Your Freaky Ways
3. Fair Game
4. Code Name: MM3
5. Maxymus Lyte (Opus III)
6. Iles dans l'Espace
7. Light Years (Opus IV)
8. Doing Nothing, Nothing Doing

Just relax
Enjoy the ride

More along these lines:

T-Connection -
Totally Connected (1979)

Don Blackman -
Don Blackman (1982)

Cerrone - Love in C Minor (1976)

God-tier, moderately pornographic French disco. For getting high in the bathroom, getting horny on the dance floor, and getting busy back at the pad.

Track listing:
1. Love in C Minor
2. Black Is Black
3. Midnite Lady

Love me

You'd also enjoy:

THP -
THP #2: Tender Is the Night (1978)

Change -
The Glow of Love (1980)

Brick - Good High (1976)

Supreme Atlanta funk with strong disco vibes and an ever so slightly jazz-y aftertaste. Starts off strong, then just gets better and better. Get in the groove.

Track listing:
1. Here We Come
2. Music Matic
3. Dazz
4. Can't Wait
5. Southern Sunset
6. Good High
7. Brick City
8. Sister Twister
9. That's What It's All About

Make it super cool

You'd also enjoy:

Alphonso Johnson -
Yesterday's Dream (1976)

T-Connection -
Totally Connected (1978)

The Diddys Featuring Paige Douglas - Agony & Extasy (1977)

Soul/funk/disco that's fit for the stereo in heaven. Gently psychedelic, ridiculously chill songs about stuff like having sex in outer space, with a blurry, synth-y, analogue sound that would sound right at home on a chillwave record.

Track listing:
1. My Special Love (Disco Mix)
2. Intergalactic Love Song
3. I Love You Baby
4. My Special Love
5. Strange Love
6. Your Love Is Like a See-Saw Baby
7. I Love You Girl
8. How Long Have You Loved Him

L  O  V  E

You might also enjoy:

Sylvia Robinson -
Pillow Talk (1973)

The Kaplan Brothers -
Nightbird (1978)

Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing (2011)

Dark but catchy, krautrock- and disco-infused English indie rock. Muted, rhythmic guitars, oscillating synths, a tensely controlled rhythm section, and vocals that barely surpass a whisper.

Track listing:
1. Ventriloquizzing
2. Sixteen Shades of Black & Blue
3. Cat Got Your Tongue
4. Taiwanese Roots
5. Yoyo
6. Pills
7. OK
8. Minestrone
9. Spilt Milk
10. Tinsel & Glitter
11. Universe

These little pills may give you dizzy spells

If you like this, listen to:

Pram - The Stars Are So Big, the Earth
Is So Small... Stay as You Are (1993)

Digital Leather -
Infinite Sun (2011)

Gino Soccio - Outline (1979)

Slick, synthpop-infused disco from Canadian-Italian producer Gino Soccio. Since there can be no question as to whether or not Outline is of the highest quality, the mind wanders to larger questions, such as: can an artist be considered Italo-disco based on heritage alone, or do they have to live or have lived in Italy?

Track listing:
1. Dancer
2. So Lonely
3. The Visitors
4. Dance to Dance
5. There's a Woman

Hold tight

If you like this, listen to:

THP -
THP #2: Tender Is the Night (1978)

Changes -
The Glow of Love (1980)

Hipnosis - Hipnosis (1984)

Italo-disco by way of Berlin-school-style synth work. Makes me wanna do lines off of the dashboard of a flying saucer. It has taken me far too long to post this, and for that I apologize.

Track listing:
1. Inesi
2. Windland
3. Argonauts
4. Pulstar
5. Bormaz
6. Astrodance
7. Space Crusaders
8. Oxygene
9. Theme for a New Year

Ladies and gentlemen

You'd also like:

Telex -
Neurovision (1980)

Com Truise -
Wave 1 (2014)