Disco 9000

Performer: Johnnie Taylor
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Johnnie Taylor (vocals). Disco 9000's ten tracks mark the sharp transition in Taylor's amazing career, from being a straight soul singer to being a soul-disco singer. While the keyboards and electronic drums are everywhere present and the beats are geared to the dancefloor, there is nothing here that is really inconsistent with Taylor's trademark soul delivery. For example, check the in-the-pocket groove of "Play Something Pretty" or the R&B-reggae fusion in "I Got This Thing for Your Love." Certainly the hard funk on "Your Love Is Rated X" and the title track (written by Taylor) might seem at odds with the smooth soul crooner's ideal, but it's still there, and it rises above the arrangements into the heights of R&B heaven. Disco 9000 is a record that deserves to be re-evaluated in the lieu of this great artist's contribution. Wait until the nu-soul groovers get hold of it. ~ Thom Jurek

Johnnie Taylor first achieved notoriety when he joined Sam Cooke's former group, the Soul Stirrers, in 1957. Taylor's blues-based R&B records of the '60s, like his biggest hit, "Who's Makin' Love?," featured an irresistible beat and Taylor's gruff, emphatic vocals. While he never achieved the fame of Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett, Taylor stuck around long enough to enjoy a second surge in popularity with the lusty hit "Disco Lady" in 1976.

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