Ooh, hello! Ana, how you going?
We're here to talk about some of our favourite disco, late '70s,
early '80s synthesised, fabulous moments of music.
Absolutely. I do some DJ-ing and this is exactly the area that I do.
Great. So we're on the same page.
We are on the same page,
which we learned the first time we met each other...
Yeah ..which was at the Radio Academy conference,
when I got to interview you, which was so, so cool.
We're going to be watching some really good, some really good...
Let's talk about the stuff we love. Yeah, let's.
Well, what can you say about I Feel Love, other than it's a song
that always sounds 15 years in the future?
I remember hearing it for the very first time
at a big outdoor garden party.
Until then, I thought electronic music was a bit drifty and hippy.
Yeah. I liked it, but then I heard it on a big PA system
and this came on and I thought,
"My God, I get it. I want to do this." Mmm.
# Ooh
# It's so good, it's so good, it's so good, it's so good
# It's so good
# Ooh
# Heaven knows, heaven knows, heaven knows, heaven knows
# Heaven knows
# Ooh
# I feel love, I feel love, I feel love, I feel love
# I feel love
# I feel lo-o-o-o-ove
# I feel love. #
It's such an incredible song.
It's so simple when you break it down.
I just love her voice.
I've always thought that Donna Summer's voice has a certain
other-worldly quality.
Absolutely. I don't know what it is about it.
It's not quite soul. It's almost like a kind of angelic soul.
Well, she obviously, like so many of the great soul singers,
got her start in gospel church. Yeah, yeah.
She knows how to touch the sky.
She also got her break with Giorgio Moroder... Yeah.
..and, funnily enough,
a lot of these innovations came from Europe back into America. Yeah.
# Ooh
# I feel love, I feel love, I feel love, I feel love
# I fe-e-e-eel love
# I feel lo-o-o-o-ove
# Lo-o-o-o-ove
# Love. #
Right, well, this is probably where it all started for me.
When I was seven, being terrified.
The cliche, hiding behind the sofa, waiting for the Daleks to arrive.
It's the Doctor Who theme... Amazing. ..written by Ron Grainer.
They had to really create...
It's not like now where you've got every sound on Earth at your
disposal at the click of a finger.
They had to actually create sounds from Foley, really.
Cos the...
# Woo-oo-ooo. #
Is that a theremin?
So beautiful. No, it's your voice.
No, actually, it was...
They explained it and I wanted it to be a theremin... Yeah.
..but actually it was a test oscillator just going...
# Woo-oo-ooo. #
And, likewise, the...
# Ba-ba-ba-bum, ba-ba-ba-bum, ba-ba-ba #
..that's a lampshade being hit.
Oh, wow!
And then played at a different speed to get different notes.
Then all the notes edited together.
I know, it's crazy.
These guys were really ahead of their time in terms of
assembling sounds and using found sounds...
So cool. ..and that's been such an influence on my career.
Everything from The Human League right up to my Soundscape work now.
Definitely one of the groups that has been with me
throughout my whole life.
It started in the '80s when I was younger.
I had the 45 of Neutron Dance
and then went to get pretty much the entire discography
of Pointer Sisters, who I love. Oh, cool.
They're a group that I think is quite underrated. I agree with you.
Yeah, as a deep-voiced young girl,
who used to get a lot of stick from the boys for having a deep voice,
this was one of the songs that I could actually sing along to
and Ruth Pointer sort of became a vocal hero of mine. Really?
# Look what you're doing to me
# I'm utterly at your whim
# All of my defences down
# Your camera looks through me
# With its X-ray vision
# And all systems run aground
# All I can manage to push from my lips
# Is a stream of absurdities
# Every word I intended to speak
# Winds up locked in the circuitry
# No way to control it
# It's totally automatic
# Whenever you're around
# I'm walking blindfolded
# Completely automatic
# All of my systems are down
# Down, down, down
# Automatic Automatic
# Automatic Automatic. #
There's something about families harmonising together
that sounds so beautiful and full. Yeah.
It's almost like versions of the same voice. Yeah.
# Automatic
# Look what you're doing to me
# I'm utterly at your whim
# All of my defences down
# Your camera looks through me
# With its X-ray vision
# And all systems run aground
# All I can manage to push from my lips
# Is a stream of absurdities
# Every word I intended to speak
# Winds up locked in the circuitry
# No way to control it
# It's totally automatic
# Whenever you're around
# I'm walking blindfolded
# Completely automatic
# All of my systems are down
# Down, down. #
So, The Temptations' Ball Of Confusion.
I actually did a cover of this with Tina Turner... Yes, you did.
..on the first BEF album cos I've always loved this song.
I've always loved protest songs from that period... Hmm-mm.
..and this kind of evocation of ghetto life and the difficulty
of working class black communities.
Ball Of Confusion to me is the ultimate version of that kind
of theory, plus it's a great tune.
# People movin' out, people movin' in
# Why, because of the colour of their skin
# Run, run, run,
# But you sho' can't hide
# An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
# Vote for me and I'll set you free
# Rap on, brother, rap on
# Well, the only person talkin' bout love thy brother is the preacher
# And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher
# Listen to me, will you please?
# Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration
# Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation
# Ball Of Confusion
# Oh, yeah, yeah
# That's what the world is today Hey, hey
# The sale of pills at an all time high
# Young folks walkin' round with their heads in the sky
# Cities aflame in the summer time
# And, oh, the beat goes on
# Evolution, revolution, gun control, the sound of soul
# Shootin' rockets to the moon, kids growin' up too soon
# Politicians say more taxes will solve everything
# And the band played on
# Round and round and around we go
# Where the world's headed nobody knows. #
1970 was the year this came out and obviously in the United States
there's the Vietnam War going on.
Civil rights movement. Massive protests all the time.
But also the record companies saw that you could actually sell
records on the basis of it,
so it wasn't just like some little independent label.
We're moving into the mainstream here for protest. Yeah.
Very interesting period. Yeah. I love this period.
# That's what the world is today Hey, hey
# Fear in the air, tension everywhere
# Unemployment rising fast
# The Beatles' new record's a gas
# And the only safe place to live is on an Indian reservation
# And the band played on. #
And it's just... Oh, the brass is awesome.
# Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors
# Mod clothes in demand # Population out of hand. #
# Suicide too many bills, hippies movin' to the hills
# People all over the world are shouting end the war
# And the band played on. #
See, I always wanted to be the guy who had the bass stuff. Yeah!
I can't get that low - # And the band played on. #
This stuff was not just entertaining,
but it was also like a newsreel, musically. Yeah, yeah.
Incredible, eh? Yeah, definitely.
We need more of that stuff.
# Can't you hear me talking to you?
# Ball of confusion
# That's what the world is today, ooh! #
I chose as one of my songs, one of my all-time favourite bands,
who is Blondie.
Mine too. They are such a great band.
I think they skirted so many different genres and lines.
Lots of experimentation.
Lots of embracing of synth pop and definitely disco.
And defining it. Yeah, for sure.
# When I met you in the restaurant
# You could tell I was no debutante
# You asked me what's my pleasure
# A movie or a measure?
# I'll have a cup of tea
# And tell you of my dreamin'
# Dreamin' is free
# Dreamin'
# Dreaming is free
# I don't want to live on charity
# Pleasure's real or is it fantasy?
# Reel to reel is living rarity
# People stop and stare at me
# We just walk on by
# We just keep on dreamin'
# Feet feet, walking a two-mile
# Meet me, meet me at the turnstile. #
Oh, she's so great and an amazing songwriter. Yes.
An incredible voice. Yes.
Clem Burke, it must be said, one of the greatest drummer of all time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I always loved what she said about her hair, which, you know,
blond in the front and then black in the back.
"Why isn't your hair blond in the back?"
I couldn't SEE the back!
Ah, brilliant!
# I sit by and watch the traffic go
# Imagine something of your very own
# Something you can have and hold
# I'd build a road in gold
# Just to have some dreamin'
# Dreamin' is free
# Dreamin'
# Dreamin' is free. #
I'd seen punk starting in New York, really,
with New York Dolls and everything.
But then when it took off in London and they were just starting
to become popular in England, I thought thank God there's
somebody who can actually write songs in the middle of all this.
Yeah.
They'd got the energy and the rebellion of punk,
but just great songs too.
Like Donna Summer, Blondie also worked with Giorgio Moroder... Yeah.
..and kind of, you know,
they luckily managed to kind of go beyond the sort of disco backlash,
but it did, I think, hurt their career a little bit.
Why do you think disco was so violently reacted against
in America then?
I think it was because it was music for gay people and black people.
Yes. What a lot of people don't understand is that disco started in
the living rooms of people who lived in lofts in New York
and they started members-only parties with their friends
because men were not allowed to dance alone in a room without women.
Really? It was illegal... What?! ..in 1969,
and it's one of the reasons why the Stonewall riot happened. Really?
Yeah. I never knew that.
1970 was really sort of the first, kind of seen as the first year
of people getting together to dance together in this way.
It was David Mancuso at The Loft.
It's a shock that it's so recent to me. Yeah, yeah.
Wow! Yeah.
And how easily we could slip back into... Oh, yeah.
.. this stuff if we're not careful.
It's very important. Yeah.
OK, my next choice is going to be Supernature by Cerrone. Oh!
I love this song!
This is the absolute kind of core, for me, of electronic disco.
I really like the content of the lyrics.
See, I think the lyrics are so weird. What is it about?
It's like some kind of strange fantasy world.
It's like an Island of Doctor Moreau, sort of... Yeah.
I kind of like it because there's all these people going,
"We've got all these amazing disco backing tracks.
"We've got to write some lyrics... Yeah.
"..otherwise we're going to end up with Let's All Chant!"
# Once upon a time
# Science opened up the door
# We would feed the hungry fields
# Till they couldn't eat no more
# But the potions that we made
# Touched the creatures down below
# And they grew up in a way
# That we'd never seen before. #
Is he in a kind of nuclear bubble?
I think that's what they're going for.
This isn't Mad Max at all, is it?
ANA LAUGHS
Not even Doctor Who!
# Supernature. #
This is just one of the best disco tracks ever. It is.
# Supernature. #
Actually, the backing track sounds very similar to Giorgio Moroder.
Yeah, yeah.
# Supernature
# How can I explain?
# Things are different today
# Darkness all around
# And nobody makes a sound
# Such a sad affair. #
I think if we're talking disco,
we HAVE to talk the genius of Maurice White.
Genius of Maurice White and... Earth, Wind & Fire.
..Earth, Wind & Fire, yeah.
And The Emotions. And The Emotions with them in this.
You get two for one - Boogie Wonderland.
# Dance
# Boogie wonderland
# Ha, ha, dance
# Boogie wonderland
# Midnight creeps so slowly into hearts of men
# Who need more than they get
# Daylight deals a bad hand to a woman
# Who has laid too many bets
# The mirror stares you in the face
# And says, "Baby, uh, uh, it don't work"
# You say your prayers though you don't care
# You dance and shake the hurt
# Dance
# Boogie wonderland
# Ha, ha, dance
# Boogie wonderland
# Sounds fly through the night
# I chase my vinyl dreams to Boogie Wonderland
# I find romance when I start to dance
# In Boogie Wonderland
# I find romance when I start to dance
# In Boogie Wonderland
# All the
# Love in the world can't be gone
# All the need to be loved can't be wrong. #
This very nearly didn't get recorded.
It was very, very late in the day that Maurice White agreed to
do the song cos he didn't think it was a hit. Yeah.
How wrong was he? Just shows everybody can get things wrong.
One of their biggest. Yeah, absolutely.
# Dance
# Boogie wonderland
# Ha, ha, dance
# Boogie wonderland
# Yeah, yeah, dance
# I find romance when I start to dance
# In Boogie Wonderland
# I find romance when I start to dance
# In Boogie Wonderland
# Dance
# Ooh-ooh-ooh, dance. #
He's got a kind of Brazilian vibe going on. Yeah, it does.
Very, like, carnival. Yeah. A little touch of outer space. Yeah.
It's like a giant Pride event. Yeah. Yeah, it is, really.
# Dance. #
Bill Whitten, the man who made all of these looks,
also put Michael Jackson in the glove.
Yeah. The sparkly glove. Which came from?
Bob Fosse! Yeah. Yeah.
# All the
# Love in the world can't be gone. #
Sylvester - You Make Me Feel Mighty Real. Amazing.
Important for a lot of reasons. Hmm.
Ahead of its time. Ahead of its time.
Not just sonically.
It's very fast.
So it's really like the one track that you drop in a discotheque
where it's a floor-filler.
For sure. It's one of the definitive ones.
But he was out and proud, which was a good thing for the time.
The lyrical content is about being honest about a gay relationship,
which is kind of under the radar for the average listener.
They're just digging the music.
# You make me feel
# Mighty real
# You make me feel
# Mighty real
# When we get home, darlin' and it's nice and dark
# And the music's in me and I'm still real hot
# And you kiss me back and it feels real good
# And I know you love me
# Like you sho-o-o-o-ould
# Oh, you make me feel
# Mighty real
# You make me feel
# Mighty real. #
Sylvester was one of those people who is definitely ahead of his time,
from the future, and I think suffered because of it. Yes, he did.
He was a queen.
He was in a drag troupe called The Cockettes in San Francisco,
trained gospel singer,
and was one of the sort of stand-out stars of The Cockettes
and then met Patrick Cowley and started making music.
Right, right. He was in his 30s when this song came out and so...
...so unabashed.
So unabashed. It's beautiful.
Every gay artist who is out and proud owes a debt to Sylvester.
# I feel real
# You make me feel
# Mighty real
# You make me feel
# Mighty real
# Oh, you make me feel
# Mighty real
# You make me feel
# Mighty real. #
Similar to Blondie is another New York band that experimented
with different genres and loved dance music,
loved bringing in music from other countries and cultures
and that's Talking Heads. Yeah, I loved them.
I love this particular song.
It's weird and good
and showcases Tina Weymouth's bass playing in such a cool way.
It's got soul, it's got... It's brilliant.
..that sort of irreverent art-rock thing that's they've pioneered.
And it's funky. And funky. Listen to that guitar.
# What about the time
# You were rollin' over
# Fall on your face
# You must be having fun
# Walk lightly, think of a time
# You'd best believe this thing is real
# Put away that gun
# This part is simple
# Try to recognise
# What is in you mind
# God help us
# Help us loose our minds
# These slippery people help us understand
# What's the matter with him?
# He's all right How do you know?
# The lord won't mind Don't play no games
# He's all right Love from the bottom to the top
# Turn like a wheel He's all right
# See for yourself The Lord won't mind
# We're gonna move Right now
# Turn like a wheel inside a wheel
# I remember when
# Sittin' in the tub
# Pulled out the plug
# The water was runnin' out
# Cool down
# Stop actin' crazy. #
David Byrne is just one of those people that continually goes beyond.
And reinvents himself all the time, in a similar way, I suppose,
to Bowie, for instance. Hmm.
You know, would do the same thing.
# Backslidin'
# How do you do?
# These slippery people gonna see you through
# What's the matter with him? He's all right
# How do you know? The lord won't mind
# Don't play no games He's all right
# Love from the bottom to the top
# Turn like a wheel He's all right
# See for yourself The Lord won't mind
# We're gonna move Right now
# Turn like a wheel inside a wheel. #
We went to see them supporting The Ramones, can you believe that,
in Manchester 1978? Wow!
And then they invited us on to their tour,
their first headline tour in Britain.
This is with Human League, and we went, "This is fantastic.
"We get to do a half-hour slot before Talking Heads!
"What we going to do?"
And, as is typical for The Human League at the time,
we were so determined to be so far out there and arty,
we said we're going to do the first-ever support gig
where we're not actually on stage.
LAUGHS: Oh, no!
I'm not even joking. Oh, no!
A week before the tour starts,
Talking Heads get wind of it and chuck us off the tour.
Oh, no! Yes. We'd prepared it all and everything.
Oh. I know, but I still love them. Yeah.
# What's the matter with him? He's all right
# How do you know? The lord won't mind
# Don't play no games He's all right
# Love from the bottom to the top
# Turn like a wheel He's all right
# See for yourself The Lord won't mind
# We're gonna move Right now
# Turn like a wheel inside a wheel
# All right
# The lord won't mind
# All right, love from the bottom to the top
# All right
# The lord won't mind
# Right now, turn like a wheel inside a wheel. #
When we're talking disco, there's another White we have to talk about,
not just Maurice White
but, really, the Godfather of Disco, Barry White.
Baz. Bazza.
# Oh, girl, you know
# Like I know
# Uh-huh
# What your lovin', girl
# Has done for me
# Like a Mona Lisa
# Hangin' on a wall
# Uh-huh
# You're a lovely sight
# Lovely sight to see
# Mmm-hmm
# The way you give me your sweet love
# Any place and time
# When you look at me I get weak in my knees
# I'm so thankful that you're mine
# Your sweetness
# Is my weakness, yeah
# Girl, your sweetness
# Is my weakness, yeah, yeah
# Sweetness. #
This is my absolute favourite song from Barry White? Is it?
It's a cover, but it's got that just unmistakable groove
and then those strings are just...heaven!
# They all think
# That I'm a fool
# Uh-huh
# For lovin' you
# For lovin' you this way
# But as sure as I am. #
And I also really love his delivery.
He's soulful but he also... Oh, it is fantastic.
It's very conversational.
There's not really much of a melody to this.
Mm-mm. But it's beautiful, right?
# With the other boys
# Uh-huh
# But I'm the only one round here
# Who's got the real McCoy
# Ohhhh
# Sweetness is my weakness
# Yeah, yeah
# Sweetness is my weakness
# Uh-huh, uh-huh
# Sweetness
# My, my weakness
# Ooh, ooh... #
From the absolute sublime of disco
to the totally ridiculous,
let's talk Boney M.
# She's crazy like a fool
# What about it, Daddy Cool? #
I chose Boney M because
they were a real touchstone
in me understanding why
and how my band, Scissor Sisters, became loved by the British public.
too flamboyant for the mainstream.
And then, I had this moment - we were...
It was one of our first trips over,
doing promo for our record in 2004,
and we were driving through Piccadilly Circus
and West End and I saw,
on a marquee,
"Daddy Cool: The Boney M Musical",
and I thought, "Wait a second..."!
"..Boney M is big enough in this country
"to have a West End musical?!"
Oh, Boney M were absolutely e-nor-mous.
And that made me understand, "oh!"
# She's crazy like a fool
# What about it, Daddy Cool?
# I'm crazy like a fool
# What about it, Daddy Cool?
# Daddy, Daddy Cool
# Daddy, Daddy Cool... #
I can tell they're not American. Yes. Let me just say that.
Yeah, yeah. I can tell that they are not American.
They weren't learning how to dance from James Brown, let's say that.
No, they weren't... Yeah, no. ..doing that, no, no. No.
# She's crazy Oh, yeah, yeah
# Oh, yeah
# What about it, Daddy Cool?
# I'm crazy like a fool
# What about it, Daddy Cool?
# Daddy, Daddy Cool
# Ohhh, see Daddy
# Daddy, Daddy Cool
# Yeah
# Daddy, Daddy Cool... #
He's like a Bez.
You know, kind of like a... Yeah!
He is a little bit like a Bez! He's kind of like...
I can relate.
I'm not really sure what he's meant to be doing but I love it.
Yep. Totally relate.
# She's crazy for you, Daddy
# Oh, she believes in you
# She loves you, Daddy
# Woo!
# Daddy, Daddy
# All right... #
Well, I can't do a playlist with Martyn Ware without choosing
some Heaven 17, come on!
Temptation, what... What are you going to say about Temptation?
This was really our big breakthrough record.
And to this day...
I would argue that there is not an audience
that we could play to that won't get into this.
# That sudden feeling
# Carved by another's hand, oh
# But it's too late to hesitate
# We can't keep on living like this
# Leave no track
# Don't look back
# All I desire Temptation
# Keep climbing higher and higher
# Temptation
# Adorable creatures
# Temptation
# With unacceptable features
# Temptation
# Trouble is coming
# Temptation
# It's just the high cost of loving
# Temptation
# You can take it or leave it
# Temptation
# But you'd better believe it
# You've got to make me an offer
# That cannot be ignored
# So let's head for home now... #
Everybody bouncing, we performed it last week.
25,000 people bouncing.
Yeah. And, literally, we have done it in a prison.
We've done it in an old people's home,
we've done it in a nursery,
we've done it in every demographic,
we've done it in different parts of the world.
And it's the one track, for some reason, that people vibe on.
And it's... It's a mystery.
It's amazing. Yeah.
# Temptation
# Keep climbing higher and higher
# Temptation
# You can take it or leave it
# Temptation
# But you'd better believe it... #
There you are! There I am!
Looking very slim.
Those were the days.
# Step by step
# And day by day
# Every second counts
# I can't break away
# Keep us from temptation
# Lead us not into temptation, ahhh
# Trying to find it
# Temptation
# You've got to get up behind it
# Temptation
# Put your dime in the hot slot
# Temptation... #
We knew it was a hit. Absolutely 100%.
Couldn't manufacture it fast enough. Oh, wow.
It was selling, like, 20,000 a day. Wow, brilliant, God.
It's incredible, isn't it? Yeah.
After literally, what, four years of trying to get a big hit.
# Shakedown Temptation
# Temptation
# Temptation... #
Like I Feel Love,
I think there is another song that sort of
sits at the top of, you know, dance floor classics.
Yeah. And that very beginning...
Do-do... Di-dil-liddle-liddle-doo. ..doom.
OPENING BEAT
This song, very much like I Feel Love,
you put it on and it still sounds fresh. Mm.
It's the kind of song that
everyone emulates. Yeah.
And it was, I think, kind of accidental,
they were working on a song called The Beach, if I'm not mistaken.
Is that right? OK. And going through the presets
of the keyboards and found that sort of opening link,
and that's how Blue Monday came around.
It's nice to see somebody performing live on Top Of The Pops. Yeah.
You can tell it's live because everybody's really focusing
on getting it right. Yeah. They're all looking at the keyboard!
# How does it feel
# To treat me like you do
# When you've laid your hands upon me
# And told me who you are
# I thought I was mistaken
# And I thought I heard your speak
# Tell me how do I feel
# Tell me now how do I feel
# Those who came before me
# Lived through their vocations
# From the past until completion
# We'll turn away no more
# And still I find it so hard
# To say what I need to say
# But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me
# Just how I should feel today
# Ooh... #
This song, even though it's associated with synthpop
and what became house music and dance music,
it's a disco song.
It's a disco song but it's also got some rock elements in it,
like the kind of Duane Eddy-ish type guitar. Yeah, yeah!
Yeah. And so it's kind of a unique hybrid, really.
I personally think what makes it really sing
is Hooky's bass.
It puts you on to another level,
otherwise it would have been fairly generic, actually.
Yeah, yeah. It gives it that warmth.
# I see a ship in the harbour
# I can and shall obey
# But if it wasn't for your misfortune
# I'd be a heavenly person today
# And I thought I was mistaken
# I thought I heard you speak
# Tell me how should I feel
# Tell me now how should I feel
# Now I stand here waiting... #
We can't sit together and do this without talking about,
and featuring, one of the greatest female artists of all time,
one of the greatest artists of rock and roll history,
who I think you are instrumental
in her comeback - Tina Turner.
Oh, thank you, that's very kind. Well, you are!
Well...yeah, I pretty much was.
I mean, it was the biggest selling 12 inch record in history. Wow!
When Let's Stay Together came out.
And I remember Tina coming into the studio and going,
"Where's the band?"
Amazing.
And pointing at the giant fridge
that was the Fairlight computer,
going, "It's in there."
And she went, "wo-o-ow!"
One of her songs, sort of from this era,
that I often make the sort of final song of a set... Yeah.
..particularly if I'm playing in a gay bar, or a gay nightclub,
put on Better Be Good To Me.
# A prisoner of your love
# Entangled in your web
# Hot whispers in the night
# I'm captured by your spell
# Captured
# Oh, yes, I'm touched by this show of emotion
# Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion?
# Should I?
# Oh, you better be good to me
# That's how it's gotta be now
# Cos I don't have no use For what you loosely call the truth
# And you better be good to me
# I think it's also right
# That we don't need to fight
# We stand face to face
# And you present your case
# Yes, I know You keep telling me that you love me
# And I really do want to believe
# But did you think I'd just accept you
# In blind faith?
# Oh, sure, babe, Anything to please you
# But you better be good to me
# That's how it's gotta be now
# Cos I don't have the time
# For your over-loaded lines
# And you better be good to me... #
I love everything about this, I love her look,
the hair at that time, the way she moves,
and there's something, I think, really important
that was happening at this time that she was doing,
which was showing and exemplifying that life isn't over at 40.
Yeah, precisely.
And that you can be a killer performer,
a sexy woman,
full of power and be in your 40s,
doin' that thing.
Her body language is completely...
It's not sexual dominance, it's sexual confidence.
Absolutely. That's what it is.
She knows she's hot. Yeah.
She's talented, she's hot.
And she actually looks like she's enjoying it.
# What you call the truth And I don't have the time... #
This is someone who absolutely, completely understands their power.
Yes. Well said.
# Be good to me
# Be good... #
My mate Vince... Oh. Vince Clarke. Mm-hmm.
I'm pretty sure I could class him in the genius category.
I would say so. One thing he said to me -
this has stuck with me since then, I always tell my students this -
he said, "I am my own biggest fan."
Oh! A-ha-ha! He said, "I think everything I do is fantastic.
"I can't understand why it doesn't all go to number one."
And I think that kind of innate
but quiet confidence is a very attractive thing.
# I try to discover
# A little something to make me sweeter
# Oh baby refrain
# From breaking my heart
# I'm so in love with you
# I'll be forever blue
# That you gimme no reason Why you're making me work so hard
# That you gimme no That you gimme no
# Soul
# I hear you calling
# Oh baby please
# Give a little respect
# To me
# And if I should falter
# Would you open you arms out to me
# We can make love not war
# And live at peace with our hearts
# I'm so in love with you
# I'll be forever blue
# What religion or reason
# Could drive a man to forsake his lover
# Don't you tell me no Don't you tell me no
# Soul
# I hear you calling
# Oh baby please
# Give a little respect
# To me
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I'm so in love with you... #
They have an enviable track record - they have so many hits,
so many classic songs,
and Andy, very similar to Donna Summer... Yeah.
..has the voice of an angel. Oh, he really does.
He sounds like he's descending from a cloud on high. Yes, yes.
And do you know how Andy got the job?
Through an ad in the NME? Yeah, that's right! Yes!
He just put an ad in the NME. Brilliant.
And actually I think he got the job because he sounded a bit like
Alison Moyet. Oh! OK, sure, yeah, yeah. If you think about it!
# To me
# Soul
# I hear you calling
# Oh baby please
# Give a little respect
# To me... #
Cameo. They kind of started out as a funk group, really.
Yeah, funk and disco. Funk and disco.
And for lovers of codpieces, there is no better, is there?
There's no, there's no... Yeah. It's this and Shakespeare.
That's, like, it. That's, that's basically it.
# Your pretty ladies around the world
# Got a weird thing to show you
# So tell all the boys and girls
# Tell your brother, your sister and your mamma too
# Cos we're about to go down
# And you know just what to do
# Wave your hands in the air like you don't care
# Glide by the people as they start to look and stare
# Do your dance, do your dance
# Do your dance quick mamma
# Come on baby tell me what's the word
# Word up
# Everybody say
# When you hear the call you've got to get it under way
# Word up
# It's the code word
# No matter where you say it you know that you'll be heard
# Now all you sucker DJs who think you're fly
# There's got to be a reason and we know the reason why
# You try to put on those airs and act real cool
# But you got to realise that you're acting like fools
# If there's music we can use it
# You're free to dance
# We don't have the time for psychological romance
# No romance, no romance
# No romance for me mamma
# Come on baby tell me what's the word
# Word up... #
This is one of the funkiest songs of all time, I think. Yeah. I think so.
And the choreography...
You can kind of see the sort of thread
between The Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire and this.
Which is, like, kind of stripped down,
but still r-r-r-eally out there.
Oh! Oh, yes! I like this choreography a lot! I do. Yes!
# Dial L for love... #
MARTYN LAUGHS: That is some good stuff.
# Ahhhh
# Hey
W...O-R-D...up.
Word up.
# W-O-R-D
# Up!
# W-O-R-D
# Up... #
Grace Jones. One of the greatest women of all time,
someone who I think it's safe to say is a goddess. Yeah.
I just love...
Slave To The Rhythm is one of my favourite tracks. Amazing.
When it first came out, as a producer -
and I'd just had some big successes -
it made me want to give up.
I said, "I am never going to make a record that sounds as good as this."
Wow.
# Work all day
# As men who know
# The wheels must turn
# to keep the flow
# You build on up
# Don't break the chain
# Sparks will fly
# When the whistle blows
# Never stop the action
# You better keep it up, keep it up
# I said
# Never stop the action
# You better keep it up, keep it up
# Work to the rhythm
# Live to the rhythm
# Love to the rhythm.
# Slave to the rhythm... #
She's someone who has remained completely true to herself.
Totally, totally unique.
There is not someone who I think even touches her.
People have tried but they can't...
They can never be as cool as Grace - ever.
Well, I suppose, Lady Gaga is about as close as you're going to get.
But she's not cool like Grace is. No, that's true.
# The fire burns
# Hearts beat strong
# Sing out loud
# The chain gang song... #
She plays with that same sort of, like, scary quality
but she's so totally alluring,
and seems like it all comes from her -
it's not curated, it's not... No.
.."let me get a stylist to do this"... Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It is 100% self-sourced,
it starts and ends with her.
# Work to the rhythm
# We live to the rhythm
# Love to the rhythm
# Slave to the rhythm
# Breathe
# To the rhythm... #
And this was a few years ago, she's in her 60s performing.
Looking amazing.
Still every ounce and inch
the artist she ever was.
Still...showing the children how it's done.
# Hey Don't you cry... #
She is the artist, the number one artist whose closet
I'd love to just... Yeah, yeah. ..raid. Her and Sylvester.
Yeah, but she could probably go into some kind of haberdashery store
and just make something that looked amazing, you know.
She could go into IKEA and put some furniture on her head! Yeah!
# We work to the rhythm
# We love to the rhythm
# Slave to the rhythm
# Love
# To the rhythm
# And now, ladies and gentlemen
# Here's...
# Grace
# To the rhythm
# To the rhythm. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
We can't leave this subject without referring to the importance
of the Jacksons. Oh, yes.
And Michael Jackson. Absolutely.
The Jacksons were really, really
instrumental in...being a
musical phenomenon for young black people. Yeah, yeah.
And representing young black people seeing themselves on TV -
they had a variety show. Yeah. Cartoons! A cartoon, that's right.
And in 1979, they released Blame It On The Boogie.
# My baby's always dancin'
# And it wouldn't be a bad thing
# But I don't get no lovin'
# And that's no lie
# We spent the night in Frisco
# At every kind of disco
# From that night I kissed our love goodbye
# Don't blame it on the sunshine
# Don't blame it on the moonlight
# Don't blame it on the good times
# Blame it on the boogie
# Don't blame it on sunshine
# Don't blame it on moonlight
# Don't blame it on the good times
# Blame it on the boogie
# This magic music grooves me
# That dirty rhythm moves me
# The devil's gotten to me through this dance
# I'm full of funky fever
# A fire burns inside me
# Boogie's got me in a super trance
# Don't blame it on the sunshine
# Don't blame it on the moonlight
# Don't blame it on the good times
# Blame it on the boogie
# Sunshine
# Moonlight
# Good times
# Blame it on the boogie
# Woo!
# I just can't, I just can't
# I just can't control my feet
# I just can't, I just can't
# I just can't control my feet
# I just can't, I just can't
# I just can't control my feet
# I just can't, I just can't
# I just can't control my feet
# Sunshine
# Don't blame it on the moonlight
# Don't blame it on the good times
# Blame it on the boogie... #
The way he moved was just so compelling,
you can't take your eyes off of him.
He's just... From five years old. Yeah. Obviously.
And think about how long they've been doing this stuff. Yeah, yeah.
# Woo!
# Put your hands together
# Put them up high, put them up high
# Yeah
# So they can see me
AUDIENCE CLAPPING ALONG
# You know what?
# I just can't control my feet
# My feet, they just keep on moving
# Woo!
# I just can't control my feet
# My feet, they just keep moving
GIRLS SCREAMING
# Keep on moving
# Woo!
# I just can't control my feet
# My feet, they just keep moving... #
One of the greatest live performers of all time.
Absolutely.
And you can see the beginnings of it, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
Of that fanaticism around Michael.
I mean, you see him performing years later and people are...
..losing their minds! Yeah, yeah.
Crying, fainting! That's power.
Yeah, he's a proper star. That's power.
Yeah, the birth of a hyperstar. Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
GIRLS SCREAMING
CHEERING
Well, this was fun! And I think we got some great artists in tonight.
Yeah, not enough, though.
There's so many other great artists, but we can't play them all.
No, no. We don't have enough time. No.
But, anyway, we should... We're on a mission to bring this stuff back.
And new artists should be doing stuff like this, too. Definitely.
More and more of them. We're going to do it, right?
We're going to do it. OK. All right. Well done! Yes?
Don't leave me hanging!
MUSIC: Disco Inferno by The Trammps