Great CD!

In the late 1970s, Boz Scaggs, a former member of the Steve Miller Band (which I also like) released this solo album which remains one of my favorite CDs from that era. It was called Silk Degrees and it’s just been re-released this week with some live bonus tracks. For some bizarre reason critics called it a disco album, even though it was no such thing. But then, critics then as now were clueless.

They had a real hate on for disco. It, like hip-hop, had over taken rock at the time and some people thought it was a threat. You saw a lot of artists from the Rolling Stones to Paul McCartney cut disco tracks. Hard to believe it was so big, but for awhile it was. Personally, I enjoy disco. But this is not a disco album. I was about 19 when it came out and listened to it a lot. I still have the vinyl version and I plan to get the CD.

It’s a classic and very enjoyable. Scaggs is kind of a blue-eyed soul singer, but he has his own style which makes him unique. There were a ton of hits that came off this one CD. Lido Shuffle, Lowdown, Georgia, and more. 

I think I played that album so much that I wore the vinyl out. I actually still have the original. (God, did I just date myself or what?)

Posted by joy  on  03/26  at  05:25 AM

C...D?  What is this “CD” you refer to?

Posted by  on  03/26  at  06:38 AM

It’s sort of funny how pervasive the disco trend became.  Bands you would never believe put out disco albums or at least singles, including ELP, Judas Priest, and ZZ Top.  Strange times, they were....

Posted by  on  03/26  at  12:25 PM

I think they were all trying to cash in. But I’ll bet some of them liked it. I’m sure Mark Halprin of Judas Priest spent some time in discos.

Posted by  on  03/26  at  01:23 PM

Rob Halford.  But, yeah, I bet.  It’s so funny in retrospect--how could the metalheads have not known?  I mean, he dressed just like the biker from the Village People.  But somehow it escaped notice.
Then again, I had no idea Freddy Mercury was gay for about a decade after I first started listening to Queen.  You’d think the name of the band would have been a slight tipoff, but noooo....

Posted by  on  03/26  at  04:02 PM

Mercury was the only gay member of that band. I believe they were named after Liz 2.

Hell, Elton John didn’t know he was gay until he was middle aged. Or he was in denial.

Posted by  on  03/26  at  04:26 PM

Do you still have a turntable to play that album on, Joy?

Posted by  on  03/26  at  05:33 PM

Hey Hud, always wanted to hear Taylor Hicks cover a Boz number. Lowdown was my favorite from that album.

Posted by  on  03/26  at  09:49 PM

Yeah, I wanted him to sing Boz Scaggs “Georgia”

Posted by  on  03/26  at  11:06 PM

Bannod, sadly, I don’t. One thing I would love to get is a turntable to digitize my vinyl collection, including some fabulous 78s from the 20s (which I can still play on an ancient Victrola.)

Posted by joy  on  03/27  at  09:19 AM

I never really thought of “Silk Degrees” as a “disco” album; not when you compared it to the recordings Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, and KC and the Sunshine Band were doing at the same time.  I always thought of it as R&B;, with “contemporary” arrangements.  For the most part, I never could stand much disco—too much of it sounded way too contrived, too sound-alike in its structure, and, overall, rather boring—to me, at least.

Posted by  on  03/27  at  10:21 AM

That’s the way I feel about reggae. It all sounds the same to me. Even though there are some reggae songs I like.

Disco, for me, it’s just fun music. And it’s pretty diverse, actually, if you listen to it.

More, More, More by Andrea True
Freak Out by Chic
I’m Your Boogieman by KC and the Sunshine Band
Disco Lady by Jonnie Tyler
Funky Town by Lipps Inc
Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind and Fire
I’m In Love by Donna Summer

They all sound pretty different to me. Most disco has what they called a “click track” which is a repetitive beat that was put in at the studio. Most disco tracks have that, which is probably what you mean by they sound alike. But the better ones sound very different. I think that’s true of anything.

Posted by  on  03/27  at  11:15 AM

Hey Joy - check THIS out!

It’s a USB turntable!

Posted by Dave Marron  on  03/29  at  01:18 AM
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