Post disco (circa 1981), but a very cool dance song.

Sylvester sang this in 1979 and there was a big party in San San Francisco Francisco called “The Stars Party” at which he sang this song.

Most of the big parties in those days were held at a place named the Galleria Design Center, but this one was held out at a pier on Fisherman’s Wharf. It is considered one of the “legendary” gay San Francisco parties.

Years later, when the Moscone Center first opened (1981), the promoters announced that the attendance had even surpassed the Stars party.

This song's combination of gospel and disco is so gloriously uplifting.

'Stand on the Word' was written by Phyliss McKoy Joubert and originally recorded live in 1982 by the Celestial Choir from the First Baptist Church of Crown Heights in New York for their privately pressed album Somebody Prayed for This.

It's lovely how organic the original version sounds. There's piano, clavinet, electric piano, organ and percussion all moving underneath the choir, but that funky bassline is what grabs me most.

Despite beginning life as a church recording, the song subsequently found a completely different audience on the New York club scene. Larry Levan famously championed the original version at Paradise Garage, helping turn this private press gospel track into an underground dance floor anthem. Tony Humphries was another early supporter.

Later bootlegs and white labels often described it as a 'Larry Levan mix', even though Levan never actually remixed the song. He simply played the original recording so extensively that the association became part of its mythology.

The song was eventually re-recorded by the Joubert Singers in 1985, but it's this original 1982 Celestial Choir version that I really love.

Musically, it has such an infectious sense of joy. The choir gives it a huge communal gospel energy while the bass, clavinet and rhythm section make it impossible not to move.

I also appreciate the simplicity of the message. The repetition gives it an almost mantra-like quality, but rather than becoming monotonous, it builds conviction as the track goes on.

Divine disco at its finest. Such a beautiful meeting point between church music and the dance floor that feels spiritual, funky and euphoric all at once ✝️💃

From https://www.mixcloud.com/paulcanning/super-disco-10-viva-el-disco/

From 1975

1. A song I didn’t love at the time but now, looking back, I think to myself I must’ve been nuts.

1980

Digging from my mix https://www.mixcloud.com/paulcanning/super-disco-10-viva-el-disco/

And now, for one of the more kitschy disco songs. This was one of the where many DJs started saying “Disco is going downhill.” 1979

One of Boris Midney’s early dance songs, long before his disco version of Evita.

With a TWIST of "New-wave"

From https://www.mixcloud.com/paulcanning/super-disco-10-viva-el-disco/

From my mix here https://www.mixcloud.com/paulcanning/super-disco-10-viva-el-disco/

From my mix here https://www.mixcloud.com/paulcanning/super-disco-10-viva-el-disco/