Is it me or did Motown not release a great deal of disco tracks back in the day? Does anyone know why?

I think the disco phenomenon caught Motown by surprise.But they did release a few of the biggest disco hits of the era:

"Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston
"Heaven Must Have Sent You" by Bonnie Pointer
"The Boss" by Diana Ross
"Love Hangover" by Diana Ross

The 1978 disco movie 'Thank God It's Friday' is actually a Motown/Casablanca joint effort.

Motown had no idea disco became this phenomenon, lol

After Donna Summer broke through, Motown begged Diana and Marvin to do disco songs.

But yeah Motown did produce some of disco's biggest hits.

Bonnie Pointer of the Pointer Sisters?

scriptgirl said:

Yep.

scriptgirl said:

She recorded two Motown cover songs---"Heaven Must Have Sent You" and "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch (I Can't Help Myself)"---in a disco style.These songs are more disco than anything else on the label at that time.

But the Pointer Sisters weren't on Motown, right?

scriptgirl said:

Yeah in 1990, lol

Bonnie left the group in 1978 and signed to Motown as a solo act.

Bonnie left the group in 1978 and signed to Motown as a solo act.

And also TaTa Vega's "Just Keep Thinking About You".

My favorite on her album is "Ah Shoot" which is more of a funk tune.

SoulAlive said:

What about High Inergy? Wasn't there first album release at the tail-end of the disco era?

SoulAlive said:

Not to mention Marvin's "Got To Give It Up",,,a song he hated to sing

TonyVanDam said:

Oh yeah,I forgot about them.By 1979,they were definitely doing disco.

MOTOWN disco classic of the day: "Heaven Must Have Sent You" by Bonnie Pointer (1979)

Motown was often clumsy when it came to disco.A perfect example is the 1978 Diana Ross track "Lovin',Livin'Givin" which appeared on the 'Thank God It's Friday' movie soundtrack.This song is a poor imitation of the superior tracks that Donna Summer and her producers (Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte) were doing at the time.

Motown did have some excellent disco cuts, but the disco era is when Motown started slipping as Berry Gordy was more interested in movies than music. He wasn't really paying attention, and their promotions were not always on point.

The Miracles, Dynamic Superiors, Jermaine Jackson, Carl Bean, Tata Vega, Marvin Gaye, Bottom and Company, Finished Touch, Flight, Switch, J5, Diana, Teena Marie, Rick James, Dazz Band, and others all recorded disco.

There was a 2CD set called Motown Disco that I think is out of print now.

SoulAlive said:

Yeah her version of "What You Gave Me" wasn't so cool either, it was like they were trying to find something that stuck for Diana. It wasn't until "The Boss" and "Diana" that she found her footing in disco/dance music.

Timmy84 said:

Yeah,Motown didn't know how to promote and market Diana as a "disco diva".She had a massive disco hit in 1976,"Love Hangover",but they didn't know how to build upon that success.After that song,they should have paired her up with a producer like Freddie Perren,who was churning out one disco classic after another.Or Van McCoy would have been an ideal producer for her.It wasn't until 1979 that Diana finally had another excellent disco hit,"The Boss" and from what I understand,she chose to work with Ashford and Simpson against Motown's wishes.Her next album,produced by Chic,really took it to another level.Ironically,with that album,she was enjoying major disco success at the same time that Donna Summer's popularity was dwindling ('Diana' was a much bigger success than Donna's 1980 album 'The Wanderer').

FunkyGraf said:

And in 1979,at the height of the disco era,they also released this vinyl 12" box set:

Timmy84 said:

Interestingly,many people think that Diana's song "Love Hangover" was directly inspired by Donna's "Love To Love You Baby",which was a big hit a few months earlier.But in late 1976,Donna came out with "Spring Affair",a song that some people think sounds similiar to "Love Hangover" (compare the basslines),lol.

As for Marvin...he attempted a disco album,'Love Man',in 1979 but it was shelved.

Amazingly,Stevie Wonder never jumped on the disco bandwagon.

SoulAlive said:

you mean THANKFULLY!

What about the Disc-O-Tech record series?

They did a lot of earlier disco cuts too, what about

Dancing Machine (Jackson 5 - 1974)
Keep on Trucking (Eddie Kendricks 1973) great proto disco
Boogie Down (Eddie Kendricks 1974)
I want you (Marvin Gaye 1976) has a disco feel
Got to give it up part 1 and 2 (Marvin Gaye 1977) about as disco as he got
You can't turn me off in the middle of turning me on (High Inergy 1977)
Movin Violation - (Jackson 5 1975)

And yes the Thelma Houston joint - Don't leave me this way, was a colossal hit in 1976/77.