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Record Mirror Disco Charts: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mike Atkinson
Greg Wilson, Mike Atkinson and a special guest discuss a randomly selected Record Mirror Disco Top 20, from any week between 1975 and 1989. These charts were compiled by dancefloor reaction reports, sent in by DJs from across the UK. We'll also look at how they were reviewed at the time by Record Mirror's legendary James Hamilton, whose columns from this period have been published in book form as James Hamilton’s Disco Pages 1975-1982 and James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989. Each episode comes <a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/miketd/playlists/record-mirror-
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- 1 weeks ago2h 22m
15th August 1987, with Trevor Fung
A regular visitor to Ibiza since 1976, by August 1987 Trevor Fung was DJ-ing on the island, supplying new records to Alfredo at Amnesia, and bringing his British DJ friends over to experience the sea change that was taking place. At the same time he was leading a split existence, witnessing the birth of the Balearic movement while building on his membership of the "funk mafia" with soul/funk/hip hop/rare groove nights back in London.This makes Trevor an ideal guide for our look at Record Mirror's final so-called "Disco" chart (it was renamed the following week), where the raw energy of hip hop and house rubbed up against the sophistication of established soul stars, rare groove samples were the order of the day, and a future hit factory was still rocking more discerning dancefloors.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening:* other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Mike Atkinson also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Sep 29, 20262h 16m
Early Chicago House Classics, with Marshall Jefferson
For this special episode, Chicago house pioneer Marshall Jefferson joins co-hosts Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson, as we take a look through a list of eighteen early Chicago house classics: compiled and supplied to James Hamilton by Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence, and published in Record Mirror in October 1986."You may be amazed", James said at the time, as these tunes - played by Frankie Knuckles at the Warehouse and the Power Plant, and by Ron Hardy at the Muzic Box - belong to the period directly before Chicago acts started making their own music, and represent a canon that was far removed from UK club culture during the same timespan.As the episode unfolds, we try to determine what made these tunes "house" music, before the genre was formally defined and codified; we discover that many of them were in fact created by the same pool of people, particularly from the Philadelphia International and Salsoul labels; we discuss the impact that house music's commercial UK breakthrough in 1986 had on its founding fathers; and we learn more about some of Marshall's own musical inspirations, which lay far beyond the world of dance music.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening:* other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Mike Atkinson also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 31, 20262h 27m
16th December 1989, with Terry Farley
For the final Club Chart of 1989, we are joined by Terry Farley: DJ, remixer and producer, whose career was in the ascendant just as James Hamilton was on the verge of ceding full control at Record Mirror. Hip house was waning, Italian house was the new big thing, piano riffs were everywhere, and while some acid house pioneers were slowing their BPMs right down, others were emerging from the warehouse rave scene with a wholly different agenda.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening: * other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Record Mirror Disco Charts mugs and T-shirts are available from our merchandise store.Mike Atkinson also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Jul 30, 20262h 20m
23rd November 1985, with Luke Una
By late 1985, Luke Una had started to immerse himself in dance music and club culture – initially in his native Sheffield, just ahead of a move to Manchester – and so many of the tunes in this chart served to lay the foundations for his pioneering and influential DJ career. At the end of a year largely dominated by glossy, polished, but still fairly orthodox soul/funk productions (some of which appear here), new shoots were emerging that would grow into street soul, garage and house, while hip hop was on the brink of a commercial rebirth, and Washington DC go go influences were seeping into other areas. Social commentary “message songs” were popular with some, while others were seeking out a more elemental, stripped-down sound, via fully instrumental tracks and dub remixes.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening: * other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Record Mirror Disco Charts mugs and T-shirts are available from our merchandise store.Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Jun 29, 20262h 21m
11th February 1984, with Kerri Chandler
As the son of a New Jersey DJ, Kerri Chandler started mixing records in public in his early teens, and so many of the tunes in this chart – published when he was 14 years old – are part of the soundtrack of his formative years. Then again, as we discover, there was often a disparity between the UK and the USA in terms of which tunes became successful: a high-charting track on the Record Mirror chart was sometimes only a minor entry on the Billboard chart, and some of the biggest tunes in New York were ignored by British DJs. In this chart, more traditional post-disco soul/funk material was being challenged by the continuing wave of electro-funk releases, with breakdancing becoming so popular that even our future king tried joining in.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening: * other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Record Mirror Disco Charts mugs and T-shirts are available from our merchandise store.Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- May 29, 20261h 45m
9th May 1987, with Mark Moore
A year before his first single "Theme From S-Express" topped the UK charts, Mark Moore was DJ-ing at Philip Sallon's Mud Club, and at Pyramid (formerly Asylum), Heaven's midweek alternative gay night. He joins Greg Wilson and Mike Atkinson to take a look at a Record Mirror Disco Top 20 from May 1987: a time where London was still "rap city", while the rest of the country was becoming a "house nation". You can see both factions in this chart, as old school hip hop mingles with Chicago jack tracks, and "rare groove" funk rubs shoulders with modern funk.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening: * other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Record Mirror Disco Charts mugs and T-shirts are available from our merchandise store.Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Apr 30, 20262h 21m
18th March 1989, with Simon Dunmore
Before co-founding Defected Records in 1999 and Glitterbox in 2014, Simon Dunmore was working behind the counter at Rayners Lane’s Record & Disco Centre in 1989, where James Hamilton was one of his regular weekly customers. In this Club Chart Top 20 from March 1989, you'll hear about some of the tunes that opened Simon's ears to soulful garage house, which was in the ascendancy in the aftermath of 1988's acid house explosion. Hip house was also exploding around this time, while hip hop and street soul tunes were also charting. Simon was in the thick of it all, receiving all the hot new imports and serving DJs and dance music specialists alike, so he is able to speak with authority on the records, and with passion for the music.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.NEW: Record Mirror Disco Charts Merchandise StoreFurther listening: * other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Mar 31, 20262h 6m
8th January 1983, with Colin Curtis
Colin Curtis joins Greg WIlson and Mike Atkinson for a countdown of the first Disco Top 20 of 1983: a time when electro-funk was in the ascendant, and even long-established soul/funk acts were incorporating electronic elements. Scratching was this month's new thing; jazz-funk was on the wane, club hits weren't always guaranteed pop crossover hits, a superstar's follow-up was briefly struggling, and a couple of formative underground classics from the 1970s were being repurposed to new audiences. In the vanguard as ever, as he had been since starting his career in 1967, Colin was breaking new tunes at places like Manchester Ritz, Birmingham Powerhouse and Nottingham Rock Citty, and embracing the changes as eagerly as he had done at Blackpool Mecca with Ian Levine, before pivoting to jazz dance, electro and eventually early Chicago house. Always a tastemaker and never a follower, he casts an expert eye on a chart that reflects an ever-changing scene, at a particularly transitional time.To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.Further listening: other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)Further reading:* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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About Record Mirror Disco Charts
Greg Wilson, Mike Atkinson and a special guest discuss a randomly selected Record Mirror Disco Top 20, from any week between 1975 and 1989. These charts were compiled by dancefloor reaction reports, sent in by DJs from across the UK. We'll also look at how they were reviewed at the time by Record Mirror's legendary James Hamilton, whose columns from this period have been published in book form as James Hamilton’s Disco Pages 1975-1982 and James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989. Each episode comes <a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/miketd/playlists/record-mirror-
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