The Glitter Band ~ Makes You Blind 1975 Funky Purrfection Version

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"Makes You Blind" is an audaciously named high energy club tune that came from Gary Glitter's backing band, known as the Glitter Band. They were so tight, that when Gary Glitter's recording of "Rock & Roll" hit big in the US, it was the instrumental Part II that became the radio hit and peaked at #7 in 1972.

The members are John Springate (guitar, vocals), Gerry Shephard (bass), Peter Phipps (Drums), John Rossall (trombone) and Harvey Ellison (saxophone). Their work secured four hit UK singles by Glitter in 1972 & 1973. After their work with Glitter, they hit UK #4 with "Angel Face" in 1974, then "Just For You", #10, "Let's Get Together Again" #8, and their biggest UK hit "Goodbye My Love" peaked at #2 UK. "Makes You Blind" was the name of the LP from 1975 that spawned the #4 Disco hit in August of 1976. They continued to release new recordings to declining sales and finally The Glitter Band splintered in 1977, with ex members working on new projects.

Shephard and Phipps reformed the Glitter Band in 1980 and released a few LPs. Shephard passed away in 2003 and Leonard retired which left Phipps and Rossall free to pursue their own rock and roll dreams away from the Glitter. Phipps then reconnected with Springate, reformed the band and they still perform. In 2010 the band had a triumphant return to the stage with special guests Adam Ant and Angela Bowie. The most recent new recording by any of the members was Rossall's 2013 "White Christmas" done in the style of the glam rock the Glitter Band helped to establish.

After reading "The Disco Files" 1973-78 by Vince Aletti in 2016, I was obsessed remixing some forgotten underground disco like this one, a stridently funky tune that rocks along at a-boot (that's about for the Americans) 120 beats a minute. There is one part on the master where the brass section plays a riff that has some spotty bass drumming, like they mixed two takes together and missed lining the beats up, so I had to recreate it with other parts of the same song. This file is a real frankenstein of cuts and pastes.

Vince Aletti turned me onto this one from his July 17, 1976 report on disco club play to Record World, a reputable company that provided a popularity chart listing in competition with Billboard. He made a weekly listing of what was the hottest tunes being played in clubs from the beginning of disco in November 1974, to his last column December 16, 1978 when Brian Chin took over. Vince finally put a book out that details the musical history of disco and it was a fascinating read for me...the wealth of music referrred to here has put me in touch with club favorites from back in da day like Brenda & The Tabulations "A Little Bit Of Love" and this rockin' little gem.
Category
Funky