Discos was another phase.
Chitlin Circuit really thrived through the middle of the mid-70s,
and then disco kind of took over and created all kind of opportunities
for bands, particularly R&B bands who were playing disco music.
It enabled us to go to clubs in areas we had never played before.
We got a gig at a disco in Brooklyn, New York, in a tough area.
And it was really something to be on the stage and performing in those clubs.
And I remember at this club, at that time,
there was a very popular song called "I'll Always Love My Mom,"
by The Intruders.
And it was a big smash, disco smash.
And I remember the club owner, stocky guy with a stogie in his--
puffing on a stogie, would come down to our dressing room in between sets.
And he'd say, "Yeah, you got to play that Mama song.
Play that Mama song, they love that Mama song."
So we had to do "I'll Always Love My Mama," wow, about four or five times
at that club.
And there was another club in Long Island called The Superstar Club
that a lot of the major acts, my idols, the OJs, big acts like The Spinners
were playing at.
And while we were at the club in Brooklyn,
we heard about The Superstar Club and that these acts were playing there.
So I wanted to go see it, so we drove far out on Long Island.
And I was surprised to see that the club was so small.
But they had pictures of all of these great acts that
would come to those clubs.
It just created quite a circuit.
It kind of elevated people from the Chitlin Circuit
into discos, which were big, big, places to play at that time,
and a great source of revenue for artists.
There was also a big club in New York at that time called The Cheetah.
And this was in the early-70s to mid-70s.
It was on 52nd Street, probably between 9th and 10th,
but it was a wonderful, wonderful nightclub, two levels,
and it was always packed.
And I remember I went one night, and they had like four or five acts
on the bill, top acts.
I mean, I saw Kool & The Gang which was a huge act at that time,
the Chi-Lites who had big records.
And they also had a act that just had out their first record,
"Walking in the Rain With the One I Love."
It was a group called Love Unlimited, three female singers.
And in the background, playing for them, was, I found out later,
their producer, who was a guy named Barry White.
Before he became a big solo star, he was producing, writing, and producing
for the group Love Unlimited.
And he married the lead singer of that group.
And it was just fascinating seeing them.
There was also a woman named Suzanne de Passe who was really--
went on to become and executive at Motown who discovered the Jackson 5.
But Berry Gordy hired her out of managing
The Cheetah when she was a very young lady in her teens or in her early 20s.
And she went on to discover bands like the Commodores as well.
But she got to cut her teeth, so to speak, by working at the Cheetah Club.
It was a wonderful, wonderful time, as I said before.
You go into the club at 11 o'clock at night,
and you wouldn't come out until 8:00 o'clock,
and you didn't even know it was 8 o'clock.
They just told you to get out, and you go out and the sun was shining.
But literally, you would dance all night.
That was really the forerunner of EDM.
And it's amazing to see that that music, that sound, still stands up today.