June is only a little over halfway done, which means it’s still pride month! And with pride comes a lot of dance music, though why wouldn’t it? The amount of queer history embedded in the development of disco, house, and techno has made countless members of the LGBT community into dance music legends. This includes gay performers like the Pet Shop Boys and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, influential producers like Larry Levan and Arthur Russell, and straight but strong allies like Madonna and Donna Summer. All of them, in one form or another, have songs on this playlist.
In a sense, this is a soundtrack that takes you through a chronologically ordered musical history lesson of 70s dancefloor diva disco, cult classic 80s Hi-NRG, and early 90s house tunes. It ranges from songs your middle-aged mother will belt out while doing the dishes or obscure euro-disco that no one else but me knows but I want to force in somewhere. (It’s all great, trust me.) With nu-disco such a prominent sound in 2020s pop music, it’s important to honor the marginalized community and queer icons that created the genre. All 35 of the songs in this decade-spanning playlist are still endlessly joyful and worth checking out.
It’s the start of pride month, and there’s only one form of music most synonymous with the queer experience: disco! The genre’s resurgence in popularity has only been growing in recent years, likely helped by pride’s more mainstream acceptance (well, by form of rainbow capitalism or not) and the fact that so many of those original disco hits are just that good.
When making dance music inspired by the golden ages of disco and house music, it’s important to acknowledge the genre’s origins to show you’re respectful of its history and creators. This is something Amber Riley and Micah McLaurin hit the mark perfectly on in their new cover of “MacArthur Park”, originally by disco goddess Donna Summer in 1978.
…well, okay, technically not originally. It was first performed in a more baroque style by Richard Harris and written by Jimmy Webb in 1968, then covered by Summer ten years later on her Live and More album.
Their version is obviously indebted to Summer’s cover by its disco flavorings, but it also captures the melodrama of Harris’ original by way of the theatricality of Riley’s voice. If you don’t know, Amber Riley (of Glee and several screen/stage musical productions, including Dreamgirls) is a monstrously talented performer, and I went into the single expecting a quality performance. Yet she goes full broadway on the track and sings her heart out, creating a dramatic buildup to when the song transitions from a modest but soulful rendition of heartbreak into a breathtaking blast of disco excess.
If the opening captures the icy cabaret of Harris’ original, the rest of the song recreates the loose and free-spirited energy that the best of Donna Summer’s singles had. Micah McLaurin’s mixture of dance-pop and orchestral music (by way of members of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) is the perfect complement to Riley’s vocals. McLaurin provides a dreamy piano solo in the second half, and the other musicians provide a sweeping string and horn section and a thumping four-on-the-floor disco beat that never lets up.
It works really well as a great way to kick off pride month, successfully honoring queer history by way of a killer dance party. Amber Riley and Micah McLaurin’s cover is available now, in both a 3-minute radio edit and a 6-minute full version.
