Gary's Gang
Encyclopedia
Gary's Gang was an American
funk
/soul
/R&B
/disco
group
who just missed having a U.S.
Top 40 hit
, when their lone Billboard Hot 100
entry, "Keep on Dancin'", reached #41 in 1978. The song climbed to #8 in the UK Singles Chart
, #14 on the Hot Soul Singles
chart
in 1978 and also made #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play
chart, as did two of the group's other songs: "Do It At the Disco" and "Let's Lovedance Tonight". The latter was later used as the sampling
background track to Soulsearcher
's 1999 #20 Club Play hit, "Can't Get Enough".
In the 1980s Gary's Gang enjoyed further U.S. and European success with the 1982 single "Knock Me Out" (#45 UK) and the 1983 hit "Makin' Music", which reached #8 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
a few months later.
The group, based in Queens, New York, consisted of Gary Turnier, Eric Matthew aka Joseph Tucci, Al Lauricella, Rino Minetti, Bill Catalano, Bob Forman and Jay Leon.
The song "Keep on Dancin'" was featured on "54, Volume I", the official album from the 1998 Miramax film 54
.
Mr. Oizo's song "Patrick122" features a re-working of Gary's Gang's song "Do It At The Disco".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
/soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
/disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
who just missed having a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Top 40 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, when their lone Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
entry, "Keep on Dancin'", reached #41 in 1978. The song climbed to #8 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, #14 on the Hot Soul Singles
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1978 and also made #1 on the Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart, as did two of the group's other songs: "Do It At the Disco" and "Let's Lovedance Tonight". The latter was later used as the sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
background track to Soulsearcher
Soulsearcher
Soulsearcher was a studio project based out of England, and was formed by record producer Marc Pomeroy, which featured American singer-songwriter, Thea Austin, on vocals...
's 1999 #20 Club Play hit, "Can't Get Enough".
In the 1980s Gary's Gang enjoyed further U.S. and European success with the 1982 single "Knock Me Out" (#45 UK) and the 1983 hit "Makin' Music", which reached #8 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
The band
Gary's Gang was the brainchild of Joseph Tucci and Gary Turnier who put the group together when they sold "Keep on Dancin" to Sam Records in Long Island City, states Gary Turnier (Gary's Gang). The song was written, produced and recorded in Tucci's Richmond Hill garage. All vocals were sung by Tucci, who also played all the instruments (except for the drums which were played by Gary Turnier). After Gary Turnier shopped the song to all major labels for several weeks, Sam Records picked up the record for release. Sam Weiss sold the record to Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
a few months later.
The group, based in Queens, New York, consisted of Gary Turnier, Eric Matthew aka Joseph Tucci, Al Lauricella, Rino Minetti, Bill Catalano, Bob Forman and Jay Leon.
The song "Keep on Dancin'" was featured on "54, Volume I", the official album from the 1998 Miramax film 54
54 (film)
54 is a 1998 drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher, starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, and Neve Campbell...
.
Mr. Oizo's song "Patrick122" features a re-working of Gary's Gang's song "Do It At The Disco".
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart