Sensational '70's Tune for Monday, May 11th, 09

Leo Sayer's breakthrough album, 1976's Endless Flight, gave him three Top 40 singles. "How Much Love" went to number 17, the saccharine-induced ballad "When I Need You" went all the way to number one, and the disco-infused "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" did the same four months earlier as his first number one hit, staying in Top 40 domain for 17 weeks. In the U.K., the song went to number two and instantaneously boosted Sayer's career at home and worldwide. With help from Vini Poncia, who later worked with Kiss, and a tight allegiance with producer Richard Perry, the writing on Endless Flight was more commercially pleasing and vibrant than his past material, especially when sung by Sayer's high-pitched voice. The disco-funk high step of "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" was exactly what 1976 was waiting for, and no one could have made it work quite like Leo Sayer. The song started out as a harmless little jam in the studio, but Perry felt it was worth releasing as a single. Guided by its laid-back, sunshiny '70s sound, the crescendoed chorus carries it into disco's breezy stratosphere, reeled in from time to time by the mild soulful undertow, which still works when the song is played today. The melody's cheerful jaunt rides piggyback on Sayer's smiling vocals, and even though there may be an overdose of happiness within the song's entirety, the tempo can't divert any attention away from the over-effusiveness. Whether it's disco or pure pop, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" was one of the biggest hits of the late '70s, and the amount of success that befriended Leo Sayer from his Endless Flight album was never equaled.