Artist:Peter Brown
Song:Dance with Me
Album:Disco Hits Vol. 2
The 1977 single Dance with Me was the biggest hit for singer songwriter Peter Brown. This was when disco was king. When disco faded, so did Brown. He was born July 11, 1953 in the Chicago suburb of Blue Island, IL and he grew up in the Chicago suburb of Palos Heights. Brown's mother gave him music lessons. And his father was an electronics engineer and taught him about recording. Brown learned to play the drums as a teen. He was a big Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire fan and learned to play percussion instruments. Then he started using synthesizers. While attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Brown met TK Records producer Cory Wade and Wade offered to critique his demos. Brown recorded some disco tracks with local musicians like Tom Dziallo on bass and Robert Rans on piano. Rans and Brown wrote songs together. This led to a record deal with TK with Wade as producer. Brown's second single Do You Wanna Get Funky with Me reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977. And then the next single Dance with Me reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs were dance and R&B hits. Brown and Rans wrote both songs and legendary soul singer Betty Wright arranged and sang the background vocals. The album A Fantasy Love Affair reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 200. You can get Dance with Me on this Rhino various artists budget comp. Brown released a second album but then TK went bankrupt after disco died. He signed with RCA for the 1983 album Back to the Front produced by Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons. Then he released the 1984 album Snap for Columbia. Those albums didn't sell. But Brown's song Material Girl was one of Madonna's biggest hits. I guess Brown has been living on the royalties ever since. Brown retired from music in the late 80s when tinnitus affected his hearing. He started a successful design company. Brown returned to music with the 2018 self released album Boom. Here's Peter Brown performing Dance with Me on the German TV show Disco 1978.
Heard this song many times during the disco era. Late 70's. Then I like so many other songs after 1980 or so I did not hear this and others at all. It was like they vanished off the earth.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, TK Records went bankrupt and that was the end for Brown.
ReplyDeleteThanks Frank. I understand. David
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