Biddu - Euro Disco Scene (1970s)

Euro Disco Scene (1970s)

During the early 1970s, Biddu produced several early disco songs that, despite receiving no airplay on radio, began gaining some underground success in UK northern soul clubs, in places like Wigan and Blackpool, which were more receptive to Biddu's early disco sounds due to northern soul being a forerunner to disco. The Biddu sound incorporated "solid playing by a hard rhythm section and fast swirling Northern Soul–style melodies" and resembled the disco sound that had appeared independently in New York at around the same time.

In 1972, Biddu scored music for the UK spy thriller Embassy. Around this time, he also started working with UK-based Jamaican-born musician Carl Douglas on a 45 (rpm record) single "I Want to Give you my Everything". While this song was intended for the A side, they cut a song for the B side, "Kung Fu Fighting", in just 10 minutes. Later, at the insistence of A & R at Pye Records, "Kung Fu Fighting" was put on the A-side. Soon after release in 1974, "Kung Fu Fighting" became a worldwide hit, topping charts around the world, ultimately selling eleven million copies worldwide. In 1974, it received a Gold certification from the RIAA, and won the Grammy Award for Best Selling Single. Shortly after, Biddu also produced Carl Douglas' debut LP (album) Kung Fu Fighter, which produced another major hit, "Dance The Kung Fu". He soon begame established him as one of the key figures in Britain's soul and disco scenes during the 1970s, working with a variety of British soul and disco artists, including Tina Charles, The Outriders, and Jimmy James.

In 1975, Biddu recorded and released the instrumental LP Blue Eyed Soul, and watched his own star rise even further as the album's first single, "Summer of '42", climbed to #14 on the UK chart spending a full two months there and then had similar success in the US, topping the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart and reaching #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another single from the album, "Jump for Joy", also topped the Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in the US while reaching #72 on the Billboard Hot 100 there in 1976. In the Billboard Year-End chart, "Jump For Joy" was ranked #21 on the list. Also in 1975, he produced the album Can You Hear Me Ok? and single "I Got My Lady" for John Howard. Around the same time, a friend introduced Biddu to Tina Charles, a singer who had had some success singing lead vocals for the group 5000 Volts. The first single they worked together, "You Set My Heart on Fire", clinched a recording deal with CBS. In 1976, the second single "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" was a major hit worldwide. "I Love to Love" and the subsequent hit "Dance Little Lady Dance" sold millions of copies around the world, giving Tina Charles a worldwide audience and fame, launching her solo career and firmly establishing Biddu.

In 1976, Biddu produced his own Rain Forest LP, followed by Eastern Man in 1977, both credited to Biddu & His Orchestra. His album Rain Forest earned him four Ivor Novello Awards, including the "Songwriter of the Year" award. Around this same time, he began experimenting with electronic music in some of his disco songs, making use of electronic musical instruments such as keyboards and synthesizers. Some of his early examples of electronic disco include the early boogie song "Bionic Boogie" from his 1976 album Rain Forest; the 1977 "Soul Coaxing" single; the Eastern Man and Futuristic Journey albums, which were recorded from 1976 to 1977; and the 1979 "Phantasm" single. He also began experimenting with high-tempo Hi-NRG disco music, with early examples including some of the songs in his 1976 Tina Charles albums I Love to Love and Dance Little Lady, as well as his disco singles such as "Voodoo Man" (1979) which had a tempo of 130 beats per minute. His backing tracks also had a strong influence on the British New Wave band The Buggles, founded by two of Biddu's former session musicians, Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, who are most famous for writing the hit song "Video Killed the Radio Star" in 1979.

In 1977, he worked on the Life LP of veteran Jamaican-born soul singer Jimmy James, which churned out two smash disco hits I'll Go Where your Music Takes Me and Disco Fever. In early 1978, Biddu's own Journey to the Moon was a hit, peaking at #41 in the UK. That same year, he scored the music for the English film The Stud, starring Joan Collins; the film's soundtrack was successful on the UK Albums Chart, where it reached #2. He also produced the soundtrack for its sequel, The Bitch, in 1979. During the late 1970s, Biddu also had a hit in France with the late Claude François, for whom he produced the song "Laisse Une Chance A Notre Amour".

Biddu worked with various musicians including some players from Manchester and Liverpool who had worked on sessions with Tina Charles till the late 1970s, after which disco music slowly began to wane as funk, New Wave and electronic music began taking centre-stage in Western popular music, taking with it Biddu's established place in the Western music scene, despite his early attempts at producing electronic synthpop music, such as his 1980 song "Small Talk" for Amy. Nevertheless, he soon found himself spinning out hits working in another part of the world, Asia.