The Hustle (song)

"The Hustle"
Single by Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony
from the album Disco Baby[1]
Released April 18, 1975
Recorded 1973
Genre Disco
Length 4:10
Label Avco Records
Writer(s) Van McCoy
Producer(s) Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore

"The Hustle" is a disco song by songwriter/arranger Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony. It went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts during the summer of 1975.[2] It also peaked at number 9 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report) and number 3 in the UK.[3][4] It would eventually sell over one million copies.[4] The song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance early in 1976 for songs recorded in 1975.

History

While in New York City to make an album, McCoy composed the song after his music partner, Charles Kipps, watched patrons do a dance known as "the Hustle" in the nightclub Adam's Apple. The sessions were done at New York's Media Sound studio with pianist McCoy, bassist Gordon Edwards, drummer Steve Gadd, keyboardist Richard Tee, guitarists Eric Gale and John Tropea, and orchestra leader Gene Orloff. Producer Hugo Peretti contracted piccolo player Philip Bodner to play the lead melody.

During the summer of 1975, "The Hustle" became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts.[2] Billboard ranked it as the No. 21 song for 1975. It also peaked at number 9 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report) and number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.[3][4]

According to producers Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, who owned the Avco record label that originally released "The Hustle", McCoy met with them shortly before his death in 1979 to discuss ideas for a new, longer version of the song, in order to appease Avco's UK and German affiliates who were clamoring for a 12" disco single release.[5] The new version, clocking in at just under 6-and-a-half minutes, was assembled posthumously as a remix, using parts of the original recording plus new parts, including drum, Syndrum, and a "little" Moog synthesizer.[5] It was credited to Van McCoy alone or with an unnamed orchestra, mixed by "The Mix Masters", identity unknown.[6]

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 9
Austrian Singles Chart[7] 13
Belgium (Flanders) Singles Chart[8] 3
Canadian Singles Chart[9] 1
Dutch Top 40 4
German Singles Chart[10] 3
French Singles Chart[11] 32
New Zealand Singles Chart[12] 5
Spain (Los 40 Principales) 1
UK Singles Chart[4] 3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [13] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Rank
Australia [14] 78
Canada [15] 9
New Zealand [16] 19
UK [17] 16
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [18] 21
U.S. Cash Box [19] 18

Preceded by
"Listen to What the Man Said" by Paul McCartney & Wings		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
July 26, 1975 (one week) 		Succeeded by
"One of These Nights" by Eagles
Preceded by
"Slippery When Wet" by The Commodores		 Billboard's Hot Soul Singles number one single
July 12, 1975 (one week) 		Succeeded by
"Fight the Power (Part 1)" by The Isley Brothers

Other versions

Italian rapper Talko made a rap cover of "The Hustle". It was released in 1983 under Babalu Records.[20][21]

References

  1. ↑ "Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony – Disco Baby". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  2. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 388.
  3. 1 2 Steffen Hung. "Forum - One Hit Wonders (General: Music/Charts related)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 338. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. 1 2 "Label preparing 12-inch 'Hustle'". Billboard: 86. July 21, 1979.
  6. ↑ "The Hustle (Disco Mix) " at Discogs (list of releases)
  7. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony - The Hustle". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  8. ↑ "Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony - The Hustle". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  9. ↑ Lwin, Nanda (2000). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada.
  10. ↑ "Home - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Officialcharts.de. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony - The Hustle". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  15. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  16. ↑ "Top Selling Singles of 1975 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1975-12-31. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  17. ↑ "Britain's best selling records of '75" (JPG). Scans.chartarchive.org. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  18. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ "Talko's The Hustle on Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  21. ↑ "Talko's The Hustle Rap on YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
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