Freda Payne -- 70s Fabulosity

Freda was a hot number in her day.

Great song, OP.

That bitch at 1:40 is fucken FEELING IT.

Tooooo slow. A lot of disco music sounds so S L O W, especially if the beat is too basic like this song. It's before my time, but Sylvester and Donna Summer had some good songs for sure. Even Ms. Ross.

I always thought this song felt almost country. What exactly happened on their honeymoon? Was the groom unable to get it up, or did she refuse his advances? Did he have some sort of Harvey Weinstein malformation? I've been wondering about this for decades.

R4, this is from 1970. Not disco.

I thought the groom was a closet case

One of my favourite songs! Thank you for posting, OP. 🙂 It’s not been a great day, but this cheered me up some, especially seeing the dancers grooving.

Here’s Belinda Carlisle’s version from the mid 80s.

Of course it is a disco song. She just had a mediocre voice and meter. Soulless. Here it's done a LOT better. Because the song itself is SHITE. But Sylvester could spin shit into gold.

Who the fuck would dance to that Freda Payne version?

Nice little hook to the song, but it sounds like many other songs by Holland Dozier Holland. That's why Sylvester so cleverly sampled Sugar Pie Honey Bunch in his version. Same hook, different inflection and mood. His production and arrangement brings LIFE.

Belinda cantsinganote Carlisle brought nice party energy to the song and her weird white girl dancing, but her singing WAS painful. Has she ever be on key? She sings so fucking flat it's almost a style. Until she misses a mile singing sharp on the next phrase. Terrible.

Motown is unbeatable but derivative of itself. And Band of Gold is pretty minor Motown. Kimberly Locke was memorable. The song is not.

It is memorable. That's why it's been covered multiple times

Freda Payne is the original hot mess drag name. Blows Helen Bed and all the others away.

The guy in the song couldn't get it up for the honeymoon possibly because he was gay.

Band Of Gold wasn't a Disco song. There were no "Disco" songs back then. Maybe a proto-Disco song. But how would they know how fast to make it then?

one of my all time faves!

hot drummer @ R8

Good thing the drummer is hot because Belinda Carlisle is a much worse singer than Freda Payne. And Freda wasn't much.

Ok, proto disco R14. But that's what it is. The bad time when Motown was failing I think. They know how fast to make it by adding a better beat and more serious track and speeding up or slowing down the song. Duh. It doesn't work as a ballad or pop track. The Freda Payne song is lifeless and repetitive. The song ain't great to start with. I guess this must be old gay memories for some of y'all? But for someone younger to call it bad disco offends you? Okay Disco was born later. See the Sylvester extended mix of the same song that I posted at R9. That's how it's done. Put in your ears.

The lyrics of the song are what make it stand out against better offerings from Holland Dozier. They're nasty. It can be punked out or discoed to death or sung like a soulful ballad. Annie Lennox could give it a retro treatment. Or even the non singing CHER could hump it as a dance track. All the versions posted here are better than that plodding Freda Payne performance. 1970? The fans of that must be really OLD.

Nah, Freda's is by far the best version IMO. She has a good strong voice for it, and the song has a late 60s groove to it and yes some proto-disco elements to it. The tempo is perfect. I'd have no problem dancing to it, and it is an ear-worm.

And the fantabulous dancers don't hurt!

Stupid song. Maybe two sentences and the band of gold story repeats itself, over and over....

R4

Faster on vinyl....

Keep in mind many of the singers performing on Soul Train, American Bandstand, and similar programs lip synced to their own recordings. In some cases this might explain why song is slower on supposed live television (or at least recorded before a life audience), than on vinyl.

R5 et al

There are two stories about what "Band of Gold" is about, with much depending upon which version is heard.

Some performance versions makes it sound as if the husband couldn't get it up on their wedding night so bride slept in another room.

OTOH studio version has added lyrics that make it sound as if the young (and inexperienced) bride wouldn't let her husband have his rights. After pushing him away she slept in a different room.

This sounds corny today, but remember late as yes the 1970's many young women for various reasons didn't wish to consummate their marriage on wedding night. For years since they barely left the nursery they had been told never to let a man near, now they had a husband demanding that she let him, and sometimes those demands weren't exactly polite or understanding.

Finally as others have said Since You've Been Gone isn't disco. Pre-disco by a few years yes....

Band of Gold.... Sorry....

I like Sylvester’s version the least of the versions in this thread. I normally really like her music.

Sylvester's is on fire compared to the plodding .on.the.beat. Freda Payne. Enjoy what you like though.

Luff huh. First feelings of gaydom for this little gayling. First 45 I ever bought. I danced HARD in my little bedroom to this proto-disco anthem.

Thus was written by Holland Dozier Holland, the songwriting team that wrote most of the Supremes' songs. This could easily have been a Supremes song if HDH, Ross and the Supremes had all still been together in 1970.

Great color, R25. I totally hear that.