Written by Leroy Green and Ron Kersey Key Recordings
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Prior to the release of Disco Inferno, the Trammps were already one of the top Disco groups. Their first R&B chart hit, Zing Went the Strings Of My Heart was an underground club hit in 1972. When their album That's Where the Happy People Go and Disco Party, a track from the album, spent a combined 7 weeks at the top of Disco charts in 1976, it was proof the Trammps were at the top of their game. Disco Inferno was released as one of 6 tracks on the Disco Inferno album in December of 1976. By the middle of January, 1977, it was firmly lodged at number one on the Disco chart where it would remain for 6 weeks.
Instrumentally, the Trammps recording of Disco Inferno is a Philly Soul-influenced stew of pumping bass, strings, and hi-hat. The group's vocals, led by an emotional, vocal chord shredding performance by Jimmy Ellis, are among the most soulful in all of Disco. Lyrically, Disco Inferno departs from many of its contemporaries in its storytelling style, spinning a tale of a Disco Inferno 100 stories high, no doubt influenced by 1974's blockbuster film Towering Inferno.
Originally recorded as a four-minute twenty-second song, Disco Inferno was given to Tom Moulton to expand for club play prior to its release. His first mix was 19 minutes long, but he cut it down to just under 11 for the final recording. Disco Inferno was included as a key track for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack a year after initial release which initiated another round of popularity.
The song was taken back to the top 10 of the Dance chart in 1999 by Cyndi Lauper in a ferocious House version remixed by Soul Solution. This version of Disco Inferno was also included in the soundtrack to the movie Night At the Roxbury. Nearly 30 years after release, the Trammps recording of Disco Inferno has remained popular as a striking representative of the peak years of Disco.
