Show Notes
Quincy Delight Jones Junior was born in Chicago in 1933. At High School in Seattle he became an accomplished trumpeter, and then focused on music with a scholarship to Boston's Berklee College of Music. After college he worked with a number of orchestras and bands until in the 1960s becoming Frank Sinatra's arranger and conductor, notably leading the recording of the 1966 live album "Sinatra at the Sands" with the Count Basie Orchestra. A background with big bands, orchestras, and jazz followed him through his career and into our disco era where Quincy's signature production features bold brass, lush strings, hypnotic percussion and complex vocal arrangements. He met Michael Jackson when they both worked on the film "The Wiz". Michael invited Quincy to produce his upcoming solo album, but the record label objected, saying Quincy was "too jazzy". Michael insisted, and the result, "Off The Wall" propelled them both to mega stardom.
Here I've gathered my favourite Quincy produced, arranged and written tracks which have themselves already been lovingly reproduced by disco leaders Dr Packer, The Reflex, Loshmi, Pete Le Freq and more, plus, unusually for me, some original recordings, which itself is very telling. No-one can even try to improve Quincy's original "Billie Jean." And I couldn't find anyone who's touched "Ease on down the road" . . . yet.
Thank you Quincy. You will be missed. Love F*
Here's the track list:
1 | Michael Jackson | Billie Jean (SWG Remastered Extended Mix) 2 | Donna Summer | State of independence (Dave Leatherman & Bruce Nolan 2023 Rework) 3 | Michael Jackson | P.Y.T. (The Reflex Revision) 4 | Quincy Jones featuring Chaz Jankel | Ai no corrida (DJ S Rework) 5 | Quincy Jones (featuring Chaka Khan and Ashford & Simpson) | Stuff like that (Pete Le Freq Stuff Like What Rework) 6 | The Brothers Johnson | The real thing (Loshmi Edit) 7 | Quincy Jones featuring Patti Austin | Betcha wouldn't hurt me (Charles Dancer Edit) 8 | The Brothers Johnson | Strawberry letter 23 (Digital Visions re-edit/Dr Packer's Soul Groove) 9 | Quincy Jones | Razzamatazz (Dr Packer Injection) 10 | The Brothers Johnson | Stomp (DJ Funkdamento Remix/Andrei Edit) 11 | Michael Jackson, Diana Ross | Ease on down the road (from the original motion picture "The Wiz") 12 | The Brothers Johnson | Get the funk out ma face (Loshmi Edit) 13 | George Benson | Love x love (The Reflex Revision)
And here's a link to the Spotify playlist, but please note that most of the edits and remixes I've used may not be widely available.
Mixed with love in London.
(Revised 10th November 2024.)
More from The Disco Podcast
I’m thrilled to include Cerrone’s latest collaboration with Asa Taccone of Electric Guest as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Cerrone’s seminal “Love In C Minor”.
Disco never left, it just kept evolving. This month's mix keeps the floor moving with a run of extended cuts, boogie dubs and club reworks — from Purple Disco Machine's glossy "Disco Cherry" and DJ Spen's rework of the El Coco classic "Cocomotion," through to fresher heat like T.Markakis's "Frisco Disco" and JØRD's "Get Funky, Get Down." Expect nu-disco, boogie and club-focused energy throughout, with a few surprises pulled from pre-release and DJ-exclusive promos along the way.
Welcome to May's Locked On Disco, which has a slightly deeper and soulful feel, featuring Sabroso, Michael Gray and Sian-Lee, Anane, Risk Assessment, Hotmood, Mark Funk, Danny Cruz and Anna Ingram, Jay Caruso, DJ Fudge and Kiko Navarro, Sean Scanlon and Da Lukas, and Curtis Zack. Enjoy!
Welcome to another hour of the very best in disco, mixed with love in London.
Hey - sorry I missed you in November, but I was busy working on new material, and I've included a couple of exclusive new tracks here for you in this mix. First up is a remix of a track from my first album. The track is called "Maybe I'm Gay". It's a song about self-empowerment and is for anyone who has ever felt othered. It's from the album "The Gift" which you can stream and download everywhere. Here's a link to Apple Music, and to Spotify. All proceeds from this album go to Alzheimer's Research. Right now I'm putting the finishing touches to a Spanish language version of the album. Each track is uniquely Spanish and I've used the language to create a new interpretation of each song. In fact some tracks are quite different. Plus I've written and recorded some new material only in Spanish. It's all scheduled for release on Friday 23rd January 2026. Watch this space.