Ten Percent (song)

In 1976, Salsoul Records released their eighth release, Walter Gibbons' remix of Double Exposure's disco song "Ten Percent". cite web|url= http://www.discomuseum.com/WalterGibbons.html|title=discomuseum] "Ten Percent" was the first commercially-available 12-inch single.Fact|date=March 2008

The 12-inch single was reserved for DJs until the release of "Ten Percent," but disco had begun to exploit the 12-inch's allowance for higher volumes, better sound quality, and longer playing time, but no record companies had yet seen commercial value in the new format.cite book| author = Lawrence, Tim| title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979| publisher =Duke University Press| year = 2003| id = ISBN 0822331985]

Production

Ken Cayre, the head of Salsoul Records, decided to sign a number of famous musicians and bands to the label, hoping to "consolidate the success of the faceless Salsoul Orchestra," and Double Exposure was chosen as the newly-signed band whose first release, "Ten Percent," would feature the orchestra and be promoted with a 12-inch single as well as the typical seven-inch format. cite book| author = Lawrence, Tim| title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979| publisher =Duke University Press| year = 2003| id = ISBN 0822331985] Walter Gibbons was a DJ, not a producer, but his innovative skills, along with his punctuality and serious nature, got Gibbons the "Ten Percent" assignment at Salsoul Records. One of his original techniques was "taking two records and working them back and forth in order to extend the drum breaks," a technique he applied to the "Ten Percent" mix, which displeased the original songwriter, Allan Felder, but which was supported by Salsoul in the front-page story in which Billboard magazine covered the release. cite book| author = Lawrence, Tim| title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979| publisher =Duke University Press| year = 2003| id = ISBN 0822331985] It was "mostly an exercise in stretching the original track out," cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2068368 |title=The Remixmasters: A History Lesson for Puffy Combs|author=Williams, Ben |accessdate=2008-01-16 |work=Slate |publisher=slate.com ] and Gibbons transformed it from a "four-minute song into a nine-minute-forty-five-second-cut-and-paste roller coaster."cite book| author = Lawrence, Tim| title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979| publisher =Duke University Press| year = 2003| id = ISBN 0822331985]

Public Reaction

When Gibbons first played the "Ten Percent" 12" remix at Gallery21, where he was a regular DJ, one witness said "it sounded so new, going backwards and forwards. It built and built like it would never stop. The dance floor just exploded."cite book| author = Lawrence, Tim| title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979| publisher =Duke University Press| year = 2003| id = ISBN 0822331985]

Release

Release Date: May, 1976 Album Jacket: 4-colors, with a center window showing the record's label Price: $2.98 Speed: 45rpm Publicity: front-page stories in Billboard magazine and Record World

Effects on Dance Music

"Ten Percent" was a "dancefloor stormer that radically changed the disco underground in terms of record production." cite web|url= http://www.discomuseum.com/WalterGibbons.html|title=discomuseum] The release "signalled the rise of remixers" cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/arts/music/09leed.html |title=Mix and Mash |accessdate=2008-01-16 |work=NYTimes |publisher=nytimes.com ] and the rise of the DJ. It also proved that releasing multiple versions of the same song was financially beneficial.

References

External links

* [http://timlawrence.info/linernotes/2005/walter_g.php/ Mixed With Love: The Musical World Of Walter Gibbons]