- Ten Percent (song)
In 1976,
Salsoul Records released their eighth release,Walter Gibbons 'remix of Double Exposure'sdisco song "Ten Percent". cite web|url= http://www.discomuseum.com/WalterGibbons.html|title=discomuseum] "Ten Percent" was the first commercially-available12-inch single .Fact|date=March 2008The
12-inch single was reserved forDJ s until the release of "Ten Percent," butdisco had begun to exploit the12-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 facelessSalsoul 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 typicalseven-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 atSalsoul 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]
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