D.C. LaRue (born April 26, 1948) – Overture (All We Need Is Love) (1976)
This underground disco masterpiece from LaRue's second LP featured Sharon Redd on backing vocals, Ron Carter on bass and early disco DJ Steve D'Aquisto on percussion.
Singer/songwriter and producer D.C. LaRue became a disco star in the 1970s. He is best known for his #1 dance hit “Cathedrals” (1976) and “Do You Want The Real Thing?” (1978) which was featured on the soundtrack to the classic disco film Thank God It’s Friday.
Originally from Meridian, Connecticut, David Charles L'Heureux started recording pop songs in the early 1960s, many which have never been released until today, his 75th birthday, with D.C. LaRue: The Early Recordings 1961-1975 available on all digital stores starting April 26.
The title track to his 1976 debut LP Ca-The-Drals on Pyramid Records was the epic disco anthem “Cathedrals.” One of the first commercially available 12” singles, the track eventually went to #1 on dance charts.
In 1977, LaRue released his second album, also on Pyramid, which he co-produced with guitarist Aram Schefrin. The Tea Dance was a concept album designed to recreate the feel of a Broadway show. It featured many superb tracks including “Indiscreet,” which was later released as a super funky limited-edition 12” mix that became a breakbeat classic and in 1986 was featured on the very first official volume of the influential Ultimate Breaks and Beats LP series, alongside the most-sampled drum break of all time, “Amen, Brother” (1969) by the Winstons.
The album’s masterpiece track was the disco gem “Overture (All We Need Is Love),” which was also released as a 12” single in advance of the album in late 1976.
Co-written by LaRue and Schefrin, it featured Sharon Redd on backing vocals along with a chorus of eight other singers including Lani Groves, who sang backup on several classic Stevie Wonder LPs in the early 70s, and sixties pop star Lou Christie, a longtime friend of LaRue’s. “I first met Lou backstage at Alan Freed's Rock n Roll show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre in 1962,” LaRue posted in 2019. Christie was also featured on “Don’t Keep It in the Shadows,“ a Bee Gees-esque duet with LaRue that opened side two of The Tea Dance.
LaRue and Christie at release party for The Tea Dance LP
The album's stellar backing band included Ron Carter and Will Lee on bass, Steve Robbins and Steve Tubin on keyboards, Grady Tate on drums, and early disco DJ Steve D'Acqusto on percussion.
Pyramid Records went bankrupt in 1978, despite strong sales for both of LaRue’s first two albums. He was signed to Casablanca, and his first single for the label, the overlooked disco-soul jam “Do You Want The Real Thing?” (1978) was included on the soundtrack to the classic disco film Thank God It’s Friday, which hit theaters that same year.
LaRue’s third alum Confessions was released later in 1978. Its single “Let Them Dance” was a dancefloor anthem for the ages, and reached #12 on Billboard’s dance charts.
Since 2012, LaRue has hosted Disco Juice, a bi-weekly disco radio show on Brooklyn-based internet radio station Newtown Radio. The show has featured many special tribute shows and interviews with various legendary artists and DJ’s, and kept the disco fires burning.
In the words of the great D.C. LaRue, “Disco lives!” Happy 75th birthday.
#disco #DCLaRue