Ish Ledesma (born October 2, 1952) – Don't Stop (1979)
The former Foxy lead singer and guitarist wrote this epic early morning sleaze disco jam for his only solo LP, and it became a Loft classic.
Watch full video on YouTube.
View most updated version of this post on Substack.
Ish Ledesma is a Miami singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He initially shot to fame as the lead singer and guitarist for the 1970s disco/funk group Foxy.
Ismael Angel Ledesma was born in Cuba and emigrated to Miami with his family in the 1950s. In the early 70s, Henry Stone hired him as a session guitarist. Lesdesma put together the disco/funk group Foxy in the mid-seventies, and convinced Stone to release their self-titled debut LP in 1976.
Other member were percussionist Richard “Richie” Puente (the son of bandleader Tito Puente), keyboardist Charlie Murciano, bassist Arnold Paseiro, and drummer Joe Galdo. After their first album was released, Carlo Driggs replaced original co-lead vocalist Gary Ortiz.
They hit the big time with their second album, when its irresistible title track “Get Off” went to #1 R&B, helping the LP reach #3 on the R&B album charts. In a memorable video posted to YouTube in 2006, Ledesma recounted the humorous story behind the song, which he and Driggs wrote to annoy a particular club owner in Ocean City, Maryland.
Foxy also scored a hit with the title track to their third album Hot Numbers (1979). “Hot Number” reached #4 R&B and #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. For their next LP Party Boys, released later that same year, Ledesma wrote and co-produced the upbeat disco-funk jam "Rrrrrrock."
Released as the album’s lead single, it bombed, not charting at all on the R&B charts or Hot 100, and only hitting #66 on the dance charts. It was a funky, upbeat track and deserved to have been more widely heard. The song’s unusually spelled title may have been part of the problem, but a bigger issue was most likely the racist, homophobic anti-disco backlash that was gathering steam in late 1979, dooming many artists’ releases around this time to obscurity.
During the album’s recording session, Super 8 footage was shot of Ish laying down his vocals for “Rrrrrrock” at Criteria Studios in Miami along with bassist Arnold Paseiro.
Party Boys would prove to be the group’s final studio album, although they did release a live LP in 1980.
Ledesma released his only solo album Ish in 1979. Some of its gems included the sexy disco cut “Superthriller (Super-Thrilling-Me!),” the super funky love song “Please,” and its upbeat, funky closing medley “Peak/I Want You.”
Its masterpiece was the epic early morning sleaze disco jam “Don’t Stop.” Written by Ledesma and co-produced by himself and Ann Holloway Masters (who also co-mixed and co-engineered “Rrrrrrock”), the track became a standard at David Mancuso’s Loft parties. More recently, in 2014 it was included on the compilation Horse Meat Disco Vol. IV.
In 1992, Ish collaborated with singer/songwriter/producer Betty Wright and Breezy Beat MC aka Luis Cabrera to form the short-lived group Wizzzard. They recorded an album’s worth of house and techno-flavored material, released on CD in limited quantities by Vision Records late that year.
One 12” single dropped in early 1993, the superb neo-soul house jam “Party Down” b/w “A Date With The Rain.” “Party Down” was written by Willie Hale, aka Little Beaver, and featured Wright on amazing lead vocals that she laid down in just one take. “This was done right after Hurricane Andrew (hit Florida),” recalled Ledesma years later. “The guitar player on ‘Clean Up Woman,’ Little Beaver is another amazing singer from the old T.K. Records days.” Ish played keyboards, guitar and drums on the album, which the group co-produced and mixed together.
#disco #funk #Foxy #IshLedesma