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Miss Disco release debut single ahead of Hallowe’en party set for Hocus Pocus Ball at South Mill Arts in Bishop’s Stortford




Fresh from their packed-out gig at South Mill Arts in September, Miss Disco will release their debut single on Friday (October 18) – ahead of a swift return to the Bishop’s Stortford venue to perform a special set at its Hallowe’en party, The Hocus Pocus Ball.

For the single, which is available on all download and streaming platforms, the seven-piece band teamed up with veteran songwriter-producer and broadcaster Mark Wesley to record One Step (After Another) – 50 years after the song was originally written.

Having spent the past decade performing disco’s greatest hits at festivals such as Glastonbury, Standon Calling and Heritage Live, Miss Disco’s line-up had never considered releasing original material until Wesley contacted them to ask if they would be interested in recording a song he wrote in 1974, just as the disco phenomenon was beginning to spread across the world.

From left, Blues & Soul publisher Claire Daniel, Miss Disco keyboard player Marcus Tinkler, Blues & Soul editor Pete Lewis, Miss Disco singer Susan Pinky, bassist DC1 (Dave Clarke) and songwriter Mark Wesley
From left, Blues & Soul publisher Claire Daniel, Miss Disco keyboard player Marcus Tinkler, Blues & Soul editor Pete Lewis, Miss Disco singer Susan Pinky, bassist DC1 (Dave Clarke) and songwriter Mark Wesley

As one of the six Radio Luxembourg DJs in the 1970s, Wesley also wrote and produced records for a variety of record companies’ artists, including The Philadelphia Flyers, Leroy Brown and The Miracle Workers among others.

Wesley, who lives in Saffron Walden, eventually self-produced a demo of One Step (After Another) in November 1976, complete with a full orchestra, at huge expense. He was confident it could be a big disco hit, but his plans were scuppered by the emergence of punk.

He said: “The Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK was still ringing in everybody’s ears by the time I started hawking my demo to the various record companies I was working with in early 1977. Unfortunately for me, all they wanted to hear at that moment in time was punk’s next big thing. As they say, timing is everything, so I reluctantly shelved the project and moved on.”

The sleeve artwork for Miss Disco’s single One Step (After Another)
The sleeve artwork for Miss Disco’s single One Step (After Another)

Now, half a century later, One Step (After Another) has finally found its home with Miss Disco.

As a long-time fan of the group, Wesley’s lightbulb moment came whilst attending one of their concerts. “It seemed such a blindingly obvious idea, it’s a wonder I didn’t think of it before,” he said.

“My song has the provenance of an original disco track written and produced for those times, so this has given Miss Disco the opportunity to record an original song that came authentically from the Seventies to fit seamlessly into their set list. And, of course, it’s a song they can call their own.”

One Step (After Another) was produced by Miss Disco’s keyboard player, Marc Rapson (aka Marcus Tinkler), who said: “As a busy live band, we’d never stopped to consider the possibility of becoming recording artists. However, a chance conversation with the editor at Blues & Soul magazine convinced us to go for it. And we’re so glad that we did, the whole experience has been fantastic.”

Miss Disco performing at South Mill Arts in September
Miss Disco performing at South Mill Arts in September

Towards the end of the single’s recording sessions, the band played a work-in-progress mix to Wesley. Miss Disco’s lead singer Sue Darwar (aka Susan Pinky) said: “We kept the melody from the original demo exactly the same, but we changed the music to better suit how we naturally sound as a live band, so we weren’t entirely sure how Mark would react to what we’d come up with. Thankfully he loved it and, as a producer himself, suggested a couple of great ideas which proved to be the icing on the cake.”

Wesley is thrilled with the final result. “As soon as I heard it I thought to myself, ‘Wow, they’ve absolutely nailed it!’ After all these years I’d truly resigned myself to the song never seeing the light of day, so Miss Disco have made an old songwriter very happy!”

Last month, Wesley joined Miss Disco for their interview in London with legendary music magazine Blues & Soul to tell the story behind the song. The interview will appear as the cover feature in the issue due out at the end of the month.

For their appearance at South Mill Arts’ Hocus Pocus Ball on Thursday October 31, Miss Disco will return dressed as grisly ghouls to perform a thriller of a Hallowe’en set featuring a mixture of disco’s biggest dancefloor anthems alongside a suitably squeamish smattering of spooky sing-alongs to invoke the funk of 40,000 years!

Doors open at 7pm and Miss Disco’s set starts at 8pm. Tickets priced £20 (cabaret) and £17.50 (balcony) are on sale from www.southmillarts.co.uk.



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