{
  "slug": "the-desk-what-the-djs-kept",
  "theme": null,
  "genre": "Disco",
  "genreUrl": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/",
  "brief": "Five records whose lives were decided in a booth rather than on radio — a closing ritual, a flop rescued by a mix, the first commercial twelve-inch, and a record a London sound system took its name from.",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-what-the-djs-kept/",
  "updated": "2026-08-29",
  "curator": {
    "slug": "the-desk",
    "name": "The Waxonia Desk",
    "bio": "The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers.",
    "link": "https://waxonia.com/",
    "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/"
  },
  "ordered": false,
  "pickCount": 5,
  "years": {
    "first": 1973,
    "last": 1980
  },
  "picks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "chic--good-times",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/chic--good-times/",
      "title": "Good Times",
      "artist": "Chic",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/chic/",
      "year": 1979,
      "label": "Atlantic",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The bassline that financed hip-hop's first hit, and the record a Ladbroke Grove sound system named itself after in 1980. Few records have been repurposed this many times and survived all of it.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "disco",
          "name": "Disco",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Chic%20Good%20Times",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKQapswGaY",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "mfsb--love-is-the-message",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/mfsb--love-is-the-message/",
      "title": "Love Is the Message",
      "artist": "MFSB",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/mfsb/",
      "year": 1973,
      "label": "Philadelphia International",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The closing ritual of the Paradise Garage, played to the same room often enough to become liturgy. Some records are made by DJs years after they are recorded, and this is the clearest case.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "disco",
          "name": "Disco",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/MFSB%20Love%20Is%20the%20Message",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7b1umcmfaXY",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "loose-joints--is-it-all-over-my-face",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/loose-joints--is-it-all-over-my-face/",
      "title": "Is It All Over My Face",
      "artist": "Loose Joints",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/loose-joints/",
      "year": 1980,
      "label": "West End",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Disco at its strangest and least commercial, rescued by a mix. The rare groove tradition was never about obscurity for its own sake; it was about records that were better than their sales.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "disco",
          "name": "Disco",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-chicago-in-the-room",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — In the Room",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-chicago-in-the-room/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Loose%20Joints%20Is%20It%20All%20Over%20My%20Face",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hn27RiqRj7s",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "double-exposure--ten-percent",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/double-exposure--ten-percent/",
      "title": "Ten Percent",
      "artist": "Double Exposure",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/double-exposure/",
      "year": 1976,
      "label": "Salsoul",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The first commercially released twelve-inch, which is a format question as much as a musical one. The extended mix changed what a DJ could build over the course of an hour.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "disco",
          "name": "Disco",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Double%20Exposure%20Ten%20Percent",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rP0EPsS3OdQ",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "funkadelic--one-nation-under-a-groove",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/funkadelic--one-nation-under-a-groove/",
      "title": "One Nation Under a Groove",
      "artist": "Funkadelic",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/funkadelic/",
      "year": 1978,
      "label": "Warner Bros.",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The border case, and here as one. Funkadelic on a disco list is arguable, and a list nobody could argue with is a list nobody chose.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Funkadelic%20One%20Nation%20Under%20a%20Groove",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gQw7b489DlE",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}