Eurodisco Forever: An Essential Voyage Playlist

DEL compiles a selection of the essential songs from Eurodisco band Voyage for his Foundations series.

Related: Foundations: Voyage and “An Absolute Timeless Dance Classic”

Voyage: An Essential Playlist

Lady America
77; #1 Dance-Disco chart – DISCO! Funny that this was never released as a commercial single as so many others were from their legendary eponymous first album but, it was a promo 12″. At any rate, it was a peak song at clubs like Second Story in Philly and Studio 54 in NYC. Pure energy throughout via a catchy male vocal lead, great keys, smooth backing singers, and a rhythm cadence that simply didn’t stop at 129 bpm! Their ode to AMERICA!

Souvenirs
’78; #1 Dance-Disco/#73 R&B/#41 Pop charts – Considered by most to be their best song and said to be one of THE anthems at what club historians claim was the most famous gay disco, The Saint in NYC. Soaring Euro-disco – with hopeful female vocals, tremendous production and creative musicality, it is an all-time disco classic.

From East To West
’77; #1 Dance-Disco/#85 R&B charts – Another Euro-disco classic from the early foundations of dance. In this “journey,” the music is the star with the infrequent vocals a nice “side trip.” Horns, guitars, strings, and percussion all come and go in perfect harmonious rhythm.

Latin Odyssey
’77; #1 Dance-Disco chart – Great guitar licks over a Spanish-Latin-hustle groove. Tons of percussion acts as your vocal on this instrumental hit.

Point Zero
’77; #1 Dance-Disco chart – Get your Afro-disco on with this chant-filled groove with some definite rock/world music influences – not surprising, given the band’s roots (including work with Manu Dibango).

I Love You Dancer
’80; #17 Dance-Disco chart – My favorite from their less-renown “Voyage 3” LP. It has an electro-boogie mid-tempo groove with catchy vox and lots of synth play throughout.

Kechak Fantasy
’78; #1 Dance-Disco chart – Segues right out of “Souvenirs” on the Fly Away album. This 98% instrumental is part-Afro, part-Euro-disco, part funk, and ALL fun in just about three minutes.

Tahiti, Tahiti
’78; #1 Dance-Disco chart – You’re in for an uptempo island party with this tropical disco hit! Full of drum percussion, sparse strings, and Latin vocals it’s a testament to their versatility.

Come and Get It
’82; uncharted – Upbeat with an Earth, Wind, & Fire feeling to the vocals and some Chic-esque guitar stabs, this rather unknown cut was my favorite from their last album.

One Step Higher & I Surrender
’82; uncharted – From album number four – it was Voyage meets Cameo/Slave/etc. as they morphed their sound again putting a definitive nail in their Euro-disco coffin.

I Don’t Want To Fall In Love Again
’80; uncharted – Let me try a DEL label here: pre-punk, pop-rock, disco. The 12″ is very rare.

Orient Express
’77; #1 Dance-Disco chart – This lesser-known Euro-disco song heads east with some Indian-Asian disco spice!

Scotch Machine
’77; #1 Dance-Disco chart – Appropriately named (and then renamed to “Scots Machine” as its Scotch-influenced bagpipes (seriously) and a drum cadence reminiscent of a marching band somehow werk… at least for a quirky couple of minutes of high-energy “camp”.

Bayou Village
’77; #1 Dance-Disco chart – I must admit the “cowboy square dance” vibe of this two-minute quirky number bothered me when it first came out but it is another tribute to Voyage’s unique flavor on their “voyage” around the world!