Disco Rock Machine
You Keep Me Hangin’ On
Living For The City
You Really Got Me
Gimme Some Lovin’
Mr. Magic
Trevor Rabin joined Yes in the early 80s (it’s actually a long story that involves Yes breaking up, a new band called Cinema being formed, and then that band becoming Yes again but I don’t want to get into all of that). For audiences in the UK and US, Rabin was a relative unknown, with just a handful of albums to his name, none of which made any dent on the charts on either side of the Atlantic.
But Rabin’s career actually went back a bit further than that. Before he made his way to the UK to start his solo career, Rabin was already an established musician in his native country of South Africa (he was anti-apartheid by the way, just to get that out of the way) as a member of the pop/rock group Rabbitt. I don’t know much about Rabbitt, but they seem to have a rather eclectic discography that includes sappy 70s cheese, prog rock covers, and tracks that wouldn’t sound out of place on a record by Sweet.
Rabbitt had a few hits in South Africa, but they didn’t break through internationally and they broke up in 1977. Rabin started his solo career just a year later with his first record. But at the same time he was trying to make it as a rock-n-roller, he was also plugging away with multiple disco projects. One such project was The Tee Cee’s, who released a sole album the same year Rabbitt called it quits.
The other was Disco Rock Machine. Under that name, Rabin pumped out two albums in just two years. While The Tee Cee’s album featured entirely original material written by Rabin, the Disco Rock Machine were heavy with covers. And like their name suggests, most of their covers were of rock songs, redone in a disco arrangement.
Disco Rock Machine’s first album features just four tracks, each clocking in a dance-floor friendly seven minutes. Sandwiched in between two forgettable Rabin originals are covers of Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City” and “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks. The second album was a bit more pop friendly, with shorter tracks that would play better on the radio. Among the albums six tracks were three Rabin originals, alongside covers of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” “Higher Ground,” and “Gimme Some Lovin’.”
Albums comprised almost entirely of discofied rock covers were definitely a thing in the late 70s. Rabin even served as a session musician for Hot RS, another South African act that specialized in extended disco takes of classic rock tunes. And one thing I’ll say about Disco Rock Machine (and Hot RS for that matter) is that their disco remakes of rock tunes sound a hell of a lot better than others that I’ve heard. I have two disco covers of “In A Gadda Da Vida,” one by Hot RS and another by an act called Disco Circus. The version by Hot RS absolutely blows the Disco Circus one out of the water.
A disco cover of “You Keep Me Hanging On” or “You Really Got Me Now” is intrinsically stupid bullshit. There’s no way around that fact. The world did not need disco covers of Kinks songs. Or Steve Winwood songs. Or (multiple) Stevie Wonder songs. But if someone was going to attempt them, at least it was Trevor Rabin, who clearly shows his studio mastery with these tracks. Disco Rock Machine’s cover of “You Really Got Me” simply does not fuck around. Rabin channeled that song’s natural intensity and energy and skillfully transmorphed into a banger of a dance tune thanks to a groovy bassline, excellent high-hat beat, and some shredding guitar. Ditto for their take on “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” Stretched out to seven minutes, the track builds and builds, breaks down and then explodes back up to a feverish conclusion, with a killer beat and some truly inventive guitar work by Rabin backing the whole thing up.
Truth be told though, the thing that shines through on all the best Disco Rock Machine tracks isn’t Rabin’s production or playing, but the wonderful voice of the singer, René Veldsman. When singing disco, a vocalist has two options; they can go smooth and sultry, or they can be as big and loud as humanely possible. Veldsman definitely favors the latter, often booming and blasting her way through a track. Sometimes that can be a bit much, but it’s a style that definitely fits the rock-n-roll feel that these tracks are going for. She’s particularly strong in her performances of “Gimme Some Lovin'” and “You Really Got Me,” belting those numbers out with no regard for anything remotely resembling restraint. Pure power.
These are cheesy tunes, for sure. And they haven’t exactly aged all that well. But they’re fun! And in my opinion they serve as a preview of the studio wizardry and production prowess that Rabin would become known for in the following decade. Most of the tracks I’m sharing from these two albums are the covers, they’re the highlights. But “Mr Magic,” a Rabin-penned original, ain’t half bad so I’m throwing that one in too. It’s also a good example of Veldsman holding it back a notch to show she’s more than capable of delivering a more varied, subdued vocal performance as well.
After calling it quits with Disco Rock Machine and his assorted other disco acts, I don’t think that Rabin ever went back to dance music. After leaving Yes in 1994, he went on to mostly do film scores. Right now, he’s working with former Yes members Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman as Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman. They’re allegedly going to tour again soon, and I hope that they stop by Japan before calling it quits (Wakeman has repeatedly referred to his next tour as his “farewell tour”).
I’m not holding by breath for any Disco Rock Machine covers to make their way into the set, however.