Baking disco biscuits from scratch! When the team that gave us Saturday Night Fever let the industry know that they would be making Urban Cowboy with Travolta and launching a two record set soundtrack in advance, the music industry miscalculated on lightning striking twice and geared up for the big urban cowboy craze that never happened. Casablanca launched Casablanca West, a label that was meant to peddle the emerging country-disco hybrid. It folded after one album was issued. And Area Code 212’s iconic bit of harmonic blues boogie, “Stone Fox Chase,” kept bubbling up to the surface, even finding its way to Manhattan hip-hop pioneers Mantronix. Having wowed the world by getting to rap earlier than most on “Rapture,” Debbie Harry tried the trick with disco-country on “Buckle Up,” a track that went unnoticed for ages by yours truly—probably because it’s sandwiched between the divine “French Kissing in the USA” (which was written by no less than Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre!) and the slinky goodness that is “In Love with Love.” It’s now quickly ascended my Debbie Harry best-of chart to lodge itself toward the top.

Bits of hoedown get-down started popping up in the oddest places, and since rap was also taking off, the three genres merged in some unprecedented ways—most notable Disco Four’s long lost “Country Rap Rock,” which was a good four decades ahead of itself if “Old Town Road” is any indication. Here’s cultural evolution for you: slant rhyming Maserati sports car with Fendi sports bra (a line I’m pretty sure is attributable to Billy Ray Cyrus and not L’il Nas X) is funnier than slant rhyming “heard of a cow” with “down to the OK Corral,” but not by much. And no one thought of “we’re taking Studio 54/behind the barn door”?

This podcast came about because I had yet to find a home for Boney M’s cover of Patsy Cline’s “Strange,” which works surprisingly well with a slight touch of reggae against some chicken scratch guitar. It’s a shame they render the song meaningless by fucking up the lyrics pretty seriously. But then, this is a Frank Farian joint, so what do you expect?

Light in the Attic’s worthwhile Country Funk enterprise informs this, especially the recent Country Funk III. It’s the most disco-friendly in the series, offering an unreleased Tony Joe White recording that handily manages to relocate Barry White to a Louisiana swamp. A whiff of swamp gas lingers around Larry Jon Wilson (who?) as well. “Ohoopee River Bottomland” also owes more than a debt to Bobbie Gentry. While funky downhome disco never took off, it wasn’t for lack of trying on the part of Dennis Linde, Travis Wammack (he of the ultimate shit-kicker name) and the underappreciated Ron Galbraith, who is a recent and very welcome discovery.

Even the brits (and Brit wannabes) got into the act, hauling out the fiddles and bagpipes as the Clash did for “Lose this Skin” and Tom Tom Club’s crazy-catchy “Daddy Come Home.” I didn’t even know this track (or album!) existed until I stumbled on it totally on accident while I was working on this podcast. I’ve played “Daddy” every day since. I also marvel that cultural appropriation kingpins Malcolm McLaren and whoever was behind Haysi Fantayzee found their way to square dance and bayou fiddles. From the shores of the UK, Appalachia is as exotic as South Africa.

Don’t Be Cruel—Billy Swan ’74 ℥ Ghost Riders in the Sky—Dennis Linde ’78 ℥ Listen to the Bass of Get Stupid Fresh Part II—Mantronix ’86 ℥ Old Town Road—L’il Nas X ’19 ℥ Country Rap Rock—Disco Four ’82 ℥ Buckle Up—Debbie Harry ’86 ℥ Strange—Boney M ’81 ℥ Ohoopee River Bottomland—Larry Jon Wilson ’75 ℥ Natural Blues—Moby ’00 ℥ Down to the Station—Dennis Linde ’78 ℥ I Got the Fever—Rob Galbraith ’75 ℥ Alone at Last—Tony Joe White ’82 ℥ Do Me—Travis Wammack ’77 ℥ There Is a Light—Kacey Musgraves ’21 ℥ Daddy Come Home—Tom Tom Club ’92 ℥ Lose This Skin—The Clash ’80 ℥ Shiny, Shiny (Bon Temps)—Haysi Fantayzee ’83 ℥ Buffalo Gals—Malcolm McLaren ’83 ℥ A Little Less Conversation—Elvis vs JXL ’02