This was on the radio so often! It’s a fantastic tune and it’s impossible to not move along to the music. It is also impossible to get it out of your head once you hear it – try it today and I bet you will be annoying sundry people by humming or whistling it all day?  I never really knew who had composed the tune – it’s one of those records where the song is so much bigger than the artist! McCoy only ever had one song in the Billboard charts – and it went to #1!  Unfortunately, all his extraordinary musical prowess has been forgotten due to his untimely and early death at just 39. But he held the copyright for over 700 songs, and wrote and produced for big names like Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone & Tom Jones.

In 1975 McCoy was putting the finishing touches on his new album when a DJ friend of his took him to a NY club called Adam’s Apple.  There McCoy saw people dancing a new dance from the Bronx called The Hustle – it was a big break from all ither dances that were the rage like the Bump, because people actually held each other and danced in unison. McCoy was fascinated and wrote The Hustle in a few hours and recorded it as a throw away, last minute inclusion into his album. Of course the song went ballistic when released – it got to #1 and won the Grammy that year.  Do you remember the cover of the SNF album – Travolta dancing, pointing to the sky? Everyone dancing to ‘Night Fever’ – the dance they were doing? The Hustle! I still remember getting a pull out ion JS with the steps of hoe to do the Hustle ???. I must admit I did try and learn it – failed miserably ?.

For some reason, The Hustle reminds me of Hot Butter’s ‘Popcorn’. You?