THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

635-T-Connection-At Midnight.

1979-Number 53 single.

Best Bit-At 3.07. The percussion intro was meant to go on for longer, but the bongo player got cramp.

T-Connection were a ‘Funk,’ and ‘Disco’ group, who were formed in Nassau, the Bahamas, in 1975, by Monty Brown, (drums) Theophilus ‘T’ Coakley, (guitar & keyboards) his brother Kirkwood Coakley, (bass & drums) David Mackey, (guitars) Anthony Flowers, (percussion) and Berkley Van Byrd, (1953-2012) (drums) they were active until 1984, releasing their first four studio Albums on ‘TK Records,’ (1977-1980) and the other four on ‘Capitol Records’ (1981-1984.) T-Connection never had an entry on the American Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles chart, but did manage five consecutive top 10 hits, with their first five singles, on the ‘Billboard Dance Club Songs’ chart, including their 1977 track ‘Do What You Wanna Do,’ which made Number 1, and has been pin pointed by the Scottish music producer Calvin Harris (see also best songs 760-652 and 566) as a major influence on him beginning to produce music at a young age. They also achieved six top 40 entries on the ‘Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ chart, with ‘Everything Is Cool,’ from 1981, peaking the highest at Number 10. Their 1977 track ‘Groove to Get Down,’ has been heavily sampled, after being chosen for inclusion on the 1986 ‘Ultimate Breaks and Beats’ compilation series of Albums. T-Connection issued a total of 18 singles between 1976-1984, finding their greatest commercial success in the UK, where two of their singles, ‘Do What You Wanna Do,’ (1977-Number 11) and ‘On Fire,’ (1977-Number 16) both reached the top 40, with another three, including ‘At Midnight,’ (1978-Number 53) all charting between Number 41 to 53.

‘At Midnight’ was the only single released from T-Connection’s self titled third studio Album from 1978, and was co-written by the group members Theophilus ‘T’ Coakley, and David Mackey, with the production being by Cory Wade, who was born in 1936, and is an American music producer and songwriter, who played a significant role in the development of ‘Disco’ music in the 1970’s. His production credits include, ‘The Way You Do the Things You Do,’ for Foxy, (1976) ‘Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me,’ for Peter Brown, (1977) as well as several of the ‘TK Records’ recordings of T-Connection.

T-Connection left the Bahamas in 1975, to relocate in Miami Florida, the home of ‘TK Records’ who had just signed them to a recording contract. ‘TK Records’ were an American independent record label, that had been founded in 1972 by Henry Stone (1921-2014) and Steve Alaimo, ‘TK’ was inspired by the initials of the sound engineer Terry Kane. ‘TK Records’ was closely associated with the early rise of ‘Disco Music,’ with worldwide hits on the label being provided by George McRae, (see also best songs 64) and KC & The Sunshine Band (see also best songs 893.) In 1980 ‘TK Records’ encountered financial problems, and was declared bankrupt in 1981, with the label being acquired by Morris Levy’s (1927-1990) ‘Roulette Records,’ in a merger of the two labels. On October 12th, 2013, Henry Stone received a proclamation from the ‘City of Hialeah’ Mayor Carlos Hernandez, declaring it ‘TK Records Day’ every year on October 12th.

The 12 inch vinyl record of ‘At Midnight’ was significant for being ‘DJ friendly,’ as there were etchings on the vinyl, to let you know where to place the needle. For instance if you wanted to skip the percussion intro, this was clearly marked. These were the days before ‘mixing,’ but the seeds were beginning to be sown.

‘Look into my eyes, tell me what you see, do you see some possibilities? Try and get away tonight, you can be with me, it’s a golden opportunity.’