A rushed final hour in the studio gave disco one of its most recognizable songs.
Fifty-one years ago today, on July 26, 1975, Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony’s “The Hustle” reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts. The largely instrumental track stayed atop the Hot 100 for one week, but its place in ’70s culture would last far longer.
McCoy was working on his 1975 album, Disco Baby, when his business partner, Charles Kipps Jr., visited the Adam’s Apple nightclub in New York City. There, Kipps saw dancers performing the Latin Hustle, a partner dance that had developed within the city’s Latino communities.
Kipps encouraged McCoy to create a song around the dance. With just one hour of studio time remaining, McCoy quickly wrote down what came to mind and recorded “The Hustle.”
The dance caught his interest because it brought physical connection back to the dance floor after years in which people commonly danced separately. “It was people dancing together again,” McCoy later recalled.
That simple observation became the basis of a song driven by its steady rhythm, orchestral sound and brief commands to “Do the hustle” and “Do it.”
Released on April 18, 1975, the record sold an estimated 10 million copies and helped bring the dance McCoy had heard about to people across the country. Released on April 18, 1975, the record sold an estimated 10 million copies and helped turn an existing local dance into a nationwide phenomenon.
“The Hustle” also earned McCoy the Grammy Award for Pop Instrumental Performance in 1976. He received two additional nominations that year for the song and Disco Baby.
McCoy died from a heart attack in 1979 at only 39 years old, making “The Hustle” the biggest hit of a career that ended far too soon. More than half a century after its one-week stay at No. 1, the song remains instantly connected to the dance floors and disco culture of the 1970s.
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