Johnnie Taylor; Singer Had Hit With ‘Disco Lady’

Johnnie Taylor, whose 1976 “Disco Lady” was a hit on the dance floor and in the pop charts, has died, apparently of a heart attack. He was 62. Authorities in Dallas said the singer was stricken at his home in suburban Duncanville and died Wednesday at Charleton Methodist Medical Center.

“Disco Lady,” the first single ever to earn the then-new platinum designation (for sales of 2 million copies), was Taylor’s biggest mainstream success, staying at No. 1 for four weeks. His only other Top 10 pop record was “Who’s Making Love” in 1968, but Taylor had a prolific career in the R&B; field, where he had 13 top 10 hits and was a mainstay of Memphis’ legendary Stax Records, working alongside such artists as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and Booker T. & the MG’s.

Chart archivist Joel Whitburn ranked Taylor at No. 44 on his list of the 500 top chart performers in R&B.; Taylor received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1996.

Taylor was born in Crawfordsville, Ark., and started as a singer in gospel groups. In 1957 he joined the Soul Stirrers when the vocal group’s leader went into secular music. That singer--Sam Cooke--eventually brought Taylor into secular music as well, signing him to his Los Angeles-based labels, Sar and Derby.

After Cooke was fatally shot in 1964, Taylor joined the Stax roster and remained with the label until it folded in 1975. He then signed with Columbia, where he recorded “Disco Lady”--which, he frequently pointed out in interviews, was an R&B; song about disco, not a disco song.

Taylor, who moved to Dallas in the mid-’60s, had been with Mississippi-based Malaco Records since 1984. The label released his most recent album, “Gotta Get the Groove Back,” last November. His upcoming single from the album tells of a dream about a party in “Soul Heaven,” with Taylor joining stars from the past performing for a night.