Lonely Dancer - Van McCoy

Although most people associate Van McCoy with his production work for the likes of Gladys Knight & the Pips and the Stylistics, or for "The Hustle," the 1975 disco hit that spawned a hundred imitators, it's important to remember that McCoy created an enormous body of solo work before his early death from a heart attack in 1979. And his final album, Lonely Dancer, while not perhaps his best-ever work, becomes, in hindsight, a poignant sign-off from this often overlooked and underrated musician. Equally at home with pure-driven disco and sweet, soulful ballads, McCoy divides his time between the two styles across the LP -- and, yes, there is a "Hustle-esque" song included here, as "the Samba" revisits his best-known stomping ground. But that song, in actuality, is one of the album's throwaways; McCoy emerges much stronger across the flashy, grungy disco of the mammoth seven-minute opus "Lonely Dancer," a song that really should have been a hit. Where Lonely Dancer takes its nicest turn, however, is across the tender ballads, which slow the mirror-ball ethics. They may be construed as slightly clichéd, with their overly lush strings and heartfelt backing vocals, but they also spotlight McCoy singing songs you could actually believe HE believed in. "Merry Go Round" is his best example, but McCoy repeats the process across "Decisions" and I Wish You Well," and, with hindsight, one wonders if these songs are autobiographical goodbyes of sorts. The feeling of finality that permeates Lonely Dancer may merely be an imprint of circumstance, but it may not. What is clear is that Van McCoy wasn't just a one-dance man. And this set proves that he shouldn't have been treated as a one-off joke. ~ Amy Hanson, All Music Guide