So, I played this song called Yes We Can Can on the show last saturday. The version you heard on Tegentonen was by a group called The Discoettes. I took it from a compilation called Strange Breaks & Mr. Thing. Great compilation with some really obscure and strange songs by groups you've never heard of. Indeed, I had never heard of The Discoettes before, but I like the song, so I thought about diggin' up some info. That proved to be quite a tough search. The only thing I know is that The Discoettes were from Australia and released an lp called Disco Dance Party back in 1976. Yes We Can Can wasn’t the only coversong on this record as it featured a lot of classic tunes reworked. I found their rendition of Pick Up The Pieces on YouTube, but would love to hear what these folks did with Day Tripper or Kung Fu Fighting.
Meanwhile, Yes We Can Can, the song we played, was originally written by Allen Toussaint and recorded by Lee Dorsey. It was orginally called Yes We Can and released on his 1970 album with the same title. The Meters were his backing band on that one. It sounds like this:
I bought a nice compilation today called Let There Be Funk! (Brown Sugar / BSR 1003-2) on which I found this song I played you all last saturday. This version however, was by The Pointer Sisters. Theirs is the most successful version to date. Love this live performance from '74:
