October 29, 2014 – DJ Alex Gutierrez

It will be forever connected to Disco Music as one of it’s most recognized symbols , yet it has been around since the late 1800s. As early as the 18th century, people used “witches balls” to reflect negative spirits away from the home. Although not 100% verified ,The disco ball was invented by Charles and Logan McGrath, of Basildon, England, in 1859. They ran a popular bar and experimented with lighting effects to enhance the performances of their shows.The February, 1897, issue of the “Electrical Worker” describes the Third Annual Ball held on on January 6, 1897, at Roughaus Hall, Charlestown, and of the spectacular lighting display, which could be seen for miles around Boston. The letters “N.B.E.W.” were done with incandescent lamps of various colors on wire mesh over the ballroom, highlighted by a lamp flashing on a mirrored ball
Most records of pre-disco era mirror balls are limited to appearances in films that show the balls in motion as part of a scene at a bar or cabaret of some sort. Films such as the 1927 silent film “Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt” and the 1942 classic “Casablanca” as well as ” Some Like it Hot show mirror balls as part of set pieces.Division Bell tour that measured a whopping 4.9 meters in diameter. Madonna had to out do the competition andt during her 2006 Confessions on a Dance Floor tour used a 2-ton disco ball covered in $2 million worth of Swarovski crystals.
According to The Guiness Book of World Records The largest disco ball measures 10.33 m (33 ft 10 in) in diameter and was achieved by Bestival (UK) for the Desert Island Disco at Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, UK, on 7 September 2014.
The Disco Ball was rotating while Nile Rodgers and Chic took to the stage to perform .
Alex Gutierrez

Her real name is Beatrice Melba Smith.Her first break came in 1967 as a member of the original cast of the musical ‘Hair’.1976 saw her biggest chart success with the Van McCoy-penned song ‘This Is It’.
‘This Is It’ reached the Billboard Hot 100, the top twenty position on the R&B chart and also made the Top ten in the U.K.1982 saw huge success with the release of the album ‘The Other Side Of The Rainbow’, an album that featured the songs ‘Love’s Comin’ At Ya’ (U.K. Top 20 and produced by Paul Lawrence Jones III and Kashif), ‘Mind Up Tonight’ (U.K. Top 25) and ‘Underlove’ (U.K. Top 75).
Her biggest Disco hit is YOU STEPPED INTO MY LIFE (Producer – Gene McFadden And John Whitehead ) a song released by the Bee Gees in September 1976.Her version reached #47 in the US, #17 in the US R&B Charts and #5 in the US Hot Dance Club Songs in 1978.It’s sexy and sultry vocals combined with a lower BPM than usual fit comfortably as an opening track at many Miami nightclubs.