Van McCoy, The Hustle | 1 Hit WONDERful

In the 48^th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful (2024), we highlight “The Hustle” performed by the late Van McCoy.

It only takes ONE hit to solidify a musical legacy 💯! On 1 Hit WONDERful, we highlight songs that were the SOLE hit by a given musician.  It is possible that the artists appearing on this list earned a minor hit or two, BUT for the most part, that ONE hit earned them recognition. So, in the 48^th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful (2024), we dive into “The Hustle”, the one-hit wonder by Van McCoy.

These days, primarily instrumental hits are hard to come by. Prolific producer, arranger, singer, and songwriter Van McCoy (1940 – 1979) scored a huge, mostly instrumental hit with “The Hustle”. “The Hustle” is the third track from his 1975 album, Disco Baby.  McCoy penned this delightful, crowd-pleasing disco gem. Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore produced it.  The sole hit by McCoy, it peaked at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (attributed to him and The Soul City Symphony). It also earned him a gold single. Making things even sweeter, McCoy won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. While McCoy is a one-hit wonder by pop standards, his musical impact is far greater despite living only 39 years.

“The Hustle” begins with an electrifying disco groove. Lovely background vocals sing “Do it!” The intro is a fabulous preface to the most memorable, tuneful portion of the song.  This is where those iconic, “Do the Hustle!” lyrics enter the mix. The songwriting is minimal, and that’s by design. This joint’s about the sweet instrumental and dancing! The dance, the hustle, preceded the song. McCoy’s hit was written surrounding the dance, which was popular within the Latin community. The orchestration and production are delightful.  The woodwinds shine, the brass is assertive, and the strings are lush. The orchestra blends beautifully with the rhythm section, which features a superb, prominent bass line and pummeling drums. Like much of the 1970s soul and disco, the symphonic touches are classy, refined, and ear-catching. Given the popularity of disco at the time, it’s unsurprising that “The Hustle” was a big deal.

Van McCoy // Disco Baby // AVCO Records Corp. // 1975

Van McCoy, The Hustle: 1 Hit WONDERful No. 48 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; AVCO Records Corp.; Antoni Shkraba, KoolShooters, Pavel Danilyuk, Photo By: Kaboompics.com, RDNE Stock project from Pexels; OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]