Let Your Body Go Downtown

"Let Your Body Go Downtown" is a song co-written by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran,[1][2] and recorded by the Martyn Ford Orchestra as a single on 18 March 1977 on the Mountain record label. A 12-inch single was also released.[3] It was also released in France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands on Vertigo Records.[4] As noted by Record World magazine, it took the single three months to enter the UK Singles Chart.[5] However, this insistent funk/soul/disco song reached No. 38 on that chart,[6] and No. 12 on the UK Disco Chart, published by Record Mirror.[7] A performance of the song was shown on the 12 May 1977 edition of Top of the Pops.[8]

The song was followed by another de Paul/Moran penned release, "Going to a Disco",[9] in a similar vein,[10] also released on the Mountain record label in 1997 as a 7 inch and 12 inch single[11] but did not chart although it received a positive review from the British DJ James Hamilton.[12][13] It is also mentioned alongside "Let Your Body Go Downtown" in the books The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music[14] and Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2006[15]

"Let Your Body Go Downtown" is still played on the radio,[16][17] most recently on the Ana Matronic Disco Devotion radio show on BBC Radio 2.[18]