Cerrone - Love In C Minor (50th Anniversary Edition) *Pre-Order

Release Date Friday 4th December 2026
All pre-orders will be dispatched/made ready for collection on that day.

Because Music celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Cerrone’s debut album “Love In C Minor (Cerrone I)” .
A record which is one of the most important of its time. It brought French Disco to the World and established
Cerrone as the French King of Disco.
With this album, Cerrone accumulated the main elements that make a record timeless, even bigger than its
creator: the pure originality, the madness of a vision without compromise, a sense of the market and a great
dose of luck too. To some extent, this is the perfect record to start a career, even though Cerrone’s one
already existed in an implicit way. He actually began in a rather popular band, Kongas, signed by Barclay.
Between 1972 and 1974, the band was famous and made it abroad, particularly in Japan, where people
loved its sound. Despite this success, probably fed up with the music and not ready to follow the orders of a
label that wanted the band to sound more pop, Cerrone disbanded Kongas.
He had the sound of his instrument in mind and mostly its central element: the bass drum. The idea of this
first solo album came to him after a detour via selling records. Wishing to forget about the studios, he took
the head of a small chain of stores, selling records imported from the States. That’s when he discovered a
daring new sound coming from New York: disco music. This energy inspired him to record again. He then
remembered the crazy reaction of the audience when, during the Kongas' concerts, he used to hit his bass
drum hard. Cerrone felt like going back into the studio but to make something different. He decided to record
a sixteen minutes long track, driven by its beat, that would fit on its own on one side of a LP (during these
vinyl days, musicians used to think in terms of sides…), with girls’ voices simulating sex. This concept of
musical and physical orgasm was recorded at Trident Studios in London (where pop stars used to record at
the time… ) with Don Ray, of Kongas, man in the shadows and brilliant arranger who’d follow Cerrone during
his whole career.
Obviously, like always in pop music (it happened to the Beatles), record companies started by turning this
weird track down, convinced that radios would never play sixteen minutes of beats and moaning. Cerrone, a
born fighter, decided to trust his instinct (a mix of ego and business sense) and chose to believe that if the
radios wouldn’t play the track, people would dance to it in the clubs. He released the record himself, with a
sexy cover a bit provocative where he wore a black bathrobe, a young short-haired girl leaning on him. Being
played here and there, thanks to Cerrone’s own network, the record started to work a bit in France.
But luckily, things really happened in the States. Due to a mistake, a box of “Love In C Minor” albums were
sent to the States via Cerrone’s record shop instead of some unsold American LPs. Once in New York, the
box was opened and the record with its intriguing cover was instantly loved and passed through the hands of
radio and club DJs. All of a sudden, and unknown to its creator, the track that was turned down by every
French label, became a hit on the New York disco scene. Casablanca, the US disco label, released a cover

recorded by an ad hoc band because nobody knew Cerrone of how to find him. Once he discovered what
was happening in the States, Cerrone flew to New York. He realised he had a hit, one of the biggest then,
that opened the doors to every record company and especially Atlantic. He was welcomed by Ahmet
Ertegun, one of the main visionaries of American music who, among other artists, signed Aretha Franklin
and John Coltrane. It’s believed that Ertegun understood that the French young musician, like some Atlantic
artists, was about to define the sound of his time and that his work would live long after its birth date. “Love
In C Minor” was the first step, adamant and successful.
Tracklist:
SIDE A A1 -LOVE IN C MINOR 16:06
SIDE B B1 -BLACK IS BLACK 5:52 B2 – MIDNITE LADY 7:28

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for looking at our listing, below are a few points to consider before making a purchase:

- All records we sell are Brand New - pre-orders will normally come sealed but if you are purchasing in stock items, please note the copy may have been unsealed for display in the shop. Please email straight after purchase to enquire if this is of importance to you.

- Orders won't ship until all items are released, so keep this in mind when purchasing multiple pre-orders or a mix of in stock and pre-order items.

- The 'Product' page will show the most up to date info we have with regards to the item and its release date, but this information is subject to change so check in with us if you have any questions.

- We unfortunately don't offer tax/vat outside of the UK via the website so please keep in mind that when the items arrives in your country you may be liable to pay a further charge before delivery. (all UK orders the price you see is the price you will pay). Please also note that we are unable to adjust the declared value on items sold internationally.