Martin Circus

One of the first — if not the first — French-language rock bands, Martin Circus formed in the late '60s and released a handful of respected albums prior to undergoing a makeover that resulted in one of the most enduring disco epics, the 14-minute-long "Disco Circus." The song originated on a 1979 album and was edited down to eight minutes by disco/house vet François Kevorkian. A French 12" release that same year (on the Vogue label) featured "Disco Circus" in its full glory, albeit as the B-side to "Before It Gets Dark." Also in 1979, the legendary U.S. label Prelude released another 12" with the lengthier version included. Five years later, Unidisc pressed 12" singles with the full version on the A-side and a medley of similar length on the B-side. Since its original release, "Disco Circus" has popped up on a couple compilations (Harmless' Jumpin' 2 and SPLK's Prelude's Greatest Hits, Vol. 4, both of which went out of print shortly after release) and it was also thrown onto Juan Atkins' Wax Trax! Mastermix disc in the late '90s.