Group had signed to Columbia in the early 1970's, and here Maurice White set up his Kalimba distribution (which also included Deniece Williams. In the mid 1970's the group moved to the ARC (American Recording Company) sub-label of Columbia.
By 1976, they were recording dancefloor tracks which appealed to both R&B and disco fans. Listen out for songs like "Saturday night" and "Fantasy" (which was much covered in the 1980's).
Their first 12" single was the promo-only "Getaway", which was soon covered by the Salsoul Orchestra.
Earth, Wind & Fire's fame peaked in 1978-79 when they had a string of highly successful international disco hits with "September", "Boogie Wonderland" and "Star".
Last successful disco recording was in 1981 with "Let's groove". Vocalist Phillip Bailey left the group in the early 1980's to start a solo career.
Getaway / (same) (Columbia 12" AS 243, 1976) Saturday night / On your face (Columbia 12" 23-10512, 1976) Serpentine fire / (mono) (Columbia 12" AS 416, 1977) Got to get you into my life / I'll write a song for you (ARC 12" 23-10786, 1978) Boogie wonderland / (instrumental) (ARC 12" 23-10950, 1979) Let me talk (ARC 12" AS 853, 1980) And love goes on (ARC 12" AS 924, 1980)