I never thought I’d be singing the praises of disco tunes, least of all from a period when I was plunged deep in punk and post-punk. Until I remembered this hit by Odyssey.

But the truth is these were the songs you heard on the radio and they lodged in your brain so deeply that they still sound fresh today.

Native New Yorker is a classic example; an irresistible affair involving a jazzy sax intro (by Michael Brecker no less), a funky rhythm – that bassline! – and a lush string arrangement.

It’s written by veteran songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, who had worked with Bob Crewe in the 1960s, and was first recorded by Frankie Valli.

But the definitive version is this one by Odyssey, who started out a decade before this as The Lopez Sisters – Lillian, Louise and Carmen.

The Puerto Rican girls actually came not from New York but Connecticut and by the time they became Odyssey, Carmen had left.

They soon became a trio again with the addition of Filipino bass guitarist Tony Reynolds and his extravagant Afro.

A 1980 follow-up hit by Odyssey, If You’re Looking For A Way Out, went on to be covered, implausibly enough, by Tindersticks on their 1999 album Simple Pleasure.

Tragically, all three of the performers in this video – and Michael Brecker – are no longer with us.