Disco

Surely there is new deep house stuff coming out all the time, right? Even if it isn't hip on ILM. It's like that one Reynolds article from a few years back (it might surprise some to hear that I read the man, but I do)(I just disagree with him vehemently about tons of stuff)(except for the awesomeness of the Doors and Jefferson Airplane of course) where he details the deep house scene in NYC, and basically poo-poos their little retro 'let's-recreate-the-paradise-garage' scene. I mean, where is the harm in it? People are going out having a good time, dancing, to this functional music, much of which is new and continues to be created. I have a buddy who is a deep house dj here in chicago -- who plays tons of the stuff with the dreaded *real instruments*, guitar solos, piano solos, the whole jazzy nine yards -- and while I don't LOVE that music, every time I've gone out to hear him spin I can enjoy myself and every one else seems to as well. It IS a total Yupster scene, there's no doubt about it. But at the same time, you know, it EXISTS. Whether the hipoisie care or not.

i am going to be contentious and say justus köhncke. also metro area/environ. lcd ss came to my mind too, but they strike me more as outsiders looking in at the continuum.

i enjoyed love saves the day even though it was a bit dry and analytical at times, but i will say that its seriousness is also its upside. to me it's a must-read because of the level of detail and because it has lengthy interviews with and commentary on mancuso, grasco, siano...all of the early djs. it was a totally eye opening read into a subculture i knew and glorified from afar. knowing the details makes it even better.

xpost w/stormy

xpost

There's a glossary of terms you'd hear at a disco ("HEAVY: A person who tries to start a serious conversation at a disco,") a "discourse" chapter where he discusses why young people like disco instead of rock, a history of disco that ends with "not bad for something that originated in France," a chapter on Disco fashion ("Lycra-Spandex, it's futuristic and form-fitting - now all you need are stylish knee pads,") how to feel at home while dancing ("success at the disco is largely a matter of kinetic energy. There'll be plenty of time for hanky panky when you reach the mandatory disco retirement age of 38,") and how to start a DIY disco party.

Spencer: "Ralph Rocker - He is really terrified that disco will someday replace rock and roll, and he'll have to shower, shave, and become the regular person he was back in 1968, when he dropped out of kindergarten to drive a truck."

I spent most of my life thinking Sister Sledge records would probably be the most boring idea ever. HA! BOY was I wrong! It is a sin against mankind that "Love Somebody Today" cannot be bought on CD.

And yes, "Thinking Of You" is an especially good one of theirs.

another vote for classic.

Cocaine
John Travolta
Man-made fibres

There is Nothing that Disco cannot do.

Spencer: "Ralph Rocker - He is really terrified that disco will someday replace rock and roll, and he'll have to shower, shave, and become the regular person he was back in 1968, when he dropped out of kindergarten to drive a truck."

OMG

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8142893.stm

I found this video on Youtube and it sounds similar to Chic's "Good Times". My question is, who borrowed (sampled) who?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb2DJc59JcU

xxpost:
I don't mind retreads at all, and I listen to old stuff all the time, but I'm mainly talking about a cultural moment where there's no innovative disco culture. Doesn't mean new deep house stuff, or new garridge or broken beat or whatever isn't amazing, I'm just lamenting the fact that there's nothing really new to excite us in a "hey, what's this crazy new sh*t???" kind of way. Everythings gone very macho - there's nothing really unabashed anymore.
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, February 17, 2005 2:30 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I wonder if spencer still feels like this.

hey experts

I am away from my library and need my memory jogged. I remember a classic description of discotheque live mixing, a DJ using Robert Plant's moaning in the breakdown to "Whole Lotta Love" over another disco song to add tension...

does anyone remember the other disco song? (donna summer)? does anyone remember the DJ? (Larry Levan)? and does anyone remember the book this anecdote appears in? (Rap Attack? Can't Stop Won't Stop? Cut'n'mix?)

not giving you guys much I know, & appreciation in advance

In "Turn The Beat Around" Peter Schapiro describes Francis Grasso mixing the breakdowns of "Whole Lotta Love" and "I'm A Man" from the first Chicago album... not positive if that's the example you're thinking of, I'm sure "Whole Lotta Love" has been used by other DJs for similar mixes.

From Love Saves The Day by Tim Lawrence, p. 35, about early '70s Sanctuary DJ Francis Grasso: "The DJ's most famous permutation layered the Latin beats of Chicago's 'I'm A Man' over the erotic groans and vocal break of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love.'"

xp, obv

that's it precisely. I've never read either of those two books, but memory jogged, it was "I'm a man"

Lightening fast you guys, thanks

I wonder if spencer still feels like this.

― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Monday, July 13, 2009 6:29 AM (4 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

not if hes heard this nu ringtone cru anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dZqghXe5FY

Damn you, Geir, for sabotaging an amazingly rare near-unanimous "C or D" thread!

Mostly classic, even though there were a few dud moments, such as sides three of Donna Summer's great "Bad Girls" and "Once Upon a Time..." albums.

easy disco track id: "from east to the west, only you know me best"

Milton, you might also want to check out DJ Harvey's Black Cock edit of The Winners' "Get Ready for the Future" (called "Get Ready") which also features Zep's "Whole Lotta Love" mixed into it.

will check it out, thanks. mostly trying to reconstruct early sampling precedents right now. drew mentioned a classic Levan trick, fading Kendricks' "Date With The Rain" into Chaka Khan's "Clouds" -- anyone know if there are tapes of this? I have the Live at the Paradise Garage CD set, but that's mostly segued beatmatching, not too much active juxtaposition or trickery... I'm interested in any actual 70's documents of the more creative mixes

I wonder if spencer still feels like this.

I've been trying to get into "funky house" but despite reading a lot of skykicking, I'm not quite there yet.

Still lots of good dance music around, but no movement I'm currently excited about.

I have the Live at the Paradise Garage CD set, but that's mostly segued beatmatching, not too much active juxtaposition or trickery... I'm interested in any actual 70's documents of the more creative mixes

― Milton Parker, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 1:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

huh? 'more creative' mixes? you get a mix with cher, german disco & jermaine jackson, what are u looking for exactly?

Ok, exactly how is that sweeping stringy noise in disco songs used

(e.g. 21 seconds in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g6bUe5MDRo )

I just can't put my finger on it (and it's definitely among the better sounds in music's history)

I have the Live at the Paradise Garage CD set, but that's mostly segued beatmatching, not too much active juxtaposition or trickery... I'm interested in any actual 70's documents of the more creative mixes

― Milton Parker, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 1:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

huh? 'more creative' mixes? you get a mix with cher, german disco & jermaine jackson, what are u looking for exactly?

― butthurt (deej), Thursday, August 13, 2009 6:40 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

dude look at his post, he's talking about the MIXING not the tracklist

(And yeah I realize I didn't exactly offer a gold-star thread revive, my main inspiration was from checking out all the great music on the Afropop/Afrobeats thread posted mainly by breastcrawl and then seeing how they were kind of desperately appealing for other users to post pretty much anything...I don't know much about Afrobeats but I do know disco so here we are.)

Love Saves the Day is beyond essential, completely transformed my understanding of the context behind the music.

Playlist of 100+ personal favourites: https://open.spotify.com/user/seandalai/playlist/4Xq5uVvrHhJ8l4YZlZTD9a (many are not obscure, above all they're the tracks I never get tired of)

i've been needing to read a good dance music/club culture history. i think i will start w/ love saves the day and see where that takes me

Can't you shitpost on twitter, rate your music, reddit or pretty much anywhere else?

can't you? given the content of your posts here so far, wouldn't it be safe to assume you already do? please stay awhile if you actually want to discuss things or engage w/ 'the community' and can tolerate ppl being a bit unserious or quippy but damn.

this is cool: http://www.aphasic-letters.com/heath/Lin-Tan_Disco-as-Operating-System_Criticism_2008.pdf

The whole attitude of “well I’ve scoured the internet for all the good music” is so depressing

Ugh, yeah

my disco jams archive just keeps growing and growing

I only trust folks who say they like disco

Would love a book compiling all of James Hamilton's articles. The site linked above is great but can't beat checking out the original pages in Record Mirror.

@RecordMirror80s on Twitter uploads high quality scans of James Hamilton's pages (amongst much else) on a daily basis; they also use the hashtag #JamesHamilton

Oh nice, thanks for the tip.

Still would prefer something physical though. Which I'm sure is something the great man would have said.

I really enjoyed this a lot and learned a lot about the roots and culture around disco

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Stuff-Remaking-American-Culture/dp/0393338916

Fantastic story here about a particular LA disco culture:

https://www.lataco.com/underground-disco-east-la/