Disco

The Disco Files 1973-1978, mainly composed of Vince Aletti's weekly disco columns for Record World, a trade magazine - all of them, in fact. Tons of inside dope from a scenester who knew what he was talking about. Has the advantage of the immediacy factor, having been written in the moment. Also works as a reference book, complete with hundreds of contemporary playlists from DJs nationwide.

^^^^

sounds perfect ty

Disco Files is great as a time capsule and as a source for obscure track recommendations but it doesn't really draw a narrative or fill out any background on the various characters that pass through the weekly reports. Love Saves the Day is probably my favourite music book ever so I'd definitely say pick that one up first.

i would argue that Love Saves The Day imposes a narrative on the raw data presented in Disco Files. well that's a little too strong but LSTD views disco thru a (post) modern lens while DF simply reports what happened as it happened and gains a cumulative shape or forms a rough arc by the end. LSTD definitely fleshes out the personalities of the various characters and is easy/enjoyable to read VS pouring thru DF's myriad details.

bottom line: both great, read em in tandem for the full picture

'love saves the day' and 'disco files' are great. i honestly don't like 'turn the beat around' as much as those two but ppl rep for it really hard so maybe im just dumb for preferring LSTD

Definitely agree that DF and LTSD work well together and you shouldn't read *just* LSTD to get the full picture, but for me DF has too much "X is a new release by artist Y (who you may remember released Z last year) that has been picked up by DJ A from club B and it's a great 10-minute epic in a Donna Summer style" - an entire week's "file" can be made up of this kind of thing. I at least would have wanted more on the whos and whys if DF had been my entry point.

yeah once you have the context DF becomes the more interesting book i think but if you're just trying to get a narrative start w/ LSTD

ctrl-f "disco files"
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7967-words-and-music-our-60-favorite-music-books/

crtl-f "turn the beat"
http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7967-words-and-music-our-60-favorite-music-books/3/

/shameless

Skimming this thread for some random listening this morning. That Bear Essense track, "The Big Hurt" is so amazing I had to hear it twice! Moroder-ish synths, huge string swells and a very dramatic, over-the-top, showtune-like vocal. It's like Shirley Bassey fronting the Alan Parsons project.

bottom line: both great, read em in tandem for the full picture

k cool will do this, w/ a heavy youtube supplement for primary sources

calling all disco aficionados. I'm listening to a daniel wang mix and I wondered what's the song that goes "devil man, you make a devil woman out of me." and then there's an evil laugh sound or something. other lyrics include: "burns my body...corrupts the mind"

thanks!

research suggests that it is "devil woman" by fire and ice, available on this lalo schifrin-produced lp (and on a 12"): http://www.discogs.com/Fire-And-Ice-Fire-And-Ice/master/256361

you might confirm by listening to it at the end of this mix on youtube: http://youtu.be/RHVW2UR6mnU

i did listen to it and it sounded like a wangy track, but i didn't notice the lyrics or evil laugh sound you mention.

unfortunately that's not the one, but thanks a lot for the effort! you can hear the track here: http://www.mixesdb.com/w/2002-05-22_-_Daniel_Wang_@_The_Speakerteas,_Mazzo,_Amsterdam it's the first track.

definitely not the one! this one, however, is it: http://www.discogs.com/Love-Connection-Hot-Blood-Hot-Nature-Woman/release/1162055

hear it here: http://youtu.be/o1O_chHIuWU

research skillz, bitch.

oh yes, i realize i have listened to this set before. do you know the awesome instrumental party jam with the insistent synth riff coming in around 19:30? been after than one for a while...

I gotta hand it to you, mate. what keywords did you use?

no, I don't know about that one, sorry.

on related note, why does daniel wang rarely keep the beats matched?

I assume it's "hot blood?" I thought she sang "hot love"

yeah i think it's "hot blood". i frequently mistake the lyrics on these jams - for a long time i though madleen kane's "forbidden love" was "gorilla", lol.

in my disc-jocking experience it can be hard to match the beats on these records for a couple of reasons - A) a lot of the jams with live drums vary in tempo dramatically, so you have to ride the pitch control to keep things in time, and B) you can spend a lot of time deciding which jam to play next, and then when you do finally decide you are often in a rush to mix it in during the break of the previous song (cuz you're not dealing with identigroove house or techno records which blend seamlessly together regardless of when you mix in) and you don't have time to get the tempo sorted before bringing the next song up in the mix.

Lol that lyrics indeed sound like "gorilla".

Yeah I get what you mean because I've mixed some disco too but it's as if Daniel Wang doesn't bother to mix tightly. I've listened to unknown DJ's who mix disco way tighter than him, although Daniel obviously triumphs in selection and flow.

yeah i think you are right - there are sacrifices made in the mixing dept in the interest of selection, flow, and having a good time. it's tough to party AND mix super tight all the time, haha!

So I wanted to buy this track called "Takin a Chance On You" by Sticky Fingers which is a very great track but it's not available on my country. So I'm asking anyone's kindness to purchase it for me on iTunes then I will pay it via PayPal and you send the tune via email. I'm sorry if this is not allowed or considered rude but I really need this track. Thanks in advance!

; - )

wow, thanks a lot! I didn't expect someone willing to do that. I actually had the mp3 but it misteriously disappear! thanks, once again.

can anyone recommend me some "beautifully campy" songs? in the vein of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n63OnX6LayM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHIL11XxcLw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVciu8ILqWI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X1HxxJpqQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzh_eZJefQg

or basically songs you would expect from the majority of a daniel wang set. thank you in advance.

other examples:

patrick juvet - i love america
que tal america (forgot the artist)

Check out any of Boris Midney's various projects (Beautiful Bend, Caress, USA-European Connection, Double Discovery, Black Russian, Companion, etc). Here are some choice examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4hEbEkOuw4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQNQD_A5SYk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho7xzXPiC9U

Harmless has been gradually reissuing all of Midney's albums under their "Disco Recharge" series, they're pretty much all worth getting.

IMO Midney is perhaps the best midpoint between funkier American disco and beautiful Euro-campiness... Plus his music always is always arranged and produced to sound really gorgeous, he's a genius in that department.

Another good band with a similar sound, though a bit more romantic, is Voyage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMYNoR5NHZI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HXfRVBh0PI

As for individual tracks, here are some of my favourites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atd0mg14X1Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I4VW0w26SM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elgR0l3ld3o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYgiO21OXGg

nice one dl ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/shortcuts/2013/feb/01/disco-dance-edl-google-facebook

Not really my area of expertise, maybe some of these fit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhdjgB24Oiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayT6jd7WHIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQd2-t36ZkM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoMCjnMmT2Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2XD1tQVKC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3tV_Tm-r6Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlkr1oC6Des
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO3upRBV1es

thank you, tuomas.

beautiful bend: more campy than beautiful. not my cup of tea.
usa-european connection: this is more like it. strings and female vocal: win.
companion: lacks hooks to me.
voyage: who doesn't like them.
mike theodore: possibly a grower. need to listen more.
crown heights affair: nice one although doesn't have enough campiness that I'm lookin for.
chaplin band: I prefer the italo track that sampled this.
ultra high frequency: can't hear any campiness here, at least by disco's standards.

thank you too, seandalai.

passengers: haha this is one cute song, I like. I guess I'm leaning to european disco like this.
musique: it's ok.
salsoul orchestra: I'm afraid this is "normal disco"
gepy n gepy: this is more like it! also love their "body to body".
chocolat: catchy little number
sheila b devotion: well of course. the b-side (dont stop) is great too.
thp: great string section there. although to me it's inferior to "who do you love" and "good to you"
raoul: too "normal" for me.

really enjoying "speedy like gonzales" and "kings of clubs" now. do you have more, seandalai?

So basically what you're looking for is string-heavy disco with (somewhat) campy female vocals, not synth-led disco like Macho?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-78Szx2mJs

What about Erotic Drum Band, is it too normal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH6g3lpPwvg

really enjoying "speedy like gonzales" and "kings of clubs" now. do you have more, seandalai?

We're not too far off Euro pop stuff like Claude Francois, Baccara, Ottawan or Dschinghis Khan at this point...here's Sheila a few years before she hooked up with Chic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0vLXCS6m60

Amanda Lear, obv:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8zp4cWix3E

La Bionda - Bandido

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCUJ5N_dAZQ

Boys Town Gang might be a good choice too? Their "Cruisin' the Streets" is a gay disco classic, and their version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is really beautiful, with some lovely strings.

yeah good call - described by Peter Shapiro as "perhaps the campest records ever perpetrated on humanity"

I played it at a friend's wedding, and if I ever get married myself, I definitely want to dance to it. It's so sentimental and gorgeous!

I always knew a Tuomas wedding reception would include a Boystown Gang needledrop.

I looked through my disco records collection, here's a few more recommendations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkUEgRru8DU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akp38JIXiZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16Zkw_JYS50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekHQYpI5858

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRLDX-hn1Kg

More tunes, some of these are maybe more campy than beautiful, but I love them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FlF_apwAyg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdKyKNBm-B0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EOhaFVw5DA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmdD9j-41c0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4-7oUFag1s

you guys never get to complain about the off a molly thread youtube content

macho: a really cool track but lacks this playfulness that I'm looking for.
erotic drum band: yeah I'm afraid it's a little too normal.
sheila b: hmm, a bit too cheesy for me. I guess this is normal-cheesy while I'm looking for quirky-cheesy.
amanda lear: same as above, I guess. I think I'm not too comfortable with mainstream big hits.
la bionda: sorry I can't stand this. I can tell if a disco song is "too mainstream" and this is one of them.
boystown gang: too normal, sorry.
peter jackson band: yup, I like this song and fits my criteria.
azoto: of course, my fav italian disco group.
boots clement: it fits the playful/quirky criteria but I'm afraid there's no hooks that caught me.
viola wills: not campy, but it's a pretty nice song.
gonzales: one catchy tune but really tries my mainstream tolerability and eventually I decided this is not for me.
supermax: didn't do it for me.
the immortals: yup, this is huge.
andy williams: sorry but I think this is boring.
philly usa: just a normal disco tune.
harlow: just discovered this a few days ago and yeah it fits my criteria.

phew. thank you, guys.

some rad tunes I just discovered:

oto gelb - love tragedy in verona
http://youtu.be/yDYN3JZ6I1Q

mandy b jones - 1234
http://youtu.be/AVePxF_pev4

rod - shake it up
http://youtu.be/1U2F5Mub3Tg

walter murphy - romeo and juliet & mostly mozart
http://youtu.be/jx9smvsaqwE