dsco's Podcast: Recent Episodes
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I’ve decided to throw my hands in the air like I just don’t care and celebrate the complete chaos and anarchy that seems to be our for-certain plight at this point. Let’s Go CRAAAAAAZY! Two flavors here, songs about craziness and songs from folks who seem to be, well, pretty nuts. Paul Delicato was a Jersey boy who sang with enough of a twang that the folks at AVI records decided he should cut a C&W-flavored disco album. My copy of the album came from either a radio station or a deejay pool, and written on the back is “Based on Side Two, this isn’t for us. Throw it out.” I beg your pardon, but whoever was listening to this must have been deaf, because side two kicks off with one of my all-time favorite nutty disco numbers, a medley of “Train of Thought” and “Mystery Train,” which just in concept alone is brilliant, but Paul’s read on this is quite good. Not as good as Cher’s ballsy version of TOT, but still good. (N.B.: if Elvis had recorded this, I think it would have, er um, shot to #1.) Who doesn’t love a song from the POV of a freshly dead person? Another triumph of psycho POV is a very recent discovery, “I’m Cindy,” released by an obscure act, Pulse 3, on a French-based label. It’s sung by a duo of female vocalists (split personality?) from the POV of a woman who was shunned in her ugly duckling youth, returning (to the dancefloor, one assumes) to claim her vengeance and at least make sure everyone remembers her name. Really disturbed—and fun! (It’s become my new soundtrack when I deal with dating apps.) And to make sure you get the point, Pulse 3 follows that with a song called “Crazy Girl” that’s not nearly as amazing, but is on here nevertheless. Another twofer comes from the Glass Family: “Crazy” as a jazzy throwback and “Crazy” as a dancefloor burner. The Glass Family first emerged in the late 1960s as a hippy jam band. In the early ’70s, they released a 45 that was an ode to weed (it’s on at least one of my podcasts) that became a surprise disco hit. Glass Family then became a hippy disco band (I love those!) and put out two pretty decent albums.
Madhouse—Silver Convention ’76 ☻ She Drives Me Crazy—Fine Young Cannibals v. Monie Love ☻ I’ll Wake Up Screaming in the Middle of the Night—D.C. LaRue ’78 ☻ Losing My Mind—Pet Shop Boys ’91 ☻ Train of Thought/Mystery Train—Paul Delicato ’77 ☻ Crazy Girl—Pulse 3 ’79 ☻ Goin’ Out of My Head—Gloria Gaynor ’78 ☻ Screaming—Pet Shop Boys ’99 ☻ Lost in Music—Sister Sledge ’79 ☻ Going Bananas—Side Effect ’77 ☻ Crazy (Jazzy)—Glass Family ’79 ☻ I’m Cindy—Pulse 3 ’79 ☻ Crazy—Gnarls Barkley ’06 ☻ The Visitors—ABBA ’81 ☻ Crazy—Glass Family ’79
I was all set for my next set to focus on Arthur Russell, but then got, um, distracted by Demis Roussos’ club cover of Mammy Blue that somehow lost an M in translation. Also of note is Sue Ann, who is Minneapolis’ Sue Ann Carwell. I learned not long ago that Warner Bros. teamed her with Prince somewhere between For You and the second album. Those tracks have yet to see the light of day, however Warner Bros. did spring for Donna Summer’s proven winners—Keith Forsey and Pete Bellotte—to spearhead Carwell’s album debut. Liquid Pleasure managed to produce a mere disco 45, but what a killer track it is. I’m surprised it isn’t better known. Tourist Raffaella Carrá is quite the fish out of water in California (a track that really resonates with me as I have been tripping of late to Spark’s brilliant The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman—really, has there ever been a more under-rated band?). I had no idea that Hedwig and the Angry Inch had been reduced to a pumping house anthem until I found this cheap and decided to give it a whirl. Yikes. This kind of pumping, Aryan dance floor techno fodder has never been my cup of tea, but this totally is in on the joke, I think. Imagine a floor filled with crystal meth pumped M(a)DMA(en) writhing to this, oblivious to everything, especially the irony.
L’unica Chance—Adriano Celentano ’73 ^ Stop Bajon—Tullio de Piscopo ’83 ^ All Night Long—B.B. & Band ’82 ^ Mamy Blue—Demis Roussos ’89 ^ My Baby My—Sue Ann ’81 ^ Let’s Share Love—D.D. Sound ’77 Take a Little—Liquid Pleasure ’76 ^ What Can I Do to Satisfy Your Love?—Gary Sharkey ’79 ^ Mar de la Tranquilidad—Azul Y Negro ’81 ^ Maybe This Time—Norma Lewis ’83 ^ D-Train’s Down Town Master Mix—D-Train ’85 ^ California—Raffaella Carrá ’78 ^ Angry Inch (Club Mix)—Hedwig & the Angry Inch ’99
Extended versions and remixes dominate this episode. You’ll find everything from versions that don’t fade as soon (Bee Gees) to songs that have been completely reimagined (Donna Summer). Three are from bootlegs, including the Diana Ross that is a completely different vocal take and arrangement, slipped out to jocks back in the day. The found-in-the-wild source for this must have been popular, because it was beat harder than a drag queen’s powder puff. I had to do more than my usual amount of clean up and reconstruction to bring it to you, and it still sounds rough in patches.
Before Donna Summer teamed with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte to alter the course of history as we know it, she did musical theater and session work in Germany. She provided vocals for pop songs produced and originally credited to band leader Veit Marvos, including a cover of Steam’s “Na Na, Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye).” Marvos, in turn, would later produce some early disco sides with Blue Light Orchestra. The Marvos/Summer tracks have been reissued in several configurations; what we have here is from a Dutch release (likely bootlegged) where the tracks have been extended and tricked out for the late-’80s dancefloor. Many work far better than they ought to.
After Donna Summer’s incredible run of four top-selling double albums in a row, she jumped from the sinking Casablanca ship to Geffen and tried for a fifth with 1981’s I’m A Rainbow. It was shelved because execs thought it strayed too far from her winning formula (read: it was tired and boring), despite the presence of Moroder, Bellotte and others who had helped deliver past home runs. Geffen wasn’t wrong for scotching it. It finally was released in 1996, and I found it pretty hard to get through. There were moments, but no cohesion and nothing that sounded even close to a hit. Word came out in 2020 that the album was being configured and re-sequenced into the tight single album it should have been. I was skeptical, but damn if the new, reimagined Rainbow doesn’t sparkle!
Kylie Minogue didn’t wait nearly as long to correct her initial errors on 2021’s Disco. Despite some great tunes and moments, it was a weirdly tame affair that semi-tanked. Kylie jumped behind the console herself, and to date has released a new version of white-hot remixes, a special guest–list edition and an internet-streamed live version. This mix of “Say Something”—the original album’s standout track—features the House Gospel Choir and transforms pretty swell into truly celestial.
In 2020, Tom Moulton (in his 80s!!) took on master tapes from the Spring and Event labels, turning a handful of solid soul/r&b underperformers into epic Philly Soul workouts that are as solid as any PIRC classic from back in the day. He should be named GOAT and given a parade already. His extension of Millie Jackson’s read on the Ashford and Simpson–penned “Don’t Send Nobody Else” is a standout for me, but everything Moulton retouched became blessed.
Lastly, the Jams. You probably know the story already, so I’ll spare you. Thanks to ABBA (and others) whose songs were sampled w/o clearance, this isn’t supposed to exist. All copies were to be burnt. And yet, like a bad penny…. The source here is a fairly widely available Dutch re-release. After all, once something is justified and ancient, there’s really no keeping it down.
You Stepped Into My Life – the Bee Gees ’76 ⁂ Say Something – Kylie Minogue ’21 ⁂ Brooklyn – Donna Summer ’81 ⁂ Love Hangover – Diana Ross ’76 ⁂ Don’t Send Nobody Else – Millie Jackson ’73 ⁂ I Want Your Love – Chic ’78 ⁂ Na Na, Hey Hey – Veit Marvos (Donna Summer) ’72 ⁂ Raspberry Beret – Prince and the Revolution ’85 ⁂ My Friend Jack – Boney M ’80 ⁂ Move Away – Culture Club ’86 ⁂ American Pie – Madonna ’00 ⁂ The Queen & I – the Jams ’87 ⁂ My New Boyfriend – Carly Simon ’85
I would have run screaming from Facebook years ago if I didn’t still enjoy my membership in a couple of music groups and if my job didn’t require that I keep an eye on what’s said about us on social media. (Although, I am happy to note, they really don’t much care anymore.) I wouldn’t be surprised if ol’ Zuck’s Bad Pandemic Advice Platform and Home for Mean Girls Tweeting (Lindsey and Donald, I’m talking about you) was no longer around as we know it in the next five years.
But FB did influence this iPodsode. Music nerds rhapsodizing about what may be Sir Paul’s funkiest moment—“Arrow Through Me”—made me think that the tune might link up nicely with Bill Wither’s most disco moment, “You Got the Stuff.” And since we were on the topic of stuff, why not throw in what surely has to be one of the sleaziest moments in a joyously sleazy genre: Nino Tempo’s “Hooked on Young Stuff.” Deep Purple meets tender pink, wrapped in junkie argot. What’s not to lo(v/ath)e?
Social media also led me to Durand Jones and the Indications, one of my happiest discoveries in 2021, and for my disco dollar the hands-down winner of the recent retro-soul race. Also, while I was well aware of Hott City, I was too taken with the whole of the B-side until someone on FB pointed out just how good A-side lead-off “Feelin’ Love” is. I stumbled upon Nazia Hassan in the wild while crate digging, and I likely would have walked on by, but I noticed that “Disco Deewane” was a Biddu joint. Well, clearly it was coming home with me. And while I was a bit let down that Deewane wasn’t some guy from Philly, the disco turned out to be a pretty decent Tina Charles in Bollywood workout.
I’ve had “Speak Well” in the dsco queue for some time. It never made the cut until now; surprising as it’s a great cut and it takes aim at “shawties” everywhere. Never mind the length of the pencil, it’s how you write with it. And you ain’t got no lead. Finally, should I ever get around to making a disco desperation compilation, “Please Love Me Again” will be on it.
Windy City Theme—Windy City ’77 * Chance of a Lifetime—The Four Tops ’79 * Hooked on Young Stuff—Nino Tempo and 5th Ave. Sax ’79 * You Got the Stuff—Bill Withers ’79 * Arrow Through Me—Wings ’79 * A Place Called Tarot—Tantra ’82 * Disco Deewane—Nazia Hassan ’80 * Up the Down Stairs—Wilson Williams ’78 * Witchoo—Durand Jones and the Indications ’21 * Give It If You Got It—Rendezvous ’79 * Speak Well—Philly U.S.A. ’77 * Nothing Compares 2 U—MXM ’90 * Please Love Me Again—V.I.P. Connection ’76 * C’est Le Rock—Bazuka ’79 * Feelin’ Love—Hott City ’79
Roses are supposed to thrive in ash, so as the ash-heap that may well be 2022 settles upon us, let’s sift through the rubble looking for silver linings.
Before Tom Moulton and Grace Jones began their courtship dance, he had an idea for a groundbreaking disco version of Edith Piaf’s iconic “La Vie en Rose.” Rather than hit you with disco’s now-standard four/four thud, he developed a track that would move bodies with its sensuous sway and simmering percussion. He cut a demo of it with session vocalist Teresa Wiater. Moulton wanted to release the track—even cutting a few acetates (or not stopping whomever did). Wiater at that point didn’t want to be a disco diva, so she didn’t sign off for release. (She would later see the errors of her ways and did try to go disco, sinking without a trace.) Enter Miss Jones. She loved the track and told Moulton she wanted it on her debut album. Allegedly he told Jones that he didn’t think she was up to cutting that particular Grey Poupon. That was all the gauntlet that needed to be tossed down to set Grace off. She busted her chops to learn it. Her rendition proves that Moulton was technically right (for that matter Wiater struggles a bit as well), however I think neither G nor T realized at the time that Grace’s pitchy/gutsy/gonzo performance would work so well as much needed sandpaper to rough up the beautiful backing, providing tension and suspense. Will she hit the high note this time? No, she never does.
While “I Need a Man” busted open the disco door for Grace, “Rose” still remains the highlight of her original disco threnody, and it’s still a signature track for her. Story goes that in her early in-discotheque appearances, she would introduce it with “Here’s a track that made me who I am, and I want to thank the stupid w---- b---- who recorded it first but refused to sign a contract.” What you hear in this podcast was taken (by me) from an original Wiater acetate. I’m thrilled to have found it.
The medley of medleys at the center of this podcast starts with Kylie Minogue’s sizzling mash-up of her own “Slow” with Donna Summer’s “I Love to Love You, Baby” that she delivered as part of a livestreaming all-disco concert last year. It’s followed by two examples of one of my crate-digging guilty pleasures: anonymous “sounds-like” cheaply issued covers that often were released as a soundtrack for instructional disco dancing. I especially love it when the artists attempt not to ape the originals as much as take them somewhere new, as happens here. And hats off to whomever had the crazy idea of pairing “I Feel Love” with “Hava Nagila.”
I recently scared up a copy of The City Streets’ sole release, 1979’s Livin’ in the Jungle. Every track on it smokes, including an inspired/insane WTF-inducing dancefloor version of a 1968 c&w novelty tune about—I kid you not—condom-less sex called “Plastic Saddle.” (Check out both Jerry Reed and Nat Stuckey’s versions from back in the day.) I suspect that City Streets’ aim was to become an urban Village People, given that the boys sing about rough, sleazy sex,; leather; being on the down-low; and even coming out of the closet (to have a good time, yeah right. I know an atomic dog whistle when I hear one.) Bringing this whole thing full circle, country star Ronnie Milsap cleaned up the album’s opening rough, sleazy sex number (“Get It Up, Get It In, Get It Off and Get It Out”) just enough to put it out as a country disco single.
Finally—I love the Hamilton Affair track! Chugging Philly soul about adolescent disco angst delivered by an honest-to-God adolescent in a quavering, beautifully artless delivery. Sheer imperfection!
Elle et Moi—Max Berlin’s ’78 ʘ La Vie en Rose—Teresa Wiater ’77 ʘ You’re My Man—Sex O’Clock USA ’76 ʘ Slow/I Love to Love You, Baby—Kylie Minogue ’21 ʘ Fame/Latin Hustle/7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Blow Your Whistle—Nonstop Discotheque Party Dance, circa ’78 ʘ Get Up and Boogie/I Feel Love/Hava Nagila—Disco Hustle ’79 ʘ Get It Up—Ronnie Milsap ’79 ʘ Plastic Saddle—City Streets ’79 ʘ Get Another Love—Chantal Curtis ’79 ʘ Flamenco Dance Man—The Jan Davis Guitar ’78 ʘ Boogie Breakdown—Boogie People ’79 ʘ Psyché Rock (Fat Boy Slim remix)—Pierre Henry & Michel Colombier ’97 ʘ How Can I Keep in Touch with You?—The Hamilton Affair ’76
Disco is bested only by rap and country as a genre that takes itself on. Here, I’m looking at acts who namecheck each other and themselves. The centerpieces are two versions of Barbra Streisand; the original was constructed from a heavy Boney M sample. Boney M turned right around and did it themselves. And then Madonna got into the act and incorporated the Boney M riff into the delicately titled Bitch, I’m Madonna. (Subtle she never was.) Not that we would ever mistake her for Streisand.
Howard Rigberg is My Robot Friend. For his opening act in 2001, he dropped We’re the Pet Shop Boys which is purported to be the result of Rigberg subjecting Pet Shop Boys lyrics and music to computer analysis and creating an algorithm to construct the ultimate Pet Shop Boys song. The Boys themselves were so taken with it that they recorded it themselves. And then they worked with Robbie Williams to record it again. I’ve jumbled all three versions, and I’m quite happy with the result.
Chic (Everybody Say)—Chic ’82 ꝏ My Name Is Prince—Prince ’92 ꝏ Daft Punk Is Playing at My House—LCD Soundsystem ’05 ꝏ Giorgio Moroder—Daft Punk ’13 ꝏ Shut Out/Heaven Is a Disco—Paul Jabara ’77 ꝏ Donna—Andre Gagnon ’77 ꝏ Est-Ce Que C’est Chic—Chic ’77 ꝏ MFSB—MFSB ’75 ꝏ Barbra Streisand—Duck Sauce ’10 ꝏ Barbra Streisand (The Most Wanted Woman)—Boney M ’11 ꝏ We’re the Pet Shop Boys—My Robot Friend ’01/The Pet Shop Boys ’03/Robbie Williams ’08 ꝏ She’s Madonna—Robbie Williams ’08 ꝏ Bitch, I’m Madonna—Madonna ’14 ꝏ When Smokey Sings—ABC ’87
I’ve been revisiting Results, the album the Pet Shop Boys put together for Liza Minelli. When it came out, I thought it was perhaps the ultimate in camp, but that’s too glib an assessment. Time has been kind to it. Liza was meant to sing “Rent,” and the Pet Shop Boys were meant to goose Sondheim. For that alone, it has staying power, yet those two no longer strike me as the sole highlights. “So Sorry, I Said” and “I Want You Now” are top-drawer Tennant/Lowe compositions. Also making an imprint is another non PSB-penned number. “Love Pains” was first introduced by Yvonne Elliman, who seems eternally fated to toil in the shadows of the Brothers Gibbs and Our Savior Jeebus. I think her “Love Pains” was a minor hit with the cognoscenti and proved it had staying power: PSB remembered it and knew it would fit Liza like a glove. Their arrangement didn’t stray far from the one provided here by an emerging Michael Omartian, who—based primarily on his work with Donna Summer—always struck me as at best workmanlike and at worst career cold water. But this is the song I would slap on to illustrate how disco morphed into high NRG; it has a mechanical propulsion, and more or less jettisons strings or horns for sweetening. But its structure and hookiness all were learned on the classic disco dancefloor. I find Results to be La Liza’s only completely successful album, and it blows my mind that she recorded it in the evenings after playing a residency in London with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. In fact, Neil wanted Ol’ Blue Eyes to duet with Liza on So Sorry, I Said. Even the prospect of it makes me giddy.
Fire were a trio whose material was penned and produced by K.C. and Richard Finch; sadly it’s brought down by rather muddy production. Dream Disco is Max Berlin’s’s magnum opus. The trio Maxxi had a regional hit with Just Wanna Make You Dance before James Brown and the JBs took it over; they did keep Maxxi around for the vocals. All-in-all, one of the Godfather’s better disco efforts. Teresa Wiater is almost up there with Pete Best in the apex of the rock ’n’ roll hall of what could have been. She cut the original vocals for Tom Moulton’s masterwork, La Vie en Rose. She decided she didn’t want to commit to disco, and wouldn’t sign on for release. Grace Jones—who was sniffing around Moulton at the time—heard the demo tape, recognized its brilliance, and announced she wanted to take it on. Moulton, who had a reputation for his bluntness, told Grace he didn’t think she was up to it. She won out (how could you lose a battle with Grace Jones?), and her wildly pitchy performance proved that Tom knew what he was talking about, but Grace was such a force that it work well nevertheless.
I’m wild about set closer Three Steps, and I didn’t know the Reflections at all until I picked up a recent comp that complied the disco hits, focusing mostly in the U.K., of 1975. It was a very good year.
I Think I’ll Do Some Steppin’ on My Own—Sandy Barber ’78 + Love Pains—Yvonne Elliman ’79 + In Love with Love—Debbie Harry ’87 + You Treat Me Good—Fire ’78 + Estrelar—Marcos Valle ’83 + A Little Bit of Your Love—Doris Duke ’75 + Dance On (Disco Darling)—Randy Raider ’78 + I Feel Good—Boney M ’84 + Icare—Bertrand Bergalat ’18 + Dream Disco—Max Berlin’s ’78 + Just Wanna Make You Dance—The JBs with Maxxi ’79 + Once and for All—Teresa Wiater ’78 + Get It Up and Dance—New York Disco Orchestra ’78 + You’re All I Need to Get By—Jaisún ’77 + Three Steps from True Love—The Reflections ’75
Baking disco biscuits from scratch! When the team that gave us Saturday Night Fever let the industry know that they would be making Urban Cowboy with Travolta and launching a two record set soundtrack in advance, the music industry miscalculated on lightning striking twice and geared up for the big urban cowboy craze that never happened. Casablanca launched Casablanca West, a label that was meant to peddle the emerging country-disco hybrid. It folded after one album was issued. And Area Code 212’s iconic bit of harmonic blues boogie, “Stone Fox Chase,” kept bubbling up to the surface, even finding its way to Manhattan hip-hop pioneers Mantronix. Having wowed the world by getting to rap earlier than most on “Rapture,” Debbie Harry tried the trick with disco-country on “Buckle Up,” a track that went unnoticed for ages by yours truly—probably because it’s sandwiched between the divine “French Kissing in the USA” (which was written by no less than Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre!) and the slinky goodness that is “In Love with Love.” It’s now quickly ascended my Debbie Harry best-of chart to lodge itself toward the top.
Bits of hoedown get-down started popping up in the oddest places, and since rap was also taking off, the three genres merged in some unprecedented ways—most notable Disco Four’s long lost “Country Rap Rock,” which was a good four decades ahead of itself if “Old Town Road” is any indication. Here’s cultural evolution for you: slant rhyming Maserati sports car with Fendi sports bra (a line I’m pretty sure is attributable to Billy Ray Cyrus and not L’il Nas X) is funnier than slant rhyming “heard of a cow” with “down to the OK Corral,” but not by much. And no one thought of “we’re taking Studio 54/behind the barn door”?
This podcast came about because I had yet to find a home for Boney M’s cover of Patsy Cline’s “Strange,” which works surprisingly well with a slight touch of reggae against some chicken scratch guitar. It’s a shame they render the song meaningless by fucking up the lyrics pretty seriously. But then, this is a Frank Farian joint, so what do you expect?
Light in the Attic’s worthwhile Country Funk enterprise informs this, especially the recent Country Funk III. It’s the most disco-friendly in the series, offering an unreleased Tony Joe White recording that handily manages to relocate Barry White to a Louisiana swamp. A whiff of swamp gas lingers around Larry Jon Wilson (who?) as well. “Ohoopee River Bottomland” also owes more than a debt to Bobbie Gentry. While funky downhome disco never took off, it wasn’t for lack of trying on the part of Dennis Linde, Travis Wammack (he of the ultimate shit-kicker name) and the underappreciated Ron Galbraith, who is a recent and very welcome discovery.
Even the brits (and Brit wannabes) got into the act, hauling out the fiddles and bagpipes as the Clash did for “Lose this Skin” and Tom Tom Club’s crazy-catchy “Daddy Come Home.” I didn’t even know this track (or album!) existed until I stumbled on it totally on accident while I was working on this podcast. I’ve played “Daddy” every day since. I also marvel that cultural appropriation kingpins Malcolm McLaren and whoever was behind Haysi Fantayzee found their way to square dance and bayou fiddles. From the shores of the UK, Appalachia is as exotic as South Africa.
Don’t Be Cruel—Billy Swan ’74 ℥ Ghost Riders in the Sky—Dennis Linde ’78 ℥ Listen to the Bass of Get Stupid Fresh Part II—Mantronix ’86 ℥ Old Town Road—L’il Nas X ’19 ℥ Country Rap Rock—Disco Four ’82 ℥ Buckle Up—Debbie Harry ’86 ℥ Strange—Boney M ’81 ℥ Ohoopee River Bottomland—Larry Jon Wilson ’75 ℥ Natural Blues—Moby ’00 ℥ Down to the Station—Dennis Linde ’78 ℥ I Got the Fever—Rob Galbraith ’75 ℥ Alone at Last—Tony Joe White ’82 ℥ Do Me—Travis Wammack ’77 ℥ There Is a Light—Kacey Musgraves ’21 ℥ Daddy Come Home—Tom Tom Club ’92 ℥ Lose This Skin—The Clash ’80 ℥ Shiny, Shiny (Bon Temps)—Haysi Fantayzee ’83 ℥ Buffalo Gals—Malcolm McLaren ’83 ℥ A Little Less Conversation—Elvis vs JXL ’02
Exploring acts who hit it big on the dancefloor, moved on, heard crickets and then came back. Chic factors strongly at the get-go, and the Pet Shop Boys bring up the rear. The Village People asked to return to Big Apple dancefloors after they disastrously went New Romantic, Johnny Mathis went missing (his exquisite 1980 Chic-produced album was inexplicably shelved for nearly four decades!), and Sly Stone went crazy, so some jocks tried to kick him up to remix relevance with mixed results. I only recently heard Cory Daye’s attempt to recapture that Cherchez La Femme magic on a stand-alone 12" that was missing from her ’80s comeback album—odd considering it was leagues better than anything that was on it. Their rawkist fans turned up their noses when Queen “went disco” on Hot Space; it didn’t stop them from returning to the style for the standout track on the Freddie-sings-from-the-grave exploitation album Made in Heaven. Beat Well Done is from Mavis Staples’ work with Aretha Franklin’s sister Carolyn, work that Mavis—and no one else—considers some of her best. Motown brought in Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards to goose up Diana Ross’ post–disco success career. Miss Ross wasn’t happy with the mixes they handed in, so she had Motown’s in-house mixers push her performances to the fore. Upside Down was a massive hit; the version here is the original Chic Organization mix that is heavier on the Chic than it is the Ross, especially at the end. As for Club Bowie, there’s not much info out there on this full Bollywood gonzo rethink of Let’s Dance. Must say that as a dancefloor delight, I prefer it to the original. Namaste!
High—Chic ’91 ℘ French Kissin’ in the USA—Debbie Harry ’86 ℘ Take Me—Johnny Mathis ’82 ℘ Upside Down—Diana Ross ’80 ℘ Stand!—Sly Stone ’79 ℘ Let’s Dance—Club Bowie ’03 ℘ City Nights/Manhattan Cafés—Cory Daye ’82 ℘ Beat Well Done—Mavis Staples ’84 ℘ Carry On—Giorgio Moroder featuring Donna Summer ’92 ℘ New York City—Village People ’85 ℘ You Don’t Fool Me—Queen ’95 ℘ Computer Love—Kraftwerk ’91 ℘ In Private—Dusty Springfield ’89 ℘ Confidential—Tina Turner ’96 ℘ I Want You Now—Liza Minnelli ’89
Subtract the strings, the horns, the divas, the falsettos, the whoots, the sex, the fizz, even the kick drums and what have you? Propulsion. None of the tracks here are typically disco, and I suspect that few if any moved actual dance floors. Yet all off these tracks feed off of disco’s energy or share some of the less obvious aspects of the genre.
We kick off with a cottage industry that sprang up early: translating disco hits of the day for dance fans from an earlier era. RCA seemed to specialize in this, with a host of swing and big band disco knock-offs. Big Band Sounds delivered Glen Miller-ized versions of the Bee Gees and K.C. and the Sunshine Band, as well as this oddity: an easy listening adaptation of ABBA (welcome back!) that anticipates chill wave.
More than a few of the day’s prog rock heroes dipped their toes in disco’s waters: Keith Emerson’s weirdly effective version of I’m a Man from the soundtrack to Sylvester Stallone’s Nighthawks; the Resident’s (!) dancefloor arctic anthropology effort, Diskomo; Neu! (whose use of the motorik beat helped invent Euro disco anyway); and Leda, which was Tangerine Dream’s Peter Baumann attempting his best Moroder to ape I Feel Love with an unidentified singer who is no Donna Summer. Speaking of, San Francisco wunderkind Patrick Cowley mastered I Feel Love when he remixed the actual track into infinity. Before he went there, however, he attempted to recreate it in his own bedroom—along with other songs of the day that he dubbed funkettes—that have just been released. In this, his second take, he almost (but not quite) gets it right. It builds to a great release, however.
Fatback’s King Tim III made it on to wax about a month before Rapper’s Delight, lending to its general recognition as the first commercially released rap record. Many of the early rap tracks lifted their backing from instrumental/dub disco discs. The Disco Four (oddly enough, a five man crew) mined the Gap Band’s Let It Whip for their Whip Rap. Blackberri was one of San Francisco’s ambassadors of the emerging gay men’s music movement, which—drawing inspiration from the womyn’s music movement—dealt primarily in overly earnest folk tropes. Blackberri showed he could bring the funk, however, with Wise Up. It’s a shame this didn’t get better production values.
Sub-standard sonics mar the crude bootleg recording of Velvet Underground’s Follow the Leader (taped by VU acolyte Robert Quine), but Lou Reed & Co.’s downtown scene disco propulsion shines through. It’s a pity that this one never got officially recorded/released.
The Name of the Game—Big Band Sounds ’78 // I Feel Love—Patrick Cowley ’77 // Future—Leda ’78 // Physical—Victor Willis ’83 // Whip Rap—Disco Four ’82 // King Tim III—Fatback ’79 // I’m a Man—Keith Emerson ’81 // Wise Up—Blackberri ’81 // La Casa Del Sol—Fausto Papetti ’78 // Summer Love—Blonde on Blonde ’77 // Hollywood 7—Alides Hidding ’84 // Walk the Night—Phenomenal Handclap Band w/ Peaches ’12 // Disco Reggae—Kalyan ’77 // 500 W—Max Berlin’s ’80 // Isi—Neu! ’75 // Diskomo—the Residents ’90 // Follow the Leader—Velvet Underground ’69
You say you want a revolution?
Dancin’ in the Streets—Grateful Dead ’77 ǂ King of the Road—Boney M ’78 ǂ Rebels Are We—Chic ’80 ǂ Rock ’n’ Roll People in a Disco World—Sparks ’80 ǂ Pistolero—Bombers ’79 ǂ Bad Reputation—Ritchie Family ’79 ǂ These Boots Are Made for Walking—Amanda Lear ’77 ǂ Rebel Rebel—Dead or Alive ’95 ǂ Born to Be Wild—Eclipse ’77 ǂ Hot Leather—Passengers ’79 ǂ Don’t Fear the Reaper—Heaven 17 ’04 ǂ Highway Runner—Donna Summer ’83 ǂ I’m a Bad, Bad Boy—Theo Vaness ’79 ǂ Rebel Yell—Billy Idol ’83 ǂ So Alive—Love and Rockets ’89 ǂ He’s a Rebel—Donna Summer ’83
Hello fellow pandemic emergers, and welcome aboard to our new normal, so far a kind of familiar-seeming nonsensical hybrid ala Elton John vs. Pnau. I’ll take it. Weirdly familiar is the loose theme for this collection that answers the question Did the Voice of Xtabay ever do ecstasy? Of course, there had to be an Yma Sumac disco record, and daddy dsco had to bring it to you! Along with Max Berliner’s (why possessive? who knows?) who, it turns out is Cerrone’s brother (!). He scored a couple of minor old-school disco epics before going new wave in 1980 with New Wave, an album case study in how to combine cocaine with a children’s choir, especially if we’re talking Children Of The Corn. Rally Down to Sally’s is David Christie proving he was a two-trick pony by essentially saddling up and riding the same horse twice. Ebony show us that there was gold to be mined as Baccara impersonators. Fast Radio do a swell job of nicely neutering the Stones. Boney M show off their smarts for disco-fying psychedelic nuggets (see also My Friend Jack), and Nasty Boys push KISS so close to the hair metal disco inferno, it’s a miracle their AquaNet didn’t ignite. (Although, given those screeches, maybe it did.) Saturday is a recently rediscovered cut by Chic in their pre-Chic incarnation as the Big Apple Band, a group that backed New York City on their proto-disco hit I’m Doing Fine Now. BAB backed soul singer Robert Cotter for a barley released album in 1976 before they struck gold on their own and revived Saturday for the solo album they produced as a consolation prize for ousted original Chic singer Norma Jean Wright. Norma Jean got the heave-ho because the guys felt her singing was “too distinctive,” and they wanted a vocal sound that meshed seamlessly with their well-oiled Chic Organization. That decision really makes sense to me hearing Cotter wail away on this original Saturday. Cool disengagement really helps showcase what the group did best. I love Norma Jean’s version of Saturday that walks a very tight line between icy distance and stifled heartbreak that threatens to break free and gives the production an amazing tension. Norma Jean’s version of Saturday is a disc I would spin for anyone who asked me to sum up what was best about disco.
Welcome Aboard – Webster Lewis ’81 ᵿ Sad – Elton John vs. Pnau ’12 ᵿ Rain 2000 – Calhoon ’75 ᵿ Law of the Land – The Professionals ’84 ᵿ One Night in Bangkok – Robey ’84 ᵿ Yes, I Do – Adriano Celentano ’77 ᵿ Rally Down to Sally’s – David Christie ’83 ᵿ I Was Made for Loving You – Nasty Boys ’86 ᵿ Under My Thumb – Fast Radio ’83 ᵿ Blow Work – Max Berliner’s ’80 ᵿ Painter Man – Boney M ’78 ᵿ Memory – Menage ’83 ᵿ Saturday – Robert Cotter ’76 ᵿ Don’t Boogie Mr. Tango – Ebony ’76 ᵿ MamBo Hip – Yma Sumac ’91 ᵿ Comin’ Home Baby– Mascara ’79
L’il sumpin’ to get y’all moovin’ and grazin’ now that it’s nearly summer. You’d think this was occasioned by my discovery of the three Nashville Rhythm Section elpees that are the new holy grails in my ceaseless search to reach the pinnacle of disco-dixie hybrid. And what weird grails they are. Sold as media for dance class instruction, I’m pretty sure they were recorded in Nashville and pressed, issued and distributed primarily in Germany. The song mix is heavy on expected hits, but some real ringers get tossed in the egg basket too, such as Cheryl Lynn’s bonkers “Star Love” that becomes no less frantic when tricked out with pedal steel and fiddle. Lyrics and credits get scrambled, too. They confuse Chanson with Alan Parsons (I wish they had done them both), and I love how in “Heart of Glass” could have made it cruisin’ gets translated to could have made it, cousin, adding incest to injury.
Instead, this whole mess of turnip greens got upset by one cowpoke-come-lately named Orville Peck, who introduced me to Paul Cauthen thanks to their recent Everly Brothers duet. I had to investigate PC further, and I was knocked out by his 2019 set Room 41, especially Cocaine Country Dancing. (Do check out the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hh974VZjNs; it’s a Scorsese mini-series in the making. Could he be lineage to disco-singing jockey Steve Cauthen? Nah….) Orville makes the cut as well with his Bronski Beat cover. I have no idea why this wasn’t on Pony or Show Pony as I think it’s by far and away the best thing Peckerwood has done. This feels honest and heartfelt. Everything else he’s done has felt like elaborate poses to me. And I’ll throw L’il Nas X in the mix if he ever delivers a complete song.
Which brings us to the Dancing Queen of Disco Boot Scoot, Scooter Lee. While I find her fascinating (no less than Porter Wagoner skippered her maiden voyage), she also frustrates me in that she holds back on genre identifiers such as harp, banjo, fiddle and pedal. But Lord knows she puts the pedal to the metal when she sings. Her gutbucket performance on Radio/Last Dance is way more fierce than it has or needs to be, and I swear when H.W. Casey heard her wrangler-on-’roids take on his “That’s the Way,” his mountain oysters crept back up into his barn. Slop those hogs, baby!
Dim All the Lights—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ On the Radio/Last Dance—Scooter Lee ’98 ʬ I Feel Love—Two Nice Girls ’90 ʬ Hot Stuff—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Bad Girls—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Love Will Always Find You—Donna Summer ’79 ʬ I Just Need More Money—Shadee ’79 ʬ Pop Goes the Country, Part 1—Atlanta Pops Orchestra ’82 ʬ Jive Talking—Barry Gibb and Miranda Lambert ’21 ʬ Cocaine Country Dancing—Paul Cauthen ’19 ʬ Don’t Hold Back—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Staying Alive—Scooter Lee ’98 ʬ Heart of Glass—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Rock With You—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Dancing Queen—Hayseed Dixie ’20 ʬ High Voltage—Tennessee Valley Authority ’76 ʬ That’s the Way I Like It— Scooter Lee ’98 ʬ Just Hooked on Country, Part 1—Atlanta Pops Orchestra ’82 ʬ Small Town Boy—Orville Peck ’21 ʬ Star Love—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ I Was Made for Loving You—Steve ’n’ Seagulls ’18
Kevin Wolff and I were the art and music couple. Our “lanes” started out fairly well marked, but got messier over time. Not long after we met, I began sending holiday mix CDs to friends instead of cards. Kevin being Kevin, he got involved in the project. He’d offer advice on songs or musical acts, and he provided cover art for the first few years. He soon got much more involved in the musical aspect while I ended up taking over the imagery. Although, when it came to the hand-colored CDs themselves, that was all Kevin. And I did all the mixing. We used to fight bitterly over it.
When we both lived together in Indianapolis, I made mix CDs for Kevin to play in his studio and classes, With titles such as “Mope,” “Sulk,” “More Mope,” and “Son of Sulk,” they riffed off Kevin’s fondness of ridiculously OTT morose pop epics (think “All By Myself”) and self-absorbed Brit pop (think Morrissey). Sadly I don’t have them anymore because Kevin’s students were so fond of them, they kept stealing them from him. (Hoosier art-student hooligans be that way sometimes.)
Once Kevin and I joined forces in Chicago, I began a series of custom mixes for him called “I’m French.” The title derived from Kevin’s insistence that he ethnically was a French Jew, even though he was a German Roman Catholic; whenever we’d encounter something especially Gallic, Kevin would say to me, “I’m French.” They were developed as sound-collage journeys (something I more or less developed during my ersatz college radio deejay days at KSPC), mixing music and dialogue (usually campy film snippets or silly things that resonated with us both). I would mix Kevin’s favorites with discoveries for him in an effort to expand his musical horizons. He came to adore musical collaging and repurposing (think Steinski and the Avalanches—the gesture fit perfectly into his creative thinking and artistic process), as well as high camp of a certain stripe (think “Valley of the Dolls” soundtrack or Peggy Lee’s exotica), and, perhaps most surprising of all, he loved early glam/punk (think the Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” or The Upper Crust).
I posted the three I’m French mixes on this podcast—essentially to give myself easy access to them—and Kevin was very intent on me making the long-promised Zut Alors! I’m French Four! Because of his illness, it never came to be. I felt awful about it and made several attempts, but I just couldn’t. If for no other reason, we’d began scrapping over what ultimately ended up on the final I’m French mixes. I couldn’t go through that with him sick and otherwise unoccupied.
I think I redid the second I’m French mix 800 times before Kevin was happy with it. And given that Zut Alors! crashed at least 10 times while I was making it, I think the spirit of Kevin was with me on this one, too. I lost the whole first mix I did; but, it turns out, the second one was much, much better. But then that seems to be how this works.
As I worked with Dan Devening Projects on Kevin’s retrospective show Never Not Looking, I realized I had to come back to Zut Alors! as well. At first, I thought about making an I’m French greatest hits, but I thought, “No, I need to serve up something new for Kevin to feed on.” The elements he loved are all here: Peggy Lee exotica? Check. (“Sans Souci” was an all-time favorite of his; he felt it perfectly encapsulated his bad experience with the treacherous idiot of a dean at IUPUI’s Herron School of Art.) Pop collage? Check. (The section that runs from a repeat of the Avalanches’ “Frontier Psychiatrist”—which may have been his favorite thing on earth; hardly a day went by without one of us quipping, “He’s a nut! He’s crazy in the coconut!” or “Granny Gazoot! Let’s have a toot!”—through White Town’s “Your Woman,” and by the way Kevin was nuts about Al Bowlly). Glam/punk ’tude? Check! (Joan Jett, meet Billy Nomates). The B52s? Check. Brit pop? Check. General arty silliness? Check, check, check. (I’m sure we would have argued over Art Brut’s “Modern Art! [Makes Me Rock Out!]” He might have hated it, but it’s perfect and I’m leaving it in, dammit!) And so many of his favorites are here from Homer Simpson (he quoted “Art hates me” almost daily) to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf to A Delicate Balance to the Venable family.
There’s an art opening tradition—strong in Chicago—of having a deejay play at hipper art openings. So here’s a set for an opening that because of the pandemic didn’t really happen. Fortunately, Never Not Looking is turning into quite the happening. So, doff a beret, fire up a Gauloises, look at the art online at http://deveningprojects.com/ and enjoy this Zut suite.
The Patience of a Saint—Electronic ﷺ Total Eclipse (Man Parrish Mix)—Klaus Nomi ﷺ Sans Souci—Peggy Lee ﷺ Smooth Operator—Señor Coconut ﷺ Boys and Girls—Prince ﷺ Boys and Girls—Blur ﷺ DTNA—Smokey ﷺ Pablo Picasso—The Modern Lovers ﷺ Modern Art—Art Brut ﷺ Frontier Psychiatrist—The Avalanches ﷺ My Way of Life—The Brass Ring/Frank Sinatra ﷺ My Woman—Al Bowlly ﷺ Your Woman—White Town ﷺ Call in Sick—Billy Nomates ﷺ Housework—B52s ﷺ Colour Problem—Bad Dreams Fancy Dress ﷺ Manuelo—Carmen Miranda ﷺ Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano—Sophia Loren ﷺ Pipppero—Elio E Le Storie Tese ﷺ We’re Cultural, Not Sexual—Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay ﷺ Yummy, Yummy, Yummy—Julie London ﷺ Joan Crawford—Blue Öyster Cult ﷺ Norman Fucking Rockwell—Lana Del Rey
This set was occasioned by my recent, belated discovery of Dragostea Din Ti (a/k/a Numa Numa a/k/a Mai Ai Hee). If you want to know how far up my 1970s-lovin’ disco ass I keep my head, consider that I had never heard the earworm of the new millennium until I saw a deep fake of the Royal Family singing it a few weeks back. I laughed myself sick and then decided I should Shazam it to see if I could get any clue as to what it was. Then I pushed it off on all my friends, who were like “Where have you been? Wait, don’t answer that.” Just prior, I stumbled on Pipppero, which I’m not sure anyone knows. I would declare it the song of the 1990s if I hadn’t already pinned that medal on Crucified. No seriously, what’s not to love? It’s delightfully sacreligous, deliciously blasphemous, it has held up better than its predecessor, It’s a Sin, and, oh, that chorus. That chorus. It never fails to slay me. And Army of Lovers—who swiped their schtick wholesale from How to Be a Zillionaire–era ABC—came when they were needed, then left just as quickly. I love that in an act, which warms me to Junior Senior (so weird, so unnecessary, so gone before they really even got here), Right Said Fred, Alcazar and Günther (who never actually got here at all). Señor Coconut is the rare novelty act that has musical chops for days. (CHEE-cago makes me laugh every time I hear it.) Patrick Hernandez and Jorge Ben (!) teaming up on (magic) Mushrooms was a stumbled upon, unexpected pleasure. Hernandez did more than his fair share with the groovy, hilariously tautology that is Born to Be Alive. I thought he’d graciously gone away after that. But oh no….
Discotheque—Bad Dreams Fancy Dress ’88 /// Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix)—David Bowie ’13 \\ Yemenite Melody/Mashiah Hazaken/Dror Yikra—Sabra Disco ’76 /// Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano—Renato Carosone ’01 \\ Say Something—Kylie Minogue ’20 /// Smooth Operator—Señor Coconut ’03 \\ Midnight Is the Time I Need You—Démis Roussos ’78 /// I’m Too Sexy—Right Said Fred ’92 \\ Sultana—Taracco ’86 /// Move Your Feet—Junior Senior ’02 \\ Crucified—Army of Lovers ’90 /// Dragostea Din Ti—O-Zone ’03 \\ Pipppero—Elio E Le Storie Tese ’92 /// Someone’s Stepping on My Mushrooms—Patrick Hernandez and Jorge Ben ’80 \\ Marcia Baïla—Rita Mitsouko ’84 /// Tuttifrutti Summer Love—Günther ’06 \\ Crying at the Discotheque—Alcazar ’00 /// What Do Ya Say—Miguel Bosé ’81 \\ The Patience of a Saint—Electronic ’91
This started with “Memorabilia”—truly one of the creepiest songs ever, but we expect nothing less from Mr. Almond—that should have been on the Proustian disco podcast, but as Marc says, “I collect. I reject.” I think it sits well here with a set ultimately inspired by Daft Punk’s brilliant “Fragments of Time.” DP have called it splitsville, although I’m betting this will be like the Ziggy farewell or the Cher farewell or the Who farewell. Let’s check back in on this is five years.
Both of my songs en français are truly bizarre if your translation abilities are up to it. I slagged off Plastic Bertrand as a one-trick pony not long ago, but then I found his 1980 album L’Album, and it’s solid track-for-track. Pardonne-moi. And Les Rtia Mitsouka’s cover of Serge Gainsbourg’s “L’Hippopodame” has a title that puns on “hippopotamus” and “fat girl” and originally appeared on Serge’s album Vu De L'Extérieur, the one all about “le derrière” (which in true Gainsbourg perversity does not contain his reggae fart song).
The biggest jump between time fragments in this set comes between Les Rockets’ “Future Woman” from 1976 and Horse Meat Disco’s “Spacebound” that comes from the tail end of last year. It floors me to think that’s a 44-year span, a half century of disco….
I may like Charanga’s Cuban reworking of Chic’s “Good Times” as much as I do the original, and the more I live with The Sunshine Crew’s “Those Were the Days” (also one for the Proust disco outing), the more I love it. Paul Parker sings on Patrick Cowley’s “Tech-No-Logical World” (a song that seems more relevant today than ever) besides being one of two artists here to reimagine Giorgio Moroder’s classic “From Here to Eternity.” To continue the daisy chain, Man Parrish teamed with Parker on “Eternity,” and he’s the mad remixer behind the amazing and loving overhaul of Klaus Nomi’s “Total Eclipse.”
Now’s the Time—Solar Source ’81 ᵿ Stop ou Encore—Plastic Bertrand ’80 ᵿ Do Your Time on the Planet—Lime ’85 ᵿ Como Vamos a Gozar—Charanga 76 ’79 ᵿ Tech-No-Logical World—Patrick Cowley ’82 ᵿ Machines—Giorgio Moroder ’84 ᵿ L’Hippopodame—Les Rita Mitsouko ’01 ᵿ Dance Forever—Gaucho ’83 ᵿ Those Were the Days—The Sunshine Crew ’87 ᵿ From Here to Eternity—Amanda Lear ’00 ᵿ From Here to Eternity—Paul Parker ’91 ᵿ Total Eclipse (Remix)—Klaus Nomi ’05 ᵿ Future Woman—Les Rockets ’76 ᵿ Spacebound—Horse Meat Disco ’20 ᵿ Fragments of Time—Daft Punk ’13 ᵿ Robbots—Space ’81 ᵿ Memorabilia—Soft Cell ’81
This is a string of disco dollops taken from 45 rpms, many from one (or no) hit wonders, most of which have the manic, go-for-it excitement of giving one’s all for that only chance at a money shot. (If you aren’t giddy after Highwire/I’ll See You in My Dreams/I’ll Be Seeing You/I Fall in Love Everyday, then you aren’t giddyable.)
Uncle Vic was an Ohio deejay who had a semi-hit with a song about a video game craze, Space Invaders, and a much lesser known b-side slice of frat boy party rock that may well have introduced many to the term “Par-Tay!” Crown Height Affair delivered an aural cream pie with French Way, lyrics drawn from TV jingles that add up to a saucy little amuse bouche. Dutch model Hansie (also Hansje also Hansie Ravesteijn)—who in her heyday pulled off a decent platinum blonde Liza as Sally Bowles look—offers a cult fave of auto-erotica that belongs on a mix tape with I’m in Love with My Car and Warm Leatherette, heady company indeed. Sure, it’s a gag track, but it’s easier to swallow than the other car tune in this mix, Murder in the Gas Line, that gets by on Randy Pump (oh, please!) and the Gas-o-lettes’ funky determination. Tick Tack is an early bit of electronica that sports an increasingly overheated bit of vocalese. I went with the longer Part II pressing of Spread It On because it features more of what makes it memorable—the vocal climax between the spreader/spreadee.
1974 was a great year for the Downings, both of whom enjoyed resurrections from nifty disco mixes when their initial singles stiffed. I’m Not Loving was an early stirring from remixmaster Tom Moulton. I’ll Be Holding On is blessed with one of the great disco banjo (!) breaks at its climax. You don’t get much of a heads up, but you’re thrilled when it comes.
Jaisún is a little known jazz singer whose sole album contribution shares two cuts (I Fall in Love Every Day and Closet Man) with Jaye P. Morgan’s self-released (and lately quite fashionable) 1976 foray into disco and housewife funk. I don’t know who took the first shot at this. We also get two spurts from the Richard Hewson Orchestra; Hewson was a UK bandleader whose arrangements brought the kiss of excitement to everyone from the Beatles to the Bee Gees to James Taylor and Carly Simon to Fleetwood Mac. In the early- and mid-70s, Hewson and his orchestra released a series of disco 45s with toothsome titles such as Love Bite and Shark Bite that betrayed a weird oral fixation. His work has, to my knowledge, never been collected, and that sucks.
Partay—Uncle Vic ’81 (Do It the) French Way—Crown Heights Affair ’76 Automobile—Hansie ’79 Superman, Superman—Les Variations ’75 Tick Tack—Alarm Clock ’74 Huff & Puff—Rare Essence ’78 Spread It On, Part 2—Shortnin’ ’78 I’ll Be Holding On—Al Downing ’74 I’m Not Lovin’—Don Downing ’74 Have a Little Mercy—Southside Movement ’72 Hipit—Hosanna ’75 That’s the Way That the Cookie Crumbles—Odia Coates ’78 Hammerhead—Richard Hewson Orchestra ’76 Porto Rico—Pinkies ’75 Murder in the Gas Line—Randy Pump & the Gas-o-lettes ’79 Highwire—Linda Carr & the Love Squad ’75 I’ll See You in My Dreams—the Pearls ’76 I’ll Be Seeing You—Jeff Evans ’76 I Fall in Love Everyday—Jaisún ’77 Boom Bam Bump—Freeman-Nehls & the Other Brothers ’75 Love for Hire—Richard Hewson Orchestra ’76
“Funky Town,” arriving a year too late, was so undeniable it still managed to be the last great hit of the disco era. But Lipps, Inc. were far from a one-horse town. “Gossip Song,” “Designer Music,” “Choir Practice” and their swell cover of “How Long” all are worth your time. They were label mates with Crazy Joe and the Variable Speed Band. That record was among the last issued during the first Casablanca era, and pretty much defies categorization outside of “inept,” likely seeing the light of day only because at least one member of KISS was part of the VSB. Eugene is on that album, but he didn’t go to school until this post-album disco one-off that’s far better than anything on. Eugene seems to me to be inspired by Jimmy Castor’s Leroy. JC is here without the bunch delivering his ode to DJT. And speaking of that former (THANK YOU JESUS!) PO(tu)S, he and his family’s cocaine-fueled associations with Laura Brannigan’s uber-annoying “Gloria” annoyed me to no end. Never cared for the singer or the song, yet I find myself lightly smitten with its Italian origins by Umberto Tozzi. Which goes nicely with Andy and Anna. I spared you Plastic Bertrand’s reading of Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom,” mostly because I misfiled it and was entirely too lazy to do a deep dive for it. It’s not that good anyway. Unlike Lipps, Inc., PB is pretty much a one horse town.
The Gossip Song—Lipps, Inc. ’80 Ϙ Andy—Les Rita Mitsouka ’86 Ϙ Amos Moses—Jerry Reed ’70 Ϙ Eugene Goes to School—Crazy Joe and the Variable Speed Band ’82 Ϙ A Spy in the House of Love—the dBs ’84 Ϙ Casanova Brown—Gloria Gaynor ’75 Ϙ Casanova—Coffee ’80 Ϙ Guess What Mary Jones Did—First Choice ’74 Ϙ Bernadette—J.T. Connection’79 Ϙ Work Song—Pat Lundy’76 Ϙ Con Man—Jimmy Castor ’80 Ϙ Gloria—Umberto Tozzi ’79 Ϙ Secret Agent Love—Carolyne Bernier ’78 Ϙ Suzy Q—Easy Going ’78 Ϙ The Days of Pearly Spencer—Trademark ’78 Ϙ Anna Perchè—Nicola di Bari ’76
Not many notes this time. I thought 2021 could use a dose of the Holy Ghost, so here it is. The Inez Andrews cut was written by Carole King, and “Stand on the Word” is the Larry Levan remix that was recently named the second best 12" single of all time by the UK’s influential NME. (It came in second to Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” Well, duh!)
Dancing Queen – The Real Group ’99 Ϟ Credo – Missa Disco ’79 Ϟ Sadness – Enigma ’90 Ϟ Have a Good Time – New York Community Choir ’77 Ϟ I’m Going On – Mildred Clark and the Melodyaires ’76 Ϟ Stand on the Word – The Joubert Singers ’85 Ϟ Who Is He? – The St. Marks Choir ’74 Ϟ Believe in Humanity – Inez Andrews ’75 Ϟ The World Is Waiting for a Change – New York Community Choir ’78 Ϟ Thank You Jesus – Gospel Ambassadors ’77 Ϟ Choir Practice – Lipps Inc. ’83 Ϟ I Need You – Christian Essence ’83 Ϟ Hallelujah 2000 – Hallelujah 2000 ’78
Nostalgia is baked into the origin of disco. Discothèques came to be in 1940s Europe when the vicissitudes of war meant that live bands playing in dancehalls and glittering cabaret performances gave way to small gatherings in darkened pubs and watering holes. People would dance and socialize to deejays spinning records. When disco blossomed as a music and lifestyle, it began to look back with longing to and to receive inspiration from the era of big band swing; it also tapped into a cultural craze for hip nostalgia that dated as far back as the Beatles’ “When I’m 64” (an ideal candidate for a disco update by The Average Disco Band). In looking back, disco is more or less just lovingly gazing at itself in the mirror. Disco has always been with us, as the extraordinary fan-art video for Kylie Minogue’s “Step Back in Time” so beautifully demonstrates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3W71KwsXrc
That Kylie tune and video inspired this set. I was somewhat late to the Kylie party and even later to the Stock Aikman Waterman bash. I thought of SAW as nothing more than a Hitsville version of a meat grinder, but I came around thanks to choice cuts such as Donna Summer’s “This Time I Know It’s for Real” and “Step Back in Time.” “Step” is at once the essence of simplicity and surprisingly well wrought, evoking as it does “Walking in Rhythm,” the Bus Stop, “Love Train,” all modes of transportation to take you back in time; and is there better line enjambment than “Ball of Confusion/where nothing is new and/There’s nothing to it/step back in time.” A musical setting that’s both retro and futuristic. I could listen to this forever.
Then there’s “December, 1963.” What a specious song—a guy fondly recalls the night he lost his cherry, can’t remember his partner’s name, confesses he was pretty lousy (“as I recall it ended much too soon”), and doesn’t give a damn about the other’s satisfaction or submission. But it sounds like a million bucks, even today, bathed as it is in a golden nostalgic glow. “Don’t Make Me Wait,” the Peech Boys (who got sued by the Beach Boys for name infringement, can you believe it?) implore as they stretch the idea past the eight minute mark with a build so slow you almost don’t notice it. It’s a great joke, and you can dance to it. (Having not heard the original, Larry Levan likely was the one to do the stretching and building, so all honor to his remix.)
And, of course, disco had no issue with projecting itself into the future. Sparks and Giorgio Moroder (what a combo!) urge us to “Beat the Clock” while Eurythmics take a futuristic approach in their soundtrack look back to a piece of science fiction that predicted the very moment in which they found themselves recording it. Call it theory of relativity disco; all I know is that the film maker didn’t sufficiently get the layers or irony and rejected it for an expected Hollywood score. Sexcrime indeed. As Prince remarks, “I’ve seen the future and it will be.”
So let’s remember yesterday. If Proust ain’t your cup of tea, we end on a note of T.S. Eliot. Disco CATS is no less ridiculous than Broadway CATS as far as I’m concerned. (As for movie CATS, dear God, no.) Remember the O’Jays. Remember the old days.
Back in Time – Back in Time ’78 + Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay – Jimmy “Bo” Horne ’91 + Don’t Make Me Wait – Peech Boys ’82 + Step Back in Time – Kylie Minogue ’90 + When I’m 64 – The Average Disco Band ’77 + December, 1963 – Four Seasons ’75 + I Remember Yesterday – Donna Summer ’77 + The Old Fashioned Way – Billy Jackson & the Citizen’s Band ’76 + Medley – Chocolat’s ’77 + Beat the Clock – Sparks ’79 + Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty Four) – Eurythmics ’84 + Theme from Disco ’77 – Sassy ’77 + Batman – The Disco Band ’77 + The Future – Prince ’89 + Salsoul 3001 – The Salsoul Orchestra ’76 + Memory – Menage ’83
“I like what I like ’cause I like it.” There is no better phrase to sum up 2020 than that. How else can you explain half of America supporting an amoral psychopath who openly mocks them and means them harm, or people standing in open, hostile defiance of simple, common sense measures that will save their lives? “No one’s gonna tell me what to do.”
“Like” is an important piece of disco’s history. It was released in 1971 by Canadian soul/funk collective Everyday People, and it’s often considered as one of the first disco records. LTG (Leo, Taurus, Gemini) Exchange—who are best known for their instrumental cut “Waterbed” on the Disco Gold Vol. II compilation—provided a lovely cover/update on their maiden album. Simon Said—a working name for disco producers Meco Monardo, Jay Ellis and Tony Bongiovi—put out four 45s. For this episode, the other available on 7" only cuts are by Liquid Smoke and Rock Gazers, whose “Wet Weekend” is as extraordinary as it is short.
I could do with some more “Cookies” as well. This also started as a 45-only, but it ended up on the RCA Disco Funk compilation. Minacelentano is a collaboration of Italian pop legends Mina Mazzini and Adriano Celentano. The techno update of Prisencol… is interesting, but it really needs to be seen. The video is a glorious celebration of the male buttocks, thanks to the participation of Italian ballet dancer. Roberto Bolle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn_OLnMriRg . Glutei spettacolari!
Notorious Freak is my own portmanteau for what was uninspiringly titled “Notorious/Le Freak Medley." It may be my favorite of the mid-’80s proto mash-ups that include “Billie Jean/Do It Again” and “Superstition/Good Times.” I should put all of those in the same episode some time….
Ice T (not the rapper) offers a rather vulgar remake of “From New York to L.A.” Its original version is one of the great pieces of disco elegante as performed by French Canadian singer Patsy Gallant. The Ice T version was only available to club deejays, I believe. “Moving Like a Superstar” is best known in a tepid cover version that was a hit for UK singer Jackie Robinson (not the baseball player). It’s so much funkier and wilder in its original version by Amadeo (who?), especially in the extended 12" mix included here. I used to not care for Divine records. Now I can’t get enough of ’em. 2020 will do that to you.
I Like What I Like—LTG Exchange ’74 ﺽ Smile—Simon Said ’75 ﺽ Cookies—Brother Soul ’74 ﺽ Bahia Blue—Demis Roussos ’76ﺽ P Prisencolinensilnainciusol—Minacelentano ’16 ﺽ Mr. Groovy—Liquid Gold ’79 ﺽ Notorious Freak—P4F ’87 ﺽ Zeke the Freak—Isaac Hayes ’78 ﺽ Race Babbling—Stevie Wonder ’79 ﺽ From New York to L.A.—Ice T ’80 ﺽ Get Off—Dyan Buckelew ’87 ﺽ Psychedelic Shack—Divine ’85 ﺽ Moving Like a Superstar—Amadeo ’77 ﺽ Wet Weekend—Rock Gazers ’76 ﺽ It Takes Me Higher—Ganymed ’78 ﺽ Dance Dance Dance—Liquid Smoke ’75 ﺽ Never Turn My Back on You—UPP ’76
Adriano Celentano has said that the nonsense lyrics of his Prisencólinensináinciúsol were an attempt to emulate what spoken American English sounded like to people who don’t comprehend it. I discovered that he updated the song a few years back, and I have it on order. I liked how well the ’72 version worked with Larry Levan’s breakdown from Got My Mind Made Up that I decided I’ll save the Celentano redo for an upcoming episode. I Zimbra, another made-up tongue classic, has hit the podcast in its lp and very rare remixed version. I couldn’t not include it here, however, so this is from The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads live album. One of the great live albums, IMHO.
Two tracks here floored me when I heard them for the first time recently. Aside from a truly club-footed cover of Bowie’s All the Young Dudes, there’s nothing to recommend UK’s the Chanter Sisters until you get to their music-hall-meets-Studio-54 makeover of the Freda Payne classic, which begs the question “Why did it take someone so long to play this for all the inherent camp that it’s worth?” Someone needs to lipsync this for their life. And I was gobsmacked by Modern Romance’s Queen of the Rapping Scene (a/k/a Nothing Ever Goes the Way You Plan), not only for the stiff proto-UK rapping or fish ’n’ chips shop bird Bev Sage’s ludicrous put-on French accent, but also (and mostly) for John Du Prez’s hypnotic accordion riff and that stunning bass line. (I may be stretching things a bit here, but I don’t think Don’t You Want Me Baby or West End Girls could exist without it.) Du Prez also blows a mean trumpet on Modern Romance’s pointless disco cover of Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White. Check out the live video of that where the band manages to come off like the Village People as imagined by Jean Genet.
Another stunning find was RCA’s 1975 disco compilation Disco Funk that hasn’t a bad track on it and nothing you can find anywhere else. I raided it for Hudson County and Lillian Hale. Essential.
Prisencólinensináinciúsol—Adriano Celentano ’72 Ȝ I Zimbra (live)—Talking Heads ’82 Ȝ Aow Tou Dou Zat—Jean Paul Gaultier ’89 Ȝ All My Dreams—Prince ’86 Ȝ Sofia Sound Machine— Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares ’92 Ȝ Gloria—Missa Disco ’79 Ȝ Sleepy Maggie—Ashley MacIsaac ’96 Ȝ Theme from The Godfather—Gene Ferrari & the Disco Roma Band ’78 Ȝ I Got My Mind Made Up—Instant Funk ’78 Ȝ Wan Tu Wah Zuree—George Tindley ’75 Ȝ Bim Sala Bim—Hudson County ’75 Ȝ Band of Gold—Chanter Sisters ’76 Ȝ Queen of the Rapping Scene—Modern Romance ’81 Ȝ Ding Dang Dong—Les Rita Mitsouko ’07 Ȝ Dschinghis Khan—Dschinghis Khan ’79 Ȝ Don’t Boom Boom—Lillian Hale ’74
The Wild Tchoupitoulas are the Mardi Gras Indian Band you’ve heard of because of their association with the Neville Brothers, but the Wild Magnolias were the realer deal, and their 1974 album in association with funk soul brother Willie T is relentlessly funky from start to finish. Herb anthem “Smoke My Peace Pipe” is joined here by their incredibly cooking deconstruction of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” And while Timmy Thomas and Donna Summer are known quantities, their contributions aren’t. Divine Donna’s bit of swampy burp is from her excellent if under-heard final album Crayons (perhaps undone by the title—especially following on the heels of I’m a Rainbow).
Many of these cuts are as obscure as the darkest recesses of the Okefenokee. Blackie Guidry is a hunk of Cajun spiciness whose lone vanity-release album is unremarkable except for the cover pictures of Blackie as prime gator bait and the final cut that lets roll the bon temps ala discotheque. Ron Steele’s contribution is also from a vanity pressing, although because he’s a top record producer and a session ace, his cut sounds like a million bucks even though it lacks true dancefloor sizzle. The Dr. Exx band is so far off the grid, it doesn’t even merit a discogs entry. Nothing is known about Venus either; their (her? his? its?) only known track—the glorious “Toke Monster”—is from a radio station comp of local bands, although you don’t get far into the song before you realize it would have never made it on air in ’78. Hot Posse’s “Ride It”—an adaptation of their take on “Apache”—was never really officially released other than to deejays.
Speaking of Native Americans, Ban Deeto’s somewhat un-PC reworking of already un-PC “Keem-O-Sabe” is the flip of an utterly un-PC track called “Cisco’s Disco.” Ron Steele wins this one hands down. And while some might also be taken aback by Orlando Riva (he of “Moonboots” fame) Sound’s wack-ass disco take on “Indian Reservation” (who comes up with these ideas?), I find its oppressive sense of doom serves this telling of the trail of tears far better that Paul Revere and the Raiders hit cover ever did.
Night People – Allen Toussaint ’78 ۵ Soul Hoe Down – Bad Bascomb ’73 ۵ Dudley Doright – Timmy Thomas ’77۵ Cisco Disco – Ron Steele ’76۵ Southern Nights – Glen Campbell ’77۵ Disco Dobro – The Bottom Line ’76 ۵ Swamp Rap – Tony Joe White ’80۵ The Toke Monster – Venus ’78 ۵ Smoke My Peace Pipe (Smoke It Right) – The Wild Magnolias ’74 ۵ Mountain Funk – Dr. Exx Band ’78 ۵ I Will Survive – Billie Jo Spears ’79 ۵ Slide Over Backwards – Donna Summer ’08 ۵ Ride It – Hot Posse ’80 ۵ Kem-O-Sabe – Ban Deeto ’78 ۵ Indian Reservation – Orlando Riva Sound ’79 ۵ Nashville Express – Travis Biggs ’79 ۵ Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For – Crystal Gayle ’78 ۵ Saints – The Wild Magnolias ’74 ۵ Sanford & Son – Boots Randolph ’78 ۵ Disco on the Bayou – Blackie Guidry ’7?
My podcasts often start with a single record, and I build out from there. For this episode, it was “Am I Losing You?” It’s credited to S.O.N.N.Y. (the Sound Of New New York) featuring Dooley Silverspoon and Jeanne Burton (sometimes spelled Geanne, later listed as Jenny, although I think that’s an error). I know Dooley and have his lone album. He was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him early disco act on the tiny, independent Cotton label (also the label for “Losing”). Dooley’s records sound as if they were recorded on a non-existent budget, as does “Losing.” He was paired for a couple of singles with Burton, who had one single of her own on Cotton.
I got turned on to it by reading Vince Aletti’s glowing appraisal. The only other thing I’ve found was a tiny, one-paragraph review that notes, “Melodically it’s all very obvious and predictable but there is a hidden quality about it all that cannot be denied. The more I hear it the more I get into it.” (The reviewer would go on to study commas in a second semester.) I don’t think the quality is hidden in the least. It’s the killer cello line that sure sounds as if it’s being played by Arthur Russell, as well as the way “Losing” builds from a quiet simmer to a furious boil, not unlike Russell’s masterpiece “Kiss Me Again.” And then Burton cuts loose to bring it all home. Aletti thinks she was told to go “full Donna Summer.” I love Donna, but I always thought the real magic in “Love to Love You Baby,” er um, comes because she’s so clearly faking it. I’m not so sure here.
Rumors surface from time-to-time of an extended mix of David Bowie’s theme from Cat People, released only in Australia. I disbelieved for a long time, but I did recently find a bootleg of it. This may be a con job—some repeated riffing with a pointless sax solo thrown in. (But then again, isn’t that often what an extended remix entails?) With Bowie demand being at an all-time high, if this were for real you’d think it would resurface legitimately. I was listening to this while the Republican convention shitshow was grinding away in the background. Bowie sings, “Putting out the fire—with GASOLINE!” and I think “There! There’s your RNC platform.” Idiots. And the Dame will always be prescient, God love him. He knew when to get out.
“Lady Bump” is one of those novelty discs that seems predicated on a dated gimmick, McLean’s absolutely feral caterwauling at the end of each line. (McLean was the lead singer on Silver Convention's “Fly, Robin, Fly.”) After “Lady Bump” hit, it was released with a different B-side, “The Lady Bumps On,” that was supplied for jocks to make an extended jam out of it, and I must say the repeated “Look at Me!” transforms it from novelty to perfect disco-era mantra. The extension didn’t end up on the lp, and I don’t think “Lady” was released as a 12". This makes it perfect for the seven-inch only series I did several years back.
And had I known “J-E-A-L-O-U-S” before now, it would have been ideal for my disco spelling bee podcast (as would have Jermaine Jackson’s S-E-R-I-O-U-S. Where was my head at the time?) By the time of this single, the Originals had moved from Motown to the San Francisco/Oakland–based Fantasy, a label notorious for releasing sonically brutal mixes. This one banged so hot that it all but fried the speakers on my laptop. It sounded so awful, I had to re-record it and tamp down the highs and the lows. It’s a shame. What you hear here gives little indication of how fierce this record truly is. If you want to rattle the foundations of your house, seek it out.
Sarah Brightman’s second act was to be in the original cast of the West End staging of Cats and then marry Andrew Lloyd Webber. I find all of it to be of a perfectly tacky piece.
I can find nothing on Martinique or “Bedtime Story”—not even a Discogs listing—but there it sits on my record table, waiting to be re-shelved. It’s on Elektra, so it can’t be that obscure. A disco take on Braham’s Lullaby, it’s charmingly ridiculous and the ideal way to close this episode. Sleep tight!
Love Is More Than Making Love—Lenore O’Malley ’80 ۴ Don’t Stop/You Make Lovin’ Fun—The Disco-Dance Band ’78 ۴ Rock and Roll Part 2/Some Kinda Wonderful—Joel Diamond ’83 ۴ Cat People (Australian Extended Mix)—David Bowie ’82 ۴ General Suarez—Tchou Tchou Combo ’75 ۴ I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper—Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip ’78 ۴ Sexy Thrills—Extensive Care ’80 ۴ J-E-A-L-O-U-S—The Originals ’79 ۴ Party Bump Part 1—Gentlemen & Their Ladies ’73 ۴ Lady Bump/The Lady Bumps On—Penny McLean ’75 ۴ Party Bump Part 2—Gentlemen & Their Ladies ’73 ۴ Love Starts After Dark—Gene Page ’80 ۴ Superslick—Wham ’78 ۴ Am I Losing You?—Dooley Silverspoon and Jeanne Burton ’76 ۴ Bed Time Story—Martinique