STUDIO! Tonight @ Havana All Night Love Dancin'

We will be doing it again this week, spinning the best in rare disco, italo, cosmic and mustache grooves, as we welcome back DJ H.M.A. from his east coast trip (Showing off the new tan!). The last few weeks the dancefloor has been packed and the night has gotten pretty ridiculous, and this Wednesday should be even more outrageous! Don't miss out!

Shooting Off Menergy

Even though his career was cut short due to his unfortunite death in 1982, Patrick Cowley was involved with many amazing italo projects, working with artist's like Sylvester, Donna Summer, Paul Parker, and many others while also helping to start the San Francisco based italo label Megatone Records. As many of you already know, Cowley released his own material including the 1981 classic LP Megatone Man, followed by albums Menergy and Mind Warp. During his career there might be many songs that could stick out as "defining moments" of Cowley's own music, however, for me the two songs that come to me first when thinking of Cowley's brilliant career is 1981's "Megatron Man" and "Menergy". Both became huge "anthem like" favorites among San Francisco's underground gay disco scene which really helped establish himself and his label. That's not to say he didn't have his hands on many other amazing releases, including Sylvester's high-energy classic "Do You Wanna Funk", an incredible remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", and Paul Parker's 1982 chart-topping single "Right on Target". It's safe to say that Patrick Cowley will forever have a lasting imprint on the gay disco and San Francisco music scenes, and it's unforunite that his life was cut so short especially as it was just starting to peak. That being said, Cowley did leave behind an incredible legacy that can be forever lived through his amaing productions.

Patrick Cowley - Megatron Man
Patrick Cowley - Menergy

Disco Reservation Nation

Here is an interestingly "Native American" themed disco track by one of Salsoul's more cosmically minded groups, Orlando Riva Sound (aka O.R.S.). This slow cosmic grooving song, entitled "Indian Reservation", was originally released in 1979 as a 12-inch single and was produced by Anthony Monn, a well known disco era producer that worked with Amanda Lear, Judy Cheeks, and Magnifique. This was just one of the many great cosmically-minded disco records released during the groups existence, releasing other great records like the 1978 classic LP Body To Body Boogie, as well as the amazing Tom Moulton mixed and co-produced single "Moon-Boots" that same year. Regardless, "Indian Reservation" still remains to be my personal favorite from this legendary disco group.

Orlando Riva Sound - Indian Reservation
Orlando Riva Sound - Body To Body Boogie

Caught Up In Risco Music

In the late 1970's, Joe Isaacs put together a very unique disco project titled, Risco Connection. In this project's short life span, Risco Connection released some amazing 12" singles covering some classic disco tracks including McFadden & Whitehead's 1978 "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", Inner Life's 1979 "I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)", Chic's "Good Times", and Diana Ross's "It's My House" to name a few. This group was able to successfully take these original songs and make them their own, adding their own unique blend of laid-back latin-disco, as well as elements of dub and reggae. Risco Connection tracks make for great 'cool-down' songs within a disco set, as well as great sample material for House, Hip-Hop, and Dub producers. Regardless, Joe Isaacs not only put together a solid disco project during the late 1970's, he was able to put together one that had one of the more unique and interesting sounds. When you put on a Risco Connection record, you definitely know what your getting into, sound wise, however for this particular case, that's a good thing!

Risco Connection - I'm Caught Up
Risco Connection - Ain't No Stopping Us Now

Pow Pow Pow...Shine Down On My Day

If you were to make it down to STUDIO! on a Wednesday night, one of the songs you are almost certain to hear is the overwhelming crowd favorite "Pow Pow Pow" by the italo group Capricorn. I picked up this hard-to-find 1980 classic about a year ago when I first visited New York, along with their self-titled twelve-inch "Capricorn" which in my opinion is equally as good. Both records were written and produced by Claudio Simonetti and Giancarlo Meo, who were also responsible for the legendary italo group Easy Going. Given the brilliance of every release Capricorn put out, which also included the classic twelve inch I Need Love in 1982, the group's existences was overall very short, releasing only three singles. That being said, they are all amazing italo classics and very hard-to-find, so if your lucky enough to find a copy, I would recommend forking out the money and picking one up. If not, fill free to stop by Wednesday night where you'll probably hear a track or two by the legendary group.

Capricorn - Pow Pow Pow

What Last Night Looked Like

Last Night = Lots of Love Dancin', Good Times, & Many Sweaty Sexy Bodies!

See all the photos here

See You Next Wednesday!

Turnin' Up The Body Heat TONIGHT @ STUDIO!

We will be 'heatin' it up' again TONIGHT, spinning the best in rare disco, italo, cosmic and mustache grooves, as we welcome back DJ Glitterpants, stoping in on his short visit from New York. Glitterpants was formerly a resident of Chop Suey's very successful Club Pop night here in Seattle, as well as a part of the first original 'STUDIO!' night before it was moved to Havana. Last week was pretty ridiculous, and I'm anticipating another crazy night this week, so don't miss out!

Studio!
A Weekly Gay-Ass Disco Party
Disco & Italo All Night Long
Every Wednesday Night
@ Havana (1010 E Pike Street)
9pm-2am $3

Miss Broadway

Last night while doing some late night record shopping at one of Seattle's many record stores, I was suprisingly happy to hear Belle Epoque's 1977 disco classic "Miss Broadway" playing over the loud speakers. I immediately fell in love with the track on first listen. Unfortunitely I quickly found that the store wasn't selling the record because it came from one of the clerks personal collection. Belle Epoque has always been one of those groups I've always wanted to hear more from, especially since I've been a huge fan of their popular classic "Bamalama" for quite sometime. Even though my record store shooping didn't result in any Belle Epoque finds, it did inspire me to hunt down some more of their records.

Belle Epoque - Miss Broadway

Finding a Cure...Once Again

It seems like a "Match made in Heaven" when it comes to Dimitri From Paris re-editing a classic Ashford & Simpson track. We saw the first example of this back in the year 2000, when Dimitri's amazing re-edit of "Found A Cure" was included on A Night At The Playboy Mansion mix compilation, which happens to be a personal favorite of mine. Well earlier this year on a new Ashford & Simpson 'best-of' type of compilation, The Warner Bros. Years: Hits, Remixes & Rarities, we saw the two come together again with Dimitri this time re-editing the 1979 classic "Stay Free". Even though the new edit of "Stay Free" isn't quite as ripe for the prime moments on a dancefloor as "Found A Cure", the more laid back edit is equally as good in my opinion. Dimitri does a nice job touching up and extending the finer moments of the original, making the song just right for those early hour dancefloor or coll-down mixes. Nice results again from this solid combination.

Ashford & Simpson - Stay Free (Dim's DJ Friendly Mix)

Magic Mandrake

Lately I've been really getting into the Sarr Band. I tend to find their songs featured in many disco mixes, however I haven't been able to hunt down much information on the group outside of the fact that they released a few amazing disco singles back in the late 1970's with "Magic Mandrake" and "Double Action". Other versions of "Double Action", were also released by both The Salsoul Invention and The Fantastic Soul Invention around the same time. Regardless on the lack of information regarding their releases, it seems from all the tracks that I've heard that the Sarr Band put out some amazing singles and if you can't get a hold of a single or two without breaking the bank, I highly recommend doing so.

Sarr Band - Magic Mandrake
Sarr Band - Double Action

Les Stache Boogie

After a long delay, Pat Les Stache Presents: Cabana Disco Vol.01 will be going into pressing at the end of this month. So I see an official release happening sometime in the middle of September. I apologize for the delay, however, it has allowed another edit in Bamboo's "Hey, Hey, Hey" (renamed "Bamboo Boogie") to make it onto the twelve inch single. The track will be included by Gepy & Gepy's "African Love Song" (renamed "African Love Music"), and John Tropea's "Livin' in the Jungle" (renamed "Lovin in the Jungle"). The whole re-edit twelve inch has this tropical-jungle disco theme to it that I'm really falling in love with. Regardless, here is another sample from that long-delayed record. Look for more information regarding it's release sometime at the end of next month.

Pat Les Stache - Bamboo Boogie

Reminder: All of H.M.A. and Pat Les Stache re-edits can be found in the side-column.

Asphalt Jungle

I couldn't believe my eyes the other day when I picked up a copy of Asphalt Jungle's 1979 rare disco single Freakin' Time for two dollars at a local record store that for better terms, obviously lacks in knowledge when it comes to rare disco. This is one of those records I thought I would have to order from acroos the world for a ridiculous price on EBAY or GEMM. The twelve inch record consists of two slightly different versions of Freakin' Time, with both being equally amazing. From what I'm able to find, it seems like this was the only release by this group which consisted of James Hicks and drummer/ producer Keith Benson who collaborated on many of the classic MFSB releases. I find that this rare funky gem gets better the more you listen to it, however you might just fall in love with the track, like many, immediately. Regardless, the chances of enjoying the track are much higher than finding it cheaper than I did.


Asphalt Jungle - Freakin Time Pt.1

It Got Hot-Hot-Hot Last Night!

Good, Good times...all night long!

See all the photos here

See You Next Wednesday!

STUDIO! TonightPut Your Body Into It!

We will be doing it again this Wednesday Night(TONIGHT!) @ Havana, spinning the best in rare disco, italo, cosmic and mustache grooves, as well as inviting special guest deejay Gene from Emerald City Soul Club and Talcum out for a special "soul" side of disco DJ set. Should be another ridiculous evening, don't miss out!

See all the STUDIO! photos & Posters here.

Adriano Italiano

Before Mr. Altair Nouveau relocated to California, one of his favorite songs to play on Wednesdays was the recently released Greg Wilson re-edit of Adriano Celentano's "Prisencolinensinainciusol". Since it's STUDIO! debut, the re-edit, which was released off of Wilson's 12-inch single GW Ruff Edits #1, has quickly become a crowd favorite. On this edit, Wilson successfully brings up the tracks bass to new heights, as well as extending out some of the songs more instrumental moments giving the song an even more Afro-Tribal disco feel. Wilson also adds a nice touch to the songs last few minutes with some sampled vocals from Instant Funks 1978 Salsoul classic "I Got My Mind Made Up". Greg Wilson is definitely known within the disco and dance communities over the past three decades for putting together some of the world's finiest edits, however here, GW might just have "raised the bar" once again, releasing one of the best edits' of the year.

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (GW Edit)

Sting Like a Bee

I recently got a copy of Bumblebee Unlimited's classic disco LP Sting Like A Bee. It definitely took me some time to get into Bumblebee Unlimited, especially because the vocals are so high pitched, kind of like singing bees I guess. However, once you get used to that, you realize that this group produced some solid disco tracks. While I find that most people identitify Bumblebee Unlimited as another classic Patrick Adams project, I find that most of the songs were written, produced, and arranged by Gregory Carmichael, whom has helped produce some amazing disco artists like Inner Life, Pam Todd & Love Exchange, and Universal Robot Band among others. Anyways, I admit it took me some time to fully get into the Bumblebee Unlimited, however I must say I haven't been able to put down the record over the past few weeks.

Bumblebee Unlimited - I Love You

Chocolate City Disco TONIGHT!

We are covering for the amazing, DJ Riz TONIGHT at the RE-BAR, so we thought we would give you something a little bit special:

Pat Les Stache Presents: Chocolate City Disco
This Friday, July 11th @ the RE-BAR

All night long, Mr. Les Stache (from Havana's STUDIO!) will be spinning rare disco, cosmic house, sleazy italo, and rare mustache grooves all night long! For those that wish STUDIO! fell on a weekend night, this is your rare chance! Don't miss out!

Friday, July 11th
@ The RE-BAR
Pat Les Stache Presents: Chocolate City Disco
$5 9pm-close
Men wearing un-buttoned shirts &
Woman wearing full body suits get in for free!

DJ Riz will return again for his normal weekly night next week!

What Last Night Looked Like...

See all the STUDIO! photos here

Hope To See Everyone Again Next Week!

It's Gettin' Hot Tonight!

Friendly Reminder: Join us again this Wednesday at Havana as we do it up again, spinning the best in rare disco, italo, cosmic and mustache grooves. Another great night where anything and everything goes.

As always, shirtless men get in for free!

View Past STUDIO! Posters & Flyers

Thomas Jerome Moulton

Many disco lovers know about the numerous brilliant and legendary productions and mixes that disco legend Tom Moulton has contributed over the years, however, what people might not know is his late 1970's project TJM, which stands for Thomas Jerome Moulton. In 1979, Moulton under the project name TJM, released his debut record off of Casablanca Records. The record consisted of four tracks including the disco classic "Don't Need No Music". I recently heard this record, and was pretty much blown away from the start. It definitely makes me wonder why some of these tracks haven't recieved more attention, especially in disco mixes and DJ-sets. Regardless, I was extremely happy when I found this record for only three dollars in some random budget bin, especially since I would of paid a lot more for it. Anyways, I've always loved most of Tom Moulton's productions, however I have a whole new reason to love him even more.

TJM - Don't Need No Music
TJM - Am I Dreaming

Spend A Day Without You

Last Night I was listening to Dimitri From Paris's In The House Of Love mix compilation, which I hadn't put on for a while, and somewhere in the middle of the mix it went into Crue-L Grand Orchestra's "Spend The Day Without You" and it reminded me how much I love that song as well as the entire first Crue-L Grand Orchestra record. It's now been over a decade since the Crue-L Grand Orchestra I record came out, yet it still remains one of my favorite "post-golden disco era" disco releases. I still haven't been able to hunt down a copy, which will still probably remain a tired-some task, especially because anything released by Japan's Crue-L Records tends to go out-of-print shortly after hitting the shelves. Regardless, if your able to get a hold of a copy, I highly recommend swiping it up. Maybe I'll play a digital version this Wednesday at STUDIO!

Crue-L Grand Orchestra - Spend The Day Without You

Heaven Is In The Back Seat of My Cadillac

Last night I played the new edit from The Revenge, which was just released this past week on Jiscomusic. This time around, The Revenge, contributor to the great re-edit and disco blog OOFT Music™, re-edits Hot Chocolates's 1976 classic "Heaven Is In The Backseat Of My Cadillac" which appeared on their Man to Man LP. I've been a big fan of many of the edits I find on his OOFT Music™ blog, always putting a new and interesting spin on classic tracks from artists like Marvin Gaye, Don Ray, Logg, Shirley Lites, even The Eagles, Sade, and Survivor. However that being said, he probably put together his best edit that I've heard with "Cadillac looping the chorus "Heaven's in the Back Seat of My Cadillac..." over and over again to a more driving back beat groove compared to the 1976 original. Overall, it's safe to say that The Revenge have easily produced one of my favorite edits of the year. Go pick it up while there are still some copies out there!

Hot Chocolate - Heaven Is In The Backseat Of My Cadillac
(The Revenge Rework)

STUDIO! - Last Night's Photos

Thank you to everyone who came out last night to STUDIO! Good times and craziness as usual. Make sure to join us next week as we do it again! Don't miss out on Seattle's newest and best gay disco night happening each and every Wednesday!

See all the photos here

Hot Disco Action Tonight @ Havana

A friendly reminder to join us this Tonight at Havana for another rendition of STUDIO!. Should be another great night of hot disco action, love dancin', and always a lot of menergy. Summer has definitely arrived, come sweat it up with us!

Black Moustache

A couple of years back, Black Joy released a 12-inch single featuring a couple of Prins Thomas edit's of their single "Moustache". When it came out I really enjoyed it, as do I with most of Thomas's edits, however recently have had a new found love for the track. I played it out a couple of weeks back just figuring to change it up a bit, however half way through the song I realized how amazing this song and edit is. I love when you listen to songs you hadn't heard for a while and discover a new found enjoyment, as if you'd heard it for the first time. Anyways, it's becoming a regular weekly Wednesday night cut at Studio! and a personal all-time favorite of mine. The 12-inch single, which actually features two different Prins Thomas edits was released by the house music label NRK back in 2006. I tend to prefer the A-side 'diskomiks' over the more dubby B side, however both edits are amazing. Overall, if you don't have this record, I highly recommend picking it up. The song makes a nice bridge between disco and house music lovers.

Black Joy - Moustache (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

Black Joy also has a blog which they randomly post mixes and info regarding the group. You can check it out here.

For Your Love Pt 2 Slashed Up

Speaking of that amazing Phantom Slasher edit of Chilly's For Your Love (renamed "Lasagne For 10"), here it is, off their now out-of-print disco re-edit LP "Gruble". For those that don't know, Phantom Slasher is for those whom don't know, Dan Tyler and Conrad McDonnell, better known as The Idjut Boys. Phantom Slasher is basically their "disco re-edit" aliase. As I've said many times before, I find that most of Phantom Slasher's records, as do all the Noid Recordings are generally limited and move very fast, so if I would recommend picking up every single one you can find.

Phantom Slasher - Lasagne For 10
Phantom Slasher - Backwards Is The Best Way Forward. Baby