I've been holding off posting this more 'themed' disco track until Halloween. With that being said, here is two cuts, "Soul Dracula" and "Sex Me" off of Hot Blood's 1977 Disco Dracula LP. Hot Blood was a German studio disco project that gained some attention with "Soul Dracula" in 1975 which promoted the group to do their only full-length LP. I guess it would be hard to continue to create songs about sex, disco, and draculas....the more I think about that, maybe not. Anyways, Happy Halloween!
I pretty exhausted on this Thursday, as I am on most Thursdays (because of STUDIO!). That being said, I'm going to keep it short with a one of my favorite Boys Town Gang cuts in "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". This hi-energy disco cut was originally released on the San Francisco based group's 1981 Disc Charge LP and was produced by Bill Motley, a local bay area deejay who was inspired to form a group that catered to the city's large gay clientele. One of those classic disco covers that everyone loves to sing along to at the end of night.
I'm looking forward to another great 'disco night' tonight at Studio!. To get things started, here is one of Dimitri From Paris's amazing edit of Sylvester's 1980 disco classic "I Need You". This edit was featured on Dimitri's In The House of Love mix compilation released a few years back. If you still haven't heard that compilation, I highly recommend checking it out as it features some of Dimitri's best work. I would also recommend checking out the rare twelve-plus minute Tom Moulton mixed version, which is equally as good. Overall, it's another great example of Dimitri enhancing an already beautiful disco classic.
Join us TONIGHT at Havana for another rendition of STUDIO! This week deejays Pat Les Stache, H.M.A. and special guest deejay, Ben Cook, owner of Rong Music, will be spinning another dose of rare 70's gay disco, italo, mustache, and cosmic grooves. Last week's 'Arthur Russell Tribute Night' was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to another amazing night of love dancin' and disco music. So don't be lazy and come join us for the best disco night in town!
I found this cut browsing around on youtube.com and immediately fell in love. Here is one of Arabesque's rare disco classic "Friday Night". This extremely hard-to-find gem was released as a 7-inch single in 1978 by the all female German group. This was one of their earliest singles to an overall successful career, selling more than 6 million records worldwide by catching on first in Japan before gaining a lot of popularity in Europe. Other notable disco classics to that I recommend checking out are "Midnight Dancer", "In The Heat Of A Disco Night", "Hello Mr. Monkey", and "High Life" among many others. Overall, this is a very rare disco classic that can be quite expensive. It would nice to see someone re-issue a bootleg copy of this amazing track. ENJOY!
Join us this Wednesday at Havana for very special rendition of STUDIO! This week STUDIO! is your location for the Offical After-Party to the Gay & Lesbian Film Festival's screening of Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. After the showing of the film head down to Havana, as Pat Les Stache, H.M.A., and Ben Cook (Rong Music) pay tribute to one of disco music's greatest pioneers' Arthur Russell. We will spinning Arthur Russell classics as well as the usual 70's rare disco, italo, cosmic, and mustache grooves all night long. Those that attend the film will get into the After Party for FREE!
STUDIO! - Official After Party Wednesday October 22nd @ Havana (1010 E Pike Street) w/ Studio Residents Pat Les Stache & H.M.A. + Special Guest Ben Cook (Stranger, Rong Music) Only $3 Bucks, Film Festival Attendees for FREE! 9pm - 2am
In tribute to Arthur Russell, here is the 1982 produced classic "Go Bang" from one of his most notable projects Dinosaur L.
One of the films I was excited to see featured at this years Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. The film festival, which is in it's 13th year, is showing this engaging documentary about Arthur Russell, a cellist, composer, and dance music producer during the late 1970's and early 1980's. Russell was the center piece of such classic dance songs like Loose Joints' "Is It All Over My Face", Dinosaur L's "Go Bang", Dinosaur's "Kiss Me Again", and his solo cut of "Let's Go Swimming". Russell's songwriting didn't just touch the dancefloor, as he experimented with avant-garde productions such as his 1986 masterpiece World Of Echo LP, as well as numerous instrumental compositions which were included in the recently released First Thought Best Thought. Arthur throughout his musical career was constantly redefining himself, blending elements of pop, dance, disco, folk, avant-garde, and anything else that inspired him. In Wild Combination, director Matt Wolf mixes Russell’s music with perceptive reminiscences from colleagues and family, performance clips, and evocative landscapes. This mesmerizing documentary mirrors Russell’s free spirit, while successfully translating his distinctive aesthetic into an eclectic yet cohesive film.
Wild Combination: A Portrait Of Arthur Russell By Matt Wolf Harvard Exit Theatre, 9:45 PM Wed, Oct 22 For More Info About the Film Click Here.
Official After Party @ Studio (inside Havana) Free Admission w/ Movie Ticket, $3 without
I recently heard the studio disco band, The Wonderland Band for the first time when I came across their 1979 twelve-inch record Paradise Island. This disco cut was originally included on their solid 1979 LP, Wonder Woman which was produced by Morrie Brown. Most of the group's cuts were disco versions of superhero style themed songs. That being said, I'm unsure how the "Paradise Island" track fits into all of that, however there is definitely something about the song, possibly the fact that listening to it makes me think of a outdoor disco party on a tropical beach somewhere, that I can't seem to get enough of. Regardless, as the days grow colder as we enter the fall, here is a song to remind you of those warmer disco nights a few months back!
Like I've said in previous posts, Barrabas is one of my all-time favorite disco 'bands', often blending latin, disco, funk, and rock genres together to produce some amazing and influential songs and records during the 1970's. That being said, the buck didn't stop there, with Barrabas releasing one of their best cuts, "On The Road Again", in 1981 when Fernando Arbex re-formed the group with new members after a short lived hiatus. I can't say that much came out of the 1980's for the newly formed Barrabas, however what I can say was they were at least able to capture the magic at least one more time with "On The Road Again".
Rare 70's Disco, Italo, Cosmic & Mustache Grooves all night long with deejays Pat Les Stache, H.M.A., and Ben Cook (Rong Music). Another night of love dancin' and disco boogie action inside the Havana (1010 E Pike Street).
...Making Love is My Favorite GameHere is Bruni Pagan's 1979 disco classic "Fantasy" off of her debut LP Just Bruni. I've been lovin' this track for quite sometime now, playing it the past few weeks in the earlier hours on Wednesdays. I slightly favor this more downtempo dance cut over the two other solid album cuts "Don't Be So Mean (In Your Jeans)" and the album opener "Late For Love". I recommend picking up a copy of Just Bruni if you can find a copy, however the "Fantasy twelve-inch, which includes "Don't Be So Mean (In Your Jeans)", will be just fine.
I recently found a mint copy of Bob-A-Rela's 1979 selt-titled LP lodged tightly away at the bottom of a stack of records at a local record shop. I admit that at the time I didn't know anything about the record until I closely looked at records credits to find that the album was produced by both George Lagios and Pat Deserio, a tag-team of legendary disco producers who are resposible for bringing us two classic records by Bombers among many others. Deserio also had a helping hand in producing Kebekelektrik as well a couple classic releases off of Les Disques Direction Records. I found, after one listen, that the Bob-A-Rela LP consisted of that same solid production that made both Bombers' records disco classics. Wi th standout cuts like "Spend The Night", "Why Does It Rain?", and a couple of cover songs including "Tobacco Road" and Pink Floyd's "Money". Overall, the record is very solid, and highly recommended for fans of the seond Bomber's record.
What better to end a work week and start the weekend than with a Todd Terje edit of Peech Boys' 1982 classic "Don't Make Me Wait". I find that this is one of those classic tracks that seems to have a million different mixes and edits. That being said, on this edit, Terje chooses to leave the songs general framework alone while instead focusing on re-working the songs vocals by bringing them in-and-out while using a lot of delay and reverb effects. Overall, it's a nice sudtle edit to an already amazing dance classic. I wouldn't mind seeing this one make it's way onto a future twelve-inch, if you know what I mean.
The long anticipating wait is over. My new re-edit twelve-inch, Pat Les Stache Presents: Cabana Disco vol.01 is now available over at Juno Records. This record includes three solid edits including Gepy & Gepy's "African Love Song", John Tropea's "Livin' in the Jungle", and Bamboo's "Hey, Hey, Hey!" - all exploring that 'cosmic tropical disco' sound that I love so much. The record is being distributed by All Ears Distribution, so you should start to see the record popping up in many of the usual vinyl stores worldwide. This is a limited edition pressing, so I highly recommend picking up a copy while they still last
Purchase a copy of Pat Les Stache's Cabana Disco vol.01 by visiting these stores:
The late Sharon Redd sang on some solid disco cuts during the late 1970's and early 1980's including Beat The Street, Can You Handle It, You Got My Love , Love Is Gonna Get Ya , among many others. One of my favorite tracks in which Redd sang on was Front Page's 1979 disco classic "Love Insurance". This classic which was produced by Rick Tell, Burt Szerlip, and Cory Robbins, is a hi-energy dancefloor gem that really helped showcase Sharon Redd as a solid lead vocalist. As I listen to this track I also find that I'm a huge fan of tracks instrumental breaks, displaying some nice percussion and overall rhythm work. Overall it's classic disco song, that really helps highlight Sharon Redd at her finest.
Last couple weeks have found me rocking this new Chas Jankel single on Tirk Records!
It would be an understatement to say I love Chas Jankel. He's sort of a hero to me. Lost after his rock era, he turned to his own style of jazz-inflected disco, and somehow managed to create a catalog of great albums and even better singles. Remixers and re-Editors are just rediscovering Chas thanks to the compilation of singles that was released last year, My Occupation.
So here's an old favorite and Chas' first big solo hit, "Ai No Corrida" (which I think I'm going to try to rock out next week), and his new single, "Get Yourself Together", as well as the Hercules And Love Affair Remix.
Join us this Wednesday Night at Havana for another rendition of STUDIO! This week deejays Pat Les Stache and H.M.A. will be joined by a very special guest deejay, Ben Cook, owner of Rong Music. We are excited to be joined by Cook, whom has been a part of some of the best 'nu disco' releases over the past few years. His label has put out records by Prins Thomas, Mudd, Tussle, Ilija Rudman, Lee Douglas, Free Blood, Woofly, and many many more. This week is bound to be one of our best disco party's that we have put on to date! Don't miss out on what's to be an amazing night of Disco, Dancing, and good good times!
Studio! A Weekly Gay-Ass Disco Party Disco & Italo All Night Long Wednesday October 8th @ Havana (1010 E Pike Street) (Across the street from Basic Plumbing) w/ Studio Residents Pat Les Stache & H.M.A. + Special Guest Ben Cook (Stranger, Triangle Ochestra, Rong Music) Only $3 Bucks The Party Starts at 9pm!!!
And because we are talking about Rong Music, here is How & Why?'s edit of The Bombers' 1979 classic "Let's Dance", one of my favorites from there recently released re-edit compilation Rong Music Presents Promo Only, which combines some of the best disco re-edits the label has put out to date!
Ah... Does early euro-disco get any more beautiful than this?!?!
While it doesn't share much with the classic euro-disco acts, being more French/Gainsbourg sounding than most of the disco coming from the continent, even though the group consisted of two spanish flamenco singers!
Fun Fact: They were chosen to represent Luxembourg (?!?!) in 1978's Eurovision song contest!
The instrumentation on this is just perfect! And every once in awhile the little moog comes out and you hear the little synthetic chords peek out over those violins. No wonder this song sold more than 16 million copies on it's release!
If the question is "Can you boogie?" Then the answer here, is rhetorical...
This is a weekly classic for us. Every time that piano comes on, Pat gets a huge smile on his face, knowing that beautiful voice is going to come on and start singing.
And those Moog-tastic bass stabs at the beginning over the piano - Fabulous!
I got to thinking about re-posting this track when I was clearing out my selections for last weeks STUDIO and noticed I had put 3 different 12" of this track in my bag. I figured if I loved the song that much....
Here is the "mush requested" and much enjoyed disco classic "Bamalama" in it's entirety. This 1977 disco medley by Belle Epoque definitely takes the listener on a rollercoaster of different grooves, starting with "Bamalama" and then continuously going into partial moments of other songs including "Drink Me", "Taste Of Destruction", "Good Golly Miss Moly", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", and therefore concluding the song with a live recorded concert medley. Obviously, I find that most deejays tend to mix out of the song after the first seven to eight minutes when the song is still in it's "Bamalama-mode". That being said, I think for disco medley's, which seemed to be more popular back in the 1970's than now, "Bamalama" is one of the best I've ever heard. Even though I know that most of you(whom are deejays) will mix out of this track before the second half of the song begins, however I highly recommend that everybody listen to the entire mix at least a couple times to grasp the amazing arrangement of the entire classic.
It may seem strange, but yeah, even as disco was revolutionizing the way records were pressed, giving us the first DJ friendly 12" singles, many record companies were still pressing their artists on 45.
That's no surprise for artists such as ABBA or Michael Jackson, who had one foot firmly planted in the world of pop, but for many small label disco artists, it amazing that they had pressings on this mostly unusable for the dance floor variety of vinyl.
So whenever I find something unique on 45 I can usually be found pulling money out of my wallet.
Here are four different disco 45's I've found in the last few months that have been getting some play on my turntables at home.
Don't know anything about this group at all, in fact I can't even find production credits on it. It's from a very small label our of Philly called Jamie Records. The vocals are done by a woman calling herself "Aquarius". Pretty fun stuff!
This Biddu arranged Lerner/Lowe classic is really an instrumental with the vocalists singing "Dance, Dance Dance" over and over again, but it's pretty great none the less! I know Pat Les Stache is a huge fan of Biddu's work, so this is really for him!
Classic on a scratchy old 45! Some songs I've just never found any other way. I know there is a 12" out there somewhere, but.... Favorite thing about this is the fact that they can't just get a vocoder, they have to go and get some guy to record himself sounding, like, all robotic and shit! Hilarious! "I am your automatic lover!"
I think this comes from Eruption's second LP. Precious goes from sounding extremely plain to soulfull bellowing in no time flat. This, of course, is a Frank Farian production, which is why it sounds EXACTLY like Boney M. Pat and I are secret admirers of Mr. Farian's work..... Don't tell anyone. It'll ruin our reputations!
Join us TONIGHT at Havana for a 'Special' rendition of STUDIO! This week will be very unique as we put on a special-themed Obama-rama night, which is a night dedicated to raising money for Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign. All the proceeds will go straight to Obama! We will also have some free pins, stickers, and other Obama goodies! So get ready to get your Barack on, and disco the night with us this Wednesday!
This week is bound to be one of our best disco party's that we have put on to date! And with the current financial crisis here in the states, it's more important than ever that we elect Barack Obama our next president and finally CHANGE Washington!
Even though legendary disco label Tom N' Jerry Records has only a handful of releases to it's name, the label produced some of the best disco to come out of the late 1970's including David Christie's Back Fire, RocketsOn The Road Again, TJM's self-titled LP, Chocolat'sKings Of Club, and Lipstique's At The Discotheque to name a few. This label which was distributed through Salsoul Records was run by legendary mixer/producer Tom Moulton, whom was involved in almost all of the releases in some fashion or another. One of the records from this label that I heard for the first time recently, is Mc Lane Explosion's 1978 cosmic disco LP Pulstar. This record was mixed by Moulton and produced by Roland Romanelli, the same person behind the italo-disco project Space. Overall, Pulstar has an early cosmic disco feel to it, reworking cover versions of Love & Kisses' "Accidental Lover", Space's "Magic Fly", and Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygène". The record is a nice blending mix of early cosmic, disco, and italo, which just happens to be three of my favorite genres. Enjoy!
I've been holding off posting this more 'themed' disco track until Halloween. With that being said, here is two cuts, "Soul Dracula" and "Sex Me" off of Hot Blood's 1977 Disco Dracula LP. Hot Blood was a German studio disco project that gained some attention with "Soul Dracula" in 1975 which promoted the group to do their only full-length LP. I guess it would be hard to continue to create songs about sex, disco, and draculas....the more I think about that, maybe not. Anyways, Happy Halloween!
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