Last Night STUDIO! Photos!!!

Last Night = Hot Bodies, Erotic Disco, & Lots of Love Dancin'!!!

See all the photos here

See You Next Wednesday!

STUDIO! TONIGHTw/ Seattle Legend DJ RIZ

This will be a 'very special' week at STUDIO!, as we invite Seattle legend DJ Riz out for a 'rare disco set'. Last time he came out, the dancefloor was packed from start to finish. And of course resident deejays Pat Les Stache and H.M.A. will be doing their usual 'thang', spinning the best in rare disco, italo, cosmic and mustache grooves all night long. Don't miss out, this one is going to be crazy!

And for your musical pleasure, here is Edwin Starr's 1978 classic disco single "Contact", a song that DJ Riz turned me onto and has turned into a STUDIO! classic every since.

Edwin Starr - Contact

Love Magic From The Monster Orchestra

Lately I've been getting into John Davis & The Monster Orchestra and the records he released from the mid to late 1970's. I became interested in Mr. Davis when I came across a used copy of his 1978 twelve inch single "Ain't That Enough For You" a while back. I remember at the time I picked up the record, I also bought many other classic disco records by many other artist and for some reason the twelve inch single kind of got shelved before I had a chance to really absorb the record, which does happen at times, especially when you buy as many records as I do. Anyways, a couple weeks ago I was sorting through some of the records that I hadn't listen to for quite sometime and I came across the John Davis single and decided to take a better look at the single, especially since it is my collection. And after I had sometime to sit down and listen to it, I realized how great the song is and couldn't understand why I sat on it for so long. Ever since, I've been checking out many other John Davis & The Monster Orchestra songs with much delight, discovering some real disco gems in the proccess. Now I'm finding myself on a quest to collect more of his music, especially his 1979 LP The Monster Strikes Again which features the amazing "Love Magic" and the Ashford & Simpson cover of "Bourgie' Bourgie'", as well as the full-length LP of Ain't That Enough For You with came out back in 1978. Overall, it was nice to go through my own collection and find some unplayed hidden classics laying around. It's like going to record store I suppose in your own living room.

John Davis & The Monster Orchestra - Love Magic

Isaac Hayes, 1942-2008

In honor of the great Isaac Hayes whom unfortunitely passed away yesterday in his Tennesse home, here is an amazing Ron Hardy white-label edit of Hayes' 1975 classic funky dancefloor cut "I Can't Turn Around". Hayes, who will probably best be remembered for the Shaft soundtrack, however, throughout his long career Hayes' career went well beyond the 1971 soundtrack, releasing many amazing funk, soul, and even disco classics throughout the years. Some of my favorites that come to mind are "Zeke The Freak", "Don't Let Go", "I Can't Turn Around", and of course "Theme From 'Shaft'". Regardless of your favorite track, it's obvious that Isaac Hayes legacy, music, and influence will be forever lasting.

Isaac Hayes - I Can't Turn Around (Ron Hardy Edit)

Jungle Drums & Wild Fantasies

I recently came across Wild Fantasy's 1978 disco classic Jungle Drums, and I have to admit I haven't been able to put the record down since. This classic album was produced by Tony Hiller of Brotherhood Of Man fame. The record contains amazing dancefloor friendly cuts including "Gypsy Lady", "Africa", "Get It On", and "Africa". I first found out about the group when I found a twelve-inch version of "Africa" for about two dollars and thought it was worth giving it a listen. When it comes to disco, any song or artist with the word "fantasy" and "Africa" included, I find, generally means it's going to be good. This is definitely one of those times that the previous statement is absolutely true, with Wild Fantasy releasing a disco masterpiece in Jungle Drums.

Wild Fantasy - Gypsey Lady
Wild Fantasy - Africa

What Last Night Looked Like

Last Night = Lots of Hot & Sweaty Good Times!

See all the photos here

See You Next Wednesday!

Hot Body Disco Tonight @ STUDIO!

Resident deejays Pat Les Stache and H.M.A. will be doing it again this tonight, spinning the best in rare disco, italo, cosmic and mustache grooves. The summer is definitely in full swing and every Wednesday keeps getting better and better. There's not a better time of the year in Seattle to come out, dance, and sweat it out with some hot bodies all night long! Don't miss out!

Love In Indigo

It's safe to say that Brooklyn based disco group Escort is one of my favorite bands to come out over the past few years. Over the past few years they have been releasing some amazing twelve inch singles including "Starlight", "Bright New Life", and "All Through the Night". However, lately I've been finding myself getting back into, after not hearing for a while, maybe their most underrated single "Love in Indigo", which was the groups second release back in 2006. I actually got to see the group about a year ago in San Francisco and "Love in Indigo" was the song I enjoyed the most live. If your one of the few people that haven't caught on to this group, which features about fifteen members to make up a small orchestra of percussion, strings, horns, vocals, bass, and guitar instruments, I highly recommend picking up one of their four singles. The rumor has it that the group is actually working on a full-length album, however no date for a release has been given. Regardless, I think I'll be dropping a few classic Escort cuts later tonight at STUDIO!. Hope to see you there!

Escort - Love in Indigo (Extended Version)

Don't Let Go

Just about every Wednesday night, at some point, I break out the one disco classic released by former Dawn vocalist Tony Orlando, "Don't Let Go". Say what you want about Mr. Orlando and his overall "Las Vegas showbizz" career, however in 1978 the singer took a stab at disco with some success. This "one-off" funky-disco gem was mixed by the legendary disco mixer and engineer Jimmy Simpson and was included on Orlando's Elektra Records debut. The track gained some attention in the disco club scene, which in my opinion has a bit of a Gino Soccio/Don Ray/Cerrone overall feel to it. Recently the song was re-edited by Pete Herbert of Reverso 68 fame and included on a Disco Deviance released twelve-inch. Unfortunitely, this was Tony's only "disco" attempt, falling back more towards his Dawn roots, which I admit am not a fan of. However, that being said the singer did leave us disco enthusiasts with an incredible disco classic.

Tony Orlando - Don't Let Go

The Passion of Ray Martinez

It's safe to say that I love Ray Martinez and every single track that he produced in the 1970's. From Amant's "If There's Love" to Sassy's classic "Theme From Disco 77", from George McCrae's "Kiss Me (The Way I Like It)" to his solo cut of "The Natives Are Restless", Martinez made a name for himself as a break through disco producer and musician during the 1970's. Helping solidify the "Miami Sound" of the late 70's, this Cuban native went onto create Miami based Paris International Records where he released records by Amant, Celi Bee, and others. One of my favorite Martinez produced records is the 1979 self-titled LP under the name Passion. This four track album includes disco classics "Don't Bring Back Memories" and "In New York" and remains to be one of the hardest to find disco records. Adding to that, the record consists of one of the sexiest album covers, which could make it a disco collectable all by itself. Overall, this was just another classic disco release from one of the genre's most legendary producers.

Passion - Don't Bring Back Memories
Passion - In New York