Disco has had a rough time of it. The connotations with gold medallions and hairy chests are hard to shake. The anger it provoked in the USA, leading to a public lynching of disco records at the Disco Demolition Night is quite stunning. Public Enemy's Chuck D, in his more militant youth, raged against disco, berating it for its lack of politics and general hedonism - he thought it was anti-revolutionary and a set back for black america (a view he's softened on since).
Getting on for thirty odd years later disco can be seen more importantly as the beginning of what we call dance culture. Disco gave us the 12 inch. It put the DJ and the mix at the centre. It cemented the heaven-bound combination of drugs and dancefloors. The remix and the re-edit. The original four to the floor. It took studio production techniques to a new level. Yeah, there are a lot of bad disco records out there, but that's true in any genre. Overall I think disco is owed an apology. For all its subsequent excesses we owe disco a lot.
This little 50 minute mix picks up on some of the different flavours and interpretations of disco, from straight up party grooves through to love songs, boogie bizzniss, detroit-style deepness, social consciousness, and jazz-funked work outs. The selection is rooted in that 78-80 window when disco was flying highest, but there are a couple of excursions into the future to see how the spirit has remained. Even if your initial reaction to disco is negative - and count me in that camp - try and give this a go with an open mind, and think what the world might be like had disco never come along... a worse place I'm sure.
Special dedi on this to soulboy number one Nick Carn - lots of love and congratulations due!
(pic: Darryl Pandy in full effect - check videos out to see the force of nature in action!)
Getting on for thirty odd years later disco can be seen more importantly as the beginning of what we call dance culture. Disco gave us the 12 inch. It put the DJ and the mix at the centre. It cemented the heaven-bound combination of drugs and dancefloors. The remix and the re-edit. The original four to the floor. It took studio production techniques to a new level. Yeah, there are a lot of bad disco records out there, but that's true in any genre. Overall I think disco is owed an apology. For all its subsequent excesses we owe disco a lot.
This little 50 minute mix picks up on some of the different flavours and interpretations of disco, from straight up party grooves through to love songs, boogie bizzniss, detroit-style deepness, social consciousness, and jazz-funked work outs. The selection is rooted in that 78-80 window when disco was flying highest, but there are a couple of excursions into the future to see how the spirit has remained. Even if your initial reaction to disco is negative - and count me in that camp - try and give this a go with an open mind, and think what the world might be like had disco never come along... a worse place I'm sure.
Special dedi on this to soulboy number one Nick Carn - lots of love and congratulations due!
(pic: Darryl Pandy in full effect - check videos out to see the force of nature in action!)
DiscoNections
Chic - Chic Cheer (1978)
Faze Action - In The Trees (1996)
Chaka Khan - Clouds (1980)
Farley Jackmaster Funk & Darryl Pandy - Love Can't Turn Around (1986)
Patrice Rushen - What's The Story (1980)
Clyde Alexander - Got to Get Your Love (1978)
Moodyman - Forevernevermore (2000)
Chic - Chic Cheer (1978)
Faze Action - In The Trees (1996)
Chaka Khan - Clouds (1980)
Farley Jackmaster Funk & Darryl Pandy - Love Can't Turn Around (1986)
Patrice Rushen - What's The Story (1980)
Clyde Alexander - Got to Get Your Love (1978)
Moodyman - Forevernevermore (2000)
Stevie Wonder - Race Babbling (1979)
Azymuth - Avenida Das Mangueiras (1979)
No comments:
Post a Comment