Welcome to this forum: how I fell in love w/underground disco.

Sorry about the mix up in creating 2 different forums,
I've closed the first one that I created in a hurry,
it was called "Underground Disco: 1969-1985".

Let me get the ball rolling with a little story about
my relationship with "Disco" music.

During the height of the disco era, I was listening to anything BUT disco. I was into Progressive rock, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and so-called AOR, otherwise known as "Album Oriented Rock".
I used to listen to WOR FM and WNEWY FM here in NYC.
I was particularly into the night-time jocks who would play weird stuff like Vangelis, Eno, the Bonzo Dog Band plus the usual dinosaur rock that your older siblings and parents might have been into: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, softer stuff like Cat Stevens etc, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, you get the picture.
Disco was under the radar for me. I was intrigued by the emerging punk-rock scene when it exploded, including the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Television, Siouxie, Talking Heads etc.
I started going out to "Discos that did not play disco".
I completely missed the "glory years", but was subliminally taking in whatever I heard on the radio: "Disco 102", Rosko, Paco, WKTU, etc. I was irrationally "Anti-Disco" as a matter of fact, but still, my sponge-like musical sensibility and keen sense of style was taking it all in covertly or overtly.
Starting in 1979 I was going to NYC clubs like Hurrah and the Mudd Club, Irving Plaza, Danceteria, etc.
That's when I started DJing, and I was spending a small fortune on "Post Punk" of all kinds. My idols were DJs who could not mix at all, BUT the better ones could at least do decent, on-the-beat "Slam mixes." DJs like David Azarc at the Peppermint Lounge, who gave me my first break.
DJs like Mark Fotiadis, Sean Cassette, Ivan Ivan, Walter Durkacz, Sara Salir, Dany Johnson, Bill Bahlman, etc, were the ones I looked up to. Then, when Hip-Hop became big, I realised I was being irrational in my dislike of Disco. I read an article about the Paradise Garage written by Stephen Saban in the Soho Weekly News. One night at the Mudd Club I heard an unknown DJ seemlessly blending West End, Salsoul and Prelude records. I was mesmerised by the beat mixing and the music itself, which was 10 times better than the more Popular stuff that had crossed over. That's what I mean by "Underground Disco"...the stuff that was edgier and BETTER.
Sometimes it broke through and got airplay. The good stuff always sold well, but never really crossed over.

There's quite a lot written out there, and I recommend all these books:

Mel Cheren: "My Life and the Paradise Garage"
Tim Lawrence: "Love Saves The Day"
Bill Brewster: "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life".

These sites are essential:

discomusic.com
disco-disco.com
djhistory.com

Please add with your comments and links.

I'm in the process of coming out of retirement. I want to play records, I want to throw David Mancuso type parties with a strictly underground, rent-party vibe. I want to travel and capitalize on my very respectable DJ history. I also want to help spread the word and the music. I'm always building my collection, and I want to do my part to see that great out-of-print underground disco gets re-issued legally and legitimately, with the best possible sound, in CD, Analogue Vinyl, and compressed digital formats.
Knock off vinyl bootlegs are better than nothing, but they sound like shit, so please do your part to the legit re-issues whenever possible, like the stuff that Ben Liebrand, Joey Negro and David Mancuso do.

My currrent favorite 12" is "Botticelli's Theme" by Botticelli. I had it in my eBay store for $275, which is what you'd have to pay me to sell it to you. I'm having a rough time financially, so I lowered the price to $99.99 w/$133.33 BIN, and no one cared. I checked online, and no one has a copy for sale anywhere, period. This is the kind of record that deserves to be re-issued legitimately...Are you listening Dave "Joey Negro" Lee?
BTW, Joey's comps are EXCELLENTO!

That's it for today, hope I got the ball rolling.
Let's hear what some of your fave obscure disco jams are, also what your favorite CD compilations are. Please try to keep the focus on the music itself, rare records, unreleased mixes, legendary "Holy Grails" (Like the legendary test-pressing of South Shore Commission's "Free Man", acetates, in-print and out-of-print CD compilatitons.

In closing, here is my Current "Desert Island" Disco Classics short list...please to share some of your disco faves when you post.

-Ben Liebrand's "Grand 12 Inches" 8 CD set. (Lots of Pop stuff, but worth it for the rare goodies!)
-South Shore Commission: "Free Man" (LP, 12", 7", FK re-edit etc)
-D.C. LaRue "Cathedrals", any version. (Yes, it _was_ a "Top 40" hit in 76! My Bad.)
-David Mancuso Presents The Loft Vols. 1 and 2
-Lace "Can't Play Around" 12" Larry Levan extended instrumental remix.

i've been deep into music my whole life. i was born in the early seventies, absorbed all that am pop and fm rock until i could afford records from my allowances.

it makes for some strange musical influence. as much as i love a crazy abstact jam, i love a mathematically crafted hook. i'm a huge beatles/stones beach boys fan, and i'm a huge monk/sun ra/ornette coleman fan too.

as soon as i was old enough, i begged my folks for music lessons, i started on piano, and moved to drums as soon as possible. like many, i started with rock and metal, but i thought it was too theatric and silly, and started to seek out jazz, punk and avant music... atmospheric and experimental stuff, which led into dance music in the late eighties. it was in that industrial/experimental time where tapes and early samplers came into play. i was hooked.

i started messing around with tape edits around that time, playing with cheap fourtracks and trying to imitate what i heard on dj mix cds, trying to create continuous mixes... not knowing that real dj's were using multiple turntable setups. i wasn't old enough to actually get into the club to see how they were doing it. oh well.

so where does all that leave me? i grew up buying records that sample all these old disco classics. after playing techno, downtempo and deep house for quite a while, i decided to start collecting from the source. i run a record store, and that has allowed me access to some pretty dope shit. i personally have one of the largest dance collections in seattle, and in my humble opinion, it's one of the best. i've dj'ed some of the better, deeper and sweatier disco nights alongside some true, original nw disco heads and grilled them for info on "how it were". however, there is tons that i have yet to learn, and that's one of the reasons i'm here.

the pacific northwest was not the hotbed of underground dance, and is still struggling to put itself on the map. that isn't to say that there aren't some super deep heads here, it's more that many of us never made it to a loft, gallery, flamingo, studio or garage party.

i should also mention that i completely believe in eclecticism. i think that when you hear the best dj's, you might hear everything from stiff little fingers to the style council to sesso mato. i understand what this forum is about, but i'm not some crazy purist that is only here to discuss what is and what isn't underground disco. i sincerely hope to hear crazy musical musings from people like mr. downtown.music... people who are as interested in the modern lovers as they are moby dick records.

so that said, i'll mention some disco faves....

nick straker "a little bit of jazz" (i think i own like four copies of this... can't one up)
pat lundy "work song"
chas jankel "glad to know you"
tw funkmasters "love money"
carl bean "i was born this way" (straight guys like me shouldn't love this record this much...)
detroit emeralds "feel the need" (tom moulton productions are so fucking sublime)
skyy "here's to you" (you can play this in any set and KILL!)

i preview this post, and it makes no sense. suffice it to say that i'm deep into pop, rock, hip hop, jazz, punk, abstract, disco, soul... screw it, i'm drunk again. this group should be be an assload of robot monkey fun. keep it... raw.

Excellent post deepconcentration, thanks for that.
Eclectism is the name of the game, so we'll do our best
to keep it fun while having a place to talk about "disco",
since there is no other place on discogs to do that yet.
What are some of your favorite disco-centric CD compilations?

Have you heard the Ben Liebrand set?
The "best" (IMO) material on his set could be reduced to 2 CDs.
One of the CDs has the full length version of Martin Circus'
"Disco Circus". You MUST hear that on headphones!!!
I've heard this my whole life, but the other day I smoked a bone and heard parts of the arrangement and strings that are totally mindblowing. The musicians who play on that, and the arrangement and the drums and the guitars....talk about eclectic...
On the surface it's just a long disco thang, but dig deeper.
Ben Liebrand got a studio tape from them for the first 7 minutes, but had to use a vinyl transfer for the second half.
Still, it's never been legitimately reissued until now.
On that same CD is the almost 12" minute version of Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire"...I think Ben created this by editing together several disparate elements.

And Tom Moulton is brilliant.
Be sure to read his interview on disco-disco.com.
Bill Brewster also interviewed him on djhistory.com.

I would KILL to hear his early mix tapes he edited for the Fire Island parties.

Today's black crack:
G.B. Experience: "Disco Extravaganza" atantic 12"

Deepconcentration said:

"...the pacific northwest was not the hotbed of underground dance, and is still struggling to put itself on the map..."

One of the long-gone geniuses of the genre came from your neck of the woods:
Walter Gibbons.
Amen.

@ downtown music:

some FI mixtapes of Tom Moulton you can find here:

http://www.vjsproductionsinc.com/mixtape/index.asp?typ=2

Nice one Esteban, thanks. I'm listening to the Tom Moulton right now. Nicely done...I was expecting that he'd do "Slam" edits since he was not using 2 turntables, and he does a great job.
Lots of stuff here that I've never, ever heard, which is exactly what I wanted to hear to further my musical, er, "ejikashun". (GRIN)
Obscure singles and LP cuts that I've never heard. Yummy!

Search for Danielle Baldelli then.

In my opinion he (and not Moulton) is the best disco dj ever. (I mean dj, not producer)

I mail every now and then with Baldelli; he never used computer or software to record his mixes, and in the beginning he couldn't even pitch his records, unbelievable if you hear some mixes;
Btw, the guy has 60,000+ records in his living room ;)

Tom Moulton mixed or remixed plenty of songs, yet he wasn't into the DJ thang!

There are too, many mixes from Tom to name but my favorites were Love Sensation - Loleatta Holloway and Love is the Message - MFSB just to name a few.

We can talk about Shep Pettibone mixes also:

Let No Man Put Asunder - First Choice (The best one ever)
I was born this way - Carl Bean (Mixed w/Bruce Forest)
Thanks to you - Sinnamon
Oooh, I Love It - The Salsoul Orchestra

Honorable Mention: Dreamer - B.B.& Q
The Jammers - LP
Baby Talk, Too Turned On - Alisha

Larry Levan Mixes:

Can't Play Around - Lace
The Padlock EP, Should Have Been You and other hits by Gwen Guthrie
Taana Gardner songs - Work That Body, When you touch me, Heartbeat
Is it all over my face? - Loose ts
You Can't Hide - David Joseph (Thanks to Francois K)

Francois K mixes:
Beat The Street, Never, Gonna Give You Up, Can You Handle It - Sharon Redd

Body Music - The Strikers (Mixed w/Larry Levan)

Plenty of others by these mixers that I didn't mention but you got the idea!

Honorable Mention:

Danny Krivit Re-edits......

Walter Gibbons mixes.......

Tee Scott mixes......

Bruce Forest mixes......

Arthur Baker mixes.......

Jellybean mixes......

M&M mixes.....

I can go on!!!

The Lord of Flatbush

Delmar Browne

I'm quite new to the world of disco, started checking out disco a year or two back thanks to discussion on the board of the electro and (italo)disco oriented www.cbs.nu
First bought the 3 Disco Spectrum 2cds on BBE and took it from there really. Still discovering new great tracks every day. Favourite at the moment must be Shalamar's Right There In The Pocket, before this i had a major crush on Teddy Pendergrass' Only You, before that Undisputed Truth's You + Me = Love. There's so much great stuff out there that i can't really name any favourites. I wish I'd find more stuff like D-Train tho, i really like that sound and haven't found anything like it.

You mean 'Right in the Socket', you gonna love 'Make That Move' from Starborough

Yeah, Right in the socket.. Thanks for the tip and the welcome Bissia.

Right In The Socket - Shalamar

A Funky/Spacey, Disco Song - One of my favorite's

Only You - Teddy Pendergrass

A Funky/Calypso, Vibrant Song - Another one of my favorite's

The Undisputed Truth - You + Me

Over 11 minutes of Funky Disco for your listening pleasure!

As for D-Train, my alumni partner in crime - Prelude Records had an artist whose hits are still playing on Mix 102.7 FM and KTU 103.5 FM in New York.

The Classics are still here!

As bad as this is going to sound, I heard "Boogie Oogie Oogie" on the radio earlier and I like that.

Some of my favourites:

Giorgio Moroder - Get On The Funk Train
Shalamar - Make That Move
Exodus - Together Forever
Gene Chandler - When your number one
Joe Bataan - The Bottle
Rafael Benitez - Boogie's Gonna Get You

4dacause wrote:

"Some of my favourites:

Rafael Benitez - Boogie's Gonna Get You"

I think you meant Rafael Cameron: Boogie's Gonna Get Ya'.
There are at least 2 different US Salsoul 12-ers of this,
and the best (IMO) one isn't yet listed on Discogs.
My copy is not handy so I'm not gonna be the one to list it
at this time, but the release I think is the best is the
Francois Kevorkian instrumental version

It is so, so totally _dope_!

Hi all - only just ed this forum... didn't even know it existed!

Always had a major thing (since being a little'un) for the deeper end of disco and early '80's club cuts. A few faves I can think of right now:

'Let's Get Together' - Pam Todd & Love Exchange
'Kiss Me Again' - Dinosaur
'First Time Around' (Larry Levan Mix) - Skyy
'Wheel Me Out' - Was (Not Was)
'Let's Turn It Out' - Skyy
'The Jungle Stomp' - Prince Charles / City Beat Band
'Love Money' - Funkmasters
'Beat The Street (Inst.)' - Sharon Redd
'You Don't Know' (Extramental Mix) - Serious Intention
'Be Mine Tonight' - The Jammers
'Heavy Vibes' - Montana Sextet
'The Magnificent Dance' - The Clash
'Get On Down' - Connie Case / The Extra's
'Turn My World Back Around' - Eddie Horan
'Let's Start The Dance III' (FK Dub) - Bohannon
'Love Don't Come Easy' - New Jersey Connection

how i fell in love? in the weakest way possible, probably. im a mad n00b. i was into jungle and then uk garage from about 96-01. in there, i was also getting into some detroit techno, some deep house, stuff like that. but then i heard first choice "let no man put asunder", and i realised that 1/2 the things i ever loved in dance music sampled the shit out of that song. that sent me on a record buying spree, this had to be summer 01 i guess. i raided a shop for all their west end and salsoul. then i got the MAW west end mastermix double CD and it was all over. now i cant stop buying disco music.

Its funny how things happen.
First real musical love was
punk,followed by house and techno.
Over the last year I've started
'going back'and raiding the
archives for disco,italo and
weird synthy shit.Always had
disco influenced stuff,moodyman,
parrish etc,but always considered
disco 'cheesy'.Alot of it is(and thats fine)
but there is some real quality in there
that I missed previously due to
musical blinkers.Got to give
a headsup to the ron hardy mixes
on deephousepage.com.A big influence.