Lady Of The Night/Hey Honey, Come Gimme Money / Ray Martinez & Friends. The original tracks appeared on Program 7. Bobby Viteritti flew down to Miami and worked with Ray Martinez to put the final touches on Ray's forthcoming Maxi 33 for Importe/12. "Lady" has grown to a full 11:31 medley, including some sweet rap lines from a lady of the night. Now the hookers who will be picketing the Democratic Convention will have a theme song. Ray's vocals were smoothed out, and the strings are lusher. Bobby has created a very fine intro as well as a killer break where everything drops out so you can hear Ray's wonderful tracks one at a time as they come back in. Since Miami was rioting and burning not too far away from Coconuts Recording, the Maxi 33 will include a special song entitled "The Natives Are Restless" inspired by Ray's Colt 45 revolver brought in to protect the troops while they mixed. Patrice Carroll was assistant engineer, and Mike Wilkinson brought his rhyming dictionary just in case additional lyrics were needed. Gus even added some tom toms at 4am. Bobby reports initial reaction from his tape dub at Trocadero Transfer in San Francisco to be excellent, so this should be a nice summer sleeper.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side A runs 11:31 at a summery 125 BPM. The accapello ending will appear on Importe/12 as well as Disconet, and is not the sequel to "Jet Boy Meets The Hawk" which is scheduled for a future Disconet. As an aside, someone from Pig Poppers in Los Angeles just phoned and said Piggy & The Poppettes need a remix, please send the 12-track tape, etc. It is very hard to finish this newsletter with the normal degree of seriousness now.
Our friends in Europe are much more open-minded about music than in the U.S. Look at the overseas pop charts, and you'll see a combination of rock, disco, country, r&b… in native languages as well as English. The common denominator of the pop charts is that each song offers something outstanding and unusual. In a word, the variety of music is just that much more interesting.
It's a real shame that imports are hard to come by in the U.S. There are some great songs being released overseas which never find their way. Casey Jones, who plays at New York, New York and Bonds in the Big Apple, has been an import fan ever since he began spinning in Austin, Texas. He's put together a medley of four outstanding imports for you which he tested at the opening of Rushes in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago, and Marcy and the gang didn't care where it was recorded… they simply enjoyed it. So should your audience.
Herr Wunderbar / Tanya Hyde. Tanya recorded this in Great Britain, and it was released on Waldo's Records. Tanya sounds like a modern day Marlene Dietrich, and the tracks are excellent. Yah vol!!!
Touch / Lori & The Chamelons. Lori Lartey, along with Bill Drummond and Dave Balfe on guitar, keyboards and background vocals, started the song on Zoo Records in Liverpool. Sire picked it up, and this is their remix. Lori is coming in the U.S. on a wonderful Stiff compilation.
Man From China / Vivabeat. Vivabeat released this song on Charisma, and it's enjoying some play off the English import. They must have known something about our foreign policy before our state department did.
Clone / Greg Vandike. This is on Cloned Records, also from England. Greg wrote the song, and it's one of the most danceable new wave songs around.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side B runs 15:53, from 126 BPM to 130 BPM. This is an ideal set to transition from traditional music to new wave. The changes are subtle, and seem to hold the floor well. Enjoy.
As the spring of 1976 turned into a very hot summer, a song on a Pyramid album started to turn on more dancers than just about anything else… "Cathedrals" by D.C. La Rue. It was one of the first songs about real people dancing, where they were coming from, and where they were going. "Cathedrals" became #1 on the British r&b charts, and D.C. LaRue's career was off to an excellent start. Billboard began to add a disco column, and hip people were beginning to take note that songs that DJs played in clubs actually inspired sales.
D.C. has since signed with Casablanca, and is now completing a new album just in time for summer. Steven Von Blau is assisting D.C. and producer Aarim Schefrin in the production, and called a few weeks ago with a brilliant idea… why not remix "Cathedrals" for the summer of 1980? The 16 tracks in hand, it was off to Boris Midney's Eras Studios strategically located on East 54th Street between Second and Third Avenues. Boris calls it a studio… we call it a space ship (see the photo on the back cover of Boris' Star Trek/Empire Strikes Back LP on RSO and you'll see why we expected Carrie Fisher to fly by!) Ray Volpe engineered the session, and F. Scott Farrell came along with his tambourines and shaker to add a little high end. Boris even pitched in with some final clunk adjustments to make it 1980 while still retaining the original flow.
Parenthetically, this is the first session in a long time where the artist and producer stopped in and didn't have to be thrown out. D.C. and Aarim were both a pleasure and a big help. Treasure this Disconet pressing, as it will never be released and is a big present from D.C. and Disconet for your summer entertainment. It grew, too, from 7:37 to 10:53 at 122 BPM. Bonus Side 1… very nice.
Before it was hyped into discomania, there were a few guys who spent all week looking for 7" 45RPM records with a minute or two of music which people would enjoy dancing to. They would buy two copies of everything, and string them together. Bobby DJ Guttadaro (Dolly's twin brother) was among the people we can thank for starting it all. He stopped by the other day to tell us that disco DJs made disco what it is, and no matter what garbage predominates the record companies' releases, professional DJs will still be finding hot tracks and stringing them together. Bobby put together a high energy side for you which introduces a forthcoming remix of the hottest new group from Italy and Harry Chalkitis' singing world premiere.
I Strip You / Easy Going. Easy Going is from Italy, and their "Fear" LP is gathering a real following as an import. Giancarlo Meo produced and co-wrote the songs with Claudio Simonetti who arranged and conducted. "I Strip You" is now released as a 12" on Unidisc (Canada) from its original LP version. Importe/12, that cheap new label who hardly gives anything away (and even made Raul buy American Gypsy at Crazy Eddie's) has given Easy Going a whole new shape and energy level. Their remix of "I Strip You" starts off the side. Look for their Maxi 33 of Easy Going in a few weeks.
So Long/Gimme Love / Harry Chalkitis. Harry has written and arranged many of Queen Samantha's songs, including "Take A Chance" and "Sweet San Francisco." Charles Ibgui has produced Harry's first solo LP, and it's a real thrill to find nine excellent cuts on one album. He reminds us of Billy Joel, but since Harry got his training on the dance floor, he can tell a story with more energy than most pop artists. Bobby DJ selected two cuts which flow together quite well. Jonathan in France will have the LP, and it's one import that will be well worth the price. Let's hope some intelligent label picks him up for the U.S.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 2 runs 16:40, from 128 to 130 BPM.
Ed Votta wins the LCD chronograph. Ed plays at The Fife & Drum in Providence, RI, and his pressing serial number on Program 6 (#641) matched the lucky winning number for that program. Ed's favorite selections were Bill Motley and Trip Ringwald's "Bitchin' 50s Medley", Mike Lewis' fabulous Foxy "Party Boys" remix, and the John Matarazzo/Mike Arato classic, "No More Medlies (1979 Top Tune Disconet Medley.)" Congratulations, Ed.