VOLUME 2 · NUMBER 2
Bobby DJ has 14 summer sizzlers for you.
Bobby DJ Guttadaro reviewed 137 new releases, and has developed four great sets of dance music. (Volume 2, Number 2 is a two-record program, and includes a Special Bonus Program.)
I May Not Be There When You Want Me (But I'm Right On Time) / Loleatta Holloway. Loleatta's from Chicago, and made her first record at age 5 in her mother's church choir. Her first hit single was "Cry To Me", and after "Hit and Run" and "Runaway", she clearly established an enviable disco and radio track record. Since Loleatta is a Scorpio, "Queen of the Night" is the appropriate title of her new Gold Mind LP. Bobby picked "I May Not Be There When You Want Me… " as one of the most fun and powerful songs which he's heard in a long time, written and produced by Bunny Sigler. Recording and Tom Moulton's mix were done at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. Your own night queens will not be able to resist Loleatta's latest!
Baby I'm Burnin' / Dolly Parton. While most of the songs on Dolly's new RCA LP, "Heartbreaker", are country and western, "Baby I'm Burnin'" which Dolly wrote herself should bring this music superstar onto disco dance floors no matter where they're located. Gregg Perry did the rhythm arrangements to keep your audience burning, and Gary Klein produced with Dolly.
Burnin' / Carol Douglas. After a taste of country, Bobby could not resist the title song of Carol Douglas' new Midsong LP, "Burnin'." This lady is, as we've been spoiled to expect, simply one of the finest song craftspersons today. "Night Fever", which scored exceptionally well on DISCONET Volume 1, Number 6, is also on the LP. John Davis arranged and conducted, and co-produced with Ed O'Loughlin.
Jungle / Kongas. Glen La Russo has put together a very exciting new Salsoul LP, "Kongas / Anikana-O." The writers and performers are largely today's "Who's Really Who" in disco, yet who would have known back in 1974 when they were originally recorded in Paris. In its previous life, the Kongas LP was on Barclay, with twelve songs. Some were written by "R. Rupen", who changed his name for the Salsoul LP to Alec R. Costandinos. Others were written by "M. Cerrone", who became one of the Kongas' very talented musicians on the new version as Jean-Marc Cerrone. While Bobby remembered something about the original, he said that this new set should have been titled "Kongas III," because Tom Moulton did so well in the reincarnation. "Jungle" (a shade under 3 minutes before) is now a very entertaining 5:55. If we have reincarnation to look forward to, let us hope that we can all do as well as this. It's a whole new life ahead for "Kongas / Anikana-O."
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side A runs 20:21, beginning at 134 BPM and ending at 124 BPM.
I Love The Night Life (Disco Round) / Alicia Bridges. Alicia's debut Polydor LP, "Alicia Bridges", now has this special Jim Burgess mix going for it with "I Love The Night Life." Alicia co-wrote the song, which was produced by Steve Buckingham. Since rules, like beats-per-minute, are made to be broken, Alicia's song offers some interesting contrasts. While it's in the normal disco grove at 126 BPM, you'll probably find it to be one of the most melodic, laid back songs in a long time. And since it's aimed right at your customers on the dance floor, you'll probably want to make Alicia a regular in your nightly entertainment lineup.
Warning-Danger / Cissy Houston. Here is the follow on to "Think It Over", the title of Cissy's new Private Stock LP. "Think It Over" has probably helped your club burn more alcohol than Jack Daniels can make in a year, and "Warning-Danger" should do the same. Mike Zager produced, arranged, and conducted, and Jerry Love was executive producer.
Black Star (Part II) / Black Star. Tony Green wrote and produced this electronic instrumental, with Francois L'Herbier and Claude Allard doing the special disco mix. Available in Canada as a 12" and 7" single on TGO Records, Polydor (TGO's distributor) reports it as a consistently fine seller. When you get into this song, as Bobby did, you'll find out why. What seems initially simple on the surface gets more and more interesting the more you get into it.
The Sound Of Philadelphia / Gentle Persuasion. Leza Holmes, Sharon Williams, and Renee Johnson are "Gentle Persuasion", which is the title of their first LP for Warner Brothers. Van McCoy did the arrangements, and Jerry Ross produced and co-wrote the song which Bobby picked, "The Sound of Philadelphia." It's a nice tribute to a town which has given disco a large share of the best artists and producers. In fact, there are more discos (and disco fans) in Philadelphia, per square foot, than just about any other place in the U. S.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side B runs 17:53, building from 126 BPM to 136 BPM.
I'm A Man / Macho. Stevie Winwood's classic song takes on many new dimensions in this title track of Macho's new Prelude LP, "I'm A Man." Mauro Malavasi did the new arrangements, and produced the tracks in France, which were mixed and edited by Tom Savarese at Sigma Sound in New York. Freddie Petrus was executive producer. Tom developed the song into five basic movements, and as just about the last DJ to ever recommend a l-o-o-o-o-n-g song, has done an exceptionally fine job at bringing in new elements to keep your audience's interest (and floor action) building.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 1 runs 17:45 at a consistent 132 BPM (beats per minute.)
The River Must Flow / Gino Vannelli. Bobby picked this song from Gino's newest (and sixth) A&M LP, "Brother To Brother." Gino gives your dance floor the best of both worlds with this piece… a relatively slow 98 BPM (because people like to catch their breath occasionally), with enough musical action to sustain movement and interest. Gino wrote it, and produced and arranged with his brothers Joe and Ross.
Trash / Robin Gibb. Watch out disco world, the Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird are coming to your dance floor. It's all on Sesame Street Records new "Sesame Street Fever" LP, with the title song and "Trash" sung by Robin Gibb. "Trash" was written by Joe Raposa, and if you think that "children's music" and adult/disco music won't cross, remember that Joe's "Bein' Green" a few years ago turned into a gold record for Frank Sinatra.
Mon Amour, Mon Ami (Mel's Song) / Rod Mc Kuen. Bobby had to think long and hard to follow "Trash", and one of today's most prolific writers and thinkers, Rod McKuen, wrote, sung, and co-produced (with Wade Alexander) this very unusual song. It's on Stanyan Records' new "Slide… On The Move" LP, with background vocals provided by The Church of Our Lady of the Castaways Choir directed by Sister Luke Mariposas.
Save Me, Save Me / Frankie Valli. Frankie's sureshot follow up to his current hit, "Grease", is right here. Bobby selected it from the new Warner Brothers LP, "Frankie Valli Is The Word." Barry Gibb and Albhy Galuten wrote it, guess who's singing in the background, and Bob Gaudio produced.
First Come, First Serve / Rose Royce. Rose Royce definitely strikes again with their new Whitfield LP, "Rose Royce Strikes Again." Norman Whitfield wrote, produced, and arranged "First Come, First Serve", and he and the group again show their talent for presenting a consistent, unique sound that wears well with new material.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 2 runs 17:33, and ascends from the fastest 98 BPMs you've ever heard to 115 BPM.
Discoradio. The number of radio stations dipping their toes in the water (like WABC in New York) or going all the way (like WKTU FM) continues to show a remarkable increase after each ratings sweep. Music forms, like disco, grow and fluorish only with mass exposure, and that mass exposure takes some brave people (like yourself) to prime the pump and lead to mass acceptance.
Richard Perez, who's been with DISCONET since last winter, is a good example of what's going on. Richard has hosted a show on WCAV FM, serving the Boston/Brockton market, for a few hours each Saturday night. Since advertisers pay the stations bread and butter based on the results they acheive (much as our subscribers foot the bill for DISCONET), it seems no mystery that Richard's pioneering disco show attracted alot of the right people over to WCAV, which, in turn, attracted alot of the right advertisers to the station. His show is now expanded to four hours each Saturday night, with Richard featuring new releases (including complete sides of DISCONET.) And to keep him off the streets during the week, Richard was appointed Program Director of the station to help develop a fuller integration of disco sound into each hour's programming.
Andy Penessa wins the LCD chronograph. Andy returned the feedback card from Volume 1, Lucky 13, and his pressing serial number (#337) matched our lucky winning number for that program. We've sent Andy a solar-powered, 12-function LCD which has a built-in stop watch to 1/100th of a second, lap timer (if someone's on his lap and he wants to time it), and the watch even shows what time it is.
Andy plays two nights a week at the Bijou, located in the Holiday Inn in Elmsford, New York. He confided that when he started with DISCONET on Volume 1, Number 7, he was averse to the whole idea but curious enough to try us out. As Andy realized that we weren't there to do all the mixing for him, or tell him what must be played, he began to like the idea. Andy says that with all of the hundreds of new disco songs coming out each month, he's finding us to be a great way to review some of the best new releases around. He finds the bands between songs very helpful in cueing one song at a time, and still has the flexibility of letting two, three or more songs play through as he sees fit. Andy was even brave enough to tell us that he's learning something, in both a technical and intellectual level, about mixing. And like most of our subscribers, while he doesn't agree with every mix or every selection, he's finding DISCONET to be a valuable asset to his job and profession. Andy has recently been promoted, and will be the lead DJ at the new Marty & Lenny's in New Rochelle, New York, when the club opens in a few weeks. Congratulations, Andy.
Next program: Tom will be back from six weeks in Europe with a special 2-record program previewing this fall's upcoming new releases from Italy, France, Germany, and Spain. Stay tuned.