VOLUME 3 · PROGRAM 5
Let's Go Dancing / Rocky Mizell. Here is an excellent song specially remixed for Disconet since 7" records are hard to cue, and the styrene wears out so fast that they sound like pirated acetates after a few plays. Rocky is no relation to Roxy Myzal, who is now preparing a rap record called "Inside the Atlantic." The 7" is on TK/Drive. If you want a 12" of this hot remix, write to Buddy Katzl, General Manager, TK Productions, 495 S.E. 10th Court, Hialeah, FL 33010.
I Don''t Wanna Love You Again / Judy Cheeks. Judy made her Disconet debut with "Mellow Lovin''' (Program 11, Volume 1), and her German producers/arrangers Thor Baldurrson and Jorg Evers will sure show us yankies how to make rock and roll groove with this song. It is innovative, exquisite, and might help give rock a good name with even the purist "disco" DJ. It will be on Salsoul.
Leave That Boy Alone / Poussez. Followup albums are often disappointing. Poussez II will change all of that… it takes many creative leaps and bounds forward from Poussez I, and is right in tune with the times. Alphonse Mouzon wrote and produced, and Mark Berry engineered for Vanguard. There will be eight cuts on the LP, including a roller disco song, two ballads, and the dance-oriented piece de resistance, "Leave That Boy Alone." We've lengthened it to 8 minutes (from the LP's 5) by using that wonderful Mouzon synthesizer trip as a segway from Judy Cheeks' high energy ending, which then goes into the real beginning.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side A runs 17:11, from 124 to 128.
I'm OK, You're OK (Remix) / American Gypsy. American Gypsy used to live and play in the US, made an LP for Chess years ago, and after performing in Holland, decided to stay. They teamed-up with producer Hans van Hemert, arranger/conductor Piet Souer and engineer Pieter Boer to make an exceptionally fine record. It is very hard to classify as rock, or r&b, or disco. It is simply fine and fun music. Raul gives the 5 minute version new hooks and themes with his very fine 10 minute remix, engineered by Billy Marino at Regent Sound. This extended version as well as the original vocal and instrumental versions will be out shortly on Importe/12, a new label in New York who tells us that all of their product will be mastered, plated and pressed to the finest European standards and feature great dance music.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side B runs 10:07 at 132 BPM.
Bolero / Rupert Holmes. "Bolero" has become popular once again because of the movie, "10." We've always felt that Kebekelektrik's 1977 version was extremely well done, and ever since George Raft danced on a table to Carol Lombard in the movie "Bolero" circa 1933, the song has been quite danceable. And here's the first vocal version with a dance rhythm that's sure to please. It's rather fast, but Rupert's voice and the rhythm are so laid back that it provides 5 minutes of cooling off from a fast set without changing the tempo. Danny Jordan produced for Highlight/Excelsior Records.
New Wave Takes A Disco Trip / Casey Jones Mix. Casey's segway from Rupert to Jesse Rae was such a trip that it's received it's own name on this program. Rupert's laid-back vocals and Jesse Rae's yep yep yeps should blow their minds! Casey is from Austin, Texas where he played at Austin Country for three years, and now lives in New York City where he's Raul's alternate DJ at New York, New York.
D.E.S.I.R.E. / Jesse Rae. Jesse is from Scotland, and records on Scotch tape. He wrote "D.E.S.I.R.E." as an audio-visual entertainment, and there's a special video portion for each sound effect, word, and yep yep yep on his TK/Bold record. He's making a video version of the song, so get ready for the eighties with a tape player and videobeam projector. We saw Don Armando's "Deputy of Love" drum break with Woody Woodpecker dancing on the screen at Circus in Los Angeles, and it sounds even better this way. Jesse tells us there is no message in his song, which is meant purely as an entertainment for 12 year olds… so we all should get a lot out of it.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 1 runs 13:30, beginning at an amazingly laid back 138 BPM and ending with some very danceable new wave at 144 BPM.
The Original Cameo-Parkway medley.
Program 5 features several exclusive world premieres from well-known dance-oriented artists, as well as a special flashback to the late 1950s. It shows, once again, that the beat has been there all along, and perhaps puts some of today's "new" sounds into a better perspective.
The Original Cameo-Parkway Medley. Here are six songs which made the Cameo-Parkway label in Philadelphia grow from a regional label to one of international prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Bernie Lowe, an orchestra leader, founded the label in 1957. Cameo's first release in 1957, "Butterfly" by Charlie Gracie, went Top 10 in two months. Bernie wrote "Butterfly" with his associate, Kal Mann (who, co-authored many of the songs on this special Disconet medley.) The first song on the medley is Chubby Checker's "Limbo Rock", release in 1962 as a followup to the gold mine created by "The Twist", "Let's Twist Again" and a few other 'get on the bandwagon' songs. The third song is Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potatoe Time." Dee Dee (whose real name was Dione LaRue) was a Cameo background singer, dueted with Chubby on "Slow Twistin"', and soloed to gold with this song as well as "Gravy" in 1962. The Orlons were signed to Cameo in 1960, and their third release and fifth song on the medley made it big… "Wah-Watusi." Their fourth release, "Don't Hang Up" (and the sixth song on this medley) was the followup hit, followed by "South Street" in 1962 (and the second song on the medley.)
To make these superhits sound at home on your dance floor, the Disconet Orchestra and Chorus arranged and conducted by SuperDrummer Jimmy Bralower added some tracks. Rick Pascual's bass really talks and all the shaking and baking will drive your crowd wild. Mike Wilkinson produced.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 2 runs 14:14, beginning with Chubby at 92-98 BPM and ending with the best song for your answering machine at 114 BPM.
Brian Chin on Disconet:
RECORD WORLD January 26, 1980
Disco File by Brian Chin
OH, CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! Disconet's current offering merits particular attention and praise, for an extra-special A&R job: it's a grab bag full of unreleased sides that are generally excellent. Our favorite cuts: "Shady Lady," by Strutt and Company, produced by Alan Hawkshaw and soon to appear through TK. This Euro-funk fusion hits a solid pop groove just a bit lighter than that of "Here Comes That Sound Again" and firmly establishes Hawkshaw as the heir apparent to Cerrone and Costandinos. Two cuts produced by Juergen Korduletsch are also included: Lipstique's "Lover Love Me," and Mascara's "Comin' Home Baby." The latter is extremely speedy synthesizer disco, capped by Mike Wilkinson's "rap" debut; "Lover Love Me" has the same eerie juxtaposition of submissiveness and obsession that made Disco Circus' "Over and Over" so striking. Also playing on Disconet: New Day's "C'est La Vie (It's No Life)," approximating a much rockier, gutsier David Christie; Peter Kent's "Just a Real Good Feeling," droning pop-disco, sort of like Lobo or the Bellamy Brothers given a kickdrum bottom. We're also charmed by the idea of including among these potential future hits a look to the past, with the reissue of Tom Savarese's twenty-minute medley of hits from 1977. It doesn't take much suggestion to be both sobered and heartened by this particular Disconet issue: with excellent upcoming material and well-respected golden oldies, it calls up a very serious sense of history and continuity. For that, we're grateful.
Copyright © 1980 by RECORD WORLD PUBLISHING CO., INC. VOL. 36, NO. 1696
Steven Smith wins the LCD chronograph. Steven completed and returned the feedback card from Program 3, and his registration number (#571) matched the lucky winning number for that program. Steve plays at The Odyssey in Hollywood (puck puck), and his favorites on the program were John Matarazzo's Celi Bee remix, Chico Super Starr's Diana Ross remix, Bill Motley and Trip Ringwald's fabulous Supremes medley (most popular uncharted record ever), and Electra's "Dance It Greek" (now getting sharpened thanks to your comments and suggestions.)
Congratulations, Steve, and thanks for playing Disconet.