VOLUME 5 · PROGRAM 13
Steven Von Blau gives Patsy Gallant's "It's Got To Be You" an extended dance edit. "Let's Dance" by David Bowie does it for 10!
Patsy Gallant first appeared on Disconet in 1978 with her hot cover of "Slow Down", the John Miles classic. She began singing with her sisters at age five in Campbellton, Canada, and won the coveted Juno Award for "Best Female Vocalist" in 1976. Her next big dance hit got lost in the 1979 "Golden Age" of Disco madness, and its 12" version on Cam/Canada is a rarity. Steven Von Blau, ace New York dance music expert who can name practically any tune from its first four beats, has taken the original vocal and instrumental versions of Patsy's "It's Got To Be You" and turned them into a very fine summer dance record for you. Dwayne Ford wrote and produced the original tracks at Experience Studios, and Ian Robertson was executive producer.
David Bowie is next with almost 10 minutes of "Let's Dance" extended for you by Raul. Your crowd can't get enough of such a fine #1 record, and now you can blow their mind even more. David began recording in 1964, and has been ahead of the pack for almost 20 years. Deeply influenced by r&b music (and one of the first white performers to appear on the "Soul Train" TV show), David's music has set musical trends and styles for hit music all over the world.
"Let's Dance" was written by David and co-produced with Nile Rodgers of the Chic Organization, whose "Dance, Dance, Dance" was the first cut on the first Disconet program back in the stone ages. "Let's Dance" is David's debut release for EMI-America, and should be keeping their pressing plants busy for quite some time.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side A runs 15:48, beginning at 138 BPM (beats per minute) and slipping them into screams at 118 BPM. So put on your red dancing shoes under that serious summer moonlight. Q: How many Pollocks does it take to make popcorn?????
American Fade's "I'm Alive" gets a whole new groove from Raul.
Remember the THP Orchestra's "Too Hot For Love" on Butterfly? It was written and produced by Ian Guenther and Willi Morrison… the two gentlemen responsible (with co-writer Chuck Ballard) for one of today's most popular imports in the U.S.: American Fade's "I'm Alive."
Dance-Sing Records has picked up the U.S. rights to "I'm Alive", and their debut release will be a Raul Dance Mix of "I'm Alive." A special extended version (combining portions of the vocal and instrumental sides) of Raul's remix is previewed in this month's Disconet.
You'll note that Raul's remix, engineered by Mark Berry at Vanguard Studios in New York, brings added warmth and depth to the original mix. And rather than pitching up the 2" master, Raul's remix follows the original tempo as recorded at 122 BPM. Your audience will also be able to understand the lyrics as well!
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Side B runs 9:50 at 122 BPM.
Valapucci gets it on with Maxine Dee and now it's "I Need A Man (That's What I'm Living For.)"
Valapucci was in New York recently with the 2" master of Maxine Dee's "Men Hungry", written by Erik Sommer and produced by J.P. Garrattoni for Germany's Disc-0-12 label. Since the world really didn't need another cheap rip-off of "I Feel Love", Val called in his good friends Man Parrish and Mark Berry to engineer and add tracks to a great groove and vocals, and yet develop a new song which would be fresh and more interesting for your dance floor.
The result is Maxine Dee's "I Need A Man (That's What I'm Living For.)" To be fashionably chic for the dance rock crowd not afraid of playing what some might consider a "disco" song, there's even a German countdown and a guitar in the beginning, and since everyone likes real percussion as well as electronic beat box percussion, there is quite a bit of energy all the way through. Because there isn't much you can play at the high BPM range ("Micky" was 152 BPM, and this one is now 146 BPM), there is a deranged breakdown at the end into one of those black box repeaters which invites mixes into just about any song you can think of from 90 BPM upwards. Best of all, people who have undergone dry-out therapy from all sorts of drugs report that they feel like they are on drugs when they heard this. Now that's a real public service, so maybe Nancy Reagan will be giving Val, Man, Mark, J.P. and Maxine an award on her next trip to Germany.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 1 runs 8:25 at 146 BPM.
The classic "At Midnight" Medley by Danae Jacovidis.
Our summer rerun this issue is a treasured classic prepared by Boston DJ Danae Jacovidis in the Disconet studios during 1980 entitled the "At Midnight Medley." Danae used the rhythmn tracks of the T-Connection's "At Midnight" slowed down some 20% to act as a backdrop for several classic early to mid-1970s dance songs. Yvonne Fair begins the set with "It Should Have Been Me" (1975), followed by The Spinners with "It's A Shame" (1973) both courtesy of Motown. Lamont Dozier's "Take Off Your Makeup" (1973,courtesy of ABC) and Bionic Boogie's "Dance Little Dreamer" (1977 from Polydor) are next. Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together" (1972) and George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" (1974) are next, courtesy of TK. Love Unlimited really brings back the memories with "Under The Influence Of Love" (1973) from Twentieth Century, followed by Buddy Miles' "Pull Yourself Together" (1974) courtesy of CBS. And there's some extra rhythmn tracks at the end of the set from the T-Connection's "At Midnight" (their 1978 TK smash) in case you want to try overlaying one of your own classics with some very hip rhythmn tracks.
SPECIAL NOTE TO DJs: Bonus Side 2 runs 17:30 at 102 BPM, for mature audiences only or younger crowds who may be curious where some of the roots of today's dance music came from.
Gary Triplett wins the LCD chronograph. Gary plays at The Ballpark in Denver, and the pressing serial number on Program 11 of Volume 5 (#760) matched the lucky winning number for that program. We've sent Gary the watch that does almost everything.
Gary's favorite selections on Program 11 were Norma Lewis' "Maybe This Time", Sparks' "Modesty Plays" so nicely edited by Jack Cardinal and James Pallares, Charlie's "I'm A Space Woman" and Amy Bolton's "Get Up And Get It" (now released on Atlantic with the Grammy-winning sticker on the jacket which reads "Get It Up And Get It" so it's bound to go gold!)
Be sure to return the postpaid feedback card included with this program, and list the pressing serial number shown on the upper right hand corner of your Side A/Side B record jacket. And please write your name, address and phone number clearly so if you win the watch we'll know where to send it.
A: Five. One to hold the pot and four to turn the stove around.