Double the Pleasure

(Post written before Thursday's news of Michael Jackson's passing)

It's Friday and there's definitely better things to do than stare at a computer screen, so I'm going to keep this short and very sweet with a solid Raul Rodriguez extended mix of Tantra's disco gem "Get Happy". This track along with an extended mix of another classic Tantra cut "Top Shot" are featured on the group's 1980 twelve-inch single entitled The Double Remix. I was excited to find a copy of this record about 6 months ago, especially because "Get Happy" is a personal all-time favorite of mine. Plus if your a huge Tantra fan, like myself, collecting any and all of their records is definitely an enjoyable process. With that being said, get out and go enjoy the weekend!

Tantra - Get Happy (Raul Rodriguez Remix)

Canadian Disco Dancer

One of my favorite finds over the past year was V.I.S.A.'s 1980 hard-to-find disco album "San Francisco". Until I found a used copy of this record, I had never heard of this release. That being said, it didn't take me long to get into this four song LP. The record was produced and arranged by legendary disco mastermind Celso Valli, and has his signature sound all over it a la Tantra, Nuggets, Passengers, Macho, etc. Even though this record only consists of four track, the album is solid from start to end including classic cuts like "In San Franciso", "She's Heavy", "Action Tonight", and my personal favorite "I'm A Dancer". Overall, if you love that Canadaian disco sound or are a huge fan of Valli, like me, I highly recommend hunting down a copy of this hard-to-find record.

V.I.S.A. - I'm A Dancer

A New York Nugget

A classic Celso Valli produced track that I've really been into as of late, is Nuggets' 1979 disco gem "New York". I was fortunate to find a twelve-inch promo version of the track this past year. This funky track, is one of my all-time favorite Valli-produced songs, reminding me a bit of the later Macho material. The individual songs on this record kind of just cut off (I apologize), as the whole record tends to just run right together into one long mix. Regardless, it's just another amazing disco classic produced by a true legend in Celso Valli. ENJOY!

Nuggets - New York



SPEAKING OF NEW YORK:

I will be in New York from June 5th to June 9th, and would to love deejay somewhere if there's any openings. Fill free to email me if you want to book me or let me know of any great 'disco nights' that will be happening. Thanks, I really appreciate it.

Moustache Pasta

Here is another re-edit I (Pat Les Stache) recently did of Celso Valli's 1977 disco gem "Pasta E Fagioli". This track, which I believe was only released as a seven-inch single remains one of the few, if not only, songs under the solo alias of 'Celso Valli'. Valli, whom is one of the greatest disco producers and pioneers in my opinion, was the mind behind legendary disco projects like Macho, Azoto, Passengers, Tantra, V.I.S.A. among many others. With this classic cut being about four minutes, I wanted to extend it a bit in certain areas so that it can work better in mixes as well as give it the usual 'Stache' treatment that I enjoy providing. Hope you enjoy it!

Celso Valli - Pasta E Fagioli (Pat Les Stache Re-edit)

Double The Pleasure

I was extremely excited recently when I came across Tantra's classic 1980 Double Album LP. This is one of those records I thought I would never come across, however, one day when I was walking through Seattle's Capitol Hill district I noticed it in the window of a record store called Wall of Sound and I instantly stopped in my tracks and when in bought the record without flinching. This amazing record, which was written and arranged by legendary disco mastermind Celso Valli, is combination of Tantra's 1980 Mother Africa LP and their classic 1979 "Hills Of Katmandu / Wishbone" twelve-inch. "Hills Of Katmandu" and "Wishbone" probably represent the group's most standout cuts on this double vinyl collection, however you can't ignore the solid afro-disco classic "Su-Ku-Leu" and the funky album cut "Get Happy". Regardless of what you enjoy best, this is definitely a true disco classic. I'm just happy that I stubbled across it at least once in my lifetime.

Tantra - Hills Of Katmandu
Tantra - Wishbone

He's Speedy Like Gonzales

I'm looking forward to tonight's 'Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell After Party', and here is a classic disco cut, "He's Speedy Like Gonzales" by Passengers to get you in the mood for tonight. This track, which has really been growing on me for the past few months, was originally released on Passengers 1979 Girls Cost Money LP and was arranged by the legendary Celso Valli, whom was also the mind behind Tantra, Azoto, and some of the Macho classics. Overall, the Girls Cost Money record is pretty solid, I probably could of choose a number of tracks to post including the italo grooving Hot Leather opener. That being said, here is "He's Speedy Like Gonzales", a song that has been on constant repeat the past few months on my ipod.

Passengers - He's Speedy Like Gonzales

More Mucho Macho

Here is another rare Macho cut, this time "You Got Me Running" from the 1980 album Roll. First off, I'll just say that as a whole, I don't think this record even stands up to there classic 1978 debut I'm A Man. That being said the record has a couple of classic tracks including "You Got Me Running", as well as "Got To Make A Move" and "Montreal". You can tell that as the 1970's were ending and disco as a genre was somewhat dying out, as far as in the mainstream, Macho, which consists of Mauro Malavasi along with co-producer Celso Valli, where experimenting with there sound, using a lot more distorted and gritty guitar riffs. However, not all was lost, as the album cut's of both "You Got Me Running" and "Got To Make A Move" have become two of my many favorite tracks by the group. Even though I think the record is a considerable drop-off from their debut, I still think the record contains some lesser known hidden gems worth owning.

Macho - You Got Me Running
Macho - Got To Make A Move

Disco Skinsation

A few weeks back I did a post about the Celso Valli produced project, Azoto. However before they cut their name back to "Azoto", this early italo project which also featured Allan Goldberg and Sandon was called Lucrethia And The Azoto 14,008, and in 1978 they released the classic LP Dance Skinsation. This record, along with Giorgio Moroder's LP From Here To Eternity could be considered by many as the birth place of italo disco. With classic cuts like "Delicate Jan", "It's The Way", and "Hey There", it's evident that this record had a huge helping influence on the creation and development of italo disco.

Lucrethia And The Azoto 14,008 - It's The Way

Disco Fizz

One of the greatest and most innovative disco/italo producers of all-time is Celso Valli. Valli has been a part of so many influential disco projects including Tantra, Azoto, and Passengers, along with helping arrange Peter Richard's italo classic "Walking in the Neon". One of his greatest pieces of work has to be Azoto's 1979 classic LP Disco Fizz. This record featured italo gems "Anytime or Place", "Soft Emotion", "San Salvador", and "Exalt-Exalt". Basically, there isn't a bad song on this five song LP. A few 12-inch releases came off this LP including the most popular single, San Salvador, which also featured an amazing instrumental version of the song. Even though this project only released two LP's and a handful of singles in it's very short existence, everything was solid and became highly influential within the growing italo community. Now if I can only get my hands on a few of those original LP's.

Azoto - Soft Emotion
Azoto - Anytime or Place