Amor, Amor Slide... Easy In

One of the best finds that I picked while I was in Paris a couple weeks back was Rod McKuen's 1977 disco classic Amor, Amor Slide... Easy In. This record became huge in Europe with the chart topping single "Amor". The record also became popular within the Gay community with tracks like "Don’t Drink The Orange Juice", which was directed towards Anita Bryant, who was carrying on a heated campaign against Gay Rights in Florida while being that state’s Orange Juice spokesperson. My favorite cut on the record is the erotic disco cut "Easy In", which is basically a male moaning over a uptempo disco groove. The album also became an attraction due to the record's cover shot which featured iron icon Bruno's mighty fist full of Crisco coming out of a renamed Disco can. This hard-to-find record has been commonly known as "The Crisco Disco Album", and has become a major collectors item within the states. On vacation some people buy souvenirs like magnets, t-shirts, and postcards, I feel like I walked away with something much much better.

Rod McKuen - Easy In
Rod McKuen - Amor

Disco Souvenirs From Europe

I'm back from my wonderful trip from London and Paris. A very special thanks to Guillaume Galuz for the hospitality and the good times! Both shows in Paris were amazing and I found a bunch of amazing record stores in both London and Paris that successively broke my wallet. Out of all the record stores that I went to my favorite spots were Vinyl Junkies in London and Croco Discs in Paris. I will be writing about all the records I bought in upcoming posts, so keep checking back for some great disco and italo finds.

One of my favorite purchases on my trip was Motown Sounds 1978 LP Space Dance. I've always been a huge fan of the album cut, "Bad Mouthin", however after listening to the whole record, I realized that this is more than a "one-hit wonder" disco record. With solid funky cosmic disco cuts like "Space Dance", "Groove Time", and "Rich Love, Poor Love", Space Dance is a solid record. This record is also very different than what you would normally find on most Motown Records releases with the record having a very space or cosmic disco feel to it. Overall, it was a nice find in a disco goldmine that was my London and Paris trip.

Motown Sounds - Bad Mouthin'

List of Records Bought on my London & Paris Trip
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Motown Sounds - Space Dance
Supermax - Fly With Me
C.D. Band - Salsa Get Up and Dance
Chocolat's - The Fabulous Chocolat's
Atlanta Disco Band - Bad Luck
Macho - I'm a Man (yes I didn't own this already)
El Coco - Revolución
Rod McKuen - Amor, Slide...Easy In
Ray Mang - Holy Ghost / Love Dancing 12"
Montana - Heavy Vibes LP
Disco Obscura Presente Cosmic Dancer - Voyage One
+ a few bootleg re-edit records

PLUS:
Tomorrow night, Altair Nouveau of Maelstrom's Solar Disco Label will be do a special guest DJ-Set, which will mark his final appearance before he re-locates to California. (STUDIO! @ Havana - 1010 E Pike Street, 9pm-close)

Last Night's KALX Setlist

Hopefully a few of you were able to tune in last night for my guest appearance on UC Berkeley's KALX. I first and foremost want to thank Sergio for having me on. I had a lot of fun talking music, playing records, and hangin' out in the studio. Putting on a radio show would be something I would like to take on in the future, therefore it was nice to get a little bit of an insight of what goes into doing that. I have received a number of comments via facebook, twitter, and email requesting that I post a track listing of last night set, therefore I thought I would go ahead and do that. I apologize because I didn't actually write the tracklist down, therefore the listing below is a little bit out of order. Most of the songs played last night, however can be found on this blog, so happy trails hunting for them. Anyways, I hope those that did tune in, enjoyed the show. Of course, I would love to continue to hear feedback from those that tuned in. Anyways, here is the setlist:

UC Berkeley KALX 90.7FM - Aug. 11, 2010 Setlist:
The Glitter Band - Makes You Blind
Amon Düül II - Da Guadeloop (Prins Thomas Re-edit)
Aït Meslayene - El Fen (Rubber Room Re-edit)
Rod McKuen - Easy In
Babatunde Olatunji - Soul Makossa
Juggy "Murray" Jones - Inside America pt.2
Stringtronics - Safari Park
Ju Par Universal Orchestra - Flute Salad
Tomas Ledin - Ledin Me Astray (Rune Lindbæk Re-edit)
Macho - Mucho Macho
Black Blood - AIE (A Mwana)
Black Soul - Black Soul Music
John Ozila - Hey Macumba
Buari - Advice From Father (Pat Les Stache Re-edit)
Irving Martin & Brian Dee - Indianapolis 2
King Sporty & The Root Rockers - Fire Keep on Burning
The Har-You Percussion Group - Welcome to the Party
Black Blood - Wela Wela
Black Soul - Dakar Sound (Pat Les Stache Re-edit)

Disco's True Example

Often I receive email from readers, who are visiting my city, requesting recommendations as to the best parties and events that are taking place during their out of town visit. By living in a city with such a thriving nightlife like San Francisco, most of the time I can point them in the right direction and give them a few good options. That being said, this is not always an easy question for me to answer because I find the best dance parties and evenings, personally, are the ones that are spent at home in my living room while sharing a few drinks or a bottle of wine with my wife. This is probably due to a few obvious reasons including 1) I control the music and can play whatever I want 2) the drinks are a lot cheaper 3) I can avoid the sometimes large and annoying crowds. Maybe many of you can relate where I'm getting at. It's not that I don't like going out and enjoying a great party, because I do. However, I can't underestimate the enjoyment that one can have from hanging out in your own living room, having some drinks, and listen to same great records. Anyways, the reason for bringing all of that up is because I wanted to share a disco track that often seems to get played while my wife and I are enjoying one of those many low-key evenings hanging out in our living room in True Example's "As Long As You Love Me". This funky and soulful disco classic was released as the B-side to the group's "Love Is Finally Coming My Way" twelve-inch single. The single was released by Norman Harris' Gold Mind Records and distributed by Salsoul Records. The record was also mixed by legendary DJ/producer Walter Gibbons. Overall, it's a great track that works perfectly for those cool-down moments on a disco dancefloor or during any of those evening that you just want to enjoy a bottle of wine while hanging out in your living room.

True Example - As Long As You Love Me

Last Post Until I Get Back From EuropeNever Stop Dancin'

With this being my last blog post for about a week and a half, with me visiting London & Paris, I definitely wanted to leave everybody with some good disco & italo while I'm gone. The first being one of my personal favorites, Capricorn's "Pow Pow Pow" and the instrumental version of "Capricorn", which can almost always be heard every single week at Seattle's disco night Studio!. Both tracks were released in 1980 off of Emergency Records and produced by Claudio Simonetti & Giancarlo Meo, whom also where the minds behind the legendary italo group Easy Going. Next is Matsubara 1984 cosmic disco cut "S. O. S. (Society Of Soul)", which has a bit of a 70's game show feel to it that I love. You can find a really good Prins Thomas edit of this track on his Diskomiks EP that came out on Rong Music a few years back. And finally, because I will be in Paris, here is a 1979 french disco cut entitled, "Je Survivrai (I Will Survive)" by Régine that Terry aka (DJ H.M.A.) turned me on to. BTW, Terry has some amazing cuts from Easy Going over on his blog that I would recommend checking out, among other great disco and italo.

Capricorn - Pow Pow Pow
Capricorn - Capricorn (Instrumental)
Matsubara - S. O. S. (Society Of Soul)
Régine - Je Survivrai (I Will Survive)

Remember, if your in Paris next weekend, I will be doing a couple of DJ-sets at Tape on May 30th and Mein Disko, Le Paris Paris on May 31st. Cosmic Disco, Italo, Salsoul classics, disco edits, and basically everything that I post on this blog.

If your in Seattle, drop by Havana on Wednesday for Studio!. DJ H.M.A. and Gene from the Emerald City Soul Club will be holding down the fort while I'm gone. Wednesday's are started to get crazy, so don't miss out on the good times.

See you when I get back!

Go Away Little Girl

For today's featured track, Easy Going's "Go Away Little Girl", I first have to give credit to my former deejay partner Terry, aka H.M.A., for first introducing me to the track back when we used to put on Studio in Seattle. From the moment he dropped the twelve-inch single I became hooked and immediately went looking for a used copy of the same single. Unfortunately I quickly learned that the 1982 single was one of the group's most hard-to-find records as it never appeared on any of the group's full-length albums, therefore I was unsuccessful for at least a couple of years in finding a used copy. My luck, when it came to this specific single, recently changed when I found a used copy on Ebay for only ten dollars. I'm not a big Ebay shopper, rather preferring to take more pride in being a crate digger, however when you find a classic italo gem like this for such a great price it's basically impossible to pass up. Two years ago when I deejayed a large party in Paris I dropped a digital version of this funky gem and the crowd really loved every second of it. This July I'm going back to Paris and hopefully this time around I can do the same, this time with the original wax. Enjoy!

Easy Going - Go Away Little Girl

The Passing of a True Legend

I'm on my way to the airport to fly back to Northern California for my Grandmother's memorial service and I just heard that Michael Jackson has suddenly died. I must admit that I'm completely shocked by this unfortunate and very very sad news. I don't have any time right now to do a dedication post to the legendary singer and performer. However, I will say this is probably the saddest news about a person, not related to me, passing. In the mainstream world he might be known as the "King of Pop", however his musical influence goes far beyond that of the mainstream world, he has arguably been one of the most influencial musicians of all music. There will never be another Michael Jackson, he will be truly missed. By the way, Please no more deaths for awhile...living is a good thing.

Michael Jackson - Ease on Down the Road (feat. Diana Ross)



Michael Jackson remembered at Easy Street Records in
Seattle, WA.

Remembering Michael Jackson

As the world continues to mourn the loss of Michael Jackson, I thought I would do at least one more post dedicated to the legendary artist. Over the weekend, I'm sure you heard a lot of "Thriller", "Billie Jean", "Man in the Mirror", "Rock With You", and many other popular hits on either the radio, television, or inside a night club or bar somewhere. Everyone has their favorite MJ songs, as many of the ones I just mentioned were favorites of mine growing up as young kid and still are. That being said, as I've gotten older and I've had more of a chance to digest a lot of MJ's music, I've found that some of his 70's era music with The Jacksons is what I find I've been listening to more as of late. Two songs specifically come to mind, the 1973 The Jackson 5 loft classic "Hum Along and Dance" and The Jacksons' 1976 album cut "Living Together". The two tracks, which don't receive enough praise in my opinion, showcase the diversity in the group. "Living Together" is more of a Philadelphia-style soul track, while "Hum Along and Dance" is a harder edged funk track that could of easily been written by a group like Barrabas (Rare Earth actually did do a version of this song). Both I find work well in a disco set, as does many of Michael Jackson's other songs. With as many chart topping songs as "The King of Pop" has had throughout the years it's easy to focus on those classics, however I think we can't forget about some of the lesser known, but brilliant, tracks that helped round out the music legend's amazing and influential career. Michael Jackson...you will be missed by many!

The Jackson 5 - Hum Along and Dance



The Jacksons - Living Together

Edits By Mr. K, Volume Two

I was excited to get a press release today from Strut Records announcing the much anticipating upcoming release of Edits By Mr. K Vol. 2 by the one and only Danny Krivit. The first volume, which was released by Strut back in 2003, included some incredible re-edits including Diana Ross' "No One Gets The Prize", Lenny Williams' "You Got Me Runnin'", Ecstasy, Passion & Pain's "Ask Me", The Sisters Love's "Give Me Your Love", and Betty Wright's "Where is the Love" among many others. Volume 2 of the series will begin where the first record left off with Krivit tackling Milton Hamilton's "We Have All The Time", Midnight Movers' "Follow The Wind", Black Blood's "Chicano", The Fatback Band's "Spanish Hustle", and Rare Pleasure "Let Me Down Easy" just to name a few. This new collection of re-edits will be released on September 14th. From the difficulty that I have found in trying to hunt down the first volume, I will assume that this record will move very fast and quickly become just as hard-to-find, therefore making it an absolute priority to purchase this record very shortly after it's been released. I heard about this release way back at the beginning of the year and have been anticipating it's release ever since. I am certainly going to enjoy the remaining days of summer, however I now have at least one reason to look forward to the fall and the upcoming second volume release of Edits By Mr. K.

Tracklist:
1. PATRICE RUSHEN – MUSIC OF THE EARTH
2. MILTON HAMILTON – WE HAVE ALL THE TIME
3. MIDNIGHT MOVERS – FOLLOW THE WIND
4. BLACK BLOOD – CHICANO
5. RARE PLEASURE – LET ME DOWN EASY
6. BLUE MODERNE – THROUGH THE NIGHT
7. PHILADELPHIA ALL-STARS – LET’S CLEAN UP THE GHETTO
8. SOUND EXPERIENCE – DON’T YOU KNOW YOU’VE BROKEN MY HEART
9. THE FATBACK BAND – SPANISH HUSTLE
10. CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD – LIFE & DEATH

Here is one of my favorite re-edits from the first volume. Enjoy!

Lenny Williams - You Got Me Runnin' (Danny Krivit Edit)

Now That I've Found Love

Alec Costandinos was one of disco's most active and greatest song writers and producers. This Egyptian born musician had a knack for producing some of disco's most epic compositions. After Costandinos co-wrote Cerrone's classic LP Love In 'C' Minor in 1977, he was offered a contract with the French label, Barclay Records. Shortly after signing, Costandinos wrote and produced Love & Kisses self-titled LP. This record consisted of two 16-plus minute tracks in "I've Found Love (Now That I've Found You)" and "Accidental Lover" which showcased his ability to write complex disco anthems. This LP was also significant to the disco scene because it introduced the world to writer/producer Don Ray who helped arrange and conduct the Love & Kisses record, as well as introducing "The Birds Of Paris", as Costandinos like to call them, which was a vocal group featuring Sue Glover, Stephanie DeSykes, Sunny Leslie, Vicki Brown and Joanne Stone. This record helped jumpstart Costandinos solo career which consisted more Love & Kisses records, along with some amazing concept records including Sumeria's Golden Tears LP. After listening to a just a few of Costandinos' compositions, it's easy to see how he was one of disco's most brilliant minds.

Love & Kisses - I've Found Love (Now That I've Found You)

Your Middle Name Is Money

Here is one of the many solid disco tracks, titled "Your Middle Name Is Money", released by Alec R. Costandinos' produced group Love & Kisses. This track was released off the group's 1979 album You Must Be Love. Other standout cuts from the record include "You Must Be Love", and "Ooh La La La La". I usually find that Love & Kisses' records only sell for a few dollars and in certain cities, like San Francisco, can be fairly easy to hunt down. In this tough economy, their records are great purchases, as you receive quality disco music from one of the genre's finest producers and in the end, it won't break the bank. Enjoy the love....

Love & Kisses - Your Middle Name Is Money

Now It's All Over Your Face

Well it's Friday, and I thought I would end this week on one of the greatest and most influntial dance songs of all-time. Of course if you're talking great dance songs, Arthur Russell's name usually comes up more than not. First in 1979, Arthur wrote and produced the genius "Kiss Me Again" under the name Dinosaur, then later Dinosaur L. It was the first disco single to be released by Sire Records, and the first of many of Arthur's' innovative dance tunes. This was followed by "Is It All Over My Face" by Loose Joints, released in 1980 on the classic disco label West End Records. "Is It All Over My Face" became a underground club hit in famous clubs like Larry Levan's Paradise Garage, Frankie Knuckles' Warehouse, and later the Power-Plant along with getting constant play from Nicky Siano innovative dance club The Gallery. If there was ever a "Dance Hall of Fame", this song would be one of the first songs elected. With one listen, it's easy to see why.

Loose Joints - It's All Over My Face (MAW re-edit)

All that is Cosmic: Kurt Hauenstein

Shortly after we have lost one the greatest disco singers in Loleatta Holloway, we have now unfortunately lost another great artist in Kurt Hauenstein. Kurt, who passed away on March 20th due to a cardiac disease, founded the Austrian band Supermax, who throughout the late seventies put out some of the best cosmic disco records that have ever been released. Some of amazing cosmic gems written by the group included "Lovemachine", "Musicexpress", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Push Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)", "Don't Stop The Music", "Fly With Me", "It Ain't Easy" and many others. On top of working with his band Supermax, Kurt also helped write and produce Bamboo's superb 1979 self-titled album, which included the classic disco cut "Spaceship Crashing". When it comes to seventies era cosmic disco, nobody did it better or was more influential than Kurt Hauenstein. He will surely be missed.

Supermax - Musicexpress



Supermax - Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come



Supermax - Push, Push (Sexy Chocolate Girl)

From The Constellation of Capricorn

Well, I've been away from the computer most of the day so I haven't been able to post anything 'til now, so I'm going to keep this short with an italo classic "Capricorn" from, that's right you guessed it, Capricorn. This song originally came out in 1980 and was produced by the same duo, Claudio Simonetti and Giancarlo Meo, that were behind both legendary groups Easy Going and Kasso. I posted the instrumental of this track a while back, however here is the vocal edit in it's original form. A great track to start your weekend off with.

Capricorn - Capricorn

MSTRKRFT-ing The Looks

MSTRKRFT has to be the hotest Canadian import since the 1992/93 Toronto Blue Jays. Consisting half of Canada's DFA 1979, this electro production machine has been turning out a great collection of remix's including Annie's "Heartbeat", Panthers' "Thank Me With Your Hands", Wolfmother's "Women", Bloc Party's "Two More Years", Polysics's "Ceolakanth is Android", along with alot others. They have even touched the "other half", by remixing DFA 1979's "Little Girl" and "Sexy Results".

This July marks the debut of their orignal produced blend of electro music, with the release of The Looks. I wouldn't say that I am the biggest "Electro" fan, however I can really get into a good electro song, even though I tend to side with more tech and disco house. Therefore, I had my reserve going into this heavily electro influenced album by MSTRKRFT. I was a big fan of the Daft Punkish sound of their debut single "Easy Love", when it was released in January, but I still had doubts of wheather sound could hold up for an entire album like Daft Punk's "Homework". However, I have been proven wrong again. To my much suprise the 6+ songs that I have heard off of The Looks have been very solid and haven't been over saturated with generic electro synths. I will reserve my final judgement until I hear the rest of the album as a whole, but right now The Looks, has my vote.