Episodes
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Just Wanna Make You Dance
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
I’ve been revisiting Results, the album the Pet Shop Boys put together for Liza Minelli. When it came out, I thought it was perhaps the ultimate in camp, but that’s too glib an assessment. Time has been kind to it. Liza was meant to sing “Rent,” and the Pet Shop Boys were meant to goose Sondheim. For that alone, it has staying power, yet those two no longer strike me as the sole highlights. “So Sorry, I Said” and “I Want You Now” are top-drawer Tennant/Lowe compositions. Also making an imprint is another non PSB-penned number. “Love Pains” was first introduced by Yvonne Elliman, who seems eternally fated to toil in the shadows of the Brothers Gibbs and Our Savior Jeebus. I think her “Love Pains” was a minor hit with the cognoscenti and proved it had staying power: PSB remembered it and knew it would fit Liza like a glove. Their arrangement didn’t stray far from the one provided here by an emerging Michael Omartian, who—based primarily on his work with Donna Summer—always struck me as at best workmanlike and at worst career cold water. But this is the song I would slap on to illustrate how disco morphed into high NRG; it has a mechanical propulsion, and more or less jettisons strings or horns for sweetening. But its structure and hookiness all were learned on the classic disco dancefloor. I find Results to be La Liza’s only completely successful album, and it blows my mind that she recorded it in the evenings after playing a residency in London with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. In fact, Neil wanted Ol’ Blue Eyes to duet with Liza on So Sorry, I Said. Even the prospect of it makes me giddy.
Fire were a trio whose material was penned and produced by K.C. and Richard Finch; sadly it’s brought down by rather muddy production. Dream Disco is Max Berlin’s’s magnum opus. The trio Maxxi had a regional hit with Just Wanna Make You Dance before James Brown and the JBs took it over; they did keep Maxxi around for the vocals. All-in-all, one of the Godfather’s better disco efforts. Teresa Wiater is almost up there with Pete Best in the apex of the rock ’n’ roll hall of what could have been. She cut the original vocals for Tom Moulton’s masterwork, La Vie en Rose. She decided she didn’t want to commit to disco, and wouldn’t sign on for release. Grace Jones—who was sniffing around Moulton at the time—heard the demo tape, recognized its brilliance, and announced she wanted to take it on. Moulton, who had a reputation for his bluntness, told Grace he didn’t think she was up to it. She won out (how could you lose a battle with Grace Jones?), and her wildly pitchy performance proved that Tom knew what he was talking about, but Grace was such a force that it work well nevertheless.
I’m wild about set closer Three Steps, and I didn’t know the Reflections at all until I picked up a recent comp that complied the disco hits, focusing mostly in the U.K., of 1975. It was a very good year.
I Think I’ll Do Some Steppin’ on My Own—Sandy Barber ’78 + Love Pains—Yvonne Elliman ’79 + In Love with Love—Debbie Harry ’87 + You Treat Me Good—Fire ’78 + Estrelar—Marcos Valle ’83 + A Little Bit of Your Love—Doris Duke ’75 + Dance On (Disco Darling)—Randy Raider ’78 + I Feel Good—Boney M ’84 + Icare—Bertrand Bergalat ’18 + Dream Disco—Max Berlin’s ’78 + Just Wanna Make You Dance—The JBs with Maxxi ’79 + Once and for All—Teresa Wiater ’78 + Get It Up and Dance—New York Disco Orchestra ’78 + You’re All I Need to Get By—Jaisún ’77 + Three Steps from True Love—The Reflections ’75
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Bumpkin
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Baking disco biscuits from scratch! When the team that gave us Saturday Night Fever let the industry know that they would be making Urban Cowboy with Travolta and launching a two record set soundtrack in advance, the music industry miscalculated on lightning striking twice and geared up for the big urban cowboy craze that never happened. Casablanca launched Casablanca West, a label that was meant to peddle the emerging country-disco hybrid. It folded after one album was issued. And Area Code 212’s iconic bit of harmonic blues boogie, “Stone Fox Chase,” kept bubbling up to the surface, even finding its way to Manhattan hip-hop pioneers Mantronix. Having wowed the world by getting to rap earlier than most on “Rapture,” Debbie Harry tried the trick with disco-country on “Buckle Up,” a track that went unnoticed for ages by yours truly—probably because it’s sandwiched between the divine “French Kissing in the USA” (which was written by no less than Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre!) and the slinky goodness that is “In Love with Love.” It’s now quickly ascended my Debbie Harry best-of chart to lodge itself toward the top.
Bits of hoedown get-down started popping up in the oddest places, and since rap was also taking off, the three genres merged in some unprecedented ways—most notable Disco Four’s long lost “Country Rap Rock,” which was a good four decades ahead of itself if “Old Town Road” is any indication. Here’s cultural evolution for you: slant rhyming Maserati sports car with Fendi sports bra (a line I’m pretty sure is attributable to Billy Ray Cyrus and not L’il Nas X) is funnier than slant rhyming “heard of a cow” with “down to the OK Corral,” but not by much. And no one thought of “we’re taking Studio 54/behind the barn door”?
This podcast came about because I had yet to find a home for Boney M’s cover of Patsy Cline’s “Strange,” which works surprisingly well with a slight touch of reggae against some chicken scratch guitar. It’s a shame they render the song meaningless by fucking up the lyrics pretty seriously. But then, this is a Frank Farian joint, so what do you expect?
Light in the Attic’s worthwhile Country Funk enterprise informs this, especially the recent Country Funk III. It’s the most disco-friendly in the series, offering an unreleased Tony Joe White recording that handily manages to relocate Barry White to a Louisiana swamp. A whiff of swamp gas lingers around Larry Jon Wilson (who?) as well. “Ohoopee River Bottomland” also owes more than a debt to Bobbie Gentry. While funky downhome disco never took off, it wasn’t for lack of trying on the part of Dennis Linde, Travis Wammack (he of the ultimate shit-kicker name) and the underappreciated Ron Galbraith, who is a recent and very welcome discovery.
Even the brits (and Brit wannabes) got into the act, hauling out the fiddles and bagpipes as the Clash did for “Lose this Skin” and Tom Tom Club’s crazy-catchy “Daddy Come Home.” I didn’t even know this track (or album!) existed until I stumbled on it totally on accident while I was working on this podcast. I’ve played “Daddy” every day since. I also marvel that cultural appropriation kingpins Malcolm McLaren and whoever was behind Haysi Fantayzee found their way to square dance and bayou fiddles. From the shores of the UK, Appalachia is as exotic as South Africa.
Don’t Be Cruel—Billy Swan ’74 ℥ Ghost Riders in the Sky—Dennis Linde ’78 ℥ Listen to the Bass of Get Stupid Fresh Part II—Mantronix ’86 ℥ Old Town Road—L’il Nas X ’19 ℥ Country Rap Rock—Disco Four ’82 ℥ Buckle Up—Debbie Harry ’86 ℥ Strange—Boney M ’81 ℥ Ohoopee River Bottomland—Larry Jon Wilson ’75 ℥ Natural Blues—Moby ’00 ℥ Down to the Station—Dennis Linde ’78 ℥ I Got the Fever—Rob Galbraith ’75 ℥ Alone at Last—Tony Joe White ’82 ℥ Do Me—Travis Wammack ’77 ℥ There Is a Light—Kacey Musgraves ’21 ℥ Daddy Come Home—Tom Tom Club ’92 ℥ Lose This Skin—The Clash ’80 ℥ Shiny, Shiny (Bon Temps)—Haysi Fantayzee ’83 ℥ Buffalo Gals—Malcolm McLaren ’83 ℥ A Little Less Conversation—Elvis vs JXL ’02
Wednesday Oct 06, 2021
Back to the Fold
Wednesday Oct 06, 2021
Wednesday Oct 06, 2021
Exploring acts who hit it big on the dancefloor, moved on, heard crickets and then came back. Chic factors strongly at the get-go, and the Pet Shop Boys bring up the rear. The Village People asked to return to Big Apple dancefloors after they disastrously went New Romantic, Johnny Mathis went missing (his exquisite 1980 Chic-produced album was inexplicably shelved for nearly four decades!), and Sly Stone went crazy, so some jocks tried to kick him up to remix relevance with mixed results. I only recently heard Cory Daye’s attempt to recapture that Cherchez La Femme magic on a stand-alone 12" that was missing from her ’80s comeback album—odd considering it was leagues better than anything that was on it. Their rawkist fans turned up their noses when Queen “went disco” on Hot Space; it didn’t stop them from returning to the style for the standout track on the Freddie-sings-from-the-grave exploitation album Made in Heaven. Beat Well Done is from Mavis Staples’ work with Aretha Franklin’s sister Carolyn, work that Mavis—and no one else—considers some of her best. Motown brought in Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards to goose up Diana Ross’ post–disco success career. Miss Ross wasn’t happy with the mixes they handed in, so she had Motown’s in-house mixers push her performances to the fore. Upside Down was a massive hit; the version here is the original Chic Organization mix that is heavier on the Chic than it is the Ross, especially at the end. As for Club Bowie, there’s not much info out there on this full Bollywood gonzo rethink of Let’s Dance. Must say that as a dancefloor delight, I prefer it to the original. Namaste!
High—Chic ’91 ℘ French Kissin’ in the USA—Debbie Harry ’86 ℘ Take Me—Johnny Mathis ’82 ℘ Upside Down—Diana Ross ’80 ℘ Stand!—Sly Stone ’79 ℘ Let’s Dance—Club Bowie ’03 ℘ City Nights/Manhattan Cafés—Cory Daye ’82 ℘ Beat Well Done—Mavis Staples ’84 ℘ Carry On—Giorgio Moroder featuring Donna Summer ’92 ℘ New York City—Village People ’85 ℘ You Don’t Fool Me—Queen ’95 ℘ Computer Love—Kraftwerk ’91 ℘ In Private—Dusty Springfield ’89 ℘ Confidential—Tina Turner ’96 ℘ I Want You Now—Liza Minnelli ’89
Saturday Sep 11, 2021
Disco Adjacent
Saturday Sep 11, 2021
Saturday Sep 11, 2021
Subtract the strings, the horns, the divas, the falsettos, the whoots, the sex, the fizz, even the kick drums and what have you? Propulsion. None of the tracks here are typically disco, and I suspect that few if any moved actual dance floors. Yet all off these tracks feed off of disco’s energy or share some of the less obvious aspects of the genre.
We kick off with a cottage industry that sprang up early: translating disco hits of the day for dance fans from an earlier era. RCA seemed to specialize in this, with a host of swing and big band disco knock-offs. Big Band Sounds delivered Glen Miller-ized versions of the Bee Gees and K.C. and the Sunshine Band, as well as this oddity: an easy listening adaptation of ABBA (welcome back!) that anticipates chill wave.
More than a few of the day’s prog rock heroes dipped their toes in disco’s waters: Keith Emerson’s weirdly effective version of I’m a Man from the soundtrack to Sylvester Stallone’s Nighthawks; the Resident’s (!) dancefloor arctic anthropology effort, Diskomo; Neu! (whose use of the motorik beat helped invent Euro disco anyway); and Leda, which was Tangerine Dream’s Peter Baumann attempting his best Moroder to ape I Feel Love with an unidentified singer who is no Donna Summer. Speaking of, San Francisco wunderkind Patrick Cowley mastered I Feel Love when he remixed the actual track into infinity. Before he went there, however, he attempted to recreate it in his own bedroom—along with other songs of the day that he dubbed funkettes—that have just been released. In this, his second take, he almost (but not quite) gets it right. It builds to a great release, however.
Fatback’s King Tim III made it on to wax about a month before Rapper’s Delight, lending to its general recognition as the first commercially released rap record. Many of the early rap tracks lifted their backing from instrumental/dub disco discs. The Disco Four (oddly enough, a five man crew) mined the Gap Band’s Let It Whip for their Whip Rap. Blackberri was one of San Francisco’s ambassadors of the emerging gay men’s music movement, which—drawing inspiration from the womyn’s music movement—dealt primarily in overly earnest folk tropes. Blackberri showed he could bring the funk, however, with Wise Up. It’s a shame this didn’t get better production values.
Sub-standard sonics mar the crude bootleg recording of Velvet Underground’s Follow the Leader (taped by VU acolyte Robert Quine), but Lou Reed & Co.’s downtown scene disco propulsion shines through. It’s a pity that this one never got officially recorded/released.
The Name of the Game—Big Band Sounds ’78 // I Feel Love—Patrick Cowley ’77 // Future—Leda ’78 // Physical—Victor Willis ’83 // Whip Rap—Disco Four ’82 // King Tim III—Fatback ’79 // I’m a Man—Keith Emerson ’81 // Wise Up—Blackberri ’81 // La Casa Del Sol—Fausto Papetti ’78 // Summer Love—Blonde on Blonde ’77 // Hollywood 7—Alides Hidding ’84 // Walk the Night—Phenomenal Handclap Band w/ Peaches ’12 // Disco Reggae—Kalyan ’77 // 500 W—Max Berlin’s ’80 // Isi—Neu! ’75 // Diskomo—the Residents ’90 // Follow the Leader—Velvet Underground ’69
Friday Jul 16, 2021
Radical Chic
Friday Jul 16, 2021
Friday Jul 16, 2021
You say you want a revolution?
Dancin’ in the Streets—Grateful Dead ’77 ǂ King of the Road—Boney M ’78 ǂ Rebels Are We—Chic ’80 ǂ Rock ’n’ Roll People in a Disco World—Sparks ’80 ǂ Pistolero—Bombers ’79 ǂ Bad Reputation—Ritchie Family ’79 ǂ These Boots Are Made for Walking—Amanda Lear ’77 ǂ Rebel Rebel—Dead or Alive ’95 ǂ Born to Be Wild—Eclipse ’77 ǂ Hot Leather—Passengers ’79 ǂ Don’t Fear the Reaper—Heaven 17 ’04 ǂ Highway Runner—Donna Summer ’83 ǂ I’m a Bad, Bad Boy—Theo Vaness ’79 ǂ Rebel Yell—Billy Idol ’83 ǂ So Alive—Love and Rockets ’89 ǂ He’s a Rebel—Donna Summer ’83
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Mask Off
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Wednesday Jun 16, 2021
Hello fellow pandemic emergers, and welcome aboard to our new normal, so far a kind of familiar-seeming nonsensical hybrid ala Elton John vs. Pnau. I’ll take it. Weirdly familiar is the loose theme for this collection that answers the question Did the Voice of Xtabay ever do ecstasy? Of course, there had to be an Yma Sumac disco record, and daddy dsco had to bring it to you! Along with Max Berliner’s (why possessive? who knows?) who, it turns out is Cerrone’s brother (!). He scored a couple of minor old-school disco epics before going new wave in 1980 with New Wave, an album case study in how to combine cocaine with a children’s choir, especially if we’re talking Children Of The Corn. Rally Down to Sally’s is David Christie proving he was a two-trick pony by essentially saddling up and riding the same horse twice. Ebony show us that there was gold to be mined as Baccara impersonators. Fast Radio do a swell job of nicely neutering the Stones. Boney M show off their smarts for disco-fying psychedelic nuggets (see also My Friend Jack), and Nasty Boys push KISS so close to the hair metal disco inferno, it’s a miracle their AquaNet didn’t ignite. (Although, given those screeches, maybe it did.) Saturday is a recently rediscovered cut by Chic in their pre-Chic incarnation as the Big Apple Band, a group that backed New York City on their proto-disco hit I’m Doing Fine Now. BAB backed soul singer Robert Cotter for a barley released album in 1976 before they struck gold on their own and revived Saturday for the solo album they produced as a consolation prize for ousted original Chic singer Norma Jean Wright. Norma Jean got the heave-ho because the guys felt her singing was “too distinctive,” and they wanted a vocal sound that meshed seamlessly with their well-oiled Chic Organization. That decision really makes sense to me hearing Cotter wail away on this original Saturday. Cool disengagement really helps showcase what the group did best. I love Norma Jean’s version of Saturday that walks a very tight line between icy distance and stifled heartbreak that threatens to break free and gives the production an amazing tension. Norma Jean’s version of Saturday is a disc I would spin for anyone who asked me to sum up what was best about disco.
Welcome Aboard – Webster Lewis ’81 ᵿ Sad – Elton John vs. Pnau ’12 ᵿ Rain 2000 – Calhoon ’75 ᵿ Law of the Land – The Professionals ’84 ᵿ One Night in Bangkok – Robey ’84 ᵿ Yes, I Do – Adriano Celentano ’77 ᵿ Rally Down to Sally’s – David Christie ’83 ᵿ I Was Made for Loving You – Nasty Boys ’86 ᵿ Under My Thumb – Fast Radio ’83 ᵿ Blow Work – Max Berliner’s ’80 ᵿ Painter Man – Boney M ’78 ᵿ Memory – Menage ’83 ᵿ Saturday – Robert Cotter ’76 ᵿ Don’t Boogie Mr. Tango – Ebony ’76 ᵿ MamBo Hip – Yma Sumac ’91 ᵿ Comin’ Home Baby– Mascara ’79
Monday May 17, 2021
Cow Town
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
L’il sumpin’ to get y’all moovin’ and grazin’ now that it’s nearly summer. You’d think this was occasioned by my discovery of the three Nashville Rhythm Section elpees that are the new holy grails in my ceaseless search to reach the pinnacle of disco-dixie hybrid. And what weird grails they are. Sold as media for dance class instruction, I’m pretty sure they were recorded in Nashville and pressed, issued and distributed primarily in Germany. The song mix is heavy on expected hits, but some real ringers get tossed in the egg basket too, such as Cheryl Lynn’s bonkers “Star Love” that becomes no less frantic when tricked out with pedal steel and fiddle. Lyrics and credits get scrambled, too. They confuse Chanson with Alan Parsons (I wish they had done them both), and I love how in “Heart of Glass” could have made it cruisin’ gets translated to could have made it, cousin, adding incest to injury.
Instead, this whole mess of turnip greens got upset by one cowpoke-come-lately named Orville Peck, who introduced me to Paul Cauthen thanks to their recent Everly Brothers duet. I had to investigate PC further, and I was knocked out by his 2019 set Room 41, especially Cocaine Country Dancing. (Do check out the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hh974VZjNs; it’s a Scorsese mini-series in the making. Could he be lineage to disco-singing jockey Steve Cauthen? Nah….) Orville makes the cut as well with his Bronski Beat cover. I have no idea why this wasn’t on Pony or Show Pony as I think it’s by far and away the best thing Peckerwood has done. This feels honest and heartfelt. Everything else he’s done has felt like elaborate poses to me. And I’ll throw L’il Nas X in the mix if he ever delivers a complete song.
Which brings us to the Dancing Queen of Disco Boot Scoot, Scooter Lee. While I find her fascinating (no less than Porter Wagoner skippered her maiden voyage), she also frustrates me in that she holds back on genre identifiers such as harp, banjo, fiddle and pedal. But Lord knows she puts the pedal to the metal when she sings. Her gutbucket performance on Radio/Last Dance is way more fierce than it has or needs to be, and I swear when H.W. Casey heard her wrangler-on-’roids take on his “That’s the Way,” his mountain oysters crept back up into his barn. Slop those hogs, baby!
Dim All the Lights—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ On the Radio/Last Dance—Scooter Lee ’98 ʬ I Feel Love—Two Nice Girls ’90 ʬ Hot Stuff—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Bad Girls—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Love Will Always Find You—Donna Summer ’79 ʬ I Just Need More Money—Shadee ’79 ʬ Pop Goes the Country, Part 1—Atlanta Pops Orchestra ’82 ʬ Jive Talking—Barry Gibb and Miranda Lambert ’21 ʬ Cocaine Country Dancing—Paul Cauthen ’19 ʬ Don’t Hold Back—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Staying Alive—Scooter Lee ’98 ʬ Heart of Glass—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Rock With You—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ Dancing Queen—Hayseed Dixie ’20 ʬ High Voltage—Tennessee Valley Authority ’76 ʬ That’s the Way I Like It— Scooter Lee ’98 ʬ Just Hooked on Country, Part 1—Atlanta Pops Orchestra ’82 ʬ Small Town Boy—Orville Peck ’21 ʬ Star Love—Nashville Rhythm Section ’81 ʬ I Was Made for Loving You—Steve ’n’ Seagulls ’18
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Never Not Looking: Zut Alors! I'm French Four!
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Wednesday Apr 14, 2021
Kevin Wolff and I were the art and music couple. Our “lanes” started out fairly well marked, but got messier over time. Not long after we met, I began sending holiday mix CDs to friends instead of cards. Kevin being Kevin, he got involved in the project. He’d offer advice on songs or musical acts, and he provided cover art for the first few years. He soon got much more involved in the musical aspect while I ended up taking over the imagery. Although, when it came to the hand-colored CDs themselves, that was all Kevin. And I did all the mixing. We used to fight bitterly over it.
When we both lived together in Indianapolis, I made mix CDs for Kevin to play in his studio and classes, With titles such as “Mope,” “Sulk,” “More Mope,” and “Son of Sulk,” they riffed off Kevin’s fondness of ridiculously OTT morose pop epics (think “All By Myself”) and self-absorbed Brit pop (think Morrissey). Sadly I don’t have them anymore because Kevin’s students were so fond of them, they kept stealing them from him. (Hoosier art-student hooligans be that way sometimes.)
Once Kevin and I joined forces in Chicago, I began a series of custom mixes for him called “I’m French.” The title derived from Kevin’s insistence that he ethnically was a French Jew, even though he was a German Roman Catholic; whenever we’d encounter something especially Gallic, Kevin would say to me, “I’m French.” They were developed as sound-collage journeys (something I more or less developed during my ersatz college radio deejay days at KSPC), mixing music and dialogue (usually campy film snippets or silly things that resonated with us both). I would mix Kevin’s favorites with discoveries for him in an effort to expand his musical horizons. He came to adore musical collaging and repurposing (think Steinski and the Avalanches—the gesture fit perfectly into his creative thinking and artistic process), as well as high camp of a certain stripe (think “Valley of the Dolls” soundtrack or Peggy Lee’s exotica), and, perhaps most surprising of all, he loved early glam/punk (think the Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” or The Upper Crust).
I posted the three I’m French mixes on this podcast—essentially to give myself easy access to them—and Kevin was very intent on me making the long-promised Zut Alors! I’m French Four! Because of his illness, it never came to be. I felt awful about it and made several attempts, but I just couldn’t. If for no other reason, we’d began scrapping over what ultimately ended up on the final I’m French mixes. I couldn’t go through that with him sick and otherwise unoccupied.
I think I redid the second I’m French mix 800 times before Kevin was happy with it. And given that Zut Alors! crashed at least 10 times while I was making it, I think the spirit of Kevin was with me on this one, too. I lost the whole first mix I did; but, it turns out, the second one was much, much better. But then that seems to be how this works.
As I worked with Dan Devening Projects on Kevin’s retrospective show Never Not Looking, I realized I had to come back to Zut Alors! as well. At first, I thought about making an I’m French greatest hits, but I thought, “No, I need to serve up something new for Kevin to feed on.” The elements he loved are all here: Peggy Lee exotica? Check. (“Sans Souci” was an all-time favorite of his; he felt it perfectly encapsulated his bad experience with the treacherous idiot of a dean at IUPUI’s Herron School of Art.) Pop collage? Check. (The section that runs from a repeat of the Avalanches’ “Frontier Psychiatrist”—which may have been his favorite thing on earth; hardly a day went by without one of us quipping, “He’s a nut! He’s crazy in the coconut!” or “Granny Gazoot! Let’s have a toot!”—through White Town’s “Your Woman,” and by the way Kevin was nuts about Al Bowlly). Glam/punk ’tude? Check! (Joan Jett, meet Billy Nomates). The B52s? Check. Brit pop? Check. General arty silliness? Check, check, check. (I’m sure we would have argued over Art Brut’s “Modern Art! [Makes Me Rock Out!]” He might have hated it, but it’s perfect and I’m leaving it in, dammit!) And so many of his favorites are here from Homer Simpson (he quoted “Art hates me” almost daily) to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf to A Delicate Balance to the Venable family.
There’s an art opening tradition—strong in Chicago—of having a deejay play at hipper art openings. So here’s a set for an opening that because of the pandemic didn’t really happen. Fortunately, Never Not Looking is turning into quite the happening. So, doff a beret, fire up a Gauloises, look at the art online at http://deveningprojects.com/ and enjoy this Zut suite.
The Patience of a Saint—Electronic ﷺ Total Eclipse (Man Parrish Mix)—Klaus Nomi ﷺ Sans Souci—Peggy Lee ﷺ Smooth Operator—Señor Coconut ﷺ Boys and Girls—Prince ﷺ Boys and Girls—Blur ﷺ DTNA—Smokey ﷺ Pablo Picasso—The Modern Lovers ﷺ Modern Art—Art Brut ﷺ Frontier Psychiatrist—The Avalanches ﷺ My Way of Life—The Brass Ring/Frank Sinatra ﷺ My Woman—Al Bowlly ﷺ Your Woman—White Town ﷺ Call in Sick—Billy Nomates ﷺ Housework—B52s ﷺ Colour Problem—Bad Dreams Fancy Dress ﷺ Manuelo—Carmen Miranda ﷺ Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano—Sophia Loren ﷺ Pipppero—Elio E Le Storie Tese ﷺ We’re Cultural, Not Sexual—Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay ﷺ Yummy, Yummy, Yummy—Julie London ﷺ Joan Crawford—Blue Öyster Cult ﷺ Norman Fucking Rockwell—Lana Del Rey
Friday Apr 09, 2021
Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano
Friday Apr 09, 2021
Friday Apr 09, 2021
This set was occasioned by my recent, belated discovery of Dragostea Din Ti (a/k/a Numa Numa a/k/a Mai Ai Hee). If you want to know how far up my 1970s-lovin’ disco ass I keep my head, consider that I had never heard the earworm of the new millennium until I saw a deep fake of the Royal Family singing it a few weeks back. I laughed myself sick and then decided I should Shazam it to see if I could get any clue as to what it was. Then I pushed it off on all my friends, who were like “Where have you been? Wait, don’t answer that.” Just prior, I stumbled on Pipppero, which I’m not sure anyone knows. I would declare it the song of the 1990s if I hadn’t already pinned that medal on Crucified. No seriously, what’s not to love? It’s delightfully sacreligous, deliciously blasphemous, it has held up better than its predecessor, It’s a Sin, and, oh, that chorus. That chorus. It never fails to slay me. And Army of Lovers—who swiped their schtick wholesale from How to Be a Zillionaire–era ABC—came when they were needed, then left just as quickly. I love that in an act, which warms me to Junior Senior (so weird, so unnecessary, so gone before they really even got here), Right Said Fred, Alcazar and Günther (who never actually got here at all). Señor Coconut is the rare novelty act that has musical chops for days. (CHEE-cago makes me laugh every time I hear it.) Patrick Hernandez and Jorge Ben (!) teaming up on (magic) Mushrooms was a stumbled upon, unexpected pleasure. Hernandez did more than his fair share with the groovy, hilariously tautology that is Born to Be Alive. I thought he’d graciously gone away after that. But oh no….
Discotheque—Bad Dreams Fancy Dress ’88 /// Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix)—David Bowie ’13 \\\ Yemenite Melody/Mashiah Hazaken/Dror Yikra—Sabra Disco ’76 /// Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano—Renato Carosone ’01 \\\ Say Something—Kylie Minogue ’20 /// Smooth Operator—Señor Coconut ’03 \\\ Midnight Is the Time I Need You—Démis Roussos ’78 /// I’m Too Sexy—Right Said Fred ’92 \\\ Sultana—Taracco ’86 /// Move Your Feet—Junior Senior ’02 \\\ Crucified—Army of Lovers ’90 /// Dragostea Din Ti—O-Zone ’03 \\\ Pipppero—Elio E Le Storie Tese ’92 /// Someone’s Stepping on My Mushrooms—Patrick Hernandez and Jorge Ben ’80 \\\ Marcia Baïla—Rita Mitsouko ’84 /// Tuttifrutti Summer Love—Günther ’06 \\\ Crying at the Discotheque—Alcazar ’00 /// What Do Ya Say—Miguel Bosé ’81 \\\ The Patience of a Saint—Electronic ’91
Friday Mar 12, 2021
Fragments of Time
Friday Mar 12, 2021
Friday Mar 12, 2021
This started with “Memorabilia”—truly one of the creepiest songs ever, but we expect nothing less from Mr. Almond—that should have been on the Proustian disco podcast, but as Marc says, “I collect. I reject.” I think it sits well here with a set ultimately inspired by Daft Punk’s brilliant “Fragments of Time.” DP have called it splitsville, although I’m betting this will be like the Ziggy farewell or the Cher farewell or the Who farewell. Let’s check back in on this is five years.
Both of my songs en français are truly bizarre if your translation abilities are up to it. I slagged off Plastic Bertrand as a one-trick pony not long ago, but then I found his 1980 album L’Album, and it’s solid track-for-track. Pardonne-moi. And Les Rtia Mitsouka’s cover of Serge Gainsbourg’s “L’Hippopodame” has a title that puns on “hippopotamus” and “fat girl” and originally appeared on Serge’s album Vu De L'Extérieur, the one all about “le derrière” (which in true Gainsbourg perversity does not contain his reggae fart song).
The biggest jump between time fragments in this set comes between Les Rockets’ “Future Woman” from 1976 and Horse Meat Disco’s “Spacebound” that comes from the tail end of last year. It floors me to think that’s a 44-year span, a half century of disco….
I may like Charanga’s Cuban reworking of Chic’s “Good Times” as much as I do the original, and the more I live with The Sunshine Crew’s “Those Were the Days” (also one for the Proust disco outing), the more I love it. Paul Parker sings on Patrick Cowley’s “Tech-No-Logical World” (a song that seems more relevant today than ever) besides being one of two artists here to reimagine Giorgio Moroder’s classic “From Here to Eternity.” To continue the daisy chain, Man Parrish teamed with Parker on “Eternity,” and he’s the mad remixer behind the amazing and loving overhaul of Klaus Nomi’s “Total Eclipse.”
Now’s the Time—Solar Source ’81 ᵿ Stop ou Encore—Plastic Bertrand ’80 ᵿ Do Your Time on the Planet—Lime ’85 ᵿ Como Vamos a Gozar—Charanga 76 ’79 ᵿ Tech-No-Logical World—Patrick Cowley ’82 ᵿ Machines—Giorgio Moroder ’84 ᵿ L’Hippopodame—Les Rita Mitsouko ’01 ᵿ Dance Forever—Gaucho ’83 ᵿ Those Were the Days—The Sunshine Crew ’87 ᵿ From Here to Eternity—Amanda Lear ’00 ᵿ From Here to Eternity—Paul Parker ’91 ᵿ Total Eclipse (Remix)—Klaus Nomi ’05 ᵿ Future Woman—Les Rockets ’76 ᵿ Spacebound—Horse Meat Disco ’20 ᵿ Fragments of Time—Daft Punk ’13 ᵿ Robbots—Space ’81 ᵿ Memorabilia—Soft Cell ’81