The Disco that I remember was the time with the polyester pants, the
tacky platform shoes, the afro, and what not. It was during my early
days of high school that it was really at its peak. Truth be told, some
deep music that came out of that period. Even if they have ended up on
some commercial labels, there was a bit of guilty pleasure with such
tunes. It's funny to see nowadays the 20-somethings into the old stuff
from back then.
What I wasn't aware of was the genesis of disco before the big labels
latch onto the genre as the "next big thing" and have all but decimated
it to rubble. It wasn't until I've read a book recommended on the list
last year called "Last Night, A DJ Saved My Life" (an excellent primer
on the history of DJ culture) that I've found out about the raw disco
sounds and culture from New York, Chicago, and (to a limited, but
no-less-important, degree) San Francisco.
I've somehow missed those tunes that were essential back then--that is,
the ones that were either only played in clubs or on the radio stations
in those respective cities. Being that I have lived in California during
that period, I'm really surprised that somehow such tunes flew past the
radar of most of the stations here (especially the handful of disco
stations at the time). From what I've read, much of what was carried
here on the Cali stations were sanitized, manufacturered versions that
took the soulful essence out of what disco was in the beginning.
I personally would not mind finding such gems in the crates that I've
grown up with. It would be cool to try them out in the clubs or the
radio and blend them with current house tunes, so long as there's soul
in the music.
V.
peyronieus@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> C'mon people Disco rules! (in small doses)
> It was before my time, but I am still working on my collection.
> Any suggestions for pre-commercial funky disco obscurities?
> There is one disco gem that I have been trying to find for a long time
> now but I don't know the name.
> It's a really funky track with the chorus. . ."Can't stop cause it
> feels so good". . .Wicked!
> Any ideas?
>
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