He spun at The Flamingo, Studio 54 and The Ice Palace but he made his real mark at The Saint which was then still a relatively new club but quickly establishing it's legendary status in New York nightclubbing.
The first release to bear his name is ironically also the first to bear Larry Levan's name. It's the 12 inch release of C is for Cookie on Sesame Street Records. Both master DJ's took a stab on the song and both did a marvelous job.
Though he didn't have a huge studio output a few of tracks he did were among my favorites of the disco era including his delightful take on Poussez! Come on and Do it from 1979.
I blogged it a couple years back here in Disco Vinyl so if you go up to the search function above you can get to it in all it's glory. It's in .wav so don't miss out, or click just after this period. POUSSEZ! HERE TO HEAR BEN LIEBRANDS UPDATE ON IT DISCONET REMIX EROTIC MIX
That right there is almost 900 MB of Roy's mixing. This includes the legendary Land of Make Believe party and other sets from The Saint. This also includes a mix from March 15, 1981.
This next link below includes Summer 1981 at The Ice Palace Cherry Grove, Fire Island and a mix from December 5, 1981 at The Saint.
ROY MIXES HERE
On the 21st of May 1982 he committed suicide.
5 comments:
I've been listening to the Ray Thode mixes a lot while I have been out and about and just imagining how amazing it must have been to have been there at the time!
I do know my disco pretty well but I have to admit, it's a name I have not come across before, apart from the Sesame Street 12 inch (had you not made the connection I doubt I would have realised as like many people it's the Larry Levan mix I gave my attention to).
I just checked and he is mentioned in passing in the wonderful Tim Lawrence book "Love Saves The Day" but all it really refers to is his stint at The Garage - I am definitely going to make sure I discover more about him as the mixes you have shared clearly show what a talent he was.
It won't be easy to find much. He died in the prime of his career at quite a young age.
Thanks!
Such an underrated DJ...his mixing is so amazing for the time, really makes wonder why there's so much hype around Larry Levan when there were all these other amazing DJs who actually perfected the art of mixing and DJing in much more detail.
Maybe because Levan played upwards of 12 hour sets and took people on a journey using sound effects, silence, ballads etc. He put on a show and each and every week people rushed out trying to buy some of the records that he played. Furthermore he sort of forced his tastes on people playing the same song four or five times in one night until the crowd got into it. He dared to be audacious.
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