Come on Boy DJ H feat. Stefy RARE LARRY LEVAN REMIX

One of the last records that Larry Levan worked on was the EuroDance track Come on Boy.  An Italian import.  He was truly able to relieve the song of that euro dance sound and bring it into a new york house groove.

Come on boy

The 1992 release came out as a white label on the UK's Wicked & Wild.  The one I include in the zip was never formally released.  Not sure what the story is on that.

But by November 8, 1992 Larry Levan died of hear failure at the age of 38.  Lawrence Philpot has been given a legendary status and his legacy has been immortalized.  Many consider The Paradise Garage to be the best club, with the best sound that ever existed.  There is no doubting that his remix style and his way of DJ'ing had a huge influence on all that came after him.  He was also the reason that a lot of dance records sold as much as they did, especially in New York where Frankie Crocker on WBLS was highly influenced by Larry's playlist.

Frank Owens who often writes about nightlife and even wrote a book that had a nasty quote about me wrote this article for Vibe.  Paradise Lost Vibe Magazine November 1993

Here's a hot excerpt from the article:

ONE NIGHT, IN 1988, barely six months after the closing of the Garage, Levan was spinning at the World in the East Village when, on a whim, he decided to play ‘ABC’ by the Jackson 5.

But the chirpy pop-soul didn’t go over too well with the hardcore dance devotees. They had come to hear the sound Levan made classic during his 11 years at the Garage. Some dancers folded their arms and stood still, staring up at the DJ booth in the balcony. Others squatted on the floor.

Enraged, Levan hurtled down the stairs, yelling and screaming, ordering people to “get up and dance.” Returning to the booth, he let the record end before putting it on again. When this drew even more protests, he played the Jackson 5 tune for a third time.

“That’s when I knew I couldn’t use him anymore,” recalls nightlife mainstay Steven Lewis, then the manager of the World. “It was no easy thing sacking the greatest DJ on the planet.”

Hangin' on a String (Contemplating)

Loose Ends had a string of hits mostly in the U.K. but they hit #1 on the U.S. R&B charts with the delicious Contemplating and then the whole thing got really real when Frankie Knuckles did a remix in 1992 and it rode up the charts again.

To me it's one of those definitive songs that sums up the whole decade.  Which is sweet because it's neither new wave or Hi nrg of my beloved italo disco.

BOTH VERSIONS

Clubland Set Me Free

ENJOY SET ME FREE

So as to not get too predictable up in here I thought I'd post something that is not disco.

This 1992 release on Great Jones by Clubland brings back some great memories of N.Y. clubland.  Set me Free featuring the vocals of Zemya Hamilton.
But what can I say about it really?  It's just pleasurable commercial house music with a strong hook and a beat that really makes you want to shake your tail.  Who would have thought back in 1992 that 20 years later so much pop music would be totally dance oriented?  I remember when months would go by before a pure dance song like "Show me Love" would crossover onto the pop charts.  So many perfectly poppy dance songs never broke in the states.  It's a shame really cause most of these dance oriented songs that make it big now don't hold a candle to dance songs like "Set me Free."
One thing to note is the genius co-production of Eric Kupper.  He has of course had many more hits since this but his talent is undisputed.  And his sound is genuine and deep.

There's a Monsoon blowing in and it's not even scary or dangerous (ever so lonely)

EVER SO LONELY
MY COPY FOR SALE 

Monsoon was a tasty melding of alternative, Indian and experimental music. Developed in 1980, their first release in 1981 featured the vocals of a young U.K. soap actress Sheila Chandra. Ever So Lonely was originally ignored but later picked up steam being re-mixed and added to other songs to form an ep. The Indy pop act only lasted just over two years but had several enjoyable releases. I suspect they were embraced by the same audience that would later embraces genres like trip-hop and ambient. Real college dorm light an incense stoner music.

There is a 1995 cd re-release which featured all the singles and a couple remixes.

01. Wings Of Dawn (Prem Kavita)
02. Tomorrow Never Knows
03. Third Eye And Tikka T.V.
04. Eyes
05. Shakti (The Meaning Of Within)
06. Ever So Lonely
07. You Can't Take Me With You
08. And I You
09. Kashmir
10. Watchers Of The Night
11. Indian Princess
12. Sunset Over The Ganges
13. Ever So Lonely (Hindi Version)
14. Wings Of Dawn (Prem Kavita) (Hindi Version)
15. Ever So Lonely Remix
16. Ever So Lonely Instrumental Remix

Sheila Chandra has also had several solo releases. The song I included below Sacred Stones is one of her solo singles. It's from her 1992 release Weaving my Ancestors Voices.

If you click the title of this blog it will take you directly to my ebay listing for the 12" of Ever So Lonely. Their first hit which shot all the way up to #9 in the U.K. pop charts.