The Dance Music Community has lost a great Mark Thomas DJ Extraordinaire and all around nice guy

I've added links to this post about 10 times, keep an eye on it for more.

An amazing D.J. and a true friend.  Mark Thomas passed away Monday, January 26th.  He was always so generous and kind to me.  I feel pretty awful right about now.  We last chatted in Facebook on the 21st and it was a lot longer then usual but most importantly I felt close to him and I'm glad we had a chance to share.

A fellow Gemini Mark was born May 31, 1959.  Way too freaking young to leave us already.  Up until this past summer he was still spinning the yearly event Sun Dance in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  And always up for sharing.  Whenever I wanted something from his collection all I had to do was ask and a .wav file would appear for me within hours.

In the coming days I would like to share some of his mixes.  I'd especially like to post some of his mixes from The Saint or The Saint at Large.  So keep your eyes on this space as it will be updated.

Download this one with the link below.

our boy in Mykonos 1989

Mark began spinning at The Hippo 1980 and went on to even more D.J. fame at The Saint during it's duration from 1980 to the closing party in 1988 in which he was one of the featured DJ's. He was one of the house D.J.'s at The Hippo and Cignel in Baltimore.  I was also present during that great night when he spun New Years Eve for the Saint at Large on December 31, 1990 at The Roxy.

SOME MORE MUSIC COMING VERY SOON

THE SAINT TONIGHT 1984 MARK THOMAS

THE SAINT ON FIRE MAY 26, 1985
HEARTS 4 20 1985

IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME MORALES, MUNZIBAI AND MARK THOMAS DISCONET MIX
PRIDE '94
RED PARTY ZIP
AFTER DARK

Saturday March 16, 1985
The Black Party | Rites VI
Music: Chuck Parsons
Lights: Richard Tucker


Sunday March 17, 1985
Sunday Tea
Music: Mark Thomas
LISTEN TO THE BLACK TEA

SUNDANCE 2006 REHOBOTH BEACH

SAINT AT LARGE NEW YEARS EVE AT THE ROXY 1990-1991

SUNDANCE AUCTION 2009

Don't miss the download for this party just above the invite.

This is from the 12 gods party in Mykonos September 1996.  I was there but we weren't friends yet.  So I even have a memory that I didn't even realize was a memory.

From Mandate magazine in the mid 80's.

With a girlfriend in Maryland in the 80's.

When he died the record on the turntable was Divine's Shoot Your Shot.  It was still spinning when he was found.  I'd like to think he went with a smile on his face if this tune was on.

Popular DJ Mark Thomas dies

repost from The Washington Blade obituary for my friend Mark Thomas

February 16, 2015 | by Steve Charing

Popular DJ Mark Thomas dies

Mark Thomas died last month at age 55. (Photo via Facebook)

Mark Thomas, a longtime Baltimore and Washington, D.C.-area DJ, died Jan. 25. He was 55. The cause of death was not immediately available.

Thomas started his DJ career at The Hippo in 1980 and was a Baltimore and New York City resident when he died. Chuck Bowers, owner of the Hippo, fondly remembered giving Thomas his start.

“He would listen carefully to the work of other DJs at the time, listen to the music and become the best DJ he can be,” said Bowers. “He was a handsome man, but his personality exceeded even that.” Bowers brought Thomas back to the Hippo for special events and last saw him during Pride last year.

Thomas also worked at various clubs in Rehoboth during those early years, including the Renegade and the Strand. Murray Archibald from CAMP Rehoboth said, “From the Saint days, through the Strand years, and for 25 years of Sundance he was our music man.”

Thomas also played around the world in places like Mykonos, Greece and Sydney, Australia.

“I have known Mark since he was 19 years old, when I took him under my wing, some 36 years ago,” Lynda Dee, a Baltimore attorney and founder and president of AIDS Action Baltimore, told the Blade.  “We have been the best of friends since that time. He was really more like a son to me. While I will never get over his loss, I am comforted by this sentiment, which I received in a lovely sympathy card, ‘When I think of Mark, I remember all the people he made dance and be happy.’ What a beautiful legacy!”

Fellow DJ Jimmy P, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. added, “Mark was a down-to-earth and really fun guy. He was one of the Saint’s stable of hugely talented DJs. We became friends in the ‘90s and would meet Saturdays at the Eagle Nest NYC and spend time joking and laughing the night away. Sometimes he would come to hear me DJ on Fridays. I was so honored. His favorite expression was, ‘Doll’ this and that.

“Time and distance separated us but we reconnected through a music sharing group based in Fort Lauderdale and then through Facebook. I last chatted with him about two months ago. All I can say is: ‘Doll…you left your musical mark on many; you were a really great DJ, man and a good friend. Doll…you will be missed.’”

A memorial service for Mark will take place on his birthday, Sunday, May 31 at 4 p.m. It will be held at City Café, 1001 Cathedral St. in Baltimore with music by Sean Novak. May 31 would have been Thomas’s 56th birthday.

- See more at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/02/16/popular-dj-mark-thomas-dies/#sthash.f0zGR7YK.dpuf

GREEK ITALO DISCO GEM COMPUTER GUY by PALMER

Here's a rare one.  It's an italo disco record made in Greece.  It was released in 1986 on the Eva & L.A. label.  It's by DJ Palmer who was a successful DJ in Greece in the 80's.  COMPUTER GUY

If you've got a copy you can probably pay a nice stack of bills with it.  Here are some prices the record got in auctions recently.

Here's a little entry from Discogs.com

aristomas

 as reviewed by aristomas Feb 18, 2008

The song "Computer guy" was a huge hit in Greece circa 1986 and should have been covered more by the media! The track featured many talented Hellenic names that went on to bigger and better things! The co-producer of the project was Vassilis Dertilis, founder of Power Music Productions. The lyrics were written by the International recording artist, Aris Tomas and founder of Wizard Records who also wrote the classic Hellenic (Den boro n'antistatho) Se Thelo and International hits ie. Beautiful Lady, Goin' Up!, ect.

THE LADY BUNNY TAKE ME UP HIGH

We at Disco Vinyl never really even mention current releases.  But The Lady Bunny is channeling her disco inner self in her latest dance release and it's not to be missed.  Just in time to capitalize on her t.v. success as an essential component of Logo T.V.'s Drag University, and her 17 years organizing Wigstock and starring in the film about it.  

 

The Lady Bunny spent 17 years creating and promoting Wigstock and is now an in demand DJ.  She has been flown to Morocco, Paris, London and many other destinations to spin her mix of disco classics and crowd pleasers.  She's currently touring her dance hit TAKE ME UP HIGH on Lybra Records.  She's got a real Sylvester groove to her voice and the beat can really take you up high.

She's charting too.  If you know anyone that buys current dance music do encourage them to check Take me Up High out.  Perhaps Bunny will go to the top!

Do check out Lady Bunny stuff on you tube.  In case you haven't been introduced to her whacky sense of humor you're in for a treat!

Take me up High is being promoted by industry legendary Bobby Shaw.

Lady Bunny can turn a glamour look when she wants to.

HERE'S A SNIPPET OF THE SWEET TEAM MIX of Take me Up High.

An avid animal rights activist here is a photo of Bunny and I at a PETA benefit in Rome a few years back. I introduced Bunny to Dan Mathews in the late 80's and their collaboration the FUR is a drag! events have become legendary all over the world.  PETA has aligned itself with camp and there ain't no goin' back.

BUNNY TWEETS

Ever the jet-setter for a price you can have Bunny at your next birthday!

Most don't know that Lady Bunny had a twelve inch dance single on Maxi Records in the mid 90's.  It was her re-make of the 1975 disco hit by Sheila and Company Shame, Shame, Shame.

If you are traveling to N.Y.C. you can catch Bunny at her weekly event at XL in Hell's Kitchen.

VINCE ALETTI's DISCO FILES FOREVER CAME TODAY

I finally got my hands on Vince Aletti's amazing book The Disco Files. It was originally only available via djhistory.com but now can be found in better bookstores. I got mine at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. Kinda pricey for a paperback at almost $40.00 but it's chock full of information. A veritable disco bible.

Disco Files was edited by Frank Broughton & Bill Brewster who brought us their own phenomenal disco history book Last Night a DJ Saved my Life which I reviewed in a blog quite a while back. Vince Aletti is currently the Photography editor of New Yorker magazine but back in the day he wrote a column for Record World magazine entitled Disco File. In this column he wrote about new releases not unlike the dance column in Billboard magazine later written by Brian Chin, Bill Coleman, Larry Flick and others. He also was in regular contact with many of the most important d.j.'s of the period and printed their Top 10 lists and a national Top 20 compiled from these lists.

Some of the early contributors include John Luongo reporting from various clubs in Boston, Larry Levan from when he was spinning at Reade Street, Walter Gibbons from Galaxy 21, Bobby Guttardo from Infinity, Tom Savarese from 12 West, Jay Negron and Paul Salari from The Playhouse in the Bronx and many other important early Disco pioneers.

The early part of the book is particularly interesting because it documents how the 45 rpm 7" single was first used by DJ's. Some had the vocal versions on side A and the instrumental on side B or Part I on one side and Part II on the other. So DJ's had to be creative with two copies to extend the dancing experience. Album tracks started to be replaced by the first PROMO 12" singles in 1975. As these wider grooves provided for better and louder sound. There were even a few, now rare 45 rpm singles without the large hole in the middle like in this otherwise unavailable extended mix of Tavares classic from 1975 It Only Takes a Minute which I have in my Ebay store. Click the title of this blog to have a look.

Use of imports were also quite prevalent by DJ's always prepared to wow an audience with something fresh. Now it's simply become the standard for all successful DJ's to spin a great deal of imports. Also the first dj record pool in New York started by the Loft's David Mancuso began in June 1975 and featured Vince Aletti on it's board of directors. Many artists actually performed for these DJ's or did a meet and greet in the office. Some included Faith, Hope and Charity, The Ritchie Family and the then new artist Donna Summer.

One of the crucial disco records of 1975 was The Jacksons Forever Came Today which has remained virtually unknown to their pop audience. Between their 1974 smash Dancing Machine and their first singles on Epic in 1976 the Jacksons had a dry period on the U.S. pop charts.

FOREVER CAME TODAY JOHN MORALES M & M FOREVER MIX