ExpatMichael's opinion of anything relating to disco, Italo disco, funk and boogie music. Promotion for my Ebay and Discogs stores which concentrate on the sale of Disco, Funk, Italo Disco, Hi NRG, New Wave, morning music, sleaze and anything pressed on vinyl. There's a link to my Ebay store on the bottom of the page, right under the counter widget. Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave comments. Follow my twitter and join the Disco Vinyl Fan Page on Facebook.
Here is another re-post with a refreshed link. This time with the addition of the Hot Tracks remix.
Jose Guiterez and Luis Camacho first appeared on vinyl on the Sire New Faces compilation in 1993. My dear friend Risa Morley was the Aand R Director for the project. She had been working side by side with the illustrious Seymour Stein in her career at Sire.
So Madonna saw Paris is Burning and felt so inspired that she had to have voguers on her tour and do a song about voguing. The rest is history for Jose Guiterez and Luis Camacho. But where exactly do you go after you've been on tour with Madonna? You can of course get a record deal and then not have your record promoted well enough to become a hit. Some would say it was a bad record, and what can you do with that? But I beg to differ. It was a fun record and those boys had their pulse on the N.Y. ball scene and the downtown trendy scene at the same time. Their voguing at The Sound Factory among other places remains legendary. And left Madonna herself in awe.
Clearly had she offered more substantial backing vocals then the song would have been a guaranteed hit. Seems like what she offered was like throwing a bone. But I guess that was a big deal for her because she has never done backing vocals for anyone before or since. Junior Vasquez the most important DJ in N.Y. at the time produced and co-wrote the song along with the boys.
I heard Queen's English a few times at The Sound Factory but I wouldn't say Junior pumped it so often that he made it a huge hit there. Not like he did with "X" his ode to the house of Xtravaganza. Larry Levan used to create hits at The Paradise Garage by forcing his taste on the crowd. Junior did that too to a certain extent. But to me it seemed more like he was forcing a particular sound on his crowd and if you didn't really care for it tough luck.
Granted one could say that the boys contributed greatly to the massive success of Vogue and she acknowledged that. Otherwise she would not have brought them to perform at the 1990 Video Music Awards or used them for her Rock the Vote advertisement or had them featured in the documentary Truth or Dare.
Jose also appeared in the controversial Justify My Love video. The first video that had to be sold in stores because it was not permitted to air on MTV. It proved to be one of the all time best selling single video's of all time. Jose was named father of the House of Xtravaganza in 2002. Both boys have since been inducted into the Ballroom Hall of Fame and have appeared in the 2006 ballroom documentary How do I Look? In the fall of 2012 Jose Xtravaganza partnered with filmmaker Jason Last, known for his work in the field of fashion, to create the short film VOGUE(ing).Both Jose and Luis have taken their talents to Japan on several occasions to represent their house and the art form.
In honor of the fabulous movie Saturday Church and renewed curiosity for ball culture I'm bringing back this post from a few years ago. I distinctly remember seeing voguing to this madness at The Sound Factory back in 1993.
I ordinarily don't honor house music on my blog. But I am going to break my rule for a few reasons. One being that Paris is Burning Jennie Livington's amazing documentary about the New York ball culture is among my favorite films of all time. Another reason is the passing of trans beauty Octavia St. Laurent of A.I.D.S. on May 17, 2009.
Some of her lines are simply the most delightful, repeatable and throw-shade-readable in the film. In fact one line was so particularly legendary that an entire house record was based around the sample.
"$559.00 dollars how's that for a simple dress?"
I.M.T.'s The Devil Made me Buy that Dress was an important moment in Junior Vasquez's Sound Factory legacy. 1993 also happened to be a peak year in the evolution of one of just a couple unforgettable moments in New York City Underground dance scene. The Sound Factory was just about the only club that really mattered for years. So what sounded fierce on that dance floor is just about what sounded fierce period. Junior Vasquez has had rabid fans ever since. Though most would say his moment of supremacy has long since passed.
In 2003 another documentary was released with a similar theme. It was called How Do I Look. By this time Octavia was calling herself Heavenly Angel Octavia St. Laurent Manolo Blahnik, try saying that ten time fast!
Pardon me while I go off topic. But Candy J (Sweet Pussy Pauline) brings back a lot of great memories for me. Let's just say I have a penchant for porn beats and bitch tracks. Naturally Candice Jordan in all her incarnations is an idol of mine. She has the definitive potty mouth. She first came to my attention when Ellis D. (Junior Vasquez), Work This Pussy was a massive underground house record in N.Y.C.
My favorite Candy J. was the release labeled as Hateful Head Helen in 1989. WORK THIS PUSSY Personally I find this type of nasty to be the height of feminism. She's taking back the power and letting us know exactly how she likes it. You could have found this gem in my Ebay store a while back but someone snatched it up. I do have another sealed copy in my Discogs store.
Candy J. had a few early house records which I don't know. But I did used to have a copy of 1989's Hurt Me, Hurt Me on Echo U.S.A. I also used to have Shoulda Known Better a 1993 release on Vinyl Solution which later got picked up by Tribal America which an old buddy of mine Rob DiStefano used to run. I've provided a zip with a potpurri of Sweet Pussy Pauline. I have also provided you with a link for Fee Fi Fo Fum a British release by The Candy Girls. Yet another moniker for our Candy J.
Do let me know which are some of your favorite Sweet Pussy Pauline lines. I still regularly say "you're makin' me bark, you're makin' me bark!" But I've stretched the term to be used at any moment of extreme pleasure. Even a particularly delicious ice cream sundae can encourage me to toss out the line. Usually with a look of orgasmic pleasure and perhaps even crossing my eyes for full effect. When I'm bummed out all I need to do is put on the acapella of Climb on Top. It absolutely always puts a smile on my face and perhaps even a good belly chuckle. Put your coins on the table and move on out the door! NEXT!!!!!
MASSIVE DISCO REMIX of the the Bay City Rollers compliments of the Canadian Record Pool in 1977.
Those guys must have had a hot thing going. They actually were responsible for several mixes which were big crowd-pleasers in the states. I don't think I ever saw mixes in the states credited to a record pool though clearly most of the guys doing the mixes back in the day were in the pool that David Mancuso put together in mid 1975. From whose ashes later rose Judy Weinstein's For the Record. A pool which has featured all the big New York star d.j.' over the years and up until it folded, not that long ago. This batch featured the Superstar New York City DJ Kings like Junior Vasquez, David Morales and Frankie Knuckles.
In this vintage photo we have Judy, RCA's Tony King, T.O. Featherstonshaw, Jane Brinton and a young and dashing David Steele from Polydor. It was taken at The Paradise Garage for the 1 1/2 year anniversary of For the Record.
I mean hell the Bay City Rollers! The boys 'o tartan from Scotland making the boogier's get their grooves on in serious disco's in places like New York City and London and L.A. Peaking at #24 on the Billboard Dance Charts in 1976 on import.
Well they did just that. Had it been picked up in the States it probably would have been even more massive. It only got a 45" 7" release there.
At the time I didn't know a thing about this 12". If I had I would have gone to great efforts to get my allowance together to buy a copy. I was definitely a rollers fan and not just for their only #1 pop hit in the states, Saturday Night (S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT). I think I had about five of their l.p.'s and I could sing along to a lot of their songs. Oh the innocence of youth! YOU MADE ME BELIEVE IN MAGIC
Here is a more recent edit by Glenn Rivera of one of the band's U.S. Top Ten hits You Made Me Believe in Magic a hit from 1977.
So I've decided "refresh" this older post. Thought I'd add some more links and spruce it up a bit.
Pardon
me while I go off topic. But Candy J (Sweet Pussy Pauline) brings back a
lot of great memories for me. Let's just say I have a penchant for porn
beats and bitch tracks. Naturally Candice Jordan in all her
incarnations is an idol of mine. She has the definitive potty mouth.
She first came to my attention when Ellis D. (Junior Vasquez), Work This Pussy was a massive underground house record in N.Y.C. includes dub break But since then i've come to realize that the year before her Candy J (the saga of Sweet Pussy Pauline had already been released on Hot Mix 5 records).
So I've added it up top.
My favorite Candy J. was the release labeled as Hateful Head Helen in 1989. CANDY J is on FACEBOOK
Personally
I find this type of nasty to be the height of feminism. She's taking
back the power and letting us know exactly how she likes it.
Candy J.
had a few early house records which I don't know. But I did used to
have a copy of 1989's Hurt Me, Hurt Me on Echo U.S.A. I also used to
have Shoulda Known Better a 1993 release on Vinyl Solution which later
got picked up by Tribal America which an old buddy of mine Rob DiStefano used to run. Her first release was in 1986 when "house" music was still quite the fresh genre.
I've provided a zip with a potpurri of Sweet Pussy Pauline.
I have also provided you with a link for Fee Fi Fo Fum a British
release by The Candy Girls. Yet another moniker for our Candy J.
Do let me know which are some of your favorite Sweet Pussy Pauline
lines. I still regularly say "you're makin' me bark, you're makin' me
bark!" But I've stretched the term to be used at any moment of extreme
pleasure. Even a particularly delicious ice cream sundae can encourage
me to toss out the line. Usually with a look of orgasmic pleasure and
perhaps even crossing my eyes for full effect.
When I'm bummed out all I need to do is put on the acapella of Climb on Top. It absolutely always puts a smile on my face and perhaps even gives me a good belly chuckle.
Put your coins on the table and move on out the door! NEXT!!!!!
This post is basically a re-post of an older blog. For some reason I couldn't edit the old one and add some new links to it so I decided I might as well just cut and paste and post as new.
German artist Drafi Deutscher recorded this song using the alias Masquerade and came up with a huge pop hit all over Europe in 1983. Being that certain d.j.'s at The Saint in N.Y.C. were well traveled and had a taste for Euro they made this import a sleaze classic. It brought the punters a swaying from Fire Island to Provincetown and back.
While we are on the subject here's an interesting analysis, here's what Chicago D.J. Mark Vallese has to say about the subject. Maybe you've had the pleasure of hearing him spin at The Dunes resort in Douglas, Michigan. What's the difference between "morning music" and "sleaze"? If you ask 100 people this question, you'll get
100 different answers. The term "sleaze" has been around since the 70's
and is most commonly used to describe the down tempo music that was
played toward the end of the night (or the end of the party). It's
usually very melodic and pretty. Most of the songs were vocal pieces
with a few notable exceptions. The lyrics tended to be very
emotional in one way or another, often describing the joys of love,
or the pain of losing it. Here's some examples of classic "sleaze"
music, first the joyful, happy songs...
Under The Influence Of Love - Love Unlimited lary sanders edit
La Vie En Rose - Grace Jones Tom Moulton mix
Be Thankful For What You Got - William DeVaughn get it now
Take Off Your Makeup - Lamont Dozier larry sanders edit
Dance Little Dreamer/Hot Butterfly - Bionic Boogie chanson
Darling, That's Me - Judy Cheeks/Loose Change JUDY
Just Us - Two Tons Of Fun enjoy Just Us and for added fun I GOT THE FEELING Disconet Mix
Rock Your Baby - George McCrae an edit
Somebody's Eyes - Viola Wills 2 versions of a Viola beauty
Wrap Your Arms Around Me - Agnetha Faltskog an Abba beauty
Take Me Down/Hang On In There Baby - Johnny Bristol
Music, Harmony and Rhythm - Brooklyn Dreams featuring Donna Summer's husband Saturday Night, Sunday Morning - Thelma HoustonEnjoy it
Most Of All - Gloria Gaynor/Saint Tropez
Here's some classic "rip yer heart out" sleaze (termed by some as
razorblade/slit your wrist music)...
Throwing It All Away - Rhetta Hughs
Stop (Your Tearing Out My Heart) - Bob-A-Rella stop and download this
And, here's some of those notable instrumentals. ..
Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra (there's a fairly rare
vocal version of this too) rare vocal version
Rise/Manhattan Melody - Herb Alpert check out G's hypnotizing groove edit
African Symphony - Henry Mancini African
Anambra - Ozo (the vocal version of this song is called "Anambra
River") ANAMBRA DOWNLOAD
Tubular Bells - Champs Boy Orchestra Listen
Livin' In The Jungle - John Tropea A .wav of Jungle
Somebody asked about "Walk The Night" by the Skatt Brothers, wanting
to know if that's sleaze. Well, technically, it's not. It could, and
is, played in morning sets, but it's an example of "sleazy" music,
not "sleaze". Sexual overtones in the lyrics don't automatically classify a song as sleaze. Sleaze lyrics tended more toward love and
emotion rather than blatant sexuality. There are some exceptions to
that rule, let's not forget Donna Summer's nearly 14 minute long
orgasm in "Love To Love You Baby"! There were a few creative DJ 's
who would take a song that wasn't sleaze and turn it into one by
playing a 45rpm pressing at 33 1/3. Two songs that come to mind,
that worked perfectly when played that way, were "Souvenirs" by
Voyage and "Magic Bird Of Fire" by The Salsoul Orchestra.
Unfortunately, true "sleaze" music is mostly a thing of the past.
The few new, or recent songs that could fit in that category are now
usually classified under the much broader term "morning music".
In the early to mid 80's the term "sleaze" started to fade out, to
be replaced with the much broader term of "morning music". While
this was still the music played toward the end of a club night or
party, "morning music" did not describe a specific genre of songs
like "sleaze" did. The term started describing the "type" of
music that was played at a certain time or part of the night, rather than
describing the actual "sound" or "feeling" of an individual piece of
music. One way to put it is that all "sleaze" music can be
classified as "morning", but not all "morning" music can be
classified as "sleaze". While the term became much broader, it
started encompassing music with a faster beat and also music with a
darker, more electronic sound to it. This also coincided with the
demise of "live" instruments being used in making most dance music.
One thing that didn't change a whole lot was the use of vocals in a
majority of the music, but the lyrics often became lighter, with
less of an emotional punch to them. Here's a few examples of
classic songs that were among the first to be classified with the brand
spanking new term of "morning music" ...
One interesting thing that started happening when "morning music"
became more and more popular was that older songs which were
originally classified as plain old "disco" when they came out, were
now being relabeled and refiled in people's "morning music"
sections. Songs like Foxy's "Party Boys", Lipps Inc. "How Long"and "Dancing In Paradise" by El Coco are all examples of this
reclassification.
Unfortunately, the quantity and quality of "morning music" has faded
drastically over the past few years. That's not to say there isn't
any current "morning" out there, but you really have to search to
find it and search even harder to find somewhere to dance to it...
outside of your own living room. I'll close this with a list of some
of my "morning music" favorites from then and now...
Lastly, here's a few recent "morning" songs for ya...
Baby Of The Year/I Can't Believe It's Over - Bent get bent
Sing It To Your Heart - Jimmy Sommerville STAYlisten to Sing it
Home (David Harness Taboo Vocal) - Simply Red
Still (Kelly G Club Mix) - Tamia
Looks Like Heaven - Peas
Lotta Love 2005 - Nicolette Larson a whole lotta Nicolette
Midnight At The Oasis 2005 - Maria Muldauar lovely
In going through this blog you will find many from the list. In the future I might even post some more. Happy Downloading! Don't forget to click on the ads. They are a way of showing your appreciation and as you can tell I spent a long time and used up a lot of effort making this the comprehensive post that it's become.
