Asha Puthli Music Machine (Dedication to Studio 54)

Asha Puthli is from Bombay, India and has had many releases.  In 1976 she had a huge international hit with The Devil is Loose.  But lately I've been obsessing over a 1979 twelve inch.  It's the B side of I'm Gonna Dance called Music Machine.

Apparently it was dedicated to Studio 54.  Can't say for sure whether it was a favorite there though.

GET INTO THE MUSIC MACHINE

Studio 54 1977 to 1980

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Roy Thode D.J. Mix Sets Studio 54, Saint, Ice Palace D.J. Extraordinaire

I am a huge Roy Thode fan.  He was a fantastic DJ but a troubled man.  To think that he committed suicide during the prime of his career fills me with sadness.  Here in dedication to him some of his mixes are presented for you to enjoy.

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

THODE MIXES
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.

JUST AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER a PRINCE debut

When Prince's I Wanna Be Your Lover became a smash in 1979 most people thought it was his debut single. But actually his debut l.p. was released the year before, 1978's For You.
Studio 54 d.j. Jim Burgess, who later went on to become a staple at The Saint did a tasty remix of the song Just as Long as We're Together. It has since become one of Prince's most coveted 12" singles to collector types. Likely because it was a PROMO only release.
JUST AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER and as an extra treat the Greg Womack re-edit of the B side Soft and Wet just here below.
S AND W

Here's the Near Mint copy in my EBAY store.
MY PRINCE AUCTION

Roy Thode's fabulous mix of Poussez! Come on and Do it

Poussez! were a disco super-group featuring Alphonse Mouzon, Christine Wiltshire and Janet Wright.  All artists that were successful before and after with other projects.  Christine worked often with the legendary Patrick Adams and was a member of Musique, Phreek and Class Action among other acts.ROY THODE COME ON AND DO IT REMIX

MORE FABULOUS CLASSIC DISCO IN MY eBay STORE

Roy Thode was an insanely talented d.j. when he committed suicide in 1982 he was at the peak of his career as a favorite d.j. at The Saint and having come off many hot nights at Studio 54 and on Fire Island.  Some of my very favorite mixes I've heard from that period were nights when he was spinning.

Hot French Disco by The Garcons

Les Garcons was a French disco project from 1979. Mixed by Studio 54 d.j. Tom Savarese and featuring notable background vocalists like Christine Wiltshire and Ramona Brooks. Their debut l.p. was arranged by Carlos Franzetti and was released on Phillips Records France.

It's a solid effort but the stand-out tracks are French Boys and Encore L'amour. I have no idea why Encore L'amour is written in French because it's sung in Italian so naturally it should be called Ancore L'amore. Both are spacy and progressive. But I prefer Encore L'amour for it's incredible orchestral intro. and it's deadpan Italian vocal style. This could have been re-mixed into one frenzied slab of madness in the right hands.

ENJOY GARCONS

Their next release was the single Les Deux Amants released on Celluloid in 1980. I'd be curious to hear if it was as good. Apparently it's more New Wave.  Daft Punk must certainly look up to Les Garcons.

As usual I invite you to pop into my Ebay store. I've got hundreds of vinyl releases on sale in several genres including Italo Disco, Hi NRG and Euro disco such as this which I incidentally sold just last month.

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Tribal Rites David Diebold's Disco Diary

There are quite a few great books that chronicle the disco era and give different takes on it. Mel Cheron's Keep on Dancin' (My Life at the Paradise Garage), Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton's last night a d.j. saved my life, Tim Lawrence's Love saves the day, and Peter Shapiro's Turn the Beat Around to name a few.

They have been extensively researched and contains playlists and reminisces from many people who were part of the scene and are still around to tell their tales. These books are especially valuable for Larry Levan fans who want to know more about this legendary d.j. and his rise to prominence. Also how different scenes were happening at times contemporarily such as Northern Soul, Studio 54, Punk/New Wave clubs, and finally the rise of High NRG and the exclusively gay clubs. Disco never died it just kept having it's name changed, altered, and in the end simply revived, sampled and re-packaged.

Then there are the more trashy gossipy type books like Joshua Gamson's The Fabulous Sylvester and the holy grail of this type of book Tribal Rites by David Diebold. Which you can see reviewed by clicking the link to my auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190314891757&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Tribal Rites is by far the rarest disco book out there. I sold my copy a few months ago and it got a pretty penny.