FROM HERE TO ETERNITY GIORGIO MORODER

Hansjörg Moroder (Giorgio) was born in Ortisei, Italy a beautiful mountain village in South Tyrol, The Dolomites.  A place I love and have skied in.  It is the part of Italy where most people still speak German as it used to be the southern part of Austria years ago.

What can I even say about this man and not sound banal?  I mean he is the king, the God of electronic disco.  Those of us who adore disco owe so much to him.  His innovative style and his perseverance in pioneering with the synthesizer just means EVERYTHING.

And just to think that he really got his peak of fame over the age of 70 with his work with Daft Punk that brought him to such an audience that had never even been born when he was cranking them out during the disco era.  He actually claims to have been a fan of one of their earlier hits One More Time.

I thought it would be only right to spotlight one of his most important solo masterpieces.  The seminal 1977 electronic romp FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.  A record which was from the album of the same name and strangely enough was not even released on a 12 inch maxi single. Here I bring you 250 mb.'s of versions.  From more recent edits to the original versions.  SO MANY VERSIONS OF IT

Who else out of the disco era has three Oscars and three Grammys?  No one else that's who!

Giorgio's first output on vinyl was in 1965.  He often collaborated with lyricist Pete Bellotte.  They worked together on his biggest projects including of course Donna Summer.  I Feel Love is of course the definitive masterpiece of electronic disco as well as the incredible theme from Midnight Express "The Chase" released in 1978.  Not many know that Munich Machine was actually Giorgio Moroder under another name.  Their track Get on the Funk Train was a definitive Paradise Garage classic.  Under this moniker he also used a variety of great vocalists.  

Blondie's biggest hit, #1 of the year when it came out, was from the film American Gigolo, Call Me was of course a Giorgio Moroder collaboration.

He recently worked with Kelis and is in the process of working with Lana Del Rey who is just about my favorite current female vocalist.  So I'm pretty well chuffed about that.

Most recently he's been touring as a DJ and doing gigs.  Considering the popularity of EDM not a bad move.

Running Information Society mid 80's perfection

Minneapolis band Information Society first release in 1983 the Insoc. ep is purely new wave but flopped.  It's not really anything to write home about and sounds like a lot of the new wave of that period.  But not many can claim to have a lyric as stupid as "I believe that Exxon saved my soul."

Then the next year they struck pay dirt.  Running is undisputedly one of the 5 most important records of the 80's.  First release on the tiny Minneapolis label Wide Angle it was later picked up by Tommy Boy where it was revamped and it became the quintessential sound of ELECTRO and a perfect example of early latin freestyle.  Though they were not latin and not from Miami or New York, go figure.
A RUNNING ZIP

The Tommy Boy versions featured freestyle royalty, The Latin Rascals, Albert Cabrera and Tony Moran on the edits (it was all about the edits).  And it was one of Little "Louie" Vega's earliest remixes along with Joey Gardner.

Honestly it's almost difficult for me to write about this record.  I feel so emotionally attached to it.  It features all the qualities that I adore about top-notch freestyle from the yearning vocals to the melancholy vibe to the highly danceable electronic perfection.  Oh the breaks!

I know that they had more pop success and even dance chart success with later hits (even hitting #3 pop and #1 dance in 1988 with What's on Your Mind) but for me this band peaked and and made it's mark with Running.  The only song of theirs that's an absolute must.

In 2001 a new version took them to #2 on the dance charts, as did a new version of What's on Your Mind took them up to #4.

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.

Why didn't Jamie Principle become a huge star?

Championed early on by the Godfather of House Frankie Knuckles, Jamie Principle was responsible for a few of the most haunting and delightful early Chicago house records.

JAMIE PRINCIPLE ZIP

Jamie was of course at Frankie's memorial just a few days in Chicago.

You're all I've Waited 4 was like a big comeback for Jamie after the few hits he had in the 80's.