No.1 x 2013

Mindless Boogie was a true trendsetter in the early years of the disco edit-boom. With a concept that set aside traditional genres and re-edits as simply DJ tools, they went looking for the right vibe no matter what the BPM counter said.
The label was run between 2006 and 2010 by Dirk De Ruyck (who also worked with Eskimo Recordings) & Tonic out of the small city of Ghent, Belgium. Size doesn't matter though, since Ghent has been a source of great dance music dating back to the New Beat-movement of the 1980's. Besides hosting some now classic edits by big names such as Prins Thomas, Lexx, In Flagranti & Todd Terje (under the pseudonym Wade Nichols, which was the real name of gay porn-actor turned disco singer Dennis Parker), the label made their name with some great edits by Tonic himself. Under three different names (Tonic, Skinny Joey & Rubber Room) and altogether six 12"-releases he stirred up an interest for both the leftfield as well as the mainstream (especially the discovery of everything Hot Chocolate made EXCEPT "You Sexy Thing"). The choice of original tracks was always the genius of Mindless Boogie.
Tonic recently put up an archive of his works on Soundcloud:

No.9 x 2012

It's been a while since you heard from me here, since I've been finishing my bachelor degree (not in disco though). But I have been keeping myself busy on that scene as well, providing the third volume for the very interesting Edits-series by netbased label Diavol.
The Argentinian label is run by local discophiles Premini & Jovan, and they have developed a quite uniqe concept with this project. All volumes are released digital and free of charge, accompanied by cover art from interesting young artists and video trailers in the same vein of musical visualization as In Flagrantis promo films.
The first volume features edits of obscure Brazilian disco, new wave and pop signed by themselves, the second volume had Nassau edit the local flavours of his home country Italy. For this third volume I pitched in with one edit of a Swedish original (Subway At Night) but expanded to an international scope on the following three cuts (spanning three diferent continents - Japan, UK & USA) and also decided to keep the names of the originals to myself - not out of pride, I've just always enjoyed the mysterious side of edits more (it makes the crate digging so much more fun).
The cover art was provided by Los Angeles-based Cleon Peterson, and is one of the pieces of a series called The Practice Of Masters.
All edits are now available for free on Soundcloud but you can also show your love by getting the whole volume for just a dollar at the Diavol site.

No.8 x 2012

As some of you may recall I did an edit some time ago of a track by Richard Schönherz called Between Judgement And Madness, which I released under my own name with the title Habla Taco Marijuana. I gave it away as a christmas present here in 2010 and ever since that it's been living a life of its own (someone even put it on Youtube).

By chance, I was digging through my own collection and stumbled upon the Black Jack record, which I had bought for the wonderfully sleezy Jungleman Jive (as it was re-edited by Loud E). I thought I should give the whole record another chance and when I came to the title track, it turns out it's a semi-cover of that very Schoenherz-track.

It's not so surprising of course, since Peter Hauke who is behind Black Jack also produced the Schönherz record (and they're both in the extended circe surrounding Kurt Hauensteins Supermax). Schönherz is also part of the production team on the Black Jack record, and so is drummer Hartmut Pfanmüller who plays on both those records.

Very much a friendly affair, and a nice reinterpretation which speeds up and tightens the groove from the 1978 version, leaving out the long and spacey interlude which I also cut out on my edit. There's some different synth figures here that are bordering on cheesy, and the harmonica is a wierd touch. All in all it's a bit more stiff and mechanic in it's approach, but with a coked out sleezy charm that complements the rather pretentious aspect of the "original".

BLACK JACK - HOT PASSION

No.7 x 2012

Spotnicks was not a band in the classic sense of the word, but more of an institution that carried on in various constellations for decades, spitting out records in a variety of styles and quality based loosely around the surf sound of the 1960's. Their gimmick however, was the cosmic aesthetics of the space age (which I'm sure gave them a lot of gigs in the USSR). This gimmick played out well even long after the race to the moon was won, and gave them entrance to the cosmic side of the disco spectrum when 1978 came around: when the band somehow ended up in the hands of a bunch of french guys who cut the amazing electronic disco record Never Trust Robots with them throwning in some surf riffs here and there.

Anyway, on to 1983 and the band sees a new formation away from the instrumental surfing to a more rock oriented format with actual songs of their own, but not without a cosmic touch. The title track off this record is a loud bass-driven sleeze-fest with Phil Collins-size drums that works really well as a late night anthem, complete with a healthy dose of synth swooshes and the chatter of the space station control room during the guitar solos.

SPOTNICKS - DROP ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE

No.5 x 2012

"It's one of those tracks people come up to the booth and ask about the most". The quote is from the press release of the Hollywood Seven EP released by Perseo last year, but I imagine it to be a quote straight from Mike Simonetti himself, the initiator of that rather peculiar release. It refers to the rather unknown and only solo single of dutchman Alides Hidding, an uptempo hybrid of electronic disco and AOR-pop with a "classic feel". Simonetti & Johnny Jewel (co-founder of Italians Do It Better with Mike) used this as the closing track of their now legendary Albuterol Mix, but in the live-edited version that has become known as Disconet Dilemma. The concept of the Hollywood Seven EP release, which is quintessentially also the story behind it all, is not that of a random edit package with the main ambition to promote a DJ slash producer. No, the focus here is all on the music and the joy of digging. To tell the story shortly, this track blew up among the Italians Do It Better camp and since they kept finding amazing cover versions of it all over the world, decided to compile them and share it with the world. Do read the full story, which says it all much better than I will, here.

This version of the Alides Hidding track, the 12" Maxi Version, is not (or so I think?) the one that the Disconet Dilemma edit is made from (the title of that edit only refers to the Disconet promo 12", which is hard to find any info on). It's a bit slower and more spaced out in the intro, and the saxophone solos are more prominent.

ALIDES HIDDING - HOLLYWOOD SEVEN (MAXI VERSION)

No.3 x 2012

Ah yes, Finland! Too few of our entries here tagged "Scandinavian" can be contributed to our distant neighbour Finland, the black sheep of the family when it come to scandinavian countries - since they have a language that doesn't even remotely bear resemblance to any of the other three. They're only connected to Sweden by landmass way up north in the Same territory, and seems to have adopted the ideal of the strong silent type from the top down (warning, massive stereotype alert). So what a nice surprise to see them pop in their head through the doors of the disco renaissance just to let us know that they're really not into that kind of stuff. Rod Stewart-impersonator and schlager star Ricki Sorsa sure can't stand dancing anyway, and takes a bold stance against the party drugs of the club scene, especially "the coke thats in your nose", as he puts it. And then to match these lyrics with a pumping disco beat and an infectious chorus complete with echo-layered handclaps only further proves that the finns have a dark sense of humor.

RIKI SORSA - CAN'T STAND DANCING

No.23 x 2011

Tonight I'm playing in Stockholm again, at the Mejan christmas party (Mejan is what they call their royal art academy here) which is held at Färgfabriken this year. Rumour has it that these parties are anticipated highlights of the year for Stockholmers (like a Labor Day Run is for the North American Outlaw). In any large city with a metropolis complex, art is the great unifier of the classes (well, between the middle and upper ones mostly), and their differences are put aside for one night in the name of good fun. If you're in town, it's a safe bet for some action.

Me on one floor and the Rollerboys on the other floor, bound to get heavy. And if you come by early on (to beat standing in line) you can hear my buddy Gabriel warming up the turntables.

And here's a new mix to light your pants on fire with....

The Disco Outlaw (A Sergio Rizzolo Mix)

No.14 x 2011

Pinnacle Records spared no expenses when they released this single on 12" vinyl in five different clear-coloured versions: blue, yellow, red, green and brown. Targeteted for the large following of the then already cult brittish sci-fi TV-series Dr. Who, which in 1978 starred the curly-haired Tom Baker as the fourth doctor, the Ron Grainer-penned theme was of course remade in the style most popular at that time, disco. While the original in itself was a breakthrough for electronic music and the pride of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with its instantly recognizable synthesizer sequences and eerie soundscape, arranged and played by the pioneering Delia Derbyshire, this would have been perceived as weak in comparison and as a purely commercial venture. But the skillfull blend of funky disco instrumentation together with electronics works wonderfully and simply proves that 1978 was a great year for disco.
It could easily have been taken to a higher level of cheesy-ness, but instead there is a heavy disco beat and funky baseline nailing it to the floor and even some nice breaks where this proves to be a very humorous take.


MANKIND - DR. WHO (7" VERSION)

No.9 x 2011 / Hauenstein Special No.3

The Bamboo record of 1979 is a sought-after rarity of cosmic disco, and by cosmic I don't mean to reference the italian Afro Cosmic sound of Loda & Baldelli, which in this case had little or no relation to the cosmic sound that Hauenstein envisioned. The hard-driving epic that is Spaceship Crashing has been bestowed the term cosmic simply because there is no other way of describing it. And of course, there is the theme of spaceships and spacetravel in two of the records tracks.
This was Hauensteins own pet project after settling into the Hotline studio in Frankfurt. The WEA label set him up with these three girls from Surinam and let Kurt call the shots, which resulted in him playing almost all instruments himself. Featured on back-up vocals were however the newly recruited Supermax singers Cee Cee Cobb & Jean Graham, who Kurt had found on a trip to Los Angeles.
Since this is a Hauenstein affair, it features a few reggae-influenced tracks, much like all the Supermax records. And how much his affection with Jamaican culture may seem like a footnote to some of his fans, it can't easily be discarded. In 1983, Supermax were the first band with white musicians to play the annual reggae festival in Montego Bay along with Gregory Isaacs and Black Uhuru.
The song that is however most characteristic to Kurts musical legacy, as well as a statement of his unique uncompromising style, is a groovy mid-tempo cut called Hustlers Of Life Never Survive (check that one out here). But the stand-out track for dancefloor action is of course the now classic:


BAMBOO - SPACESHIP CRASHING

No.7 x 2011 / Hauenstein Special No.1

One of the greatest heroes of cosmic disco has passed on to the next level. Musical genius Kurt Hauenstein left this world yesterday, at the tender age of 62. But his life offers a rich and comprehensive history in the creation of some of the greatest music ever made. Which surely served as a spark for another Disco Academy Special. In the upcoming posts we will explore some of the most interesting productions signed by this Austrian musician, starting off with his most prolific creation: Supermax.
The title track of the 1977 album Don't Stop The Music (the bands first or second depending on which sources to trust) is a tribal psychedelic trip of epic proportions, featuring the blocky synth-chords that became a trademark of the Supermax sound.

Before the word wigger entered the dictionaries and denounced the efforts of any respectful popcultural exchange between ethnic groups (i.e. whites and blacks), Kurt was the proud posterboy of a multicultural approach to music and to inter-racial relations.
One of the songs of this albums, Watch Out South Africa, Here We Come, can clearly be interpreted as a prophecy of the bands 1981 tour of this apartheid-ruled region. As the story goes, they "were the first multiracial band to tour South Africa. Despite near constant death threats, they played 21 shows causing quite a political scene and earned Kurt 'no-entry' status to several countries"(quoted here) In a self-documented video from the tour, the headlines of daily newspaper Star reveal the bands involvement with the socialist organisation AZAPO.

The swedish balearic rock band Tiedye (responsible for last years summer anthem, the "remix" of DJ Kaos Love The Night Away) announced over a year ago that their full length album would feature a guest appearance by Hauenstein on vocals. We're all hoping that this now posthumous release will make its way to the public soon.


SUPERMAX - DON'T STOP THE MUSIC

No.3 x 2011

Strix Q started as the backup band of Magnus Uggla, the swedish equivalent of Lou Reed (or at least he thinks so) who to the international disco underground is most famous for his electro-balearic Sommartid. And it's easy to spot the influences of Uggla on this track off the album Capitol City, which was also released as a 7" single (although a 12" with a dub instrumental would have been nice). This is cocky glam-rock on the verge of 1980's flamboyance, but with the added soundscape of futuristic disco rock. The Moog baseline will blow you away!

And best of all is the lyrics, which in swedish tells the story of a guy getting dressed up and ready to hit the clubs, looking to score some action, and then the chorus comes in like a twist in a thriller to reveal that he's only in it for the boys. Oh, the gayness!

STRIX Q - BOYSS

No.1 x 2011

Amen brother indeed! An irish dude getting his hands all over a Czechoslovakian prog disco cut from the late seventies is surely something to praise. And especially since it's the very promising chap Niall Kirk that is behind the grandios alias of Amen Brother Disco Band.
The name apparently originates from the Amen Brother parties that he and his friends have been hosting at the McKenna Brewery, obviously the hotspot of the city of Monaghan. And if it's psyched out and heavily funky disco you want to hear whilst enjoying your pint of beer, but like me live too far away to be able to just pop my head in there, you can always download the recurring mixes that Niall puts together as resident over at MNtothat.
Getting on to the edit at hand, he's really spotted a winner in this one. Building up steam with an infectious groove led by a hillbilly-style funk guitar riff and then occasionally turning on the taps on some heavy rock breaks, all the while keeping the wonderful singing of Bohuslav Janda. Great stuff.

AMEN BROTHER DISCO BAND - TAK-PO

No.53 x 2010

Our friend Crinan from Gothenburg has dug up some primo norwegian disco. I first heard this in a mixtape by Tiedye, another couple of guys from Gothenburg, made for the music section of the danish fashion label Wood Woods excellent website.
Back in the 90's Crinan made electronic dance music released on Börft Records. Now he runs the music blog/club Mind On The Run and is together with a friend responsible for the Parlour releases, some of the hairiest and most wildgrown edits put on vinyl over the past couple of years.
This one is jawdroppingly rough and funky progrock groover. Åke Aleksandersen in fact started out as a hairdresser in Oslo, and then moved his way to the microphone by playing drums in a jazz band. The songs title refers to the king of winter, a common figure of scandinavian mythology, which seems to have taken over as the unchampioned ruler of the weather during the last days.


FRANK ALEKSANDERSEN - KONG VINTER (CRINAN EDIT)

No.49 x 2010

I've made a playlist for the 10th issue of Tourist Magazine, an online publication with a broad spectrum of topics (a lifestyle magazine if I dare say so).
They also did an interview with me, that is to say the swedish person whose body is currently utilized by Sergio Rizzolo as a vessel for DJ gigs. Confusing? Go check out what he had to say and listen to the selections over here.

No.48 x 2010

The central piece from the exhibition at Makeriet was as you could tell the record Boonoonoonoos by Boney M (yes, that's eight very good uses of the letter O, nine if you count the one in Boney).
German svengali-like mastermind Frank Farian took on the music business with perhaps the most postmodern of approaches in the making of a band since the debacle surrounding the Monkees. He would later go on to outdo even himself with the creation of Milli Vanilli (I think you know the story).
But let's put aside whatever can be said and thought about Farians commercial strategies concerning Boney M and focus on what's really important: the music of course.
The credit list of musicians for this particular record reads like a who's who of international studio whizz kids of the 1970s disco scene. Curt Cress & Keith Forsey on drums, Mats Björklund on guitar and Christian Kolonovits as arranger. With a dream-team like that no wonder they pulled off the balearic kraut-epic Boonoonoonoos, the italo style electronic Silly Confusion (re-cut by Todd Terje by the way) and the laidback funky disco rock of Breakaway.

BONEY M - BREAKAWAY

(Sorry, this was taken down for copyright reasons)

No.39 x 2010

When the fourth installment of the crate diggers bible for the 21st century (Claremont 56 stellar compliation series Originals) came out last year, confusion struck those eager to hit the shops when it became evident that the balearic brits behind volume 4 (Matthew Burgess & Jolyon Green) had for some reason misspelled or distorted the name of this Swedish new wave group. The credits stated them as Diggy Tal & The Invaders, leading many diggers astray on their quest for this bass heavy bomb of a track.
Lucky for us here on home turf then that we had a head start in spotting this in the bargain bins of our local dealers.
Most of the album is crappy new wave rock with some stiff synthesizers thrown in for show. This track however stands out among the rest, partly for its straight up disco funk groove and possibly for its detour route all the way to Hollywood for a remix by studio wizard Rusty Garner.


DIGGY TAL & THE NUMBERS - IF IT'S LOVE THAT YOU WANT

No.37 x 2010 / The Saucer People Guest Blog No.4

How_Beezar is a former Russian punk, indie & trip-hop drummer who spent ten years playing in a variety of bands before sucumbing to the sheer joy of the deep disco re-edit. One of his re-works is destined to create a tsunami of interest in DJ circles and here is a rare chance to jump on the bandwagon before it has even pulled out of hype station. The original track is by Russian artist/composer Yury Antonov and is called ‘I Remember‘ (or ‘I Reminisce‘ depending on the translation). It features on the soundtrack of the 1981 Russian film ‘Take Care Of The Women! and it is worth hearing the original just to grasp how radical the edit really is and plus you get a chance to watch some serious early eighties Soviet nightclub action!

Don't just take my word for it, here is what DJ legend and author of "Saturday Night Forever:Story Of Disco" Jussi Kantonen had to say about the track "Severely and rapidly addictive. Also very beautiful and sinister at the same time, like advanced science". If that wasn't enough, it has the seal of approval from the guys behind Overfitting Disco who commented "...the definitive dope indeed, now, a bootleg label must pick this one up, fast".

Until this gets released either officially or in bootleg form, feel free to send it, post it and generally spread it's love around in the smug knowledge you heard about it first! You can also get more of How_Beezar's amazing collection of edits by visiting his LiveJournal page. Also check out his incredible collection of proto-house and proto-techno tracks called "Tracks That Left Their Time Behind 1977-1983"

YURY ANTONOV - I REMEMBER (HOW_BEEZAR RE-EDIT 2010)

No.34 x 2010 / The Saucer People Guest Blog No.1

As this is my first post, it seems appropriate to reference where I live and in turn, allow you to be dazzled by the rich cultural diversity of Diskoakademin. The image above gives the game away doesn't it? I am of course from the imaginary city of Metropolis...sorry, I meant England (so easy to confuse the two) and what could be more quintessentially English than The Kinks and their 'mod' inspired visions of 'Waterloo Sunset' and 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion'?

Only this is 1979, the whole world had become infected with the disco meme and even former English rockstars were not immune. As the Stones had already joined the disco party very succesfully the year before with 'Miss You', it is hardly suprising that other former 60s English rockstars would also be jumping on the glitterball bandwagon.

Recorded in New York as part of the 'Low Budget' album sessions, '(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman' was released in 12 inch "Disco Mix Extended Edit" form while the album itself acheived the highest American chart place of any Kinks album. What I love about the track (aside from the flaying guitars, driving bass and sheets of synth wash) are the lyrics. Anyone who has listened to the words of their 'banned' 1970 single 'Lola' knows that Ray Davies can tell a good story and this is no exception, check out this wonderful rhyming couplet: "I'm too weak, i'm so thin, I'd like to fly but i can't even swim". Sheer poetry!

THE KINKS - (WISH I COULD FLY LIKE) SUPERMAN [DISCO MIX EXTENDED EDIT 1979]

No.29 x 2010 / Philippe Renaux Special No.5

It's time for some cosmic feelings again. Another collaboration with his old bandmates of the Rockets. This is their "third" album, from1979 (the hectic discography of the band resulted in a lot of lumping together of previously released songs in re-packeged releases).

Here we have Renaux featured on writing duty again on the track Cosmic Feeling, but seemingly not involved with the instrumentation this time (although I can't be sure about that, my correspondance with Mr. Renaux has been sporadic and most the time he could not remember the specific tracks). Anyway, very enjoyable cosmic disco rock.


ROCKETS - COSMIC FEELING

No.27 x 2010 / Philippe Renaux Special No.3

Renaux was long involved with the people behind the band/project Rockets, even during their forming years under different aliases, no doubt because of their shared love for the cosmic. Mainly credited as a writer, he penned their single Rocket Man in 1974 (as The Rocketters). In fact, according to reliable sources (i.e. the man himself!), he was the bands first singer
He is also credited as the writer of their most enduring production - Future Woman. What is less known is that he actually does the vocals as well as plays all instruments on this song (thank you for the scoop Philippe!).
This has the smell of J.P. Massiera all over it, whom Renaux worked with in 1976 as co-writer & producer (as well as bass player under the pseudonym Phil Honeyman) on the Jessy Joyce record Love Me.
Even though they apparently never worked again, it seems that they both took a lot of inspiration and ideas with them from that collaboration and channelled it into their coming work in the field of cosmic crazyness. Massieras later hit song Space Woman bears an uncanny resemblance to this Renaux piece. A friendly paraphrase or jealous rip-off?
As the concept of Rockets formed much around the idea of a rock band (they did actually tour as live musicians, including lasers and smoke machines of course), their sound is a mix of heavy psyched out rock riffs and funky electronic disco rhythms (needless to say, they're one of the greatest bands ever).
This sounds crystallizes to perfection in Future Woman, which Renaux made for them in 1975. A single (under their alias Les Rockets) was released the same year, however I favored the much harder and bass-driven 1976 Long Version from the self-titled Rockets album for this post.


ROCKETS - FUTURE WOMAN (LONG VERSION)