there's the whole Paradise Garage scene, which is really more on the disco soul tip and covers the Dave Mancusos and Larry Levans
take one look at a typical mancuso / levan playlist and i think that calling it soulful disco is a MASSIVE generalisation.
if that's what those cats played i think that's what people would have called the music..
but people needed to come up with a new term for the records because of the DIVERSITY of the things played.
Not soulful disco per se, but certainly on the disco soul tip - yup, it was all about diversity and they played almost everything in the book : rock, salsoul, electro, disco and a whole lot more but the overall sound always had a pretty strong disco thread running through it. I heard Levan play on a few occasions and I have a stack of early 80s Mancuso and Levan tapes around the place - disco and soul looms large. We may well have different definitions of disco here. And when you are talking about a whole scene it's kinda hard not to generalise.
I'd say also check the Larry Levan Live at Paradise garage CD double - tell me what kind of music you think that is for the most part:
A1 Ashford & Simpson Bourgie Bourgie A2 T-Connection At Midnight B1 Stephanie Mills Put Your Body In It B2 Shalamar Right In The Socket C1 Crown Heights Affair Dreaming A Dream C2 People's Choice Here We Go Again D1 Motown Sounds Bad Mouthin' D2 Jakki Sun...Sun...Sun... E1 Change Angel In My Pocket E2 Janice McClain Smack Dab In The Middle F1 Supremes, The Let Yourself Go F2 Chi-Lites, The My First Mistake F3 Jermaine Jackson Erucu
Not really representative- has it crossed your mind that the tracklist on this album might have more to do w/ which tracks they were able to license than the actual style / playlists of Larry Levan who passed away more than 10 years ago?
It's pretty representative of the Levan tapes I've got in particular. He obviously played a much wider range of styles, as previously mentioned, but really what is up with you people? The idea that disco was not a big theme in the Paradise garage is just not true.
Comments
take one look at a typical mancuso / levan playlist and i think that calling it soulful disco is a MASSIVE generalisation.
if that's what those cats played i think that's what people would have called the music..
but people needed to come up with a new term for the records because of the DIVERSITY of the things played.
Not soulful disco per se, but certainly on the disco soul tip - yup, it was all about diversity and they played almost everything in the book : rock, salsoul, electro, disco and a whole lot more but the overall sound always had a pretty strong disco thread running through it. I heard Levan play on a few occasions and I have a stack of early 80s Mancuso and Levan tapes around the place - disco and soul looms large. We may well have different definitions of disco here. And when you are talking about a whole scene it's kinda hard not to generalise.
I'd say also check the Larry Levan Live at Paradise garage CD double - tell me what kind of music you think that is for the most part:
A1 Ashford & Simpson Bourgie Bourgie
A2 T-Connection At Midnight
B1 Stephanie Mills Put Your Body In It
B2 Shalamar Right In The Socket
C1 Crown Heights Affair Dreaming A Dream
C2 People's Choice Here We Go Again
D1 Motown Sounds Bad Mouthin'
D2 Jakki Sun...Sun...Sun...
E1 Change Angel In My Pocket
E2 Janice McClain Smack Dab In The Middle
F1 Supremes, The Let Yourself Go
F2 Chi-Lites, The My First Mistake
F3 Jermaine Jackson Erucu
And the name "Garage" comes from the venue.
Not really representative- has it crossed your mind that the tracklist on this album might have more to do w/ which tracks they were able to license than the actual style / playlists of Larry Levan who passed away more than 10 years ago?