Emotional Disguise

Here is a fabulous New Wave by the legendary Peter Godwin.  Mr. Godwin released his debut solo single "Emotional Disguise" in 1982 soon after the break of the legendary and seminal New Wave band Metro whom I did a great posting a while back that generated great comments.  This single release was backed by another great song "French Emotions" and both tracks ended up appearing on his debut album Dance Emotions.  A release that paved the way for future great new weave dance classics such as "Baby is in the Mountains" and "Images of Heaven". I am featuring the original sweet and short version plus the sublime instrumental as well. Enjoy!

Emotional Disguise - Peter Godwin 

Emotional Disguise (Instrumental) - Peter Godwin  

September in the Big Apple Mix

Here is the September 2011 mix titled "In The Big Apple".  The inspiration here is New York city during late September when goals are renewed bringing the spirit of change.  A time when the wheels start to move forward full speed and so much activity is happening simultaneously, left and right, front and back. A city that is shallow yet dense, humble and arrogant  that never fails to deliver delivering euphoria, energy and contemplation.  It is beautiful and ugly, rich and poor, crazy and sane, high and low where cultures comes to the front and  clashing loudly.  A city filled with extremes leading one in search of much needed balance in order to survive.  Always forcing to question our identities and our essence. Visceral in nature and designed to face our demons head on but never boring and always exciting!  

Track List

     

  1. Big Apple '75 - Loudon Wainwright III

  2. Intergalactic (Deep Sound Design Remix)  - Beastie Boys

  3. Blues City - Toomy

  4. Just To See - Soho 808

  5. Kill the Pig (Pig Mix) - The Blow Monkeys

  6. Fujiya & Madge (Greg Wilson mash-up) - Fujiya & Miyagi & Madonna

  7. Love is in control (Finger on the triger) - Donna Summer

  8. Sex - Virgo Four

  9. Make You MIine - Autodeep

10. Don't Beat Around The Bush - The Salsoul  Orchestra

11. By The Way You Dance - Bunny Sigler

12. Right in the socket - Shalamar

13. Sinning - Grace Jones

14. A.M. (Ewan Pearson Re-Edit) - Flowers and Sea Creatures

15. King Of Rome - Pet Shop Boys

September in the Big Apple Mix by Dj Glamjack on Mixcloud

Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Here is a song that hasn't escaped my mind since it's release exactly twenty years ago in 1991.  A cover of Neil Young's 1970 classic, St. Etienne did due justice to the original and revolutionized 90's dance music at the same time by introducing a new lyrical dub aesthetic on the dance floor.  I was a mere 24 year old when I first discovered this song and ever since it became my personal soundtrack during the whole '90's decade and on.  It was included on their under appreciated debut album Foxbase Alpha.  Andrew Weatherall later remixed the song to further emphasize the dub bassline.  It was recorded in under two hours, got them a record deal, their first single and their first hit. Lead vocals were by Moira Lambert, as Sarah Cracknell had not yet joined the band as a permanent member. The song remains Saint Etienne's only entry in the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 97 in 1992. It did, however, top the US Hot Dance Club Play chart at number 1!  Several remixes have been made but nothing beats the original until recently when I discovered this remix by Richard X.  Simply brilliant!   Enjoy

Only Love Can Break Your Heart - St. Etienne 

Wando "Bahia"

September is here in full force and it always bring some kind of intensity in our lives.  Whether it's finishing vacations, starting a new work cycle or remembering life changing historical events that could bring out the best and the worse in ourselves depending how we choose to see it.  This past weekend we all stopped and remembered the horrific events of 9/11. It's hard to believe it has been ten years, it still feels like it was yesterday.  As a direct witness from across the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; we all saw the world change right in front of our eyes, a jolt to the soul, that made us all New Yorkers closer and united in grief.  My heart goes to the families that loss their loved ones on that day.  Now we continue to carry on with our resilient nature hoping for a better day.  Having said that, I thought to feature a song to clear the palette in a light and somehow escapist way appreciating the little things in life as we always continue to strive for happiness.  "Bahia" by Wando was released in 1976 and in became a dance hit during that summer with a gorgeous tropical samba feel that somehow evokes a bitter sweet ending of the season.   Enjoy!

Bahia - Wando - Download

 

Disco Photography

Disco ball at upstairs Loft  Decor at 70 North 6th, Brooklyn

Together with Tierra

What a gorgeous weekend it's turning out to be!  I just got back from the P.S. 1 (MoMa) Warm Up series and caught the tail end of it with British DJ duo, Horse Meat Disco doing their magic. Highlights such as the instrumental version of Human League's "Don't You Want Me" made the crowd scream the lyrics to the song in unison.  A great dance and response song idea. Also, Ashford  Simpson's "It Seems To Hang On" sounding gorgeous as always and a high spirited long version of Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way" closing the evening's festivities.  It has been a while since I have attended the Warm Up at P.S.1.  I feel the venue space, although outdoors, is challenging to have a good flow air  and good dance space.  Having said that, it still draws a huge crowd and the spirit overall was dance happy today.  So to "warm you up" this Saturday, I'm going total '80s R&B with Tierra's "Together".  Tierra is a Latin R&B band originally from Los Angeles, that was established in the late '70s by former El Chicano members, Steve Salas, David Torres and Andre Baeza.  "Together" was their biggest hit, written by Gamble & Huff.  Enjoy it and have a beautiful and restful Labor Day Weekend!

Together - Tierra  Download

Acid House originated in India!

Stop the presses! It's time to rewrite House music history and the legend of the discovery of Acid House as we know it! It turns out that it wasn't 1987 when a small group of club kids led by Nathan "DJ Pierre" Jones gave Ron Hardy a record to play at the Music Box labelled "Acid Tracks" by Phuture and as the story goes, this uncompromising sound quickly clears the dance floor, but Hardy hammers the tune again and again, until the masses are converted and a new genre was born - Acid House. This is all true yet recently I found this poignant, seminal and amazing body of work by Charanjit Singh. As the story goes, it was 1982 when Charanjit,  known at the time as a Bollywood soundtrack composer, intending to capitalize on the disco phenomenon that just hit India decided to combine centuries old Indian Ragas and set to a disco backing using the latest technological gadgets such as the Roland TB303 bass melody sequencer, the TR808 drum computer  and the Jupiter-8 keyboard.  All instruments  that became the prototype for the Acid tracks that were created 3-5 years later by amateur Chicago house heads experimenting with sound.  Mr. Singh basically created a sound which mirrored, and more importantly, pre-dated the first acid house record - Phuture's "Acid Track", and even preceded Chip E's 'Jack Trax' in 1985!  After nearly three decades of near complete obscurity, the record resurfaced when Bombay Connection label impresario Edo Bouman first heard it while traveling in India.  He inmediately contacted Mr. Singh and said: "He was most friendly and surprised I knew the album.  I remember asking him how he got this acid-like sound, but he didn't quite get my point. He didn't realized how stunningly modern it was." The word "disco" in the title is a complete misnomer since there wasn't a genre called techno or house that could be invoked yet.  Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To a Disco Beat is no novelty record either, capturing the hypnotic potential of acid music in the most extravagant yet simple form, making explicit the similarities with the pulsating bass sequences which defined the soundtrack of dance floors for the next 30 years.  This is vintage futurism of the highest calibre and made more amazing by the fact it came from India, a place hardly renowned for it's electronic output.  This is a brilliant record and it's highly recommended. Acid House came from India! Learn it!

Raga Bairagi - Charanjit Singh - Download