A little over a year ago, my friend John Huck invited me to do a mix for his disco radio show, Sunshine After Dark, and just recently invited me to do another. We finally got to meet in person over the summer here in Toronto and had a lovely afternoon bonding over disco and record digging, so am more than happy to make a new one!
Over the last while, using Vince Aletti's Disco Files as a guide, John has been doing these Disco Time Capsule episodes, taking listeners on a chronological journey through the records of 1974-1978. It's been quite a lovely trip listening to him curate these shows chronologically, getting to hear how certain sonic signifiers in disco developed over time. I fully encourage other disco-heads out there to take a listen, all Sunshine After Dark shows are archived on his Mixcloud page.
John just finished a series of shows chronicling the disco from the Summer of 1978, and while I didn't organize this mix in a strictly chronological order, in keeping with the theme, the selections in this mix are all releases from 1978.
Sunshine After Dark broadcasts online and on the radio out of CJSR 88.5 FM in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada every Thursday at 7 PM Mountain Time (0100 UTC), re-broadcasting Tuesdays on CKXU in Lethbridge, AB and Wednesdays on CHMA in Sackville, NB.
As mentioned earlier, all episodes are also archived on Mixcloud, and you can listen to my mix on Episode 180, below.
Enjoy!
Disco Delivery #13: Guest Mix for Sunshine After Dark (#180) (Download)
Tracklist:
Le Pamplemousse - Do You Have Any? (Ya Know Where I Can Get Some)
Wilfried (Scheutz) - Johnny's Diskothek (12" Version)
Michele White - Sweet Innocent
Claudja Barry - Boogie Tonight (12" Version)
Three Ounces of Love - Star Love
Roy Ayers Presents Ubiquity - Starbooty
Stanley Turrentine - Disco Dancing
(Siduku) Buari - I'm Ready
Soraya - My Life
Midnight Rhythm - Workin' & Slavin' (I Need Love)
THP - Tender Is The Night
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| All the records used in this mix |
Track Notes:
Le Pamplemousse - Do You Have Any? (Ya Know Where I Can Get Some): My favourite track off my favourite of Rinder & Lewis' Le Pamplemousse albums. A slinky, funky groove and one which hints at certain powdered disco pleasures. Written by a one Gil Carson who is also credited on a number of other Le Pamplemousse songs, including their signature hit, "Le Spank."
Wilfried - Johnny's Diskothek (12" Version): Came across this at a local shop recently, and there was something intriguing and catchy about this euro-disco schlager track that tickled my disco & pop sensibilities. By the late Austrian pop singer, Wilfried Scheutz, this was from a disco-flavoured album he recorded called Nights In The City, that I'm certainly looking out for after hearing this. Produced by Robert Ponger, who had also released a (recently reissued) album of his own with an instrumental version of this song.
Michele White - Sweet Innocent: A recent dollar bin find, released on the TK subsidiary, Sunshine Sound, and one which involves a lot of familiar names from the Miami recording scene of the time - Bobby Caldwell, The Sunshine Band's Rick Finch, KC and their backing singers just to name a few. The title track and standout of Michele White's album, which was alone worth the price of admission.
Claudja Barry - Boogie Tonight (12" Version): A lovely sleeper track from her I Wanna Be Loved By You album, which contained her big hit "(Boogie Woogie) Dancing Shoes." The Canadian-only 12" single of this song, which I used here has some lovely extended bits that enhance the song quite nicely.
Three Ounces of Love - Star Love: A favourite of mine from the Detroit sister group, Three Ounces of Love and their sole Motown album. It seems that after the demise of The Supremes the year prior, Motown was likely betting on two upstart female groups to fill in the gap, High Inergy and Three Ounces of Love. High Inergy were ultimately the ones dubiously crowned "the new Supremes," however the Three Ounces of Love album is, to my ears, closest to the sound that the latter-day Supremes had. Their album employed many of the same writers and producers that were also on those very last Supremes records, like this particular song, co-written and produced by Greg Wright who was also behind The Supremes' disco hit, "He's My Man."
Roy Ayers Presents Ubiquity - Starbooty: Continuing on the 'star' theme, one of Roy Ayers' greatest disco moments, in my opinion. Blown away by how ridiculously prolific he was around this time, this one has an ideal combination of disco and jazz-funk sensibilities, chugging and propulsive while capturing a freewheeling looseness that sets his work apart.
Stanley Turrentine - Disco Dancing: A little disco surprise (at least when I stumbled across it) from jazz saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and his What About You! album on the Fantasy label. I understand why disco-flavoured releases by jazz musicians weren't looked at especially highly, often seen as unfortunate compromises to prevailing trends. That's not to say that many of them didn't have a worthwhile moment or two, which is perhaps easier to say if you're not coming from a jazz perspective. This track stood out to me on the record, an original (among the covers on the album) written by Philly disco mainstays, Phil Hurtt and the late Richie Rome. Rome also arranged the entire album featuring the vocals of the Sweethearts of Sigma who are all over the record. At the same time, this track almost exactly anticipates the sound Rome would employ on the album he would produce for the model/singer Flower the following year.
Buari - I'm Ready: I had heard this lovely disco outing from Ghanian musician Siduku Buari, on an unofficial reissue 12" several years ago. Containing more than little hint of "You're Just The Right Size" by The Salsoul Orchestra, this song was on his recently reissued (thank you BBE!) cult album Disco Soccer.
Soraya - My Life: Taken from a one-off album from mysterious singer Soraya Kaci, which was arranged and co-written by French cosmic disco icons Bernard Torelli and Jean-Pierre Massiera, the same team behind records by Venus Gang and Herman's Rocket. I had first heard this one night at work recently, when Cyclist, the resident DJ of the Wax Candy Disco nights here in Toronto played this track off the album. Immediately after, I had to know what it was. When I logged onto Discogs to buy a copy, it noted that I had added the album to my wantlist some 14 years ago (likely due to the Massiera connection) and, it seems, promptly forgot about! Containing more than a few key hints of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Getaway," this track is perhaps one of the most instant and gratifying on this wonderfully strange and intriguing album.
Midnight Rhythm - Workin' & Slavin' (I Need Love): I had opined at length on this album on this blog back in 2007. Produced by Robby Adcock and Joe Long, I have long wanted to play this in a mix and here, I finally get the chance. The propulsive groove conjuring up the heady gay discos and backrooms of the time has been a favourite of mine for some years now. See Disco Delivery #37 where I relay some of my conversation/correspondence with the album's co-producer Robby Adcock, for some interesting background on this release.
THP - Tender Is The Night: A favourite from the Toronto-based production team of Ian Guenther & Willi Morrison, this track, from their third album of the same name, is perhaps the highlight of that particular record. Featuring The Duncan Sisters on vocals, this felt like an appropriately bright and tender closing number for this mix.
PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
disco delivery mix #9: guest mix for sunshine after dark (thursday august 18, 2022)
disco delivery #37: midnight rhythm (1978, atlantic) (wednesday march 14, 2007)
CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERY MIXES, CAN-CON DISCO
