Disco Delivery Mix #15: Music You Can Ride On

Photo: Studio 54 Dancers by Bill Bernstein (1978)

Been holding onto this for a little while, since the end of January in fact, when I had recorded this. Wanted to make a mix using records I had retrieved from storage at the end of 2023, so there are quite a few of those here along with some things I had picked up at the time plus a couple of old favourites I had pulled off the shelf. Surprisingly, I've been DJing a bit more this past year and have a couple more gigs on the horizon, just in time for the final weekend of Pride.

First up, this Friday June 28th, I'll DJing back-to-back with Cyclist at Wax Candy Disco at The Piston, and on Saturday June 19th, Cyclist & I will be back-to-back again, DJing Midnight Message at The Little Jerry, so consider this a little taster!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wax Candy (@waxcandydisco)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thomas Del Pozo (@discodelivery)

As for the mix itself, I've included track lists and track notes below. Some of the tracks in the middle of the mix have been slowed down for beat-matching purposes, but either way, I hope you enjoy!

Disco Delivery Mix #15: Music You Can Ride On (Download)


Tracklist:

Psychic - Take A Chance
Geraldine Hunt - Could We (12" Version)
Hemlock - Body Rhythm
The Average Disco Band - Michelle
Bohannon - Come Dance With Me
Mighty Pope - Sweet Blindness (LP Version)
Madleen Kane - Forbidden Love (12" Version)
Gregg Diamond - Danger
Marlena Shaw - Love Dancin' (12" Version)
Finished Touch featuring Harold Johnson - The Down Sound
Vivian Reed - Ready And Waiting (12" Version)
Luca D'Ammonio - Oh Caron

All the records used in this mix.

Track Notes:

Psychic - Take A Chance: A little one-off from Jimmie Haskell, a noted arranger that has appeared on numerous records, including some which have appeared on this blog. The A-Side, "Stinger," is a disco adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, but it was the B-side, "Take A Chance," which really caught my ear. With spirited girly chorus vocals and all, it's right up my alley and to my mind, a lovely way to open things.

Geraldine Hunt - Could We (12" Version): A personal favourite from the late Geraldine Hunt. From the same album as her big hit "Can't Fake The Feeling," this is a lovely mid-tempo groover that gets me every time. Even though this mix runs a little shorter than the LP version, there's more room to groove on this particular version.

Hemlock - Body Rhythm: Another one-off that I purchased at Amoeba Records in West Hollywood back in 2009. (I recall, in part cause I still have the price tag on it). They didn't have a preview station there, but the fact that this was a Richie Rivera Midnight Mix was enough to pique my interest. I had honestly largely forgotten about this until I was looking through my 12" singles in storage and found the A-side to have quite an appealing groove, not to mention a catchy little chorus. A lovely little party starter!

The Average Disco Band - Michelle: One of several releases I have by the elusive disco producer John Ferrara, who had some hot moments back in the late 70s early 80s (and is recorded for posterity in the 1979 60 Minutes Disco piece which makes the rounds from time to time). Aside from hits like "Love Attack," he had done this unusual little disco project for H&L Records under the Average Disco Band moniker, covering Beatles songs in a disco style. I suppose it was part of the fever of the times, however aside from the single lyric "Michelle, ma belle," it actually bears only a passing resemblance to the Beatles' original. Either way, this version is a standout on its own, regardless of the gimmick attached.

Bohannon - Come Dance With Me: Hamilton Bohannon's late 70s albums on Mercury, both under his own name and the ones he produced for Caroline (AKA Carolyn) Crawford, are some of my favourites of his. By this time, he had basically perfected his signature sound of funk with finesse. This song, the opening track of his 1978 On My Way LP is a clear case in point. Propulsive grooves, lushly adorned and sweetened yet still unmistakably funky.

Mighty Pope - Sweet Blindness (LP Version): Originally released in 1976 by a Toronto band also called Sweet Blindness, their version had already been a disco hit in its day. I have to admit that I prefer this later and somewhat more polished remake by Jamaican-Canadian singer, Mighty Pope. Taken from his second LP, Sway which had been produced by John Driscoll, Montreal DJ Robert Ouimet and arranged by Gino Soccio. Given the calibre of those names, the results speak for themselves. Though this version changes one of the chorus lyrics from "music you can ride on" to "music you can dance on," Mighty Pope still sneaks in a little nod to the original towards the end.

Madleen Kane - Forbidden Love (12" Version): Working at The Piston (in a non-DJ capacity) during Cyclist's Wax Candy Disco nights here in Toronto it's interesting to see, beyond the well-known standards, which songs capture the crowd. A crowd which is, by and large, at least a generation younger than me. This song is one of those. Well-known among disco connoisseurs but perhaps not as much among the general public, it has nevertheless become a signature favourite of the Wax Candy crowd. And it's no wonder, because this song has just about everything - drama, lushness, momentum, beat and tempo. When I saw that I had this 12" in storage, I had to take it back with me and include it here.

Gregg Diamond's Star Cruiser - Danger: Another record I retrieved from storage, this was a single-only affair by the late Gregg Diamond under his Star Cruiser moniker. I love the explicitly gay references which permeate this track, from the title of the project itself to the song lyrics referring to "danger, always looking for strangers, " and "finding an empty truck." Visions of cruising the piers in New York City and the trucks of the Meatpacking District. Bring your poppers!

Marlena Shaw - Love Dancin' (12" Version): One of the high points of the late song stylist Marlena Shaw's disco output, the John Luongo/Michael Barbiero 12" mix of "Love Dancin'" was also another one I had in storage. The joyful crescendo of this song is undeniable to me, particularly in it's extended version which is why I had to include it here.

Finished Touch featuring Harold Johnson - The Down Sound: A stand-alone single from the Motown studio outfit Finished Touch, which had put out an album entitled Need To Know You Better in 1978. The label on the single notes that this was from a planned second album, which evidently never came out. I had to retrieve this one from storage once I was reminded of this lovely stomper. Have to make mention of one of my favourite lyric couplets in a disco song from this time here - describing a sound that's "got conservatives enraged, it's giving editorial another page." Indeed!

Vivian Reed - Ready And Waiting (12" Version): Vivian Reed is perhaps best known as a Tony-nominated stage actress and singer in Broadway productions like Bubbling Brown Sugar and The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club. Her recorded output, sorely underrated and mostly for the United Artists label, has some solid gems in it like this particular song. With a dynamite groove, matched measure by measure by her vocals, it's one that I take with me as often as I can.

Luca D'Ammonio - Oh Caron: I had found this in a local record shop earlier this year, initially taken by the sleeve and the label name, Disco Più. Upon listening, I found the A-side to be a relatively soft bit of romantic Italian pop which was pleasant enough though not particularly interesting to me. The B-side however, was another story. Oh Caron (not sure if that's actually what the vocalists are saying), was a surprising bit of fiery African influenced disco, which is ultimately what convinced me to get this. Not long after coming across this single, a intriguing compilation came out this past March on Four Flies Records called Africamore - The Afro Side of Italy (1973-1978), which includes this track among many other delights, shining some light on an interesting corner of the Italian musical landscape.


PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
disco delivery interviews robert ouimet (saturday, may 24, 2014)


CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERY MIXES, DISCO DELIVERY EVENTS

Disco Delivery Interviews Robert Ouimet

This is a conversation that I'd been sitting on for quite some time now, but thanks to the boys of A Digital Needle/Beam Me Up, I had the privilege to speak to Montreal's DJ Godfather, Robert Ouimet last November, before he played at a special edition of their monthly event, Beam Me Up here in Toronto. Before that, he played at Toronto Pride last summer, where he impressed not only myself, but by the looks of it, just about everyone else in Cawthra Square Park (AKA the 519 Green Space) that night..

It's a rarity these days, when many have either died, or have long left the music scene, to come across someone like Robert, a leading figure in the Montreal and Canadian disco community, who has not only stuck around (interesting fact: he won a JUNO award in 1994), but who remains as musically sharp, open and active as ever. That November night in Toronto, he proceeded to show the crowd - by and large, young enough to be his children, why they called him 'The Godfather.'

This evening he's back in Toronto for yet another round, so I figured this was a good time to finally post this up.. We talked about his days at the Limelight, Montreal's leading disco back in the day (which, interestingly enough, is now a strip club called Chez Paree); how disco people rediscovered him and how he too would end up rediscovering disco.

I read that you started at a place called 'Love'

Yep!

How old were you?

I was 24. It was the first year that I came to Montreal. I went to Montreal University in English Studies, and what happened is that I got fed up and at the same time I found a job, because I didn't have any money.

So it was out of necessity, then?

Yes. I was going at the club and the manager knew..

Knew you?

He didn't know me, he knew me because I was there and I was bugging him.

Ah, because you were persistent!

Yeah! And I wanted to try at least one night and then the owner liked me a lot so what happened is that he hired me.

Okay... And you said this was right at the end when, you know, when live bands were giving way to DJs.

Yeah, downstairs was live bands; R&B, soulful stuff and upstairs was the club... but it was a hole! But it was fun! It was kind of mixed up – black, gay, straight.

So, no pretension.

No, no, no... The owner was always there making sure everybody behaved.

I read somewhere that this was a place where a lot of hip soul bands would play too.

Yes! A lot of bands from the states, soul bands from the 60's early 70's.

Which ones do you remember?

When I came there, it was kind of the end of that stuff, so I'm not sure exactly which bands, but I know it had a good reputation.

So, how did you build from there, from Love?

The thing is, is that the Limelight was already open.

When did it open? 72, 73, something like that?

73... End of 73, around that... I'm not good with numbers and years, but what happened is that the DJ that they had was George Cucuzzella, who would later become the owner of Unidisc, and they wanted another DJ because George didn't like to work afterhours. They heard me and everybody was talking about me at that time, a lot of people – the underground people, because when I was playing I didn't play commercial stuff so what happened is that they came over, they heard me, I tried it and they liked it a lot.

So you just stayed...

I stayed there. I worked downstairs first because there was no upstairs, everything was downstairs at the time.

Okay, well tell me, because I was reading that it was like three levels or something?

That was a long time after.

Oh, okay. So it started small at that time?

Yes, second level only, that was a nice place... Really, really nice.

Yvon LaFrance, was it him who hired you?

There were two owners, another guy and Yvon. It was Yvon that heard me, that was more in charge of the DJs.

So tell me how it evolved, because I didn't know this, it started out with just the one level and then there was the second level, I heard called Le Jardin, for the gay crowd?

Okay, what happened is that they built up the third floor, the Limelight was the second floor and we went upstairs, so the music was going from upstairs to downstairs when they opened up the third floor. That's before Le Jardin.

Okay, before?

Yeah, a lot of gays used to go downstairs, but they wanted a place of their own, so there was a lot of gay people upstairs too, but they all had the same music, the problem was that I didn't see the crowd, it was hard to control and to work with. What happened is that they built it out and made Le Jardin with a DJ downstairs, and me, I kept the third floor, which had more people.

So, it wasn't really a gay venue, it was a mixed crowd?

It was always a mixed venue, but toward more of a gay crowd. Let's say the gay guys and their fag hags [both laugh] all the girls with them.

For you, I heard in that interview with CBC, the first dance music for you was really Motown?

That was my youth, my teens, you know.

So in 73, when you started, when you played at Love, that's what it started with?

There was a continuity with all of that, it was kind of a R&B, early, early Barry White, early Bohannon, mostly Funk and Soul. The early Limelight was that too, funk and soul on 45s, album cuts.

And you were mixing at this time too, right?

Yep, yep.

Because I remember hearing about some other places like, you know, I think I read about in the UK, it took a while for mixing to catch on.

I was blending, it was not really mixing, because that was hard in those days, especially those records.

So, was the Limelight was a lot more discriminating than Love? Because I read somewhere that it was a Studio 54 kind of place, where if you didn't look right, you could not get in.

Yes, it was very fashion oriented, very 'in' place, it was kind of a hidden secret – a word-of-mouth place.

Would you say that it was the most important disco in Montreal at the time?

Yes, it was the main club, Dance club. There was nothing besides the Limelight for five years after. It started later, the other clubs... There was a little club right beside the Limelight that tried to do something, a place called Lorelei, but it didn't work. It was nicer than Limelight.

Really?

Yes! But, it never worked.

Were they also very discriminating about who they let in also?

Yes, that too.. Crescent Street was the gay village at the time.

What was your relationship with the owner, Yvon LaFrance? Was there ever any tension there?

No, not in those days, that came later... It was quite good. He trusted me and I had confidence in him too, he let me do whatever I wanted.

He gave you freedom.

Yes, I was able to do anything I wanted. He gave me the opportunity, and I proved that I was a person that you can count on, because I was always there, I was never sick, I was never out of control. I might be drunk [laughs] but not out of control, no drugs.

And you were playing on the busy days, was it, the weekends?

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday...

And so they had other people fill in during the week?

In the beginning, it wasn't open during the week.

I was thinking, how you went to find records, as a DJ. You think of it today, it's easy going online and you can easily find out's new and what's playing where, I read that in those days, you'd go to New York regularly.

I used to go to New York, I read the magazines. I had Cashbox, I had Billboard, I knew ahead of time what was coming out, I knew what I wanted and I knew when, and there were some people at the time, who were travelling back and forth to Montreal and New York to buy records.

I heard that it was both ways, people from New York going to Montreal, as well, I'm getting ahead of myself here, because Montreal had a lot of imports.

Yeah! And I was friends with one of the guys, so he always gave me first choice, because he knew me, he knew I knew my music, and I was coming from the 60s, I knew all my shit and I was the first one in the truck, no store was getting there before me, and I had an unlimited budget so I was buying everything! [laughs] Sometimes I had a pile that high [hand in the air] of records, three hundred dollars a week of records. In those days, that was a lot!

Even today that's a lot! Around what time was this? What year? Before 12 inches still?

Yeah.

And before Record Pools and that kind of stuff?

It was a bit before the Record Pools. But the Record Pool, the first one from New York – For The Record was around the same time - '74.

That's when they started in Montreal too, okay. I mean, you started with soul music, but later on there was a lot of European stuff coming to Montreal first before it ever went to the US...

Yes!

And so even today, you look back at some of the top 10 lists from the time and Montreal's always looks different, compared to all the other ones.

I was playing for Montreal, not for a New York crowd, so I didn't mind what they were playing in New York. The culture [in Montreal] is a very mixed culture. I know French, you know, all kinds of different kind of music in Quebec, Latin stuff, stuff coming from Europe, it was easy for me to put together and insert all that with the disco that I was playing, it was working. I would play Tabou Combo, and people would go nuts over that!

Going a bit later in the 70s, going from being a DJ, I guess they start getting DJs in the studio, to be consultants, or to remix the records, how did that begin for you?

I got friends with a few people who were working at a record company, and they were bringing me promos and things like that and that's what happened, talking with them.. and I was very hard with them! [both laugh] I didn't play anything they wanted me to play! I played the things I wanted to play. I was really hard at it, they hated me! A lot of them!

Because they'd give you promos and you wouldn't play them? I mean, I know as a DJ, you don't want to be force-fed.

I was not their bitch! [laughs] I mean, I have a mind of my own, I know what I'm doing... When I see a crowd, I can read it. Without me even noticing it, I know. I feel it. So, I see a crowd, I know what to do with them. And if I don't, I'll stop the thing and play something else.

Okay, going from that how did you break new records to your crowd? I heard that when you liked a new record and you would introduce it by playing it next to one they already loved to make it acceptable. Because if a crowd hears something they don't know...

They will go away..

But you play it with something that is familiar...

And each time they got away, they'd leave the floor, I'd replay the same track! I'd come back to the old track, they were coming back on the floor, and I'd replay it again!

Ah, that's how you sent the message... Like, listen to it first!

It always worked! Everybody was freaking out 'cause I was doing that.

What was the first record that you – actually, let me go back a little, did it start with you doing edits for yourself?

No, I never did edits in the 70's, never.

I know it would have been really hard, because you had to tape it, and cut the tape...

I had guys who were doing that for me. Their name was PAJ.

Okay. And they were DJs too, right?

No.

No, okay.

They loved the music...

I should ask them, but do you remember how they started?

I don't remember... They started giving me edits, they said 'listen to it' and I liked what I was hearing, and a few times, I stopped playing the original completely, I played their mix. Like [Denise LaSalle's] "Freedom To Express Yourself.” My crowd knew only that mix, they don't know the original.

Okay, because today, everyone does re-edits. DJs will make re-edits for their own sets, you know, to make it easier to mix and that kind of thing, but way back then, it would have been so much harder.. What was the first record that someone actually hired you to say 'can you mix this record'? The first one you actually mixed, I guess...

The first one I mixed? That was Francine McGee. I'm not sure if it was Gino, or Francine... It was '77, anyway.




So, it was for RCA Records? Or the producer?

No, no, I think it was the producer. I did that for the producer, the guy who composed everything, I did that in his basement!

[laughs] So, obviously he knew you from the Limelight at this point.

Yeah, yeah...

So, that started the whole thing, you did things like Gino Soccio and all of it from there.

That's because of Quality Records, because of the promotion man who was friends with me, he got me involved with all of that, those people.

Yeah, because I saw your name as a 'Disco Consultant' on another Gino Soccio production, that was Karen Silver.

Yeah, from Toronto, also...

So, explain what that was, a 'Disco Consultant'?

A Disco Consultant is like telling 'yes' or 'no' to what they're doing.

Okay, cause I saw that old 60 minutes segment, and they had this producer, it was John Ferrara, who brought a bunch of DJs in the studio, and he would ask them 'do you like this?' 'do you like that?' Was it kind of like that?

Yeah! To do this and that and maybe check out the mix they had, the bass, or the sound, the drums... That's where I started. That's how I started working with Gino. He was bringing me his acetate and I tried a few things and I went to the studio to remix my first twelve-inch with him – “The Visitors.”

The Visitors – yes!

That was done in the studio, with the 16-track.



And you were there with him, or by yourself?

Yeah, with the engineer.

So Gino brought the acetate to you, to the club, to test it out?

Yeah, I had the acetate..

Before anyone else did?

A lot of it, yeah, but he was also testing it in the States too.

Right, I guess he had his record company there testing...

Because at the time, Gino got mixed up with RFC, which was a big thing for Warner Brothers/Atlantic at the time! They put a lot of money into it.

BTW, I Listened to the ATOMIX, the first one, and there is a Sylvester re-edit of of “(You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real”, what was that?

That's fucking good! Love it! It's not out yet.

It's unreleased, oh okay... Was it Tom Moulton, or was it someone else?

It's a guy from Germany... He sent it to me, he didn't want to send it to everybody. When I gave it away, I had to ask him... That was the last track I played last summer.

Oh, at Pride!

That's the last track I played and I got people coming up to see me, because of that... because they were freaking out!

That was amazing! Whoever he is, he's very good! Well, this leads into my next question, because the re-edit stuff, that's another world for me that I haven't even fully explored. My thing has been going to record stores and digging for whatever 12” singles or albums I find, or whatever looks interesting. I was really slow to latch on to all of that, but what's your take on disco re-edits today?

I love it!... The thing is, I was there at the beginning, and we're 40 years later, I don't want to play the same records.

Because you knew them the first time around, you played them for weeks on end...

I know them and got fed up with them, most of them... It's not because they're bad. After a certain time, you get fed up, because it's the same music you hear and play all the time, so you wanna move on into something else. There are some good re-edits coming out, some great remixes, also, that kept the feel of the original and that got me back into playing disco again, otherwise I wouldn't have played any.

So, hearing re-edits, the remixes that kept the feel of the original...

Yes! That's what got me back into playing disco, because I was ready to quit two years ago!

Oh!

Completely! I didn't wanna do it anymore.

What happened two years ago that made you want to quit?

I couldn't get work in Montreal because of my age, people thought I was kinda washed out, but without hearing what I was doing, even though I had radio shows... You know how people are with age and stuff like that, you're not supposed to be good for a long time. And I think I'm way better than I was in the disco days, for what I know and what I've experienced. I feel I mix a lot better than before.

That's another thing, so many people have left, either they've died, or they're not involved in music anymore, but you're still around, you're doing re-edits as well, you're doing your own shows, you're more tuned into a lot of this stuff than I am.

It's been a part of me, all the time, even in the 70s, I was very curious about music.

To maintain that for as long as you have is impressive!

It's still there! That's why I have four different shows and types of shows on web radio.

So for you, re-edits gave it new life... When did you feel people were re-visiting disco, because every ten years or so, someone says 'oh, disco's back!'

It's been happening for a while though, It's been happening with House, sampling disco. That, I was not too crazy about. That for me was kind of a hit-and-miss, but I think now, it's a step in the right direction. I think people want to go towards real music, but it's a movement that's a lot bigger in Europe than here and the States. I find that Europe has better musical dance culture than here.

You were mentioning it last night, things move a lot faster today, tracks they would come and go in a matter of weeks, but you said, a track like Karen Young – Hot Shot, you were so sick of it, you had to play it for months and months.

A lot of tracks we used to play for 9 months, to a year, because nobody was playing it. The only place you could hear it was at the club.

It hadn't crossed over to radio.

Radio didn't play that stuff. I think Radio killed it, killed a lot of disco hits, because of that. Because it was better to play at the club. People came for that.

To hear it in a club atmosphere... They always talk about in New York, Frankie Crocker at WBLS, playing a lot of disco on the radio, was there anything like that in Montreal?

Yeah, there was CKMF They were playing disco. More commercial stuff...

And of course, the radio station that played you live.

Yeah, every Saturday night.



LIVE From LIMELIGHT Oct 1978 On FM 96 - DJ Robert Ouimet (Part 1)
Uploaded by Tony De Luca

How long did that go on?

Two years.

Another thing we discussed last night, on the record. You weren't really one to tape yourself and listen back to your mixes.

No. For me, I never prepare a set. I know my music, but I never prepare a set ahead of time. It's in my head, and the crowd and the way I read the crowd. That's where it goes. I was never really interested in hearing what I was doing, because for me, it didn't make any sense, to hear what you were doing after it was done. “How come I did that!?”

You'd be criticizing too much?

Yeah! But it worked for the crowd at that time, and when you re-listen, you wonder, you're not sure. So for me, to be better in the way I worked, I would prefer to never record what I was doing.

Having started with R&B and Soul, how did you feel about Eurodisco, later on, as you started getting more of that, how did you feel about that?

I found soul in that stuff too. I mean, the first track I played like that, like Kraftwerk and the Donna Summer – I Feel Love, they were bringing something else. That was bringing another colour, that's why I liked it.

So there was no resistance from you, as far as that was concerned?

Not at all!

Because sometimes I hear about that, that some people who favoured the soul and R&B side of disco, couldn't really identify with that, with Eurodisco, or the more electronic side of it.

No, no, I was really open-minded.

Something I heard was that you were one of the first people to play Donna Summer's “I Feel Love” in Canada, when they were promoting the record. It was on the flipside at the time and the A-Side was a ballad.

Casablanca/Polygram at the time, gave me a gold record because of that!

Oh! For breaking that record!

Yeah!

So, how many gold records, or whatever certification, did you get, for breaking records?

Oh, I got one for Boney M..]

Which one?

"Daddy Cool"... I got one for Gino Soccio - “Dancer,” I got one for Musique – “Push, Push, In The Bush,” I got a big one for Saturday Night Fever, I got something on, I can't remember his name, the rock guy, we don't hear about him anymore...

What other DJs did you respect, because you were, I guess, the Godfather, as they called you in Montreal, but who else would you say - in Montreal or elsewhere?

Michel Simard, He was at Limelight after.

After you, right... You also mentioned New York, when you went to New York, you said your favourite place was Barefoot Boy (presided over by DJ Tony Smith).

It was Barefoot Boy, yeah.

When did you start going there?

Early 70s. Like 74, 75. Like I said, I'm very bad with numbers. I remember it was kind of a...

It was a gay club?

It was a gay club.

With a name like that, I suppose so... [laughs]

It was a gay club and it was fun to go to, the music was always great. It inspired me a lot!

It was the very soulful stuff at the time?

It was early disco and the good stuff, only the good stuff!

You already started at the Limelight at that point?

Yeah, I was learning to mix properly and that really helped me a lot! Hearing what they were doing, how they were doing it. You know, disco is not easy to mix. It's very up and down, it's really hard to do.

Would you describe disco as more feeling than technical, when you want to mix? You have to feel the music in a different way?

When you mix something like disco, it has to be very technical, because the beats are going up and down, so you use your fingers on the turntable or the pitch, know exactly when to go up or down. Nowadays, you don't do that, or mostly not.

Because 120 BPM is going to be just that.

That's it! But disco is not the same, it would be starting at 107, and sometimes finished at 117, that's a ten beat difference, that's a lot! And sometimes when you mix, the beat was fluctuating between 107, and 110, so you had to know when to go up and down on the pitch.

So, at what point was disco starting to get played out for you? Like you were starting to say, 'okay, this is enough', like you didn't like the new records coming out?

It started in '79..

Was there a single record that you can say people were really hyping up that you just couldn't get behind?

I don't really remember, but I mean, you spend 7 years of your life playing the same type of music, I mean, after a while, even though you like all that stuff, you need to branch out and do something else. At the same time that happened, new wave was beginning, so for me, new wave was kind of a breath of fresh air, compared to disco. It was different. Disco was getting very sophisticated at the time, and that was kind of raw, it was very interesting!

It was the feeling you had when disco kind of started, something new and exciting?

I think so. I had the same spark I had with disco at the beginning.

So, someone said that you were one of the first people to really bring new wave to the Montreal audience, that true?

Yeah! All the disco people hated me for that, really hated me! But I knew it was something that was coming.

What was the reaction? People would just walk off?

Okay, the first time I played “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s there were 1500 people in the place, everybody on the dancefloor. When I played “Rock Lobster,” nobody.

Nobody danced?

Nobody! So, I let the 45 go, and I restarted disco after. Everybody said, “you're nuts, you're crazy!” and two weeks after, half the crowd was on the floor, and a month after, it was packed!

So it took off! So, it started with that, “Rock Lobster.”

And at the same time that it happened, the crowd changed.

Was it still kind of a gay crowd or was it...?

Kind of a gay crowd still, but it changed, the regular disco, really really disco people kind of left and got replaced by another crowd.

So you left Limelight in 82 was it?

I left Limelight the first time, early '80.

What happened after that?

He [Limelight owner Yvon LaFrance] gave me my own club!

He gave you your own place!?

He gave it to me, the club downstairs... In three weeks, because there was not a lot of people, he closed it and got rid of me... That's all he wanted.

Oh, an excuse...

An excuse to get rid of me, because he couldn't do it.

Okay, going back to the Limelight, every level was a different concept, different sound by now?

Yeah.

So, he gave you the underground, for the new wave at one point. So, when he shut that down, somebody else picked you up? You found another job right away?

I found another job right away!

They knew you and everything.

And I worked every night, four nights a week, it was packed like crazy, a small, small club..

What was it called, do you remember?

Uh, Studio One.

Studio One, okay. There was also a Studio One in LA that I hear about too... So they gave you free reign?

It was great there, because I was able to play such a vast range of music.

So you mixed everything in there.

No, not mixed! Unmixed! I loved it because I was not able to mix.

You were not able to?

I didn't mix! In-and-out. Fade in-fade out! I think that mixing is overrated... I believe in music! Mixing is an extra.. But you don't need to mix together to play good music. David Mancuso proved it. He's still doing it!

I agree, and I've never heard him play, but selection always trumps mixing.

Yeah, very important, the selection and as long as you have it, good!

Because sometimes I'll hear a perfectly mixed set and it's all a bit monotonous.

It's boring!

Going back to your longevity, what would you attribute it to? Being around music for so long, what keeps it exciting for you?

I think that music keeps me young! Music excites me. There's not a lot of things in life that excite me, music does!

And I guess that curiosity that you're talking about.

It's still there. It never went away and I don't think it's gonna go away, that's what made me.

And you're still editing yourself now.

Yeah, I'm doing some new stuff also. I'm restarting everything again.

So the re-edits have really re-energized you creatively, not just in disco, but more broadly?

What really rejuvenated me was, it has to do with Lil' Dave [Montreal DJ Dave "Lil' Dave" Godin]. A lot! Because he came at a time when I was going down and he was up. And he pushed me and he made me realize that a lot of people knew about me, a lot of people that were worth knowing! He introduced me to all these people and that gave me a big fucking boost! Sorry about the 'fucking' part, but that's what it was! Because I thought I was alone, and that put me in contact with people that went through the same thing I went through, that they are going through at the same time as me, now too. And they heard about me and are aware of what I did, so that was great for me! Because I thought I was alone and completely forgotten.

Alone, how?

Alone, like... what I did, I did, and that only me and a few people remembered.

Like you were something of the past.

Yeah, and those guys were freaking out that I was there, and they treated me like I was an icon! I didn't expect that!

So, like you were saying, the ageism sometimes, that was part of that feeling alone?

I kind of doubted for a while, all of this, what I did and all that, but they made me realize that I did something great, something good, and they talked about it and they knew about what I was doing and what I did... That was great!

And that was just in the last couple of years, really?

Yeah.

I guess, before I end it, talking about this past Pride, here in Toronto. I was really impressed by what I heard from you and the crowd, you know. I was wondering how many people would be interested, like myself. I grew up thinking, I enjoy disco, but I wasn't sure how many other people around me would, you know. So to see all those people really into everything was great!

Yeah, I was very happy with that! I had a lot of fun that night! I had a nice compliment from the sound man, he said he never danced to disco, he said I made him dance all night!

And that's really the ultimate compliment, making somebody dance, that never danced! Well, I think on that note, we'll end it here for now.. Thank you very much for being open to this!

No problem!

To keep up with Robert Ouimet, his web radio shows and his latest edits, follow him on Soundcloud.


PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
disco delivery mix #1: disco pride (saturday june 29, 2013)
funkytown, montreal (wednesday october 21, 2009)
sunshine on my mind... (sunday january 7, 2007)
disco delivery #9: karen silver - hold on i'm comin' (1979, quality/arista) (friday march 3, 2006)

LINKS:
soundcloud: robert ouimet
discogs: robert ouimet
discomusic.com forums: montreal clubs
deep house page forums: canada's disco scene?
deep house page forums: a little canadian disco history
cashbox canada: godfather of canadian dj's robert ouimet (interview) (by michael e. williams) (february 7, 2013)
montreal gazette: disco flashback: funkytown resurrects memories of montreal in the 1970s (by andy riga) (february 7, 2011)
montreal gazette: legendary dj robert ouimet on disco's heyday, spins "pure disco" one-night-only at mtl club (by richard burnett) (october 6, 2012)
discomusic.com: clubs - limelight (1254 stanley street, montreal, canada)
limelight montreal
paj disco mix
discogs: paj
million dollar disco: paj disco mix

CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERY INTERVIEWS, CAN-CON DISCO

Disco Delivery Mix #1: Disco Pride

A little overwhelmed by all the things happening on Pride/Canada Day long weekend here in Toronto, and I'm still keeping my schedule pretty light, all things considered. Tonight, to quote Fab - "the biggest disco queen of the 21st Century," Hard Ton is performing at the Hotnuts party, which judging from the videos, promises to be all kinds of mindfucking awesome insanity that I'm not even sure I'm going to be ready for. Also, the people at the 519 Community Centre, in their Green Space right in the heart of the gay village are reserving Sunday (same day as the parade) for their first Disco Disco event, bringing in legendary Montreal Disco DJ, Robert Ouimet who was perhaps the most influential disco DJ in Canada back in the day. For a little background, there's a great interview with the man in Cashbox Canada (yes, evidently they still exist!). Along with local DJ boys A Digital Needle and Phil V (even if you don't know him by name, you've probably seen him dancing), Canadian disco diva Patsy Gallant will be topping things off with a special performance in the evening. So glad Monday's a holiday..

With all the pride week stuff happening; in the last few days or so I got the inkling to put together a Pride-themed mix. Honestly, I've never recorded a mix before, and while I have Traktor (which I've barely used), I unfortunately still don't have the DJ controller to go with it yet, so apologies for the lack of actual mixing involved. As well, being new to things, these are mostly full songs too, so it's a bit of a doozy. Hope those of you who do listen will find the selections interesting, anyway.

Disco Pride Mix by Disco Delivery on Mixcloud

Given the pride theme, most selections have been chosen for both obvious and not so obvious gay themes/references and general relevance (and occasional campiness). Some are well-worn gay disco staples (hat-tip to Rev. Carl), others are not. Either way, happy listening and happy pride!

CATEGORIES: DISCO DELIVERY MIXES

Funkytown, Montreal

CBC Radio 2 - Inside The Music: Funkytown - The Montreal Disco Era

I'm quite a few months late with this, but came across this several months back while poking around on the CBC Radio 2 site one night. Originally aired in January of this year, Radio 2's "Inside The Music," hosted by Patti Schmidt aired this 53 minute documentary, entitled "Funkytown: The Montreal Disco Era" on the history of Montreal's disco scene. The backstory is explained on the Radio 2 blog:

In 1977, radio producer Colin MacKenzie (who has worked with The Signal) moved to the suburbs of Montreal and watched disco explode from a distance. Sometimes he joined in while circling a roller-rink, despite the fact that Led Zeppelin was scribbled across the back of his jean jacket. He had to admit it, he thought Earth Wind and Fire had some great moves -- and some great threads. (Editorial Aside: How come no one has resurrected that phrase? Great threads indeed.)

Recently MacKenzie moved back to Montreal and noticed that a lot of disco-era players were still alive and living in the city, either making music or involved in the entertainment business. He decided he needed to find out why Montreal had been such a major player in the world of Disco....

...By 1979 Hollywood stars, New York glitterati, politicians, royalty and the jet set were all beating a path to Montreal’s legendary disco clubs to dance the night away. What happened? Suddenly Montreal had platinum status admission to the VIP lounge of coolest of the cool disco cities right alongside Paris, New York, Berlin and LA. For a brief moment in time, the remnants of a cultural revolution, new wealth, and corruption were joined by sex and drugs and the pounding beats of disco for never ending nights let loose on Montreal’s dance floors.

While not without it's omissions, so far, this documentary is one of the few comprehensive, contemporary accounts of Montreal's disco scene that I've found (at least in English). One of the most notable (albeit perhaps arguable) facts highlighted in the documentary, which doesn't seem quite as well-recognized today, is how Billboard had once called Montreal the second most influential disco market in the world, right next to New York, of course.

While the history of disco in New York, and it's social context within American society, post-Vietnam, amid the undercurrent of decline in New York City itself have been well analyzed and documented, the unique circumstances that made Montreal a disco hot spot seem largely unexamined, by comparison. While there were similarities like the pioneering influence of the gay community; the rise of the Quebec nationalist movement and The Quiet Revolution, the city's linguistic/cultural duality - being geographically North American, yet culturally situated between Anglo-America and Europe are notable, albeit distinct parallels to the influences around New York's disco experience.

The rise of Montreal's disco scene is documented here by a series of interviews with writer William Weintraub, Montreal DJ Robert Ouimet, dance historian Michel Landry and industry players Michael and Dominique Zgarka, who discuss Montreal's place in breaking European disco records in the American market. Performers Pierre Perpall and Patsy Gallant are also given time here, with Gallant addressing the controversy around her biggest hit, "From New York To L.A.," a questionable adaptation of Gilles Vigneault's Quebecois anthem, "Mon Pays."

A valiant, albeit still incomplete examination of Montreal's disco history, it seems unfortunate (interviews and inspired subject matter aside) that there wasn't time to devote more attention to the other notable acts, records and producers that came out of Montreal at the time. A look at Montreal's disco history cannot be complete without any mention of Gino Soccio, Denis and Denyse LePage of Lime, the Unidisc label and the prominence of Montreal's Italian-Canadian community in the disco scene. I guess time limits and the need to present this for a general English Canadian audience were all limitations that needed to be considered here, however I suppose (or, rather hope) it's all potential material for a Part Two, if anyone at the CBC is willing.

PREVIOUS RELATED ENTRIES:
HELPING MYSELF (WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2009)
BBC RADIO 2: CLASSIC SINGLES - I FEEL LOVE (SUNDAY DECEMBER 30, 2007)
DISCO DELIVERY #46: GUY LAFLEUR - LAFLEUR! (1979. UNIDISC SPORTS) (SATURDAY OCTOBER 27. 2007)
KEEP IT COMING.. (WEDNESDAY JULY 4, 2007)
A MOMENT OR TWO.. (TUESDAY MAY 8, 2007)
DISCO DELIVERY #35: MONTREAL FEATURING UCHENNA IKEJIANI (1979, SALSOUL) (WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2007)
SUNSHINE ON MY MIND... (SUNDAY JANUARY 7, 2007)
BBC RADIO 2 - THE RECORD PRODUCERS: NILE RODGERS (SATURDAY JANUARY 6, 2007)

LINKS:
CBC RADIO 2 BLOG: MONTREAL'S DAYS OF DISCO (BY LI ROBBINS) (JANUARY 8, 2009)
CBC RADIO 2: INSIDE THE MUSIC
CBC RADIO 2: INSIDE THE MUSIC AUDIO ARCHIVES
DISCOGS: ROBERT OUIMET
WILLIAM WEINTRAUB - OFFICIAL SITE
THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA - DISCO

CATEGORIES: CAN-CON DISCO, INTERVIEWS

Sunshine on my mind...

Aura - L.A. Sunshine (1978, Change/MCA)

I picked up this 12" recently, but I have to admit, when I first listened to it at the used record shop, my first thought was "what...the... fuck.. is THIS!?" Deciding that my selective previewing wasn't piecing anything together on this song, I started over and dropped the needle right at the beginning. After giving it a good listening to, it didn't take me too long to get seduced.

This single has to be one of the most intriguing, and certainly interesting disco tracks I've come across so far. Anchored by that understated, percolating percussion and bass; those dreamy strings and of course that absolutely insane vocal. For me, the vocals are notable, not just because of their delivery, but because the way it seems to have been recorded, sounding slightly canned and processed but most likely without actually being so. It's like one of those records that, on paper, shouldn't work (kind of like Loose Joints' "Is It All Over My Face"), but somehow comes together into something that, while a little off-beat, is completely and oddly captivating. Perhaps the most sublime moment comes right after that verse where she goes "I'll be back soon." Believe me, it's not as plain as it sounds when you actually hear it; just when you think those vocals couldn't climb any higher, they end up soaring right above your head, completely beyond what one would expect. An eccentric, spaced out, mellow disco adaptation of the whole "California Dreaming" theme; it comes across like a kind of love letter to L.A. in the midst of a cold, dreary winter. If you look at it that way, it's probably no wonder this record came from Canada.

Not much seems to be known about Aura, the artist, or the main producer Jeff Smith, aside from one page which mentions Aura as one of "Canada's top jazz vocalists" of the time. The writer, Jim Mancel appears to have had a brief career as an artist in his own right, releasing a few singles, perhaps the most notable being "Just Be Yourself" and "Terry's Theme." However, a search on Robert Ouimet, the co-producer and the man behind the disco mix, yields the most fruitful results. Ouimet apears to have been one of the big players in the Canadian disco scene at the time. According to the liner notes of the "Disco Box" (1999, Rhino) compilation, Ouimet was the resident DJ at Montreal's Limelight discotheque from 1972-1980 and someone who, according to his bio, helped break many disco records in Canada. In addition he was an A&R man for RFC Records in the US as well as an occasional producer for the likes of Karen Silver, Mighty Pope and Francine McGee (of the cult disco classic, "Delirium") among others. Ouimet would be active in the music business well into the 1990's and is actually still around DJing today.

Perhaps I haven't come across enough information yet, but it seems like the disco scene in Montreal remains rather overlooked and underrepresented these days. Especially when compared to that of New York which has been well documented and rightfully so. Being that it was the home of some of the biggest, most influential nightclubs and disco indie labels, it is well justified. However, Montreal having been rated by Billboard once as the second most important disco market in North America has to count for something. It's unique cultural context, as well as it's contributions and innovations surely seem deserving of some kind of solid, cohesive documentation at some point in the future. To quote Ouimet, himself: "We have a half-American, half-European feel to this city, so I could play the European imports, like Silvetti's 'Spring Rain,' a year-and-a-half before Salsoul picked it up in America. Everything came together in Montreal at the right time. People were hungry for the new music. They wanted stuff they were used to, but they also wanted something else--just like me."

Anyway, when I got this record, I thought I had come across a genuine cheap, one of a kind rare find, and I still feel like I have. However, a quick internet search reveals that Joey Negro and Sean P. seem to have got to it first. This track is available on CD on their first "Soul of Disco" (2005, Z Records) compilation, which I don't have yet, but probably should.

LINKS:
AURA - L.A. SUNSHINE 12'' @ DISCOGS
DISCOGS - ROBERT OUIMET
DISCOGS - ROB OUIMET (SEPARATE LISTING)
DEEPSOUND PROMOTIONS - ROBERT OUIMET
RHINO RECORDS - THE DISCO BOX LINERS
DJ HISTORY FORUMS: MONTREAL'S DISCO HERITAGE
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA - DISCO

PURCHASE:
JOEY NEGRO & SEAN P. - THE SOUL OF DISCO (2 CD - INCLUDES "L.A. SUNSHINE")
CDUNIVERSE.COM | AMAZON.COM | AMAZON.CO.UK

CATEGORIES: MINI DELIVERIES, CAN-CON DISCO