The shadow dancing project

Believe it or not, the first time I heard "Shadow dancing" by Andy Gibb was in "Southpark", when Mr. Garrison had plastic surgery and became... David Hasselhoff, walking proudly in the town's streets with this song in the background.

The minus in this tune (à mon avis of course) is that the part where it peaks, where the bass, the sax and the drums are intense and ready for eargasm, is really close to the end, fading out in the shorter version. That always blocked me from enjoying it as much as I'd like to - although I do find the inspiration of the Gibb brothers (Andy, Barry, Robin and Maurice) really groovy. And that's when the hunt of the/my perfect edit started.

Having searched and listened to most of the edits out there, I believe that the one that's closer to my ear pleasure is the edit made by the talented Spanish producer Tripmann. I love the intro, I find it more intense from the very beginning, it has all the vocals that I need and manages to still hold the part towards the end of the song that takes you off - plus, this part lasts longer. 

However, as much as I love the edits, I always (well, lets say 90% of times) pay the greatest respect to the original creator, to the one that put the melody together in his mind and on a piece of paper and made it music - Andy Gibb (who died at the age of 30 in 1988) and the Bee Gees in this case (with Barry Gibb being the only survivor).

Check out the original song here and the Tripmann's edit here with a free download.

tracks' info:
original track: Andy Gibb - Shadow dancing
RSO Records 1978

edit by Tripmann
CondeDuque Records 2012

The A.B. era

For me there's a B.B. and an A.B. era. The B.B. would be the Before Breakbot period in time, when if anyone would tell me "check out this set, half hour - 30 tracks", I would kindly excuse myself and start running to save me and my ears from a -without much doubt- lousy megamix.

The A.B. era began when I carefully listened to the Breakbot Sunday Selecta set on a Sunday morning - yeah, ironic, I know. Breakbot (Thibaud Berland) has so skillfully mixed 33 tracks in 33 minutes, that if I could describe the set with 3 words, they would be flow, flow and flow.

It's not only the mixing, of course, since Breakbot has given his magic touch to most of the tracks, but in general we have to admit it: this dude is wicked. Thank God (that is whoever put the tracklist together) the tracklist was right there, but don't expect to find the exact and whole original versions in the set - the tracks are "breakbotted".

Check out here for the tracklist and here for a free download.

Also, you might need to kiss your lazy Sunday goodbye. It ain't gonna be lazy after all, I promise you.

(personal favorite part of the set: when Kashif, Conway&Temple and Kwick "meet").

set info: Breakbot - Lazy Sunday Selecta - A mixtape for the sun

Car crash soundtrack

True story: I'm in my car, cruising through the highway. I'm getting this close to my destination (I would turn right and park the car in about 0.78 seconds) when... BANG! A dude from the left confuses his stop sign with street art or something, passes it by recklessly and smashes my beloved car.

At that very moment, I was listening to this awesome track - I know I know, this track could never have prepared me for a car accident.
What the hell was he listening to?

track info: aliOOFT - Mazin'
The house of disco recordings 2012

Back to his roots

Richie's s gone back.

His cover of Lamont Dozier's "Going back to my roots" has always been one of my top 10 favorite songs. Damn...

RIP

track info: 
Richie Havens - Going back to my roots
Elektra 1980 

Soul heaven or what?

This is what happens when the "Goodfellas" meet the "Bad Girls". Rob Hayes, which side are you on?

track info: 
Groove Kings - "Soul heaven" (Rob Hayes Disco Dub) 
Solar Sounds 2013

Disco will never be over

"Disco will never be over. It will always live in our minds and hearts. Something like this, that was this big, and this important and this great, will never die. Oh, for a few years – maybe many years – it'll be considered passé and ridiculous. It will be misrepresented and caricatured and sneered at, or worse, completely ignored. People will laugh about John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, white polyester suits and platform shoes and people going like this… But we had nothing to do with those things and still loved disco. Those who didn't understand will never understand: disco was much more and much better than all that. Disco was too great and too much fun to be gone for ever. It's got to come back someday. I just hope it will be in our own lifetimes"

Since it’s already well said, I won’t attempt to embellish.

from the film "The last days of disco" (1998) by Whit Stillman 
(can't say I loved the movie, but I surely enjoyed the ost)

track info: Toy Club - The disco is dead
Disco Galaxy Recordings 2002

Boogie no more

Richard Dorfmeister just couldn't stand still while listening to "Boogie oogie oogie" by A Taste of Honey, which was released back in the glorious 70s - 1978 to be precise. This is what he came up with and released in 2006 with the collaboration of Madrid de los Austrias (Michael Kreiner, Heinz Tronigger). "Boogie oogie oogie" was altered into "Boogie no more" and was loaded in my player for the whole summer of 2006. I don't know what it is - that absolute funky disco feeling, the vocals, the rhythm, the funky guitar, the bass...- but I loved this track from the very first day and can still smell summer when I press play to it. The Reverso 68 mix can also do the trick for those who don't care much for vocals. Thought it was a nice track to begin with.

track info: 
Dorfmeister vs. MDLA - Boogie No More 
Grand Slam
G-Stone Recordings 2006
http://www.discogs.com/Dorfmeister-vs-MDLA-Grand-Slam/release/1311062