By the time this song came out, my 12” budget was already going to hip hop. But I always liked it, that relaxed groove and relatable themes made it feel like an old friend on first listen. Magloire later went on to sing in a version of Technotronic, co-writing and singing on songs like Move That Body from their second album. Great post!
Throughout the night DJing at Limelight NYC 85. I slipped in the clave vox only extended version after the 109 Mix / Renegades of Funk and the crowd bought it hook, line and sinker. Nobody ushered me out of the booth which was the custom then when the late night DJ showed up whenever they felt like it. Extended mixes are a thing of the past unless you include hot models putting their hands in the air to faceless non-music (LCD excepted) while the ravers revel in not quite dancing but pointing at the tables in a weird salute to the button pushers and their beat rot.
What a great In-deep dive into the last great disco song. My memory goes back to early 83 when I worked records at Buddah right before the end of the storied label. Freda Payne had a almost hit In Motion and DJ was there too. On the phones I went until someone said stop promoting DJ it's a novelty record and go heavy on Freda. Well the last almost 50 years have told the story. The 80s were the big clubbing nights turning into days. When the crowd moved you felt it. I DJ'd for free when I put on fashion shows and avant-garde performance pieces for my label 109. Read about where I got some of my private stock, "My Year at Island 🏝 83" in my stack.
Q: Why was Buddah promoting S.O.N.Y. in 83? Do you know?
I have a tape of that night's set if you ever want that particular clave uh uh baby... mix digitized. It's got heavy breathing down to a science. There ain't a problem I can't fix I can do it in the mix cause if your man gives you trouble I can be there on the double...
Love your reactions, Steve, they really draw me even deeper into the subject I write about. I’ve never tried pairing Renegades of Funk with Last Night a DJ Saved My Life before. I usually leaned toward blending it with early mid-tempo synth-funk (like what’s in this week’s mixtape) or some mid-tempo Italo, which was starting to catch on around that time. The record holds up either way, a testament to how great it really was.
As for your question: S.O.N.Y. was tied to Sutra, (one of its sub-labels), which in turn was connected to Buddah. Buddah played such a huge role in the evolution of dance music.
Thanks again for reading and sharing your thoughts, Steve. Have a great Sunday!
It's all in the claves! The guitar groove probably would've been mismatched. The 109 Mix was a home brew private stock a friend did for me with 808-percussion highlights flowed so easily into Renegades... of the atomic age... hand claps... I began my nights with 109.... 101010 109 like Martians promoting my store. Thanks for the Kama Sutra reference so I could verify that memory, it seemed almost too cool that I had a record someone senior said, "Don't bother promoting." and knew they were dead wrong.
Great pick for this week's newsletter. As I myself was a club DJ from the mid 70's until the late 90's this track was since its release more or less always a part of the set. It's one of those rare "anthems" that really made an instant impression once you heard it for the first time!
About cheeky lyrics, here in Sweden we sang "Last Night A DJ Shaved My Wife"...😎
...and talking about great covers, did you catch the Swedish music collective Blacknuss? Their version is a bit funkier with cool brass on top:
Haha, yes… “Last Night a DJ Shaved My Wife” was one of the other versions we used to sing back then too! So funny how lyric swapping seems to be a universal thing 😄. I wasn’t familiar with the Blackness version, but I just gave it a listen, another great cover, Morten! And even better, I saw on Discogs that it was remixed by one of my favorite remixers from the late ’90s: Victor Calderone. Straight onto my wishlist it went, thanks for the tip!
As for Zulema, diving into her work feels like a real adventure. I honestly don’t know much about her, but there’s one incredible disco track of hers that’s in my all-time top 10, and it’s pretty underrated. That song definitely deserves its own episode, and I’m working on a mixtape around it.
Thanks again for reading and sharing your thoughts, Morten. Wishing you a fantastic weekend!
That's the 4-track CD Maxi-single I've got, including Calderone's quite different uptempo club mix 👍
Re. Zulema, same here, don't know much about her, and I believe her solo career was relatively short, but for me one of her tracks stands out: "Wanna Be Where You Are"! Not so much disco, and I guess not the track you have in mind, so - looking forward to next week😎
Calderone’s remixes always take a distinct turn from the originals, which is exactly why I love his work. I can’t help but wonder about the story behind a Swedish band getting remixed by a Latino DJ from NYC 😁. It’s a bit outside the scope of my newsletter, otherwise it would’ve definitely made the longlist.
This was excellent as usual Pe! I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since you posted the correct answer to this week’s Lost in Translation on Monday. What a wonderful coincidence that I happened to pick that track this week!
I really enjoyed the background around beatmixing as it hadn’t occurred to me the technical challenges faced by early DJs.
I loved this entire album when I was a kid, couldn’t get enough of it. Last week when I settled on this track for LiT I must’ve played the album in its entirety half a dozen times. Funny how an album that came out when I was eleven years old can still have such a hold on me!
Great minds… 😃 I agree, it really is such a coincidence, especially since I work with a well-defined shortlist planned well in advance to keep the research on track. That’s actually why I found the solution so quickly 😃.
Music can create such powerful connections to specific moments in life. Next week, I’ll be writing about a relatively unknown song that holds a similar personal meaning for me.
Anyway, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Mark. Wishing you a great weekend!
Another New York based "flexible record" of the time was The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight which if I remember correctly had separate accapella and drum tracks on the 12 inch. Perhaps there's a story behind that one to be told? I didn't know anything about beat mixing back then but the metronomic rhythm of the drum machine cut through even on radio and transformed the sound of club records in the early 80s as rock and dance music collided. A particularly exciting time to be an open minded record buyer.
I completely agree, Paul, the ’80s were such a rich time for cross-pollination between genres. That’s part of what makes exploring and writing about that era so fascinating. The Dominatrix track is actually on my long list, so I’ll definitely be covering it in a future episode.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Paul. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
This was fantastic, Pe. I really enjoyed reading about the song and also, as a vinyl geek myself, all the tech info regarding that Technics from the 80s. Crucially, how the pitch control (something I'd take for granted as it's incorporated in most high-end turntables these days) completely changed the game in terms of what was possible in the decks (and therefore, on the dance floor).
Mariah's cover will forever be iconic, and it's true it brought the song to a younger audience like me who would otherwise perhaps never have heard it.
I was surprised by how many covers this song has had over the years, its appeal has clearly been even stronger than I realized. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with Mariah’s version; Glitter is one of her albums I know the least. But it’s fabulous, and I adore the video. Thanks for reading, sharing, and reacting, Andy. Enjoy your weekend!
Just gave it a listen, what a wonderful track. I’m not too familiar with her more recent work, but I’ve made a mental note to explore it further. Thanks for sharing, Andy!
By the time this song came out, my 12” budget was already going to hip hop. But I always liked it, that relaxed groove and relatable themes made it feel like an old friend on first listen. Magloire later went on to sing in a version of Technotronic, co-writing and singing on songs like Move That Body from their second album. Great post!
Thanks, Jeremy! Magloire will be back soon (no spoilers, right? 😁😁). Appreciate you reading and sharing your thoughts. Wishing you a great Sunday!
Throughout the night DJing at Limelight NYC 85. I slipped in the clave vox only extended version after the 109 Mix / Renegades of Funk and the crowd bought it hook, line and sinker. Nobody ushered me out of the booth which was the custom then when the late night DJ showed up whenever they felt like it. Extended mixes are a thing of the past unless you include hot models putting their hands in the air to faceless non-music (LCD excepted) while the ravers revel in not quite dancing but pointing at the tables in a weird salute to the button pushers and their beat rot.
What a great In-deep dive into the last great disco song. My memory goes back to early 83 when I worked records at Buddah right before the end of the storied label. Freda Payne had a almost hit In Motion and DJ was there too. On the phones I went until someone said stop promoting DJ it's a novelty record and go heavy on Freda. Well the last almost 50 years have told the story. The 80s were the big clubbing nights turning into days. When the crowd moved you felt it. I DJ'd for free when I put on fashion shows and avant-garde performance pieces for my label 109. Read about where I got some of my private stock, "My Year at Island 🏝 83" in my stack.
Q: Why was Buddah promoting S.O.N.Y. in 83? Do you know?
I have a tape of that night's set if you ever want that particular clave uh uh baby... mix digitized. It's got heavy breathing down to a science. There ain't a problem I can't fix I can do it in the mix cause if your man gives you trouble I can be there on the double...
Somebody stop me!
Love your reactions, Steve, they really draw me even deeper into the subject I write about. I’ve never tried pairing Renegades of Funk with Last Night a DJ Saved My Life before. I usually leaned toward blending it with early mid-tempo synth-funk (like what’s in this week’s mixtape) or some mid-tempo Italo, which was starting to catch on around that time. The record holds up either way, a testament to how great it really was.
As for your question: S.O.N.Y. was tied to Sutra, (one of its sub-labels), which in turn was connected to Buddah. Buddah played such a huge role in the evolution of dance music.
Thanks again for reading and sharing your thoughts, Steve. Have a great Sunday!
It's all in the claves! The guitar groove probably would've been mismatched. The 109 Mix was a home brew private stock a friend did for me with 808-percussion highlights flowed so easily into Renegades... of the atomic age... hand claps... I began my nights with 109.... 101010 109 like Martians promoting my store. Thanks for the Kama Sutra reference so I could verify that memory, it seemed almost too cool that I had a record someone senior said, "Don't bother promoting." and knew they were dead wrong.
Hey Pe,
Great pick for this week's newsletter. As I myself was a club DJ from the mid 70's until the late 90's this track was since its release more or less always a part of the set. It's one of those rare "anthems" that really made an instant impression once you heard it for the first time!
About cheeky lyrics, here in Sweden we sang "Last Night A DJ Shaved My Wife"...😎
...and talking about great covers, did you catch the Swedish music collective Blacknuss? Their version is a bit funkier with cool brass on top:
https://youtu.be/Hpu45-LQjKI?si=S2Y-LUrQXhoGMk35
Looking forward to Zulema next week, I think I know 'where you are'...;)
Cheers!
Haha, yes… “Last Night a DJ Shaved My Wife” was one of the other versions we used to sing back then too! So funny how lyric swapping seems to be a universal thing 😄. I wasn’t familiar with the Blackness version, but I just gave it a listen, another great cover, Morten! And even better, I saw on Discogs that it was remixed by one of my favorite remixers from the late ’90s: Victor Calderone. Straight onto my wishlist it went, thanks for the tip!
As for Zulema, diving into her work feels like a real adventure. I honestly don’t know much about her, but there’s one incredible disco track of hers that’s in my all-time top 10, and it’s pretty underrated. That song definitely deserves its own episode, and I’m working on a mixtape around it.
Thanks again for reading and sharing your thoughts, Morten. Wishing you a fantastic weekend!
That's the 4-track CD Maxi-single I've got, including Calderone's quite different uptempo club mix 👍
Re. Zulema, same here, don't know much about her, and I believe her solo career was relatively short, but for me one of her tracks stands out: "Wanna Be Where You Are"! Not so much disco, and I guess not the track you have in mind, so - looking forward to next week😎
Likewise, have a great weekend!
Calderone’s remixes always take a distinct turn from the originals, which is exactly why I love his work. I can’t help but wonder about the story behind a Swedish band getting remixed by a Latino DJ from NYC 😁. It’s a bit outside the scope of my newsletter, otherwise it would’ve definitely made the longlist.
This was excellent as usual Pe! I’ve been looking forward to reading this ever since you posted the correct answer to this week’s Lost in Translation on Monday. What a wonderful coincidence that I happened to pick that track this week!
I really enjoyed the background around beatmixing as it hadn’t occurred to me the technical challenges faced by early DJs.
I loved this entire album when I was a kid, couldn’t get enough of it. Last week when I settled on this track for LiT I must’ve played the album in its entirety half a dozen times. Funny how an album that came out when I was eleven years old can still have such a hold on me!
Great minds… 😃 I agree, it really is such a coincidence, especially since I work with a well-defined shortlist planned well in advance to keep the research on track. That’s actually why I found the solution so quickly 😃.
Music can create such powerful connections to specific moments in life. Next week, I’ll be writing about a relatively unknown song that holds a similar personal meaning for me.
Anyway, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Mark. Wishing you a great weekend!
Another New York based "flexible record" of the time was The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight which if I remember correctly had separate accapella and drum tracks on the 12 inch. Perhaps there's a story behind that one to be told? I didn't know anything about beat mixing back then but the metronomic rhythm of the drum machine cut through even on radio and transformed the sound of club records in the early 80s as rock and dance music collided. A particularly exciting time to be an open minded record buyer.
I completely agree, Paul, the ’80s were such a rich time for cross-pollination between genres. That’s part of what makes exploring and writing about that era so fascinating. The Dominatrix track is actually on my long list, so I’ll definitely be covering it in a future episode.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Paul. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
This is another one I heard a lot in clubs in the 80s. Very much a song for a night out!
Totally agree, Dan. Thanks for reading and chiming in. Have a great weekend!
This was fantastic, Pe. I really enjoyed reading about the song and also, as a vinyl geek myself, all the tech info regarding that Technics from the 80s. Crucially, how the pitch control (something I'd take for granted as it's incorporated in most high-end turntables these days) completely changed the game in terms of what was possible in the decks (and therefore, on the dance floor).
Mariah's cover will forever be iconic, and it's true it brought the song to a younger audience like me who would otherwise perhaps never have heard it.
I was surprised by how many covers this song has had over the years, its appeal has clearly been even stronger than I realized. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with Mariah’s version; Glitter is one of her albums I know the least. But it’s fabulous, and I adore the video. Thanks for reading, sharing, and reacting, Andy. Enjoy your weekend!
Thank you, Pe! Absolutely: the song is a classic, and even non dance music connoisseurs like myself will have at least heard of it.
Glad you liked Mariah’s version! From her later work, another track you might enjoy (from 2014’s Me. I Am Mariah) is “Meteorite”.
Happy weekend!
Just gave it a listen, what a wonderful track. I’m not too familiar with her more recent work, but I’ve made a mental note to explore it further. Thanks for sharing, Andy!
Glad you enjoyed! If I think of another one you might like, I’ll let you know 😊