Tag Archives: Giorgio Moroder

DJ Mixes, Music suggestions

Bon voyage, Monsieur Jones…

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To stream or download the mix, click here: D/L. It’s no longer on Mixcloud because of their policy against having more than X number of tracks by a single artist in a given mix.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Yes, it had to happen…

Was it a shock, despite all our anticipation?

Of course.

Because: denial.

David Bowie is dead.

Actually, I saw something online — a comic strip, I think — that read:

— “Did you hear Bowie’s dead?”
— “Bowie’s not dead; he just went home.”

I think that’s somewhat true. Not that I’m a particularly spiritual or superstitious person, but in David Jones’ case, one has to wonder if he ever really belonged among us, mere mortals.

And yet, he did. He passed from a very mortal disease, and we all have to face an uncomfortable truth: in the end, he was just as discombobulated by Life as the rest of us.

Still, between his first conscious memories and his last, he left us a legacy the world rarely sees.

I don’t want to fall into the superlatives trap, so I’ll skip the word “genius” and its siblings.

But a great artist he was. Musician. Writer. Composer. Producer. Actor. Et j’en passe… Oh! and what a singer.

Wait—

Inspiration.

That, right there, is his true legacy.

The number of people he inspired — in one way or another — is probably even more staggering than you (or you, or I) can fathom. And I don’t just mean artistically.

The world only births people of this magnitude and vision once in a great while, and we should all feel lucky we weren’t dead before he was born.

I’m lucky enough to have parents roughly Bowie’s age (a tad younger, really), which means I quite literally grew up with the man.

Obviously, it was only in my teens that I developed a true appreciation for his œuvre — one that deepened as I grew older and, hopefully, wiser. Or smarter.

Meh. Maybe not.

But certainly more equipped to understand his art.

And in that sense, I feel privileged. I was well-positioned to follow his every twist and turn. When, in the ’90s, he explored Drum n’ Bass or had his songs remixed by this or that producer, I was already immersed in those scenes. It didn’t feel foreign to me.

Bowie always had his ear to the underground — as all the best artists do. They know that’s where real innovation happens.

The Trickle-Down Theory doesn’t work in art. It’s a grassroots process.

Few, if any, artists disregarded conventions as defiantly as Bowie did.

You’ve probably read a hundred times this sad, sad week that he constantly reinvented himself. But I think it was more than that — it was a deep compulsion to explore creative wells he sensed were waiting. Calling. Demanding to be tapped or re-tapped.

Was he always successful?

Hell, no.

Not everything he released was stellar — far from it.

There are nearly as many misses as there are hits in his staggeringly rich catalogue.

But oh, the hits…

Hence this mix: these are some of my favourites. This tribute could’ve been three times as long and still wouldn’t scratch the surface.

What I wanted to do here was graze across the many facets of his intuition, his inspiration, his multitudes.

There are Bowie songs. Covers. Tracks he produced, played or sang on, or simply inspired. The common thread is their impact — and his — on my life as a music lover.

I hope you’ll enjoy taking this trip with me. And with Him.

Thank you.
And Him.

    1. Are You Sitting Comfortably? _ David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter And The Wolf _ 1978
    2. Black Star _ Elvis _ Flaming Star _ 1960 Read: Does a 1960s Elvis song hold the key to Bowie’s Blackstar, and 5 other theories behind his mysterious farewell
    3. Love Is Lost _ Hello Steve Reich Mix _ The Next Day Extra _ 2013
    4. Ashes To Ashes _ Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) _ 1979
    5. Reflektor _ Arcade Fire _ 2013 (Bowie on additional vocals)
    6. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) _ Blackstar _ 2016
    7. I’m Deranged _ Outside _ 1995
    8. Bring Me The Disco King _ Reality _ 2003
    9. Life On Mars? _ Barbra Streisand _ Butterfly _ 1974
    10. Cat People _ Soundtrack _ 1982
    11. 1984/Dodo Medley _ Recorded 1973, Released On Sound And Vision 1989
    12. Stay _ Station To Station _ 1975
    13. Walk On The Wild Side _ Transformer _ 1972 _ Acoustic Guitar and Produced by Bowie
    14. Changes _ Hunky Dory _ 1971
    15. It’s Gonna Be Me _ Young Americans _ Recorded 1975, Released 1991
    16. Abdulmajid _ “Heroes” _ Recorded In 78 Or 79, Released In 1991
    17. Seven (Beck Mix) _ Hours… _ 2000
    18. A Better Future (Remix By Air) _ Limited Edition Bonus Disc For Heathen _ 2002
    19. Blackstar _ Blackstar _ 2016
    20. It’s No Game _ Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) _ 1979
    21. Heroes _ “Heroes” _ 1977
    22. Ziggy Stardust _ Bauhaus _ Single _ 1982
    23. ‘Tis A Pity She Was A Whore _ Blackstar _ 2016
    24. The Dirty Song _ David Bowie In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal _ 1982
    25. The Man Who Sold The World _ Lulu _ Single _ Vocals and Produced by Bowie _ 1974
    26. DJ _ Lodger _ 1979
    27. Somebody Up There Likes You _ Simple Minds _ New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) _ 1982 _ Simple Minds’ band name comes from the lyrics of Jean Genie and this song is a nod To Somebody Up There Like Me from Young Americans (1975)
    28. This Is Not America _ The Falcon And The Snowman Soundtrack _ 1985
    29. Lazarus _ Blackstar _ 2016
    30. Space Oddity _ Demo Version _ 1969
    31. Sense Of Doubt / Moss Garden / Neuköln _ “Heroes” _ 1977

D/L

Music suggestions

Monsieur Seb’s Daily Music Suggestion: Where Is He Today?

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gsoccio

…Gino Soccio! Mister Soccio, if ever you read this, please contact me, I’d love to talk with the purpose of writing an interview or simply to chew the fat on the state of the industry, I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on that. Thank you!

The man composed some of the biggest classics of early electronic music and has been an influence on countless musicians, even Giorgio Moroder copied him!

But first and foremost, he was a visionnary (and a Montrealer!).

Just listen to these and read what follows.

War Dance (1977, under the name Kebekelektrik)
War Dance

The Visitors (Instrumental version) (1978)
The Visitors (Instrumental version)

Dancer (1979) – classic moments, oft-sampled at -3:15, pay attention!
Dancer

Breaking Artifical Barriers

by Gino Soccio

With the practical elimination of the word “disco” from the industry’s vocabulary, and the new-found recognition of dance music, new artists are being introduced to new audiences. Once specialty chart toppers such as the Dazz Band and the Gap Band are now seen at the top of pop, dance and black charts.

We are beginning to see new wave acts like Human League, Haircut 100 and Soft Cell achieve dance as well as pop recognition. And bands formerly pegged as “punk”, like the Clash, Gang Of Four and Bow Wow Wow, are scoring higher in dance circles than in pop chart numbers.

All this indicates a breaking down of the useless barriers that kept artists from getting maximum exposure, pigeonholing them into unnecessary classifications of music. Thanks to the trend toward de-categorization, whole new areas of musical crossovers are now being developed.

When disco first took off, we were living in a fantasy world. People were treating the music like it was the new Beatles, about to revolutionize a sleepy industry. This led to a serious backlash; artists were labeled with a tag that became inflexible.

Early disco artists like Giorgio Moroder and I predicted the current trend of Euro-techno-pop dance songs, and as early as 1979 incorporated it into our music.

I watched the scene change in my hometown of Quebec, and throughout Europe, where deejays have generally been more liberal in mixing r&b with dance, techno-pop, punk and rock.

But DJs in the States were more conservative in their tastes, and it has taken them longer to open up to this style of crossover.

Today, it is no longer unusual for a good song to go top 10 in pop, dance and r&b simultaneously. However, this change did not take place overnight. It took a year of persistence to get Soft Cell off the ground. It is a change that has been evolving. One of the first fusion hits was “Pop Musik” by M.

Most of these rock acts did their homework by watching the club movement grow. Their techniques for the use of drums and synthesizers were developed on the dance floor. It was a sound rock artists knew little about before.

The new rock-dance clubs are an extension of the disco experience. The ideal situation would be to get both markets to agree, and to get the consumer of black music to buy rock music acts like the Bus Boys, Soft Cell and Human League. In urban markets, these acts broke on black radio stations.

If you can get a record that crosses over all the charts, you have a real seller. Just as punk, when it began, was a musical style thought too abrasive and attractive to a marginal audience, so disco had to undergo a fusion before it could grow. Combining its sounds with rock and r&b influences pleased a more varied audience.

Some artists, initially short-changed by pigeonholing, could win recognition today if they had a second chance. After all, it is the industry that is more likely to put a label on the music and artist than the consumer. He has his say by buying or not buying the record.

It’s about time radio began picking up on more dance-oriented music. By eliminating the misleading disco label, the way has been opened for a Rick James, Patrice Rushen or Change to chart across the boards.

The acceptance earned by the first few hits is an indication that the barriers are falling. But the process is still too filtered, too slow. There’s still a lot of good music that needs to be played. At least it’s a start.

(Billboard, September 18, 1982)

Notice that date. Some things change very slowly apparently! Much of what he wrote is still valid today, 27 years later.