"Remember" The Party

During the disco era in the 70s and 80s, San Francisco developed its own style of dance music. The sound was intense, energetic, electronic but warm, with soulful roots and gospel overtones. Artists such as Sylvester, Patrick Cowley, Paul Parker, as well as Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes, known as "Two Tons O' Fun" who became "The Weather Girls," were part of the creative energy that helped set the stage for a dance music scene that evolved into a worldwide phenomenon.

The boys behind, "Remember" The Party decided to bring it all back and created an event to celebrate the spirit of the Trocadero's heyday. It had just begun to fade when I first started going out to dance clubs, but I remember the platters of fresh fruit and snacks, the focus on the music with the lights and decorations coordinated into the night's overall theme. House clubs continued these disco traditions, but as House became Acid House then Techno and beyond, these traditions faded. I was so excited to see other people hadn't forgotten them. Back in the day, gay bars couldn't get liquor licenses so the bars served water and juice and catered the food as a way to thank their patrons for their support... plus, most of the queens were on drugs and the vitamin rush of some orange slices meant they could continue dancing through the night as their drugs wore off...

I saw many familiar faces in the crowd. I was a little sad to see that I was probably the youngest person there for about the first four hours or so but it felt so exhilaratingly to hear "new" music that was well produced, soulful, joyous and so exuberant. Over the course of the event, I could probably only name-check about 12 songs. I recognized about five others as source material for familiar House tracks, like Armand Van Helden's "You Don't Know Me.' Armand took the four bar melody for his song from an original disco song with a female vocal that Jerry played all the way through. (Since posting this page, I've been told it is "Dance With You" by Carrie Lucas)

In Remembrance of The Authentic

Old Skool in the Original Style
I thought it was an old Chicago House Style or even House's original blueprint, but like much of the House Music Tradition, they borrowed it from Disco. The style I refer to is the authentic club style of DJ mixing: playing two or three instrumental tracks for every one song. Nowadays, most DJs either play all vocals OR all instrumentals, few play both, and even fewer play both together in the same set. That's the way the genres have become so solidified these days. It was awesome to hear a vocal and then have the space and time to reflect on what the song was about and let the words sink in, just a little bit more... all the while dancing, smiling, enjoying being with other happy people just feeling the vibe.

This time it's the music
The last time I experienced these emotions in a dancing/clubbers context was back in my rave days... only then, the shocking revelation was for most people, it was just the drugs... but for me, the music was my drug and while people pretended they were there for the music - judging by results, they were there for the auxiliary things like friends, fashion, drugs, dancing or dating... There's nothing wrong with having a night out for those reasons, my main complaint has to do with the hypocrisy that comes from obfuscation of intention. Having a wander around "Remember" the Party, I could tell that 99% of the crowd was totally sober and there for the music they remember. Sure, the first time round they were probably off their heads with pills and what not - I realize that quaaludes were legal back then - but the music was enough to get these guys out to a club on a Sunday night.

Highlights of the night
Some of the musical highlights for me included hearing "Love & Desire" and saying a little prayer for Billy Limbo. Through the late 1980s and into the very early 90s before he died, Billy produced clubs in LA. I went to most of them from Limbo Lounge through to his biggest his, Club 1970s. He played all the pop disco hits and we loved them. One night, after the club we had breakfast at the Rock N Roll Denny's on Sunset and he said he wished he could play more of the "real" disco but it cleared the dance floor because his crowd didn't know any of it. "Love & Desire" was about the popiest track of the evening and I'd like to believe that Billy's desire to see authentic disco flourish is becoming a reality.

Take Me To The Bridge
Back when I produced Carefree, we brought out Frankie Knuckles to DJ. After the sound check, a small group of us were hanging out with him. Nelson, my flatmate at the time, mentioned hearing Frankie play Vera's song, "Take Me To The Bridge" at Frankie's club, The Power Plant. I remembered hearing that song a lot at a club in LA called, Impact. Frankie just laughed and seemed amused that 'youngsters' like us would know such an obscure song... three hours later he played it at the club and my voice went hoarse from screaming. That was back in 1991 and I haven't heard the song played in a nightclub until Jerry played it at "Remember" The Party.

Star Loving Jerry
The pinnacle of the party for me was hearing Jerry play, "Star Love" by Cheryl Lynn. It has got to be one of my all-time-favourites from the Disco era. Some of you may know it as the b-side to Cheryl's big hit, "Got To Be Real". (Interesting Trivia: VH1's 100 1-Hit Wonders reports that Cheryl was discovered on the Gong Show) I used to beg Billy to flip that record over and play "Star Love" as invariably he would play the a-side first. Sometimes he would indulge me. Perhaps its because I came of age at the same time as video games, but the sound effects sound awesome on a giant system. V-ness and Coleman call it "space disco" and I remember Jerry used to play sets of it back at Pleasuredome in the early 90s. He peppered some of the tracks throughout the night, never slipping into one sub-genre for too long. He also touched on the Hi-NRG material most of which became popularized from Patrick Cowley and the I-Beam in the Upper Haight. Jerry played, "Chase" by Giorgio Moroder, I think it won an Oscar because it was the title song to the Hollywood movie, "Midnight Express". It also represented the most mainstream Hi-NRG track that most people can easily recognize with its bass line couplets repeating, driving the song forward. It's a hallmark of the sub-genre and I could recognize the style but it all sounded so new and fresh.

See the full playlist for Jerry's entire site.

Looking forward while looking back
It was so great to expand my musical knowledge a little, stretch some aural boundaries, get a good groove on and just have FUN in a nightclub with people that were there to enjoy the music and themselves. I hope that by looking back at a cherished era, this event brings a whole new generation of clubbers up to speed on how a great night out should be.