jonny mathis /begin the beguine 12" single

[dj phillip esparza]

just wondered what the reaction was in 1979.disco was already dying and johnny trying to do what cher,peter allen diana ross by reinventing their style with disco.i'm sure it didn't go over very well then.but i absolutly love it.i bought all his albums from 1975-1980 four in total.the best album of all is "the best days of my life".i'm flying to las vegas from orlando,fl to catch him at the las vegas hilton this friday night.what do you guys think?

[markydefad]

It's CLASSIC as is the flip side "Gone, Gone, Gone"; neither cracked the Billboard Top 100 although it is mentioned in the new-releases column as having been released....bad timing to blame, I guess. If released in 1978--maybe he woulda got more play.....it's that production....just sweeps ya up in the disco swirl--sadly this was about the end of that.

Trocadero always played "Gone, Gone, Gone"--it was a Viteritti fave.....

[dj phillip esparza]

wow that was a super fast responce markey,thank you.your absolutly correct.gone,gone,gone was remixed by john luongo and engineered by michael barbriero(love it).begin was mixed by steve thompson michael bariero also.and you say bobby v. played it only cements that i have decent taste.i also want elliot yamin to win on american idol.or did i go to far with that?

[markydefad]

John Luongo/ Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero--THE BEST REMIXERS!!!

Always loved their stuff--just superb instincts about what makes you wanna dance............ wonder what they're doing now?

I think Thompson became a producer of rock stuff--if it's the same Thompson....

the dance world could use their talents today................

Let Elliott win--Seth Green (aka your "drug dealer") is the American Idol; I'm cool with that!!!!

[dj phillip esparza]

i agree.about seth green.i was never a fan when it came to party monster.but love that he is the voice of chris on family guy.p.s. doesn't stewie remind you of a very young higgins from magnum p.i.?hummmmmm

[Disco Funk]

Seeing Johnny's name attached to a disco song would have made me steer clear of it, because of all the corny disco tunes that crooners and non-disco artists were flooding the market with post- Saturday Night Fever. But I just heard this song recently and its pure class!!! I can't believe I never checked this out before. It sounds like it uses the West Coast musicians that played on a number of the Motown cuts, to name a few. It's not James Gadson on drums, though. Probably Ollie Brown. Here's Gone Gone Gone: Disco Funk

[STEPHEN L FREEMAN]

"Begin The Beguine / Gone, Gone, Gone" was produced for Mathis' own label, Jon-Mat Records. It was a cult classic, partly because it was impossible to find. (If you claimed to be an after-hours DJ, you'd better have this and the Marlena Shaw promo 12", or your crowd would feel cheated!) The 12" wasn't commercially released in the US, until the Columbia Mixed Masters Series. And when they did release it, they put "Simple" (1983?) on the Flip side. (But... I must argue that "Simple" is a beautiful song as well!)

I had the original promo with "Gone, Gone, Gone", but it was stolen.
My replacement copy, a 1979 pressing from Holland, has "Gone, Gone, Gone" and much higher sound quality.

[Disco Funk]

How about the LP that the songs came from? Is it worth checking out, or are the rest of the songs bland MOR ballads?

Here's the AMG listing, showing the album cover.

Best Days Of My Life

Wow...based on that album cover, he sure doesn't look like he's in the 'best days of [his] life' :D

Disco Funk

[markydefad]

As I recall, the rest of the LP is MOR -ballads and the short versions of the two dance tracks do not do them justice. You must get the 12-inch. It eluded me for a long time...but I've come across a couple copies in the past few years. And I'm hanging on to 'em.

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN L FREEMAN

But... I must argue that "Simple" is a beautiful song as well!)

Yes 'Simple' is lovely; I've got it on an old compilation tape. What LP was that from & who produced it Stephen?

[tmob]

Originally Posted by SandraDee

Yes 'Simple' is lovely; I've got it on an old compilation tape. What LP was that from & who produced it Stephen?

In total agreement with you guys on "Simple." I'm not Stephen, but I can answer your questions: it's from the LP "A Special Part of Me," and it was produced by Denny Diante for Jon Mat Records. The 12" was mixed by David Todd and Nick Martinelli.

[disco-disc]

GONE, GONE, GONE for me is also pure class....it was also done very well on the we love disco cd...

[Cdnbob]

Originally Posted by STEPHEN L FREEMAN

"Begin The Beguine / Gone, Gone, Gone" was produced for Mathis' own label, Jon-Mat Records. It was a cult classic, partly because it was impossible to find. (If you claimed to be an after-hours DJ, you'd better have this and the Marlena Shaw promo 12", or your crowd would feel cheated!) The 12" wasn't commercially released in the US, until the Columbia Mixed Masters Series. And when they did release it, they put "Simple" (1983?) on the Flip side. (But... I must argue that "Simple" is a beautiful song as well!)

If memory serves me correct, the 12 inch of "BTB" was released in Canada only.

[JussiK]

When I got back from New York during the summer of 1979 everybody asked what's the best record you bought. I whipped out Begin The Beguine. They asked did all the clubs play that? I said no, I never heard it anywhere, I just picked it up in a store because of the title. - So, I got my 12" from New York, a regular store, and there's no mention of the record being a promo.

www.jussikantonen.com

[the disco kid]

Originally Posted by JussiK

When I got back from New York during the summer of 1979 everybody asked what's the best record you bought. I whipped out Begin The Beguine. They asked did all the clubs play that? I said no, I never heard it anywhere, I just picked it up in a store because of the title. - So, I got my 12" from New York, a regular store, and there's no mention of the record being a promo.

www.jussikantonen.com

Yep, I bought my red label Columbia 12" of "begin the beguine" b/w ""gone, gone, gone" at my local record store BITD as well, it's a U.S.A. commercial release, I later found white label promo copies as well, but this was a commercially released 12". I absolutely love both sides of this 12", pure class!