Discussion on back with some stories (long post) within the Disco Music of the 70s and 80s forums, part of the General Music Discussions at DiscoMusic.com category; i am back finally after over two weeks of vacation....it was an overwhelming time that i do not regret taking....i ...
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#1
August 27th, 2002, 08:26 AM
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 i am back finally after over two weeks of vacation....it was an overwhelming time that i do not regret taking....i tell you, whenever you can, get out there and see other places because that is an experience you're going to take to your grave!!! Having said that, here is an overview of the trip: London: i arrive Friday, August 9 at 9.45 am GMT, but my body was still on 4.45 am and i could never fall asleep on a plane (this was a 10 hour trip)....so i was feeling jet-lagged and a bit nauseous....thankfully, the customs and the baggage process was relatively quick. first thing i do is buy a mini London A-Z book at one of the airport shops and get a bag of Quavers (had to try these distinctive British chips)...and then jump on the Gatwick Express to Victoria Station...once at Victoria Station, i stand there for a couple of minutes marveling at the place and then head upstairs...it was wierd seeing all the cars driving to the left but i quickly got adjusted....Flagged down one of the London taxis (it was one of the newer models) and was amazed at the cavernous backspace replete with jumpseats reminicent of the late Checker Marathon....Got into the hotel and got my luggage together. When i come down to the tour company office at the bottom of the hotel, i was shocked to hear that the tour did not actually start until Sunday when the tour leaves London in order to cross the ferry to France....they did offer optional tours (which i signed for one the next morning)...but in the meantime, the tour representative told me the way to the nearest Underground tube (West Brompton)....i was anxious and tense worried about getting lost in a foreign country but i took the plunge....i found the London Underground Tubes to be easy to navigate and i had to ask a few people to make sure i was on the right track, but i soon found myself going to Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. James Park, and Picadilly Circus (yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!!!!), finding myself totally immersed and mesmerized by the city sights despite my lack of sleep and imploding nausea. Biggest surprise was hitting Tower Records in Picadilly Circus and picking up the Disco Juice Vol 1 Compilation Cd on Counterpoint for 2.99 pounds (roughly $4.50) on the cutout bins!!! i then come back to my hotel room but not without overcoming peak-our subway congestion replete with the naturally unsavory odors of human secretion; one of the defining hallmarks of mass human traffic. Later that night, i finally meet up with one of my email friends Chris Read at the Notting Hill Arts Club and had a great time at the place despite my nausea getting the best of me....the dj was spinning all these 70s classics and i nearly lost it when i heard Love Unlimited's "Move Me No Mountain"! By the way, Chris has these 4 tracks that are coming soon....off the meter they are! i would have spent more time being that Phil Asher was supposed to play later on that night but i had to get up early for tomorrow's morning bus tour of London and i was feeling real tired.. Got up the following Saturday and took the tube to Victoria Station in order to congregate with the bus tour....as the subway doors opened, the ubitiqous tone followed by a generous male voice imploded "MIND THE GAP"...Previously, i thought this was some inside dirty joke but i now got it...The announcement also signified the end of my nausea when i got out the door and was frantically searching for a restroom but something about the platform's distinct subway odor triggered an immediate reflex to involuntarily reject the contents consumed early in the morning (alka seltzer and an aspirin) while facing one of the walls with my back turned against the crowd...Fortunately, i felt better the rest of the day and proceeded to further submurge myself into the historical delights of the city....i then returned back to my hotel room in the middle of the day and got out to have the cumpulosory fish and chips lunch....after a few moments, i finally was able to meet up with DHP's Martin Red and his good friend Jason...that was a night i will never forget!!! we hit Soho and toured some of the various record shops in there....what shocked me was not so much the prices but that in a lot of the vinyl record stores, you only had the record cover in front of you...if you wanted to purchase the records, you bring the record cover to the cashier, pay the price, and then one of the clerks will fetch the proper vinyl disc from the back due to the high propensity of vinyl pilfering....got some incredible discs at Vinyl Junkies (which i will mention later in Christopher Aquilo's "Finds" post)....non-stop chatting among ourselves during our nighttime forays into Picadilly Circus and Chinatown and the perspectives and knowledge from Martin and Jason appeared to be infinite...we drank some Stella Artois (Belgium) and Kronenburg 1664 (France)...very, very good beers that i need to locate stateside.....i was also shocked to see people drinking alcohol publicly in the streets....i later found out that this was pretty much the norm throughout Europe....no brown-bag laws...we also rode the double-decker, which i was surprised to learn that the bodies are nearly a half-century old yet they continue to be recycled with newer engines and suspensions (resulting in cost savings).....Thank you soo much Martin and Jason for the tour....we got to do this again another time hopefully in the very, very near future:) Paris: it was Sunday and i finally get together with the group members as we cross the ferry into France...had to exchange some pounds for Euros at a steep commission, but it was the only choice that day....along our way to France, i notice how green the lands are...very very rich land....we then stop by a roadside restaurant and just the odors eminating from the outside makes me hungry....i had this quiche that was absolutely DEEEEEELICIOUS!!!!! i then notice the big flea market at Clingacourt and wished to stop since i read that there are some nice, used vinyl finds to be had in there but i was with the tour....it was gorgeous especially at night...so many ornate buildings and structures that i got lost trying to remember the names of them...there was this church situated really high that offered a grand view of the city that was awe-inspiring....the next day was off to the Louvre in which the tour guide did a speedy walk around the highlights....too quick for my tastes yet it was amazing to see all those ancient structures and paintings....later that Monday, me and a couple of people of the tour made our way via the Paris Metro Subway to the Champs-Elysses and walked through that grand spectacle of space and humanity....yessssss!!! i was very, very pleasantly surprised how wine was actually cheaper than soda over in France....less than two dollars for a bottle of wine!!!!! not only did i brought a couple back home but i bought a few other cheapies along the way to share with other tour members during our stays at the various hotels during our trip. and were talking about good wine, not the Night Train-type libations. Lucerne, Switzerland: the border checkpoints was the most thorough thorughout the trip but it wasn't that long...the first thing i notice is that the air is sooooo clean, just breathing it makes me relax. we then take the lake tour with cool, spring-like weather surrounded by mountains on the boat.....i could not recall another time when i felt so relaxed and at ease thanks to the beautiful scenery....walked through the streets and saw a couple of old churches and shared some more wine during the day's dinner..the next morning we got via cable car to the top of the Alps....oh my God!!!! this is definetly awe-inspiring with the beautiful blue sky hues and the snow-capped mountains.....gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous... Italy: it's Wednesday and we start heading into Milan, a city with a heavy industrial base...had dinner with some local "Decher(???)" beer....as i come back, i finally notice AC from the DHP board and we finally met! we talked for about 90 minutes or so and gave me his stellar mix cd as well, speaking about the fall of house music in Italy from it's early 90s heyday....again, it was wonderful and i wish there was more time to speak (but another day will come for sure!) the next day it was off to Rome where we saw the Coleseum, the Vatican Grounds, the Catacombs, and the Spanish Steps....amazing, amazing city with equally amazing foods (and fell in love with Lambrusco sparkling red wine while eating a thin pie of pizza:) and the paninis are very, very delicious....in the next days we toured Verona, Florence, and Venice and got in finally to one of the gondolas...it was hard finding businesses open since the whole country as well as most of the continent was on vacation, but i finally got some shopping done there...a 1.5 liter of Lambrusco sells for $2.50!!!!!! also in Venice, we had this delectable lasagna filled with fish, a snapper spread for the breads, and this delectable biscuit for coffee dipping (Italy makes some of the best cookies/biscuits i've savored so far...) and there was copious amounts of red and white wines available...was i buzzed afterward!!!!! also in Rome, i got together with Masdefi and his family and took me to the Metropolis Rock record store...over 60,000 discs and i only had about 80 minutes...but i got some stuff which again i will list later. Thank you so much for getting together with you Massimo and your family as well...it really, really made it a great one and i wished there was more time to meet! and thank you sooo much for the mixes and records....when i heard Edgar Allen Winter's "Above and Beyond" that was a song i was looking for years and years but i did not know who did it until now....the recrords and the mixes were wonderful:)!!!!! Innsbruck, Austria: just like Switzerland, the air is real clean and the building structures look like something out of a kid's fairy tale....got to tour Innsbruck for a little while and had a shot of homemade Shnapps as we made our way up a mountain tour while some tour members were singing songs out of "The Sound Of Music" (more, more awe-inspiring scenery to indulge into...) ...it was brief unfortunately but rewarding nevertheless. Germany: went by Munich and stopped to see the church with the revolving figurenes at the stroke of 11 am, a marvelous feat of engineering....over there, BMWs are as common as Toyota Camrys/Honda Accords stateside and the taxis are mostly E-Class Benzes....not to mention the burgeoning European popularity of the Swatch cars that are a craze all over the continent (very, very cute cars indeed!!!) we passed by the BMW world headquaters in Bavaria and made a brief stop at Cologne as well. drank some nice Bitburger beer with brautwurst and pommes (fries)"...we also made a stop at the college town of Heilderberg and was walking the streets when i saw a bicycle with two Destuche Gramaphone discs along a sign leading to "Downtown Records"...being a vinyl addict, i rushed to the shop which specializes mainly in vintage rock and r&b but they had a one and three euro bins in which i picked up some nice discs in there... Amsterdam, Holland: a brief stop...we went through the canals and was amazed at the narrow length of the old buildings (they have these large hooks suitable for towing large furniture through the windows)...passed briefly into the Anne Frank homes....and yes, the odors of cannabis poured though the streets like a perpetual tidal wave....got a brief tour through the red-light district that made Times Square in the Eighties look like a pre-school playground in comparsion....scantily-clad night ladies displaying their wares under reddish lumincence albeit in a stiffly-positioned posture....we then took a tour of a diamond-cutting factory and had some rings for sales....at one point, i had over $10,000 in my fingers until one of the clerks told me to remove a couple of them out of my hands.... the only thing that got me ticked is that the small print in the brochure made mention of the optional tours but did not mention how much until we got there....i had to put out a good chunk of my money to cover those so definetly, definetly inquire about the optional tour costs with an agent should you decide to embark.....nevertheless, it was definetly a lifetime experience that i do not regret and only enlarges my appetite for more.... catch you all soon...with well tidings and kind regards, kelvy  |
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#3
August 27th, 2002, 11:31 AM
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| Leanmean! Leanmean! how have you've been? me and Masdefi were mentioning you along the trip and we miss you badly! i was out for a while in this board with some other stuff but all is well and i am just starting to get settled back home....holler back! with well tidings and kind regards, kelvy |
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#4
August 28th, 2002, 08:05 AM
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| Hi Kelvy! I am glad to know you've enjoyed the trip. I hope you have appreciated Europe nevertheless in each country there's a way different lifestyle, probably you felt that... Now that you're back at home I suppose you'll pass much time listening at your records and hope you will insert some in the next playlist of September. Thanks for your 7" of Roy Ayers, I liked that song but I didn't know who was it.... :lol: Hope to meet us again, Massimo
__________________ People all over the world, It\'s time for love & understanding, Come together!! |
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#5
August 29th, 2002, 03:38 PM
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| Masdefi, it was an honor to finally meet together with your family...i loved every minute of it:) and i definetly will make a cd with at least a few of the songs that i got from "Metropol Rock"....especially Martin Circus's 'I've Got A Treat'... by the way, i just yesterday got you some Donna Summer albums on the US Casablanca pressing real cheap and i will be sending those records to you later next week.....give my regards and hugs to your daughter and wife. with well tidings and kind regards, kelvy ps -- ladies and gentlemen,i was very, very happy to discover that Masdefi's wife and daughter (who is only eight years old) know the lyrics to the Trammp's "Zing Went The Strings of My Heart" not having English as their main language and being so young the daughter! incredible!!!! |
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#6
August 29th, 2002, 04:49 PM
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BTW I thank you in advance for the Donna's stuff you'll be able to send me  . The song "Zing....." by Trammps which album is it on? Ciao!!!
__________________ People all over the world, It\'s time for love & understanding, Come together!! |
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#7
August 29th, 2002, 05:09 PM
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| Masdefi, the "zing" song originally came out i think around 1972 as a 45 rpm single on Buddah records....the Trammps popularity got so high that they finally put together an album around 1975 that was called (i think) "The Fabulous Zing! Album" that has that song and "Pray All You Sinners"... also on another note, before they were known as "The Trammps"...they were known in the 1960s as "The Volcanoes" and recorded for a small Philadelphia record label called "Artic"... again Masdefi, it was a pleasure meeting you....next time, we have to share at least two days! and do let me know if you have any other titles you are looking for... with well tidings and kind regards, kelvy |
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#8
August 29th, 2002, 05:22 PM
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sounds like u enjoyed yourself hope your jet lags gone !! |
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#10
August 30th, 2002, 02:47 AM
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| Sounds like you had a good time in London town! Glad you managed to find some good records and some good clubs as well... Very interested to read your perceptions of things that we take for normal - like the drinking in public places for example! And yes, the second hand record shops in Central London are pricey!
__________________ If it moves - funk it!! |
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