1000 Paradise Garage Classics 1976-1987

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by Anthony

1 song from Mantus

I could be wrong but I rarely read something on those guys here. They made such great records. I play 'em a lot. IMO it's a very underrated band!

Starsky, a lot of us (maybe the older) guys remember Larry. He was a pioneer and he sure knew how to work a crowd. Even a lot of the current Dj's acknowledge his talent and see him as an inspiration.

But it's mainly a matter of personal taste. Last year I went to a club were a worldfamous DJ played (I don't give his name) and I literally said to my wife and my friends (who agreed): what's the fuzz about this dude????? Seriously, I play better than him and I'm not a professional or a genuine talent you know!

[needlefingers]

I'm a fan of Mantus also. And they were somewhat overlooked during their time.

I quess they just got lost in the gluttony of music that was being released in '78 and '79.

[djscream67]

WOW! Terrific list! I never played a good 90% of those tracks, maybe haven't even heard half of them. Thanx my man, I'm going to save this list and go SHOPPING!

[ROMEO1]

Originally Posted by JussiK

I witnessed him spin "Numbers" by Kraftwerk at the Garage and thought this is getting pretty cool now - but it cleared the floor. What was going on

One of my favorite songs and must have been an experience to be there and witness that. I have to admit I didn't frequent the Paradise Garage until the early to mid eighties. Each Friday night I went was pretty much House music with fewer and fewer classics until about maybe 2am.

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by Videoskooter

I could be wrong but I rarely read something on those guys here. They made such great records. I play 'em a lot. IMO it's a very underrated band!

Video, I used to play Mantus "Boogie to the bop" all the time down here in Miami with good response, I even had two copies to play with , many other DJs did too.

I could swear I read an interview with this guys in the Vault area before, but I can't find it.

[ROMEO1]

What about Ashford and Simpson Bourgie Bourgie. I know it's on the CD but I recall hearing it a couple of times in the 80s at the Paradise Garage. Usually that would get the guys with the baby powder out sprinkling it on the dance floor ready to whip around.

[Bernie]

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

I could swear I read an interview with this guys in the Vault area before, but I can't find it.

http://www.discomusic.com/people-more/38_0_11_0_C/

[Houseman]

This is one of the best lists I've ever seen compiled.
Contrary to others opinions, this list serves as how influential Levan really was. There are literally tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of obscure disco tracks that never seen the light of day. Levan did play a lot of extremely limited releases that never made it out of the city of New York. These tracks were considered simply unavailable or inside the realm of deep underground, where only few chosen DJs had access.

This list constitutes the power Levan had to make them popular. The majority of the list would probably be in disco-never-heard-from-again-land had it not been from the Garage promoting them.

So I beg to differ that this list is just a group of commercial pop disco. They are proof of what a good DJ can do.

Houseman

[The Boogie Doctor]

cool houseman - glad you enjoyed the list mate!

[Dayna]

Thanks,I loved the list..Larry Levan could do no wrong in my book..Many of the tracks I have and the ones I dont I am going to check out..

[Dayna]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

If these are his top 1000 picks, then one would have to question his taste.

____________FLATLINE______________

[The Boogie Doctor]

Yeah, that is a comment that landed slightly wide of the mark. One would be right to question the taste of anyone making that sort of statement about the godfather Levan. RIP Larry, much joy and love.

[QUINNY]

Some of us aren't sheep!! All this praise for one human being makes me feel a little queasy, especailly as most of the praise came waaay after the event. Are you also gonna say that all of Larry Levan's re-mixes were brilliant too and beyond reproach?

Patently, they weren't.

[Dayna]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

Some of us aren't sheep!! All this praise for one human being makes me feel a little queasy, especailly as most of the praise came waaay after the event. Are you also gonna say that all of Larry Levan's re-mixes were brilliant too and beyond reproach?

Patently, they weren't.

I can only assmue your reference to farm animals is an issue your working on..
Larry started working at the Continental baths when he was just a teenager,He and Frankie knuckles..and we all know how many icon's got there start at that venue.
They even changed policy"which was unheard of" to accomodate the people that just wanted to come in and dance to his music
[policy being that they didnt have to wear just a towel]
Then he went on to command one of if not the most famous Disco's in the United States,excluding the brief stint of Studio 54...both he and the Garage are legends and the magic lasted over 10 years~!!
and the only thing that makes me queasy is your lack of tact and disrespect for a fallen musical legend.

[Simon White]

Have to say I'm sitting on the fence with all this...and at the end of the post I'm going to jump way or the other.
I've never really bought in to the 'Superstar DJ' schtick and especially the way that 'superstar' status has become more important than the music itself... I've always valued singers, musicians and producers over DJ's. That having been said, enough people cite Levan as a superstar and as someone who wasn't there and never heard him play records live, I suppose I have to take that on face value. But I don't remember hearing his name that much twenty five something years ago, but I do remember hearing it a lot in more recent times....since in fact the concept of 'Superstar DJ' became the norm.
But consider this....what exactly does that long list of records actually mean? Did he play them more than once, twice, four or twenty times ?? Did he play each one in it's entirety or just in more likely parts i.e. the breaks ect ? Are they really Paradise classics or just records that were doing the rounds at a given moment and therefore records he was of course playing ?? How many of them are records that had a great intro, a useful vocal or a brilliant break? How much of his stature and reputation was relative to what was going on around him, i.e. if every other big club DJ at the time played safer but he was only playing to 500 hundred people a week.....
Certainly a lot of the titles there were 'classics' in other places too....Dancing In Outer Space , Check Out The Groove, Billy Who? Boris Badenough...all these records were around (certainly in London) and played. Add to that the obviously well know records that everyone else was playing (it's not as if he was the only one) like 24 Hours A Day, Bourgie Bourgie, Phreek, Change.....I'm not convinced.
So..I'm jumping down on Quinny's side...unless someone can convince me otherwise !