Larry Levan's set at Paradise Garage closing 1987

[The Boogie Doctor]

does anybody have the tracklisting for this set, as it appears in the link below??????

http://www.dhpmixes.com/mixes/garageclose.rm

also, any comments on the set are appreciated.....i thought it was something very special!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peace and love
the boogie doctor

[QUINNY]

Maybe not the best part of the evening on this recording. Rather like the weather in Cornwall.....always better last week.

Think I would have been bored, to be honest. Although some of the tracks are greeted by whoops and hollers and singing, it all sounds a tad low key to my ears, especially his spinning, which has no attack whatsoever....... and that bl**dy siren....Yeuch!!!!

[The Boogie Doctor]

i didn't think it sounded too bad....seriously deep and chugging stuff....quite druggy and spacey, which is always to my liking....

[Mixmachine]

Anyone has a suggestion to play .RA files without having to install Real Audio software??

RA software always causes problems for me and I avoid this codec like the plague.

from a review of the latest RealPlayer version

"The program still suffers from an intrusive installation, but file-type hijacking and upgrade harassment are mostly gone."

But I don't trust them!!! Why anyone bothers to produce/post anything in .RA codec in this day and age is beyond me!!!

I found this alternative, but I don't know much about this freeware's reliability either..

Free-Codecs.com :: Download Real Alternative 1.75 : Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer/RealOne Player

[Houseman]

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

Anyone has a suggestion to play .RA files without having to install Real Audio software??

RA software always causes problems for me and I avoid this codec like the plague.

from a review of the latest RealPlayer version

"The program still suffers from an intrusive installation, but file-type hijacking and upgrade harassment are mostly gone."

But I don't trust them!!! Why anyone bothers to produce/post anything in .RA codec in this day and age is beyond me!!!

I found this alternative, but I don't know much about this freeware's reliability either..

Free-Codecs.com :: Download Real Alternative 1.75 : Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer/RealOne Player

I've been using Real Audio online since 1998. At the time it was THE way to encode mixes for a web site. From a tried and true format I got the streams to come out with near CD quality and was satisifed with the easy process, not to mention the ability to include .smil.
I guess I'm just too old school and didn't jump onto the MP3 mix bandwagon until now. Real Audio is a great online audio tool in most cases. I still hear some sites with very bad processing and you can hardly hear the music streams without heavy distortion. Real Audio is very system intrusive and going the way of the dinosaur. There are some free conversion software that supposed to smoothly encode .ra to mp3 but it seems cumbersome to site visitors.

Real Audio gives ways to convert files for iPods and direct CD burning, but they still want people to download their software. As for 2008 I will start streaming broadcasts in MP3 formats.

As to answer your question, why anyone would produce in real audio, well it was the best and most server accommodating in its day. And it's sometimes hard to teach us old dogs new tricks.

Houseman
Virgo Lounge - House Music, Deep House, Garage, Club and Disco Music

[The Boogie Doctor]

can we discuss the set please????????????

[qdearl]

After listening to the set, these are the tracks I've been able to identify...

1. Do it Properly - 2 Puerto Ricans, A Black man & a Dominican
2. Changes - Sharon Ridley
3. Stay Free - Ashford & Simpson
4. (acapella) - Don't Make Me Wait - NYC Peech Boys
5. ?
6. ?

As far as the mix itself, I'll have to agree with Quinny, it was kind of dull, sound quality and background noise are definitely a contributing factor to that, but the whole set just seemed to be all over the place....

[Houseman]

This was undoubtedly recorded by someone who sneeked a boombox into the Garage. The mixing is definitely Levan. It may sound crude, but you would have had to been there to get and understand the full blast. No one and I do mean no one could promote a song like Levan. He was truly married to the music and could get the crowd worked up like no other. This particular mix sounds like towards the end of Garage's days (late 80s). This was not the time to be in its vibe. Turn it back 5 or 6 years before and it was truly a magical place that was between space and light. Give me the Garage anyday over that snotty 54.

[MixMasterMax]

There were only two types of people who like Levan's mixing abilities, those as high as he and those higher than he. To this day I still cannot understand what all the fuss is about this man. Since all the clubs of the era were playing mostly the same tracks all we are left with is the mixing, nothing but the mixing. And I must tell you that Levan was left out of the gene pool on this trait when compared to his DJ peers. “understand the full blast” or “no one could promote a song like Levan”, “he was truly married to the music”…what the heck inspired these statements…heavy drugs no doubt. I am beginning to believe that no one here (except Quinny and few other good souls) ever attended a Discotheque around the time of Levan otherwise they would recognize the insignificant contribution this man left behind.

[The Boogie Doctor]

levan is god - your appraisal is very inaccurate and well wide of the mark...i think you need to respect and praise the gods of the genre from which all the people here derive a great deal of meaning and love.

[MixMasterMax]

I mean no disrespect but surely you jest and certainly you never heard your God at the throne. There is no one here that loves this genre more than I but I do not see a need to perpetuate inaccurate information even at the risk of dethroning a God. The fact remains that there were many, many DJ’s of the day that would run circles around Levan and are not even held to the Bishop status much less God Status. Time has a way of diluting the truth and I am only trying to inform those who were not there and did not hear him first hand that what is being said is most inaccurate. Surely if a God is needed to occupy the DJ booth, Levan does not rank.

[discopsycho]

I am most glad to see there are other "heretics" out there. I have always thought the deification of Levan was way over the top. No, I wasn't there, but if the mix cd released a few years ago is any indication of what he actually played, and how he played, it really showed no great skills in mixing or song choices. The songs on the cd are what any dj at the time would have played. Maybe the Garage was a great club with a great sound system, so anyone who was the resident dj would have been equally admired.

[Houseman]

I'm taking a leap here, but I'll be the one to try to explain the Garage.

The Garage was a juice bar that basically catered to 54 rejects. (I know I'll get into trouble for that). I was there and in Chicago when underground house was in its infancy. The big DJs didn't touch house whatsoever at the time saying it was just dogs barking in a sampler and such. The Garage however, was quite different. Levan is not a legend simply because he couldn't mix. He's a legend because of how he overcame an obstacle and made it better than a perfect or flawless mix. He could promote a record that equated into sales. There was a many of night that Levan only played 5 or 6 records for the entire night. Now before anyone says that has to be boring, it really and I do mean REALLY worked.

To understand a night for Levan, it generally started around 1 or 2am or so and ended the next AFTERNOON - late, like 2 or 3PM). People were actually knocked out and camped out in the bleachers, in the back rooms or wherever they could find. Crash out for a couple of hours and get up and Levan was still beatin' the box like he just started. And this went on until he stopped.

That was his magic. Whatever Levan played, if you were lucky enough to get him to play your track, was an instant hit not only in New York but nation wide. He had an uncanny ability to pick the right songs and drum 'em in. Every week was different and everyone knew they were listening to some crazy unreleased (still on the tape) track that NO ONE else had.

No... his mixing talent was not top notch but his energy and his presentation was beyond top. To this day, I have never heard a DJ that could promote and sell records like Levan, and I've heard a lot.

The Garage was just a special place in the right time and that's all. To try and critique it would be just a huge waste of time... that's the reason we still talk about THE legendary DJ.

Houseman

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by Houseman

He could promote a record that equated into sales. There was a many of night that Levan only played 5 or 6 records for the entire night. Now before anyone says that has to be boring, it really and I do mean REALLY worked.

To understand a night for Levan, it generally started around 1 or 2am or so and ended the next AFTERNOON - late, like 2 or 3PM). People were actually knocked out and camped out in the bleachers, in the back rooms or wherever they could find. Crash out for a couple of hours and get up and Levan was still beatin' the box like he just started. And this went on until he stopped.

That was his magic. Whatever Levan played, if you were lucky enough to get him to play your track, was an instant hit not only in New York but nation wide. He had an uncanny ability to pick the right songs and drum 'em in. Every week was different and everyone knew they were listening to some crazy unreleased (still on the tape) track that NO ONE else had.

No... his mixing talent was not top notch but his energy and his presentation was beyond top. To this day, I have never heard a DJ that could promote and sell records like Levan, and I've heard a lot.

The Garage was just a special place in the right time and that's all. To try and critique it would be just a huge waste of time... that's the reason we still talk about THE legendary DJ. Houseman

We'll have to take your word for it, BUT I'm still cynical that such a brilliant DJ didn't garner a more widespread reputation BITD and why this 'last night' recording sounds sooo incredibly low key, from someone you say had energy in abundance. Personally, I can't feel any vibe at all from that recording....NOTHING!!

I only ever knew him (albeit in the UK) as a name attached to certain remixes (some of which are among the worst ever remixes). Come to that, why wasn't he given more of the 'disco hits' to remix, the records that would have spread his fame (and yes!, many of them would have been obvious contenders for hit status)? The only logical answer has to be that most record companies didn't trust him with their product. There were never any "our spies in NY tell us that Larry Levan is THE DJ to go see" type commentaries that I knew of. I stand to be corrected, but have to re-iterate; Larry Levan wasn't regarded as a Super DJ/DJ God BITD, on this side of the water, through any kind of concensus.

By only playing 5 or 6 records a night IMO he was being a total ****head. There are only so many ways of mixing 5 or 6 records (in his case rather poorly by all accounts, so it wouldn't have been seemless) and to expect us to believe anything different is ridiculous in the extreme. Personally, if I'd been in the audience I'd feel affronted by such a selfish, arrogant display.

The list of 1000 Larry levan trax that was on this site a while back certainly didn't show a DJ who had a knack of choosing the BEST records. http://www.discomusic.com/forums/dis...76-1987-a.html
Many on that list were mediocre, nondescript dance trax and almost all the others were played by every DJ across the globe. Now, he may have had access to them before anyone else because of a priviledged position, BUT that doesn't mean HE broke them. Record companies may have used him as a barometer, BUT he wouldn't have been used in an entirely exclusive way, would he? If he had, there would have been "as endorsed by Larry Levan" or something similar plastered all over the 12" sleeves of 'countless' records. Don't think I ever saw one and we all know that record companies weren't slow at using any trick they could, in order to garner more interest/sales of a product. Any DJ worth his salt would have picked the same tracks as winners, 90% of the time, so no special gift, for my money. As a DJ I, or anyone else in the business, would know within the first minute, whether or not a track would work. We damned well had to!!!

BTW: If anyone hears a record more than 3 times in relatively quick succession, they're gonna remember it (and more likely, like it), aren't they?

[Houseman]

Like I said, I'm trying to explain.

Underground music has always and will always have an appeal. Some may detest it... but others get something out of it. Levan was a a true underground DJ. The deepest of them all was Ron Hardy (Chicago-Music Box).

The problem with deep and underground is... that it always needs to be topped. Kinda of the same situation with Jazz back in the 50s. You tend to get too deep and go too far, as the last mix you heard from the Garage. At that point The Garage was a "shooting gallery" if you know what that term is. It got so bad that it had no other choice but to close because it had ruined so many lives. That's the price. That's the price that was paid... some died, some lived, but none was the same.

That's the reason to this day I don't spin records. I know how deep and far it can go. There's always a group who wants it that way and WILL demand it... and at this point of MY life... I like it normal.

I don't expect DJs who played commercial or all the top Billboard hits to understand this genre. I'm simply trying to explain in plain words how it was and for the most point still is. Like the classic First Choice track said "It's Not Over"... and you know what ... it's still not!

Now for those DJs who played it safe with Billboard, DMC and the likes, it would be hard for you to understand a side of music that not only entertains, but deeply connects others in a strong way. I'm an old man in my late 40s and when I get on a dance floor today, I can still out dance kids in their 20s, because I feel it, they don't. All they want is what's popping and whos in the headlines. That doesn't turn me on or do a thing for me and I feel sorry that they missed so much. But hey, this is the world of Hip Hop, Pop, Drug Trance and cute Club.

What I'm sharing with you is a rare and real take on the underground. Music can be just as addictive and dangerous as any mailine drug. This is TRUE.

It all depends on how far your willing to go and take it. To me... that's my attraction to it. Music, in no matter what form, will never end.

Getting back to Levan... this is a true person of his art who gave his life to the beat. He allowed himself to be swollowed whole for his dedication to his music. He paid a heavy, heavy price to be a legendary DJ and no matter how you look at it... a person who does such a thing, so others may have a way (and hopefully makes it better), deserves respect. You don't have to like him, his music, his mixing or whatever, but what you do need to know is what his contribution was.

Maybe a movie will convey it better.

Houseman