Tom Moulton Interview Now Posted On Disco Music.com

[Bernie]

Dayna has just completed her interview with Tom Moulton and it is now available at DiscoMusic.com:

Tom Moulton - DiscoMusic.com

Thanks Dayna for another great interview!

[Videoskooter]

Yep, sweet D did it again!

Excellent interview and well worth waitin' 4 !

[Disco Funk]

Thanks Dayna for the wonderful interview! It definitely sounds like Tom really had a fondness for working with the philly/Sigma studio guys. And it was interesting finding out the 5.35 timing was deliberate, rather than just a lucky accident.

Just a curious thing he mentioned: working on Keep On Truckin'. Was he referring to the original Eddie Kendricks performance, or some later remix? I guess he wasn't credited on the Motown production. I can see how that would be a tough song to mix, so much is going on in that track, plus the LP and 7" mix slightly differ with the extra handclaps in the single mix.

So I guess Remicks' thread is over. Disco definitely started with Never Can Say Goodbye.

Disco Funk

[remicks]

*****

Originally Posted by Disco Funk

Thanks Dayna for the wonderful interview! It definitely sounds like Tom really had a fondness for working with the philly/Sigma studio guys. And it was interesting finding out the 5.35 timing was deliberate, rather than just a lucky accident.

Just a curious thing he mentioned: working on Keep On Truckin'. Was he referring to the original Eddie Kendricks performance, or some later remix? I guess he wasn't credited on the Motown production. I can see how that would be a tough song to mix, so much is going on in that track, plus the LP and 7" mix slightly differ with the extra handclaps in the single mix.

So I guess Remicks' thread is over. Disco definitely started with Never Can Say Goodbye.

ummm remicks threads are never over !!

Anyway ........Yes Dayna ...congrats on culling some intriguing information from Mr. Moulton ..... BUT I think its going to require a follow up session!! Some juicy tidbits found here.

I mean what discofunk is referring to demands further exploring particularly. Tom Moulton spent five months mixing Eddie Kendricks KEEP ON TRUCKIN' ??????? Really ?? The original release??
This revelation takes disco back a couple of years to 1973 !!!

And while Tom skirted around it ....there still had to be a day when he started using the term "disco" in regards to this music !!

sorry , gotta be brief.....my screen is dieing .... darn .....

...woa .....Tom Moulton mixed KEEP ON TRUCKIN' This takes some digesting ....



later : -------- still digesting ....this can't be right .... must be a later project Tom did .... but why???


*****

[Dayna]

Thanks Guys..
and here are Tom's words VERBATIM..as to the Keep On Truckin stunner..

(Tom Moulton)- I have always felt when you mix a song and you print it (to tape) you are satisfied with it. The next day or when you play it again there will always be some thing you missed and want to correct it. This can drive you crazy after a while. I have the Luxury now of polishing and tweaking a mix before it is released. You have to remember your head will always be in a different place the next time you hear something you have done.

If it was good enough then, it’s good enough now. As for something I wanted to see if I could attempt to make a Perfect mix. I got the Parts to “Keep On Truckin” and worked at that song everyday for about 5 months. Everyday I would correct something that was wrong until there were no mistakes every note was correct, timing was perfect. To this day when I hear it there is nothing I would change so it is possible if you want to spend the time on it.

[ashley]

.. I'm guessing Tom is refering to the new mix of "Keep on truckin" from the Moulton Mix SoulJazz compilation .. I seriously doubt if Tom had the influence back in '73 to be remixing tunes for Motown .. At that time Motown stuck with their own in-house production teams .. Gordy was a contractual control freak .. as far as I'm aware Tom Moulton wasn't hired or used by Motown during the early 70s .. this all changed however during the disco boom when Tom Moulton became THE person to ring for a disco mix .. and Motown started flying their recording artists to Philadelphia to record at Sigma to take full advantage of the new smooth disco sound ..Tom Moulton mixed the Carl Bean 12" for Motown in 1977 .. .. In 1972 Kendricks recorded "People hold on" which spawned the massive dance club hits "Date with the rain" & " Girl you need a change of mind" .. At that time Motown would have wanted a timeous follow-up .. I seriously doubt they would have allowed any outside remix engineer 5 months to work on the next release .. but I would love to be proven wrong on this ..

[remicks]

*****

Everything you are saying makes total sense Ashley ....had Moulton turned KEEP ON TRUCKIN into the monster that it was ....that would have been the start to his fame and everyone would've known it long before this . Also Motown probably would've grabbed him and held him tight if he'd pulled that off for them ...yet they didn't ever (?) use him after that. (besides Carl Bean )

Plus if Tom spent five months on that project at the time ..he'd have set himself up for a heck of a mixing schedule from there on ....

On first read , it seemed like it one of those eye popping revelations coming directly from the source that we look forward to discovering from new sources like Dayna's interviews... ... this one a bit too fantastic in reality .

So it'd still be interesting to learn why Tom chose that particular song to redo in such a meticulous way ??? .... Who here has heard it and how grand is it ????


*****

[Dayna]

Hmm..I guess I will have to ask him...
I will get back to you on it.......

[disco1999]

Thanks Dayna, great job, again !

[Disco Funk]

Originally Posted by remicks

Plus if Tom spent five months on that project at the time ..he'd have set himself up for a heck of a mixing schedule from there on ....

Yeah, I also doubt Gordy would have been generous enough to let him sit on that song for 5 months! Most songs gotta get put out within a month or so of being recorded, especially if it's going to be the next hit record! Taking 5 months to work on one song would have ended Tom's career, not kicked it off. :)

Disco Funk