MFSB "Love is the Message" ... new 12" re-edit

[ashley]

.. ok, ok I know what you're gonna say ..

.. just what the world doesn't need right now, during these difficult times .. yet another re-edit of "Love is the message" ..

.. but listen to the sound-clip on Juno:

GALAXY SOUND COMPANY - She Can't Love You

.. it is very tasty .. sounding like a re-edit (if that were possible) of the Danny Krivit remix (which was itself a fantastic piece of re-editing .. )

.. a true masterpiece ..

[ashley]

.. besides, this EP also boasts slight re-edits of Chemise "She can't love you" & Cloud One "Disco Juice" ..

.. giving you more value for your dollar ..

[Westwood]

Where was the 11-minute classic remix first realeased? Was it on a 12" and/or an album? I would love to get the first format it was put down on.

[boogyjuice]

This is my jam



"Manhattan Skyline", from the Mysteries of the World-album

[ashley]

.. hello Westwood .. the original album mix of "Love is the message" was the title track of the 1973 MFSB album and was 6 minutes 35 seconds in length ..

.. then the track was remixed by Tom Moulton in 1977 for the album "Philadelphia Classics" and was 11 minutes 27 seconds long .. this was the version played by Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage & which became a much loved anthem .. I remember they were still playing this mix regularly on New York's WBLS even in '82, as hiphop, electro & rap was becoming the dominant urban sound ..

.. and it's this same classic Moulton mix that features heavily in the film "Paris is burning" from about the same period ..

.. friends in the U.S. tell me the Moulton mix is often requested at funerals .. citing it as a major influence on the development of garage & house music ..

.. during their live sets Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Danny Krivit & Ron Hardy extended the instumental passages of the song to excite their audiences ..

.. then in the 90's I heard tell of a white label re-edit which was causing a storm in the clubs .. this new version was an alternative 11 minute mix using just the groovy instrumental elements of the Moulton mix & dispensing with the vocals altogether .. this was of course the now famous Danny Krivit re-edit .. which appeared officially in 2000 on the "Last night a dj saved my life" CD compilation .. although bootleg twelves were around long before this ..
Love Is The Message

[Westwood]

Hi Ashley and thank you!
At last I have it clear what they did with this song.
The version I am referring to is the Danny Krivit re-edit then.
Basically, I always found the normal version and the TM mix to be really nice and interesting, and classic mellow philly music.
But when a friend sent me the DK edit I was, wtf is this??
Because being a big Madonna fan, I for the first time the origin of one of her many samples. The intro of the DK edit, and the "Vogue" sound, I don't even know what instruments did that bit lol, but I prefer this version much more.
Me being someone who does not want to play a song over and over and wear it out, I never made a search to listen to the other versions to see if those instruments were present.
I did hear them in the Salsoul Orchestra's Chicago Bus Stop and the Pettibone Oooh I Love It (yet another sample Madonna used, lovebreak, lovebreak, lovebreak) and the liner notes mention that the musicians were the same of LITM. But still I had no idea where that DK edit came from.
When was it made???
Am I forgetting something or are those sounds never that standing-out in the normal mixes?

[Disco Funk]

I haven't heard it said officially (maybe this should have been a question asked of Tom Moulton when he was interviewed, in case he knew), but I think 'Ooh I Love It' by Salsoul Orchestra was a mash-up of the second half of Love Is The Message (drums and bass, possibly a small section looped) and the vocals, strings, etc... from Chicago Bus Stop. That's why Danny Krivit could seamlessly combine elements from Ooh I Love It and Love Is The Message. They use the same backing tracks. Disco Funk

[Zef]

Originally Posted by ashley

.. hello Westwood .. the original album mix of "Love is the message" was the title track of the 1973 MFSB album and was 6 minutes 35 seconds in length ..

.. then the track was remixed by Tom Moulton in 1977 for the album "Philadelphia Classics" and was 11 minutes 27 seconds long .. this was the version played by Larry Levan at the Paradise Garage & which became a much loved anthem .. I remember they were still playing this mix regularly on New York's WBLS even in '82, as hiphop, electro & rap was becoming the dominant urban sound ..

.. and it's this same classic Moulton mix that features heavily in the film "Paris is burning" from about the same period ..

.. friends in the U.S. tell me the Moulton mix is often requested at funerals .. citing it as a major influence on the development of garage & house music ..

.. during their live sets Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Danny Krivit & Ron Hardy extended the instumental passages of the song to excite their audiences ..

.. then in the 90's I heard tell of a white label re-edit which was causing a storm in the clubs .. this new version was an alternative 11 minute mix using just the groovy instrumental elements of the Moulton mix & dispensing with the vocals altogether .. this was of course the now famous Danny Krivit re-edit .. which appeared officially in 2000 on the "Last night a dj saved my life" CD compilation .. although bootleg twelves were around long before this ..
Love Is The Message

How about the 14min version that keeps some of the Three Degrees vocal and also features the "Now that I got your attention again" vocal sample from Millie Jackson in the middle which I have from the late 80's and I think is credited to Tee Scott (but don't quote me). I thought that was the one played In NY before the Krivit.

I also love the version put out by Norman Jay in the UK in the 90's titled 'Message in a dream' and is L.I.T.M with the Martin Luther King Jnr speech (I have a dream) over it.

[ashley]

.. hello Zef

.. I think you are referring to a 12" single from 1982 by Brooklyn Express called "Love is the message" which was produced by Tee Scott and was 9 minutes in length ..

.. the story behind this record is that by 1982 the double album "Philadelphia Classics" was out of print .. but with Larry Levan, Tee Scott & the others still spinning the Moulton mix, there was a big demand for a 12" release .. so Tee went into a studio & recorded an almost note for note copy .. which became the Brooklyn Express release ..

.. listening to the Brooklyn Express record today, it sounds like a very clunky & inferior facsimile .. when "Love is the message" keeps getting mentioned in everyone's top 10 best inflential disco club tunes of all time, the Brooklyn Express version rarely gets a mention ..
.. although to be fair, Brookly Express had it's own part to play in the development of the tune .. it probably generated more interest in the song .. further enhancing the track's reputation in the clubs during the 80s & beyond ..

[Zef]

Originally Posted by ashley

.. hello Zef

.. I think you are referring to a 12" single from 1982 by Brooklyn Express called "Love is the message" which was produced by Tee Scott and was 9 minutes in length ..

.. the story behind this record is that by 1982 the double album "Philadelphia Classics" was out of print .. but with Larry Levan, Tee Scott & the others still spinning the Moulton mix, there was a big demand for a 12" release .. so Tee went into a studio & recorded an almost note for note copy .. which became the Brooklyn Express release ..

.. listening to the Brooklyn Express record today, it sounds like a very clunky & inferior facsimile .. when "Love is the message" keeps getting mentioned in everyone's top 10 best inflential disco club tunes of all time, the Brooklyn Express version rarely gets a mention ..

Then I'm getting two 12"s mixed up.

the 14minute one I mentioned is not a re-recording. It's definately original Three Degrees vocals and Sigma Instrumentation. It's I'm guessing a chopped around version of the T.M mix with the Millie Jackson sample repeated two thirds through and the 1,2,3,4 in Spanish sample.
I also have another very similar 14min 12" which is in turn another re-edit by someone called 'The Cuco' which edits down the Three Degrees and uses the Millie sample once instead of a repeat and also uses the 1, 2, 3 4 Spanish sample.
Then there is another 11min version which starts with the 1,2,3,4 Spanish sample and adds more of a beat and also blends into the groove of 'Born this way' half way through as an interlude This sounds like it could have some re-recorded bits, and is a bit clunky.
I've had all of these along with the Krivit mix since at least the early 90's. None of the ones I'm refering two sound like they are the Brooklyn Express version

[Westwood]

It's the first time I read about a Millie Jackson sample. What sample would this be? Who she? hehe

[Zef]

Originally Posted by Westwood

It's the first time I read about a Millie Jackson sample. What sample would this be? Who she? hehe

About 2/3rds of the way through the Millie Jackson sample comes in saying

"Now that I got your attention again, I'm gonna"

then love is the message strings come back in and the groove continues.
I think the sample is from her 80's track 'I had to say it'

[Westwood]

Ah, so the sample is present only in the Krivit re-edit?

[Zef]

Originally Posted by Westwood

Ah, so the sample is present only in the Krivit re-edit?

I don't think it is in the Krivit version, but I have not played in a while. It is however in the two longer versions I mentioned previously.

[Westwood]

Originally Posted by Zef

I don't think it is in the Krivit version, but I have not played in a while. It is however in the two longer versions I mentioned previously.

Ok that's why I asked, because you mention the sample is from an 80s track of Millie, but the original versions and TM mix are from the late 70s..., right?