An Evening At Trocadero Transfer in San Francisco

[markydefad]

OK, here's the playlist for the 1981 Trocadero Anniversary Party (March 27, 1981).

DJ: Bobby Viteritti (although not credited on my tapes--Bobby wrote that it was he when I asked the question over at the 5:am site. Probably another DJ started the evening and he took over later in the evening. (My guess would be after Cynthia Manley of Boystown Gang performed--but it's just a guess.)

Opening pre-show--flowing piano instrumental (no beat on any of this stuff)...into a flowing piano instrumental of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" (EVITA was big then!!!)...some trumpet fanfare (might be "Fanfare For The Common Man" by Aaron Copland)....classical string quartet peice..."A Whiter Shade Of Pale" by some 1,0001 strings type group....dramatic string/chimes piece...Some 1,001 String type piece from The Who's "Tommy .....Classical piece:"Rodeo"/ "Hoedown" ? (that "other white meat" commercial tune)...THEN...."Let Me Entertain You" (Natalie Wood from the Movie of "Gypsy") into Big Band (Glenn Miller's "In The Mood")....THEN

PARTYTIME!!!!

THAT'S WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO - The Trammps
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE/ NOTHING REMAINS THE SAME - The Spinners
DISCO NIGHTS (ROCK FREAK) - GQ
GIVE ME LOVE - Cerrone
COME AND GET YOUR LOVE - Soccer
I DON'T NEED NO MUSIC - TJM (Tom Moulton)
DON'T STOP THE MUSIC - Strange Affair
TOUCH ME BABY/LOVE IS THE ULTIMATE - Ultimate
BAD CONNECTION - Strange Affair
(mystery song)
JOIN THE DANCE - USA/European Connection

THERE'S A WAY - (Boris Midney) Companion
HIGH FLYING ADORED/RAINBOW HIGH (Boris Midney) Festival
EARTH CAN BE JUST LIKE HEAVEN - Two Tons O' Fun
TRAFFIC BREAKDOWN - Boogie People
TRYOUTS FOR THE HUMAN RACE - Sparks
OVER AND OVER - Disco Circus
FEAR - Easy Going (the instrumental synth opening of Steve Miller's "Fly Like An Eagle" is overlayed into this)
HOT WAX - Mother F (Denis LePage)
EAST TO WEST - Voyage
TAKE OFF - Harlow
LOVE INSURANCE - Front Page feat. Sharon Redd
NIGHT DANCER - Jeanne Shy
BABY BLUE - Giorgio Moroder
ROCK ME NOW - Peter Batah
WITHOUT YOUR LOVE - Cut Glass
MUSIC MAN - Revanche
BORN TO BE ALIVE - Patrick Hernandez

HEAVEN MUST HAVE SENT YOU - Bonnie Pointer
GIVE ME A BREAK - Vivian Vee
CAN'T STOP DANCIN' - Sylvester
I GOT THE FEELING - Two Tons O' Fun
IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND - Viola Wills
I'D BE SURPRISINGLY GOOD FOR YOU/DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA - (Boris Midney) Festival
CAPITAL TROPICAL - Two Man Sound
DISCO KICKS - Boystown Gang
(YOU MAKE ME FEEL) MIGHTY REAL - Sylvester
HILLS OF KATMANDU - Tantra
SENTIMENTALLY, IT'S YOU - Theo Vaness
SET ME FREE - Three Degrees
WALKING ON MUSIC - Peter Jacques Band
UNDERWATER - Harry Thuman
THE RUNNER - Three Degrees
BOOGIE WOOGIE DANCING SHOES - Claudja Barry
OH, WHAT A NIGHT - Giorgio Moroder

IF MY FRIENDS COULD SEE ME NOW - Linda Clifford
(live entertainment) REMEMBER ME/AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH - Cynthia (Manley) of Boystown Gang (sounding , let's say....uh, FESTIVE) :lol:
Then Dick Collier, "controversial" owner of Troc makes a speech and shows off the Trocadero sign which will be installed outside, then....Let the Dancing Resume....) :D

LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME (Disconet Remix) - ABBA
LET ME TAKE YOU DANCING - Bryan Adams
NO ROMANCE/KEEP ON DANCIN' - Theo Vaness
MAGNIFIQUE - Magnifique
LOVE ATTACK - Ferrara
THE BREAK - Kat Mandu
WISHBONE - Tantra
FOLLOW ME - Amanda Lear
SAVE YOUR LOVE FOR ME - Space
IF YOU WEREN'T AFRAID - Giorgio Moroder
FLY WITH THE WIND - Peter Jacques Band
LOST ANGELES/FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LOVE - Giorgio Moroder

SOUVENIRS - Voyage
SANDSTORM - La Bionda
BEYOND - Herb Alpert
BABY, I'M BURNIN' - Dolly Parton
YOUR LOVE - Lime
JUST BE YOURSELF - Nightlife Unlimited
SPELLBOUND - Arpeggio
SAN SALVADOR - Azoto
HOT LEATHER - Passengers
LOVE IS IN YOU - Nightlife Unlimited
THE VISITORS - Gino Soccio
ALIVE WITH LOVE - Cut Glass
REMEMBER - Vivian Vee
HAVE A CIGAR - Rosebud
RUMOUR HAS IT - Donna Summer
OH HAPPY DAY - Roberta Kelly
FEELS LIKE I'M IN LOVE - Kelly Marie
TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING - Marlena Shaw
HIT 'N' RUN LOVER - Carol Jiani

SOUL/HEAVEN ABOVE ME - Frankie Valli
AIN'T NOTHING GONNA KEEP ME FROM YOU - Terri DeSario
A WHITER SHADE OF PALE - Munich Machine (Giorgio)
LOVE IS IN THE AIR - Jean-Paul Young
(Song plays out/ fades out. Tempo change. Applause for the DJ. )

DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY - Thelma Houston
MANHATTAN SHUFFLE - Area Code 212
CALL ME TONIGHT - Cerrone
I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE - Alicia Bridges
CHERCHEZ PAS - Madleen Kane
I WANNA ROCK YOU - Giorgio Moroder
EVOLUTION - Giorgio Moroder
WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES - Aretha Franklin
YOU'RE TOO LATE - Fantasy
(mystery instrumental) 4/14 update: ALL MY LOVE (Inst) -LAX (found this from my Prelude compilation listening session last weekend!!!).
HARMONY - Suzi Lane
SPACE INVADERS - Playback
ULTIMATE WARLORD - Immortals
SUPERNATURE - Cerrone
THE NIGHT THEY INVENTED LOVE - Noel

I'D LIKE TO GET CLOSER - USA/European Connection
GONE, GONE, GONE - Johnny Mathis
KEEP ON HOLDING ON - Margaret Reynolds
THE BOSS - Miss Ross
CAN YOU FEEL IT - The Jacksons
HOW LONG - Lipps Inc.
SELL MY SOUL - Sylvester
HOLD ON TO MY LOVE - Jimmy Ruffin
(music fades. applause for the DJ . Tempo change..it's time for hardcore "Morning Music", kidz))

FANCY DANCER - Greg Diamond's Starcruiser Band
DUBBING IN BUCK-IN-HAMM - Peter Tosh
THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS - Ray Martinez
HOT TO TROT - Alfredo de la Fe
THE REAL THING - Daddy Dewdrop
LA BAMBA - Antonia Rodriguez
ONE WAY TICKET - Eruption
TRY MY LOVE - Denise Lasalle
TAKE A CHANCE - Queen Samantha
LOVE PAINS - Yvonne Elliman
LOVE MAGIC - John Davis & The Monster Orchestra
ONE FOR YOU, ONE FOR ME - La Bionda

TOUCH ME WHERE IT'S HOT - Erotic Drum Band
WALK THE NIGHT - Skatt Brothers
RAPTURE - Blondie
(music fades. applause for the DJ)

IT'S MY HOUSE - Miss Ross
STANDING RIGHT HERE - Melba Moore
RUNAWAY LOVE - Linda Clifford
YOU STEPPED INTO MY LIFE - Melba Moore
PASSION - Rod Stewart
LIKE AN EAGLE - Dennis Parker
NATIVE NEW YORKER - Odyssey
I FOUND LOVE - Deniece Williams
JUST US - Two Tons O' Fun
WHAT CHA GONNA DO WITH MY LOVIN' - Stephanie Mills
DOUBLE LOVE - Crackin'
I DON'T WANNA BE A FREAK (BUT I CAN'T HELP MYSELF) - Dynasty
STREET LIFE - Crusaders feat. Randy Crawford

(music fades. applause for the DJ...ok screams, stomps & shouts for the DJ)

FREE - Deniece Williams
HOT BUTTERFLY - Bionic Boogie (Luther Vandross)
THE MUSIC OF LIFE - Cerrone..............

end of tape 8. End of party??? I don't really know...anyone who was there step forward and say your piece....)

OK, let the turds stop dropping. I'm fully prepared to flush em. :evil:

[SandraDee]

I'd loved to have been there that night, some of my favourite tracks of all-time are included. Unfortunately I was still at school & lived nowhere near S.F. but it sounds like the perfect disco Marky; you're very lucky to have experienced it. I did visit S.F.in '83 but was with my parents & couldn't sneak off to Castro or such-like exciting places. :evil:

[markydefad]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I'd loved to have been there that night, some of my favourite tracks of all-time are included. Unfortunately I was still at school & lived nowhere near S.F. but it sounds like the perfect disco Marky; you're very lucky to have experienced it. I did visit S.F.in '83 but was with my parents & couldn't sneak off to Castro or such-like exciting places. :evil:

Steely D...1983!!!!

You coulda visited Keefe & myself at the soon-to-close Aloha Records on 18th & Castro!!!!! We woulda hooked ya up with lotsa fabulous stuff!!! :lol:

We woulda loved a young English boy who loved disco!!! And not in an "Uncle Ernie" way, either. :P

Where did you stay? Don't tell me Ghiradelli Square???!!! (Tourist trap, for the uninformed).

[SandraDee]

We stayed at the Van Ness motel on Van Ness, the busy road that goes from market street to the North Beach/Fisherman Wharf area; I remember on the 1st night the fog came down really heavily & the only place we could see was the Tower record shop on Columbus Avenue so I spent ages in there & bought stuff I couldn't get in UK like Sister Sledge's 'I Bet You Say That To All The Girls' & Rockie Robbins' 'I Believe In Love' LPs. I would've loved 2 friendly gay guys to show me round as though I got on well with my parents they wanted a different sort of holiday than I did!
I had the good fortune to revisit SF in 2000 in very different circumstances (ie with my boyf!) & actually got to go to all those places like the Castro, Haight Ashbury & 'Soma' & really enjoyed it (though my boyf got fed up with waiting for me while I spent hours in 2nd hand record shops!) but wished I had done it when music & lotsa other things were so much better (i.e.'75 - '82). Some of the bars like the SF Eagle & Midnight Sun were so boring (but played good Pet Shop Boys videos!); must've been a bad night when we went. The Bagdad cafe on Market Street was quite interesting & the waiter very flirtatious & cute (not that I noticed much of course!).

[keefelc]

Hey, I just ate at the Bagdad Cafe the other day. Perfect place to people watch especially since the Muscle System gym is right up the street!

Steely, was it the Jack Tarr Hotel that you stayed at back in 1983 (it's now called the Cathedral Hill)?

As for spending hours digging through the piles in the local record stores, you never ever go with a s.o. unless he/she is totally into music like you. All you'll ever hear is, "Can we go now?" "Oh wait, please, just one more bin!"

Right Jeff? :D

Speaking of an evening at Troc, I just found out a revelation this weekend. Whenever the Aloha group would be dancing at Troc, we would swear we were hearing the familiar sounds of a song fading in to the background. We would eagerly anticipate the song being fully mixed in and, of course, the song would never appear. We used to think it was the drugs or we were going crazy! :D I was very surprised to find out that some of the Troc DJs (especially Mike Lewis) would be playing, very softly in the background, a prerecorded reel to reel tape with an entirely different program!!! This was done simply to mess with our minds! :o It was called something like "subtape". How wonderfully subversive!

Was this exclusive to Troc or are some of you other DJs from that era guity of these mind games too??? Nicky???

[Discovery]

Wow! Fantastic set! What an exciting night that must have been.

Marky, can you put the segment with the live Cynthia Manley performance up on a website so we may download and listen?

[markydefad]

Originally Posted by Discovery

Marky, can you put the segment with the live Cynthia Manley performance up on a website so we may download and listen?

Sorry, Discovery.

I be too stooopid to do that. I'm a technophobe. :oops:

[NickNack]

Originally Posted by keefelc

Was this exclusive to Troc or are some of you other DJs from that era guity of these mind games too??? Nicky???

Mind games? Yes. But I never went so far as to play another tape under my set. I did like to 'underlay' other songs under what was happening. Sometimes I mixed them in, sometimes not. It was really fun if you were working a story.

The 'girls' would always come out of 12 West and tell me the head games the dj's played. I think Robbie Leslie was the main culprit :) , always playing something just within earshot. Like you say, it made you feverish to hear it but then he would go in another direction.

[NickNack]

Marky,

That playlist is something I would have loved to experience live and in living technicolor :D . He's got all the energy grooves in play. Serious Anvil vibe. I can see where Bobby V.and I might have gotten on very well. I wish my brain wasn't so fried. I'm wondering if I ever had the pleasure of meeting him when he was hangin' out with Robbie. I think you guys are going to have one helluva a party this month! :D

[keefelc]

And I don't think the set that Mark listed was one of the better evenings at Troc. I still don't believe it was Bobby spinning - it just doesn't have that right sound!

Nicky, you and Bobby V. definitely enjoyed the same type of sounds! There were a few other DJs over here in SF that really knew how to get into the morning/sleaze groove. Timmy Rivers immediately comes to mind. After Bobby left Trocadero, Tim was one of the main DJs my circle of friends would look forward to hearing and dancing to at Troc!

However, I have to say that Bobby V. was probably the one that knew best how to put together a diverse set of music (especially when it came to pulling out the unknown stuff) - well at least in SF!

As for the mind games, I think we encouraged the Troc DJs to do so (to enhance the party treats that were taken back then)! In fact, Mark and I have discussed just how different will the dance experience be on April 18th without certain shall we call them "vitamins"??? :D I guess we shall soon see!

[SandraDee]

As for spending hours digging through the piles in the local record stores, you never ever go with a s.o. unless he/she is totally into music like you. All you'll ever hear is, "Can we go now?" "Oh wait, please, just one more bin!"

That's a very accurate picture keef! He usually wanders off to find a cafe/restaurant/bar & I join him hours later!
It was a motel we stayed at in '83 'cos we doing a 'fly-drive' around California (the car broke down in the middle of Yosemite - scary!)
The night we went to Bagdad cafe in 2000 it was freezing cold but 2 days later a heatwave started & the guy on the radio reckoned it was one of the warmest days in SF's history! (we hired a car & went up to Russian River which was a lovely surprise! ah, memories :) 8) )[/quote]

[keefelc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

That's a very accurate picture keef! He usually wanders off to find a cafe/restaurant/bar & I join him hours later!
It was a motel we stayed at in '83 'cos we doing a 'fly-drive' around California (the car broke down in the middle of Yosemite - scary!)
The night we went to Bagdad cafe in 2000 it was freezing cold but 2 days later a heatwave started & the guy on the radio reckoned it was one of the warmest days in SF's history! (we hired a car & went up to Russian River which was a lovely surprise! ah, memories :) 8) )

Hi Steely! I love that you added the "s" to the end of hour. That does sound familiar.

You must have stayed at the motels near Union and Van Ness - not too far from the Cannery and Guiradelli Square and The Wharf, right?

The weather you described sounds like SF. In fact, that can happen within the same day! The River can be very nice. I remember a small group of us lazily drifting down the River in a boat and sipping champagne, slowly getting plastered and sunburnt! :roll:

[SandraDee]

Yes keef, that was the area near the wharf & the Cannery. My parents loved Pier 39 with its performers & bands but weren't too struck with the wharf as there were 2 down & out trannies begging from the tourists & shouting abuse; I thought they were more entertaining than the proper entertainment myself! (I was 18 & had a sheltered life! 'til then!)

BTW, I forgot to mention earlier, I always thought 'Disco Kicks' by Boystown Gang came out in '82 so I've learned something there.

[Pizzazz]

I only heard about this party a couple of weeks ago, been trying to find a cheap flight for this Saturday but to no avail, guess i'm just going to have to stay home and take out Festival 'Evita', Frankie Valli, Two Man Sound, etc, instead ! Maybe next time...

Spent a couple of weeks in San Francisco last year and definitely want to go back, it would be great to hook up with some of you who 'remember the party' ! BTW, where was Trocadero Transfer located ?

[keefelc]

Hi Pizzazz,
Wow! That would have been great to have a visitor from Ireland to compare notes with about the music in the two countries. Maybe one of the airlines will have some last minute specials this week?

Trocadero Transfer was located on 4th Street near Bryant. It's close to SF's Financial Center and the commuter train station. We remember those Sunday parties that would last until 9 to 11 am on Monday morning. So, as the Troc diehards were leaving the club, they would be running into the people going to work! Not a pretty site! :lol:

I was informed this weekend that the Remember party will be going on a little longer than the posted 2 am closing time. Robbie Leslie will be able to devote this extra time to creating more Morning Music magic! I'll be drinking lots of caffeine this coming Sunday!