Did freestyle get much play in gay clubs?

[Mixmachine]

Yes , Miami played lots of High energy music in straight clubs, many songs mentioned here before as Gay fave where hits in local straight clubs, “Searching” by Hazel Dean was a huge straight club hit, and unless you frequented Gay clubs or kept up with Club Life details you wouldn’t know of the different take on the lyrics.

In the mid 80’s ‘Freestyle “ was huge in Miami clubs, and just about every act performed at local clubs like Casanovas, Infinity, Parallel Bar and many others, at the same time Gay clubs almost exclusively played high energy and the instrumental of certain cuts, some mentioned here. As House music began to creep in (around 85) local Gay clubs began to heavily play this new sound, I used to check out the charts turned in the Pool and Gay club Djs played many obscure underground house music and the ‘House’ or ‘Dub” mix of many others that were not popular nor played in most straight clubs yet

Originally Posted by NickNack

If more freestyle sounded like this I'd have played it to death! I am absolutely nuts for this song, even to this day. This for me was one of the best pieces of dance music in the 80s. And wasn't it Ish, from Foxy, at the helm?

UH, GET OFF! GET, GET OFF! :D :D

Yes this was produced by Ish Ledesma and was mixed by Ciro, one of Casanovas’ Djs, another similar song produced by Ish was “Something tells me” (this will be the night) by Tiger Moon, used in the classic “Blue Parrot” (white lady) scene in the flick “Frantic”. I consider them a stepping stone to 'House'

[totoman]

I've never really understood what freestyle was, it wasn't a phrase used here - but I loved No Frills Love, I never heard it enough.

toto

[NickNack]

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

Yes this was produced by Ish Ledesma and was mixed by Ciro, one of Casanovas’ Djs, another similar song produced by Ish was “Something tells me” (this will be the night) by Tiger Moon, used in the classic “Blue Parrot” (white lady) scene in the flick “Frantic”. I consider them a stepping stone to 'House'

There you go! 'Something Tells Me' I was into Ish cause I surely played Tiger Moon. I remember Diane Rhoads working this one at the M&K in Asbury Park, NJ. Man, she had such fun behind the tables it was infectious.

Back to topic: To me, Tiger Moon and Company B are not 'freestyle', or not what I considered freestyle. Elements are there but Ish kept that 'bass for club' sound in there which most freestyle avoided.

[nrgbeat]

While we're on the subject of "Fascinated". There's a version of Bananarama's "I Heard A Rumor" which uses the intro to "Fascinated".

[efunk_adelic]

Mixmachine,


forgive me for saying this..... Freestyle music has an 808 beat. These artists are considered Freestyle.



Freestyle
Egyptian Lover
Soul Sonic Force


etc. etc. etc.

Company B should be just considered 80's latest style of disco/dance. Let's get some other opinions.

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by efunk_adelic

Mixmachine,
forgive me for saying this..... Freestyle music has an 808 beat. These artists are considered Freestyle.
Freestyle
Egyptian Lover
Soul Sonic Force
etc. etc. etc.
Company B should be just considered 80's latest style of disco/dance. Let's get some other opinions.

HuH, What did I say? :roll:

[nrgbeat]

Originally Posted by efunk_adelic

Mixmachine,


forgive me for saying this..... Freestyle music has an 808 beat. These artists are considered Freestyle.



Freestyle
Egyptian Lover
Soul Sonic Force


etc. etc. etc.

Company B should be just considered 80's latest style of disco/dance. Let's get some other opinions.

Let's not get into this debate in this thread. I said Company B was a Freestyle-NRG hybrid.

[efunk_adelic]

sorry

[Rab]

Most gay clubs are as diverse as straight clubs. Music changed with the times, and as disco faded, new styles of music that were int style became integrated.

[Discovery]

Originally Posted by sfbeary

i once interviewed Sylvester, who said that he sometimes got hassled at the door to some clubs and asked for multiple forms of ID or was faulted for his open-toed shoes when they didn't know who he was.

I'd like to hear more about sfbeary's interview with Sylvester.

[StuckIn1979]

Originally Posted by NickNack

Barry,

Love to weigh in, but not here, for the sake of nrgbeat's topic. So, we should look for this elsewhere...

What exactly was "white" music back then? It seems most of the artists were black. Does this mean they didn't play Rappers Delight in favor of Good Times?

[sfbeary]

keep in mind that "white" music is your expression, not mine, and that we were discussing dance music played in gay clubs during the '80s, which was by and large hi-NRG and eurodisco. the singers may have often been black, but they were usually female, which is more acceptable to a white gay crowd, and the producers behind them during the '80s were almost always white. yes, plenty of djs played more soulful stuff in the beginning and ends of their sets, but that was when the most hardcore dancers were on the floor, and their tastes were far more broadminded. most of the records that were big in white gay clubs would've cleared the floor within seconds at nearly every black club, even gay ones. i don't intend to be inflammatory here - it's simply the truth.

[markydefad]

Are we speaking of the likes of Miss "Two of Hearts", Stacey Q and that ilk???? The success of this record at Probe was a sign to me that the end was near. :evil:

[sfbeary]

i actually love stacey q, just as i love, as you know, lime. at least some of their records crossed over.

i'm refering to what i consider "gay ghetto" music - music heard in AMERIKKKA only in gay clubs - the collected works of the passion, record shack, nightmare, power, etc. hi-NRG labels that were created specifically for gay clubs. and i love some of that stuff too, but it did emphasize the racial divide that had occurred in dance music during the '80s.

back in the '70s, MOST underground gay music would've worked in the american straight clubs and even the black clubs. despite ian levine's northern soul roots and use of black divas, something like earlene bentley's "the boys come to town" was NOT going to fly in the same clubs playing s.o.s. band and cameo during the mid-'80s.

and it worked both ways - sos band's "take your time (do it right)" was played in gay clubs before it became a radio hit, and cameo's "find my way" surely must've been played in gay clubs. but cameo's "word up" or most of that slow-to-mid-tempo sos band stuff - no way. i think the only sos band record i remember hearing in gay clubs after "take your time" was "no lies" and that was because it was uptempo and easy to mix with the NRG.

[markydefad]

Originally Posted by sfbeary

i actually love stacey q, just as i love, as you know, lime.

Oooh, Barry, I'm scared uv you!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

(think Womack & Womack)