in terms of disco medleys (or "suites")

[ol'skinflint]

do you prefer Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park"/"One of a Kind"/"Heaven Knows" or Carol Douglas' "Midnight Love Affair"/"In the Morning"/"Lie to Me"? I love the way the songs compliment each other in both, and the way they flow without breaks, and the fact that they're so lushly orchestrated. I almost always listed to them in their entirety.

[BrunoRepublic]

Prefer them to what? They're both wonderful.

[the disco kid]

Carol Douglas for me, i love them both, but i'd listen to Carol in it's entirety more often than MacArthur Park Suite

[Dayna]

Even though Carol is a friend and I hope she doesnt read this."you know I love you mama" I never get tired of MacArther Park Suite.. and actually my favorite Carol Douglas song Is "Fell In Love For The First Time" Today..But still love all her songs,but in answer to the question.. Donna

[JussiK]

Donna's "Mc Arthur Park" main song always worked well but IMO what follows is a bit of a bore. As a whole the suite does not really cut it these days, at least on the dancefloor. Carol's affair has that chunky mid 70's hi-hat & congas structure that sounds good today, especially when it gets hot with "Carol's Theme/In The Morning". But then the energy drops to near zero with "Lie To Me". Still, with 2 tracks en suite, Carol wins.

[BrunoRepublic]

Donna's "Mc Arthur Park" main song always worked well but IMO what follows is a bit of a bore. As a whole the suite does not really cut it these days, at least on the dancefloor.

I dunno, I think it actually works in the context of the suite. "One Of A Kind" is a totally forgettable song on its own, but the suite needs that to give people a breather between the dizzying heights of "MacArthur Park" and "Heaven Knows". Seventeen minutes at the that intensity would be too much for almost anyone. "Midnight Love Affair" can get away with it because it's not so frantic.

[Disco Funk]

Even though Carol is a friend and I hope she doesnt read this."you know I love you mama" I never get tired of MacArther Park Suite.. and actually my favorite Carol Douglas song Is "Fell In Love For The First Time" Today..But still love all her songs,but in answer to the question.. Donna

Good call. Fell In Love For The First Time Today is also one of my favorite Carol Douglas tracks. I can't remember which mix I like, the 12" or LP. One of them really blows me away. It probably is the 12", with the hand claps.

Disco Funk

[SandraDee]

I feel that it's unfair to compare these 2 in particular as one is from '76 & the other from '78 & production levels/styles changed alot in that time. Macarthur Park has a mind-blowing OTT production whereas Carol's has a different type of charm. They're definitely 2 very good examples of disco suites as neither of them seem overly long. I listened to Marlena Shaw's 'Suite 17' recently & thought that it got on my nerves after a while. The arrangements & singing/playing are faultless & brilliant but I don't actually like some of the songs that are included on Suite 17. :icon_confused:

[EricHG23]

Yeah it's a bit hard to compare for me... Mac Park Suite is prob my fave of the long Donna pieces (though if we just mean blended songs the first side of Time and the last of Bad girls come close)... Or hwoabotu Madleen Kane's Forbidden Love Suite? Awful lead vocals but brilliant IMHO... I love the openign suite of DC LaRue's Confessions...

E

[garrybcoston]

Simon Soussan (French Kiss, Arpeggio, Simon Orchestra) was also well known for his "suites" in disco songs. Was kind of weird to me back in the day but now I understand them. The French Kiss Album, "Panic" had a couple of suites on it.

Garry

[EricHG23]

Soussan did the sublime After Dark right? I actually know very little of his other output...

It should be pointed out too that MacArthur Park Suite exists in two versions. The original (which I think is 17:47?) and the slightly later DJ Promo (which I think is 17:35). The original mix is my preference--much smoother transitions but it doesn't have the "full" Heaven Knows. Later when Heaven became a big hit it was remixed, in a slightly more clunky transition, to include the full Heaven Knows. For ages that mix was harder to find--as it was a DJ only release until the 1994 Casablanca 4 CD set... But lately, annoyingly, it's become the easier to find mix (maybe because it was already remastered?) since it's appeared on the Deluxe Bad Girls CD too and the Dance Collection CD with the original mix is getting harder to find...

[garrybcoston]

Soussan did the sublime After Dark right? I actually know very little of his other output...

It should be pointed out too that MacArthur Park Suite exists in two versions. The original (which I think is 17:47?) and the slightly later DJ Promo (which I think is 17:35). The original mix is my preference--much smoother transitions but it doesn't have the "full" Heaven Knows. Later when Heaven became a big hit it was remixed, in a slightly more clunky transition, to include the full Heaven Knows. For ages that mix was harder to find--as it was a DJ only release until the 1994 Casablanca 4 CD set... But lately, annoyingly, it's become the easier to find mix (maybe because it was already remastered?) since it's appeared on the Deluxe Bad Girls CD too and the Dance Collection CD with the original mix is getting harder to find...

You're very smart Mr. Handsome; yes he did, and after dark was sung by Patti Brookes in conjunction with the movie and album "Thank God It's Friday" (Circa 1978) which was produced by Simon Soussan of Arpeggio fame at the time (he would go on to later produce albums by French Kiss and Simon Orchestra (both Circa 1979 when disco was on the way out)). The latter two albums were hard disco, that is, with the beat very fast 130+ bpm, more akin to current dance/techo "speed" but with traditional 1970's disco garb, strings/horns/percussion/congas/bass/some synth/drums, etc. They are actually very good albums especially Simon Orchestra. One cut off of French Kiss, "Panic," is also good. He didn't do much more after disco died.

Garry