The Godfather of Disco

[fabio]

One of the very few films that I selected from this year London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival is the beautiful documentary “The Godfather of Disco” by Gene Graham. It tells the story of Mel Cheren (January 21, 1933 – December 7, 2007), charting his life from the humble beginning to the fame and stardom he achieved both in life and career when he co-founded WEST END RECORDS in 1976, probably one of the most influential disco label of the time.
Along the way, Mel helped invent the instrumental B side of the 7” single (Ultra High Frequency: We’re on the right track), which allowed the DJs to extend a record, and make his contribution for the whole disco revolution to happen.
He was also present when the ultimate disco accessory was created (the 12 inch disco format), invented by Tom Moulton when he was working as one of Mel’s producers in his new Record label.
Not only that but Mel was also provided the initial home for what was the largest AIDS service organisation (Gay Men’s Health Crisis) and in 1987 he also founded 24 Hours in Life, a not-for-profit organization of media and music professionals which produced fundraising events for AIDS relief and education.
I have read most of the recent books related to the History of dance/disco music (personally I think that Love Saves The Day, is the most compelling) and in this documentary you get to see and to hear most of the key elements of the disco agenda:
MFSB: Love is the message, Barry White: Love’s theme, David Mancuso and The Loft, Tom Moulton, The Paradise Garage and Larry Levan they are all mentioned.
Nicky Siano, the guy who runs VynilMania in NY, Junior Vasquez, Jellybean Benitez and many others give their honest opinion on the importance of West End Records.
Amongst its productions “Hot Shot” by Karen Young was perhaps the most successful, selling in excess of 800’000 copies.
Other productions mentioned are “Sesso Matto”, Loose Joints :”It’s all over my face” (perhaps my all time favourite!!), Taana Gardner: “Heartbeat” and “When you touch me” which apparently nobody liked until Larry Levan started to play it heavily at the Paradise. The Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait", Raw Silk “Do it to the Music” (another one of my favorite), Barbara Mason: “Another Man” (another Man is loving my Man!) and Mahogany :”Ride on The Rhythm” (Which I didn’t know).
Watching this documentary, I felt my blood rushing when the music was played. I wonder how long before a proper “West End Anthology” with the original versions of the whole catalogue…..none of the commercial re-issue, resampled and re-re-remixed by the contemporary DJs.
And what is your favourite WE release?

[For the record the other film I have selected is “OTTO, or Up With the Death” by Bruce LaBruce with the beautiful Marcel Schlutt.]

Thanks to Steve Weinstein, the usual w’s thedailyswarm.com and
West End Records

[QUINNY]

You don't think the 'instrumental B side' was just a cheaper way of filling the other side of the record and also a way of maybe squeezing more hits from a single LP? Hardly something to be proud of (unless you're a record label exec who only sees the bottom line as the most important reason for releasing records). I'm not inferring anything in particular about Mel Cheren, but I betcha he was hard-nosed when it came to making money.

Let's keep it real.

BTW: IMO Mahogany - Ride On The Rhythm is probably the best track mentioned.

Persoanally, I'll never forgive him for releasing Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman by Sounds of Inner City>

[SandraDee]

I think my favourite Westend release is 'Heat You Up, Melt you Down' by Shirley Lites closely followed by 'Hot Shot' by Karen Young & 'On The Run' by Colleen Heather. That Mahogany one (Ride On The Rhythm) is good but it soon runs out of steam I often feel.:icon_confused:

[fabio]

Oh Quinny... i always had a soft spot for the instrumental versions. In fact i have only recently found Good Times the instrumental version and still looking for You belong to me (Carly Simon).
Hello SandraDee, I really like the track you mentioned by Shirley Lites and remembered that i found a copy at the record fair in Kilburn (London) only last month (WES 22155).
Keep em comin...

[Disco Funk]

He definitely didn't invent the instrumental B side, as there were many singles before UHF's that incorporated such a format. Heck, that's how Soulful Strut became a huge hit for Young Holt Unlimited, because DJs preferred it over the Barbara Acklin A side.

Hey, don't knock the philly groove of Mary Hartman! It's pretty cheesy, I'll have to admit, and occasionally I hit the skip button on my mp3 player when it comes up, but it is a nice little Vince Montana production.

My favourite West End records are the philly ones, of course. Philly USA's Speak Well has the best lyrics though, with the line 'it's not the size of your pencil, but how well you write with it, and as far as I'm concerned, you're writing without any lead at all' or something to that effect. I also loved the last, funky philly 12" by People's Choice, 'Hey Everybody'. Even though it was put out in 1981, it sounded very retro, thanks to Tom Moulton. After that, their later releases featured the typical 80s mix sound, synthetic with over produced drums.

You said you found an Instrumental of Good Times? Is that the Chic track? Where was it? And I'm guessing it's a short mix, not the whole 8 minute mix?

Disco Funk

[fabio]

Hey Disco Funk, I don't know the tracks you have mentioned (the philly ones?). Could i find them on a compilation?
The Chic instrumental version i found (not on vinyl) is 8 minutes long....

[thommy2458]

Hi Fabio-It sounds like you had a great presentation.I have never heard of this documentary and am now curious where to track it down.Have you seen the set
of CD's released in the 90's called "The West End Story"-
I believe there were four volumes.Unfortunately,it looks
like a search on Amazon shows they maybe out of print
but still available at fluctuating prices.
I think Mel had a big part in pushing the whole
disco instrumentl as a "B" side on the Sceptor 45's.I
think his exposure to early club culture made him more
sensitive to a DJ's needs to have more to work with than
a 2 or 3 minute single.

Thom

[Disco Funk]

There are a number of tracks available through West End Records website. I bought a number of them as downloads years ago, but was disappointed when it turned out they used vinyl sources for a number of the tracks. The Masters At Work remixes of Can You Feel It by Michelle (another philly production) were the only things that sounded like Master Tape sourced. I don't know if they've changed the sources for their audio in the last 3 or 4 years. Anyway, here's the link to the website, which also offers audio samples:

West End Records

Oh yeah, just an fyi, if you like Speak Well by Philly USA, there are two mixes floating around on 12". The West End Record website has just the second mix available for download, which feature a Van McCoy latin drum groove in the verses. That 12" had a 7 minute vocal and 6 minute instrumental. The other mix features a straight regular drum beat throughout, and the 12" has a 5 minute plus mix on one side, and a 3 minute plus edit on the flip side, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know which version came first, but I personally prefer the latter mix because it keeps the momentum of the song going, whereas the latin change-up slows the pace of the song for me.

Disco Funk

[Dayna]

Forgive me Taana."ya know I love ya" BUT..
My all time West End fav is Hands Down."Hot Shot"-Karen Young.
Followed by.."No Frills" and "When You Touch Me" by Taana

[remicks]

I think Mel had a big part in pushing the whole
disco instrumentl as a "B" side on the Sceptor 45's.I
think his exposure to early club culture made him more
sensitive to a DJ's needs to have more to work with than
a 2 or 3 minute single.

Thom

I agree those early Scepter 45's were genius leading us further into disco . I can't think of any that were vocal A side /instrumental B side though Thom .....(??:icon_confused:?)

Typically they were:
regular version A side / disco version B side
with most being instrumental tunes on both sides .

The ones that come to mind are:

EL BIMBO
CHINESE KUNG FU
EXPRESS

:icon_cool:


*****

[thommy2458]

[quote=remicks;136097]I agree those early Scepter 45's were genius leading us further into disco . I can't think of any that were vocal A side /instrumental B side though Thom .....(??:icon_confused:?)

Typically they were:
regular version A side / disco version B side
with most being instrumental tunes on both sides .

The ones that come to mind are:

EL BIMBO
CHINESE KUNG FU
EXPRESS

:icon_cool:





You're right Remicks and alot more-all the singles from
the Disco Gold series...

[fabio]

Hi Thom
I have no idea if the documentary is going to be available at the cinemas or if it will be available in the "underground-scene" only. As I have said I saw it in London...where about are you from?
Many thanks to you and to DiscoFunk for the information. I have located already the 4 cds (do i need to advertise where?) and will purchase them very soon.

[thommy2458]

Hi Thom
I have no idea if the documentary is going to be available at the cinemas or if it will be available in the "underground-scene" only. As I have said I saw it in London...where about are you from?
Many thanks to you and to DiscoFunk for the information. I have located already the 4 cds (do i need to advertise where?) and will purchase them very soon.

Thankyou Fabio-I'm from Southern California.I will keep
searching the internet.I quickly checked Netflix for
"The Godfather of Disco" and only got "Disco Godfather"-
which looks like a 70's Foxy Brown/Superfly thing!
Glad you found the CD's.
Thom