MECO Lovers stand up ...

[Jackman Wulf]

.....and clap your hands! :D

yeahh I really love this guy and the beautiful arranging of
Harold Wheeler.

Is someone out there who does not ? Tell me what
you don´t like on his music and why ?

By the way, i NEED to have the Encounters and Alice Albums
on a CD Release RIGHT NOW ! A&Rs around: HURRY !

[dbmc]

Count me in as a Meco lover.
I'd love the Encounters album on CD too.
Played some of the b-side stuff of late and its real jazzy funk.

Like many artists though he's had some pure shite moments

[QUINNY]

Star Wars was enough for me. On one level it was one of the most perfect pieces of Disco music ever conceived, but on another level it was pure cheese and was a watershed moment in the dumbing down of Disco music.

Overall, I can't stands the record, especially nowadays.

[BrunoRepublic]

I like Meco, but more for the works that he co-produced as opposed to his own material. Gloria Gaynor's early albums are brilliant, both the disco material and the R&B/soul numbers.

[DiscoMan]

Meco's "Star Wars" was brilliant but cheese.
I've always been conflicted about him - what he did he did well but it was cheesey nonetheless.

[SandraDee]

I like Meco, but more for the works that he co-produced as opposed to his own material. Gloria Gaynor's early albums are brilliant, both the disco material and the R&B/soul numbers.

Couldn't agree more Graham, I've just been listening to 'How High The Moon' (Gloria G.) & 'Suite 17' (Marlena Shaw) on a tape I compiled of disco covers & he has to be one of the best arrangers ever of this type of material, closely followed by Gil Askey & 3 Hats Productions.

[remicks]

****

And now one more reason to love Meco !!!! :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin:


Trombone solos amongst the disco ......:icon_question: :icon_confused: can you think of many (any) ? ??


Well ya......there's THAT one ......

on Diana Ross' I'M COMING OUT .



Guess what .......
that's Meco doing that solo



Seems he was a neighbor of Nile Rodgers at the time and was invited to play :icon_cool: :icon_cool: :icon_cool: :icon_cool:.





(well that's what wiki says ... and for now ......I'm a believer !! )


update:

now confirmed

"I played on countless hit records as a trombonist, the most notable being Diana Ross' "Diana" produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic in 1980. I play the only jazz trombone solo that I am aware of featured on any pop record of the last 50 years. That was I playing on "I'm Coming Out." Diana hated the album so much and was so pissed at Nile that she did not give any of the musicians credit."

from :


Bernie's interview with Meco right here at discomusic.com !!!!!! :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin: :icon_biggrin:

******

OK here's some more wiki juice for Meco lovers :

The horn section on Tommy James' "Crystal Blue Persuasion" .......Meco put that together

[JussiK]

I was again reminded of how great Meco can be during the Remember The party, when Jerry played the "Optimistic Voices" sequence from the Wizard of Oz album. Meco is pure Americana made in Hollywood, a sound that fills your head with gloriously saturated technicolor fantasies completely removed from all reality. The Wiz lp really excels in this but it also has a trippy and druggy quality to it, making for a twisted, big budget masterpiece.

[RobbaDobba]

I was again reminded of how great Meco can be during the Remember The party, when Jerry played the "Optimistic Voices" sequence from the Wizard of Oz album. Meco is pure Americana made in Hollywood, a sound that fills your head with gloriously saturated technicolor fantasies completely removed from all reality. The Wiz lp really excels in this but it also has a trippy and druggy quality to it, making for a twisted, big budget masterpiece.

I prefer this to the Star Wars stuff, actually. And I love his version of "Topsy"!!!

[djscream67]

Not bad stuff for a guy from Pennsylvania. His Star Wars & OGF album was the very 1st I bought when I was 10 y.o., and I STILL have it! I also have 'Encounters Of Every Kind' and the 'Wizard Of Oz' albums! Yes, the ALBUMS, NOT the CD's! I still wonder sometimes when he did the Star Wars album on Millennium recordings, being that the movie had the 'Millennium' Falcon, was it coincidential? Probably not, but who cares? Meco Monardo was THE man to beat back then!

Let's not forget what he did for Diana Ross and Gloria Gaynor. He certainly wasn't limited to his own creations.

[JussiK]

In a perfect world, environmentally customized materials change color and provide limitless effects, famine and terrorism are things of the past and the soundtrack of "The Wizard Of Oz" has been replaced with the disco version by Meco. Impossible? Read on. There is now a special edition DVD of the original 1939 version of The Wiz, with Judy Garland not Miss Ross, in which the narrative is synchronized to the sounds on the Meco album. That's right; the imagery follows both complete sides of the record with every beat intact, turning the movie into the amazing Technicolor disco fantasy of our dreams.

How did this happen?

Meco: In 1977, I followed the world-wide platinum success of "Star Wars" with "Encounters of Every Kind", which was met with only moderate success. My record company, Millennium Records, was pushing me to find another film to "Meco-ize". Film companies sent me to many private screenings, but I turned all of them down which included "Meteor", "Dracula" and even "Jaws 2"! Then one night in early 1978, I dreamt that I would combine the fabulous songs from "The Wizard of Oz" with the Meco disco sound.

When I told the record company what I wanted to record, they said no!! Well, I went on vacation until my lawyer called to say they finally gave in and I could go ahead with my silly idea. Now if any of you believe in numerology, check this out - I was born in 1939 - the film was released in 1939 - Guess how old I was in 1978 when I recorded it? That's right - 39 years old!!

Your interpretation of the soundtrack was re-discovered by the hipper British deejays during the second Summer of Love that kicked off the rave era. Luminaries such as Mark Moore of S'Express listed the album as one of his all time favorites in 1989, describing it as a laboratory of musical experimentation. Since then of course, the disco revival has only gained strength, especially here in Europe, and the album's reputation has grown as something totally cosmic.

Still, in my opinion, rather than a uniquely cinematic piece of neo-psychedelia, what we really have in your "Wizard Of Oz" is a defining disco album, with every element of the musical genre taken to transcendental heights. From the impossibly lush orchestration to the totally baroque arrangements, the Wiz is Disco with the capital D. Did you purposefully create it as such, or did you rather just use that massive orchestra to its full potential, to a happening musical format? In other words, were you personally into disco when you did those recordings?

Meco: In order to answer that question, we have to go back in time to 1974. My creative team of Tony Bongiovi and Harold Wheeler and I produced the first commercial recording in which the full side of the album was 3 songs - each with a different tempo - but with no break between the songs. It also was the first to do what was already being done in discos by DJs, and that is to feature whole sections of music without the vocalist!!

Those innovations were the brainchild of Tom Moulton - not mine or my team. That album was "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Gloria Gaynor. The single was the first one to be listed at No. 1 on the Billboard's new Disco charts. So when it came time for "Meco" the artist to express himself, the groundwork had already been set. I added one important creative element that, up to that time no one had ever used, and that was the use of sound effects.

What was it like to work with all those musicians you had at your disposal during those late 70's sessions?

Meco: I have a Masters Degree from the Eastman School of Music, so when given the opportunity to create my own popular music, using 60 or 70 musicians was quite natural. But what really set us apart from most other instrumentalists of that time were the arrangements. I am an excellent arranger, but I had the sense to hire, not another excellent arranger,but the greatest arranger of all time - Harold Wheeler!! If somehow you don't believe me, consider this. The No. 1 TV show in America is called - "Dancing With the Stars". If you've seen it, I'm sure you are aware of the wonderful music which is played - live - each week. The conductor and arranger is - Harold Wheeler.

Now, about your best known work,"Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk". The original 1977 version remains a pop culture phenomenon worldwide. Three decades have passed since it first blasted through the speakers of clubs worldwide but its iconic pull grows ever stronger. What is the story behind the recording, like is it true you arranged and recorded it within two weeks right after the film's release?

Meco: I saw the film many times during its first week of release in New York City. I was convinced that John Williams' themes were recordable and danceable. By the way, did you know that when the film was first screened for George Lucas and his friends, they all thought it was a disaster and George was hoping it would at least breakeven. The only person who, like my self, thought it would be a huge success was - Steven Spielberg!!!!

After I made the deal to record the music, I met with Harold Wheeler and told him the 15 minute arrangement would follow the action of the film. When we finished mixing the album, all my partners said - "It's good, but there's no single!!!" So I took the master to another studio, and with a novice engineer simply doing as I commanded, made the edits as I heard them for the single. When I played it for my partners, they all smiled!! But when I played it for the record company, they thought it needed more. Perhaps some vocals. They rushed it out anyway and the rest, as they say, is history!!

Though the severely percussive"Other Galactic Funk" was shaded by the a-side back in the day, it now is held in high esteem by hip hoppers and break beat djs. Was this track originally thrown on the album more like a jamming session to fill it out?

Meco: There wasn't enough John Williams music to fill the entire album, so I was really concerned about the "b" side. We started recording on Thursday and by Sunday, I was glad to have the day off and went for a stroll through Central Park. And then just like in the movies, I heard - IT! There was this wonderful percussive beat coming from over the hill in the park. I ran over there to find 6 kids dressed in their drum corps uniforms playing beats - just beats - no music!!!!

When they finally took a break, I spoke to them about my Star Wars recording and asked if they would like to participate. I rushed them into the studio the next day and recorded about an hour of drum beats. Harold Wheeler took those beats and created 3 songs. Other - Galactic - Funk. I'm happy to say that the royalties they received helped put them through college!!

So, going back to the very beginning, how did all this start with you, what are your musical roots?

Meco: I was born in the small town of Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania. My father was an immigrant from Italy. He played trombone in the town band. It was he who inspired me to play the trombone. I was the first chair trombonist in the Johnsonburg High School Band when I was 11 years old!! I was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to the Eastman School of Music. Upon graduation, I could have played in any classical orchestra of my choice, but decided that I would be very bored doing that. After serving 3 years in the Army stationed at West Point, I moved to New York City in 1965. I starved for a couple of years trying to become a studio musician. I finally started to get studio work in 1967 and did so for the next 10 years. I also dabbled as a part-time arranger of pop music. I played trombone on many hit recordings.

In 1980, I was preparing to record "The Empire Strikes Back" as Meco, when my friend Nile Rogers (Madonna, Chic, David Bowie), who lived in the same building as I and recorded in the same studio - Power Station - asked me to play on his production for Diana Ross. By this time, I was very successful as an artist, and I only played trombone on my recordings. But I made a deal with Nile. If he would co-produce my "Empire" record, I would play trombone for Diana Ross. During one of the sessions for Diana Ross, Nile asked me to play a jazz trombone solo. I said, "Nile - Nobody records jazz trombone anymore!!" But we did. When the record was done, Diana Ross hated it so much, she took the master and mixed it herself at Motown. She even took the musicians names off the credits. Nile was so devastated by this that he couldn't keep his end of our bargain.

Well, the album became her most successful album ever!! And the song I played the jazz trombone solo on - "I'm Coming Out" - is now a classic. Nile and she finally made up and the reissue now contains our credits.

So, not only is my single recording of "Theme From Star Wars/Cantina Band" the biggest-selling pop instrumental recording of all-time, my jazz trombone solo on Diana Ross' "I'm Coming Out" is the only jazz trombone solo on a pop recording in the last 60 years.

Thank you Meco Monardo for taking time out for this interview and for taking us on a journey with your records, to exclusive de-luxe destinations we can visit over and over again.

Copyright 2007 Jussi Kantonen/DiscoStyle.com

[remicks]

*****

I'm glad I came back to this thread ...... :icon_biggrin:

I had missed that last post of yours with the interview Jussi. :icon_confused:




One more reason to love Meco ---

Crown Heights Affair

EVERY BEAT OF MY HEART



the strings on it ....Meco arranged them. :icon_cool:


*****