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Author
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Topic: bruce forest?
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Hehe that's a great story. That track is absolutely one of my favorites.
At the time I was living with Leslie Doyle (Magic Sessions) who at the time was working in dance music promotion for A&M records. At the same time, Washington go-go was emerging, led by my mentor Chris Blackwell, who was working on a film called "Good to Go." Also the brilliant Curtis Mantronik was experimenting with that same beat.
Anyway, Leslie gave me a tape and said "ignore the name, do you want to mix the track?" I heard it, (kind of a big drum rock track) had a thought, immediately tried it over a quick go-go beat I threw together on a 909 and knew immediately there was something really cool there.
Grabbed David Cole, went to the studio with the drums already programmed and knocked it out in a day or so. The piano, as I said before, was all David, live. I always reserved a blank track for him to just jam with the song we were doing, from beginning to end, with no stops or drop ins. Went straight from the studio to Better Days...and they had no idea what the hell I was doing, cause I played the vocal mix. But the next day, I played the Piano Dub and the place went fucking nuts.
Next thing I know I get a call from Oakey (Paul Oakenfold) who is screaming down the phone that he had heard the track and HAD to have it. I cut an acetate and sent it over. I thought he was kidding, cause he was always joking with me. But from what he told me later, it was the kernel of the Balearic movement in music. Whoa. But don't give me the credit..thank Chris, David, Leslie and Oakey...I just was at the right place, right time.
Trevor Horn liked it so much he went to Washington and got the best of the best in go-go rhythm sections (EU) to just play for an hour while he taped it. Brought the tape back to the UK and he and Steve Lipson sampled ONE BAR into his Synclavier. That one bar became the focal point of the most expensive single ever made.."Slave to the Rhythm."
Funny Epilogue: When I was living and working at SARM in the UK, Trevor let me play with that original tape, and I have loads of go-go beats on a DAT that are just mind blowing. Well, I have them somewhere....
Remixing "Wrap it Up" by the Fabulous Thunderbirds....now THAT is a funny story. Ask me about it sometime.
QUOTE]Originally posted by Jolyon:
Hi Bruce
What's the story behind your remix of Jesus On The Payroll? Big balearic track here in England in the late 1980s. That WAS a Washington Go Go beat you came out with on that track. Still play it even today.
Best wishes
Jo
x[/QUOTE]
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mhd
Diamond Member
Member # 18
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posted
This is too funny, I was an extra in Good to Go!
Welcome to the board Bruce, like Donna said, Better Days were some of the best parties of my life too. Appreciate you sharing, peace, mark
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Gman
Administrator
Member # 1
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posted
Just catching up on this thread... Hello Bruce a big welcome to the board. This is quite an honor. ![[OLA]](graemlins/OLA.gif)
If you would grace us with that 1986 recording of you at better days that would be wonderful.
I will send you and email on this..
Thanks -Gerard
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(\_/)
(O.o)
(> <) "Swim at your own risk"
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liL Ray
Diamond Member
Member # 163
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posted
I just got to say WOW!!! That's why I love this board...the knowledge and education is mind blowing!!!
Welcome, Bruce and keep telling us the history behind the history. Stay and enlighten us. I'm with you on the mixtape does not portray the dj to the fullest....it's how they perform live....that's where it's at, anyway.
Any stories with Larry Lavan, David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, etc.....can you tell more of the Slave to the Rhythm story? I would give my left nut to hear you play again...
....liL Ray
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YOU WISH YOU WERE ME!
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Well, I ripped that single cassette from 12/1986 and compressed to MP3. Its over 105mb though. How do you guys upload/download mixes around here?
Personally, I think it proves my point that what sounds good live can sound positively incompetent on tape. There are some real whoppers on this tape that are just plain awful. But it does have a few shining moments.
Let me know how to upload it.
As for Let No Man Put Asunder, I guess you can get pretty creative with a track when it's your number one song for like five years. But thanks so much for the compliment anyway Donna. B)
quote:
Originally posted by donna edwards:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Droopus:
However! Snooping through the midden of history that is my basement just now I found what is probably the only tape I own of my playing at BD: from December 1986. (I'll look more, but I don’t hold out much hope.)
So, took the tape out to my car a few minutes ago and listened. Some of the mixing is fucking awful, but it has a few things on it that I guess have historic value:
1) David Cole playing "Heard it Through the Grapevine" over "No Way Back", and then jamming with me going in and out of Company B. He plays live for half a side of the tape.
2) Me playing a "You Take My Breath Away" rough mix off reel tape
3) Me playing the insanely long unreleased 16 minute dub of "I Was Born This Way"
4) Heavy sampler usage (most awful) throughout
5) Chip E's "Like This" as mentioned in my post to him.
6) Me having a load of fun with three copies of “Let No Man Put Asunder” (first 8 bars of the) break
Plus other goodies. I guess I should rip the thing. What’s a good tape ripping app, preferably for a Mac? (PC would be ok too I guess.)
That unreleased Dub of I Was Born This Way was crazy, I can remember us losing our minds. I also remember your vamping the Let No Man Put Us Under, see that's what I'm talking about, I have never heard anyone work that song the way you did. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Thanks for the welcome... great board Gerard.
I'd most pleased to share what seems to be the only tape I have (I'm still snooping) of me playing live, and I'm thrilled it has David Cole on it as well.
In listening to this tape for the first time in fourteen years I've come up with a list of observations:
1) Gigantic bass cabinets cover up flams and crappy mixing quite nicely. Thank God for that.
2) Some of the stuff I played back then was awful.
2) I tended to experiment literally all night. I never planned a set or a mix in my life, and never knew what I was going to do till a second before I did it. I give myself about a 50% sucess rate in experimentation on this tape. Some of it will make you absolutely cringe, but some is pretty neat.
3) I hated producing. I liked remixing. I loved DJing.
Thanks for the warm welcome.
quote:
Originally posted by Gman:
Just catching up on this thread... Hello Bruce a big welcome to the board. This is quite an honor.
If you would grace us with that 1986 recording of you at better days that would be wonderful.
I will send you and email on this..
Thanks -Gerard
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Hmm, Larry, David and Nicky stories. Ok.
I started playing in NY just as Nicky tapered off. I heard him a few times, especially at after-hours places. He was true old school, and was all about the party. He was never a technician or back and forth mixer, but he had an uncanny sense of how to make a room move for 11 hours.
Saturday nights for me for about six years were: play BD from 10-6..head to the Garage till about 9, then the Loft till noon. Go home sleep seven hours and go back to Better Days for Sunday night...always my favorite night.
Dave Mancuso and The Loft were unlike any other club then or since. I called it aural Valium. David was a true audiophile, and the Mark Levinson amps stretching across the top beam of the club amazed me. $5000 amps...in an endless row, in a club? Huh? And he used these gigantic stone based turntables, with platter weights. No mixing. Play one, when it's over, play the next. But oh what it sounded like! After twenty years I can easily shut my eyes and be standing upstairs, listening to "Starchild" by Level 42, like it was yesterday. Better Days and the Garage pumped you full of intensity: but the Loft let you float away. Kinda of hard to explain, I guess. David and I had a casual, cordial relationship, but we weren't close.
Larry hated me. It was just a fact I got used to. I never came close to playing at the Garage. Now, everyone in Judy Weinstein's For The Record pool got free Garage and VIP room admission. And I went, and hung out many a memorable night with NY DJ royalty of the day. I was even friendly with Mike Brody. But Larry could never get around the Tee thing, and we never had so much as a ten word conversation. I tried to introduce myself once but let's just say, it wasn't welcome. I hung in his club for six years, but we never spoke. Shrug.
Yeah the Garage was a legendary as everyone says. It was all about Larry, too. If you went to Roxy and the color scheme was different, you might say "hey that's nice how they did that." But if you went to the Garage and they had the landing lights at the entrance a different color, you would hear "look man, Larry changed the lights." He had a mystique no one else ever came close to.
Technically, he was actually pretty ordinary. But he knew how to control a room with essentially limitless audio power and huge innovations like the acappella mix (Don't Make Me Wait (Peech Boys) was the first AFAIK, and I remember him playing it the first time off a tape. No one had ever heard anything like it and it was a weird moment, but let's just say...he was right) and anthemic music like Phreek's "Weekend", "I Know You I Live You" by Chaka, First's Choice's "Doctor Love" and "Body to Body" by Shades of Love. And of course, the ultimate......
Jocelyn doing "Ain't No Mountain" live there was as close to a religious experience as I've ever had. The whole bulding literally shook.
But Larry hated me. Too bad, he taught me a lot. I wish I could have returned the favor.
quote:
Originally posted by liL Ray:
I just got to say WOW!!! That's why I love this board...the knowledge and education is mind blowing!!!
Welcome, Bruce and keep telling us the history behind the history. Stay and enlighten us. I'm with you on the mixtape does not portray the dj to the fullest....it's how they perform live....that's where it's at, anyway.
Any stories with Larry Lavan, David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, etc.....can you tell more of the Slave to the Rhythm story? I would give my left nut to hear you play again...
....liL Ray
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Wild i
Platinum Member
Member # 98
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Droopus:
But Larry could never get around the Tee thing, and we never had so much as a ten word conversation. I tried to introduce myself once but let's just say, it wasn't welcome. I hung in his club for six years, but we never spoke. Shrug.
Hey Bruce! Welcome to the board. Everybody here knows me. I'm Tee's sister.
Someone suggested I read this thread, so I have been and pretty much getting schooled. I wasn't really a BD regular and I actually never went after Tee left (was living in DC at the time anyway), so I've never heard you play, but I think I may have some small input here (although you probably already know this).
If memory serves, Tee pretty much stormed out of the BD in a dispute over props (him not getting his, for example). When you were there, did you notice a lot of electronics missing? Tee always liked to tell the story of how he asked for a raise and threatened to leave if he didn't get it. When his boss called his bluff (was his name Balasco, or am I confusing him with Tee's old boss in the TV repair shop?) Tee said fine, and proceeded to pull out lighting and booth electronics which he had installed. I'm pretty sure he got his raise, but I don't know if he repeated the performance that last time.
Anyway, Larry was nothing if not a loyal friend and, knowing the circumstances under which Tee left the BD, anyone following on his heels would have been absolute persona non grata with Larry. What I'd be interested to know is how did Tee treat you? I'd be surprised if he held it against you, but then I'm still getting surprised by my brother six and a half years after his death. Amazing.
[ June 16, 2002, 05:43 AM: Message edited by: Wild I ]
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http://abmelanomia.tripod.com
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Gman
Administrator
Member # 1
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posted
Bruce,
Check your email for ftp server info to upload your mix
Thanks -Gerard
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(\_/)
(O.o)
(> <) "Swim at your own risk"
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jeremy
Star Member
Member # 968
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posted
Hi Bruce,
great to have you 'in the house'.
Did you say you were still living in London? or did you move back to the states?
I know quite a few people here in London that would run to hear you play those 50 favourite records you stil own!
I started selling records in 1987/8 and I remember that the Patti Day record you did was one of THE top club anthems for the first wave of London club heads. We could never get enough of that track.
Quest For Life-Baby Don't Stop Me, that was one of yours as well wasn't it? Todd Terry made at least a few tracks from that accapella!
Cheers mate, as we say.
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Me, playing records and stuff
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Tony Cano
Diamond Member
Member # 1707
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posted
im glad that folks are waking up to this thread. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Bruce - please note that David Mancuso is also a frequent poster of the board. David where are you?
tc
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http://www.myspace.com/djtonycano
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Tee's sister? Damn, woman that just sent chills through me. Nice to meet you!
You are absolutely correct, Tee was an absolute gentleman, and we got along just fine. I didn't know him before I started playing at BD, but met him afterwards, probably through Judy Weinstein or something. I always had tremendous respect for Tee, not just because of his raw talent, but because he was just a hell of a nice guy, and was kind to an unknown punk kid that dared to try and fill his shoes. He visited me at BD, we saw each other at For the Record, and I visited him at Zanzibar. I never once heard him play without learning something about music, or about myself.
When I heard of his death, I was genuinely and deeply saddened: he was a special human being, and I would give anything to sit and reminisce over a beer with him.
I started to go to Better Days because Yvonne Turner, ex-Downstairs Records guru, suggested I go because Tee was the best. She was, of course, absolutely right, and the reason I ended up working at BD is because I hung out there pretty much every night and was in the right place at the right time. I did stand out a little I guess, a pale little white guy who just sat in the corner every night, listening to the master.
The owner's name was Al Roth at the time Tee left, though he mysteriously changed his name to Dave Fisher some years later in a ploy to avoid the IRS. He was a weasly bald, conniving guy, and always made me feel that I should kiss his feet for giving me $100 a night.
A big guy with some pretty bizarre habits named Joe Acebo (Balasco sounds a little like Acebo?) managed the place, so maybe that's who Tee was referring to.
Al Roth, the owner, who was fond of walking across the crowded dance floor with a coffee can full of cash and a drawn, loaded .38 revolver was absolutely one of the weirdest people I have ever known and he: A) ended up selling the club to John Gotti; B) shot Anthony Macusio (sp?) who was a Gotti lieutenant, in the BD office and; C) comitted suicide in front of his estranged wife's house after being acquited of the killing.
The name change was weird as hell too: one day he came in and just said "Ain't no more Al Roth: he died. Call me Dave Fisher." Uh, ok.
Clearly BD made Al/Dave a lot of money, because in 1986 or 1987 he bought the club formerly known as the Funhouse (Jellybean's place) and turned it into Heartthrob. Lots of good stories about that: Shep and I lived in the place for three weeks doing the sound and lighting, Junior Vasquez was the first DJ and he lasted all of three nights before crowd complaints forced me to fire him. I hired a little-known guy from the Bronx that I had heard play, and he made the place rock hard. He turned Heartthrob inbto a NY Latin institution: Little Louie Vega. Good decision. B)
Anyway, back to Better Days and electronics. Tee and most classic jocks from before my day used Thorens turntables, which some believed were sonically superior, but because of their suspension, were unsuitable for the way I played, so I brought in three of the very first 1200's produced, modified by Richard Long to have no quartz lock. Other than removing Tee's Thorens decks, I saw nothing missing. The lights were very basic anyway. There was a hole where some controller might have gone but if anyone is claiming Tee was a thief, I can tell you right now that he didn't take anything from Better Days that I could see.
Good story about the sound at BD. Alex Rosner put together the sound for BD, and he and I fought all the time. I wanted BASS, he was into clarity.
(Interesting side note: did you all see Schindler's List? Remember little Olek, the boy who hid in the outhouse? His father and uncle were famous musicians: his father was Henry Rosner, a violinist, and his uncle was, Poldek Rosner, who played the accordion, and entertained Commandant Goeth and his guests. That little boy, Olek, survived the death camps, moved the the US, changed his name to Alex, and was the man behind Rosner Custom Sound, and with Tee, built the sound system for Better Days and then many other venues. Alex can be seen at the end of the movie placing a stone on Schindler's grave.)
Anyway, Alex and I didn't agree, so I decided to work on the sound myself. A club called Alex in Wonderland, on West Streeet in Manhattan was closing and they had a load of Richard Long sound gear. I got Al Roth and his checkbook, hired a van and we bought 4 Levan horns, 4 Crown PSA2 amps, 4 JBL midrange horns and a Richard Long active crossover. I worked on getting them installed at BD all of Monday and Tuesday and when the crowd walked in Wednesday night, they were met with that little 60 foot dance floor now stuffed with 4 huge Levans, each with a thousand watts going into it. It was pretty neat, and they had to build little bottle guards for the bar because the bottles were vibrating off the shelves. <g>. The new system was pretty awesome, and probably had a lot to do with my acceptance there. I could never equal Tee's natural musical talent, so I just figured I'd win them over with brute sonic force and technology. Hey, any port in a storm, ya know? B)
Alex Rosner hated it, and didn't have much to do with the sound after that. But boy, did it sound DEEP. And with samplers, the orchestra hits from Love is the Message triggered right could blow people across the room. Mwahaha.
I understand the Larry thing, and you're right, I was absolutely persona non grata. But hey, after I became friendly with Tee, Larry Patterson, Tony Humphries, Francois and crew, and was in his booth every Saturday, one would think after six years he could have come around.
But Tee? Always treated me like the gentleman he was.
Thanks for the kind welcome. B)
quote:
Originally posted by Wild I:
quote:
Originally posted by Droopus:
But Larry could never get around the Tee thing, and we never had so much as a ten word conversation. I tried to introduce myself once but let's just say, it wasn't welcome. I hung in his club for six years, but we never spoke. Shrug.
Hey Bruce! Welcome to the board. Everybody here knows me. I'm Tee's sister.
Someone suggested I read this thread, so I have been and pretty much getting schooled. I wasn't really a BD regular and I actually never went after Tee left (was living in DC at the time anyway), so I've never heard you play, but I think I may have some small input here (although you probably already know this).
If memory serves, Tee pretty much stormed out of the BD in a dispute over props (him not getting his, for example). When you were there, did you notice a lot of electronics missing? Tee always liked to tell the story of how he asked for a raise and threatened to leave if he didn't get it. When his boss called his bluff (was his name Balasco, or am I confusing him with Tee's old boss in the TV repair shop?) Tee said fine, and proceeded to pull out lighting and booth electronics which he had installed. I'm pretty sure he got his raise, but I don't know if he repeated the performance that last time.
Anyway, Larry was nothing if not a loyal friend and, knowing the circumstances under which Tee left the BD, anyone following on his heels would have been absolute persona non grata with Larry. What I'd be interested to know is how did Tee treat you? I'd be surprised if he held it against you, but then I'm still getting surprised by my brother six and a half years after his death. Amazing.
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Hi Jeremy...
Nah moved back to the States in 1995 (bringing nice souvenirs: a beautiful English wife and baby daughter). The last gig I did there was at the Astoria in around 1990. They gave me like 500 quid to play for an hour. Who the hell plays for an hour? I used to play tracks for twenty minutes, messing around with them.I was used to, at minimum, a six hour night, and often an eight to ten hour night and that was considered short. Now I see my buddies Dave Morales and DannyTenaglia getting stupid funds for an hour of playing. Amazing.
I came home after the 1990 London Astoria (where they looked at me when I played MFSB like I was from Venus) and told my wife that I would never play again. But after coming to this board, I can see a scenario where old school guys like David Mancuso, Francois, Danny Krivit, Kenny Carpenter, Dave Morales, Little Louie, Shep, Tony Humphries,the Chicago contingent (and like fifteen more..you know the crew) were in a room, I could probably be persuaded to mess around for a while.
Sounds like a neat benefit event. Go for it someone.
Yeah I did Quest for Life, but I had to think a second, and I have no memory of what it sounds like. I have no discography and probably remember about 50 of the thousand tracks I did. To be honest, I've been going through "did I mix/produce that?' in restaurants and bars for fifteen years. B) Patti Day had, IMO, the tightest, deepest bass I ever got, which I think it led to its popularity. But to say it wasn't inspired by Marshall Jefferson would be untrue.
Why no careful records of all the work I did? I really wasn't into playing or mixing for the fame, money or future business plan. I just loved playing to crowds, experimenting, and looking forward to the next gig. No regrets.
As for people making tracks from acapellas of mine, its not the first time, and if someone can hear something in an acapella, go for it. I'll just be flattered.
Cheers back at you mate.
quote:
Originally posted by jeremy:
Hi Bruce,
great to have you 'in the house'.
Did you say you were still living in London? or did you move back to the states?
I know quite a few people here in London that would run to hear you play those 50 favourite records you stil own!
I started selling records in 1987/8 and I remember that the Patti Day record you did was one of THE top club anthems for the first wave of London club heads. We could never get enough of that track.
Quest For Life-Baby Don't Stop Me, that was one of yours as well wasn't it? Todd Terry made at least a few tracks from that accapella!
Cheers mate, as we say.
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Mix uploaded.
I till say it sounds grim, but has a few neat, historic moments. The "Takes My Breath Away" was a tape, so must have been near the time we were working on that.
The hiphop at the end was pretty radical, since BD was not a hiphop club.
I apologize in advance at some of the train wrecks on that tape, but as I said, I experimented all night, every night and sometimes it worked...and sometimes it didn't.
quote:
Originally posted by Gman:
Bruce,
Check your email for ftp server info to upload your mix
Thanks -Gerard
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Gman
Administrator
Member # 1
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posted
Hey Bruce,
You got a photo you can email me to go along with the mix ? I will post the mix on the site in the next day or two.
Thanks again -G
quote:
Originally posted by Droopus:
Mix uploaded.
I till say it sounds grim, but has a few neat, historic moments. The "Takes My Breath Away" was a tape, so must have been near the time we were working on that.
The hiphop at the end was pretty radical, since BD was not a hiphop club.
I apologize in advance at some of the train wrecks on that tape, but as I said, I experimented all night, every night and sometimes it worked...and sometimes it didn't.
quote:
Originally posted by Gman:
Bruce,
Check your email for ftp server info to upload your mix
Thanks -Gerard
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(\_/)
(O.o)
(> <) "Swim at your own risk"
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jeremy
Star Member
Member # 968
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posted
Astoria in 1990?
Shit, was I there? (at the tender age of 19)
That was Delirium, or Trip I believe.
Was there also another guest that night?
Yvonne Turner or Gail 'sky' King?
hmmm, trying hard to recall....
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Me, playing records and stuff
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Tony Cano
Diamond Member
Member # 1707
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posted
Bruce -
when you were in Chicago did you get an opportunity to visit any of the clubs? any stories about Frankie Knuckles or Ron Hardy? How difficult was it to brake the Chicago sound in NYC?
i believe Frankie reads the board often too.
tc
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http://www.myspace.com/djtonycano
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
Wow, you were there? That's cool. Pretty sure it was Delirium, and the only DJ I remember being there that night besides me was Jeremy Healey. I knew Yvonne and Gail quite well, so I would have remembered either of them being there.
I remember slinking off the stage after my hour because I thought I was simply awful: I was a three turntable guy, they only had two. I was an effects and sampler guy, they had none and wouldn't let me put any in for the night and lastly, I was used to a pitch black booth where I could hide behind smoked plexiglas and they had me on a stage with Kleig lights pointed at me. And the crowd was none too happy with NY soul stuff. Remember, those were Jazzy B days and the crowd didn't get "Touch and Go" "Body to Body" or "Love is the Message" at all. Oh well, they still paid me more for that hour than I made in a week at Better Days.
But I knew I had just played my last gig.
quote:
Originally posted by jeremy:
Astoria in 1990?
Shit, was I there? (at the tender age of 19)
That was Delirium, or Trip I believe.
Was there also another guest that night?
Yvonne Turner or Gail 'sky' King?
hmmm, trying hard to recall....
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jeremy
Star Member
Member # 968
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by Droopus:
But I knew I had just played my last gig.
???
send me a private message with your email on it.
who knows what tomorrow will bring.
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Me, playing records and stuff
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erd
Gold Member +
Member # 42
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posted
can't wait to hear the tape.
it is really nice to have you here, bruce, dropping mad knowledge all the time.
was BD the only club you played in NY/NJ or did you also play at other clubs like zanzibar, buttermilk bottom et al.
peace,
gerd
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Guilty feet have got no rhythm.
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Droopus
Junior Member
Member # 2116
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posted
I've known Frankie for years. He visited me at BD once in a while, and I've heard him play probably a hundred times. Truly a master, and he deserves the stellar reputation he has. Because of his close association with Dave Morales (and Judy W) I saw him often, and if we saw each other now it would certainly be a warm welcome.
I did visit Music Box two or three times, accompanied by Steve Hurley or Farley each time. Unfortunately, Ron gave me a little of the Larry Levan treatment and totally blanked me, but I thought he was a truly great DJ and knew his room perfectly. I remember a rather ugly incident when I was there with Steve and someone made some crude remark like "hey Steve, next time leave the little white guy at home." I wasn't used to that, since I never experienced even a single hint of that type of attitude at BD.
Music Box and Better Days were very similar in size, energy and crowd, so I thought Ron and I should have gotten along pretty well. I guess he didn't agree. He never came to BD, and to the best of my knowledge, never heard me play.
Oh well. I still think he was brilliant, no matter what my experience was at Music Box.
Breaking Chicago music in NY was easy. My ex gave me an acetate of "Music is the Key" and it slammed the crowd the first time I played it. Steve Hurley gave me a tape of his edit of Isaac Hayes "I Can't Turn Around" at about the same time. Instant acceptance. Soon after, I flew out to Chicago to play with Chip and the Hot Mix guys and we did two tracks: "Shadows of Your Love" and the first Shawn Christopher track, "People of All Nations." Had a blast. All the Chicago guys came to visit me at BD often, and we had a great relationship. I remember Farley bringing me a test press of "Love Can't Turn Around" and watching the amazing reaction of the crowd as it went straight from his bag to the turntable.
Breaking Chicago music to the musically-hip Better Days crowd was a breeze. And why not? It was an awesome concept and fit perfectly with what I played anyway.
quote:
Originally posted by tcano:
Bruce -
when you were in Chicago did you get an opportunity to visit any of the clubs? any stories about Frankie Knuckles or Ron Hardy? How difficult was it to brake the Chicago sound in NYC?
i believe Frankie reads the board often too.
tc
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PK
Star Member
Member # 3
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posted
I just now went through this thread
Welcome Bruce, you certainly bring a lot of memories back...to me BD means Bruce Forest, because I never actually got to hear Tee play there (by the time I made it to 49th st Tee was already out). What you said about the length and character of the sets, what you have to say about dj-ing in general is something that I feel all djs should hear. Like all true old-schoolers you always took care of us first, it showed and that's why we kept coming back.
The one thing I didn't know was that you were actually managing Heartthrob?! I did go there only once when it fist opened with that guy from PA dj-ing . To me it was such a different vibe from BD, I wouldn't have guessed
peace
PK
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Droopus
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posted
Well, remember, forgive me for all the train wrecks on that tape. I listened to Larry's Japanese tape last night, and his was nice and smooth whereas mine is jarring and experimental.
I played at very few clubs other than Better Days, maybe only one or two guest spots in NY: one at Bond's (which was so big you could easily play a softball game on the dance floor) and another at a dive called Sweatz, which was a Better Days clone that closed after a few months.
My two other memorable guest spots were at Children's Night (1986 I think) at the Clubhouse in Washington (which was FUCKING AWESOME) and a place called Odell's in Baltimore I think, which was merely ok. No objection to doing guest spots, I just didn't get asked much to play elsewhere. Politics and stuff I guess.
Thanks for the kind words. This board brings back a lot of fond memories.
QUOTE]Originally posted by gj:
can't wait to hear the tape.
it is really nice to have you here, bruce, dropping mad knowledge all the time.
was BD the only club you played in NY/NJ or did you also play at other clubs like zanzibar, buttermilk bottom et al.
peace,
gerd[/QUOTE]
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Droopus
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posted
Thanks so much for the kind words. Too bad you missed Tee, because he was truly special. It was Tee (and Larry, Francois, and David Mancuso) that taught me that it wasn't about one spectacular mix surrounded by endless house dubs, but a nightly journey, with ups, downs and lots of mistakes. My philosophy: don't be afraid to fuck up..I did a lot. But when it works.....magic.
I think not enough is said about Francois as a DJ. AM/PM was the first after-hours place I frequented (along with the Loft) and he blew me away every time I heard him. He's an amazing producer of course, but damn, could that boy play.
I suppose it's hard to turn down thousands an hour like guys get now, but I can't imagine playing fewer than four or five hours, and even then....IMO, I'm not there to show off spiffy mixing or gadgetry, but to take the crowd on a trip. Where can you go in an hour?
As for Heartthrob, I didn't manage it, I kind of built it..or more accurately, converted it from the Funhouse. The same guy owned BD and Heartthrob and he kind of put me in charge of DJs, sound, lights and such. (Shep and I put in the sound ourselves and designed the lighting.) My favorite thing was this weird entrance I built. It was a mirrored tunnel, with a white opaque plastic floor. Underneath the floor was a series of about twenty 4' Osram incandescent bulbs hooked to a controller. You could lift the floor, change the gels and run any pattern you wanted. Because of the mirrors on the walls and ceiling, the whole tunnel seem to move. Many a time I would come down to Heartthrob after playing and see people hanging in the tunnel dancing and stuff.
But Heartthrob was Little Louie's room, and he did great things with it. It was a little jarring, going from BD's deep atmosphere to Heartthrob's booth, where you'd often see Albert Cabrera, Tony Moran, Jellybean, Steve Thompson and a large Latin contingent hanging out. It was cool, because BD and Heartthrob didn't share an audience, so I could walk around there totally unknown.
Anecdote time: when we took over the club, there was a locked room in the back for which no one had keys. We finally kicked in the door and found like 30 full size console video games. But we didn't have (nor could we get) an arcade license, so I had an idea. Make the machines free to play, and therefore we wouldn't need a license. So, I spent a couple of days putting doorbell buttons in the front of each machine to give free play, bypassing the coin slot. When the owner asked what he owed me for the work, I pointed to a brand new Defender game and said "I'll take THAT." Rented a van, drove it to my apartment (much to the shock of my gf at the time) and it now lives in the basement of my home in Connecticut. Still works too. B)
quote:
Originally posted by PK:
I just now went through this thread
Welcome Bruce, you certainly bring a lot of memories back...to me BD means Bruce Forest, because I never actually got to hear Tee play there (by the time I made it to 49th st Tee was already out). What you said about the length and character of the sets, what you have to say about dj-ing in general is something that I feel all djs should hear. Like all true old-schoolers you always took care of us first, it showed and that's why we kept coming back.
The one thing I didn't know was that you were actually managing Heartthrob?! I did go there only once when it fist opened with that guy from PA dj-ing . To me it was such a different vibe from BD, I wouldn't have guessed
peace
PK
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