Disco | Boogie Vinyl 501 Items

"There was no internet, no cell phones. We didn't have streaming services, cable television, or even VCRs. People in Portland were out to see music seven nights a week"

In 1982, it seemed club nightlife in downtown Portland had reached its zenith. Musicians could make a living in a multitude of clubs throughout the city. And they made music on their own terms. Calvin Walker's recollection above speaks to the sovereignty of an independent community devoid of the recording industry's bottom line.

Lights Out gained traction when Pleasure wasn't in the studio or on the road. They were led by Pleasure's trumpeter Tony Collins, whose agenda involved prodding his group with gnarled fusion covers, complex horn arrangements, and masterful wardrobe flexing. "We wanted to be better at what we did," claims Collins. "Everybody grew."

But even with platinum level players holding recording contracts a la Fantasy Records, Lights Out struggled to find bookings in Portland's white-owned club circuit. "There were rules to these things and you had to play by them," remembers Walker. "They had to push up against that."

"I remember it being tough to get this band booked on the West side of the Willamette River back then," remembers bassist John Mazzocco. "When Peter Mott at Last Hurrah called to book us on a Tuesday, I was elated."

Knee-deep in the jazz fusion sound made popular throughout the city, Lights Out soon evolved into a synthesizer-fueled funk group fronted by vocalist Andy Stokes and featuring guitarist Greg "Gee Mack" Dalton. It's this era of Lights Out that made converts of the haters and annihilated 800-capacity dancefloors. It’s this era of Lights Out that is being celebrated on this release.

Recorded in 1982 at Wave Sound Studios - a facility that housed local punk acts such as The Wipers and The Rats - the material on this LP was intended as a demo for Solar Records. As a touring trumpeter for The Whispers, Collins was to pass the reel up the chain. When Solar fumbled it, Collins and Dalton left Portland for Los Angeles signaling the end of the group.

Forty years later, the legacy of this canonical Stumptown act has been remembered in devastating detail. The vinyl package includes a 12-page booklet of the band's oral history and deluxe archival photography. With tape restoration and mastering by Gus Elg, this painfully obscure recording has been waxed and buffed by one of the reissue industry's greatest.

Lights Out personnel have since made waves beyond the Pacific Northwest. Collins founded NDN Records in Atlanta. Andy Stokes has received the Grammy nod, releasing singles with Snoop Dogg and Battlecat. John Mazzocco toured with John Lee Hooker and was recently inducted into the Oregon Music Hall Of Fame. Damian Dillon went on to a successful radio career in Germany. And Greg Dalton has sessioned relentlessly, working with everyone from Patrice Rushen to Kamasi Washington to Tupac.

As Stokes puts it, "Being in this band gave me the strength to branch out. You don’t just do that by yourself. You have a family. This a family.” credits released July 15, 2022

The official reissue of the original 1979 most wanted and rarest Neapolitan Disco Funk 7" on Archeo Recordings Produced by Leo Mas and Manu Archeo

4 monstruous tracks straight from the basement feat. one of the original house music creator RON Hardy. All the real djs were looking for those for years. Grab it before it's sold out, we have very few copies. A must have. Essential Item - Limited Edition - NO Re-press

Sounding simultaneously from the past, the present, and the future, the debut album 'mlde' by Marxist Love Disco Ensemble seeks to eradicate both the trite from disco and the sobriety from political music. Half poetic, half tongue-in-cheek, this stunning compact eight-track album is influenced by Eastern European and Mediterranean 70s disco records. In the words of band member Paolo, ''it was written in response to hearing 'I love America' by Patrick Juvet. The song prompted the question: why does disco, a genre originally created by oppressed minorities, eventually become synonymous with American capitalist excess?" Mlde seeks to break this connection.

Merging disco, post-disco 80s pop, and boogie into the fold, 'mlde' was recorded using only analogue instruments, giving it warmth and space. Recorded on cassette, ¼ and ½ inch tape, this gives moments of lo-fi abstraction between the beats of an aggressive, tight drum kit. Instruments used for this recording range from saxophone, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, and rare analogue synthesisers. The bass sound is shaped by early 80s boogie records, whilst the influence of artists such as Hamlet Minassian can be heard in some of Mlde's more driving-disco outings, such as 'Hues of Red'. In the tradition of Soviet vocal group records, which the band has studied, some songs are sung by a vocal quartet in homage to this tradition.

Tracks such as '1905' and 'Brumaire' have a greater pop aesthetic, with Paolo's vocal style on these more pop-driven songs evoking early 80s bands such as Orange Juice and Chas Jankel.

The format and message of pop and disco are commonly viewed just to entertain and move bodies around a dancefloor; however, lyrically, the subjects range from dialectical and historical materialism, class struggle, Marxist theory and praxis, as well as the concept of Marxist disco music.

Adding the icing to the cake, mastering don Joker aka Liam McLean dusted the album with his magic, giving the songs space where the room is needed, as well as the kick and punch demanded by the modern dancefloor.

Yes, this is a press release, and they are always full of hype, but we were blown away when we heard this album, and we hope it enriches you too.

Sounding simultaneously from the past, the present, and the future, the debut album 'mlde' by Marxist Love Disco Ensemble seeks to eradicate both the trite from disco and the sobriety from political music. Half poetic, half tongue-in-cheek, this stunning compact eight-track album is influenced by Eastern European and Mediterranean 70s disco records. In the words of band member Paolo, ''it was written in response to hearing 'I love America' by Patrick Juvet. The song prompted the question: why does disco, a genre originally created by oppressed minorities, eventually become synonymous with American capitalist excess?" Mlde seeks to break this connection.

Merging disco, post-disco 80s pop, and boogie into the fold, 'mlde' was recorded using only analogue instruments, giving it warmth and space. Recorded on cassette, ¼ and ½ inch tape, this gives moments of lo-fi abstraction between the beats of an aggressive, tight drum kit. Instruments used for this recording range from saxophone, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, and rare analogue synthesisers. The bass sound is shaped by early 80s boogie records, whilst the influence of artists such as Hamlet Minassian can be heard in some of Mlde's more driving-disco outings, such as 'Hues of Red'. In the tradition of Soviet vocal group records, which the band has studied, some songs are sung by a vocal quartet in homage to this tradition.

Tracks such as '1905' and 'Brumaire' have a greater pop aesthetic, with Paolo's vocal style on these more pop-driven songs evoking early 80s bands such as Orange Juice and Chas Jankel.

The format and message of pop and disco are commonly viewed just to entertain and move bodies around a dancefloor; however, lyrically, the subjects range from dialectical and historical materialism, class struggle, Marxist theory and praxis, as well as the concept of Marxist disco music.

Adding the icing to the cake, mastering don Joker aka Liam McLean dusted the album with his magic, giving the songs space where the room is needed, as well as the kick and punch demanded by the modern dancefloor.

Yes, this is a press release, and they are always full of hype, but we were blown away when we heard this album, and we hope it enriches you too.