DAVID MANCUSO: NOT MIX!

Profile of Dave Mancuso
by Fabio De Luca, feature Discoinferno: the ten years that changed the clubbing to New York, published on Rolling Stone, March 2005. http://www.weekendance.com/

David Mancuso is not a customary one. It never it has not been. For the dj with a little of conscience of own trade David Mancuso it is a species of paternal figure. He is the man whom in the New York of beginning years Seventy - without wanting to make it - it has invented from zero the trade of dj and the same notion of club. It watches: solid, with an enormous picture shirt color wine outside from the pants. You did not know that it is could seem one of the electricians. Indeed not: the look is a strange compound of vivacità, depth and something of mysterious alarming and. And only. It is like a Charles good Manson, one of the Grateful Dead. Sessant'anni it has completed from little days and the enthusiasm and the smile of a child when it explains to you - succeeding not to be mimimamente retorico - than music is a manifestation of God, of the primary energy, or in any way want to call you It. The history read on he come you in mind. They are the all beautifulst ones: beginning from that of Sister Alicia, the nun has raised who it in the orfanatrofio where has lived till the age of five years. A orfanatrofio in the New York of years Forty not to have indeed be a great place, but Alicia Sister did not lose occasion in order to pull outside the grammofono and to organize small festivities for the children: , David is said, probably is she that it has transmitted the pleasure to me for the sharing of music.
Then there are the history on its friendship with guru the lisergico Timothy Leary, on the decisone (in 1969) to abandon the world of the material assets, on the days passages immovable in the position yoga of the loto till being ricoverato in hospital victim of a serious form of catatonia. Then I re-enter between the alive ones: the transfer to NoHo (North Houston), a previously industrial area where - hand by hand that the industry was moved in the New Jersey - the artists arrived and occupied the enormous ones loft where the rent still cost () least. The loft of Mancuso it was to number 64 of the Broadway. He is them that - inspiring itself to the black tradition of rent parties (the private festivities to payment that the owner of house held in order to put with the money in order to pay the rent) - Mancuso begins to organize of the festivities. Closely on invitation: and it that he puts music not because has ambitions from dj, but because wants to create a perfect emotional cocoon for its hosts in every single moment of the evening. Then, with the time, I have understood that there is like a third ear that guides the interaction between who puts music and the public, tells today. Its club is born thus: The Loft, a festivity in house, a real moment of sharing is called weekly magazine to the sound of the soul and the disc-music of the dawn. The witnesses of the age tell that Mancuso had caught up levels sublime in its objective to construct the perfect emotional cocoon for own hosts, working on the lights, the opening of the windows and above all on the sound. Before the Loft Mancuso he was already a frequent visitor of high fidelity: after it becomes some most extraordinary esegeta. Al null Loft is left the case: the disposition of the loudspeakers (Klippschorn, created in the years twenty from the engineer Paul Klippsch) answers to precise acoustic laws, the spread of the sound is calibrated sin in the minimums details and it heads some of the record players are made on measure from a specialized Japanese foundry in swords from samurai!
The last handed on legend says that Mancuso today sound very rarely in turn because its dj-set has a exorbitant cost. And not because it expects goodness knows which cachet astronomical, but because Mancuso turns the world with those same record players, that same amplifier and those same acoustic cases that were to the Loft. That then it is not even exactly thus - not always, at least - but something of true is. And it is absolutely true that it is a maniaco of the control, that he before arrives in the places twelve hours for sincerarsi that the system has been installed its scrupulous indications second. And it is also true that - for being a dj - David Mancuso is one that it loves Hush. Or better, the silent sound of the nature. It has said in an historical interview of 1975 to the Village Voice, object of cult between its fan, but to ask it the confirmation today to it also: the nature is the perfect sound. The way graduates them in which the sun it rises, in which the heat increases till the noon. the way in which the crickets they begin to sing after that it has made buio
Situated to the angle of Broadway and Bleecker Street in the quarter of Chelsea, to New York, the Loft. It opened the clappers in 1971. In reality it was not a club, but a true one loft, an apartment in which lived dj and the organizer David Mancuso. We are all of the Loft Babies. The spirit of the Loft is that one to annul this that we are in the daily life. Music and consequently the dance, like moment of democazia total. Therefore the Loft professò of being this that we are without color limits, sexual guideline or social class thanks to Music. With the flourishing market and commercialization of the discotheques today it could seem discounted, but the true innovation of the Loft was perhaps this. The dance, to the appearance frivolous activity, has a strong political charge. The fabulous history of the House music thus begins, with two hundred re-united faithfuls every weekend to the Loft. In order to enter it was necessary to have the Card and it was not much easy one to obtain it. It had to know and to love music follemente how much Mancuso. Blacks, latinos and white men all entirety that danced on the sound of the better one sound-system of the city. For the first time, a nocturnal premises possessed a assiato dark sound on the thus deafening lows that rendered crazy all the Loft Babies. Scappando to the authorities saying of these festivities that they were private, Mancuso could not therefore sell alcohol. But for Mancuso, the fact not to be truly allowed it to a club to close when it seemed to it. And therefore the parties they lasted of the score of hours and was in arriving to the premises more late possible. Not before the 6 in any case. David Mancuso was the first and last dj cult. It will continue the adventure of the Loft, from apartments to apartments, of Loft in Loft. And connobbe innumerevoli difficulties with the authorities. In 1979, thanks to its socks, are saved of a process In fact, accused to organize evenings for the sake of lucro (a reason like an other to close this place for gay), he is its friend Mel Cheren who brought the salvatrice testimony:
Your Excellence, as you want that a man that, without to make attention, puts every morning various socks from one another can have a minimal sense of business
Mancuso, puritano! And particolarietà is still tutt'ora dj with its three: the sound is intentionally low, mixa (is not only pleased to put discs after the other) and it does not try to make clever programming discs disowned. The only things interest that it, are the quality of music and intelligence in programming it. The atmosphere not the technique! In effects, of it has floods the boxes them of the dj technically good and this modern obsession of mixare in time discs. Same he s'è removed the mixer: - Only two plates, codicils to the old times! You said already in 1983!
To those times one of the more assiduous frequent visitors of the Loft was David Morales, than a garment of reciprocation for being able was carried to remain to dance and to be able themselves to change to Sunday afternoon, with to others like: Larry levan, Francois Kevorkian and Frankie Knuckles.
 

SHORT HISTORY OF DISC MUSIC

THE HISTORY

The political-social-musical scene was to the how much propitious one to asserting itself of Disc. March 1972: Richard Nixon is president from three years and Otis Redding is died from four. James Brown, wrapped from a cloud of monotonia, is a same copy if, Sly Stone has been smarrito in the stratosphere and the Motown not more plays the decisive papers to Detroit but to Hollywood. In spite of this, someone was that it was trying of rinverdire the atmosphere, altering the chemical composition of the R&B.: what absolutely inusuale and, perhaps, unexpected. And chorus attractive Supremes a novel, a section of violini, horns and breaths amalgamated with their sweet millefiori voices to the honey.  Al moment, much people did not notice than same happening, but the song Walking in ther ram with the one the love, of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, capeggiata from sure a Barry White, was the first excursion to the sunlight of a disc that came commonly played and danced in the city discotheques, a neglected sub-culture, till then, whose templi sacred they came, nottetempo, only polulated from gay, black and Hispanic. A year and means, or two would be intentional anchor, before that a precise and clear concept Music Disc were received and accepted from the great mass of the public, above all very codified from the industry of the vinile. However or been able to happen, the Love Unlimited, with this piece, marked a critical point in the evolution of the Disc, marking the beginning of the separation of black music from the form more the knot, primigenia, natural: soul years '60. The same style still emerged in superficial in 1973, with the mythical Love Theme of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, and, successively, with Can't get enough of your love, before the series of the works Pillow Talk, that is of speaking pillow. Some aficionados of the soul, remembering and venerando the job of Otis Redding and Wilson Picket, remained sgomenti for stucchevole dolcezza of White, defining it the Black Mantovani But the violini they had been used in the R&B since the egg whites of the Drifters, There goes my baby in 1959, and had contributed to render sweetened the Motown more sound. White had been limited to increase the dose of saccarosio. However same it worried itself to explain personally that the only aim of its music consisted in traversare the racial lines and the sexual differences. Equally decisive for the evolution of the Music Disc it was the mythical one sound of Philadelphia, than beginning from 1972 it had become the propulsive center of the black music. The Philly sound was created from two skillful ones and navigated producers, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, that they had already worked with in the half of years '60 and, with the exception of the style of Barry White, it could boast firmer and deep roots in the gospel and the R&B. The groups of Philadelphia (The O'Jays, i Bluenotes, etc.) before the treatment of beauty Gamble&Huff, were taken care of doo-wop. Gamble and Huff used of manipulate of session-men, a group of musicians of study known like MFSB. Their musical politics era constituted from an accentuation of the smielato use of violini the Motown style (but not thus drastically excessive like in Barry White) and from the introduction of the throbbing percussions, that they would later on have constituted the heart push-button, the true one groove of the Disc. l they job realized themselves in a myriad of hits, from 1971 to 1974, Love Train and Backstabbers of The O'Jays, The love the lost of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, Zing went the strings of my heart of Trammps and TSOP of the MFSB that divenne also the acronym of a most popular dance television show in the United States, Soul Train. Al contempo, an active scene Disc underground was rising to New York. The old discotheques of years '60, as the Arthur's or the Peppermint Lounge had closed, but for those who they had always danced, especially the gay and black and the Hispanics, the activity never had not been stopped. They repaired in attics, scantinati, sheds, abandoned factories, that they converted in discotheques before-litteram. In a club of Manhattan (West Forties), the DJ transformed the technique to replace a disc with the other in a refined artistic form, the which crossed fading, that it would be exploded all over the world from there to little years. With the beginning of years '70, black music began to crush the limitations that were tax in years '50 are 60. Many elements of the acid rock leaked in the black music, and would be, then, be completely absorbed from the Music Disc. The pieces contained in these egg whites by now had exceeded the wall of the three minuteren and became more and more long, thus allowing to artists like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, that they had been until then confined and castrated creative from the machine mangiasoldi Motown, to explore their creative potentialities and to exceed the forced borders of the soul. As an example, Wonder, began to use systematically moog and arp-synthesizers in its work. The electronic, able instrument to produce an immense phantom of sounds, till then, had been employed from artists avant-garde, then, advertised from the more famous groups rock, like the Moody Blues and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but never it had been used from color musicians. The addition of the sintetizzatore carried a new dimension to the conventional one sound of the R&B. The Isley Brothers, one of the maximum groups of R&B of first years sixty, widened own rows with someone of fratellini the Isley young, like Hernias, a chitarrista whose style clearly was influenced from Jimy Hendrix. Although Hendrix was black, it had always an impact limited on the black music. One of makes up favorites of Hendrix, the connected pedal of the wha-wha to the guitar, then would have been adopted from Curtis Mayfield, former leader of the Impressions in Superfly and Freddy's Dead and from Isaac Haves, a producer of the Stax Records di Memphis, whose gutturali and marked the rhythm sounds in the egg whites Hot Buttered Soul will precede most famous than Barry White. At the same time, a sure knowledge of the ancient roots of the black music was riaffiorando slowly. The band of the War it began an intensive and heavy use of percussions Africans and Latins in pieces like Slipping into darknes and The world is to ghetto . Also the rhythms sauce-afro-Cuban are prepared to sortire from the barrio (quarter-ghetto), with the aid of the happened one they of bands trades like Santana and Mandrill. In the Disc, still underground, the rhythm was to the base of all. The pieces were composed overlapping to a base of heavy percussions of the ipnotici songs constituting, thus, an extension of the approach pioneers: several the James Brown and Sly and The Family Stone. These discs showed prolissi generally, without variations and with a structure finalized only to the dance. In great part they came imported from the DJs European and Africans and bloomed alone in the sottocultura Disc.
If some rare wireless stations like the WBLS of New York are excluded, can say that these pieces did not come transmitted in no program. In the summer of the '73, but, one of these imports it pulled down the barrier that precludeva the access to waves AM. Soul Makossa of Manu Dibango, a musician African, resident to Paris, in its import label divenne a extremely popular piece in the discotheques. Not hardly the demands for the disc increased, the Atlantic Records impossessò of all the rights of Soul Makossa, that it thus began to ride with daily frequency the wireless waves in the ether American. The piece was typical of the sort sax-starnazzanti-years '50, played on rhythms jungle and song African with cadence francofona, than to the comparison it made to even seem scialbi James Brown and its off-spring. The popolarità of Soul Makossa attracted curiosity. From where it was jumped outside this thing? The same question, ripresentò punctual, the motivated successive summer from the popolarità caught up from Rock the Boat , a piece of a newyorkese group called Hues Corporation. This time, not only the question would have found an answer, but it would be, also, be raised the cover of the culture basement of the Disc. Rock the Boat , realized for a small label of New York, during summer 1974, was the demanded disc more in discotheques of the bore of the 12 Wes-t and the Liquid Smoke. The scene Disc had grown to sufficienza, much to feed the birth and the development of an own market: thus a chain of stores specialized in the sale of products came organized Disc. But the radius remained fundamentalally insensitive to this phenomenon, and also to Rock the Boat the doors came sluices. Until, the many demands induced to a change of route. For the fear to lose bands of listeners, the wireless stations began to adapt themselves to the new spreading fashion. The WABC, a station AM of New York, famous for having the more impenetrable ladders, in May 1974 concurred the spread of Rock the Boat , than divenne the top-song of that summer, and that, in the archives of the radius, one of 1974 is marked as the number. The piece of the Hues Corporation was not particularly innovative. Light and airy, perfectly it was balanced and easy dance. And in 1974 people continued to dance. The discotheques were moved from the suspicious attics to the local refined ones center them. Remarkable the economic turn divenne: the discotheque assured the divertimento at a low cost and guaranteed the profit to low risk. In more, the feeling spread that the culture of years '60 definitively was ended and more and more clear they stood out marks them of a wished return to the elegance inspired to the great Gatsby. The Disc seemed just the true, great discovery of the decade. The supposition began to become real between the end of 1974 and the beginning of 1975 when they came realized an enormous disc amount records. The electrifying spirit of those days and atmosphere were equal to the debuts of the rock'n'roll: in means to a fan confidence in the future, myriads of small independent labels were born and proliferavano and a trained one armed with artists came launched. Pieces like Bad Luck (Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes), the seducente Lady Marmalade (Labelle), Honey Bee/Reach Out the Be There (Gloria Gaynor) or like all the coming intense activities from the TK Studios di Miami (George McCrae, KC and the Sunshine Band), possessed virtually nonexistent vitality today.
The Disc produced, in 1975, also a its hymn, The Hustle, for merit of VanMcCoy, a veteran producer, than thus said the opening to the discomania, own as ten years before it had made Chubby Checker with The Twis and the twistmania. McCoy, however, was more than other an opportunist, or for the optimal one chosen of time, or because - like candid it admitted in an interview - The Hustle like type of dance, had been born before that elaborated it in the recording studies, even if was remained the most limited phenomenon. However The Hustle was the dance that emerged from with of drafts more anarchists that reigned in the first clubs. While, the spot of the Disc was always expanded more. The bars, the steak house, the restaurants were transformed in club and privileged the dance. Producers, record, old forgotten musicians entered in ferment serving disc avalanches, were job for all. They came sfornati tens and tens of pieces, all containing the ingredients of the modern Disc - long tracks with several variations, whirling violini and the omnipresent pulsation (thump-thump). In this atmosphere a new formula came rough sketch from a group of musicians of study, called The Ritchie Family, than, to the innovation search, imbatté in Brazil of Xavier Cugat it transformed and it with the thump-thump of the Disc. This was own the innovation. The happened one of Brazil said the way to an immense series of analogous king-interpretations of old typical pieces - Baby face , Tangerine , That Ole Black Magic . While the refusals of the POP music and music white woman generally were dived with ingordigia (and with happening) in the Music Disc - they are worth for all: the Bee Gees, Four Season, Barbra Streisand and Bob Scaggs. An ulterior improvement came carried to the cauldron Disc from the created style electronic-beat in the studies of recording of Monaco, own on measure for artists like Woman Summer and Silver Convention. Miss Summer, whose job carefully was guided from George Moroder and Pete Unpeeled boiled chestnuts, succeeded in the most difficult work, to very simulate 22 orgasms in the 17 minuteren of Love to love you baby, and, at the same time, not to transmit nothing that it had a love appearance, a true machine of the sex to 32-track mix. It is with 1976 that the Music Disc collected unconditioned happening, even if the most become attached cultori they began to storcere the nose and to find a sure forfeiture. Own in the same year you appeared artists who seemed to want to blow up all the conventions of the Disc Music (D.C. Larue, Vicki Its Robinson, Savannah Band). One of the most gettonati hits of 1976 was the reason of the Ritchie Family, Best Disc in Town that, constructed with fragments of successes Disc of the past, seemed to have the function of reassumed final of the era Disc. Best Disc had harmoniously collected the developments of last the two years, but it made also to rise doubts on the future of the Music Disc. To many years of distance from the escape of the egg whites of the Ritchie Family we can or agree that to dissent with the forecast of 1976. The Music Disc has changed many of outer connoted its, as well as that there is who it has changed denomination to them, but substantially, like social phenomenon, has continued healthy and powerful, its career scavalcando the straits borders Americans and overflowing all over the world (comprised Italy quickly). Beginning from the 1976 come realized thousands of discs, some interesting Chattanooga Choo Choo of the Tuxedo Junction, Disney Medley of Michael Zager, as an example), bloom new groups and musicians (Peter Brown, The Village People and the Esmeralda Saint, as an example), but above all the Music Disc melts spudoratamente with all the other musical forms, from the jazz to the rock, to classic music, till the last disc-punk examples rock. In spite of music it tinned uncertain (the stereotype began to spread), were born the megadiscoteche like Study 54, of New York, mythical club of svago for beautiful people magazine-set and a P2o everywhere was continued to dance: all in wait, perhaps incosciamente, of an event that had to play like clamorous carried out of the Music Disc. Then in all the cinemas of New York exited the film Saturday Night Fever and in the stores of average world the row in order to buy up a copy of the sonorous column is made. Riemergono, thus, the suadenti and platinati Bee Gees as new flagmen of the Disc that assumes its characteristics of ulterior decline trades them of the black music, in order to become divertimento and entertainment of mass, for the city boys, of campaign, Americans, European, black or white men, sons, parents, laborers and professionals, making to disappear the rigid categories that they allowed to clearly distinguish a young music from one for adults, a black music and white music. Every barrier came substantially pulled down and this, in wide measure, has been merit of the Music Disc. The fever of the Saturday Evening definitively ended with consecrating the disc. After 1978, at least till 1983, the traditional market of music POP could not more disown the phenomenon, not to case, innumerevoli artists coming white men from the rock, the reggae, from the punk, began to commistionarsi with the kind disc, but perhaps, it would be better to begin to speak than dance. The rest is report!