Desert Island Disco - January 2017

Friday 27th January, by Matthew Mills Team Laverne

Our castaway today is Andrew Tecce whose mix is inspired by the rare cuts in his vinyl collection. Luckily, that's exactly how we like it at our Desert Island Disco.

My Desert Island Disco selection is a disco inspired selection of some of the special vinyl records I've collected over the years. I suppose the way I've sequenced the long list is reflective of how I'd sequence them in a DJ set. I haven't done a short list as quite a few of these are either re-edits or extremely limited in terms of the amount of pressings they received. Hope you like them, and hopefully you could pick a few out of the list which the 6 music listeners might enjoy.

1. Letta Mbulu - Nomalizo
2. Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - Easy Money
3. Anna Oxa - Controllo Totale (Joe’s Bakery Mix)
4. Sir Own - Hooked (Kon’s Nite Time Remix)
5. Donna McGhee - Mr Blindman
6. Brass Fever - Time Is Running Out
7. Luther Davis Group - You Can Be A Star
8. Pepe Braddock - Deep Burnt
9. Roy Ayers - Running Away
10. Exodus - Together Forever
11. Gary’s Gang - Let’s Lovedance Tonight
12. The Clash - Mustapha Dance
13. The Lovin’ Spoonful - Summer In The City (Peter Visit Edit)
14. Unfinished Business - Out Of My Hands
15. Don Ray - Standing In The Rain
16. Tom Noble - Dancing Hard (Al Kent’s Disco Jam)
17. Loni Gamble Band feat. Lisa Warrington - I Like The Way You Do It
18. Idris Muhammad - Could Heaven Ever Be Like This
19. Lindstrom - Another Station
20. Diana Ross - No-one Gets The Prize (Jimmy Simpson Remix)
21. Scandal - Just Let Me Dance (Maxxi Soundsystem Remix)
22. Pointer Sisters - Send Him Back (Pilooski Edit)
23. Love Committee - Just As Long As I Got You (Dmitri From Paris Re-Edit)
24. Teddy Pendergrass - The More I Get (John Morales M&M Get It All Mix)
25. Rhond Durand - Disco Fever (Part 3)
26. 6th Burrough Project - Planets
27. Roxy Music - The Same Old Scene (Glimmers Remix)
28. Willie Colon - Set Fire To Me
29. Joe Smooth - Promised Land
30. Sandy’s Gang - Hungry (Sean P Edit)
31. Mary Clark - Take Me I’m Yours
32. Jose Feliciano - California Dreaming

Friday 20th January, by Matthew Mills Team Laverne

We chatted to Jim Cole as part of our Memory Tapes feature back in August 2016. He's doing Forest Gump's run for real, and promised to catch up with us as he traverses the states. Here's the first update of many we hope, complete with a Desert Island Disco mix for good measure.

Well, since you featured me on Memory Tapes back in August of 2016 – all about my impending visit to the US to run Forrest Gump’s 20,000 mile over 3 years run with school visits to try and encourage children to do a little physical activity every day - I’m currently 2,500 miles through and have visited 8 schools and 2,000 children. I started from the USS Alabama in Mobile on 1st October 2016 as planned. I ran out of Alabama and into the State of Mississippi and into the heat of New Orleans, crossing the mighty Mississippi river there for the first time, but hoping that it won’t be the last time. I ran out of Mississipi and into the State of Louisiana, through the remoteness and isolation and heat and mosquitos of the Louisiana outback. I saw alligators, turtles, herons, snakes and spiders, and magnificent owls. This was followed by a dozen curious oinking furry black shapes, which emerged from long grass as the sun was setting, and which turned out to be wild pigs.

I ran along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline for many miles, including a full marathon on the sand towards Galveston. I saw a pair of muddy wild otters play fighting in a storm drain on the road from Galveston. They hid in the storm drain as I approached. I bent down at one end of the storm drain and took a photo with the flash on, just to see if I could get a photo of the otters inside. Below is what I found on my camera when I looked later on that evening. I show the children this photo and I tell them the story of the otter encounter. They love it, of course. (Ignore the blade of grass across the front of the photo).

I ran into Houston and started to visit schools whilst running 500 miles around the streets of Americas 4th largest city. I visited 4 schools there and the children seemed to adore my visit. below are photos of one of my visits to Woodcreek Elementary in Houston.

After Houston I ran to Austin, San Antonio and I’m now in San Angelo. Amazing cities with great people and great culture. In, and near, San Antonio I stopped at the train station and river where Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw played out their great roles in scenes in Sam Peckinpah’s ‘The Getaway’. In San Marcos I visited the holiday resort lake used in the 1970s film ‘Piranha’. Local and national media have been really good to me; I’ve been in lots of newspapers, including the Washington Post and mentioned on the cover of the ‘Childhood Wellness’ colour supplement with American national treasure and celeb chef, Rachael Ray. I’ve been on the TV news a few times too…which is great in helping me to deliver my simple ‘active every day’ message. It’s been a pretty wonderful journey so far. When people see me running and find out what I’m doing, and why…well they seem to like it. A lot. They actually want to help me. I’ve met some very lovely people. I’ll maybe tell you about them on air if we have time. I’ll also maybe tell you about a rather incredible development if time. It’s very exciting! Anyway, I best go as I have to be up at 3.45am our time for the interview with you.

Jim (or ‘Mr Gump’ as the teachers and children call me)”

‘Mr Gump’s’ Desert Island Disco
1. Bob & Earl - Harlem Shuffle
2. Edwin Starr - 25 miles
3. The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (please play this above all)
4. Loop - Black Sun
5. Stereolab - French Disco
6. Martha and the Vandellas - Nowhere to Run OR Dancing in the Street
7. Glenn Campbell - Rhinestone Cowboy
8. Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone OR I Held Her in my Arms
9. Spacemen3 - Revolution
10. The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There
11. Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop
12. Beatles - We Can Work it Out
13. Delmonas - Peter Gunn Locomotion
14. Rolling Stones - Come On
15. The Doors - LA Woman (I run through cities here a lot...at night...and nothing seems more appropriate as I run)
16. Depeche Mode - New Life
17. Pixies - Debaser
18. Jesus & Mary Chain - Never Understand OR April Skies
19. Supergrass - Sun Hits the Sky
20. Helen Shapiro - Walking Back to Happiness
21. Drums - Lets go Surfing

Friday 13th January, by Matthew Mills Team Laverne

Our Friday castaway has handily split his excellent playlist into three eras and will be reliving the heady days they represent. His journey to the Desert Island begins in East London, ends in Cornwall and takes in a pretty influential few years on a little island called Ibiza.

My name is Tim and I grew up in East London with an older sister who was into Bowie/Kraftwerk/Numan etc, which influenced me from an early age but the first scene I really got into was Electro, so I had to include a couple of tracks in my selection. I was terrible at break dancing, in fact broke plenty of ornaments in the living room trying…but the music was great and most has stood the test of time pretty well.

By the time I was leaving school I was into Depeche Mode, New Order, PSB’s etc, but when Acid house came along I couldn’t get enough. It sounded like nothing else and no other music had broken down class and race barriers like this did - by the end of ’88 I was hooked. I started going to London warehouse parties and by the following year was doing what many others were; chasing around the countryside looking for the all-nighters with fellow ravers. I also went to Ibiza that year with some mates, who were mainly into beer/discos but I went off in search of the club scene and boy did I find it!

By 1990 I was working, doing an admin job I hated and spending all my earnings on records. By the time it got to May I’d had enough and quit my job. I went to Ibiza again the next week for a week and returned home in October, looking very thin but having had the time of my life! That was the year I first went to ‘Space’ which back then was a very European club and hardly any English even knew about it – you pretty much had to know someone to get in. My first visit blew my mind – they were playing a track called ‘Alone’ by Abfarht and I’ve never heard anything like it. The sound system was incredible, the DJ’s were amazing, the place was full of transvestites and all sorts of weird and wonderful people - and the atmosphere was electric. I went back for the following few years too but soon it had all gone ‘literally’ Pete Tong, and eventually become very commercialised and so on.

By the mid 90’s I was still hugely into dance music but was also listening to a fair bit of ambient (Global Comms/Plaid/FSOL etc) and had also started making my own music. I eventually went on to release over a dozen 12” and did many remixes (mainly prog-house) and had my own label for a few years with tracks appearing on Global Underground/Gatecrasher/Essential Mix compilations to name a few…However, what started out as fun when it was as a hobby became less enjoyable and more pressurised when it became my job and eventually I succumbed to the need for regular income and a ‘normal job’ so I packed it in around 2002. By then the technology was changing and the market was swamped with too many records etc, but it was good while it lasted and I had no regrets.

These days I live in Cornwall and work as a property surveyor. I’m in my mid 40’s and haven’t been clubbing in donkeys years and don’t really listen to dance music so much. I do buy a lot of music though - mostly things I’ve heard on 6 Music, which I listen to everyday in the office. I have amazing memories from those days and could easily have picked a hundred tunes but these records below are ones which evoke special memories for me and cover a period of around 20 years. I’ve put my selection into 3 categories and I’ve tried not to make them too obscure and I hope you agree there’s a good cross section of genuine classics here. Thanks for reading and enjoy…

All the best and keep up the good work.
Tim

Electro days

Hashim – Al-naafiysh: This a timeless classic which still sounds as good as the day it was released
Cybotron – Clear: Early proto-Techno from Juan Atkins. Way ahead of its time and paved the way for the Detroit sound which was to follow
Man Parish –Hip Hop be Bop: Crisp 808 beats and funky as anything, simple but great

Early House classics

The KLF – What time is Love: The ‘Original mix’ (without the naff rap when it was re-released) was the first record I ever heard at an all-nighter. It sounded amazing then and still does
Richie Rich – Salsa House: Big favourite with all the pirate radio stations from ’89 and first release on FFRR
Fast Eddie – Acid Thunder: Killer bassline and great vocals. An underrated classic which again still sounds amazing to this day
Joey Beltran – Energy Flash: Ibiza 1990, Space nightclub…this tune drops…still remember it like it was yesterday. The “Ecstacy, Ecstacy” sample really was spot on!
Abfarht – Alone: Probably the most obscure of my choices but this was a dark epic track which was very influential – another Space classic
Age of Love – Age of Love: This track which was massive when remixed by Jam & Spoon but the original is still the best for me. Hypnotic bassline and vocals
G.T.O – Pure: Monster bassline and another ‘Space’ classic from back in the day
Moby – Go: Those strings…this track just never ages

Into the 90’s and beyond

F.S.O.L. – Papa New Guinea: Early breakbeat classic which took sampling to a whole new level. Amazing piece of music and still instantly recognisable nearly 25yrs on
React 2 Rhythm – Intoxication: Early remix from Leftfield which was a massive floor filler at the time, paved the way for the ‘prog-house’ sound
Orbital – Lush 3-1: I couldn’t not have an Orbital track in here and I followed them to the very end. This track was typical of them, great to dance to but brilliantly melodic
Secret Knowledge – Sugar Daddy: Dark broody electro-house crossover which was huge at the time. Sabres of Paradise at their finest
Banco de Gaia – Last Train to Llasa: Dance ambient classic. Epic track probably too long for radio play but still amazing
Lamb – Gorecki: Brilliant vocals from Lou Rhodes and emotional strings and breakbeats. Great chill out track
Mory Kante – Ye ke Ye ke: The Hardfloor remix of this is simply genius. With its wobbly acid B-line and African chants it’s one of the best dance tracks ever made IMO
New Order – Blue Monday: The original is a timeless classic but the Hardfloor remix again takes it to another level. When you hear this on a big system….immense
Sasha – Xpander: Masterpiece from the master of the genre of progressive house
Rui da Silva – Touch me: Brilliant deep house with a killer vocal, still a top track
Layo & Bushwacka – Love Story: This sums up what house music should be about. Brilliantly hypnotic and puts a smile on your face as soon as you hear it

Friday 6th January, by Frank Palmer Team Laverne

Stepping up to the booth comes easy for some people. Listener, Will Ellis, reckons he knocked out his Desert Island Disco setlist in about ten minutes. We’d accuse him of being too cocky if the tracks weren’t so good…

“I put the mix together after hearing someone’s Chicago house mix back in March last year on your show. So after that, I literally knocked a mix out in about 5 minutes of my favourite tracks from that era. They all came to my head pretty easily. Then I added the second half to the mix that afternoon.

The second half of the mix are the tracks I associate with the sea in some way. Not sure why but I can hear the influences of Ibiza in most of them. I just tried to bring a mix together with two sides. That is the vibe I would be looking at on a desert island.”

Chicago/Detroit/Manchester/Soulful Half

Ralph Rosario – You Used to Hold Me

Frankie Knuckles – Whistle Song

Sueno latino – Sueno Latino

Last Rhythm – Last Rhythm

Joe Roberts – Lover (K Klass Mix)

Inner City – Big Fun

FPI Project – Going Back to My Roots

Ce Ce Rodgers - Someday

Sterling Void – It's Alright

Everything but the Girl – Missing (Todd Terry Mix)

Rhythm on the Loose – Break of Dawn

Balearic Half

Waterfall – Atlantic Ocean

Subliminal Cuts – Le Voie Le Soleil

Jam & Spoon – Stella

Eugina – Salt Tank

Heliopolis – Banco De Gaia

Golden Girls - Kinetic (Remixed By Frank De Wulf)

Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Mix of Two Halves) (Second Half)

Electribe 101 – Talking With Myself (98 Mix)

Orbital – Halycon On and On

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