Cosmic Stew: Spacey Disco Music

When Ron Hardy said that House Music was Disco’s revenge, this is what he meant: 

Cosmic Stew 

1. The voice of Q, Q: At the sound of the interplanetary voice of Q, you will be shot straight into hyperspace, which is strange because Michael Forte and Bruce Weeden wrote this for their “South Philly” record label as a novelty track response to the popularity of 1982’s E.T.  
2. Magic Midnight, Beam Me Up: Next, you will be beamed up from 1982 Philly and beamed back down in the 2010 Brooklyn of Magic Midnight, but not much has changed sonically as this disco shuffle groove will teleport you right back to 80’s era Paradise Garage with its space-age vibes and Larry Levan-style, disco-diva vocal. 
3. Everyman, Double Exposure (Dam Swindle): There are approximately one million remixes of Double Exposure’s Everyman, and I love almost every one of them. It received the re-edit, 12inch treatment, as did much of the Salsoul catalog, immediately after its release in 1976 by such luminary, disco deejays as Tee Scott, Tom Moulton, and Walter Gibbons, and has had endless other house remixes and samples throughout the last four decades by such house producers as Todd Terry, Shep Pettibone, Joey Negro, and Late Nite Tuff Guy to name only a few. 
4. First Choice, Let No Man Put Asunder (Alan Dixon): There are approximately two million remixes of First Choice’s Let No Man Put Asunder, and I love almost every one of them. And the reason for all this remix and sampling love is probably because, as with most of the disco that got heavy attention from the house community, it was played by Frankie Knuckles at the Warehouse and remixed by Ron Hardy at the Music Box. 
5. First Choice, Love Having You Around (Late Nite Tuff Guy): Philadelphia soul, particularly Salsoul, gets remixed and sampled to death because it absolutely kills on New York and Chicago dance floors. Furthermore, any Stevie Wonder sample or rework, such as this First Choice cover of Love Having You Around, will send any Chicagoan within earshot into an uncontrollable Ecstasy. A little tip when deejaying in Chicago, play one of the great remixes that samples Stevie’s “As.” Human beings will lose their minds and love you forever. 
6. Parliament / Funkadelic, Mothership Reconnection (Scott Grooves): This remix f-ing rocks. It brings all the power and joy of P-funk's euphoric, crowd chants and deep funk grooves. Funk and Disco had a kind war of distinction between the street-cred of funk and the heavy orchestration of disco, but House producers often saw no problem employing either or both to get asses moving. Are you going to “ride when the Mother Ship comes?” Yes! 
7. First Choice, Dr. Love (Late Nite Tuff Guy): Tom Moulton did House Music a huge favor by remixing that “di di di di de” string hook that drives so many House tracks, especially Terrence Parker’s total banger Your Love, as well as a bunch of the Henry Street catalog. New Yorks’s Henry Street Records is another huge reason that many of the 70s disco classics get so much love. Famously, it was a huge struggle for Moulton to loop that di de string section because the percussionists hadn’t kept consistent time. I guess they hadn’t used a click track, which was the norm for disco of the time. 
8. Instant Funk, I Got My Mind Made Up (Alan Dixon): A classic Larry Levan 12inch that gets anyone anytime. 
9. K-Alexi Shelby: Ron Hardy Memo (Riva Starr): There are so many amazing tributes to Ron Hardy, and this is one of my favorites from Chicago, hometown, hero K-Alexi. And speaking of Ron Hardy remixing Let No Man Put Asunder, this track has “got something for your mind, body, and soul!” 
10. Natasha Kitty Kat, Windy City: Such a wonderful sample from Carl Davis’s Chi-Sound Orchestra! Just sink into this 70’s soul-jazz classic. It’ll put a pep in your step as you stroll along the Chicago lake front on a breezy summer day. 
11. DJ Scratch, Electric Stew (We Can Get Down): DJ Scratch is a super prolific, New York, Hip Hop producer since the 1980s, but he’s produced a couple of house tracks lately based on some of the folks that he’s worked with in the past, such as EPMD and Q-Tip. Let’s get down to this soulful groove. 
12. The Detroit Emeralds, You’re Getting a Little Bit Smart: Westbound records from Detroit, not to be confused with “West End Records” from NYC, came from Detroit, but just like many West End releases, these funk-soul gems wound up in the hands of New York’s Tom Moulton and Larry Levan for the 12inch disco dance floor treatment. “You’re Getting a Little Bit Smart,” was first sampled the hell out of by the Hip Hop community in the 80s for its beginning drum break. I don’t remember how I found this house-y rework, or who did it, but such is the way with some of these white label productions. 
13. Double Exposure: My Love is Free (David Morales): Here’s a classic, rapturous romp! Philly’s Sal Soul, New York’s Paradise Garage, and Chicago House fit like hand(s) in glove(s). Let love set us free. 
14. Qubiko: Raw Love: Whoops! I didn’t mix into this one well at all, so if you want to hear what it sounds like when a human deejay f---s up his beat matching, here it is! I had it in the very beginning but quickly lost it and couldn’t get it back. The track is a classic sample of Roy Ayers and Sylvia Striplin’s “Give Me Your Love.” 
15. DJ Scratch, Go!: Here’s the other new DJ Scratch House track, which like Electric Stew, was released on OG Chicago Househead, Terry Hunter’s, “Mirror Ball” records.