This mix is all music from 1984. It is a special live vinyl mix that I recorded on July 19, 2011 as a promotion for the A.D. (After Disco) series of parties here in Chicago.  The mix has been hosted for a few years on the Loves Podcast and I decided to upload it here to my Soundcloud for the first time.  Here’s a few words I wrote to go with the mix:  

1984 is an amazing year in music. At the time, "house" was still a colloquialism for the music played by Frankie Knuckles at the Warehouse. House was not yet a music form in its own right. "Fresh," on Vince Vince Lawrence’s fledgling label Precision, is the only house-qua-house track on the mix. The other tunes are properly considered proto-house -- the music which formed the milieu of dance music which we now describe (rather clumsily) as:

*Electro (e.g., Solo – “Girls, Girls” produced by John Robbie; JellyBean – “The Mexican”); 
*Garage (e.g., Circuit - "Release the Tension" a Timmy Regisford production; Colonel Abrams – “Music Is The Answer”); 
*Italo (e.g., Stop – “Wake Up”; Pancho Ballet – “Dancing Shoes”); 
*Synth and industrial dance (e.g., 52nd Street – “Can’t Afford” produced by New Order’s Stephen Morris; Palais Schaumburg – “The Beat Of Two” produced by Gareth Jones who also produced Depeche/Nitzer Ebb); and 
*Post-disco (e.g., Stephanie Mills – “Medicine Song”).

This music from 1984 is ‘proto’ in the sense that it was establishing the necessary elements of house – e.g., use of certain instruments (drum machines, synths, samplers) – but there are some stark differences.

Although much of the music in 1984 was released on small independents and remained quite underground, there were major successes for dance music at the time and investment in dance music by major labels. There was A&R structure at all record labels and radio play. "Trapped" (1985) by Colonel Abrams sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Earon’s “Land of Hunger” hit the top 40 on the soul singles chart. John “JellyBean” Benitez placed nine songs in the Top Ten of the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

The democratizing force that would be house music had not been fully realized. It was still expensive to make dance music. For example, most of the tracks on the mix feature vocalists, session players or a full band. Although the epic ensembles of the disco era had long passed in fashion and economic viability, dance records were still recorded in professional studios and engineered by individuals like Bob Blank and Herb Powers. The E-max Sampler hit the market in 1984, but the studio standard were samplers like the Fairlight and Synclavier (which had more than $100,000 price tags), each of which were prohibitively expensive for use by most musician/producers.

By 1984 the relatively inexpensive Roland gear was just finding its way into the hands of Chicago, Detroit and New York’s new roots musicians. A year before, Larry Sherman acquired Musical Product’s pressing plant, the only one in Chicago. Ron Hardy was playing "Penthouse and Pavement" by Heaven 17 and "DumDum" at the Music Box. Dance music was about to fall off the edge, for better and for worse.

1984 Track List:

1. Citispeak Featuring Jeanne Harris – I Don't Need Your Handouts (Inst.) – Partytime Records 
2. Pancho Ballet – Dancing Shoes (Instrumental) – Best Record 
3. Jellybean – The Mexican (Funhouse Mix) – EMI America 
4. Nuance Featuring Vikki Love - Take A Chance (Dubapella) - 4th & Broadway  
4. Samson & Delilah – I Can Feel Your Love Slippin' Away (Long Mix & Inst) – Saturn Records 
5. Hugh Masekela – Don't Go Lose It, Baby (Stretch Mix) – Jive Afrika 
6. Colonel Abrams – Music Is The Answer (Dub Version) – Streetwise 
7. The Earons – Land Of Hunger (Extended Version) – Island Records 
8. Wet – That's The Game (Instrumental) – Bellaphon 
9. Circuit – Release The Tension (Dub) – 4th & Broadway 
10. Stephanie Mills – The Medicine Song (Dub Version) – Casablanca Records 
11. Anne Clark – Our Darkness (Remix) – Ink Records 
12. Solo – Girls, Girls (Ah-Ah-Hi) - Next Plateau Records Inc. 
13. 52nd Street – Can't Afford – Profile (on license from Factory) 
14. The Bridge – Love Dance (Industrial Mix) - Second Vision 
15. Stop – Wake Up – Damabi International 
16. Fresh – Dum Dum – Precision 
17. Palais Schaumburg – The Beat Of Two (Extended Version) – Mercury


1984 After Disco (A.D.)

High Priestess of the Motherbeat. Vinyl slinging since 1994. Dissolve boundaries and models. Unlock your body. Find each other.
alex@biota.agency (Alex, Worldwide)
michelle@thebunkerny.com (USA / Canada)
chanel@dawncreative.agency (Press)

I make earrings, clothing and artwork. I garden and I cook. But I like to listen to things my friends send me. Be a friend.

DJ Mahakali / Origin Project厂牌主理人
Mahakali是一位佛陀追随者和正念冥想音疗师，同时亦是一位电子音乐人和资深派对策划人，她检验内在的足迹曾遍布四方，漫步于川渝与江浙，如今停留在沪上。

在众多旅途中她发现了探索内在的最好工具——音乐。她所钟爱和收藏的音乐时常融入不同地区和维度的人文风貌与自然气息，擅长以神秘诱惑的异域乐器、人声以及丰富别致的采样。

无论是能量爆满的Psytrance，或是感性浪漫的4/4律动，抑或运用疗愈乐器营造进入冥想放松的氛围，多种风格在她不同的引领下都能将意识突破局限，则犹如阴阳双鱼，看似对立游戏，但平衡而调和，灵动而恬淡。

她的擅长用起伏变化的迷幻节拍与精巧律动，令听众在感受音乐的过程之中将感观与意识自然融合，她的愿望便是用音乐为大家带来涌动渐进的灵性体验同时，还能抚慰和治愈心灵。

Mahakali, a Buddha follower and mindfulness meditation audiotherapist, as well as an electronic musician and seasoned party planner, has traveled all over the world, walking through Sichuan Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and now remains in Shanghai.

On many journeys she discovered the best tool for exploring the inner - music. Her favourite and collected music often incorporates the humanities and nature of different regions and dimensions, excelling in mysterious and inviting exotic instruments, human voices, and rich sampling.

Whether it is full of energy Psytrance, or emotional romantic 4 / 4 rhythm, Or use healing musical instruments to create an atmosphere of meditation and relaxation. Many styles, under her different guidance, can push consciousness beyond its limits. They are like yin and yang, seemingly opposing games, but balanced and reconciled, moving and serene.

She is adept at using waning and changing psychedelic beats and delicate movements to allow listeners to naturally integrate sensory and consciousness in the process of feeling music. Her desire is to use music to bring a progressive spiritual experience to all people, while also comforting and healing the mind.

mikepopesquare@gmail.com


https://www.instagram.com/jr.miketansella/


https://sonsoftradersrecords.bandcamp.com



https://www.mixcloud.com/michele-tansella/uploads/

https://ra.co/dj/miketansellajr

1984 After Disco (A.D.)

Eris Drew