Live Set from Saturday 27/07/2024 at Paléo Festival.
Socialist Disco Funk from Yugoslavia.

Phonky Jugoton

On Friday 05.09.2025, I had the absolute honour of soundtracking the opening party for Fotografiska Berlin's retrospective of legendary photographer Helga Paris. The sonic brief: Disco music from the DDR and beyond. 

I dug deep into my vast archive of DDR disco, Czechoslovakian funk, Georgian groove and other deliciously enticing Socialist electronics to bring you a cocktail of curiosities that once pervaded the dancefloors of a world that now only exists in memory, on vinyl and in artifact. 

I am beyond grateful for being invited to share my knowledge and musical treasure. A truly niche brief such as this really encapsulates my love of collecting and being asked to share that sonic history is a humbling and validating experience. Both hearing and seeing people dancing to Marie Rottrová's scorching 1984 Czech language cover of Diana Ross's Upside Down or the thundering yet butter-smooth groove of "Komm, Komm Näher" by DDR group Kreis was really special. 

Enjoy! 

Tracklist: 

1. Servi - Hellespont (DDR, 1986)
2. Cice Mace - Foto Model (Yugoslavia, 1981)
3. Izabela Trojanowska - Jestem Twoim Grzechem (Polish People's Republic, 1981)
4. Uschi Brüning - Hochzeitsnacht (DDR, 1975)
5. Georgian TV/R Recording Orchestra - Sakartvelosa (Soviet Georgia, 1982)
6. 4PS - Ich würde, wenn ich wüsste, dass ich könnte (DDR, 1978)
7. Krystyna Pronko - Byłeś, Jesteś, Będziesz Mój (Polish People's Republic, 1987)
8. Prinzz - Liebe Im Fahrstuhl (DDR, 1984)
9. Rero - Gamodi (Soviet Georgia, 1980)
10. Silly - Tanzt keiner Boogie (DDR, 1981)
11. Gilla - Ich Brenne (West Germany, 1976)
12. Marie Rottrová - Vytahuj Se Radši Míň (Czechoslovakia, 1984)
13. Pop Projekt - Rain In Champagne (DDR, 1987)
14. Arnulf Wenning - Infanta Maria (DDR, 1987)
15. Casi Mosi - Schniegli Normali (DDR, 1985)
16. Electric Beat Crew - Here We Come (DDR, 1989)
17. Marie Rottrová - Playboy (Czechoslovakia, 1981)
18. Kreis - Philly's Tanz (DDR, 1976)
19. Günther Fischer Sextett - Philly-Nova (DDR, 1979)
20. Eva Máziková - Dúhová Púť (Czechoslovakia, 1973)
21. Centrum - Disco King (DDR, 1977)
22. Pop Projekt - (Du bist so) Heiß (DDR, 1987)
23. Lucie - Fremde in der Nacht (DDR, 1987)
24. Heike Tittmann - Wie ein Baum (West Germany, 1979)
25. Die Caufner Schwestern - Komm Doch (DDR, 1978)
26. ORM - Jen Dál A Víc A Líp (Czechoslovakia, 1979)
27. Оригинал - Сен Қайдан Биласан (Soviet Usbekistan, 1981)
28. Kamelie - Video Disco (Czechoslovakia, 1983)
29. Kreis - Komm, Komm Näher (DDR, 1978)
30. Discobolos - Zarli (Czechoslovakia, 1978)
31. Ute Berling - Computerspiele (West Germany, 1983)
32. Potpourri - Ich Bin Durchsichtig (West Germany, 1982)
33. Filigrán - Digi Digi (Czechoslovakia, 1986)
34. Denis & Denis - Još Jedna Crta (Yugoslavia, 1983)
35. Belo Belo - Ružičasta Bluza (Yugoslavia, 1984) 
36. Kreis - Fremder Mann (DDR, 1978)

Photocredit: Helga Paris. 
Frauen im Bekleidungswerk Treff-Modelle, 1984 Berlin. 

Live at Fotografiska Berlin - Helga Paris "Für Uns" Opening 05.09.2025

🇨🇭 🇧🇦 DJ. Balkan & Romani Beats, Grooves from Near & Middle East, Socialist Rock & New Wave.

Rupert (b. 1991) is the alias of Berlin based DJ, producer and record collector Robert Paul Gardner. Rupert has spent the past decade and a half collecting and documenting the wide vestiges of disco music. From the hedonistic and revolutionary underground pulse of New York in the 1970’s through to the birth of house music in sweaty Chicago basements in the early 1980’s, Rupert’s collection of rare vinyl, as well as the associated historical references and ephemera form what could be known as disco anthropology. Rupert’s passion for unearthing the long-lost throb of disco also reaches into even more obscure or forgotten channels of the genre such as the liberating queer thunder of Hi-NRG as well as the often lo-fi and charming smattering of disco released in the former Warsaw Pact countries and Yugoslavia. These collections and stories are re-woven and the story retold through a series of dedicated online mixtapes. In a live setting Rupert brings to the modern dancefloor a uniquely authentic and faithful sound, segueing through the genre and its many glittering corners to provide an experience that erases all notion of current time and place.

New tracks tagged #Jugoton