DECEMBER 2006/INTERVIEW/DAVE LEE

It’s been well documented that artists such as Masters At Work and yourself have managed to maintain a double identity regarding your musical output, making records that have both commercial and/or specialised appeal. Is this conscious and if it is, how is this possible on a purely practical level?

I have fairly broad taste in dance music. I love the DJ Spinna, Osunlade type soulful house, broken beat, etc but also I like the odd more techy deeper track and even some more commercial big room or electro records – there is good, bad and average in all genres of music – the snobbishness in the dance scene annoys me. I also sometimes appreciate records for the production, even if I wouldn’t play them, so something like Bodyrox is just as good as Bar a Thyme for me.
In the studio I like to vary what I’m making. Right now, most of my time is spent on producing a new Sunburst Band album but I’m also making some more commercial tunes in between. I have even done a track on Robbie Williams’ new album. It’s about a balance that keeps things interesting for me - as well as making ends meet financially.


Judging by the tracks you compile, you seem to be primarily an American Disco enthusiast. What is your view on the European sound of the 70s and what do you make of the recent resurgence of interest in the 80s Italo sound?

I think the Disco Spectrum LPs have a fair amount of Euro tracks on them, but in my opinion much of the best disco music was from the US – well, at least the more soul and R’n’B flavoured type.
I do like a lot of UK disco/jazz funk – things like Hudson People, Funkmasters, Freeez, Hi Tension, Atmosphere etc. I may be doing a compilation of this for BBE soon.
My favourite European producers by a mile are the Change guys - Malavasi and Petrus – though they worked with American vocalists, which made a big difference. I have collected many early 80s Italo boogie tracks (Selection, Rainbow Team etc) and even did an article on this sound for Keep On magazine, but a lot of that sort of stuff has nice music but is let down by the quality of the singers they had available.
There is also some nice French disco - Space, Cerrone, Voyage etc – I recently included a track by Apradys (Voyage’s bass player) on a compilation called The Trip that I put together. There had their own spacey vibe in France – I guess today it would be called “cosmic” (yawn!)
Regarding Italo Disco, well there is some good stuff, but I find much of it far too cheesy and Hi-NRG for my taste. For example I recently heard a 12” by Phil and Friends, which is very sought after – but it just sounded like your bog standard Euro fodder to me, so I don’t understand why anyone would pay $400 for a copy? I often think this with the expensive Italo stuff, though there is a 12” I got the other day by LEB Harmony called ‘Feelin Love’ which is good. However, as a genre its more miss than hit for me!


Which is your favourite disco band and who is your favourite disco producer?

There are so many that I love - Patrick Adams for his chords and strings, Narada Michael Walden for his bass lines and energy, Randy Muller for the raw funk element, Quincy Jones and Maurice White for their enormous productions, Chic for great grooves and songs that have stayed with the following generations.

Act wise…Earth, Wind and Fire probably – if you can call them disco? Disco is littered with great one off 12” and acts who maybe weren’t strictly disco but made a couple of records that fall into that category. Norman Connors, George Duke and Lonnie Liston Smith are all acts I have lots of albums by from that period.


You are a big fan of Jupiter Beyond’s “The Riverdrive”. What is so special to you about this record? Could you tell us a little bit about the background of the record?

It was an early 12” I bought back in the day – it was pretty popular in the UK clubs at the time and I had heard it on Radio Luxemburg’s disco chart. I guess that and Tamiko Jones both had spacey elements with lots of effects and delays but aren’t cheesy musically – well maybe the intro of River Drive is a little corny – but it’s not horrible! What I like about River Drive is the way it completely changes half way through - the first part is quite happy, even a little Boney M-ish (!) then it switches into a wicked jazz funk groove with great solos and echoing percussion. Without that second half I wouldn’t be that keen on it.
Records like “ River Drive ” make you want to listen to it right till the end. It’s that old tension and release thing. I’m not into a lot of the nu-disco re-edits that remove the slightly cheesy section and just repeat the cooler bits, as often with out the change the tracks sound flat, for example Roy Ayers “Get on Up Get on Down”, wouldn’t work so well without the “I Wanna Dance with you all night” bridge, even though its pretty corny by today’s standards.
Regarding the origins of River Drive – It’s a bit of a mysterious record. I heard a rumour that it was the work of James Mason (of Sweet Embrace fame) but he didn’t like it (or disco music generally) so didn’t use his own name…maybe that isn’t true though? He certainly made a disco record under an alias, and this would fit the bill. Whatever, it is strange that writer producer P. Lightfoot only made this one record.


You worked with Linda Clifford and Norma Jean from Chic on the Sunburst Band album. How was it being in the studio with such dexterous and legendary vocalists?

Great, it’s always cool to be in the studio with artists you have owned records by for years. Thelma Houston and the Blackbyrds were also a nice buzz for me. If I lived in the USA I’d search out more of my favourite singers and record with them but flying people over to the UK, paying hotels etc.. is just too expensive. Having said that, I've worked with some fantastic singers who didn’t get the same breaks but are just as talented as the big names.


You put out some of the first Blaze records on your Republic imprint. Did you get to meet the guys from Blaze at the time? What do you think of their approach to music?

Yes, many times. I worked with them in the studio in the US and watched them remix over in the UK – we brought them over to do a little tour in ‘88 and hooked up some remixes – Coldcut, Mica Paris, Womack and Womack. I don’t know about now but they were doing things very quickly and spontaneously back then. Josh is a great keyboard player with a fantastic feel for music so when you have someone that talented in the crew it makes things much easier.


How often do you go record shopping? What’s your most recent acquisition and your favourite London record shop?

London is pretty dry for records nowadays (or maybe I just think that so I don’t bother looking anymore?) so I mainly buy online – or from dealers I know. I recently got a copy of Carlos Franzetti “Graphitti”. It has a track on it called ‘Cocoa Funk’ which I have already on a compilation, but I wanted to hear the rest of it. I really like his string arrangements on stuff like Garson and The Joneses. He also produced a second Candido LP for Salsoul, which isn’t as good as the ‘Dancin and Prancin’ one, but it has some really nice moments and chord progressions.