Dancing Queen

**nickbaer** · 03-21-2014, 12:21 PM

So Disco Dancing Queen aficionado Bec graduated from HS in 1989?

That was 13 years after I began my nightclub Disco DJ career!

I do have my .mp3 collection of the top 500 hits of the original pre-AIDS, Studio 54 Disco era - 1976-1981 mostly. Thanks to Napster 2000.

Those and a couple of BITcoins aren't going to pay the rent, but they both have a certain virtual shine.

The part of my .mp3 Disco collection that I treasure the most is my Patrick Cowley folder. Not only Cowley's original hits, but also the DJ-only 12-inch promos of his works, AND the DJ-only 12-inch remixes he did of I Feel Love and Funkytown, and a few more.

He died in 1981, and my life-long participation in health education, re-focused after his death to AIDS, has been motivated by his (and Sylvester's) final messages about drugs and drug addled sex.

**Bec** · 03-21-2014, 12:57 PM

That was 1969 -- not '89. So what year did you start your DJ career?

And now I'll have I Feel Love running through my head the rest of the afternoon ... !!

**nickbaer** · 03-21-2014, 04:59 PM

I began at age 25 in 1976, about the time the gay community was starting to have dance parties. I had worked in radio, and therefore knew a few things about records and turntables, even though I was officially a newscaster in radio, not a DJ.

I soon learned about the 4/4 beat timing of Disco music, and tempo measured in beats per minute BPM. I learned how to combine the two concepts so that the beginning of the new record could be overlaid over the end of the old record, matching the speed and matching the first beat of the new measure with the first beat of the old measure. It's harder to explain on paper than it is in practice.

But, it produces the seamless flow of music.

I retired from from nightclub DJing in Minneapolis in 1992, just as CDs were coming into use, and 10 years before .mp3s.

Cowley's I Feel Love mega remix, 15 minutes??, is haunting with the extra synth effects he added. The cocaine influence is obvious, ranging from the very high HIs, to the very low LOs.

The Funkytown remix is incredible. Every Sylvester, Two Tons O' Fun/Weather Girls, Paul Parker, Loverde, plus his own Megatron Man, was shear genius.

While not also Cowley's, I was able to snag the extended remix of Bee Gees Stayin' Alive, with the Sax solo! Incredible. I think it is findable on YouTube, although I need to go to dinner now.

**nickbaer** · 03-21-2014, 10:37 PM

Stayin' Alive with Sax Solo at 4:39.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLVAJ_GWlZA

**Bec** · 03-22-2014, 01:40 PM

Now that gets me chair dancing!

So we are both 1951 baby boomers. For some reason I was thinking you were about 20 years younger than me. But given how scrambled my memory has been for the past few years, I could easily be thinking of another member.

I soon learned about the 4/4 beat timing of Disco music, and tempo measured in beats per minute BPM. I learned how to combine the two concepts so that the beginning of the new record could be overlaid over the end of the old record, matching the speed and matching the first beat of the new measure with the first beat of the old measure. It's harder to explain on paper than it is in practice.

But, it produces the seamless flow of music.

I know exactly what you're describing as I used to do it when making cassette tapes to play in the car. Makes for an enjoyable ride, especially on long trips.

**nickbaer** · 03-22-2014, 01:53 PM

I'm October 1950, quite the Libra, raised during the opulent 1950s, and the socially and technologically exciting 1960s... stymied by the 1970s economy, a dedicated community servant in the 1980s health crises... I helped create the Internet in the 1990s, and then a user of the Internet 2000s-present.

I, too, thought you were 20 years younger, doing the jack Benny 39 thing.

**Bec** · 03-22-2014, 05:21 PM

No, I've legitimately earned every silver hair on my head!

Libra huh? ... that explains a lot about you actually. Libra is a movable air sign, which means there’s creativity in you. You are quick to grasp ideas, and you have a need to produce works of art and unusual or original things.

I had a Libra partner for 7 years, and she was constantly up and down about things, seeking her center of balance. But the ones that make me crazy are the Scorpios. Goddess love 'em, but they sure get me into trouble! They are magnetic, elusive, sexy and determined! And of course I have two under my roof at the moment.

And before you ask -- I'm a Cancer sign.

Cancer, the fourth sign of the zodiac, is a water sign, which signifies your highly emotional nature. Being under the sway of the element of water also makes you highly caring, generous and intuitive. You are highly evolved, even spiritual — the water signs are karmically developed and refined in spirit.

Water is malleable and adaptable. You are very much like that. You adapt when you have to, but you much prefer to make changes on your own terms. Like water, you are soothing and nourishing too. Life-supporting energies are at the heart of your character. You will act as a support for many people — in your own family and beyond.

I'd say it fits! And there really isn't anything at this site regarding the Cancer personality that is off point for me. I'm artistic, I like to write, and I love to cook! And I tend to be very devoted and fierce about my loyalties.

**nickbaer** · 04-05-2014, 02:35 PM

Bec-

I'm going to Walgreen's next week to get some new brown for those silvers in mine.

In the mean time, who are the webmasters and industry people in Dublin, Ireland?