nicky siano's the gallery

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anyone else have this yet? it's all i've been listening to this week. the pointers sisters track alone!

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 5 November 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

1. Jeanie Browne - Can’t Stop Talking
2. Undisputed Truth – Big John
3. The Temptations – Law Of The Land
4. Vernon Birch – And They Call That Love
5. Loleatta Holloway – We’re Getting Stronger
6. The Isley Brothers – Get Into Something
7. The Pointer Sisters – Yes We Can Can
8. Bobby Womack – I Can Understand It
9. Gloria Spencer – I Got It
10. The Bar-Kays – Sand And Dance
11. The Tramps – Love Epidemic
12. The Supremes – I’m Gonna Let My Heart
13. Bill Withers – Harlem
14. Bonnie Bramlett – Crazy Bout My Baby
15. Exuma – Exuma
16. Za’ema – Giving Up

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 5 November 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

plus how rad is that artwork.

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 5 November 2004 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I've got this. That Pointer Sisters track is boss...maybe even better than Lee Dorsey's orig.

― Dark Horse, Saturday, 6 November 2004 00:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Also own it as well - and even more Pointer Sisters love - and love for the rest of it as well (of course).

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Saturday, 6 November 2004 00:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish Soul Jazz comps weren't so expensive. :(

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 6 November 2004 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

yup, it's all about the pointer sisters for me too. i also love that exuma track.

― stirmonster, Saturday, 6 November 2004 00:20 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, i have to pick my soul jazz purchases pretty carefully, but this one's totally worth it.

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 November 2004 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

wait i just realized that tracklisting i posted is totally utterly wrong. wtf amazon?

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 November 2004 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

here we go:

1. Genie Brown - Cant Stop Talking
2. Undisputed Truth - Big John Is My Name
3. The Temptations - Law Of The Land
4. Vernon Burch - And You Call That Love
5. Loleata Holloway - Were Getting Stronger
6. The Isley Brothers - Get Into Something
7. Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can
8. Exuma - Exuma, The Obeah Man
9. Trammps - Love Epidemic
10. Zulema - Giving Up
11. Bobby Womack - I Can Understand It
12. Gloria Spencer - I Got It
13. The Bar-Kays - Sang and Dance
14. The Supremes - Im Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking
15. Bill Withers - Harlem
16. Bonnie Bramlett - Crazy Bout My Baby
17. Brenda and the Tabulations - A Little Bit Of Love

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 November 2004 05:08 (twenty-one years ago)

is this mixed? siano is close to god of course.

― bulbs (bulbs), Saturday, 6 November 2004 07:26 (twenty-one years ago)

the cd is mixed, the vinyl not.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Saturday, 6 November 2004 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

my cd's not mixed.

― mark p (Mark P), Saturday, 6 November 2004 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

well, is it mixed or not? usually soul jazz comps aren't?

the pointers sisters tune is practically the only tune i'm familiar with on this comp, so I hesitated buying it because i thought that the other tunes might have been obscure-side crapola.

i figured that, at this point, there probably weren't too many hot hot tracks from that era that hadn't been issued/compiled on cd (where's my Chantal Curtis "Hit Man" somebody?).

so it's slammin?

― pheNAM (pheNAM), Saturday, 6 November 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

oh yes it gets the party go ing

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Saturday, 6 November 2004 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

i bought this on a major cd buying binge and consequently it's still in the "to be listened to" pile. i was so excited for it when i first saw the ads. it's about time!

― tricky (disco stu), Saturday, 6 November 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

it's not mixed and it's incredible, lot's of fantastic tracks. recommemded highly

― frankbru, Saturday, 6 November 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

No, it's not mixed, but cohesive stylistically (as Nicky Siano's excellent notes point out,"most of the songs were released prior to 1974, and none of them were associated with the term 'disco.' 'I Got It' by Gloria Spencer was a gospel tune. 'Crazy 'Bout My Baby' was a rcock record. And the rest were considered soul and funk." He's kinda touchy about the term; says on back: "Larry would have preferred we not used the word 'disco.' To him it was always his house and a party!" Also fits together well re social commentary, a sense of real thought. Even though Gloria's gospel:"I got it, I don't understand it." Hallelujah anyway. And Bill Withers warns us against preachers, Temptaions comment on "The Law of The Land," decreed by "Almighty Man." But also as Nicky says it's all about hope, coming out of the assend of the 60s, etc.

― don, Sunday, 7 November 2004 00:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry bout the typos. And I meant that even Gloria's thinking, not justpraising; realizing and freely admitting she doesn't understand the Word yet. But that's the kind of honesty that'll get her *somewhere*, and that's the kind of song Nicky's going for: affirmitive (even in the sense of hell-yeh-"attitude"), but some reference to reality. Fun, too. Despite lack of turntablism and production experiments he became known for, these do all have good intricate productions (especially on headphones), and some suprising developements in a couple I thought weren't gonna go anywhere special.

― don, Sunday, 7 November 2004 02:33 (twenty-one years ago)

did Nicky Siano do much as a producer/artist? i have Tiger stripes/ You can't hold me - credited to Felix - on 12" and its faaaantastic. bears distinct Arthur Russell fingerprints methinks.

― bulbs (bulbs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 04:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Not much work as far as I know - the song "Move" (available on the disco (not disco) compilation, and helping out with "Kiss Me Again".

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Sunday, 7 November 2004 04:59 (twenty-one years ago)

According to the other liner notes (the ones written by Tim Lawrence, author of LOVE SAVES THE DAY: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN DANCE MUSIC CULTURE, 1970-79..any of you read this? I need to check the voice.com review again), according to Tim, Nicky apparently didn't start releasing singles until 1978. Dinosaur's"Kiss Me Again,"co-produced with Arthur, but by then he was so far into drugs, that his brother, who ran the Gallery, threatened to shut it down if Nicky didn't clean up. So it shut down, and Nicky disappeared for a long time. But since the late 90s, he's done interviews for the book, says Tim, and "held down the celebrated Twelve West residency at Cheetah, toured the world and released a string of floor-bazing productions, including 'Smoking It' by Automagic...when he plays classics (which he mixes with contemporary dance releases) they don't sound like classics. They sound like the revelatory future." Uh, okay! Better than the obscurantist future, eh. Apparently, there are more volumes of this GALLERY planned, so maybe we'll get some mixes. His early turntable techique, as described, is pretty intriguing, and a reminder that hiphop DJs didn't come out of nowhere.

― don, Sunday, 7 November 2004 06:40 (twenty-one years ago)

it seems to me theres a whole buried generation of tunes marked early disco and forgotten or ignored. a lot of the orig soul bands/artists that turned in "disco" efforts were marginalised by the soul connosoirs for selling out or something. i know a whole heap of tunes on this comp might not fit that description, but the general vibe does.

i just listened to POWer by the Temptations and holy fuck is it good.

― bulbs (bulbs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 07:31 (twenty-one years ago)

held down the celebrated Twelve West residency at Cheetah

I was there when he hosted a classics night and offered a reward to whomever could trainspot the most songs. The winner? Andre Collins, resident DJ at the Warehouse. I've also seen Siano DJ at Halcyon, when Mel Cheren was reading from his book, and at Club 667 on Fulton when Bang the Party was held there. He and I were 2 of 4 white people there. He was mostly playing CDs, didn't do a ton of fancy mixing, a few sloppy mixes, but i'm not too anal about that stuff, and played some boring new stuff and some classics (is it all over my face?) and some cool old stuff I didn't recognize.

I always thought Kiss Me Again was pretty much Russell's bag, but the Felix and Tiger Stripes 'Move' singles were his.

cool anecdote? A hardcore record collector I know went to a stoop sale in the carrol gardens/cobble hill section of brooklyn and there were a few decent disco records. He asked if the guy had anything else, like any Arthur Russell records. The homeowner took him inside and sold him a silkscreen printed original of the Dinosaur L 24-24 Music LP for like 5 or 10 bucks. Yup, it was Nicky Siano.

sorry for the pimping, but you should all check out this site for a new monthly party I've been doing with my friends...the second one was tonight:

http://alldisco.net

My sets that are online already were pretty electronic, but my set tonight was a lot of classic disco, check back in a week or two and it may be posted.

Also, re: pre-disco floor fillers:

http://www.jahsonic.com/PreDisco.html

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 7 November 2004 07:55 (twenty-one years ago)

hey dan! you owe me a disc (gaz. for the detroit stuff)) you could send me one of these!!!!!

― bulbs (bulbs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 08:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean one of your sets from alldisco site

― bulbs (bulbs), Sunday, 7 November 2004 08:18 (twenty-one years ago)

don love saves the day is incredible, i can't recommend it highly enough.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Sunday, 7 November 2004 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

"love saves the day" is indeed great if a bit dry. 500 pages on cocaine -imbibed hedonism at studio 54 it is not. it's very much a book about music first and foremost, the djs, and stories of the scene surrounding it all are told without getting overly gossipy or trite.

― tricky (disco stu), Sunday, 7 November 2004 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

check out Mel Cheren's book as well, 50% disco, 50% fire island...an interesting read on the relationship between gay NYC in the 70s and the birth of disco, West End Records and the Paradise Garage.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 7 November 2004 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Youcanget Soul Jazz CDs for a tenner from their own shop in Soho. Also 2 for 20 pounds in a shop called Disque in Islington, near Club Freaky Trigger. I don't suppose that helps if you're in San Francisco or wherever, but still.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Sunday, 7 November 2004 17:40 (twenty-one years ago)

though the pointer sisters cover is nice, lee dorsey is still tops.
there's also a gladys knight cover in "giving up" by zulema.
the only sign of mixing (a/k/a Siano's 3rd turntable) is at the end of Exuma, where he has a jet sound whoosh come in.

― Beta (abeta), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm listening to the Exuma cut right now as it happens. So the jet blast is Nicky's Perfect takeoff from the Garden of Slide Whistles!Has there been an Exuma thread? I'll search for it--he used to be big buzz at thee record shows, even in 70s: think there were three Lps, but all went OOP pretty quickly? Sounds like an "answer record" to "Walk On Guilded Splinters" or summat (Dr. John, during his Night tripper phase, was accused by some of ripping off the real gris-gris; this song sounds tourist-friendly too, but what the heck I'm a time-tourist) The Pointer Sisters cover is razor enough; Toussaint wrote and seems to have the Meters on this, kind of a New Orleans Family Sotne approach, like on the best of Meters' CABBAGE ALLEY etc. phase Toussaint was so great then; I gotta get a bunch more of his 79s productions (think he also had most of the Meters backing Labelle on their ace NIGHTBIRDS or NIGHTBYRDS) Thanks for the tips on those books guys. This Trammps "Love Epidemic," Zulema's "Giving Up," and oh Bobby Womack's "I Can Understand It"! Look I'm not a fan per se of eraly 70s R&B, aside from always having been a P-Funk junkie. And I know Soul Jazz collections can be uneven (I don't like every track on here equally well). But overall, this thing *works*! ("Club Freaky Trigger"! Go Tom, go Mark!)

― don, Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

"Youcanget Soul Jazz CDs for a tenner from their own shop in Soho. Also 2 for 20 pounds in a shop called Disque in Islington, near Club Freaky Trigger. I don't suppose that helps if you're in San Francisco or wherever, but still."

This just how spoiled we Americans are cuz I can get these for $18 (which is 10 pounds right now) and I would consider that an outrageous price hahaha.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

The woosh sound is on the original Exuma LP. I guess I didn't notice it was unmixed because it's sequenced so well.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Sunday, 7 November 2004 20:07 (twenty-one years ago)

So Loose, you've got an Exuma LP? What's it like?

― don, Monday, 8 November 2004 06:22 (twenty-one years ago)

though the pointer sisters cover is nice, lee dorsey is still tops.

dorsey is a very close #2 for me.

finally read the liner notes. i didn't realize that siano had been largely m.i.a. until the late 90s when someone 'rediscovered' him through an irc chat!

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 8 November 2004 06:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I consider it an outrageous price too, that's why I haven't got it. I thought YOU LOT would have to pay import prices, hence half-hearted gloat.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Monday, 8 November 2004 09:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I really want this but they don't have it at my local store (Lou's) Boo hoo!

― tylero (tylero), Monday, 8 November 2004 09:11 (twenty-one years ago)

b-b-but, Dorsey is sooo effortless and in-the-pocket. not to mention he has the Meters and Toussaint in his corner. even though fine covers of his songs exist, it still goes:
dorsey >>>>>>>> pointer sisters, devo, van dyke parks, etc.

― Beta (abeta), Monday, 8 November 2004 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

xypost: I've got like six or so Exuma records. "Exuma II" is a classic. Variations on the voodoo freak fest.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 8 November 2004 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to agree Lee Dorsey is better than, like, almost anything...the Pointer Sisters do a nice version of the tune (and it's very cool to hear it slowed down,) but that's not a serious competition. I was being rhetorical, above.

― Dark Horse, Monday, 8 November 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

what can i say andy, i'm a sucker for those vox!

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 8 November 2004 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

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