Halloween Countdown 2015 is Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Here's a dance mix for our Sunday Halloween Countdown. Glenn Rivera created a video using scenes from the Bewitched movie that starred Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell.

The singer is Polly Brown who had an international hit with "Up in a Puff of Smoke" in 1975. Well, that's the way some witches go out, isn't it?

Halloween Countdown will continue until All Hallow's Eve this Saturday.

That Old Black Magic Goes Disco on My Halloween Countdown 2014

Sorry Halloween Countdown has been a bit spotty this year, but I'm going through some major life changes -- good ones but demanding of my time and attention. Anyhow, I love pulling out this song at Halloween season: the disco version of "That Old Black Magic." Vocals by the incredible Jeanne Shy, with two of my favorite talents involved: Bob Esty was the producer; disco video mix by Glenn Rivera. Perfect any time of year, really.

Black Magic on My Halloween Countdown 2013

No Halloween party will be complete without this divalicious disco version of "That Old Black Magic," brilliantly produced by Bob Esty in a swirl of strings and funky guitar riffs. Jeanne Shy belts this across in a brilliant vocal performance with jazz flourishes that will make your hair stand on end from the sheer thrill. This is another superb video mix from dj/vj/remixer Glenn Rivera. It's magic! Expect to be spellbound.



http://www.youtube.com/user/restructuremix6?feature=watch
http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/links-to-parts-1-through-4-of-my.html

Exclusive Q & A: Eight on the Disco Round

I asked each of the the following eight artists, all related in some way to the field of dance music, a similar question about the current disco revival.  Now that Disco is the theme for a series of display windows at Bloomingdale's NYC (http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/08/disco-bloomingdales.html), it's officially trendy, hip, chic, and what's happening all over again, in my humble opinion. Here are the replies I generously received. I think you'll find them very interesting.

James Arena, author of the recently published Amazon.com best-seller, The First Ladies of Disco:

Q: Why do you think the time is right for a disco revival?

A: Many of us who enjoyed disco music in our youth have reached an age where we look back on those days with a great deal of affection. Sometimes only with the passage of time can one begin to really appreciate how wonderful the music and vocalists of this great genre and era were. 

We have also entered an age where everyone is star by being on YouTube and entertainers enjoy fame without having paid their dues. I believe all the singers featured in FIRST LADIES OF DISCO were not only pioneers, but true talents who earned the accolades they are receiving. And I believe the music is now being appreciated more for the incredible orchestrations, passionate vocals and incomparable quality that is the essence of so many disco productions.

Lastly, many of these women are still outstanding vocalists who have honed their craft to perfection, are top notch entertainers and survivors. They are proving in disco revival shows they are still in the game and every bit as exciting as their contemporaries. It's only human when we lose a legend like Donna Summer that we are drawn to recall the other great vocalists of this era. I think its much better to tell them how much we love them when they are still providing us with life, energy and inspiration! 

Put all that together and the time absolutely IS right for the disco revival!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/185-2133098-1486819?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=first%20ladies%20of%20disco&sprefix=first+ladies+%2Cstripbooks&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Afirst%20ladies%20of%20disco
 

Lady Bunny, disco diva, drag legend, Wigstock organizer, journalist and Dj whose new song, Take Me Up High, is currently climbing the Billboard dance chart:

Q: How do you account for disco going mainstream right now, and did you ever foresee this when spinning classic disco was still avant-garde?

A: I was unaware of the current disco revival--is it of mainstream disco? It never went away for me, not only because it was my coming of age in clubs soundtrack. Dance music attracted the best songwriters and producers when it was making $, especially in the 70s but also in the 90s which is the other era I gravitate towards. I remember when minimal 80s sounds came along with their synth stabs and I thought: I was just dancing to an entire symphony--where did this shit come from? 





Dj Jandry, amazing remixer of disco classics and dance-music graphic artist:

Q: Why do you think classic disco music is making a big comeback?

A:  I think Disco is coming back with bands like Daft Punk and with the collaboration with Giorgio Moroder and Nile Rogers playing everywhere; they're gonna rule the Disco world. I've loved disco since I was 12 years old when I discovered Donna on the movie TGIF. I just fell in love with her voice and music and her personality. 





Amber Dirks, dance-music diva extraordinaire (hear her great dance number, You're the One, below):


Q: Why do you think classic disco has become relevant again? And, if you could cover one classic '70s disco song, what would you choose?

A: I believe disco is becoming relevant again because people are missing the real musical element of the genre. All the instrumentation that's required to make the magic happen is a masterpiece within itself. It's quality which provides longevity.

In regards to remakes, anything Donna Summer, just loved her!! 




Dj Rusty Yardum, in NY, dj'ing great dance music from the '70s through the '90s. He recently returned to spinning dance classics for dance floors.

Q: How do you account for the current classic disco revival? When you dj, who are the audiences for this music? And why is it making such a powerful comeback?

A: Disco is making a comeback because the music of today is not the greatest. I spin to an older audience, although young people enjoy this music also. The music of today is DARK and not happy music like Disco was.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Disco-Nights-DJ-Rusty-Yardum/360099494074136 


Glenn Rivera, celebrated dj/Vj/remixer:

Q: What do you think has prompted the current revival of, or nostalgia for, classic disco, that is now part of mainstream media?

A: I believe it is the music itself. Songs like "Last Dance", "I Will Survive", 'Y.M.C.A." are the staple to disco music and continue to draw people into the fantasy and nightlife that was a time in our history which was about feeling good. Who doesn't want to feel good? 

That is why the disco feeling will always be around - it is the formula for success. No matter how the music may come and go and influence today's and future artists, the aura and meaning of disco is feeling free and good. That will never go away!  




Martha Wash, dance-music diva, ex-Weather Girl. (Martha's new single, It's My Time, posted below):

Q: Why do you think there's a classic disco revival right now that has gone mainstream?

A: Dj Buddy Beaverhausen, here you go darlin'.

1. You hear classic disco songs in commercials. 2. They are being sampled into new songs 3. People who were younger at that time want to dance and feel that sense of carefree fun, and they can do it with their kids now as well.




Johnny Morgan, author of what I consider my "Disco Bible," DISCO: The Music, The Times, The Era:

Q: It's been a year and a half since we did our Q&A regarding your book, DISCO, and since then, the phenomenon of a new embrace of classic disco music has taken place, working its way into the mainstream (Bloomigdale's trendy windows). You were ahead of this trend. How do you view this new disco nostalgia and what do you think prompted it?

A: What goes around comes around (albeit doing The Hustle this time), everything gets rediscovered after a convenient period of amnesia has passed—you'll doubtless find former macho jocks who wanted to burn disco records reminiscing on blogs about their days as the Tony Manero of Nowheresville in Suburbia when they were growing up. Lady Gaga started it, and the recent publication of Nile Rodgers' autobiography plus Daft Punk's hiring him for their new album has opened a lot of ears to the great work Chic did back in the day. Plus there is a new generation of kids for whom music snobbery of any kind is weird—they just like what they hear and don't care what genre it is, where it comes from or who's playing it as long as their friends dig it too. I think a lot of the new disco lovers believe that it was an 80s thing, too, and the 80s are so now, aren't they? The fashions in Bloomy's windows looks more 80s than 70s to me…

http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/03/dj-buddy-bs-q-with-author-johnny-morgan.html 

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen wishes to thank all of the above artists for taking out the time to be part of this survey. It means so much to me to have their input on this topic. I admire them all, and their respective talents, very much. 

Disco lives!


 

Bob Esty's Love Story with Andy Williams

Now it can be told! Andy Williams goes disco -- with Bob Esty in control as our celebration of the producer, songwriter, arranger superstar, Mr Esty, continues at Leave It to Beaverhausen.

This disco re-interpretation of "How Do I Begin?," the theme song from the 1970 movie, Love Story (in which Ali McGarw dies after being a zombie), is just plain awesome. The late, beloved Andy Williams sings at the peak of his range with great dramatic delivery against Bob's sweeping, lush, majestic orchestration to an overwhelming dancefloor intensity! The excitement level on my Discometer went all the way up to ten, then the needle snapped off and spun through the air!

So, enjoy this great production. You're over the Wednesday work-week hump, so it's time for you to party!

And thanks to the ever-fabulous remixer/ dj Glenn Rivera for the outstanding video mix of "Love Story" posted below!

Bob Esty & Ava Cherry

Our celebration of iconic producer/songwriter Bob Esty continues. This is a really exciting Ava Cherry club number from the '80s -- "Streetcar Named Desire" -- featuring the great Glenn Rivera's Disco Video Mix, below.

Distinctive Esty mix and awesome work all around!

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen Celebrates International Women's Day

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen wishes women all around the world (as well as the menfolk) a happy International Women's Day! And we celebrate here with this classic dance tune soulfully sung by Jessica Williams, video mix by the fabulous Glenn Rivera: