LARRY LEVANS 51st bday party@SPIRIT thurs july 21st

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Now last yrs party was tied for the best party i have ever been too tied with the 29hr closing party of 6 hunbert street. All the djs who played were amazing, from joey to david, to francois to ruben. I cant wait. The most influential dj in the history of house music has had a bday celebration honoring him since his death back in 92. Now thats saying something.

Heres the review thread of last yrs party: http://bbs.clubplanet.com/showthread.php?t=239031&highlight=larry+levan

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Heres a great read:

Larry Levan (1954-1992) - Remembering a Legend....

[Raven Fox]

There are no DJs, living or otherwise, who have had such potent mythology constructed around them as Larry Levan. His tragically premature death in 1992 signalled the end of a remarkable career that still casts a shadow over the dance community. Talk to any New York DJ of a certain age about music and it's likely that Levan's name will be mentioned in the first ten minutes. He is widely quoted as being the greatest modern DJ, whilst the club that he presided over for ten years - The Paradise Garage - is held in equally high regard.

Born in Brooklyn in 1954, Levan got his break in 1972 when the DJ at the club where he worked, the Continental Baths, was sacked. The owner told him to go home and get some records, "It was Memorial Day weekend," Larry recalled. "I went back to Brooklyn and borrowed records from my friend Ronnie Roberts who had everything. I went back and worked for three straight days." After spending over a year at the Baths, a friend, Richard Long (who would later construct the mighty Garage sound system) invited him to start a night together, the Soho Club on Broadway. After losing that space, they moved to 143 Reade Street where his reputation was swelling. "I started working there and it got so crowded I just used to open up the windows and let the sound go out onto the street. When the club had to close because of overcrowding, they asked me not to play anywhere else until the new club opened."

That new club was The Paradise Garage. A huge warehouse-like space that had been converted from a garage into a membership only club. It partially opened in 1977 with only the smaller room open (they didn't have sufficient funds to finish it) and a sound system that had been specifically designed by Levan and collaborator Long.

What made Larry so special was his understanding of drama and how to create it, with pauses between songs, sound effects or later, with his collaborator on Peech Boys project, Michael DeBenedictus, on live keyboards. He understood space as much as music - he was a great fan of dub reggae, and often played productions by Jamaican rhythmatists, Sly & Robbie. His genius was a great ear for music, often displaying bewildering eclectic tastes; telling stories through his sets. I remember that he played like he was in your living room. He played all types of music, whether it was slow or fast; he didn't care so long as he captured that vibe. Technically, he wasn't a great beat mixer, but he was, if not, one of the greatest music programmers.

From disco classics like MFSB's 'Love Is The Message' (A Garage Anthem) to unreserved rock freakouts like Steve Miller Band's 'Macho Citry', Levan threw the lot into the Garage melting pot creating a stirring brew of rhythmic intensity. Levan was the original balearic DJ before most people even knew where the Balearics were.

Larry not only made his mark as a DJ, his studio work demonstrated a progressive mind at work as well. From his earliest remixes ('Got My Mind Made Up' by Instant Funk, Dee Dee Bridgwaters 'Bad For Me') through to his work with Bernard Fowler and DeBenedictus as New York Citi Peech Boys, Levan showed the same stripped down dubwise mentality that producers such as Francois Kevorkian and Arthur Russell had shown with their work. The Peech Boys 'Don't Make Me Wait' and 'Something Special' were both Garage favorites as well as becoming great records on their own right elsewhere, while mixes such as 'Heartbeat' by Taana Gardner pre-empted the house sound with its stripped-to-the-beat sound.

Larry Levan's physical decline began well before the Garage closed in 1987 and continued as he guested at clubs around NYC and, by that stage, the world. London's Ministry of Sound brought him over for 3 days and he stayed for 3 months. He arrived 8 days late with no records. 'No records they said? Where are they' 'I've sold them all'. He had a massive heroin problem at that stage and he'd regularly do his wages before he finished playing. And he's sell his collection on a regular basis. His friends would go to the market and see it for sale; buy it back for him and he'd resell them again. In the end, they gave up. Shortly before his death, he went on a tour of Japan with Francois Kevorkian, who remembered it like this: "Larry went into a set of Philadelphia classics which was just so poignant, so emotional because the message of all the songs said he was really hurting. We all felt it at the time, but I think he pretty much knew he was dying and all the songs he played were so deeply related to how life goes. He played Jean Carne's 'Time Waits For No One' and the Trammps 'Where Do We Go From Here,' and I realised that this was one of the best moments of greatness that I had ever witnessed in my life. It was so obvious, so grand, such a drama to it, that you just knew."

Larry Levan died two months later in November 1992. Each July on his birthday, a remembrance party is held in New York for him with old Garage DJs like David Depino, and Francois Kevorkian holding court (NYCs Sunday Night Party at Vinyl 'Body & Soul') a testament to the influence he has exerted over dance music in general and New York in particular. (MOS The Manual)

I know that I will always remember how nice Mike Brody, Mel Cheren, Joey Llanos, David DePino, Kenny Eubanks and the rest of the Paradise Garage family were to me during my upbringing in this religion of music. I also thank God for my late friend Keith Haring who introduced me to Larry at his 'Party of Life' at the club. And to all the Core Mechanic "card carrying" Saturday Night Garage Hippies - 'Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro....boom boom boom boom R.I.P. Larry - Raven Fox

And heres a great readabout 84 KING STREET:

Opening in February 1978 and closing down in the fall of 1987, Paradise Garage is quite possibly the most revered of all of the great Dance clubs. Strongly influenced by David Mancuso's stellar sound system and familial atmosphere at The Loft, Paradise Garage became known for industry-defining sound and a congenial, loving environment serving as respite from the dangers and concerns of the streets of New York City. DJ Larry Levan presided over the Garage (as it was lovingly known) and inspired a reverence from club audiences unsurpassed in the history of Dance music. Paradise Garage became known musically for preserving the spirit and ambience of classic Disco while moving resolutely forward in musical style and innovation. The Dance music genre Garage is a lasting tribute to the club's importance to Dance music history.

Located at 84 King St., New York City, in an old garage building, Paradise Garage officially opened February 17, 1978 in 20,000 square feet of space after hosting a series of construction parties while the space was under construction. Envisioned as an ongoing party by its owner Michael Brody instead of a club, Paradise Garage issued much-coveted memberships for those who wished to attend. Throughout its history, the clientele of Paradise Garage was predominately black, Latin, and gay, but as its reputation grew, key figures in Dance music from all backgrounds came for the Paradise Garage experience. In the early 1980's visual art became a significant part of the Paradise Garage experience as the walls became an ongoing exhibition space for the exuberant colors and celebratory energy of artist Keith Haring's work.

Throughout its history Paradise Garage had only one resident DJ, Larry Levan, widely revered as one of the most talented of all Dance DJs. A veteran of the Gallery, Continental Baths, and Reade St. (Paradise Garage's immediate precursor), Levan had strong connections with the New York Disco community. One of his closest colleagues, Frankie Knuckles, left New York for Chicago shortly before the opening of Paradise Garage. Knuckles would go on to fame as a key founder of House.

Aside from Larry Levan's worshipful following, Paradise Garage was also known for building and maintaining one of the best Dance music sound systems ever. Richard Long was hired to design the sound system and he brought in Al Fierstein. Together they developed equipment specifically for the space at the Garage. A paper presented at the International Convention of the Audio Engineering Society explains in detail their application of acoustical principles when designing an optimal system. A number of clubs have attempted to recreate the aural qualities of the Paradise Garage sound system, but have never succeeded in creating a true duplication. Long and Fierstein put together the system for the specific space in which it was used making the sound experience unique to Paradise Garage.

Larry Levan's musical palette at Paradise Garage was one of the most diverse ever in a Dance venue. He would incorporate elements of Rock, Disco, Jazz, R&B, Latin and more if it seemed to fit the mood of the moment. While nearly anything might be heard on the dancefloor, a more specific style began to emerge as a predominant sound. Ultimately known as Garage, this style was true to the sound and feel of Disco while adding technological elements that successfully brought the music forward. Levan's intimate connection with the record label West End Records, run by Michael Brody's life partner Mel Cheren, insured success for such West End classics as Karen Young's Hot Shot, The Peech Boys' Don't Make Me Wait, and Taana Gardner's Heartbeat.

As with most all classic Dance venues, Paradise Garage did come to an end. Owner Michael Brody announced that the Garage would close after a final party September 26-27, 1987 which drew an estimated 14,000 people over the two days. The official reason for closing was failure to renew a lease. Michael Brody claimed local residents 'did not want a black club in the neighborhood' and so refused to renew its lease, but Brody was also very ill and would die within months of the closing of Paradise Garage. The reputation of the Garage and Larry Levan has dimmed little with the passing of years. In recent years, West End Records has engaged in a program of re-releasing live sets by Larry Levan and a number of favorite mixes from the Paradise Garage era. Part legend and part reality, Paradise Garage is certain to live on.

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Residencies

1972-1974 Continental Baths

1974-1975 - SoHo Place

1975-1976 - Reade Street

1977-1987 - Paradise Garage

1989 - The Choice

1990 - Mars

1991 - Sound Factory

Larry Levan is quite possibly the most beloved DJ in the history of Dance music. Larry Levan and his friend Frankie Knuckles experienced the first rumblings of Disco and what became Dance music as we know it in the early 1970's as precocious teenagers. They soon built personal connections into professional DJ opportunities. While Knuckles headed to Chicago as one of the acknowledged founders of House, Larry Levan helped move Dance music from the crash of Disco to a new eclectic stew that entranced mixed audiences of multiple ethnicities and varying sexual orientations. His residency at Paradise Garage is legendary. Unfortunately, Levan's own life came to an abrupt tragic end in 1992 but his innovations and his inspiration live on.

Larry Levan was born Laurence Philpot on July 21, 1954 in Brooklyn. Larry and Frankie Knuckles grew up amongst the New York City black gay bar scene. According to Knuckles they were introduced to each other by a drag queen who went by the name of Gerald and they both became part of the underground Voguing scene in which drag queens would compete against each other by throwing shade, or, in other words, visually demonstrating attitude. Levan and Knuckles quickly became entranced by the early Dance music scene in Manhattan, particularly after attending parties at David Mancuso's Loft. They were amazed by both the mixed nature (ethnicities and sexual orientations) of the crowd invited by Mancuso and the music itself. The two became well known on the club circuit and by 1972 had worked their way into helping out DJ Nicky Siano with setup at The Gallery. Larry Levan also began to hang out at Continental Baths and before long had managed to obtain a regular DJ gig for the Baths' small dancefloor. In 1974 the Continental Baths shut down and Frankie received a resident gig at SoHo Place, a new club modeled after David Mancuso'sLoft parties.

After Richard Long, owner of Soho Place, made plans to shut down near the end of 1975, Larry Levan received a call from Michael Brody about a new club Brody was opening. The new club at 143 Reade Street was outfitted with a sound system built around Klipschorn speakers and designed with memories of David Mancuso's Loft in mind. Larry Levan had already developed a following and his reputation grew at Reade Street. The club developed notoriety for free-flowing drugs and a highly sexual atmosphere. With overcrowding and safety concerns mounting, Michael Brody was forced to close Reade Street, but before it closed he secured an agreement with Larry Levan that Levan would spin records at Brody's next club venture.

The new Dance venue opened by Michael Brody was Paradise Garage. With funding from Brody's partner Mel Cheren and a sound system designed by Richard Long, Al Fierstein, and Larry Levan himself, Paradise Garage began operation hosting construction parties in 1977 to raise funds to complete work on the club. The official opening took place on February 17, 1978. Among the New York City Dance music elite, Larry Levan quickly became known as the top DJ working in the top club in the entire city. Billboard magazine's Disco Convention voted Paradise Garage Best Club and Best Sound System in both 1979 and 1980. Larry Levan became known for his ability to completely control the mood of his crowds through changes in the music being played and manipulation of lighting and sound controls. He took his primary inspiration from the work of David Mancuso and Nicky Siano but then created an entirely new atmosphere. Larry Levan was the only resident DJ at Paradise Garage for its nearly 10 years of existence. One of Larry Levan's legacies is the Dance music genre called Garage named in honor of Paradise Garage. However, the Garage style, an updated elegant expansion of classic Disco rhythms and vocals, is merely one small part of the music Larry Levan would play on a given night. The music he played could veer from classic Disco to Rock, Punk, Rap, various sound effects and back again. The mood or message being delivered was all important, and the music was a vehicle for creating or delivering it.

Shortly after he began spinning records at Paradise Garage, Larry Levan moved into the remixing booth as well. With plenty of experience mixing various elements of Dance recordings live in the club, it was only natural that Levan would use his talents on recorded remixes. Among his early successes was a stripped down version of Instant Funk's I've Got My Mind Made Up in 1978 that ranks as one of the all-time great remixes. Among his other notable recorded mixes are Taana Gardner's Heartbeat, Central Line's Walking Into Sunshine, and Loose Joints' Is It All Over My Face?. In the early 80's Larry Levan took on production duties as well, most notably for The New York City Peech Boys' classic Don't Make Me Wait. Later in the decade he created notable remixes for Gwen Guthrie and Patti Austin among others. On record Larry Levan's music is noted for his use of synthesizer washes, Electro beats, and smooth, heavy bass lines that lay foundations for much of Garage and House to come.

By the late 1980's Paradise Garage was falling on difficult times. Owner Michael Brody was gravely ill from the ravages of AIDs and Paradise Garage elected to close with a massive final party September 26-27, 1987. An estimated 14,000 people walked through the doors in 48 hours. The club's closing was a serious blow to Larry Levan. He assisted Ministry Of Sound in England setting up a new club modeled on the spirit of Paradise Garage. Relatively brief residencies took place at The Choice, Mars, and Sound Factory. However, it was clear that many years of a punishing lifestyle including drugs was having a physical impact. Larry Levan embarked on a final tour in 1992 with Francois Kevorkian. Larry Levan passed away on November 8, 1992 three months after the tour concluded. Larry Levan's legendary status has continued to grow with the passage of time. West End Records continues to help sponsor parties every year to celebrate Larry's birthday, and his spirit lives on in the countless DJs, remixers, and artists influenced by his talents.

And here is 84 king street as it looks today:

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SPREADING THE KNOWLEDGE TODAY. This is a truly great article it is long so pace yourself.

Was This Man the Best DJ in the World?"

By Kelvin Lewis, Jockey Slut Magazine (UK), 1998

Larry Levan, who died six years ago, is still considered to be the most influential DJ ever. At the height of his popularity at the legendary Paradise Garage he was like a god for the 2,000 regulars, the creator of skills and tricks that elevated Djing to the artform it is today. Kelvin Lewis traces his history and speaks to the passionate people behind the club. All wannabe DJs and promoters: Take note!

Talk to any New York producer old enough to have been to the Paradise Garage in its heyday, and they'll swear that there never has, and never will be anything like it. Ask any of them from Danny Tenaglia to Dave Morales, and they'll all say the same thing. The Paradise Garage was a one-off. And resident DJ, Larry Levan, was probably the greatest DJ ever to stand behind a set of turntables.

From when it opened in January 1977, to its last party in the Autumn of 1987, the Paradise Garage was the clubbing focal point of New York. A place where dance artists like D-Train and Loleatta Holloway would come to perform. And the place where people like Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Grace Jones and Keith Haring would all hang out. It was the testing ground for labels like West End and Salsoul and producers like François Kevorkian and Levan himself. It was all these things, and much much more. For the 2000 regulars, Larry Levan was like a god. They even tagged his late-night sessions as "Saturday Mass." He did things with records that other DJs just didn't do. He would tell a story with his music. Sometimes sending the crowd crazy and minutes later making them break down and cry. There was, and still is, no DJ like him. He was an insanely talented genius, both behind the turntables and in the studio. And he made the Paradise Garage the legend that it is. "He was the inspiration for all the important DJs in New York today," says Mel Cheren, owner of West End Records and executor of Levan's estate. "People like Junior Vasquez, Frankie Knuckles and David Morales became DJs because of Larry." Judy Weinstein, director of Knuckles and Morales' Def Mix organization agrees: "He was brilliant. A true genius. He was, and still is, the best." And, as for why, six years after his death, Levan and the Garage are still placed at the pinnacle of the clubbing world, fellow disco producer and regular guest DJ at the Garage, François Kevorkian, says this: "The reason why it is so important is because everyone and their mothers were there every weekend checking it out. It was so obviously and blatantly superior to anything else going on. You had the best sound system around, the most talented DJ you can imagine with amazing records that no one else could get. Things he'd made himself and things others had made exclusively for him.

And yet it was more than just that. Levan was obsessed with perfection. He would spend hours re-arranging the speakers in the club until the sound was absolutely perfect. Then change it all again the next week so that the crowd didn't get bored. "He was a technical wizard," explains Weinstein, who got to know Levan working at David Mancuso's NY Record Pool. "He could re-build a radio from scratch. He helped Richard Long create the Garage sound system. Larry would tell Richard what he wanted and if Richard told him that they couldn't do it, he would keep on at it until it was invented for him. Larry would always find a way to make things happen." David Depino, Levan's best friend and the DJ who used to warm up for him, remembers his perfectionism on a different level: "He never wanted it to become stale, he never wanted it to become regular. He always said, 'The people won't come. They've gotta know it'll be different.' And they did. People never came into a stale place. I've seen nights where everyone was rushing around to get things open and they'd forget something like cleaning the mirror-balls. It'd be one o'clock and Larry would run on to the dancefloor with a ladder to clean all six mirror-balls. The record would run out and everyone would be standing there, just waiting. Not booing, not mad, just waiting. And when he finished, he'd go up and put the next record on the people would go mad. They loved that. The fact that even though he was the DJ, he'd spend half an hour cleaning all the mirror-balls."

He produced his music with a similar passion. There were times he would be in the studio weeks as he tested new versions of songs on the Garage crowd. Some records took over two years to complete.

His passion for Djing lead him to play on three turntables working studio effects and his own special edits into the mix. He invented the now commonplace trick of a cappella mixing.

The presentation of the music and the pure entertainment of his crowd were paramount. He would use video clips and the huge screen above the dancefloor to accentuate certain records, and, as the night wore on, he would upgrade the turntables to ones with state-of-the-art needles for the ultimate experience on the floor.

Communication with the dancefloor was his motivation. His message was one of love, hope, freedom and universal brotherhood. And the set of songs he played was the dialogue he used. He'd even leave gaps between certain parts of the journey. So if he played three songs in a row about music, and the next one was about freedom, he'd leave a short pause or drop an effect.

He built sets with stories that went into one another," explains Kevorkian. "I'm not saying that he only played vocals, but there was a concept there that he studied and became an amazing practitioner of. He was able to truly use songs, and when I say songs, I mean songs. I'm, talking about songs with a voice speaking to you and inspiring you, sot some crappy sample repeating 175 times until you're made to feel like you're every bit as stupid because it has to be repeated that many times until you understand it. Songs with lyrics. And he used those lyrics to talk to people. It was very, very common for people on the dancfloor to fell like he was talking to them directly through the record. And was a two-way thing. Not just the DJ saying, 'Here is the law,' or the crowd saying, 'We'll only listen to this,' there was an unspoken mental energy flowing back and forth. I think, more than anyone else I've known, he was the one that could pick this up more than anyone else."

That ability to talk to the dancefloor is one of the main reasons why Levan is still revered today. He created something so special between the hours of midnight on a Saturday night and whenever the club closed on Sunday afternoon, that the crowd came back religiously, week after week, for more.

"You had 1000-2000 people actually on that dancefloor communing together, continues Kevorkian. "Sharing their energies together to the music. Singing the lyrics and ad-libbing on top of the music. Today I see 1200 people on the dancefloor each in their own little mental headspace. Isolated from each other most of the time. Sometimes clubs get of al little, but not at the level of the Garage. And if you haven't seen it, I'm sorry to say, but you can't understand it. It's like telling me you've seen a bicycle ride and I've seen racecars and rockets. It's a whole different thing."

"If there were 2000 people in every Saturday," adds Depino, "A good thousand of them knew each other by name. And it was the same, year after year."

The one thing, however, that really made Levan different from DJs today was that people actually loved him. Not just the hero figure. They love Levan the person. They loved the fact that he would stop the music and spend half an hour cleaning the mirror-balls. They loved the fact that on membership days, when Michael Brody, the owner, would hold interviews for those wishing to join the club, Levan would open the back door, let the huge queue of hopefuls into the club and start playing the biggest records of the week (much to Brody's annoyance). They loved the fact that he would put on a record, then run straight down to the dancefloor and join in the party. They loved it when he hooked up his radio to the sound system and play the Garage mix show on WBLS back to the crowd. The loved the fact that his passion for the party was completely all-consuming and that sometimes, he was just plain crazy.

There was one time when the owner of the club had a brainstorm," remembers Weinstein. "He tried to make it a very white gay club and kicked Larry to the curb for three weeks. And so Larry freaked out at the owner and bit his leg. It was a very traumatic moment. And then the nights became Larry's again. I guess he just didn't like getting bitten."

Harvey, the resident DJ at Ministry Of Sound when Levan played there back in 1991, remembers a similar kind of madness: "One time Larry came back to my house, leaping around, which he had a tendency to do when he was excited, smiling and bouncing and screaming, 'I've found it. I've got it. This is the one, Harvey. You gotta come with me. I've found this boutique that's got the best style and fashion around. Will you come with me?' So We go all the way done to Croydon High Street into this 'Everything Under £20' boutique that specializes in snow-wash denim. And he bought half the shop to take back to New York. Stuff like jeans with gray snow-wash on the back and red snow-wash on the front, and leather jackets with studs and padded shoulders. He was over the moon and I just thought it was rather amusing. Basically, he was just right out there."

As a venue, the Paradise Garage was awesome. A converted parking garage situated at 84 King Street in the SoHo area of Manhattan, it featured a movie room, changing area and cloakroom, two chill-out rooms (one with music, one without) and a roof garden that opened up in the summer. Maximum capacity was near to 4000. It took quite some time to build from January '77 until it opened fully in late '78, they held construction parties in what later became the cloakroom. And, as things were tight, Levan and Michael Brody actually lived in the Garage in those early years.

However, what made the Garage completely out-of-this-world, was the way it was run. From the very start, it was never looked upon as a business venture. It was about dancing. Pure and simple. And it was that reason alone that made it such a success.

"This is not like the small-minded, profit-oriented club promoters that we're seeing today," explains Kevorkian. "This was about someone who said, 'I'll give this money to these people. Let them do what I think they can do because I think they really have the talent and Let's see what happens with it.' That's what Mel Cheren did. There was no one at the cash register thinking, 'How can I save money? How can I make it busier? How can I sell more drinks?' It was a real, true, private club. In other words, if you don't have a membership, you cannot come in. You are not allowed to come in. We don't care if you have money. Please don't come in. This is a private club. A house party. It might be a house party with 2000 people. It's a big house

And from the day it that it opened until the day that it closed, it stayed true to that motto. It was a party. And the point of the party was dancing. You had the best sound system money could buy. The best lightsÑthere to enhance the dancing experience, not to perform flashy shows. There was free food: 10 different flavors of lemon-ice and all kind of fruit in the summer, freshly baked brownies and doughnuts in the winter. Coffee and soft drinks were free too. Because if you're going to dance for 12 hours, you're going to need to replenish you energy at some point. The even served turkey with all the trimmings at Christmas and Thanksgiving. Yet there was not alcohol. And if you ask Kevokian why, he simply replies, "That was not what it was about."

Drugs, however, were a different matter. "Sure, there were lots of kids there that took drugs," states Depino quite plainly. "And there were a lot of kids that didn't. In the early days of the Garage though, they'd do things like spike the punch. But only for the first three of four years. After that point, the Garage was too big for us to do that. You too a chance that someone would get hurt or OD. There was too much of a risk. Three thousand people dancing and tripping insanely was too much to control. So when the Garage got that popular, they stopped doing that. But in the early days, you took a glass of electric punch and you were going boy. It was never enough to actually make you trip, just enough to make you have a fantastic time and not know why. I mean, we knew what was in it, so we'd drink 12 or13 cups of punch and we'd be flying."

The Garage was all this and much more. There was the time Michael Brody spend $20,000 putting on Patti LaBelle only just to break even. There were all the other amazing artists that played there: Chaka Khan, Gloria Gaynor, The Jones Girls and Billy Ocean. In the days when it wasn't just about a pretty singer and a DAT machine in the back, but a full live band. And the days when you couldn't just hire a big name DJ and wait for the cash to roll in.

"They did have some guest DJs," offers Kevorkian. "I was lucky enough to be one of them until I stopped Djing in '83. But there was no large billed Seb "Pleased" Healy kinda thing. All those interchangeable figureheads. It was just a home crowd that kept themselves to themselves and it grew international because Larry was making all these incredible records that all of us would come and listen to know what time it was. That's it."

Yet even once it had become a phenomenon, and people traveled all over the world to experience the magic of the Garage, it was never commercialized

They never tried to blatantly and grossly exploit it," agreed Kevorkian. "There were no new compilation albums advertised in the press every two weeks of things of that nature. Because that was against the nature of the club staying like a house party."

"We were so close to Frankie Crocker (the programmer at WBLS, a big [R&B and] disco station) that we could have had so much publicity out of it," adds Depino. "But we didn't. Sure Frankie used to talk about it, but only from a personal viewpoint as something fun to do because he actually went himself. And even then Michael Brody used to get so mad about it. He'd be like, 'Frankie, please don't talk too much about the club. I don't want people just coming because they hear about it on the radio.'"

It's hard to imagine any club of the same size today having a similar standpoint. Imagine Cream without the car-stickers and the bomber-jackets. Or the Ministry of Sound without 'Dance Nation.'

"If people go to clubs today and think that what they're experiencing might be somehow like the Garage," states Kevorkian, "then that's bullshit. They're nothing like the Garage at all. They're just commercial operations where everything is done for profit. You serve liquor until a certain time and then that's it, you get the people out of there. I remember playing at Bar Rhumba and the security got really upset because the customers wanted more music. Their attitude was, 'We're not getting paid, so it's time to close the party.' This is NOT what the Garage was about. You have to understand the basics of it.

"Everyone who worked there form the guy that swept up the floor all the way up to the general manager where people that really understood the party. I can relate to the fact that security people want to get paid by the minute and that the party had to end because people have better things to do. But when that kind of atmosphere happens, what you DON'T" get it the magic that used to happen at the Paradise Garage. The basis of the party was that you stayed open until the people left, You didn't clear people out. So the party lasted until 10, 11, 12, whenever. And over the course of months or years of thing like that happening, you give opportunity for something to develop. A philosophy, an attitude, a way of seeing things.

And to explain this you have to understand that there is no place like this now. You can't get it. And if there is, tell me where it is. Tell where there's a club where people do what they do and they're just in control? Where the DJ takes care of the music. He decides who plays. If he wants to play the whole night, he plays the whole night. If he doesn't want to play, he'll call his friend to play for him. He stays open as long as he wants. Where they don't have to sell alcohol and the owner is on the floor dancing. Please tell me where there's a club like this?"

As incredible as the Garage was, however, it had to close. The owner, Michael Brody, was too ill with AIDS to go an and on September 26, 1987, Larry Levan closed his final set, rather fittingly, with The Trammps "Where Do We Go From Here?" It was the end of an era. For people like Mel Cheren, it meant that all the kids that had been brought off the street into the warmth of the all-consuming groove inside were left to the crack-infested neighborhoods of New York. No longer could people dance away their weekly stresses in such a welcoming world,. The magical domain of the Garage where race, wealth, color, and sexual preference meant nothing, and the dance meant everything, had ceased to exist.

For Levan, it seemed like the end of the Garage marked the beginning of the end of his life. His rock-star style addiction to cocaine and heroin took over. Record companies lost interest in his productions and nightclub owners sacked him for his brattish tantrums. He was like a king without a crown, and despite the fact that he had known he had a heart condition since he was a child, he continued to take the drugs that he must have known would eventually kill him. And on the 8th of November, 1992, Levan died of endocarditism and inflammation of the lining of the heart, spurred on by his excessive narcotic intake.

"People should remember the positive things, though," cautions Cheren. "Of course he had a drug problem, like many people do. But he was a genius and people should remember that first and foremost."

Depino agrees: "He was such a brat, but people loved him. They loved him for his insanity and his genius. And they loved the Garage too. I've heard mothers today with little kids telling them about the Garage. And there's these little Garage babies running around with the little Garage t-shirts from their parents screaming 'My Mommy used to go to the Garage. My Daddy used to go to the Garage. Patti LaBelle played there.' And they don't even know who she is. It was just such an amazing place. I miss it and I miss him very much. It was just like going over the rainbow. Every Saturday night.

[deepspell]

awesome thread gabe

[someclown]

Stupid question, but is Francois Kevorkian and Francois K of the Cielo parties the same guy?

[silverbull]

not a stupid question and yes it is him.

[someclown]

not a stupid question and yes it is him.

Thanks a lot. I didn't realize he's been in the New York scene that long. It sounds like it's going to be an amazing party. Nice thread.

[silverbull]

francois pushin 50 something yrs now as well and still going strong. His weekly DEEPSPACE party is insane at cielo mon nights. And when him and derrick may get together on the 25th its gonna be a madhouse. Check out www.maestro-documentary.com for the dvd release of MAESTRO a must have dvd for anyone whos a fan of this culture.coming out july 26th.

[diva421d]

Now last yrs party was tied for the best party i have ever been too tied with the 29hr closing party of 6 hunbert street. All the djs who played were amazing, from joey to david, to francois to ruben. I cant wait. The most influential dj in the history of house music has had a bday celebration honoring him since his death back in 92. Now thats saying something.

Heres the review thread of last yrs party: http://bbs.clubplanet.com/showthread.php?t=239031&highlight=larry+levan

As god as my witness I'm not going to miss this party like last year.

[silverbull]

just a few more days.

[carmine09]

My hat goes off to you silverbull! excellent article/research!!

[elevatedflow]

some of the best talent of our times have all been hooked on dope, and many have lost that battle .. so sad. Great info gabe, hope to see ya there!

[silverbull]

Working that legendary booth

[shaggief]

I got a T-shirt with the color photo at last years party and I'm surely going to wear it this Thursday.

[silver05]

Great article!

[scoob-e]

I'm 50/50

My week seems so freaking booked with parties

Gabe get in touch with me if you are definately going.

[thefuture03]

whos spinning ?

[iamsamurai]

im seriously tempted, i had a great time last time man, that shit was an experience

[backupqueen]

whos spinning ?

i believe the (defunct) paradise garage opening djs.

[soundmanshorty]

Quote from FK

"Everyone who worked there form the guy that swept up the floor all the way up to the general manager where people that really understood the party. I can relate to the fact that security people want to get paid by the minute and that the party had to end because people have better things to do. But when that kind of atmosphere happens, what you DON'T" get it the magic that used to happen at the Paradise Garage. The basis of the party was that you stayed open until the people left, You didn't clear people out. So the party lasted until 10, 11, 12, whenever. And over the course of months or years of thing like that happening, you give opportunity for something to develop. A philosophy, an attitude, a way of seeing things.

And to explain this you have to understand that there is no place like this now. You can't get it. And if there is, tell me where it is. Tell where there's a club where people do what they do and they're just in control? Where the DJ takes care of the music. He decides who plays. If he wants to play the whole night, he plays the whole night. If he doesn't want to play, he'll call his friend to play for him. He stays open as long as he wants. Where they don't have to sell alcohol and the owner is on the floor dancing. Please tell me where there's a club like this?"

is a place in montreal called Stereo, the owner is David Morales and he will dance aswell as play music and decide who of his friends play if he does not want to,So there is still a place like this operating today where the staff and everyone will dance and is there for the party that closes whenever David decides.

www.systemsbyshorty.com

[backupqueen]

is a place in montreal called Stereo, the owner is David Morales

I thought Stereo was Angel Moraes' club, not David Morales (who does play there often).

[soundmanshorty]

I thought Stereo was Angel Moraes' club, not David Morales (who does play there often).

nope Angel left nearly 3 years ago, David and I redid that sound system and put a whole new system in, that system changed aswell 3 years ago we have been nominated and won many awards for the new analog system we built. David Bought the club and renovated the whole place.

www.systemsbyshorty.com

[scoob-e]

is a place in montreal called Stereo, the owner is David Morales and he will dance aswell as play music and decide who of his friends play if he does not want to,So there is still a place like this operating today where the staff and everyone will dance and is there for the party that closes whenever David decides.

www.systemsbyshorty.com

You forgot a soundsystem in a club I could bring my girlfriend to, crank up DT's Athens Compilation, set up a table and candles int he middle of the dancefloor, have a normal speaking conversation and eat dinner while the music was playing, and still have no ringing in my ears and see the water on the table moving by itself from the bass.

Yea, I reaaaaaaaaaally need to get up there to hear it myself. (skooby from dtourism btw )

[deepspell]

www.systemsbyshorty.com

you sir are the man when it comes to systems

i hope to have the pleasure of playing on one of them someday!!!

phazon who????????