"All Wannabe Djs And Promoters: Take Note!" (long article)

[silverbull]

"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, not 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.

[elevatedflow]

and never will there ever be a place again for the sake of love ... there is no profit in that ... anyway a private club for house music would cause so much alarm that NYPD will be all over that place faster than pacha.

to bad, christmas dinner and house music sounds tasty ..

[silverbull]

boom!

[djcyph]

great article....now i know what that shirt in your avatar is silverbull. according to your profile your too young to have ever been there? so you just big house history buff or you been going to paradise since u been 7?

[silverbull]

great article....now i know what that shirt in your avatar is silverbull. according to your profile your too young to have ever been there? so you just big house history buff or you been going to paradise since u been 7?

when it comes to things im passionate about boxing,house music i become a historian of sorts. Reading, reasearching, buying books talkign to people who have been around longer than i have. Hearing and collecting music and fights form decades ago. I think its sad when people dont know or care about the history of something they claim to love. But then again for some people "clubbing" is a trend/fad, while for others its a way of life. Ive been goin out since 1995 and my back and kness and ankles are damaged but i planned to keep dancing till i cant dance no more.

If your interested in learnign more about the paradise garage,the loft, the gallery, or some house music history let me know and i will link you to alot of my posts or other links lol.

[fastfast]

when it comes to things im passionate about boxing,house music i become a historian of sorts. Reading, reasearching, buying books talkign to people who have been around longer than i have. Hearing and collecting music and fights form decades ago. I think its sad when people dont know or care about the history of something they claim to love. But then again for some people "clubbing" is a trend/fad, while for others its a way of life. Ive been goin out since 1995 and my back and kness and ankles are damaged but i planned to keep dancing till i cant dance no more.

If your interested in learnign more about the paradise garage,the loft, the gallery, or some house music history let me know and i will link you to alot of my posts or other links lol.

\

see I been going out since 96 , and been a big dancer , music lover since..

but I never sat there researching, reading etc etc, does that mean I am any less a clubber or house music lover then you ...??

not in the least bit, you seem very focused on a era that was, and never will be again....which is fine, but you cant come off liek this is the "only way" or that this knowledge makes you a "expert", although I do appreciate reading many of the historic shit you post...but without living it, your just being a historian, and not a veteran

I know what I know about that era, from chillin with veterans in the scene and hearing their stories, knowledge that you cannot find in no book or a article written by someone who can always lean toward one side.

the paradise garage, robots, studio 54 no matter the era, they are all legends in their own right....but I feel like I am just inclined to let the past be the past and be knowlegable about things that pertain to ME, my likes and my love for what I want to do ..

so basically I am saying....

worry more about where you want to take things, what you have loved about where you have parties and danced, over idolozing a era that has nothing to do with you and will never be again

you are in the business right, you know damn well a party like this , unless funded by dillusional millionaires, will not happen ever again ....it is unfortunate, but true.

article boasts of levan who has records noone else can get, well due to downloading and tech, that is another thing of the past,

this was a party started back in the late 70's, everything was so different from things now, from the music to the culture, so making comparrisions is just absurd IMO..

not personally attackin you, but your title of this seemed like a article like this was supposed to educate or prove a point..

it just proves that Larry levan had a great thing going, and provided a fantastic foundation for future house scene, but HIS TIME was then ....and it is better left for the past, while we, the people / clubbers / promoters of today try our best to make things happen that will be the historic things people talk about in the future.

[desp4sex]

\

see I been going out since 96 , and been a big dancer , music lover since..

but I never sat there researching, reading etc etc, does that mean I am any less a clubber or house music lover then you ...??

not in the least bit, you seem very focused on a era that was, and never will be again....which is fine, but you cant come off liek this is the "only way" or that this knowledge makes you a "expert", although I do appreciate reading many of the historic shit you post...but without living it, your just being a historian, and not a veteran

I know what I know about that era, from chillin with veterans in the scene and hearing their stories, knowledge that you cannot find in no book or a article written by someone who can always lean toward one side.

the paradise garage, robots, studio 54 no matter the era, they are all legends in their own right....but I feel like I am just inclined to let the past be the past and be knowlegable about things that pertain to ME, my likes and my love for what I want to do ..

so basically I am saying....

worry more about where you want to take things, what you have loved about where you have parties and danced, over idolozing a era that has nothing to do with you and will never be again

you are in the business right, you know damn well a party like this , unless funded by dillusional millionaires, will not happen ever again ....it is unfortunate, but true.

article boasts of levan who has records noone else can get, well due to downloading and tech, that is another thing of the past,

this was a party started back in the late 70's, everything was so different from things now, from the music to the culture, so making comparrisions is just absurd IMO..

not personally attackin you, but your title of this seemed like a article like this was supposed to educate or prove a point..

it just proves that Larry levan had a great thing going, and provided a fantastic foundation for future house scene, but HIS TIME was then ....and it is better left for the past, while we, the people / clubbers / promoters of today try our best to make things happen that will be the historic things people talk about in the future.

Nice reply, this kid is always bringing back the 1920's (LOL) house era. Its like comparing a car built back then to now.....lol....im only bringing this up because i went to the car show this past weekend...hahaha

[thehype]

Nice reply, this kid is always bringing back the 1920's (LOL) house era....

...the article itself is 8 years old

Times have Changed

[thehype]

"If i can change.....and you can change...EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE"

[fastfast]

Nice reply, this kid is always bringing back the 1920's (LOL) house era. Its like comparing a car built back then to now.....lol....im only bringing this up because i went to the car show this past weekend...hahaha

lol I got 2 ticket for free yesterday ...(do they even charge for them normally)

anyway, your right..

you cant compare back then and now, and especially if you did not live it back then .....

and who wants to constantly sit there and analyze parties or shit like that constantly comparig it to what you have read about.

also

it is easy to glorify something in script, when in actuality the place could have been a fucking shithole filled with coked out disco bunnies in some converted dumpy gargage, and the only reason larry was out there cleaning disco balls was the low budget place could not even afford a porter, and they probably did not sell liquor cause it was a chop shop operation with no liquor license

see how easy it is to portray something in writing.....

[oldtimer]

"Was This Man the Best DJ in the World?"

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

For the 2000 regulars, Larry Levan was like a god. They even tagged his late-night sessions as "Saturday Mass."

i stopped reading here.. this sounds awfully familiar...

[9mile]

Current mood: annoyed Do woman really believe that life happens exactly the way it is showed

on the show Sex in the city?

I myself totally adore that show, I can relate to a lot of it, but I

don't build my life on it. I was talking to someone the other day and she

said how she wants to mimic her life after that show. Find 3

girlfriends who are like Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha and just do the things

that they do. Go to fabulous parties, dress in very expensive clothing,

go to the hottest spots in Manhattan,live in a rent controlled apt on

the upper east and west side and have dysfunctional relationships with

men.

Well the dysfunctional relationships with men part is probably the only

thing that this girl will ever be able to achieve. I can't stand people

that have no idea about New York but yet they watch this show and think

that it's that easy to do half that stuff. First off, a girl like her

would NEVER go to an art gallery opening, and no you won't meet any HOT

single men there. 98% of the men there will be gay and the other 2% are

artsy wackos.

She won't get invited to an opening of a club, because hunny, being

"fabulous" in New York isn't about how good you look dressed up, it's

about who you know, and she knows NO ONE!

There is no such thing as the Carrie Bradshaw rent controlled apt on

the upper east side now a days, and if it is, it looks NOTHING like her

apt.

She can't afford one article of clothing anyone on that show wears, and

if she did she has no sense of style to even put it together the way

they did, plus half the shit they wore on that show I wouldn't leave my

house in. I mean c''mon how many times did you watch that show and see

what one of them was wearing and be like "why would you think that looks

good" IT'S TV!!

I think by now who ever reads my blogs understands how I just don't

understand the sense of some people. You watch a show about New Yorkers,

and so now you think you are one? I was BORN AND RAISED in New York, and

I NEVER did half the stuff they did on that show. Yes, I did the art

gallery, movie premier, club opening, restaurant opening, bar hopping,

club hopping stuff but it's not even half of what is pictured in that

show.

Everyone is NOT that good looking, no one takes cabs everywhere they

go, people just aren't that "fabulous".

Sure it's fun to have those nights with your girlfriends, just go out

to a real nice restaurant, drink some cosmos and party it up but no one

in their right mind can do that every night.

I'm not ripping on this girl, I'm just using her as an example of the

stupidity of some people. I wanted to slap her in the face when she kept

going on and on about how she was going to move to New York and do all

the stuff they did on that show. Best of luck to ya, but don't call me

when your a nickle and dime hooker cause you spent all your money on a

crack shack in alphabet city =)

Words of wisdom - Think before you speak!

Peace Y'all

[silverbull]

when i posted this article the reason i posted that title was becuase rhats how it was posted when i got it. Thats why the title is in quotations.

And im around alotof those same guys that were out back then that still go out and could put alot of peopel to shame on the dancefloor despite thier age.

Im not living in the past at all one bit, i just bring it up on boards so peopel can read, personally im always goign out and buying music that comes out every week. i support the scene in many ways as i can. But i am far from stuck on the past, again the reason it seems that way is again because alot of people on this dont know "any" history at all so these threads could be a good way to start.

Personally to me the best parties are when a dj can mix and play music from over 30yrs and teh crowd is in thier 20-50s and everybody knows the songs and is dancing like thiers no tomorrow. not every party i go to is like that but i know whhen i am at those its def somethign special.

[fastfast]

when i posted this article the reason i posted that title was becuase rhats how it was posted when i got it. Thats why the title is in quotations.

And im around alotof those same guys that were out back then that still go out and could put alot of peopel to shame on the dancefloor despite thier age.

Im not living in the past at all one bit, i just bring it up on boards so peopel can read, personally im always goign out and buying music that comes out every week. i support the scene in many ways as i can. But i am far from stuck on the past, again the reason it seems that way is again because alot of people on this dont know "any" history at all so these threads could be a good way to start.

Personally to me the best parties are when a dj can mix and play music from over 30yrs and teh crowd is in thier 20-50s and everybody knows the songs and is dancing like thiers no tomorrow. not every party i go to is like that but i know whhen i am at those its def somethign special.

thats all good, and I love your admiration for the scene and dancing most of all...

but know that this "history" you speak of, isn't really what makes or breaks someone as a club patron...

someone can go out and dance for hours and hours to all different types of dj's and music and not have a fucking clue who larry levan is, does that make them any different from you ?

they still are out there loving life and house music ?

they are still on the dance floor ?

they are still supporting the scene ?

i am just trying to show you that, the history is what it is ...HISTORY, as important as it is and cool to know and read about...it isn't what makes the scene TODAY, and it has no bearing on a persons character or status whether they know it or not.

it is a personal view of yours that this is very important to you....

I personally love reading articles like this, and talking with old school heads about parties, but i dont feel anyone else is less off , or not as cool if they don't know.

and not saying this is your intention, but I know it has been said before that you come off that way, and remember on these boards, perception is everything......

and I assume you weren't trying to come down on anyone with your posting this stuff, cause you don't seem the type..

but my misunderstanding of the title lead me to think this way also ....

[liquidskyny]

Larry Levan was also a druggy mess and addict... so before you praise him so much just remember he also flushed his life away with drugs....lots and lots of them

[fastfast]

Larry Levan was also a druggy mess and addict... so before you praise him so much just remember he also flushed his life away with drugs....lots and lots of them

lol ....that another thing, but I tried to stay positive..

he wasted his life away after paradise garage, and had noone to blame but himself and his addiction,

may have had a great party, but thats probably all he had in life, and he died along with it .

[nomembername]

LARRY LEVAN kind of sounds like JP...was big in to drugs and only had his party

[djufonyc]

http://www.disco-disco.com/tributes/tom.html

[oldtimer]

i read somewhere that he would show up late and keep his fans waiting because he would be so doped up on heroin.. good times..

i guess instead of jp doing crystal and keeping his parties going for 24 hours he should have just did some heroin, passed out in the gutter somewhere and not shown up at all and he'd be a legend..

[wakeup]

and never will there ever be a place again for the sake of love ... there is no profit in that ... anyway a private club for house music would cause so much alarm that NYPD will be all over that place faster than pacha.

thats not entirely true

[wakeup]

thats all good, and I love your admiration for the scene and dancing most of all...

but know that this "history" you speak of, isn't really what makes or breaks someone as a club patron...

someone can go out and dance for hours and hours to all different types of dj's and music and not have a fucking clue who larry levan is, does that make them any different from you ?

they still are out there loving life and house music ?

they are still on the dance floor ?

they are still supporting the scene ?

i am just trying to show you that, the history is what it is ...HISTORY, as important as it is and cool to know and read about...it isn't what makes the scene TODAY, and it has no bearing on a persons character or status whether they know it or not.

it is a personal view of yours that this is very important to you....

I personally love reading articles like this, and talking with old school heads about parties, but i dont feel anyone else is less off , or not as cool if they don't know.

and not saying this is your intention, but I know it has been said before that you come off that way, and remember on these boards, perception is everything......

and I assume you weren't trying to come down on anyone with your posting this stuff, cause you don't seem the type..

but my misunderstanding of the title lead me to think this way also ....

i agree somewhat with what u say but this scene today is a joke for the most part and i wont even get into that. as for ur comments i understand what ur sayin about the majority not givin a shit about the past and are happy just to be dancin to dj whoever droppin whatever which is fine. imo though there lies a problem to me with todays scene most dont give a shit about the dj, most dont give a shit about the track/tracks nor know anything about the roots of house. to me its very important to educate a crowd rather then havin some girl come up to me and ask for hip hop or the new mike rizzo remix on ktu.

to me one of the biggest problems is the average joe comin into the scene such as the E days of say 98-2000 when everyone and their mother came out to whatever club to do E and brag they went to some club in NYC eating pills (u have the same problem with the WMC and springbreakers now ). that fad is gone and it seems the majority left. which of course is good and bad. if you want to draw a crowd and have them come back you need to educate them, not use the same bs formula whether it be some gimmick event or whatever it is nowadays. you need to build a fanbase and have them wanting to come back for more, u need to let the music do it. unfortunately its tough to do but i give silverbull credit. do i think hes braggin not at all i know the history too, i wish i was around for the garage. i didnt hit my 1st real club till 92'

[silverbull]

i read somewhere that he would show up late and keep his fans waiting because he would be so doped up on heroin.. good times..

He always had david depino or joey llanos open upfor him,and remember larry played on both fri and sats, for 10yrs.

LARRY LEVAN kind of sounds like JP...was big in to drugs and only had his party

Far from it, do a search on how many djs were inspired worldwide by larry and what his legacy meant and still means to the hosue world.

Djs like danny tenaglia, david morales, junior vasquez, roger sanchez, joe claussell, paul oakenfold,francois k,tedd patterson for example were all inspried from larry.

Look how many people each one of those djs have inspired ,angel moraes,victor calderone, hector romero, cevin fischer, and even jp himself were inspired from the djs that were inspired from larry. Lets see what jps crowd will contribute to the future of house music.

Also remember laryy died in 1992 and his bday has been celebrated for the past 13yrs each yr and its filled with peopel from all over the world paying tribute. Must i go on.

[fastfast]

i agree somewhat with what u say but this scene today is a joke for the most part and i wont even get into that. as for ur comments i understand what ur sayin about the majority not givin a shit about the past and are happy just to be dancin to dj whoever droppin whatever which is fine. imo though there lies a problem to me with todays scene most dont give a shit about the dj, most dont give a shit about the track/tracks nor know anything about the roots of house. to me its very important to educate a crowd rather then havin some girl come up to me and ask for hip hop or the new mike rizzo remix on ktu.

to me one of the biggest problems is the average joe comin into the scene such as the E days of say 98-2000 when everyone and their mother came out to whatever club to do E and brag they went to some club in NYC eating pills (u have the same problem with the WMC and springbreakers now ). that fad is gone and it seems the majority left. which of course is good and bad. if you want to draw a crowd and have them come back you need to educate them, not use the same bs formula whether it be some gimmick event or whatever it is nowadays. you need to build a fanbase and have them wanting to come back for more, u need to let the music do it. unfortunately its tough to do but i give silverbull credit. do i think hes braggin not at all i know the history too, i wish i was around for the garage. i didnt hit my 1st real club till 92'

but I am not talking about average joe frat boy who came out for some drinks and to grope pretty girls...those are ones who dont give a shit about DJ, ( god I hate them, they waste space - but of course they pay the bills in these big clubs - a horrible trade off)

there are plenty of people who know what they are talking about, whose spinning and the history of that person and similar dj's, but still won't know paradise garage, that was a long long time ago,

so I guess this all comes back to whatever demographic we are discussing,

I am 27, I know alot about the scenes that relate to my coming up, and few years before and such, but I guess paradise garage, (to me, and I assume others,) is just way to far back to stress the importance of knowing,

hey, i still like hearing about it, i am def no expert and appreciate all of it, ,... but I just don't think it seperates the real from the fake per say, kinda related to title, and talking about silverbull..

preach on my brothers...

[fastfast]

He always had david depino or joey llanos open upfor him,and remember larry played on both fri and sats, for 10yrs.

Far from it, do a search on how many djs were inspired worldwide by larry and what his legacy meant and still means to the hosue world.

Djs like danny tenaglia, david morales, junior vasquez, roger sanchez, joe claussell, paul oakenfold,francois k,tedd patterson for example were all inspried from larry.

Look how many people each one of those djs have inspired ,angel moraes,victor calderone, hector romero, cevin fischer, and even jp himself were inspired from the djs that were inspired from larry. Lets see what jps crowd will contribute to the future of house music.

Also remember laryy died in 1992 and his bday has been celebrated for the past 13yrs each yr and its filled with peopel from all over the world paying tribute. Must i go on.

I think that is some cool shit, he def is a pioneer in his own right ..

now here is where I have to point something out,

you know alot about music and seem to respect the industry, but yet make a comment like "let's see what jp crowds contribute", without a jp 10 pager, I just wanted to point out that you realy can't make a comment like that without knowing to much about his people (which I assume you don't)

I know many a DJ who was influenced into dj'ing by Jonathan (amongst others), and who knows where half of these people will be in 5 yrs,

it's too ealry for a comment like yours, and you seem to be much smarter and respectful then that .

jonpaul

[Houseallnitelong]

Larry was heavily consumed with heroine before Paradise Garage. Its even a known fact that Larry wasnt the best technical dj. However his programming and his ear and sense of what people wanted to hear and how they wanted to hear was something that probably nobody will experience again. Never went to the garage but Knuckles, Humphries, Morales, Tenaglia are all guys that have tried to keep up with his legend. I dont think Larry would like what he sees with the "scene" today, but we will never know. I think when it comes to garage house soulful house, he was the best dj. Cant really compare what Morillo, or a Digweed or a Carl Cox does with what he did, other than he played "dance" music and i use the term dance music lightly for people to listen to at a discoteka. But then we can compare Larry and Funkmaster Flex too since in essence they both were djs playing for a crowd to dance to.