Rich's House of Vinyl Inventory #1 (3/9/24)

It is no secret that I have been collecting records for most of my life. In recent years, I have occasionally written about some of the records, and I’m thinking about getting back to that now and then, four random or semi-random records at a time. I’ll try to note where and when I obtained the records — expects lots of “I have no idea where I got this” — and what the records about.

Why four? Because four album covers look cool in a square photo at the top of this column.

So here we go: four records that I have been immersed in this week.

A Night at Studio 54 -various artists (1979, Casablanca). As I am never ashamed to note, I was a thoroughly non-ironic disco fan in 1979. Which is, in itself, ironic, because 1979 may have been the most ironic year ever.

Anyway, I liked disco in ‘79 and even came close to a holy grail for young American disco fans in that, during our eighth-grade class trip to New York City, we were scheduled to go to a real NYC disco! It certainly wasn’t the legendary Studio 54, that’s for sure. I think it was a club called New York, New York.

Our disco stop didn’t happen, maybe because dinner took too long, or more likely, maybe because our nuns had been reading the accounts of what when on in New York discotheques, as breathlessly reported in the pages of People magazine. As my mom was a faithful reader of People, I knew all about this stuff as well, though I probably didn’t understand half of it.

All of which brings us to this exciting album, A Night at Studio 54. It’s an “as seen on television” two-record musical document of what those lucky souls who got by 54’s gatekeepers would hear once they were inside. As such, it's a fascinating melange of some of the biggest pop hits of the disco era (Chic’s “La Freak”, Alicia Bridge’s “I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)” Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.”) along with what must be disco cult favorites like Karen Young’s “Hot Shot” and Voyage’s “Souvenirs”.

Disco was as big as it was going to be in 1979, but it was also the year of the Great Disco Backlash, culminating in Disco Demolition Night during a White Sox/Tigers baseball game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park on July 12, 1979.

If anyone at 54 felt that backlash, the probably were riding too high, in more ways than one, to pay much attention to it. And, as long as albums like A Night at Studio 54 could be bought on TV, at-home disco fans didn’t have to worry much about the backlash either.

As for where I got this album, I am thinking it was probably a super-cheap thrift shop find, I have no idea when.

Dance Raja Dance (Asia Classics 1: The South Indian Film Music of Vijaya Anand) - various artists (Luaka Bop, 1992/vinyl reissue 2022). I am thinking that my introduction to the world of Indian film music — Bollywood music — was two guys at Princeton University’s radio station in the early 1990s. This pair of DJs commandeered the airwaves late on Saturday mornings to play their favorite Bollywood tunes. I don’t remember their names but these guys were funny and knowledgable about the music they played. Donna and I discovered them one more while driving around and we were hooked, despite the sometimes spotty reception from Princeton to Northeast Philadelphia.

Around the same time, David Byrne, who had recently founded Luaka Bop Records, decided to compile and release a collection of “the South Indian Film Music of Vijay Anand” for the label. I didn’t run out and pick up Dance Raja Dance, immediately, which is maybe why Byrne noted years later that it wasn’t a huge seller at the time, but I did eventually grab the CD, and I loved it.

What I love, and what lots of other fans love, about Bollywood music, is how people like Vijaya Anand gleefully grab bits and pieces of whatever is on the charts throughout the world to throw into the mix with more traditional sounds that listeners might associate with Indian music. At their best, Bollywood tunes are crazy collages that are insanely fun to listen to.

There are thousands of Bollywood tunes to hear, more than anybody can ever hear, but Dance Raja Dance feels like an excellent way to dip a toe in and join the fun.

I don’t think I have my original Dance Raja Dance CD anymore but I was ecstatic to find the 2022 vinyl reissue at the Princeton Record Exchange just after Christmas last year.

Discomania 2 - various artists (Juke Box Records/Ahed, 1976). “As advertised $5.99 TV & Radio”, reads the front cover of this early disco compilation, and I’m sure that’s true. I may have seen a commercial for this beguiling album, though if I did, I don’t remember it. One thing I’m certain though is that I did not pay the exorbitant price of $5.99 for it.

I am thinking I picked this classic up at one of the department stores that were close to where we lived, either the Woolco or the Wilmington Dry Goods. I probably picked this out of a bargain bin and paid maybe three bucks tops for it. One of the earliest records I bought with my own money.

Discomania 2 continues to be worth every precious cent I paid for it. It is most fascinating because it is a disco compilation before disco became DISCO!, a worldwide musical and cultural phenomenon. This is disco before Saturday Night Fever and before kids like me ever heard of places like Studio 54.

This makes Discomania 2 an intriguing counterpoint to A Night at Studio 54, though one major point these collections share is that, with the passage of time, both records contain a combination of the big radio hits and dance floor burners that maybe weren’t rocketing up the pop charts. This means you get “Love to Love You Baby” and “Love Roller Coaster” on Discomania 2 but you also get lesser-remembered period curiosities like “Dreamin’ a Dream” by Crown Heights Affair and “Freeman” by South Shore Commission, as well as rhythm and blues singer Esther Phillips disco makeover cover of “What a Difference a Day Makes”.

Never fear thought: as the back cover state, “Every selection on this album a top ten disco hit as selected by the leading discotheque operators in America.” You have their guarantee.

My Discomania 2 has seen some wear and tear — the cover is, in fact, completely split in half — but aside from a few stray skips on side 2, it plays beautifully and, as noted on the front cover, it contains “over one hour continuous play”! What more do you want from a disco album.

And, yes, there is a Discomania 1, but I have so far never pursued it.

A Rough Guide to Bollywood Disco — various artists (Rough Guides/World Music Network, 2015). Another Bollywood comp, this one focuses on songs with a strong disco influence, so much so that one song title declares, “I Am a Disco Dancer”. Plus, Nazia Hassan’s “Boom Boom” borrows the iconic bass line from Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”, while another song here nicks a bit from the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.”

This Rough Guide collection is obviously a great companion for the Dance Raja Dance album. The fact is though that these four albums work just brilliantly together. None of these albums are available intact on Apple Music, but tracks from all of them can be found and a playlist can be cobbled together. I did this and that playlist is making me very happy this week.

I’m fairly certain that I picked up the Rough Guide record half-price at the Rock Shop at King of Prussia Mall in early 2020.