Arthur Baker Presents Dance Masters: John Luongo - The Classic Dance Remixes [2LP]

by John Luongo

Overview

Following Dance Masters: Shep Pettibone and Dance Masters: Arthur Baker, the third Dance Masters anthology spotlights John Luongo, unwitting mentor to series presenter Baker and a lower-profile dance music legend on several fronts. A DJ first, the Bostonian taught himself to mix using a risky method of essentially bolting records together -- extending some with two copies -- and drew predominantly Black crowds from the whole of New England at the previously white Rhinoceros club. He organized one of the first DJ record pools, published a magazine (Nightfall) that launched the National Disco Awards, and in 1978 became known as a remixer. As recounted in the generous liners of this four-disc set, Luongo started in his apartment with a tape machine, kitchen utensils, and handclaps before manifesting his creativity in studios with engineers and session musicians. He lays claim to being the first remixer to add original instrumentation to existing tracks, pointing to Melba Moore's voluptuous remake of the Bee Gees' "You Stepped into My Life," the Side One, Track One of Melba and a number five Billboard disco hit. Extra musical layers and other sonic whims -- a shaken whirly tube picked up on the way to the studio, the remixer's own background vocals, etc. -- are on each one of his commissions. Another constant was experimentation with song structure. Luongo's placement of an extended instrumental break at the front of Jackie Moore's cool yet impassioned "This Time Baby" resulted in his first trip to the top of the disco chart, followed shortly thereafter by his elasticized progressive remix of Dan Hartman's towering "Vertigo/Relight My Fire." Everything was done with concern for what wouldn't fly in a club and what artists wouldn't want done to their songs. Luongo recalls that he "saw the iceberg" from aboard the disco ship and branched out in the '80s. Material's "I'm the One" (the seven-minute version previously unavailable on compact disc) is the dancefloor funk sound of him and Chic's Nile Rodgers and Tony Thompson adapting and sliding through a new era. Just ahead of that, Luongo had added space and friction to Visage's "Fade to Grey," and he continued to work with an assortment of other U.K. acts -- Bananarama, Cabaret Voltaire, Shakin' Stevens -- without regard for an aesthetic throughline. At the same time, he was behind otherwise unlikely number one dance hits for unhip American rockers Greg Kihn and Huey Lewis & the News, adding heft and a slight sense of otherness to "Jeopardy" and "I Want a New Drug." In a sense, this package is a major expansion of Can You Feel the Force?, a two-disc 2017 set focusing on Luongo's CBS/Sony work. The overlap isn't substantial, and this boasts an additional chart-topper released on Luongo's CBS subsidiary, Pavillion, Fantasy's boogie gem "You're Too Late" (with the unmistakable voice of Fonda Rae). It also goes later into the '80s with the CBS output, including Gladys Knight & the Pips' popping "Save the Overtime (For Me)," instead of duplicating, say, the Jacksons' "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)." ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	11/17/2023
Label:	Demon Records / Edsel
UPC:	5014797909717
Rank:	43355

Tracks

Disc 1

1. The Best [Extended Mighty Mix]  - Tina Turner
2. Missing You [Extended Version]  - John Waite
3. Eyes Without A Face [Full Length Version]  - Billy Idol
4. Human Touch [Extended Mix]  - Rick Springfield
5. The Look Of Love [Part 3 - Dance Version]  -  ABC
6. Fade To Grey [U.S. 12" Version]  -  Visage
7. Blind Vision [Extended Version]  -  Blancmange
8. Suspicious Minds [Suspicious Mix]  -  Fine Young Cannibals

Disc 2

9. Shy Boy (Don't It Make You Feel Good) [U.S. Extended Version]  -  Bananarama
10. Tarzan Boy [Extended Dance Version]  -  Baltimora
11. The Chinese Way [New York Remix]  -  Level 42
12. The Chinese Way [New York Remix]  -  Level 42
13. Give It Up [12" Version]  -  KC & the Sunshine Band
14. Relight My Fire [The Historical 1979 Remix]  -  Hartman Quintet  - Loleatta Holloway
15. You Stepped Into My Life [John Luongo Remix]  - Melba Moore
16. Music Is My Way Of Life [John Luongo Remix]  - Patti LaBelle

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Luongo   Primary Artist
Greg Kihn Band   Primary Artist
Shakin' Stevens   Primary Artist
Dragon   Primary Artist
Fine Young Cannibals   Primary Artist
Wang Chung   Primary Artist
Huey Lewis & the News   Primary Artist
Marlena Shaw   Primary Artist
Melba Moore   Primary Artist
Johnny Mathis   Primary Artist
Level 42   Primary Artist
Marilyn McCoo   Primary Artist
Peter Schilling   Primary Artist
KC & the Sunshine Band   Primary Artist
Rick Springfield   Primary Artist
Material   Primary Artist
I-Level   Primary Artist
ABC   Primary Artist
A Taste of Honey   Primary Artist
Tina Turner   Primary Artist
Cabaret Voltaire   Primary Artist
Camouflage   Primary Artist
Gonzalez   Primary Artist
Gladys Knight & the Pips   Primary Artist
Dan Hartman   Primary Artist
Daryl Hall & John Oates   Primary Artist
ZZ Top   Primary Artist
The Escape Club   Primary Artist
Billy Davis, Jr.   Primary Artist
Bill Nelson   Primary Artist
Bananarama   Primary Artist
Falco   Primary Artist
Visage   Primary Artist
John Waite   Primary Artist
Serge Ponsar   Primary Artist
The Quick   Primary Artist
Serge   Primary Artist
Fantasy   Primary Artist
Dan Hartman Quintet   Primary Artist
North End   Primary Artist
Ms. Sharon Ridley   Primary Artist
Patti LaBelle   Primary Artist
Soft Cell   Primary Artist
Blancmange   Primary Artist
Baltimora   Primary Artist
Billy Idol   Primary Artist
Cher   Primary Artist
Jackie Moore   Primary Artist
Loleatta Holloway   Featured Artist
Wayne A. Dickson   Sequencing

Technical Credits

Arthur Baker   Series Producer
Alexis Petridis   Liner Notes
Dom Williams   Project Manager
Wayne A. Dickson   Compilation Producer,Series Producer
Luigi Pasquini   Restoration
Joseph Davies   Audio Research