Tony de Vit the Main Attraction column
1983
The following article was published in the 'Voice' magazine in March 1983 and was a column written by Legendary Club DJ Tony de Vit. The article discussed latest record releases.
Main Attraction by Tony de Vit
Well I don't want to have to say I told you so, but in last months issue I reviewed a new release on import and said that if it was picked up by a British label it would do very well. No sooner said than done. The record, "Rock the Boat" from Forrest , was released in this country by C.B.S. records and is now a huge success for them. It was top of last months club playlist and stays there for this month.
It is closely followed by another brilliant record from Stereo Fun Inc. which is one of those records that if ever released over here would never make any impression on the U.K. charts. It's very Euro-Disco, but is a favourite of mine at the moment. It has taken some time to catch on at the club, but it's finally getting the reaction it deserves. It usually raises the necessary screams from the dance floor nowadays.
On to the new releases so far this month. There's a new one from Roni Griffiths called "Breaking my Heart" out on Vanguard Records and yet another one from Devine, (so soon I hear you say). This one's called "Shake it Up" and it's interesting to note that both discs were produced by Bobby Orlando. I must admit I'm not too keen on the Devine effort as it's so very similar to "Shoot your Shot".
A good new release this month comes from a funk band named "Charades". The record is released on Blue Parrot Records entitled "Gimme the Fun!. A slower B.P.M. record this one but the trend seems to be towards the slower stuff at the moment anyway. (B.P.M. by the way stands for beats per minute if you didn't already know. They are the necessary aid to all mixing jocks, be they straight or gay).
Moving on to a faster release now, 126 B.P.M. is I'Vivre Sur Video" from Trans X. Full of electronics this one and is a favourite of Mike Baker's at Beacon Radio. He's very much into electronics and its use in todays music as you will know if you read his excellent article in last month's Voice.
The trend at the moment seems to be towards re-works of old disco classics and the next one is one of theirs. Remember "In the Bottle" by Gil Scot Heron? Well Emergency Records have released a version by C.O.D. The style of the record reminds me very much of Soul Sonic Force and could easily be mistaken for them, but all in all it's quite a good disco record and dance floor reaction should be good.
Finally to one of those out of the ordinary records. It's a disco version of Irving Berlin's "Putting on the Ritz"coming from a group by the name of Taco. Its on R.C.A. records, so there's a possibility it may be released over in this country in the near future. All I say about it, is it's different. So till next month, keep on dancin.
Contributed by: Voice