Party_Jams.html

DON'T BE SHY WHEN SAMPLING
Sampling needs to be cranked up a few notches. Artists
should not be shy about changing lyrics and titles (which
may have been written 45 years ago). He has an opportun-
ity to bring them up to date and more suitable to today's
audience. Every word in a track should be up for review or
elimination. An artist sampling a classic track doesn't
need to stick with the same formula and blueprint. The
music itself should not be off limits and untouchable
either. New instruments and rhythms can add spice and
touch-up a "sounds dated" classic. Artists should be able
to step outside the box and improve and help a track reach
for new heights. Unique sounds and vocals can do that job!
Is a simple remake ever enough? Or is it an opportunity to
make the production even better than it ever was?/////////

CREATING USA DANCE MIX EDITS AND REWORKS
(Nov. 2024) Many Dance tracks are often over 5 minutes in
length. Some have a build-up of beats on the front end and
that can last a minute or more. A lot have a winding down
ending section (30 seconds or more) of beats and
drums on the back end. Editing those out makes a track
more manageable for radio play. Others have a "quiet" non-
compatible section (or just odd material) in the middle.
Those need to be edited out also for a more cohesive end
product. I've always had to edit songs for the station but
in 2024 I took that a step farther and began REPACKING
some of them. The result has been inspiring. Even classic
tracks can be re-imagined and given a new look and focus
which often results in a new title as well. Artists can be
blind or biased to what they create and unable to cut
their baby up. I am able to look at the production more
objectively.//////////////////////////////////////////////

12" DISCO SINGLES WERE POPULAR
(Oct. 2024) College students usually don't have a lot of
disposable income. The University Of Florida student
center music room had small, private listening cubicules.
You could pick out an album (The Eagles, Bread, The Doors,
K.C & The Sunshine Band, Diana Ross, etc.) and listen
on personal headphones. They also had the latest issue of
Billboard magazine and I was able to keep up with all the
current Disco releases. The only mall in Gainesville (it's
still there) had a record store chain that stocked the
new 7" vinyl debts on the Billboard Pop and R&B charts.
Many Disco artists were crossing over to those charts in
1979. The 7" single was more economical for me than the
12" versions. Often, they were simply the 12" release on
the A and B side. The record store would play a little of
a new track on their turntable to see if I liked it
enough to buy it. That was another way I was able to keep
up with the music and acquired most of my music during my
college years.////////////////////////////////////////////

DANCE SHOULD BE A MUSICAL ROLLER COASTER
(Sept. 2024) There have been too many SLOW dance releases
in the Summer of 2026. We're not here to be lulled to
sleep. We're here to DANCE! A boring nightclub DJ spins
almost identical tunes into one continuous TECHNO mess.
Dance music lovers perfer a musical joy ride with each
spin sounding different than the one before. Peaks and
valleys, highs and lows, those are the sounds that delight
us. And Dance is not a "mood" created by a DJ but a rocket
ship ride. A DJ should present variety in his playlist.
Who wants to binge watch (or listen to) Dance music that
all sounds alike. Variety is the spice of life and a good
DJ knows how to incorporate that into his presentation.///
I BROADCAST DISCO TO NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA
(Sept. 2024) That was one of my fondest memories from my
college days. U.F. had 2 commercial radio stations, unlike
most colleges that had non-commercial stations. There was
an AM Top 40 station and a 100,000 watt FM station that
played mostly Beautiful Music. A tenured individual at the
school (not a professor) began a weekend FM Disco show in
the Summer of 1979 when Disco was exploding and taking
over radio station formats nationwide. He was at least 15
years older than most students and unbeknownst to me was
looking for a student to take over the program. I lived on
campus and showed up for a broadcast. The next week the
show was mine! Surprisingly, I began pulling in many
listeners (#1 for my time periods of Friday and Saturday
nights when the Gainesville Arbitron ratings came out). In
the Spring of 1980 as Disco's popularity began to fade
(and pulled from many stations) the 10 months old program
was axed by university hierachy who weren't crazy about it
(or me either) and used that as a reason to justify ending
it.///////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I KNEW DISCO WAS MY THING
(Sept. 2024) In the early 70's (pre-disco) rhythmic songs
were very popular. Artists like The Supremes, The 5th
Dimension, Ohio Players, The Jacksons and the Temptations
were crossing over into the Pop charts and Top-40 radio.
They were the sounds of the times. FM radio started taking
off around that same time and my favorites sounded even
better on the FM dial. As a regular viewer of American
Bandstand and Soul Train I was prepared for Disco as it
slowly broke through (Summer of 1974). Disco spoke to me.
I could feel it in my soul. It made me want to dance and
sing along with the music. I started buying vinyl so I
could listen to my favorites over and over. When I turned
18 it got me out of the house and into the clubs. Discos
were a blast! Everyone couldn't wait until the weekend
when they could unwind and escape from their daily 9 to 5
grind. Now, I was around others who enjoyed the Disco
sound as much as I did. It felt like home. Long live the
Disco sound!//////////////////////////////////////////////SOME BLOGS ARE EASIER THAN OTHERS
(March 2024) It can be a challenge to come up with a blog
every two weeks. Sometimes I need time to recharge my
brain. Therefore, I take a break every year from April to
September. During that period I repeat and update previous
blogs. Only about 66% of those get a second life. I try to
recycle only the best of them. Just as television has a
rerun season, so do I. Im closing this one by reporting
that the U.K. recently decided to charge more for stream-
ing artist royalty payments. Our server (Live365) that
pays those fees for us has decided to pass that extra
charge on to their streaming stations. We don't have a lot
of listeners in the U.K. (maybe 4% or so) and have decided
that we are not paying an extra fee. Listeners in the U.K.
will have to find another way to listen to USA Dance Mix
(since Live365 has now turned off broadcasting there). I'd
suggest a VPN or incognito browsing to work around this
issue. Still waiting for Madonna or somebody to send me a
25K check which would make the past 40+ years of promotion
less expensive for me than it has been. Oh well.//////////

LOOK FOR REPRINTS AND UPDATES OF PREVIOUS BLOGS HERE UNTIL SEPTEMBER

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