la decadanse: Credit to the Edit

Credit to the Edit
28 February 2009

Photo courtesy of Neil Vance on Flickr

Manchester native, Greg Wilson, really needs no introduction. For all of his contributions to dance music spanning almost three decades, words like "first", "pioneer" and "originator" come up so frequently in his biography that if you're drawing a blank, then it's time to hit the record shops and get familiar. For our purposes today, there's an excellent interview over at Cosmic Boogie where Wilson discusses what re-editing is, the origins of the edit and his thoughts on its current popularity.

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (GW Ruff Edit)

Adriano Celentano is a highly influential Italian entertainer (artist, singer, film actor, director, television personality, expert hula hooper, etc.) known worldwide. Since the late 1950s he's recorded a staggering 40 albums. In 1973 he released the Nostalrock LP which featured the track "Prisencolinensinainciusol".

If you're wondering why the lyrics sound nothing even remotely like the Italian language, well, that's because the entire song is composed of gibberish and non-sensical words. While the title itself, according to Celentano, is supposed to mean "universal love", he explains that the meaning behind the track is based on our inability to communicate in modern times (or at least in the '70s).

Check out the choreography for this song taken from an Italian variety television show. Shake it to the ground at 1:25, sister. Doesn't her vocal remind you of the girl in I-Frau's "Robots"?

Wilson's 2008 edit appears on the Ruff Edits #1 12" under the title "Adriano Italiano". Not too far off from the original, it also incorporates a vocal sample from the 1977 funk tune Instant Funk's "I Got My Mind Made Up". The B side has an edit of Boz Scagg's "Lowdown" under "Blue Eyed Boz".

Klein & M.B.O. - Dirty Talk (Greg Wilson Edit)

Tony Carrasco and Mario Boncaldo are the men behind Klein & M.B.O., most often described as an Italian post-disco outfit. "Dirty Talk" was originally released in Milan in 1982 but received very little attention until it was picked up by underground figures like the late Ron Hardy, one of the first Chicago house DJs. The track eventually blew up and became such a successful hit that the duo was signed by Atlantic Records for the release of their single "Wonderful" that same year.

Wilson explains his interest in the track and shares some interesting tidbits:

"'Dirty Talk' was a huge track for me on the Electro-Funk scene back in '82. I was the first DJ to start playing this in the black clubs as an import on Zanza and it soon became the biggest track at my nights at Legend in Manchester and Wigan Pier (it was also quite controversial, as the purists on the scene thought that this shouldn't be played). The Hacienda had only just opened and the DJ there, Hewan Clarke, picked up on it - it was as a result of hearing Hewan play it that New Order borrowed the record from him and used it as one of the templates for 'Blue Monday', which they were working on at the time."

You can find this edit via Belgian label, Flexx. The original was put out by Siamese Records who were also responsible for releasing Dance Reaction's "Disco Train", one of my favorite records, the previous year.

Posted by La Decadanse @ 12:53 | |