I’m constantly filing and cataloging my record collection. Every time, I think that I will devise the perfect system and reveal a latent talent for organization, like in Party Girl. But, once I get about halfway through the task, I realize that the system doesn’t work as well as it should and start all over again. The only upside to this Sysiphean task— which, I suppose, is also very Party Girl— is that I inevitably reconnect with a handful of old records.
Diana Ross performing “Love Hangover” on The Midnight Special in 1976.
In 1972, the concept of a music television show designed to keep people glued to their television sets in the middle of the night was novel. In fact, it was so unusual that, according to various interviews with the Burt Sugarman, the veteran TV producer funded The Midnight Special himself to get the pilot on the air. That initial episode aired at 1 a.m. and featured performances from War, Linda Ronstadt, The Isley Brothers and more. The format was a hit and The Midnight Special ran until 1981. Today, there is plenty of footage to watch online and multiple DVD sets available, all of which serve as a 1970s time capsule. If you watch enough clips from The Midnight Special— and, trust me, I have— you’ll see the decade evolve from funky hippies to disco to new wave.
On The Midnight Special, viewers could check out artists from across genres. T. Rex, Kraftwerk, Minnie Riperton,The Doobie Brothers and Dolly Parton are just a few who appeared on the show. Here, though, I’m focusing on the disco clips you need to see. Check them out below.
Depeche Mode 12″ singles for “Everything Counts” and “Love in Itself” from my vinyl collection.
There’s one band I’ve played more than any other in my DJ sets. That’s Depeche Mode. The British synthpop pioneers have been a part of my gigs, often regardless of the vibe of the party, since I started DJing. I doubt this will ever change.
I’ve been a Depeche Mode fan since I was a kid, but there are a lot of bands that I’ve loved for most of my life and don’t play nearly as often. It does help that L.A. has a lot of Depeche Mode fans. Outside of the clubs, the band frequently appears on request lists for weddings and birthday parties. But, that’s also not really the reason for so much Depeche Mode play.
Cover of the single for “Heart Like a Wheel” by The Human League
In 2022, a 32-year-old song from The Human League started creeping into my sets. I’ve been a fan of the band since childhood and play them often when I DJ. Yet, I never played “Heart Like a Wheel,” let alone the extended mix of the song, before this year. I began playing “Heart Like a Wheel” because I heard it on a MARS FM broadcast nearly as old as the song itself.
MARS FM 103.1 was a short-lived radio station in Los Angeles during the early 1990s with a truly alternative format. While MARS was known as the “rave” radio station, they played everything from Morrissey to Arrested Development to Messiah. (Check out these old playlists.) It was wild. Years after the station’s demise, my friends and I recalled it in many conversations. A lot of us were, in some way, influenced by the sound of MARS.
This Little Twin Stars CD booklet still holds my secret weapons from the ’00s.
One of the songs I played most in 2022 didn’t come out this year. In fact, “Drop the Numb” is an indie dance mashup that dates back to the mid-’00s. I retrieved it from my Little Twin Stars CD booklet filled with music from the heyday of Soulseek and music blogs.
I still don’t know the name of the remixer who fused together Mylo’s club hit “Drop the Pressure” with Scissor Sisters’ cover of “Comfortably Numb.” I wish I did, just so I could say thank you for this banger.
