Lately I’ve been researching pre- and early-house, and there’s no better source than the playlists of Ron Hardy. (I’ll be posting Frankie Knuckles’ soon as well.) It seems that history is always viewed through the lens of whatever is currently en vogue, and to that end a great deal of attention has been paid to early rhythm tracks. Parsing through MP3s from the tapes of people who were actually there, however, there’s no escaping that house and techno are direct descendants of disco. Thanks to its mass commercialization in the late seventies, disco became a dirty word, but looking back at the tunes played in underground clubs, it is clear they descended from soulful sources like Motown and Philadelphia International. The experimentation of New York City producers and DJs paid a large role as well. In fact, I’d argue that Walter Gibbons’ 1978 Disco Madness LP (available on CD on this anthology) was the first album to embody the house aesthetic. While Tom Moulton was a

Photos! Even more photos! Meat and Hubba Hubba Revue with Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums.

Title: Live At The Roxy, London: April 1st & 2nd 1977 - Live At CBGB Theatre, New York: July 18th 1978

Artist: WIRE

Label: Pinkflag Germany

Format: 2xCD

Track listing:

The Commercial

Mary Is A Dyke

Too True

Just Don't Care

Strange

Brazil

It's So Obvious

Three Girl Rhumba

TV

Straight Line

Lowdown

Feeling Called Love

NYC

After Midnight

12XU

Mr Suit

Glad All Over

The Commercial

Mary Is A Dyke

Too True

Just Don't Care

Strange

Brazil

It's So Obvious

Three Girl Rhumba

TV

Straight Line

Lowdown

Feeling Called Love

NYC

After Midnight

12XU

Glad All Over

Mr Suit

Men 2nd

Reuters

106 Beats That

From The Nursery

Dot Dash

Another The Letter

Practice Makes Perfect

Marooned

I Am The Fly

Lowdown

Mercy

Outro