David Mancuso has left us but he gave New York City something to look back on.

This may be old news to you now. However, it seems that the curse of 2016 has taken away another musical giant in the form of DJ David Mancuso 2016 has taken away so many music and film legends that many of us now can't wait for 2016 to finish.

The News has spread like wildfire right around the world since it was announced that David Mancuso died - on the 15th Nov 2016. The cause of death is still not known at the moment.

My first knowledge of  David Mancuso was not meeting the man himself. I have never met him in my life.

It was only after meeting another DJ that schooled me about him that I decided after our "meet" to read up and find out more about the man and the legend.

 

The person who told me about him was - Colleen Murphy  - Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy -  She is from the US. The City of Boston, USA to be precise. 

 

 "Cosmo" is the nickname that was asked me in my hometown (Ipswich Town, England).

It was in order for her to play a few tunes, and at the same time to be interviewed over the airwaves (Radio broadcasting airwave) about her love of music, how she got into it in the first place; and djing.

It was via this meeting with Colleen, that I got to learn about David Mancuso from her recollections and she had seen and learned whilst being around his company.

And what David meant to New York City, and their underground dance culture in general there - Info on Colleen Murphy

This and more knowledge gained from my research led me to watch the movie called  "Maestro" which was released in Feb 2003.

This Movie Documentary gave us a basic understanding of New York, and its underground dance culture during the 1970s to 1980s.

At the time I was even sent a special premier ticket in 2003 to watch the Ist viewing of the Film that is  "Maestro"  within - https://www.leicestersquaretheatre.com/ - London, England.

The "Maestro"  FILM TRAILER (2003) - PLEASE CLICK ON THE VIDEO

 And via watching this movie learned even more about David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles, and others about what it meant to have lived in those times, and also to "party" within those times.

This film gives almost as much credit for the creation of the scene via David Mancuso, Loft Parties, the long-running private club famous for its intimate, living-room atmosphere and brilliant sound engineering; right through to LARRY LEVAN  and the club that made him world-famous - The Paradise Garage, King Street, New York, USA

However, it must be said that Mr. Mancuso was basically known for his parties that he helped start-up within the city of New York during the 1970s

.David Mancuso was born in Utica, New York, during the year of 1944.

 

However, things began to gell for him after he moved to New York City in 1962. It was there that  Mancuso rented a loft at 647 Broadway near Bleecker Street, New York, USA.

The size of the space allowed him to purchase two Klipschhorn loudspeakers, which he paired up with McIntosh amps and two turntables.

David Mancuso  adds,

"During this time, I would go out to rent parties. They were at someone's apartment, or somebody would throw an event, and it would be just to raise money for the rent.

So I had this loft space on Broadway and to pay rent, I threw some parties between '65 and '70. It worked out well. About half a dozen of them happened over those five years, even though I always say The Loft started in 1970". -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loft_(New_York_City)

The first official "The Loft" party, as we now know it was held on February 14th, 1970,  and was called "Love Saves The Day". 

This eventually became a regular Saturday night event, starting around midnight and running until the morning.

Mancuso also avoided using the pitch control on the turntables that were at this event,  to match the musician's vision as opposed to the DJ's ego of how it should be delivered to the audience.

Famously, records were not mixed at The Loft. He wanted his audience to appreciate the music when it was made, and then record via the music studios. He didn't want or allow for the music to be "Mixed" within these parties.

They had to be played from start to finish. No beat mixing. The point being was that he wanted his audience to have a deeply emotional experience with the music that was being played; as opposed to having the DJs’ egos controlling what you heard.

Also, there was no food or liquor sold at his parties. If anything it was given out to his audience.

The likes of  François K, Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Nicky Siano, and David Morales were regulars at The Loft, which eventually led  Mancuso to establish the New York Record Pool, acquiring promos from record labels for the qualified DJs in his circle.

Mancuso started up this pool after moving his operations to  99 Prince Street in SoHo, New York City, USA.

He ran this pool as a non-profit operation until 1978 before deciding to refocus on the parties and handing the DJ's record network over to Judy Weinstein.

He continued to host The Loft on Prince Street until 1985, when skyrocketing real estate forced him into Alphabet City, within New York City, USA

In the 1990s, reasonably priced downtown spaces became so scarce that he began to tour, limiting the NYC events to four to six a year.

Mancuso speaking with  Disco Music stated:

"I can't find the space and I don't have the resources as I used to… I've had offers that you can't believe, but there are catches to them and I can't give in to them. I'd rather take the subway and do without the Mercedes-Benz.

I've known some of my guests for more than 25 years and I can't go away from that. The Loft parties are very personal, intimate things. It's the thing that keeps me going in life."

David Mancuso explains himself below about the Loft Parties, etc, etc...

Tributes from all over the world who have only just learned about his death are equally shocked.

1. Kevin Saunderson (@kevinsaunderson) _ Twitter - "I went to The Loft in Spanish Harlem as a youth, 1st time I heard "Supernature". We owe so much - Nov 15, 2016

2. Dimitri from Paris - @DimitriParis- If you don't know who David Mancuso was, do yourself a favor & go beyond 140 signs. Look him up, find out how essential his contribution was - nov 15,2016

3. Greg Wilson - @djgregwilson - Here's a piece I wrote about David Mancuso in 2003, highlighting how the great man connected psychedelia and disco: - http://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/2013/05/david-mancuso-and-the-art-of-deejaying-without-deejaying/ - Nov 15, 2016

4. Questlove Gomez - @questlove - New York Legend. Without Whom. None of this is possible. Salute the Gawd - NOV15 2016

It's another sad day in 2016. Yes, people die every day. That's a fact. However, it just seems that some of the people that we have lost make you think about how a great contribution they made whilst they were alive.

These people made you want to get out of bed to face another day. We have just lost another such person that made you want to get out of bed and face another day......

Well, that's all folks for me now anyway.

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DJ Mistri and the Electric Soul Show © www.electricsoulshow.com