DISCO RECHARGE-BORIS MIDNEY-COMPANION AND DOUBLE DISCOVERY.

dereksmusicblog ♦ April 4, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

DISCO RECHARGE-BORIS MIDNEY-COMPANION AND DOUBLE DISCOVERY.

Looking back at the collateral damage caused by the events of Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, Chicago on 12th July 1979, it’s hard to believe the effect the Disco Sucks movement had on disco. Record labels like T.K. Records folded, artists were dropped by labels and radio stations stopped playing disco music. Suddenly disco, which previously had been the most popular musical genre of the seventies was a musical pariah. No longer were record labels, record buyers or radio stations interested in disco. The anti-disco backlash that began earlier in 1979 came to a head that summer night in Chi-Town. Music was the loser in all of this. Whether you were an artist, session musician, DJ, songwriter or producer disco’s demise affected you.

For many people, disco’s demise was all about surviving the upheaval. For one of disco’s most innovative, influential and successful producers Boris Midney, he’d managed to survive the fall out until 1981. Then when his new album Companion was completed, it wasn’t released in his adoptive home country of America. Instead, Companion was only released on the French Barclay record label. Since then, Companion has been one of the rarest albums of Boris Midney’s career. Thankfully, Disco Recharge are rereleasing Companion and 1982s Double Discovery on 15th April 2013. Considering Companion is one of Boris Midney rarest albums, this is a welcome rerelease. Indeed, Companion and Double Discovery comprise the fourth of five rereleases of Boris Midney’s albums by Disco Recharge, which I’ll now tell you about.

COMPANION.

For Companion, Boris Midney wrote the five tracks on the album. These are This Is A Test, Living Up To Love, Step On Out, There’s A Way and I Feel Delight. Recording of Companion took place at Boris hand-built Eras Recording Studio in New York. This was the third studio Boris had designed and built. Eras was designed to achieve perfection when it came to sound. Boris had an idea of what music should sound like, and at Eras, could make this dream a reality, albeit with the help of some of the best session musicians of the time.

Recording of Companion got underway at Boris Midney’s legendary 48 track recording studio Eras, in New York. Boris had built the studio from scratch, to his own specification. He was accompanied by bassist Francisco Centeno and guitarists Brad Johnson, Bob Feldman and Ray Volpe. Johnny Santana played cowbell and percussion, Jerry Brown cymbal, Reinhardt Elster harp, while strings came courtesy of Bob DePasquale’s String Sections. Providing the horns were trombonist Harry De Augiar, trumpeters Marc Gollehon and Ray Maldonado and on saxophone, Boris Midney. Kevin Owens and Charmain delivered the vocals on Companion. Once Companion was completed, it was released in 1981, but not in America, where disco was no longer popular.

When Companion was released in 1981, it was only released on the French Barclay record label. Companion wasn’t a commercial success. Neither were the two singles Living Up To Love nor Step On It. However, Companion was a bold and innovative album from Boris Midney which marked the next chapter in his musical career.

Opening Companion is This Is A Test. Straight away, you hear an ominous, almost menacing warning sound. It’s Boris signaling that he’s taking you on another musical journey, one which is very different to anything that’s preceded it. Hissing hi-hats, pounding, thunderous drums, chiming guitars and growling horns join sci-fi sounds and dancing strings. They’re joined by urgent harmonies, which veer between sweet, ethereal and fragile, to needy and sensuous. Then there’s Johnny Santana’s percussion, which is central to the arrangement. From there, the arrangement is stop-start, building up and adding to the drama. Cooing harmonies provide a counterpoint to the drama of arrangement. It takes as its reference points disco, funk and Euro Disco. The result is a compelling and captivating track, as Boris Midney proves that there was life after disco.

Moody, broody and elegant describe Living Up To Love as it teases you with its secrets and subtleties. Cinematic strings, hissing-hats and dark synths are contrasted by flourishes of harp. Soon, it’s heading in the direction of sensual and urgent, as we hear two different sides to the one song. This is no ordinary song. Not at all. It’s a nine minute epic. Stabs of keyboards, breathy, whispery vocals and thunderous drums join quivering strings and a dramatic ethereal vocal. Sometimes, the tracks heads in the direction of experimental, as Boris continues to reinvent his post-disco sound. Progressive, bold and innovative describes this melodic and dramatic music, which like so much of Boris Midney’s music, is a fusion of influences and genres.

as Step On Out bursts into life, it reveals a variety of different influences. There’s Chic-style guitars, eighties synths, a funky rhythm section and strings and horns that are reminiscent of many a seventies disco album. Charmaine’s vocal veers between Euro Disco and Euro Pop. Her vocal combines drama, emotion and sadness at the loss she foresees. Meanwhile, strings dance, horns growl and the rhythm section and synths add a dance-floor friendly, funky sound that’s truly irresistible. 

Of the five tracks on Companion, There’s A Way is easily the best. From the open bars you realize that. Here the arrangement and sensual vocal unite seamlessly to create a timeless Boris Midney classic. The arrangement and vocal become one. Indeed, they take turns to impress you. One minute, Charmaine’s needy vocal casts its spell over you. The next the choppy, urgent arrangement has you spellbound. This means a pounding, funky rhythm section, swathes of dancing strings and sultry horns join percussion, harp and choppy guitars. Whether together or separately, they play their part in a classy, sensual slice of Euro Disco, which thanks to Boris Midney, is laden in hooks.

Closing Companion is I Feel Delight, a track which gradually reveals its myriad of secrets. It’s as if everything on Companion has been building towards this track. Stabs of synths, hissing-hi-hats, quivering strings and percussion are joined by urgent, Euro Disco harmonies. Rocky guitars, cowbells and a pounding rhythm section are enveloped by ethereal, cascading harmonies. Charmaine gets the opportunity to unleash one of her best vocals on Companion. Her vocal soars high and elegantly above the Euro Disco arrangement, as Companion ends on an ethereal high.

In many ways, Companion was just like previous Boris Midney albums. It was innovative, progressive fusion of musical genres and influences. It built on Evita and The Empire Strikes Back, moving Boris’ music in a new direction. Disco was the past, so Boris had to focus on his musical future. To do this, Boris combined musical genres and influences. Elements of disco, Euro Disco, Philly Soul, classical music, funk and jazz were just a few of the influences he uses on Companion. One way Boris changes his musical identity on Companion, is by changing the tempo. Sometimes, he slows the tempo way down, other times he speeds it up. This adds to the drama and has you spellbound. It’s as if Boris Midney is teasing you, toying with you. With a crack band of session musicians and vocalists, Boris Midney proves that for him, there was life after disco. Companion marked the next chapter in Boris Midney’s career. He wasn’t going to become one of the Disco Sucks movement’s victims. Not at all. He still had so much more to offer music. It’s just a pity that a wider audience didn’t get the opportunity to discover the delights of Companion. Along with the 12” versions of Living Up To Love nor Step On It, plus the Rhythm Track to Step On It, now a much wider audience have the opportunity to discover Companion, Boris Midney’s first post disco album, which was one of the finest moments of his career.

ONE OFF PROJECTS.

Disc Two of this installment of the Disco Recharge series is entitled One Off Projects. It features three of Boris Midney’s projects .from 1982. The first three tracks are from his collaboration with Double Discovery. This was a collaboration with producer Jim Burgess, that lead to one album Double Discovery, which was released in 1982. Double Discovery fused funk, electronica, soul and disco. The three tracks that feature on Disc Two are Can He Find Another One? (East SIde), Can He Find Another One? (West SIde) and Can He Find Another One? (Instrumental West). Many of the same personnel that played on Companion feature on Double Discovery, including percussionist Johnny Santana, guitarist Bob Feldman, bassist Francisco Centeno and Bob DePasquale’s String Sections. Along with the vocal prowess of Double Discovery these three tracks are a tantalizing taster of what is a true hidden gem of an album from the post-disco era.

The second project that features on Disc Two, One Off Projects is Boris Midney’s D-D-D Dance, which was an E.P. Boris released in 1982 on the M.I. label. There are five versions of D-D-D Dance on Disc Two, while the original 12” single only featured four tracks. The original 12” version featured Vocal, Beats, Instrumental and Beats 2, while the Vocal, Beats, Instrumental, Beats 2 and Alternative Mix feature on Disc Two. For Boris Midney completists, this will make Disco Recharge-Boris Midney-Companion and Double Discovery a must-have, for this one track alone. Not only that, but this is a fascinating and compelling concept, which reinforces Boris Midney’s reputation as a true musical innovator.

Thanks For Loving Me is the third Boris Midney project from 1982 to feature on Disc Two of Disco Recharge-Boris Midney-Companion and Double Discovery. It’s a nine-minute Magnus Opus which encompasses everything that’s good about Boris Midney’s music. During these nine-minutes, you realize that when it comes to dance music, Boris Midney was a pioneer and innovator, who was never content to stand still. Instead, he was determined that his music would evolve and constantly reinvent itself.

Just like the three previous installments in the Disco Recharge series dedicated to the music of Boris Midney, Disco Recharge-Boris Midney-Companion and Double Discovery, which will be released by Disco Recharge on 15th April 2013, demonstrates that Boris Midney is worthy of the description visionary, innovator and pioneer. He was always striving to move his music forward. Music he believed should be constantly evolving. You had to keep moving forward or you were really standing still. As a musician and producer, Boris believed he had to challenge not just himself, but musical norms. After all, what was fashionable this year, could be unfashionable next year, if not sooner. So, it was all about reinventing his music and staying ahead of his competitors. To do this, Boris fused musical genres and influences. Everything from Euro Disco, disco, funk, soul, classical, Latin and rock influences his post-disco music. These influences were added to Boris Midney’s musical melting pot, and resulted in the next chapter of Boris Midney’s post-disco career. This proved that for Boris Midney there was life after disco. Not every disco artist or producer was as fortunate. Mind you, they weren’t blessed with the talent and determination of Boris Midney. Quite simply, Boris Midney was one of the founding fathers of Euro Disco and one of the most innovative and influential producers of the disco era, as the music on Disco Recharge-Boris Midney-Companion and Double Discovery demonstrates. Standout Tracks: Step On Out, There’s A Way, Can He Find Another One? (West SIde) and Thanks For Loving Me.

DISCO RECHARGE-BORIS MIDNEY-COMPANION AND DOUBLE DISCOVERY.