One of our favourite DJs on the island, Ricky Chong guides us through a selection of tracks that inspire him ahead of his All Night Long headliner at Tengu in Dublin on August 9th, from Early Byrds to Carol Kidd.
Aura – Short And Sweet
Aura was one of my few introductions into jazz-funk infused disco music. Hailing from Hawaii, this band was known for their luscious and tight horn section as well as top-notch vocals. The whole album is pretty spot on, with a mix of slow jams all the way to their jazz-infused disco steppers. Highly recommend everyone check them out!
Burton Inc. – Why Don’t You Let Me Know
A rare album from Oklahoma filled with goodness. Written and produced by Charles and Barbara Burton themselves. A great balance ranging from mellow soul to uptempo jazz-funk and gorgeous disco bangers. My personal favourite is ‘Why Don’t You Let Me Know’.
Early Byrds – Morning Reflexion
I’m definitely a massive fan of Japanese music, from their jazz productions and instrumentation styles to their impeccably tight jazz-funk groups and even their iconic 80s City Pop sound, which I very much enjoy collecting. Don’t forget that Japanese recordings are known to be sonically perfect (pressing-wise), they just know how to do it right. This LP I came across a few years ago in Face Records NYC is still quite under the radar and one that I really enjoy. It’s got a lot of emotion and atmosphere, starting from their opener ‘Hello! L.A.’ to the crazy jazz-funk track ‘Warp’, which I actually did a DJ friendly edit of that featured in a Various Artists sampler on Bandcamp last year called Nocturnal Hazard. I played that one last year at the incredible Dublin Disco All Dayer in Orlagh House and the energy in the room was crazy. Give the whole album a listen!
Reiko Itsuki – 愛のつばさ
I’m really big into covers, especially when they’re from different countries. There’s a classic disco 12″ called ‘Fly Me On The Wings Of Love’ by Celi Bee that I used to play a lot. That was until I found this really interesting Japanese cover by Reiko Itsuki. It’s a lot shorter, coming in at just under 4 minutes but the production and sound are great.
Bruni Pagan – You Turn Me On
Speaking of covers! I wouldn’t say I’m a massive fan of Rick James and his songs, but there’s no doubt he produced some serious R&B/funk records and worked alongside some heavyweights like Teena Marie and Mary Jane Girls. This is a rare and sought after cover of his song ‘You Turn Me On’ and imo the superior version. Bruni’s gorgeous vocals really shine in this and it always goes down a treat during my sets.
Dohnnie – Cloud 9 (Quentin Harris Shelter Mix)
A lot of people think I play strictly disco in my sets, but I actually play a lot of other genres so it just depends on the setting really. Playing the same kind of music in a set can bore me, or even bore the crowd, so I change it up quite a bit to keep things exciting and alive. House is one of those genres that I touch on quite a bit. In particular, deep house and 90s garage house, which was what I actually began playing in my early days of DJing. Jeremy Underground and Kerri Chandler paved the way for me and gave me massive amounts of inspiration, so I owe it to them. This is no doubt a classic. Quentin Harris’s Shelter Remix of ‘Cloud 9’, which has everything you need in a great house record. Jazzy piano infused goodness along with that iconic house-styled drum programming, which sits perfectly alongside Dohnnie’s soulful vocals that just melt everything together. Dancefloor heat!
Aska – Ulice Mračne Nisu Za Devojke
Speaking of Jeremy, here’s a super fun one that he showed me personally. Extra funky Yugoslavian disco heat! Thanks J!
Network – Love Don’t Mean A Thing
This one is great for breaking up a set midway to create some breathing room and atmosphere. That slapping bass guitar really kicks things into gear, while at the same time keeping things at bay. The vocals and pad sound are just full of emotion too. Another one of those cases where a band releases one record and just drops off the face of the earth.
Carol Kidd – All My Tomorrows
It’s been a while since I listened to this record, but this was one of those albums that I would have heard my dad playing all the time growing up. Even these days, he still uses this as a test record to calibrate soundstage on his hi-fi speakers. For sure brings back a lot of memories of my younger days. I think being brought up with jazz being played around my childhood home definitely had a huge influence on me. If you haven’t heard this yet, then I highly recommend you find a clean copy and let it take you on a journey. It’s dynamically and sonically one of the best records to listen to, and Carol Kidd doesn’t really need an introduction, honestly. Her vocal delivery is top tier alongside her elite quartet.
The Clark Sisters – Center Of Thy Will
The Clark Sisters is another no-brainer. I started diving into more 70s and 80s gospel music over the last few years with the help of some close friends sharing records with me, and later I came across this LP from 1981 by The Clark Sisters, which I didn’t have in my collection yet so it quickly became one of my favourites. Such strong vocals and sound. I’m not religious at all, but there’s something about gospel music that’s quite beautiful and stunning.
Linda Evans – I Am Gold
I thought I’d throw in another gospel one as this record is very much worth the mention. Linda Evans has always stayed in my record bag for many, many gigs, especially her disco record ‘You Control Me’ from 1978, along with ‘Don’t You Need’, which is on the same album. She released another album in 1984, more gospel focused, and the track in particular ‘I Am Gold’ is just perfect gospel funk imo. Solid record, highly recommend!
Catch Ricky Chong playing live at Tengu in Dublin, Wigwam in Dublin and Skibereen in Cork.
