In 1978, French producers Bernard Fevre and Jackie Giordano donned false names and holed up in a studio outside Paris to create the six songs on the EP known to the world of music as Black Devil Disco Club, an epic electronic disco record of tribal rhythms and chants which offered listeners a compelling walk into the seedy, sleazy catacombs of disco music.
Though history tends to associate disco with “Good Times”, disco music in its heyday was in many ways meant to be adult-oriented music of unbridled pleasure and lust. The naked sexuality of the musical style was often embraced in this era rather completely by the French and Italian producers who crafted it — arguably, they made disco music in the manner it was meant to be created. Such was Black Devil Disco Club as released on RCA’s Out imprint in 1978, which saw little or no fanfare and soon went out of print. It would, however, grow to become considered a masterpiece of the era, the forefather to a coming wave of euro disco, or italo-disco, that would soon follow. The influence of the sound can be heard popularly in the 1980-81 era works of Giorgio Moroder, in particular the soundtracks to both Scarface and American Gigolo, though true afficionados of the genre would consider these references among the most pedestrian of influence.
Over the years copies of the record in any condition became scarce, causing the record to become a much sought-after playable collectible and fascination piece for anyone who owned a copy. It is said that PP Roy, the head of Rephlex Records, bought a copy at a garage sale for 20p only to find it selling for £200 on eBay. After hearing what a gem he’d discovered, he soon turned Richard James (better known to fans as Aphex Twin) and Luke Vibert into fans of the bleak pulsating rhythms and electronic vibe of the record, after which Luke Vibert donned his own Black Devil-influenced persona (that of Kerrier District).
Check out these tracks from the original vinyl release of Black Devil Disco Club and look to purchase a copy on CD. If you ever happen across a copy on vinyl at a garage sale, congratulations. you’ve stumbled upon one of the most heralded pieces of collectible disco vinyl ever created.
Listen To Black Devil - Timing, Forget The Timing
Listen To Black Devil - Follow Me (instrumental)
No Responses to “A Rare Find Proves Compelling: Black Devil “Disco Club” An Overlooked Euro Disco Masterpiece”
No feedback yet.