There was one particular evening in New York’s Studio 54 when John Morales’ beloved leather jacket went missing. It was a busy night. Just earlier, he’d run into Mick Jagger, who stopped by to hear Morales’ remix of The Rolling Stones’ Too Much Blood. The jacket, which held his house keys and was missed in the biting cold of winter, didn’t turn up. Yet a few weeks later, a friend called Morales to tell him he’d spotted his leathers: being worn by Jagger on the cover of Billboard magazine.
“Have I forgiven him?” laughed Morales. “Yes. But that’s my favorite leather jacket and I still miss it.”
His name may not be a household, but there’s a good chance many have danced to Morales’ his signature contribution at a nightclub. He’s the godfather of a revolutionary little thing called the “extended disco remix,” which became a a powerful tool for DJs to tease and manipulate.
Saturday night, Morales will hit the decks at Black Pagoda to share his personal collection of boogie beats as the headlining DJ at Saturday’s Disco Robot party.
“I really enjoy the hustle and bustle of Bangkok,” he said. “I’m looking forward to some shopping too … but naturally, I’m most excited about playing for Bangkok’s disco lovers.”
In the late 1970s, songs came on seven-inch vinyl and only consisted of two- or three-minute radio versions. Morales wanted more freedom to wield the beats, to draw out the peaks and moments that made crowds really move. So using a reel-to-reel tape recorder, the producer copied the tracks and painstakingly sliced and diced the tape by hand. These long hours in the studio would inevitably change the producing game completely.
“It was a difficult process, but I loved what I was doing,” said Morales. “And after awhile the results spoke for itself. “When some high profile studio producers finally took notice … I knew I was onto something.”
Soon enough, Morales was melting different songs together to make medleys, having the best vinyl pressed to acetate for club and radio use. He was on the decks at Studio 54, but also fielding offers to do special remixes for legendary artists such as Barry White, Marvin Gaye and the Stones.
Since those days, a lot has changed. By today’s one-click-and-it’s-done standards, literally cutting and pasting seems as prehistoric as manipulating photos in a dark room. After all, tracks loop continuously on an interface and DJs have a magic “sync” button to blend from one beat to the next. It’s almost cheating, but that’s what we like about technology.
Many producers are hostile about the direction electronic music is taking, especially in the hands of unskilled individuals, who can buy a deck and call themselves a DJ.
Not Morales, who’s happy to see his once-arcane hobby become accessible. He still plays classic disco on old school records, with tempos that change so much the “sync” button is impossible to fall back on. For Morales, it’s about taking the best of both worlds.
“I do embrace technology as it keeps things moving forward,” he said. “But to be a DJ is so much more than just mixing two records together. Even with the infamous ‘sync’ button you still have all your work ahead of you. For a start, you still have to select the music.”
Bell bottoms and velour track suits may long be out of fashion, but it’s still a great time to be John Morales. Popular music is seeing its biggest resurgence of the ‘70s, being dubbed by critics as the “disco renaissance.” While Daft Punk and Robin Thicke race to emulate retro beats, Morales continues to grin and groove behind the production glass.
“It’s great!” he said. “And it’s not just a nostalgia or a history lesson, it shows how relevant and timeless the music was when it was created. I’m pleased to see that our music is being introduced to a younger audience and that it still resonates with a younger generation.”
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Disco Robot and Black Pagoda present John Morales
Saturday, Nov. 2
10pm until late
Entry is THB 400 including one drink
BTS Sala Daeng, MRT Silom
