I'm here in 2021. Dancing like it's 1981...sweating, got my one hand in the air..eyes closed with a smile on my face, doing my head rolls. Yessss.....come on. lets go!!!!
Haven't heard this song since the original days of WBLS 107.5 FM, WKTU 92.3 FM, and WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM. Now that was when stereo systems and ghetto blasters had real music coming out of them.
Larry wore this record out at the Garage. I brought it. Guess what ? I wore it out too. I was just starting to Dj. The building I lived in couldn't take it. I said we "ain't going nowhere" !!!! This feeling I just can't hide....
Four in the morning, on a Sunday, Baby powder on the floor , all the amateurs are off the dance floor, or on their way home. The true Dance, music heads are out ! Paradise Garage Baby ! You just had to been there, to know what I’m talking about.
Shane : are you one of the Garage devotees that never went anywhere else? If so, did you ever hear people talk about Club Zanzibar (87 to 91 only, after that the crowd got really young and STUPID !!!) also Club Shelter (90 to 95, to me after 95 it lost a little of that old N Y feeling).
skfj67 NO, there was a period between 1980 thru 1990; that I went clubbing at: Better Days, Zanzibar on Broad St in Newark, NJ where there was a sitting swimming pool and hotel - that little tidbit in case you thought perhaps I didn't know - The Betsy; The Shelter; The Funhouse; One's; The Nickel Bar; The New Nickel Bar which was Midtown 43; The Loft; Sanctuary; Tunnel; then moved to So. Beach: Club Nu; Warsaw; Uncle Charlie's...etc etc ad nauseam...evidently ur a troll who is still discontented that you were NOT able to stay up or stay out late enough to dance and dejay for 6 nights per week. - except Mondays because there were no clubs open with any good music to dance to!!! OH? And I forgot those years in Washington DC AT TRAXX, The Clubhouse; Delta Elite...need I say more. Still dancing!
I hv no intention to tarnish yr memories of the P.G., but so much great music was coming out back then, that it cud hv been anyone in the DJ booth. It just so happened that L.Levan was lucky enough to be at the right place, at the right time. I am 100% that he had excellent taste in choosing his grooves. All the artists that recorded such classic cuts, shud be exalted, rather than the DJ I absolutely hv nothing against L.Levan. And i am very happy that all of you had a great time!!! But i really think that euphoria that still resonates in yr mind, is thanks to all the great artists that recorded fabulous records back then!!!
You're missing a HUGE point . It was the SOUND SYSTEM of RICHARD LONG and ASSOCIATES that also made the Garage the incredible place that it was . NO OTHER SOUND SYSTEM in New York COULD COME CLOSE ...... even a mediocre record would sound INSANE on that system , bar none
At a house party in Cleveland, Ohio and Stan was DJ'n and played this....at the moments she goes oh no oh no...the acid I dropped had just hit....I will forever go back to that moment anytime this is played.....1981...clean now since 95....
Please don't apologize for partying and doing drugs! That's what we did back then! We were young and beautiful and it was a big part of the club scene! I'm guilty of it. But I had a ball and have no regrets!
@@vaughnmurray7664 Oh I moved to NYC and did more acid at the Paradise Garage...yes we had some good times. I feel fortunate to have lived through that era and partied in the best club in history.
Can I just say, I was listening to Larry Lavan, Old School mixes. I heard this tune and almost lost it! OMG, Frankie Knuckles rocked this at the Warehouse in Chicago - 1981..... This tune still rocks!
Bro, how long did go to Better Days? I didn't know of NY nightclubs until the late late 80's, but by the time i started branching out it was closed. My question is (if you know) What other DJ's played there beside Tee Scott? and how did the Better Days version of I Was Born This Way come about? Thx.
hey bro I was going there in the early 80's . I was just a teenager lol. going to clubs and still graduated HS and college with honors. when I was going usually Larry Patterson , Kenny Carpenter or Shep Pettibone were alternating weekends other Dj's were Bert, ,Bruce Forest, Francois Kevorkian,. Born this was just a black "gay" anthem. The song was originally released in 1975 by Valentino. Chris Spencer and Bunny Jones are the writers. They rewrote the song released in 1977 with Carl Bean as vocalist. The song was to deal with the growing plight of the gay community during that time. When WBLS first played it Better Days had already claimed it as a club anthem. Hope this helps. Actually Garage NYC was my ultimate club of choice. Then Catacombs in Philly. There are quite a few Garage mixes with Larry Levan on youtube.
@@danielclyburn7572 Hi guys. I'm Bruce. I started at Better Days in 1980 when Tee had a fight with management. I had no idea what I was doing, but I'm a fast study and by a year, we had opened more space in the back, added four RLA Berthas, bigger mid cabinets, new finned JBL highs, kept the Rosner tweeters, and another rack of amps in the coatroom. The sound system by then was insane. We stayed open later (Till 6AM, 8AM on holiday Sundays)and from 1980 till 1984 I did five nights a week. I gave up Thursdays when my studio load got big, JonJon Hernandez, Dave Morales, Kenny Carpenter and Francois K played those nights for me. After Tee left, Larry Patterson never played there again (thought he and Tee (rip) were great friends.) Bert Lockett never played after 1980. I started bringing studio gear into the club in 1982, and by 1984 had a studio in the booth. Dave Cole would often come and jam along with me. I started using him in the studio, he started a relationship with Rob Clivilles (a Better Days Thursday DJ) and they formed C&C Music Factory. Better Days was the most fun I've ever had in my life. Thanks so much for being a part of it.
@@skfj67 Actually the Better Days mix happened because the original was popular, and Eddie O'Laughlin at Next Plateau asked if he should re-release it. Sure, I said. He then called me to his office to sort out all the tapes and pick the right mixes. I did so and at the bottom of the box was......the multitrack. I asked Eddie "Hey, you mind if I borrow this? I'll just make a mix for myself." I called Shep and got us free time at Arther Baker's Shakedown Studios. It was a Thursday so Kenny was playing. In four hours, Shep and I, on a manual desk put together what we thought was just a rough, ran off a copy and headed to Better Days. Played it, (the one with the a capella intro) and the place went volcanic. We never could create a mix with more energy (and no verses. Hah!) So the secret of the Better Days mix was no pressure, because it was just for us, and because we built it for the Better Days children. And yet it still works. How bout that, hm? Thanks for your kind words. //bruce
@@DroopusTunes Thanks for giving us children a safe place to sweat and be who we wanted to be. Like most during that time i was struggling with self identity. But it was in the music where i sought and found myself. We need a "Better Days" in these times more than ever. I dont need to tell you that the movement and revolution you guys created will be forever a part of music history in the house music and underground club scene. I personally remember your nights of mixing and hollering to you "You better work dammit". I would give anything for 1 or 2 or 3 lol nights of that feeling i usta have from being in the midst of great music and people. I thank you for allowing me to have those "Better Days".
Those of is who preferred the Catacombs who sound system was designed by the same people who designed Paradise Garage sound system, disagree! Catacombs a smaller venue yes, but without most of the crazy of The Paradise Garage! 👌
When this hit the turntable ? Feet hit that Dance Floor ! It was Charrrrgge! An Larry Burnt our Asses Up ! The lights went Wild !!! " There's no place like HOME CHILDREN🙏 🌈🎼 ! 84🏝️ KING STREET 🏝️PARADISE GARAGE 🎶🏝️🎉🎊🥳💖🙏
I would not be surprised if we might have ran out together, either from the rooftop,, crystal room, movie room, fruit bar, or the coat room entrance way, you ran when you heard this. RIP Larry Levan 🎶🎵💃🏿🕺🏾
I was hitting the clubs in Philly, DC & NY BIG TIME twirling to this cut! If you can remember baby powder on the dance floor, you are a "true" house-head! This is real "house music, not that Electronic shit...
michael morgan Absolutely!! David Todd on Fridays and Donald Stone on Saturday!! The best dance club South of Newark, NJ/NYC...if you had a membership card to either you could get discounts at the other two...great nights spent in all of those clubs, especially the Garage and Catacombs!! You're also correct in regards to this genre being called "House Music"...this was underground NYC, NJ, Philly and DC for years!!!
The Swan Club, philly The very first club ish I heard at Ms. Marvin's house party at a wee age of 15! Fell in luv wit it then and still in love! Broad and Olney was not ready for the clubs let out at 2am!!!
This man rocked the Paradise Garage 2 sometimes 3 nights a week for 12 or more hours per night. He did this for years plus remixing the dopest jams of the era. Did he hit out of the park every night no. But he took you on a musical journey that were memorable. You can see it by the post of the people on RU-vid. Today’s DJs and some of the hating old timers think they’re better or on the same level as Larry Levan and a few others. Honestly they’re not even in the same planet. Just saying
Oh Hell Yeah! You can hear the kids coming from the Roof to Dance Floor. Never gave thoughts to these Super Discoteques closing ?. I want to go Home!. 😢🎼😎
A GOD SEND A GOD SEND ANTHEM OF LIFE, WAS THERE WHEN NICK MARTINELLI BROKE THIS AT GARAGE ON FRIDAY NIGHT,(STRAIGHT NIGHT ),LOUIE VEGA LIKE JOE CLAUDELL WAS LARRY'S BACKUP VEGA WAS NICKY'S. ,HAD FUN WITH ABRAMS&LARRY PATTERSON THAT WEEK ESPECIALLY AT PALADIUM ON WEDNESDAYS
