Larry Levan (July 21, 1954 - November 8. 1992)
(DJ & Remixer) Born Lawrence Philpot. Resident DJ at Paradise Garage in New York and remixer of many Salsoul (Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made Up) and West End (Taana Gardner - Heartbeat) classics. Passed away from cardio endicarditis.


one of the Greatest dj's ever to inspire my life inthe field of disco and dance music.

Yeah, he was great. I have a few of his mixes, and I love, love, LOVE his mix of Loose Joint's Is It All Over My Face?.

RipHer2Shreds said:

that mix is pure Paradise Garage Heaven

Did he mix First Choice's The Player?

RipHer2Shreds said:

wow on Philly groove?..No that might've been Tom Moulton

I'm not sure where the mix came from. I don't have it on vinyl, just a mixed tape. Regardless, it's an excellent track.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Tom Moulton mixed that gorgeous early philly style groove.that and along with Smarty Pants by First Choice

What about his mixes/edits of

Taana Gardner "Heartbeat"
Central Line "Walking Into Sunshine"
Gwen Guthrie "Ain't Nothin' Goin On But The Rent"
Cookie Monster "C Is For Cookie" !

CinisterCee said:

oh my stars..why did you have to remind me of that song?

sosgemini said:

This was Larry Levan's FIRST mix!!

Larry Levan is still the Master of The Eternal Dance, the party where the music never, ever stops!!

As a member of The Paradise Garage, I take great pride in stating that Larry Levan lives!!

As I was telling Finess in another thread, as I was searching the web reading about disco, many of the sites have links to the greatest DJs. Being a lover of a good mix, I clicked on several of the links. Larry Levan's name is listed in every one of them as one of the greatest DJs ever.

Being from the South, I had never heard of these DJs but the name Larry Levan sounded very familiar to me. As I read on, I saw he was responsible for Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat" and Instant Funk's "I Got My Mind Made Up". This is where I had seen his name before and these are definately two jams that I love. I've also seen his name mentioned in the thanks section on several artists' albums as being an inspiration. I vaguely remember coming across his name in some magazine articles back in the day.

Since speaking with Finess, I've been searching the net and reading more about Larry Levan. I've been reading about some of his techniques, styles, and set lists. I read on one of the sites that he turned down a job offer from Steve from "Studio 54" and told him "Studio 54 ain't ready for me yet". That was definately impressive.

Being a lover of a good mix, I've definately been enjoying discovering Larry Levan and the others on the list that Finess told me about. Thanks Finess!

vainandy said:

thank you for the kind words vainlady verynice of you. theresso many other dj's that have contributed to our field who have opened doors and are now legends

Farley ( jackmaster) Funk
John Robinson
Johnathan Fearing
Bobby Guttadaro
Tony Moran and Albert Cabrerra ( Latin Rascals)

Gee I love this thread.

I was familiar with Larry's work but I recently got more into it while out trying to learn the roots of Chicago House music and reading up on Farley and Frankie Knuckles. I learned a great deal about this awesome man. God rest his soul. Love live Paradise Garage.

Finess,did you ever hang out at the Paradise Garage?

DavidEye said:

been there 5 or 6 times, i was a "Funhouse" child