Roots Archives Forum

Hi all...

I may ask something answered before... but it could be certainly nice for many of us to know that...

From where come the expression *discomix*... for 12"?

Especially the term "disco" in it, has it any link with disco music? I first supposed that, as the time they appear is similar to the glory period of disco.

I also thought that it was used only for reggae and had a link with the common drums pattern of rockers with disco... But...
Ive just got today a 12" cover for a ROCK single with the inscription *12 DISCO* on it... so it seems widely used..

Thanks in advance

litelet

i think disco music in the 70s was the first genre to issue the 12" inch single, using an extended version, hence the word 'disco mix'

Chek dis Litelet:

http://www.bloodandfire.co.uk/db/viewtopic.php?t=25412


BLESS

don't know but i have seen it on soul records before, my guess is that it is an american term originally

interesting stuff here :
http://www.jahsonic.com/TwelveInch.html

*1975 [...]
So "disco version" or "disco mix" means primarily that the record is longer than the version released for radio play, though it may also mean that the cut is specifically mixed for a "hotter," brighter sound. Disco DJs are much more concerned with the technical quality of the records they play than their radio counterparts, rejecting otherwise danceable singles because of the deadness of their mix or their loss of distinction at high volumes.*

Yes, this all makes sense. US producer Tom Moulton is most often credited with 'inventing' the 12" single around 1975, and their prime use initially was in discos where clubbers were more likely to want to hear a tune extended than radio listeners.

Even in rock and pop the 12" Disco version was often mixed slightly differently from the album cut, long before the current fad for remixing hits ad nauseum. I have some old examples of an alternative Disco version or "Special Disco Mix" by Eurythmics, Ian Dury, Smiths etc. that are not necessarily extended even, but have boosted bass or brighter treble or something very different about them.

As for the word's use in JA, I guess it was easier to stick with it than to introduce SoundSystemMix into the language!

VC

Yeah, certainly... thanks all, so it definetly has a link with disco music...

Funny that Lee Perry released his *DISCO DEVIL* on Discomix!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-inch_single

That pretty much explains it.

I love the format, it is the king of vinyl. Best sound, best versions and therefore best for playing int he session.

"DISCOMIX" (for me anyways) has become a way to describe a tune mixed with an alternate mix of the same track following... i much prefer a DJ cut to be mixed on to the end - and when i make "discomix" mixes (say THAT 10 times fast!), they tend to be just that - a standard version mixed together with a corresponding DJ cut... (currently being played is "children of jah / time to unite" by chantells / u-brown, for example)
that's my 2 cents...
level vibes to all!

I much prefer the vocal followed by the Dub myself
Night Nurse being a classic example


Dub On!