On April 23rd 2023, DJ Marcia Carr was joined on the "Boat Pod" by her Friend, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy, for a nice Chin-wag. I was curious to discover more... If you want to get very Balearic, this post just might be what you need! There are places you have to visit before you leave this planet. Situated in Little Venice (Paddington, West London), the mighty "Boat Pod" is one of these. A unique state-of-the-art DJ and Podcast floating studio, the "Boat Pod" (both the concept and its gorgeous mid-century design) was proudly "Female Founded" in 2020 by DJ/Presenter Sophie Callis. Immersed in broadcast and underground club culture for over two decades, Sophie had experienced first-hand the importance of bringing community and creativity together when the pandemic struck, giving her enough time to rebuild a much-loved space once her home to the community and beyond. I asked the great DJ Marcia Carr some questions about her friendship with Colleen and her experience on the boat, and she very kindly answered! Thank you so much, Marcia, for taking the time to do that! Dear Marcia, thank you so much for answering these questions following the show you shared with Colleen on the Boat Pod last Sunday! We got to hear in the first hour your selections and the way you mix too :-) How did you start DJing? Was it a vocation? Thank you, Artur, for the flattering comments about my show. I am glad you enjoyed the presentation. How I started DJ'ing has been a journey that has evolved from playing music on a cassette player and a gram at the odd family function/gathering or using the family home stereo unit. However, it was really at college and University that things "took off" when I decided to take the DJ'ing a lot more seriously. I was inspired by seeing the guys around at house parties, my friends, my brothers, my cousins, and also my clubbing experience. I always found record shops quite fascinating and loved staying there for many hours too. By then, I had begun to push myself to go much deeper into things like record hunting, listening more intently to what I would hear on pirate radio. Also, every now and then, I'd be keeping a mental note of what I would hear DJs play from inside the booth – it has been chiefly a vocation, a passionate pastime all these years. When you work on a radio show, do you have an idea of « feelings » or « emotions » you want to convey or are you more « musically » oriented? Regarding the production side of things, all is handled by me. I agree with you when you ask if "feelings" or "emotions" are connected with what I want to convey during the broadcast; I'd say it is true. The mood I am in on the day would interplay with the way the content is presented. When I don’t have a guest on the show, I have more time to share my tastes, fitting in a lot of what I describe as "mood music" (time permitting). There is always a message to share, something of relevance which I believe will connect with my audience. When I have a guest on ¡Take the Con! Featured on the Spotlight, it will likely be a producer and/or a DJ who wears many hats. Whoever the multitasker is, what they do probably crosses the path of what I do now within the music industry. I have worked in numerous fields, always music related. Hence me knowing a lot of people. It was a pleasure hearing you talk with Colleen during the show; you both seem so close! How did you meet? How has Colleen impacted you both on a personal and professional level? That is where Colleen comes in. Having met her as DJ Cosmo in the 1990s, she says it was at a record shop (Release The Groove) I had been working at, but I cannot recollect where we met actually. What I do recall is that we were both at one of the DJ gigs I played at with a mutual friend Nikki Lucas – another outstanding DJ, by the way. Over the years I have attended some events that Colleen has hosted, I have also previously interviewed her in a different space prior to joining The Boat pod, and I DJ’ed for her at her Classic Albums By Women book launch. Our rapport has always been communicative; even though it's not daily, catching up always feels good. Her approach to her projects, her "babies" – as I like to call these things that we undertake to be attentive over – are certainly great motivators to anyone who is interested beyond just listening to music 24/7. As entrepreneurs, male or female, we can always be inspiring to those individuals who are entering the industry, or even if you are already an established insider, Colleen's efforts, consistency and determination are things that would spark one's interest – if nothing else, her ethics of navigating the many hats she wears, while being a full-time mother are to be applauded – yet we mothers take these things in our stride. We just get on with things and do them, mostly for the love of it. Music has helped many people during the pandemic, and these trying times brought a lot of people together; what does music represent to you in the times we live in? In the times that we are living, music represents or should be about, reflection on oneself. Who can we help along the way without having a selfish motivation? Yet, following the global lockdown, there are so many songwriters and artists who could be making bold statements, sending out a kind of war cry, if you will, that could provoke every man's consciousness to be a better version of himself. On many occasions, I have wondered where the Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, the Doug & Jean Carne, the Bob Marley's of today are. Those types of artists apparently don't sell records, but I am constantly searching out and like to dig deep for quality music. Last but not least, you have the chance to work on this beautiful boat. Can you tell us more about the audio setup and about the « Boat pod » adventure? When Sophie (Callis), the captain and the owner of The Boat Pod, approached me about hosting a show, it was merely a matter of getting the time to produce a regular program. The show would have to be of a certain standard, and could not sound like it had just been thrown together without any care. !Take the Con! is always broadcast live, which means everything, including the occasional faux pas, happens in real-time; there is no time to re-record or do second takes. The live-streamed output takes place at the boat’s core: an open plan DJ booth set up which is similar to any decent night club or venue DJ set up, or a bit like what someone might have at home, along with the extra hardware which is essential to assist the full functionality for broadcasting radio, for all the presenters to take full advantage of. With over thirty years of radio experience, the environment is one that is very familiar to me. The only thing subject to change with every episode is the script, and that is the fascinating bit about the Boat Pod "adventure" It is never a predictable ride, only a memorable and unique one, just as being on the vessel is an experience – once you've seen and heard about it, it's "all aboard" as they say for another ride! Thank you so much, dear Marcia! Artur Listen back to the "Boat Pod" show with Marcia & Colleen : PLAYLIST Maceo Woods & The Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir - Jesus can work it out Carmen Lundy - Don't you know how I feel (feat. Randy Brecker) Afterlife - One fine day Melonyx - At the door Verna Francis - Sunshine Azymuth - Fênix (Ron Trent Remix) FSQ - 11am (Cosmodelica Remix) Running Loving Something - I love the Feeling Louie Vega - Rebel Nation (Extended version) Dav Risen - Lift Him Up ----- Colleen's Interview ----- Hard Feelings - Love Scenes (Cosmodelica Remix) Lady Blackbird - Lost and looking (Cosmodelica Remix) A bossa Eletrica - Veja O Sol (Spiritual South Remix) Secret Night Gang - Captured (Cosmodelica Remix)

On January 6th 2023, the Balearic Breakfast Blog was put online. The main goal of this blog is to share information about Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy's show, streamed on Mixcloud and Twitch TV every Tuesday. Reproducing the design of the now well-known vinyl compilation issued on Heavenly Recordings (June 10th 2022), the blog was created by Artur Michalski, a French Balearic Breakfast Family member, in December 2022. As stated in the "Personal Note", this blog isn't an official website but aims, nonetheless, to raise the public's attention to a radio show that brings together Music Lovers alike from all rounds of the globe under the loving musical care of the well-renowned DJ, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy. Starting amid the 2019 global pandemic, 'Balearic Breakfast' became a Musical Home for many listeners searching for ways to escape a then very harsh world, fueled by uncertainties, sad news and restrictions. With a resolute mind and willing to help people to get together in these trying times, Colleen started to stream her Cosmodelica shows live from her record room and directly engaged with her listeners on her socials. She was then asked by Gilles Peterson (DJ, radio host and founder of WorldwideFM) to fill in for him during the summer of 2020. These summer staycation shows became the reputed 'Balearic Breakfast' series as summer ended. What made 'Balearic Breakfast' so crucial to so many of its listeners was the possibility Colleen offered them to share their love for Music through a request show like no other. Is there something greater than sharing the Music you love with your favourite DJ and then engaging in a musical conversation? We here, at the 'Balearic Breakfast Blog' don't think so. What also made 'Balearic Breakfast' so important for all of us, including Colleen, is the catharsis it has been when times were getting rough or troubled. Colleen always found the right words to cheer her listeners up, and we, in return, always tried to share the Music she would be happy to discover and play. 'Balearic Breakfast' allowed Colleen's Musical soul to come to the forefront by letting her create shows with specific musical worlds, including wonderful short mixes, special editions dedicated to artists of the Balearic musical scene, but also longer streams dedicated to both cultural and natural events like "International Women's Day", "Black History Month", "June solstice" etc., not to mention the tribute stand the show becomes when a fellow Balearic DJ or artist passes on to another realm... The colourful palette offered by Colleen, the Community she created, and the Spirit she wanted to share with her listeners made the creation of this blog an absolute Necessity. Upon the day of its release, and in the months following it, reactions were dithyrambic. Balearic Breakfast members were more than happy to see such a place come to life : Wow Artur, I think this is amazing. I feel a very strong connection with Colleen, the show and its music. I feel lost if I don't listen to the show live on a Tuesday, for those few hours I feel part of something, a togetherness that's warm, comforting and also exciting all at the same time. The familiar names she mentions when she so eloquently describes each request & tune gives me joy. It's my weekly fix with guaranteed happiness in this hard & difficult world. Hats off to you for making the blog happen. You are special Artur - big love from me x (Grecamac) Thank you for doing this... Such a Beautiful & lasting testimony to this show, which has meant so much to so many. To the Balearic Family, Peace, Blessings & More. To Colleen, "Keep on Keeping on" & Thank you (Trevorlevene) Artur, I have read your blog, at least the lasts ones of Balearic Breakfast and I must say I have tears in my eyes. Tears of joy, emotion and happiness for the things you say and the way you share your thoughts. Currently my life is a bit of a chaos and the discovery of this program (as a music lover) with the chat, is indeed an important highlight in my week. I just want to say thank you for being so kind and generous with me, I’d like to write so much better in English to express myself, it’s kind of difficult. It’s a pity that I have started to follow the show in February 2022. But now I’m here to stay... (Ana Maria) With all of this being said, "Balearic Breakfast - The Blog" now invites you to a full Musical Journey with the Balearic Breakfast Family and our beloved Captain, the only and much loved and respected one: Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy... Sail on, Sailor!

Released in March 1989, "Yellow Moon" is an album and a song by the Neville Brothers. If the album was very well received both by the critics and the public, the song is considered to this very day to be the best example of what the Neville Brothers were all about: Musicianship. I really don't know what's happening to me right now. I feel like I'm a "crybaby". Tears seem to roll anytime for no reason at all. Anyway, let me take my handkerchief close to me; I'll need it in a few minutes (laughs)! "Yellow Moon" has got to be, no, sorry... "Yellow Moon" is my absolute favourite "Balearic Breakfast" track. If I remember correctly, it was requested somewhere in the second half of 2022, and I immediately fell in love with it (thank you to whoever requested it, I will find your name brother and will post it here!). I loved everything about it: the lyrics, the rhythm, the groove and, of course, last but not least, the musicianship the Neville Brothers always provided when they played the track live. It has everything I love in Music; it allows the listener to sway, to drift away, it brings a lot of emotions in a nice time frame, and it does not impose itself on the listener; it's a never-ending present. Let's listen to the album version to get into the mood! Yellow moon, yellow moon, why you keep peeping in my window? Do you know something I don't know? Did you see my baby walking down the railroad tracks? You can tell me if the girls ever coming back. Is she hid out with another or is she trying to get back home? Is she wrapped up in some other's arms? Or is the girl somewhere all alone? Can you see if she is missing me, or is she having a real good time? Has she forgotten all about, or is the girl still mine all mine? With your eye so big a shiney You can see the whole damn land Yellow moon can you tell me If the girl's with another man? Oh yellow moon, have you seen that creole woman You can tell me, Now ain't you a friend of mine. When Colleen played the track, she chose a live rendition of it. This is also one of the Things about "Balearic Breakfast" that make it so unique: we got to hear tracks both in the way they were recorded and also the way they were performed live, depending on the vibe Colleen wants to convey. It's so nice because a track like "Yellow Moon" shows its potential on stage. And believe me, discovering a track like that one in a great live version is Truly Mesmerising. It brings back to my mind what David Mancuso once said about requests being made at the loft : "I would take requests. And I play the requests in the order that they were given to me, because I wanted people to participate. Then what started to happen was someone would ask, “David, could you play?” And I just happened to have it in my hand. I’m ready to push the button. You get to a psychic level. You know what I mean. You can’t explain it. There’s a higher level; a higher power. Not preaching or anything, this is about music." If we take these wise words, and simply think about the song, it seems obvious that "Yellow Moon" takes you on a Musical trip, you get to a psychic level. Yes, you can't explain it. There is a Higher level in that song, a higher power, and this is about Music. I think I've heard a dozen versions of the song being performed live, including one of the very last made by Aaron a few years ago, and each one of these versions had its own story and showed something I've not heard before; this song is an endless sea of Musical possibilities! And I will prove it to you in a few minutes; just let me talk a little about the Neville Brothers. The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana and consisted of Aaron (vocals), Art (vocals, keyboards), Charles (saxophone) and Cyril (percussions). Together, they issued 9 studio albums, played countless times live and had a lot of hits, including Bird on a Wire, Healing Chant, Fly Like an Eagle, Sister Rosa, of course Yellow Moon and many others. Not to mention that you may have recognised that unmistakable voice... Yes, you're right! That's the one of Aaron singing "Tell it like it Is" (1966), which he re-recorded in 2006. Back to "Yellow Moon". The album, produced by Daniel Lanois and recorded in New Orleans in a vacated apartment, allowed the Neville Brothers to break into the Mainstream. “It didn’t quite get to gold (500,000 copies sold), but it got close. The last I heard, it was well over 300,000 and still selling. I think it was a combination of the album, and the publicity that went before it. Over the years, people have been hearing all these other people (like Richards and Ronstadt) talking about us. I think the combinations of all the things that went on in the ‘80s” led to the breakthrough with “Yellow Moon.” said Charles in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 1990. Eventually, the track "Healing Chant" won best pop instrumental performance at the 32nd (1989) Grammy Awards. If the whole album is really beautiful (despite its vintage sonic approach), having a strong Balearic Formula to it (simply listen to songs like My Blood, Fire and Brimstone or even Voodoo) and showcasing heartbreaking tracks like "Will the Circle be Unbroken" (trad.) while being at the same time very adventurous (Sister Rosa); it is really "Yellow Moon" that stands out (both because of the structure of the song but also because of its sonic signature, it is one of the "darkest sounding" song of the lot). As I said, the song has been performed live countless times over the years and became a classic in its own right. Here are some of my favourite live versions of the song (which to me is quite close to a blues really). Take the time to listen to the variations, to the tonality of the song, to the way the instruments interact with each other, to the way they blend together while having slightly different tonalities... You'll understand why I cry from happiness whenever I hear the song!

Just after Andrew passed and we went into lockdown a number of people looked back into their tape collections and found artifacts that Andrew had made for them over the years... Sorting through some archive links and realised this hadn't ever been put onto the stream, only stored on the weatherdrive. Just after Andrew passed and we went into lockdown a number of people looked back into their tape collections and found artifacts that Andrew had made for them over the years. Claire Doll's tape from 1986 was one of the first and she generously shared the sleeve image and (hand written) tracklist and although the tape was lost we recreated it for the Flightpath Estate. Over the next few years Claire subsequently went on to tirelessly create the stunning Weatherdolls and raise thousands for the charities associated with Andrew. Some great 80s tracks here with artists that don't show up that much through other compilations Andrew made, a fantastic artifact showing some early impeccable taste. Thanks so much for Claire and all the others who continually share their precious items with us. Dear Friend, I hope everything is fine and that life treats you well... I needed to write you these few lines. You know, sometimes you need to put things down on a sheet of paper. This is precisely what I felt when I listened to this mixtape... It moved me, and I needed to share my thoughts with you about it. So bear with me; I'll make it short. Well, at least I'll Try. Isn't it hard. Standing in the rain /Yeah You're on the verge of going crazy and your heart's in pain / No one can hear but you're screaming so loud / You feel like you're all alone in a faceless crowd / Isn't it strange how we all get a little bit weird sometimes. Hanson, weird, 1997 I didn't know Andrew Weatherall before discovering him thanks to Balearic Breakfast. I still don’t know much about Andrew, but this mix somehow drove me closer to him. And I guess it came into my life at the right moment, though it isn’t the “happiest” one. Isn’t it strange to see how life puts things together once in a while... Like everything that happens was meant to be, at least somehow... Last week, I had to wave goodbye to someone I liked a lot, and, just last night, that quote by Tori Amos came back to my mind : I think that there is a place where she realizes that people come in and out of your life, sometimes for one day, sometimes for longer, and all of them make you what you are. You can't separate these people out of you. They form who you are, even the ones that you kind of say, 'Well, you know, I don't know if I wanna be formed by them anymore.' But you are in some way... you are, that's why maybe you don't have to look at them so harshly because they have affected you. At the end, though, you know, it's... us as individuals... with our... hmm... with our love for the land, for something untangible that, when soulmates come and go, you're never alone even when you're standing just you and your shoes, because she carry them with you." [Scarlet Stories] How do you express the gratitude, the love, the feelings you have toward someone that changed you? Some of us are fortunate enough to have love stories, just like Andrew did. But sometimes, you don’t even need that. Sometimes, circumstances, life itself, your own mistakes give you the opportunity to get “closer” to someone, a guy, a girl, anyone, even a stranger. And that encounter, the few moments you spent with that person, changes how you see the world, how you see life, and even how you perceive yourself. Then, when it’s all over, when you’re about to say goodbye to "the one", you feel like you owe that person a lot of things. She changed you, sometimes even through the mistakes she made. You’re linked to each other without being best friends or lovers, but you learned from one another. And That matters a lot... Maybe I’m a fool, but this happened quite often to me in the last 20 years. I’ve met people that brought something into my life. Some were friends, some were lovers, and some others were just colleagues from work. But, each time, I felt I gained something important from them. So I wanted to offer these people something special to show them how much I cared. That gift always took the form of a mixtape. I believe this love for mixtapes came from my childhood when I discovered that my mother’s friends were offering her tapes with music she liked. I was 8/9 years old back then, and I remember listening to these tapes with her, discovering artists like Tina Turner, Adriano Celentano, Alan Parson Project and even Paul Young... I felt it was beautiful to offer someone a tape you recorded, something you spent time on... So, I did the same in my own life. And this is where I feel close to Andrew (and also to other people sharing music through mixtapes). I find it heartwarming to offer someone a part of your soul as a “thank you”, secretly hoping they will cherish it over time... Then, the other aspect that got me in Andrew’s mix is its overall “sadness”. I love sad songs, romantic songs, songs of broken promises. To me, these songs are the ones that illustrate the best the “humanity” we all carry inside of us, that very one we try to hide, even to close friends. In this regard, Andrew’s mixtape nails it. The songs he chose here are perfect in the message they carry and in the vast musicalness they offer. Lastly, this beautiful mixtape has a Soul of its own. I’ve listened to it five times in a row. It refuses to leave my mind; there’s a unity in here, a musical and a spiritual one. The purity of it all is so genuine, so open, without anything to restrain it. Every song is an open window to a sad but calm sea, where regrets are carried inside one’s soul without the need to impose sadness on the one the mix is being offered to. This is a “statement” mix, not something that imposes itself on the listener. And that kindness of soul is undoubtedly what makes this mixtape so unique; it has that absolute Balearic spirit, the one of a tired sun accepting its destiny and slowly disappearing in the depth of the blue sea, thus perfectly embodying a sentence I once wrote: « I keep my sadness alive so my joy won’t die »… I made a copy of Andrew's mixtape for you... Please, have a listen ! (you know how to do that, right ?) So, should you meet someone special one day, don't think twice, write them a musical letter… You don’t need to create a whole mix like I do using an audio editor and lots of effects, you don’t need to spend months preparing this. Instead, get a tape recorder and record whatever songs you need to share with the person you feel for. Let your soul speak... Chances are that your tape will stay close to the heart of the person you will give it to… and Andrew won’t be far away either… So share your love, and, as Colleen says: "Remember... just be Balearic…." Your Friend, The Lioncub... PLAYLIST Everything but the girl – Come on home Five young cannibals – Funny how love is The New world Orchestra – Where the heart is Buddy Holly & The Crickets – Send me some lovin' The Bible! – King Chicago Madness – Yesterday's men Patsy Cline – She's got you Isley Jasper Isley – Caravan of Love Mary Coughlan – Double Cross Elvis Costello – Indoor Fireworks Tom Waits – Martha Everything but the girl – Careless Was (not was) – Where did your heart go ? The Human League – Human Prince & The Revolution – Under the Cherry Moon Mary Coughlan – Nobody's Business Paul Young – Everytime you go away Paul Brady – Deep in your heart The Pale Fountains – Beyond Fridays Field Mary Coughlan – The Beach Prince & The Revolution – Sometimes it snows in April

I thought the music could bring the holiday to us in our own homes. People loved it and got involved (... ed.) but as autumn approached I had to change the name. I asked my listeners for suggestions and my friend Lee said ‘Balearic Breakfast’. I liked the sound, the feeling, and also the fact that in my mind, Balearic music is all-encompassing, and can mean so many things, and embrace so many different genres. It had a sense of freedom and at that time, that’s what we all wanted. Colleen A love of music has seen Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy involved in radio for her whole adult life, longer even. From high school to the present day, Colleen has produced content for local, national, and globally syndicated stations. Slots on the radio in New York, led to club bookings, and Colleen as a consequence developed a second “career” as a busy, in-demand, dance-floor DJ. Working at legendary record store, Dance Tracks, in Manhattan’s East Village, alongside Joe Claussell, and mentored by David Mancuso, Colleen has spun at a crazy array of highly regarded, hallowed, spots, from Body & Soul to The Loft. In 2003, together with David, Colleen also brought The Loft`s magic to London, under the banner, Lucky Cloud. Then in 2010, Colleen’s audiophile adventures extended into her hugely successful Classic Album Sunday events. Somehow, amongst all of this, Colleen has found the time to run her own label, Bitches Brew, collaborate in the studio with Captain Beefheart`s Gary Lucas, and remix acts such as Cantoma, and the lovely Lady Blackbird. Colleen currently hosts three high profile shows for Worldwide FM. The first, detailed, in-depth documentaries, that further develop the CAS concept / idea, while the second, Cosmodelica, is a long-running monthly psychedelic mix of music of all genres. A third, relatively new venture, The Balearic Breakfast, is a similarly eclectic – if a little more “summery” – weekly way for folks to start their day. The latter has just resulted in a compilation album, of the same name, released on Heavenly Recordings. Cosmo`s selections moving between modern motorik, and fusion from Mallorca, to mellow moments from Copenhagen and London – while stirring in some quality house. Colleen will play Campo Sancho at the end of July (2021 ed.), and this festival appearance, along with the album hitting shops, gave me the chance to ask her a few questions. Colleen, I know that you’ve done hundreds of really great interviews, all covering similar ground, so I hope that these questions aren’t going to be too boring, I’ve tried to work in a few new ones… Rob, I just wanted to say that I love the Oto No Wa comp, that you did with Max and Ken, and have enjoyed listening to some of your shows /mixes over lockdown. Wow! Thank you!! While I’m still blushing, let`s start with the really basic stuff, where are you from, and where are you currently based? I come from small town in Massachusetts, and currently live in London. Where does the nickname “Cosmo” come from? When I was 16. I hosted a radio show called Punk, Funk & Junk on our 10-watt high school radio station, WHHB. My friend Mary and I played early hip hop, electro, funk, new wave, punk and well, junk (laughs). We wanted to come up with our own names and Mary called herself ‘Remix’ – I kid you not – and I lifted ‘Cosmo’ from ‘Cozmo D’ of Newcleus, whose first album came out that year. When did you first fall in love with music? My earliest and most distinct musical memory was at the age of six, sitting alone in my uncle John’s room, who was a very a cool teenager at the time. I had the ultra-violet lights on, which made his posters glow in the dark, and I just sat and listened to his transistor radio. At the time I still thought there were little people in there singing. Then I heard the very psychedelic opening bassline of David Essex’ Rock On, and it made a huge impression. I felt like I had travelled to another space and time. Music still makes me feel that way. Can you remember the first record that you bought, with your own money? The first album that I remember buying with my own money was the Sex Pistols` Never Mind The Bollocks. Prior to that I was buying Donny & Marie records with money that had been gifted to me, so it was quite a jump. The first album that was given to me was Elton John’s Greatest Hits – it was given to me by my teenage aunt Theresa on my 8th birthday. Somebody also gave me the accompanying piano book which I still have. Do you come from a musical family? Yes and no. My father had a great voice, and always wanted to play an instrument, but never had the opportunity to take any lessons, so it was he who encouraged me to play organ and piano. On my maternal side, my grandfather was an organ player and singer, who for a time played a big role in the American Union of Swedish Swingers. My aunts and uncles had a big influence on me, as we all lived in the same town, and they were young and had record collections. You mention organ and piano. Did you have any formal musical training yourself? Can you play any other instruments? I sang first soprano as an adolescent, and played organ / piano / keyboards. I stopped taking lessons at around 15, as I had started hosting radio shows and got the record collecting bug. It was all downhill from there! But all of that training was helpful, as I have sung backing vocals and have played keyboards on some of my productions. It`s also enabled me to speak with musicians in their language. For me personally, growing up, radio was such a powerful medium – I had no money for records – and radio and music provided such a brilliant escape. Living in South London, in my teens, we were surrounded by pirate stations. Was radio important to you growing up? What stations and what kind of music were you listening to? Radio was the most important musical influence in my life. When I was growing up, if you wanted to hear a song, you either had to own it, or wait for it to come on the radio. Boston had great radio, and I don’t know what would have happened in my life had I lived somewhere else. The reason they had great radio is that Boston has more colleges and universities than any other city in America – so not only did we have a wide spectrum of college radio stations, but the commercial stations were more progressive too. One of my favourite radio shows was Nocturnal Emissions hosted on Sunday nights by Oedipus on WBCN. I would tape the show and that’s where I first heard artists like Brian Eno. We also had great dance music stations, like KISS 108, and WBRU had a great funk show as well. There was a wide range of music for those willing to turn the dial across the frequencies. You, yourself, have been involved in radio for most of your adult life. When, where and how did this start? I started at the age of 14, on my 10-watt high school radio station WHHB. I had a show during all four years of high school, and in my senior year I played an array of sounds from all over the musical spectrum. Paisley pop was one of my interests and I named my morning show, Strawberry Alarmclock, after the classic `60’s band, and also in honour of Strawberries Records and Tapes – which was my afterschool job. I then went to New York University, which had one of the best college radio stations in the country, WNYU. I worked there from day one, and eventually became their first female Program Director, and hosted many radio shows. That led me to a temporary job in Nagoya, Japan in 1989, when I was a radio host for JOGZ, a radio station set up for the World Design Exposition, and run by the Chubu Broadcasting Corporation. Upon graduation, I hosted, wrote, programmed and engineered interview-based syndicated radio shows that went out to college and commercial stations around the country, and for which I interviewed indie bands like Nirvana, solo artists like Nick Cave, and hip hop acts like Gang Starr – then, once I got into dance music in a deep way, I hosted two shows, Soul School and Club 89, on WNYU. These shows reflected the deeper side of dance music, both contemporary and classic, and garnered a big following. They were also bootlegged and sold on cassette in Japanese record shops which in effect helped people find out about me. So would you call radio “your career”? Radio, and music, are my vocation, and have always been my mainstsay. Looking at everything I do, and have done, from hosting radio shows, DJing, writing about music, interviewing artists, working in record shops, running record labels, running a DJ record pool, founding Classic Album Sundays, and making music, I would say that Musical Curator and Educator, may be the best description of what I do. The one constant in my life is my passion for sharing music. Who took you to your first loft party, and who introduced you to David? My friend, Adam Goldstone. I met him at NYU, and he had taken me to Choice, which was being held in David’s space on East 3rd Street. When David began hosting his own parties again, Adam took me along to the first or second one and I was hooked. I assume that this was a life-changing event. Would you be able to succinctly (smiles) say why? I was heavily into music of all kinds, but hadn’t yet truly explored the more underground sounds of dance music. I was really into the sounds of the psychedelic `60s, and had even hosted a show called, The Plastic Tales from the Marshmellow Dimension – again I kid you not! And yes, I had already been to Grateful Dead shows, and all that entails. So, I had a hippy type of sensibility. When David presented dance music, it was with that same kind of sensibility – it evoked the same feelings of transcendence. On top of that, the atmosphere of David’s home, or h-ohm, was comfortable, beautiful, artistic and not at all pretentious – very homey and I settled right in. The sound system was spectacular – shimmery and dynamic…and finally, the people were welcoming, friendly and could dance their ass off. At what point did you become actively involved in the loft parties? How did this start? Were you blowing up balloons to begin with? (smiles) David never asked me to blow up balloons, in fact it was straight to the turntables, which was astonishing. It was around 1993, and he`d recently come up to guest on my radio show, Soul School. We`d met prior to that, getting to know each another, and discussing musical synchronicity. When he asked me to play some records with him, I was dumbfounded. Decades later I asked him why he trusted me with the music, the equipment and his community of dancers, and he told me, ‘It starts with a vibe long before one gets to the turntable.’ You DJed at the loft, but were you also DJing at other New York clubs and parties? I’m going to correct that by saying I ‘musically hosted’ at The Loft, but yes, I did DJ at many other places – guesting at Body & Soul, Aquabooty, Legends in NYC, Black Box in Newark, at King Britt’s party, Back to Basics, in Philadelphia, and spots around the East Coast and other parts of the country. Had you started traveling and spinning at other places around the world? My first time playing records outside of the States was in Japan, for Precious Hall on Valentine’s Day in 1997…and that’s still one of my favourite places in the world. After that I started playing in Canada, the UK, Italy, France and Iceland, before I moved over to London in 1999. How and when did you get the job at Dance Tracks? Was this post- your first Loft experience? Joe Claussell asked me to work at Dance Tracks. I`d spent a lot of time there when Joe and our friend John Hall worked at the shop, when Stan owned it. John had some of his records stored there, and I used to work for him, sorting out the records, and I was remunerated in records. The whole time I was organising, Joe and John were playing records saying, ‘You`ve got to get this…’. Was working here with Joe Claussell how you became involved in Body & Soul and Spiritual Life? I`d met Francois at Dance Tracks, as he came in to buy records, but I didn’t know him well. I was getting ready to go out to Body & Soul with a friend who was over from the UK, got a call on my landline, and was surprised to find that it was Francois! He said that Joe wasn’t going to make the party in time, as his flight was delayed, and Danny had an injury. Francois told me he`d heard that I had a great disco and dance collection, and asked if I would open up. I couldn’t believe it – I was absolutely floored. It was an honour, and I was asked back several times. Since that time, Francois has become a very important person in my life. How long did you work at Dance Tracks? It was for most of the mid-nineties – maybe from `93, `94 to `97? Probably around four years? I`d already worked in two record shops by the time Joe asked me, so I said that I would be more interested in working for the record label they were starting, Spiritual Life Music. I ended up doing both. Did you move to the UK directly from New York, or did you travel around a bit first? I went from NYC directly to London, but I travelled around a bit before that. As I mentioned earlier, I lived in Japan for a few months in 1989, after graduating NYU I moved to San Francisco for a summer and then spent a couple of months backpacking around Mexico and Guatemala, and in the mid-90s I backpacked around India for a month. What did you do when you first arrived in the UK? Did you have friends here anyway? Did you manage to get DJ gigs – did you have any residencies? Did you immediately find work in radio. I remember you interviewing my friend, Max Essa, some 13, 14, 15 years ago, but I’m sorry I can’t remember which radio station / show it was? Was it hard to get a foothold, and get established, in the UK? Actually, it wasn’t too bad. On a personal level it took a couple of years before I had developed strong friendships and a sense of community. My grandmother was born and raised in Plymouth, England, and was a war bride, so I have family ties here. Professionally it was very good. Francois had recommended me to an Italian booking agency, and one of their agents, Ornella, became my manager – so for the first time, I had somebody else to help me and take care of the business side. Also I was working with Nuphonic, since I was co-producing The Loft compilations with David, so I had a network of lovely people there too…and I couldn’t resist, and did one more stint in a record shop, this time in the Latin section at Mr. Bongo on Poland Street. Soon after I co-founded the record label, Bitches Brew, and started writing, producing and remixing. In terms of radio, I did a lot of guest mixes and hosted a couple Nuphonic shows for XFM, and then started hosting Cosmodelica on the Ministry of Sound radio station which is where I interviewed Max. How did the Lucky Cloud Loft parties start? What was the idea behind them, where were they, and what was your involvement? Would you be able to tell me who else was initially involved? The party came out of the Loft compilations that David and I had co-produced for Nuphonic – as we had a party to celebrate them, with David musically hosting at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane, in 2001. Tim Lawrence was writing his book, Love Saves The Day, and was there, along with his friend, Jeremy Gilbert. They both felt David should come back to do more Loft parties, and Tim mentioned this to David, and he replied he should do it. David insisted on bringing me as a partner, and to assist him with the sound and music, and that’s how we all hooked up. We brought in other friends, some of whom are still part of the team today, and it just grew from there. David was very proud of the London Loft parties and what we all built together. How long did the Lucky Cloud parties run for? It’s still going and this past Sunday we celebrated the 19th anniversary of our London Loft party! Were / are they always in the same venue? We started at The Light in Shoreditch, but finally had to move when the developers won their battle. We then moved to the Rose Lipman Community Centre in Dalston, and have been there ever since. Who was involved in the last party? Is still the same people? We have a lot of the same people from our very first party, along with many new, younger helpers -as we are getting a bit cranky carrying heavy equipment up and down stairs. Plus, we need to teach the next generation about the sound system and the Loft party set up and principles. When David stopped coming to London in 2011, he asked me to step in as musical host, with support from Simon Halpin and Guillaume Chottin, who have been with us since day one, and who also head up the décor and lighting. Our friend, Iain Mackie, was introduced to us by David and still comes down from Glasgow to help with the sound system. There’s a whole team that make this party happen, and it’s a big endeavour, since we set up, then host a 7-hour party with catering, and then break the whole thing down all in one day. But it’s worth it. The community aspect and friendships are the best things about it. Do you still act as a musical host for the Loft in New York? Yes, I do. David was putting together a Loft board, and asked me and some of his other trusted friends, Elyse, Donna and Ernest to be part of it. A couple of years before his passing, he made arrangements to bring me back to New York, and now when I look back at it, I wonder if he knew his time was drawing near. Could you please tell me a little bit more about Classic Album Sundays? Was this your idea? When David helped us put together the sound system for our London Loft parties, two of the Klipschorns came to live at my house. My husband, Adam, and I started getting more into hi-fi, buying second-hand valve amplifiers and upgrading our turntable and cartridge – to a Koetsu (big smile) – and I fell in love with my record collection all over again. Friends would come over for Sunday lunch, and while my husband cooked, I would play albums and one friend, James, said it`s kind of like a Classic Album Sunday. James was also a mutual friend of Greg Wilson, who later started a blog, called Living To Music, in which he nominated an album for people to listen to at home without interruption, and then he would host an online discussion. Greg told me I would love it and encouraged me to participate, and I did the following month when it was Dark Side Of The Moon. My husband and I lit candles and incense, cranked up the volume and fully experienced the album. It was cathartic. Some of the people on the forum were aware that we had a great sound system, and were asking what it sounded like, which gave me the idea to share the experience. My experience as a journalist/interviewer, radio host and selector, came in handy to present the historical and musical context of the album. This gave the listeners a new depth of knowledge, before listening to the album on our audiophile hi-fi – which allowed them to hear new details in the album, and experience it in a new way. Since then, it`s grown from monthly events held in a pub function room, to include events co-hosted with The British Library, Royal Albert Hall and the V&A. But Classic Album Sundays has grown even more as a platform, with editorial, interview videos, playlists and podcasts telling the stories behind our favourite albums. Now that the pandemic has – fingers crossed – passed, while you be holding these events regularly again? We took our events online over the pandemic and have continued to offer an online Album Club to our Patreon members… and yes, we were overjoyed to start in-person events at the end of last year, and have hosted several with the British Library – with guests including lovers rock legend, Carroll Thompson, Louie Vega, Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark and David Bowie / Ziggy Stardust producer Ken Scott. When and where is the next one? We`re working on our autumn schedule at the moment, and one of the key features is Producer Pioneers – an event / podcast / stream series we’re hosting with Audio Technica and Danley Sound Labs, that celebrates producers who also happen to be women. A lot of focus has been placed on female DJs, but only 6% of the UK’s producers are women, so we’re going to celebrate those leading the way. The events will be held at The Colour Factory in London, and we already have Shy One and Emma Jean Thackray lined up as guests. How and when did you first hook up with Worldwide FM? Soon after Gilles started Worldwide FM he asked me to join the radio station and I began with Classic Album Sundays Worldwide in September 2016. He was asking me to do a more DJ / dance music led show, and at first I was resistant, since I was focussing mainly on CAS, but I eventually acquiesced by the end of that year. So now I host a monthly Classic Album Sundays Worldwide – which is a documentary on a featured album, that airs on a Sunday, Cosmodelica, which is a dance-oriented show on the third Friday of each month from 4 to 6pm, and Balearic Breakfast every Tuesday morning from 10am to 12 noon. Could you tell me more about the concept behind The Balearic Breakfast? Is the title simply alteration – like The Loft Lunch – or is it more than that? How would yo define Balearic – believe me I know how difficult this is? When the pandemic struck in March 2020, I was one of the few, or maybe the only other broadcaster aside from Gilles, who could also broadcast live from home, so I started doing more radio, and had a yearning to do request shows – to build relationships and connect a community, and also to rediscover my own record collection, and discover new music. In the summer Gilles asked me to fill in for him on Tuesday mornings, so I started a show called, Summer Staycation, as most of us, myself included, weren’t going anywhere on holiday – I thought the music could bring the holiday to us in our own homes. People loved it and got involved, and Gilles asked me to keep the slot, but as autumn approached I had to change the name. I asked my listeners for suggestions and my friend Lee said ‘Balearic Breakfast’. I liked the sound, the feeling, and also the fact that in my mind, Balearic music is all-encompassing, and can mean so many things, and embrace so many different genres. It had a sense of freedom and at that time, that’s what we all wanted. Were you ever worried that some folks noses might be put out of joint, with you seemingly jumping on a “genre” that they’d devoted themselves too? People can be obsessive about music, right? Absolutely. To be honest, I had no idea the show would take off in the way that it did. I like to joke that I had only heard of Ibiza in Bowie’s Life On Mars, and wouldn’t have been able to point at it on a map when I was younger. Joking aside, I try to pay tribute and include the DJs, artists and record labels who were, and are part of the scene, like Alfredo, DJ Pippi, José Padilla, Cantoma (Phil Mison), A Man Called Adam, Music for Dreams, and more. I’m still trying to get a mix from Danny Rampling and Nancy Noise – I must nudge them on that…and although I probably bend what is traditionally thought of as Balearic, it is done with a similar mindset, since I also played the same types of sounds when I lived in America, hosting radio shows in the `80s, and at The Loft in the `90s, unaware that it was also being championed in Ibiza. I did get the chance to DJ at the Terrace at Space for one of Harvey’s residencies, so that is a nice little Ibizan memory. Have you experienced any “balearic backlash”? (smiles) Not yet, or at least not to my face. Maybe they are just being polite, or just being Balearic (laughs). Do you think that there are any similarities in the eclecticism of The Loft, and that of Balearic / Balearic Beat? Absolutely – the root of both is a sense of expansiveness and transcendence, whether it’s on the chill out / listening or uptempo / dance side of the spectrum. Can you please tell me more about the new Balearic Breakfast compilation? How did you hook up with Heavenly. Are there any interesting stories behind how you discovered any of the tracks included? The founder of Heavenly, Jeff Barrett, got in touch with me toward the beginning of the pandemic, as he was hooked on my Mixcloud, especially a recording of a DJ set that I did in Hong Kong around the time of the independence protests. It was a private party with a lot of young, creative people, and I played mainly `60s / `70s protest / socially conscious psychedelic soul / R&B / rock, and Jeff loved the recording of the set. We thought of doing a compilation around that, but the licensing would have been a nightmare, as major labels had acquired these catalogues. So, we shelved that, and once Balearic Breakfast took on a life of its own, it seemed a natural fit. There are some old favourites of mine like Hazme Sonar, mixes from two legends that recently passed – Phil Asher and Andrew Weatherall – and also some songs that I was turned onto by the Balearic Breakfast family. I’ve really really liked all of your production, and remix, work – including your recent makeover of Lady Blackbird – which I think is the best dance-floor reading of Marley`s considerable talents to date. Do you get to spend a lot of time in the studio? Do you have any projects lined-up? Arigatou gozamasu! Unfortunately, I don’t get to spend a lot of time in the studio but also, I am of the mind that having a good concept before you get into the studio will save a lot of time and will keep it fun and exciting. I only take on a mix if I immediately have a solid idea. At the moment, the Cosmodelica mix of Hard Feelings’ Love Scenes is out, and later this summer should see the release of my mix for FSQ featuring Fonda Rae – more of a Norman Whitfield tribute. Do you ever plan to resurrect your label, Bitches Brew? Nope. Never. The only part that I liked was A&R and the mastering / pressing. I really disliked all of the admin-bits-and-bobs, and have no desire to ever do that again. It’s just not for me. While I’m here I have to ask how did you manage to hook up with Gary Lucas? I was a 19-year-old Captain Beefheart fan, and hosting a radio show called, Unheard, where I played unsigned artists / bands. Gary stopped playing guitar after Beefheart, and started working for CBS Records up at ‘Black Rock’ – that was the name of the building where my friend Hugh and I would visit him. He was getting back in to playing – I later discovered it was at Arthur Russell’s insistence – and he came up to my radio show and did a live set with all of these effect pedals including a looper. I had never heard guitar played like that before and became a fan – supporting his music on radio and going to his shows – and subsequently developing a friendship. His wife is British, so he was in London quite a bit, and we started recording together as Wild Rumpus. Do you have a favourite Beefheart track? I will always love Electricity, from Safe as Milk. It’s a simple `60s sounding song – maybe even a bit naff to be honest – but I always loved playing it on my radio show. I’m a sucker for that kind of sound. I watched The Big Lebowski again recently, and was reminded of how wonderful Her Eyes Are A Million Miles is. Now that is a great song – and a great film. The lyrics are kind of straightforward for him (laughs). I know that you have great, and wildly eclectic, musical taste. Would you be able to give us 3 things that you are currently into, perhaps 3 things that you might play at Campo Sancho, and perhaps explain why you like them? Hmmm, I never know what I’m going to play, but I just did a mix a few hours ago and the opening song was Herb Alpert`s Rise, which is really resonating with me right now. It’s an incredible recording, and so funky, yet wistful. I played it at our London Loft 19th anniversary on Sunday and it sounded gorgeous – it was the song of the night for me, and I’m obsessed with it at the moment. Other songs? Hot Toddy`s Synthesize, because it’s a deep slow burner and builder, and you can’t help dancing to it… and Gaolé Mizik`s A Ka Titine – my friend Kay Suzuki’s remix – because every time I play it, people ask what it is and it doesn’t sound like anything else! I won’t be playing this at Campo Sancho but I’m also obsessed with Labi Siffre’s album, Crying Laughing Loving Lying. Have you played at Campo Sancho before? No, I haven`t, and I’m very much looking forward to it, as I have heard great things. Other than Campo Sancho, do you currently have any other gigs, festivals lined-up? We Out Here, Lost Village, All Points East, Secret Sundaze, Suncebeat, Standon Calling and Bristol Disco Festival are all coming up, too. It feels good to be back. Find the interview with all of the videos here : Interview / Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy / Worldwide FM / Classic Album Sundays – Ban Ban Ton Ton

"If you don’t have the idea and a kernel of inspiration, you end up fighting with it and that never works. Indecision can be the downfall of a production; you have to know when to walk away which is very difficult to do. Colleen, STW interview, 18/03/2021 Deeper listening remains at the axis of DJ, radio host and producer Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy‘s musical pursuits. Learning her craft under the mentorship of Loft Party founder David Mancuso, Colleen went on to apply this to her London-based Lucky Cloud parties, launched in 2003, which prioritise community and, of course, listening — particularly to songs in their entirety. This idea extends to her weekly Worldwide FM shows, as well as her work with Classic Album Sundays. Started in 2010, these listening events provide a space to listen to and appreciate albums in full — something that can go amiss in a digital climate where we have everything at our fingertips and people’s attention spans are rapidly dwindling. With a record room and audiophile set up that would make anyone green with envy, Colleen guides us through the gear that she’s accumulated over the years and charts the history of her long-standing love affair with sound. Colleen will be hosting the next virtual edition of her Cosmodelica House Party live on her Mixcloud this Saturday 20th March (2021). What’s your musical education? As a child, I played organ and then piano and also sang as a first soprano. I was able to sight read music very well, but once I got into records and started hosting my first radio show at the age of 14, I realised that was my path. Having a musical education has given me enough chops to write and play some of the parts on my own remixes and productions and has given me the language to communicate with proper musicians. What was your first ever set-up when you started DJing? I first started DJing on the radio and had to learn to mix on a radio board which is very different than using a proper DJ mixer because you weren’t able to hear the song you were mixing in when you brought it in from cue to program. It was the school of hard knocks as I had to keep the record ‘in the mix’ but only using the studio speaker monitors – and all this whilst practicing live on air! Eventually I was able to practice at home after I scraped up enough cash to buy two technics 1200s from the electronics shop right below my apartment in New York City’s Chinatown. In fact, I still have those very same turntables today – they are workhorses! At that time, I was working at the record shop Dance Tracks and somebody brought in a Bozak CMA 10-2DL and Joe Claussell suggested I buy it. Thankfully I did and it’s the only DJ mixer I have ever owned. What was the first serious piece of kit you bought? A Teac A-3340 4-trackreel to reel in the early 90s when I was hosting and producing syndicated radio shows. I did all of my editing on ¼-inch tape. Now that’s old school. Thanks for taking some photos around your studio. Could you give us a little walk through the main components? I still have my original two Technic SL-1200MK2 turntables, but they have since been adapted with external power supplies and Jelco tonearms. For DJ-ing I use Audio-Technica cartridges– either the VMN40ML or VMN60SLC which are hi-fi moving magnet cartridges rather than dedicated DJ cartridges. Although the hi-fi cartridges are a bit trickier to use whilst DJ-ing because they track lighter (around 1.8 to 2 grams), I find they are much more musical and have a greater dynamic range. They bring the music to life. Underneath the turntables are Auralex ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation platforms which absorbs vibrations so that it cannot be transferred to the turntable and hence interfere with the sound. In the rack I have my trusty Bozak which has since been reconditioned and again adapted with an external PSU by Justin Greenslade from Isonoe. Also in the rack is an IMG Stage Line VU meter and a 3-way ‘Cosmodelica Isolator’ custom made in Italy by a retired audio engineer who helps us with the Last Note parties. There are The Chord Company interconnects throughout, an Audient iD14 sound card, an Audio-Technica BP40 broadcast microphone, MasterSounds record weights, Klipsch Reference bookshelf loudspeakers and Audio-Technica ATH-M70x headphones. It used to be vinyl-only set-up, but toward the beginning of the first lockdown, I succumbed and finally bought one Pioneer CDJ 850 so I would have the opportunity to play digital releases of new music for my weekly live radio shows on Worldwide FM. Was there any method to the way you’ve laid it out and have you made any special non-musical touches to make it feel like a productive workspace? We remodelled the record room a couple of summers ago with custom shelving and a DJ console all in birch plywood so it looks gorgeous. I can feel the ch’i moving around. Everything now has its place and I can accommodate the entire collection! We are so fortunate to have done this prior to lockdown as I have been broadcasting my radio shows live, hosting live Cosmodelica House parties and Classic Album Sundays events all on camera. At the moment we have green screen everywhere, too, so it’s both a radio and TV studio. What’s been your method for creating this studio? Has it been a gradual accumulation or a bulk purchase? Any key inspirations in pulling it together? The equipment has been a gradual accumulation, but the redesign of the room was 15 years of mental planning and visualisation. We are so pleased with the results and it feels so good, I also do my yoga in the same room. Photo by Louis Are you always seeking to experiment and develop your studio, by changing or adding equipment? If so, what warrants a change? My late friend and mentor David Mancuso warned me of forever chasing the ‘sound cloud’. If you love the sound you have achieved, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If money were no object what would you add? An extension to the room so I can buy more records. You must have a most treasured bit of equipment. If you had to keep just one piece, what would it be? The Bozak as this is the original and best model and I have had it for over 25 years, so it has seen a lot of action. Before you head to the studio, is there anything you do to prepare or get in the right headspace? I need a moment of quiet by myself before broadcasting or hosting a house party or playing a DJ set – a time to recentre and recalibrate. What’s your creative approach when you’re in the studio? Do you go in with a concept in mind or is it usually an impulsive exercise? I always have a concept whether it is for a radio show, a DJ mix or a remix. My musical interests stretch far and wide and I don’t have a cookie-cutter sound imprint so I always have an idea as to where I want to go and which sound I would like to achieve. Are you someone to labour over a track until every crease is ironed out, or do you prefer a raw, instinctive approach without dwelling too much on something? Having learnt from my past mistakes, I now know it is always best to have a raw, instinctive approach with any remix or production. If you don’t have the idea and a kernel of inspiration, you end up fighting with it and that never works. Indecision can be the downfall of a production; you have to know when to walk away which is very difficult to do. Where do you go or what do you do when you have a creative block? Anything to reset the mental hardware? I go for a walk or a bike ride. Whenever I’m working on a remix I listen to the rough mixes in progress over and over on my headphones whilst having a good stomp around the park. It’s much more inspiring that sitting in a room and it gives me a fresh perspective. What inspires you outside the world of music? Nature, the ocean, travel, yoga, books, architecture and art. What else is on the horizon this year that’s getting you excited? I think we are all excited for live events and festivals and this summer! I can’t wait to both DJ for and dance with other people! I’m also remixing a British band I have admired since I was a teen in the 80’s which is exciting. And on Saturday, the 20th March I’m hosting what I hope will be my last virtual Cosmodelica House Party live on my Mixcloud. One can expect a 5-hour musical journey accompanied by psychedelic visuals and hopefully after this last house party, all of my future sets will be ‘in-person’. This Interview is reproduced in its integrity and can be found here : 'Indecision can be the downfall': Talking Tech with Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy - (stampthewax.com) WNYU Photo Credit: Louis Kee.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy has had an incredible life. From djing with David Mancuso at his Loft Parties to hosting 2 Worldwide FM shows. Colleen has just remixed Lost and Looking for Lady Blackbird. We spoke to her about her incredible career. Website Le Visiteur, 20/01/2022 Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy has had an incredible life in music. Running radio shows since she was 10, she moved from Boston to New York and then onto London where she has been resident since the 90’s, and been the instigator behind an incredible tapestry of shows and events. As one of the few people who David Mancuso trusted with sound, she played regularly at his now legendary Loft Parties. Colleen later went on to set up the UK based Lucky Cloud events alongside Mancuso and Tim Lawrence in 2005, and she has continued to play regularly at the parties in New York. Colleen’s DJ and radio career has blossomed over the last two decades, with her Cosmodelica and Balearic Breakfast shows becoming part of the core offering on Giles Peterson’s Worldwide FM. Colleen is behind the well loved Classic Album Sunday’s events that take place around the globe. No stranger to the studio, Colleen has just remixed Lost and Looking for the outrageously talented Lady Blackbird which lands the week. The Insider spoke to Colleen for Le Visiteur and it’s a truly fascinating read covering all aspects of her incredible musical journey. It’s a pleasure to talk to you today Colleen thanks for taking the time. Where are you today? What are you up to? I’m actually in Whitstable visiting some dear friends and enjoying being near the sea – one of my favourite places to be. Living in the UK You’ve been a living in the UK for over twenty years now. What brought you here to stay in the late 90s? Most people pick up and move because of a personal relationship or their vocation. For me it was both. I felt like I had a good run in New York City, but in 1999 nightlife was under attack by then Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Coming over to the UK was like a breath of fresh air, as the club and music scenes were thriving. I also have a personal connection as my grandmother was an English war bride who emigrated to America after marrying my grandfather, a US Navy man who had been stationed in Plymouth during World War 2. And I was a big fan of British music, which made up a large part of the soundtrack of my teenage years. The move felt right. New York Were you born and raised in New York? I was born and raised in a small town outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Lucky for me, Boston had some of the best radio in the country as the city has more colleges and universities than any other American city. I grew up listening to the progressive sounds of college radio and was also lucky to experience some of the most boundary-breaking commercial radio stations. It helped expose me to a wide range of music from an early age. How old were you when your deep interest in music became apparent to you? What were you listening to at that time? I was into music from a very early age and used to sing and play organ and piano and knew every current hit on the radio. The two big turning points for me were getting my own transistor radio at the age of 7 (first song I heard was Silver Convention’s ‘Fly Robin Fly’) and getting my own turntable at the age of 12 (my favourite album at the time was Moody Blues ‘Days of Future Passed’). At the age of 14 I had my own radio show on our 10-watt high school radio station WHHB where I played a mixture of punk, post-punk, early hip hop, funk, and new wave (one show was called Punk, Funk & Junk). At the age of 16 I was worked in a record shop where my musical horizons expanded into all genres including jazz and psychedelic rock. First clubbing memories When did you start to head out on the party/ club scene? Where did you go? Who was playing there at that time? I went to some freestyle clubs in Boston as a teen (can’t remember the names!) and when I moved to New York I mainly went to live gigs – many at CBGBs and The Ritz when it was in the East Village. I started going to clubs in the late 80’s/early 90’s – clubs like Tracks, Save the Robots, Payday, Afterlife, House Nation, The Shelter, Giant Steps and David Mancuso’s Loft parties. What record sticks in your mind from then? The song I remember being completely blown away by was Dexter Wansel’s ‘Life on Mars’ the first time I heard it on David’s sound system. First DJ steps What was your first step as a club DJ on the NYC underground scene? How were you introduced to that? Where were you playing initially? In the late 80’s I played at CBGB’s Record Canteen and also did a night at the club Mars for the radio station WNYU. In the early 90’s, once I had been smitten by dance music, my first residency was at a little bar on 11th Street between Avenues B and C called ST Bar and my first guest spot was for my friends Pernell Morrison and Tabu at the African Street Festival in Brooklyn. They listened to my radio show and invited me to play with them for this free street party in a small outdoor plaza – that’s the first time I remember DJing live for a really big crowd. The Loft I know you found your way to The Loft parties pretty much by yourself. Do you recall the first times you were there? Do remember feeling the vibe for the first time? My friend Adam Goldstone brought me to The Loft for the first time in 1991/92 – right at the time when David had re-invigorated his parties after a hiatus. In fact, Adam brought me to a lot of clubs for the first time – he was a real night owl and nightlife lover who eventually became the Clubs Editor at Time Out. But when I went to the Loft it was unlike any other place I had ever been as it was a private party, in David’s home. It had a psychedelic atmosphere, a welcoming energy, friendly people, beautiful dancers, an incredible sound system and records that blew my mind. Loft tracks What tracks were playing there on those first nights there? Code 718 ‘Equinox’, Sandée ‘Notice Me’, Lonnie Liston Smith ‘Expansions’, Third World ‘Now That We Found Love’ and Dexter Wansel’s ‘Life on Mars’ were some of the songs that had a big impact upon me. David Mancuso Mancuso told Time Out New York “She is very devoted and very pure about the music. She’s one of the only people I would trust, both with the music and with the equipment, to fill in for me.” How did your friendship with Mancuso begin? How did you make your transition from dancer to DJ at The Loft? My relationship with David properly started when I asked him to come up as a guest to play records on my radio show, Soul School on WNYU. Before agreeing, he asked if we could meet up for drinks and a conversation. We had a wonderful chat and when we talked about our mutual experience of musical synchronicity, the bonds were made. He came up and played records on the radio show (it may have been his first-time playing records outside of his own house parties) and then a few weeks later asked if I would play some records with him ‘one-on-one’ at The Loft. He mentored me on how to play on his sound system which wasn’t like any other sound system – especially the highly sensitive Koetsu moving coil cartridges. He complimented me on my musical style and enjoyed the new records I brought – especially the records that I brought to the Loft for the first time like Pacha’s ‘One Kiss’. Then he asked me to play longer sets and eventually the entire night from midnight Saturday to noon on Sunday. WNYU You had a regular radio show on New Yorks WNYU. Did this come off the back of you playing at The Loft? I had already been on radio for a decade before I stepped foot into The Loft. In 1986, immediately after my four-year run on my high school radio station WHHB, I went to WNYU where I hosted radio shows and eventually became the radio station’s Program Director. One of the shows I hosted I had personally created: a kraut/ garage / psychedelic rock show called ‘Plastic Tales from the Marshmellow Dimension’ which was pretty far out. I was also a radio DJ/host in Japan for a few months in 1989 and after graduating from university, I hosted and produced radio shows that were syndicated to college and alternative rock radio stations across the USA. Because I had a lot of radio experience, I was invited back to WNYU in 1992 which is when I created ‘Soul School’ and then later became a weekly host on the radio station’s anchor dance mix show ‘Club 89’. It’s worth mentioning that nobody at WNYU had even heard of The Loft or David at that time, never mind my own relationship with him. Throughout the 90’s, David’s parties were very underground and not always well-attended. During that decade, he faced a lot of challenges and some of us in his inner circle were helping him with fundraising parties and spreading the word about The Loft. It was one of the reasons I suggested to David that he should do a compilation – to relay the musical story about the Loft and its significance to a wider audience and to help him acquire some much-needed ‘green energy’. The idea came about as I had just released my own compilation ‘New York Afterhours: A Later Shade of Deep’ on Nervous Records in 1998. I was surprised when David responded that he would only do a Loft compilation if I was involved, and so I negotiated a deal with Nuphonic and co-produced the two Loft compilations alongside David, but most people weren’t aware of my involvement. My own musical trajectory was running simultaneous to my discreet association with David and The Loft. Party and club promoters invited me to DJ off the back of my own radio shows which had become widely known in this musical niche as listeners made tapes of my shows and they were distributed around the world. I also had a great deal of visibility because of my job at Dance Tracks, one of the city’s coolest record shops, and working with Joe Claussell on the record label Spiritual Life Music. I was playing at other parties in the city and then along the East Coast and then throughout America and Canada and by the mid-90’s I started travelling internationally, first playing in Japan and then in Europe. It was some time before my relationship with David and The Loft became widely known. What was the show format, what was your style on the show? ‘Soul School’ was a mixture of disco, post-disco, soul, and jazz-funk classics and ‘Club 89’ was a live DJ mix show in which I played the latest house records which included both US house and lots of imports from the UK, Italy, France, and Japan. I also invited guest DJs onto my ‘Club 89’ show including Lil Louis, Romanthony, Louie Vega, Joe Claussell, Danny Krivit, Francois K, and singers like Ceybil Jefferies, Joi Cardwell and Kenny Bobien. It was a real ‘underground house’ affair and I endeavoured to link the community by telling my listeners about new club nights and parties and championing new artists. Body & Soul You seemed to have been connected with the epicentre of genres over the years, with guest spots at Body & Soul for Francois K, Danny, and Joe. Another world-famous party with an international reputation for quality vibes. How would you describe the party atmosphere, vibe, and music in comparison to The Loft? I was a big fan of Body & Soul and had been attending the party from its inception. The feeling of community, and the one dancefloor – one vibe and atmosphere were reminiscent of The Loft, but it was more ‘club-oriented’ with a louder, more bass-heavy sound system and records that were mixed and tweaked via the cross-over. But the same buoyant positive feeling as The Loft. One day when I was getting ready to head over, Francois rang me up and asked me to play as Joe was going to be late due to a delayed flight and Danny had an injury. I was absolutely floored, as the request seemed to come out of nowhere. Francois enjoyed my eclecticism, and I was asked back a few more times, the last being my going away party before I moved to the UK. It’s a very special moment in my career and I am honoured to have had the chance to play at such a legendary party. Francois has been a very significant person in my career, too. The Lucky Cloud Loft Party You created The Lucky Cloud Loft Party alongside David Mancuso and Tim Lawrence in 2005. A stylised affair with great attention to detail on sound and aesthetics. The idea to host a regular Loft party with David in London came after Nuphonic hosted a party with David to celebrate the compilations we had produced. For the new London Loft party, David wanted me involved not only to back him up as a musical host when needed, but also because he wanted to further mentor me on the concept and set-up of the Loft sound system. My partners and I bought our own sound system, and this progressed me to my next steps in the world of sound and hi-fi. By David’s request, our friend Iain Mackie, a professional audio engineer, had been coming down to help us set up the sound system. One day Iain was unable to come to the party due to an injury, so I was challenged with the ultimate test to set up the sound system myself. I was so nervous, but David was thrilled, writing to me, “Now is a good time to show off your stuff wisely and with all the natural grace that comes with your spirit. When you think of it you and I both carry with us the same/similar responsibilities and deeds: Me as my role in NYC and yours’ as your role with the London party – i.e., we cover all the bases. It is something for us to really proud of as it is all earned. You are at the point where you can now walk across the “rice paper” – Zen. The timing is awesome too, as you now have your triple PHD.” No mixer Has the ‘no mixer’ tradition still been in place? Playing tracks from start to finish with a gap. We do not mix records at The Loft, and this is part of the party’s DNA as David wanted the music to reflect the artist’s original intention. In fact, we don’t use a mixer, but a Mark Levinson ML-1 preamp, which just has two phono inputs that are switched back and forth. David used to bring his over to London and then my husband and I bought our own ML-1 to use at the party. The world sadly lost Mancuso in 2016. When was the last time he came over for the LCLP? What is your involvement with The Loft in NYC now? Do you still go over to play? Covid permitting of course. The last time David musically hosted at the London Lucky Cloud Loft Party was in 2011. A few years later, he made arrangements to bring me back to the Loft party in New York City to be a musical host, help with the sound set-up and to be his Vice Chair for a board he was creating to manage The Loft and his own legacy. He sent me the most wonderful email which still gives me goosebumps: ‘You and I are the only two people I know in all the years that can cover as many bases there are for the parties and who try faithfully and spiritually to get it right. You are a rare gem my friend.’ He asked that I once again become involved with the New York party on a permanent basis and to this day I go back for the parties in New York. I can’t wait until we are able to resume as it has been two years since our last party which was The Loft’s 50th anniversary. The last time I physically saw David was a few months before he passed away when he guided me through the sound set up at the New York party. After that we spoke on the phone weekly (sometimes daily) up until the week of his passing. My last musical memory with David was listening to Ahmad Jamal’s ‘Poinciana’ together on one of our last phone conversations. He loved that piece of music, and it brings tears to my eyes when I listen to it now. Sound quality From your time at The Loft, to Lucky Cloud, to Classic Album Sundays, quality of sound has been paramount to you, bringing crystalline sound and precision to every piece of music you play. Some DJ’s and parties have thrived for decades on rough sound quality too. Tell me about your quest for the perfect sound and why it is so important to you? One can’t achieve ‘perfect sound’ playing back recorded music, but you try to get the best result possible. Although I had studied sound and radio in university and was adept at recording, mixing and splicing tape, I learnt about sound reproduction and sound systems through David. His quest was to recreate the live musical setting with as little interference as possible and with a straightforward signal path via high-end audio equipment that didn’t add or taketh away. Like him, I feel that good sound is a human right and when one can hear a piece of music as close as possible to the artist’s intention, it is a transformative experience. Home Set-up What is your set up at home consist of? A Koetsu Rosewood Platinum Signature moving coil cartridge, Nottingham Analogue Ace Anna 12-inch tonearm, Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace turntable, Moon LP 5.3 Phono Stage, Mark Levinson ML-1 Preamp, Sugden Masterclass Class A Power amplifier, ISOL 8 Substation Integra power conditioner, Chord Sarum interconnects and main cabling and two Klipschorns. The room acoustics in our living room/listening room are great and that’s where good sound starts. Classic album Sunday’s Classic Album Sundays is something you are well known for. For our readers who are not so familiar with this event can tell us about the idea and the philosophy of CAS. I started Classic Album Sundays in 2010 as a stance against the devaluation of music and to challenge the way we listen to music in the 21st century. This was when the Mp3 and i-Pod shuffle culture ruled supreme. The sound quality was degraded, and I felt music was in danger of becoming aural wallpaper. This was before the ensuing vinyl renaissance so I elected to host immersive album listening sessions in which the album was played in full on vinyl on an audiophile sound system, asking people to turn off their phones and refrain from conversation so that they could fully delve into the music. I also tell the stories behind the albums and as Classic Album Sundays has grown, I’m often joined by the artists, themselves. It felt like it had come full circle when I had Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason as my special guest for a ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ session! We now have events around the world, online events for our Classic Album Sunday’s Patreon members and a website and YouTube channel that hosts loads of interviews, podcasts, blog, and playlists about our favourite albums. I had no idea it would take off as it did. Such a cool little venue with great sound built and customised to the highest spec, plus a philosophy of talk less and listen more. The food is great too! I guess Brilliant Corners is good fit for you. Amit and Aneesh were inspired to open Brilliant Corners by The Loft, Lucky Cloud and Classic Album Sundays, so they invited me to host my monthly Classic Album Sunday’s events and I installed two of my own Klipschorns in their venue. It’s a wonderful place for our intimate ‘Album of the Month’ sessions although those have been on hold throughout the pandemic. Instead, I have been hosting an online version called The Album Club for our Classic Album Sundays Patreon members. I look forward to getting back to hosting more live listening sessions at Brilliant Corners this year and we have already started hosting events with some of our other partners like the British Library. Classic Albums by Women Can you tell us about your book – Classic Albums by Women? That started out as another one of my crazy ideas when three weeks before International Women’s Day I decided it would be fun to run a social media campaign, getting our friends and peers in music to take a photo of themselves holding their favourite album by a female artist, with an accompanying blurb as to why they love it so much. The response was unreal – we had well over 100 participants, and it was a great campaign. It seemed like a good idea to turn it into a book, so I found a publisher and Classic Albums by Women was born. Cosmodelica Cosmodelica is now the radio show you host on Worldwide FM. But didn’t it used to be on Ministry of Sound radio? I started it on Ministry of Sound radio and then used the name for my parties and remixes. When Gilles Peterson started Worldwide FM just over five years ago, he asked me to come on board as one of their anchor DJs and it has been great to host the shows on that platform, as it’s the perfect fit. You had some parties at Plastic People too under the Cosmodelica moniker. Again, one of the best sound systems in London. Such shame it is no more. What was the last party you played there? It was my favourite club in London and the owner Ade Fakile a true legend. I was so happy to host parties there and brought David over to meet Ade which was nice. I can’t remember the last time I played there, but only that my daughter was really young. Primal Scream I read that the name Cosmodelica was derived from Primal Scream. What is the story on that? That Primal Scream album was very big for me as it was a marriage of dance and rock – two genres that I was fusing together in my own life. I actually interviewed Bobby Gillespie and the entire band for that album when they came to New York to do press and have interviewed Bobby a few times over the years. Cosmodelica just fuses the cosmic and the psychedelic, which seems to be a common thread throughout my various musical passions. You’ve been incredibly active with radio in particular the Cosmodelica show on WWFM, and with the brilliant Balearic Breakfast. Cosmodelica is monthly and BB is a weekly show. You must need a LOT of new music! How do you go about sourcing all the music you need for the shows? Some are from my own record library, some are promos that people send me, some are records that I buy, and some are requests from my listeners. Sometimes it seems as if the music is finding me rather than the other way around. Remixes You’ve been pretty prolific on the remix front too. A couple of faves are your take on Midlife’s ‘Vapour’ on Heavenly Sweetness, a monster remix! And Fat Freddy’s Drop ‘Mother Mother’. I see that you did that alongside Andy Williams/ YamWho. What parts did you both play in the remix? Fat Freddy’s Drop are friends of mine and asked me to remix something from their then new album. When I heard ‘Mother Mother’ I had an immediate idea and booked my friend Andy and his studio. I can’t remember who played what as we both played things in there. But aside from engineering, he was part of the creative experience, so I thought it was right to credit him. He’s a great person to work with and very talented. Roisin Murphy Very cool for Roisin Murphy to get you on board for ‘Murphy’s Law’. If not only for your incredible delivery, but for the two Murphys! I saw a video of Roisin when she received your remix, dancing around her living room. I guess she was quite happy with it. It was a real joy and honour to remix Roisin – an artist I have admired since her days in Moloko. It was also great to get back into the recording studio! I started writing and producing music in 1998 when Tommy Musto asked me to make a record for his label Suburban. Over the next few years, I released many productions and remixes for my own label Bitches Brew and for other labels like DFA and Playhouse. I then got very busy with Classic Album Sundays and my doc series for BBC Radio and my productions were put on the back burner. When I heard Roisin’s ‘Murphy’s Law’, I immediately heard an idea and as it ‘had my name all over it’ I thought it was the perfect song to help me get back in the production saddle. One day after delivering the mix for her approval I saw my Instagram following growing by the minute and then saw her post with her dancing to my remix in her living room, which was priceless. I’m so thankful for the opportunity. Lady Blackbird Moving on to your next remix which drops on 21st January, Lady Blackbird’s ‘Lost and Looking’. How did this remix come about? Have you been a fan of LBB over the last year? I discovered Lady Blackbird through my friend Ashley Beedle’s remix of ‘Beware the Stranger’, which was my favourite dance record of 2020. I was absolutely astounded when I heard her voice – raw, visceral, and technically perfect. She quickly became one of my favourite contemporary voices and I asked her manager Ross Allen if I could do a remix and voila! She seems to have come out of nowhere and is taking the jazz world by storm. On the Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy Cosmodelica Remix, tell us what you’ve done to the track. Well, the original is in half time with no drums, so there was a lot of freedom for interpretation. I double-timed it and was inspired to go for a swamp-funk, dubby-electronic sound and started with the bassline. From there it was relatively easy. It’s my new rule to only take on remixes for which I immediately hear an idea for and this one was no exception. Gilles Peterson Gilles Peterson has been a huge fan of Lady Blackbird, inviting her to play at We Out Here last summer and with you hosting your audiophile Love Dancin’ sound system there. It must have been a special one for many reasons. Sadly, I didn’t get to see her perform at We Out Here as I was hosting the Love Dancin’ tent. I did watch her Brownswood session, as it was broadcast live on Worldwide FM, and she was stunning. I’m hoping to see her perform this year. You’ve spent most of your life dedicated to music. If you didn’t take this musical path, what else do you think you might have done? At one point I wanted to be an anthropologist and went so far as to take the entrance exams and applied for a Masters Degree program and actually got a place at the Ivy League school Columbia University. But I was working in music and radio at the time and leading a pretty nice life, so I made the decision that rather than standing on the outside of culture and looking in, I would rather be partaking inside culture and help making things happen. You work ethic, your positivity, and your dedication to what you do shines bright. Where does this positivity and light come from in you? I’m an optimistic person who has been on a lifelong quest of self-improvement. I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to lead a life in music. Upcoming What’s coming up for you that we should look out for? There will be more coming up on the remix front in 2022 and I’m looking forward to sharing that at a later date. I’m continuing to host my weekly morning show Balearic Breakfast every Tuesday and my monthly Cosmodelica Friday evening dance show on Worldwide FM. In fact, I’m releasing a Balearic Breakfast compilation on Heavenly Recordings in late spring and putting a lot of focus on live Balearic Breakfast events. Festival bookings are already coming in, so it looks like it is going to be a busy summer, which is reassuring after these past two years. Classic Album Sundays is going strong, and we have some great live events both in-person and for online Patreon members coming up with guest artists like Louie Vega, Greg Wilson, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Ken Scott, who produced ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Mars’ as this year marks the 50th anniversary of that legendary David Bowie classic album. And of course, I will continue as a musical host at the London Lucky Cloud and The Loft parties in New York City, as well as helping manage David’s great legacy. Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this. Thank you for asking me. This Interview is reproduced in its integrity and can be found here : Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy talks about remixing Lady Blackbird, working with David Mancuso at The Loft Parties, Djing with no mixer, Gilles Peterson, Classic Album Sundays, Cosmodelica and Balearic Breakfast - Le Visiteur Online

My husband asked, “Why don’t you broadcast live?” and I said, “Oh no, this pandemic won’t go on for too long. (ed.)" Colleen to Crackmagazine, 26/09/2022 It was the autumn of 1982. I had just turned 14 and started high school in a small town called Holliston, in Massachusetts. We were fortunate enough to have a 10-watt radio station in my state high school – it was called WHHB on 91.5 FM. My third cousin was hosting a show with her friend and they invited me to come along. So I brought in some records – it was an oldies show, 50s and 60s music – and as soon as the mic went live, I ran out of the room and straight into the library. I was absolutely terrified! Looking back, the reason I ran is because I placed so much value on radio. I was lucky to grow up outside of Boston, which had some really great commercial stations, but also great college radio stations which were able to broadcast anything. I was turned on to a wide range of music through radio; it was the only way I could discover music. Radio became such a huge part of my life – both as a method of musical discovery, and through hosting my own shows – that I actually chose the university I went to by its radio station. Fast forward to now. I’ve been on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM since 2016. At the beginning of the pandemic, my husband asked, “Why don’t you broadcast live?” and I said, “Oh no, this pandemic won’t go on for too long. I don’t think I can even broadcast live. I don’t want to deal with all the technicalities when I just want to get my head into the music.” He said, “I’ll handle that. You focus on the show.” It was a total epiphany that has changed my life. Live radio is so different to pre-recorded. I’ve never really thought of my radio shows as a DJ trying to get more gigs. I’m into radio as a medium for communication: sharing music, telling stories, getting people involved. I decided to do request shows because people were yearning for some kind of musical connection with one another. You know, it’s not all about sharing what I know with everybody else. There are so many people who are so passionate about music who don’t even work in the industry, and it was wonderful to have all these different requests. It became a conversation. Which is exactly the reason I went into that studio for WHHB 91.5 FM The interview is reproduced in its integrity and can be found here: https://crackmagazine.net/article/profiles/the-click-colleen-cosmo-murphy/

Worldwidefm broadcast Gilles Peterson's four-hour Brownswood Basement show on November 17th 2022 with Colleen "Cosmo" Murphy, Ana Ruiz, Naima Karlsson and Nabil Ayers. On September 12th 2022, Gilles Peterson announced he had to pause Worldwide FM's activity at the end of October, after six years of broadcasting, the radio station entering "a period of transition" (read more about this here). The radio's activity was not entirely put on hold though as archived material was still available to listen and Gilles was to continue hosting shows on a regular basis. So, within this limited activity, on November 17th 2022, Gilles hosted a special Brownbasement show with special guests: Colleen Murphy Nabil Ayers Ana Ruiz & Naima Karlsson. It is one thing to discover Colleen's life story while reading interviews and another one to listen to her speaking about her past experiences in radio/djing. In this Brownswood Basement episode, we get an excellent recall of Colleen's main life events and we also get to hear her so communicative laugh, which is priceless. An absolutely nice and Balearic listen indeed! Listen back to the special Brownswood Basement : PLAYLIST The Michael Garrick Sextet with Norma Winstone – Voices [Argo] Don Cherry – Tibet [Sonet] Run Logan Run – Breaking Through [Worm Discs] Soyuz – Beige Days [Mr Bongo] Freeson – F.D.P. [Solar Fidelity] Guilherme Coutinho – Papa Jimmy [Chantecler] Fanfair – Gotham Odyssey [Pelican] Alan Kaufman – Ivory Fantasy #1 [Not On Label] Nick Mathis – Little Sunflower [Olijewel Records] Full Moon Ensemble – 43 W. 87th Street [Comet Records] Potemkine – Foetus [Tapioca] Ian Carr's Nucleus – Black Ballad [Capitol] DOMi & JD BECK & Mac DeMarco – LITTLE SHRiMP [Blue Note] Don Cherry – North Brazilian Ceremonial Hymn [Caprice Records] Ana Ruiz – Crystal Love [Not On Label] Don Cherry – Elixr [Caprice Records] Don Cherry – Manusha Raga Kamboji [Caprice Records] Atras Del Cosmos – Don Cherry 1977 [Not On Label] Ana Ruiz – And The World Exploded Into Love [Not On Label] Ana Ruiz & Naima Karrllson – Piano Duet [Not On Label] Joan Bibiloni – Sa Fosca [Heavenly Recordings] Mildlife – Vapour (Cosmodelica Dub) [Heavenly Recordings] Dexter Wansel – Life On Mars [Philadelphia International Recordings] Roisin Murphy – Muphy's Law (Cosmodelica Remix) [Skint Records] HF Frequency – I Can't Go For That [Heavenly Recordings] Nashville Rhythm Section – I Can't Go For That [Koala] Linkwood Family – Miles Away Roy Ayers – The Black Five [Polydor] Roy Ayers – Everytime I See You [Polydor] Roy Ayers – It Aint Your Sign It's Your Mind [Polydor] Alan Braufman – Chant [The Control Group] Duval Timothy – Up [Carrying Colour] Marzette Watts – Geno [ESP Disk] Mtume Umoja Ensemble – Baba Hengates [Strata East]

Claremont 56 is a record label founded by Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy in 2007. When I first discovered Claremont 56, thanks to the interview Paul gave to Colleen back in 2020 (see below), I was immediately blown away by Paul’s voice (I loved it!), by the music his label proposed, and lastly by the album’s covers! It seemed obvious to me that Paul was putting his soul into this record label. This small article aims to present Paul, his record label and give you some important links and more music to listen to. Without further ado, let’s get into this beautiful and indeed very Balearic trip, starting with this track that has been played by Colleen during one of her Balearic Breakfast shows. It perfectly sets the tone for this article. I’m sure you all recognized a classic tune here: I can’t go for that (no can do) by the American pop duo Hall & Oates. Released as the second single from the Private Eyes Album issued in 1981, the song became the fourth number-one hit single of their career on the Billboard hot 100 and is really about not being pushed around by label managers and agents, staying true creatively. Of course, I chose this remix issued on Paul’s label because it embodies the Claremont 56 spirit particularly well. Also, this edit exposes the Balearic Spirit of the original track in a nice way (like many other music aficionados around here, I discovered the power of instrumental tracks thanks to David Mancuso’s Loft Parties). So, who is behind Claremont 56: Paul 'Mudd' Murphy, Graphic Designer for 15 years, renowned DJ for more than 20 years and label founder, knows some things about having a clear project vision. He started his first musical project, Akwaaba (which means 'welcome' in Ghanaian) in 1996, along with Tom Lee and Steve Kotey, issuing their debut track, ‘Just Pilau’ (on The Idjut Boys Discfunction label - DIS004) in 1997. The track was an instant classic and got quickly licensed to Francois Kevorkian’s ‘Essential Mix’ compilation and Ron Trent’s ‘Musical Reflections’ album. Akwaaba then issued two albums that were well-received by the musical scene, Do it Tomorrow (2000) and Too shiny (2002). As Paul explained it in an interview with "the vinyl factory" : Before Claremont 56 I was working half of my time as a graphic designer and the other half creating music and releasing that on other people’s labels. I always wanted the music to be full time and when I was finally brave enough to make that step it seemed natural to set up something of my own, so that I could release what I wanted, when I wanted, without having to meet someone else’s criteria. My favourite labels in the early 90s were the ones where you could buy the record without even hearing it, as you had complete trust in the labels’ output – this was something I really wanted to achieve for Claremont 56 Listen to Colleen's interview with Paul 'Mudd' Murphy : What kind of Music does Claremont 56 propose: Of course, any member of the Balearic Breakfast Family would instantly answer to that question by saying "Balearic Music"! It seems obvious that all Claremont 56 productions share an Identical sonic DNA: no aggressivity whatsoever in the sound which is open, no heavy audio compression pumping in, but a well-assured and well-balanced sound, with a tiny touch of distance and bliss that allows the listener to escape to another world. I absolutely love Paul's answer on that matter : I get asked this question all the time, quite often by people who have no idea about the music scene and genres, and I always wish I had a good, succinct answer, but sadly I don't. I find it really tricky to explain at all, let alone in a nutshell. I tend to say that it's a mix of mellow music, that's a bit dancey – a bit West Coast rock, a bit disco, as well as being a bit jazzy, but also has a prog influence. Most people describe it as 'Balearic', which is also pretty hard to explain to someone. The closest I can see to describing it in a nutshell is to say that it's pleasant music to listen to, (hopefully) without feeling too mainstream. Some important links : Claremont 56 website: https://www.claremont56.com/ The Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SW06hh4Ta4P4PcdIMCbuL?si=210d41648ab04d8c Claremont 56 on Bandcamp: https://claremont56.bandcamp.com/

I would take requests. And I play the requests in the order that they were given to me, because I wanted people to participate. Then what started to happen was someone would ask, “David, could you play?” And I just happened to have it in my hand. I’m ready to push the button. You get to a psychic level. You know what I mean. You can’t explain it. There’s a higher level; a higher power. Not preaching or anything, this is about music. David Mancuso With songs like "Woman" (by Barrabas), "Going back to my roots" (by Lamont Dozier), "Expansions" (by Lonnie Liston & The Cosmic Echoes) or even "Cavern" (by Liquid Liquid) being played at The Loft, David Mancuso certainly Embodied what Balearic Music is all about. So we could not launch this blog without paying a small tribute to a Friend who had such a strong sense of community and who taught us so many things about Sound and Music... On November 14th, 2016, David Mancuso passed away at the age of 72. As the founder of The Loft, a party he organized in his own private New York City loft beginning in 1970, Mancuso was a true pioneer, a founding father of dance music both sonically and emotionally. Mancuso had a titanic influence in shaping core values of dance music that are now taken for granted, everything from an emphasis on community and the breaking down of racial or economic barriers on the dancefloor to a hard-nosed drive for audio perfection, which included his unique insistence on playing every record through from start to finish, with no mixing. He was considered an unparalleled storyteller, creating narratives through his selections that could bring party-goers to tears, and a persistent idealist in his pursuit of transcendent musical experiences. In celebration of Mancuso’s life and influence, we are reprinting the full text of an interview conducted in 1999 by Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster, previously published in The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries, in which Mancuso goes in-depth in discussion of his formative experiences, DJing philosophy and thoughts on his legacy. Give me some biographical details Born October 20th, 1944. Utica, New York. I came to New York just as I was turning 18, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I had a very strange upbringing. My mother had some difficulties when I was born, so I was in an orphanage. Which I don’t like to talk about. A kid I used to play with – I didn’t remember him, but he remembered me – way down the line, 20 years down the line, he wanted to find the nun that changed his diapers. We were infants. There were 18 kids. That nun handled 18 of us. What happened was it took him about five or six years to try to track me down. Eventually he found me. He went to New York for our first meeting. He had found the nun, Sister Alicia. And he brings these pictures that she had took of us since we were about four, five years old. She would get this record changer and a stack of 45s on a great big radiogram and some juice from the refrigerator. There were these little tables where all the kids used to sit around. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen my invitations, but there’s all these kids sitting around the table. She would find any excuse to have a party. So I have a feeling that part of my influence, why it’s communal, why I do it the way I wanna do it: It has to do with back then. What’s her name? Sister Alicia… “I Wanna Thank You.” Is she still alive? Yeah. Did she ever come to one of your parties? No, she’s very old now, but I believe that she would enjoy it. I was 36 and she was 35 years older when I made contact with her. She’s a religious lady. What do I do? So I called her Christmas week. I said, “Sister Alicia.” She knew I was going to call, my friend had told her I would. “Do you remember me, Sister Alicia?” Then I heard her voice, and very softly she says, “I remember you like it was yesterday.” When did you start throwing parties? I started on a regular basis in 1970, on Valentine’s. But I was doing parties in ’68, ’67. I had found a loft in downtown New York. I’d lived there a few years and one day I decided to throw a couple of parties, and they turned out good. Where did you get the sound system from? I had it before. I was always into audio. I’d been building it up since I was a kid. Literally. I used to have those old radios that had a 12" woofer. Shortwave everything. And when did you start amassing your record collection? From when I was a teenager. From 14 years old, I was very fortunate enough to be around people who liked music and knew music and liked to party, so, at the age of 15 I was already living on my own. I had more freedom than most kids. There wasn’t much difference between collecting unemployment and being a disc jockey. What were you doing? Shining shoes in Utica. Me and my best friend decided to go to New York City. We came on Labor Day weekend, September, I was here three days and I was awed by it. 31 days later, I was back. I met some people, so I could stay with them. And I did. I had $2.15 in my pocket. Got a job. And New York has been very good to me. What did you do to make your way the first few years? I did a lot of waiting. I worked in a publishing company. Then I worked in a health food store, then I became a personnel manager for a restaurant chain. That was my last nine-to-five. There wasn’t much difference between collecting unemployment and being a disc jockey. So that would be up until about 1967. I traveled a lot. What was the inspiration for the first parties? I used to love to go out dancing at parties. Also I went through the ’60s, with the whole psychedelic movement, the civil rights thing. As far as the music goes, I’m a very communal-minded person. I had certain things I wanted to do to send a message, and it had more to do with social progress, because you had mixed economic groups. Now that I was very interested in. You had people from all sorts of different backgrounds, cultures, whatever. No matter how much money you had in your pocket or how much didn’t have in your pocket, when you paid that $3, paid that $5, to get in, you got the same as anybody else. Overall it was the break-even. I just wanted to break even. What I used to do were these rent parties: 50¢. And, if you use that money to pay your rent in New York, it’s legal. So you could have a party in your apartment so long as you don’t break the law or anything. You can actually charge admission. I was in a commercial loft. There were sprinklers and everything. So I decided to do rent parties. I sent out 36 invitations. But it took about six months to get going. How often were you doing them? Every two weeks. It would start at midnight. And in those days the bars were only open till 3 AM and if anything was open after three, you could be pretty sure it was gambling, or liquor, and I wasn’t into any of that. I didn’t want to be into any of that. I wanted it to be private. And the loft was also were I slept; where I dreamt, everything. But after six months it started really taking off. What was the composition of the people who were coming? Everybody. Gay, straight, bi, black, Asian. There were a lot of different people and they were my friends. And I keep my friends; so they brought their friends. You would have really the whole spectrum, and there was never problems with fighting or anything. What music were you playing? In those days Motown, because Motown was the hottest label. And Stax, rhythm & blues. Hendrix, Stones, Doobie Brothers, it was a mix. We decorated it with balloons. Very simple. The vibes were good. The place was clean. And it doesn’t take much to make the place comfortable. After six months, it opened up every week. When you came in, everything was included in the contribution. It was an invitation. You were not a member. It was not a club. I didn’t want to be in that category. It meant different things to me. I wanted to keep it as close to a party as possible. It was like $2.50, and for that you’d get your coat checked, food and the music. What drinks were there? We used to squeeze fresh orange juice and organic nuts and raisins. We did it up. Everything was quality. Everyone used to come there: Patti LaBelle, Divine; all of them. As people; because everybody that came there was able to relax. And of course you would not get into this space unless you had an invitation. Who named it The Loft? The Loft is a given name. That was hippie-dippie stuff, like “What do you call this?” “Oh, call it whatever you want!” So it became a given name. It’s sacred to me. I’ve never used it for commercial purposes as far as promoting it. I remember the first time I got in the media. Little did I realize, I was on the front page of The New York Times. When was that? Around 1972 and a half, the first place opened up that was similar to what I was doing, and that was the Gallery – actually, Tenth Floor might have been a little bit before that. You’re gearing up for your mix, and your intentions are good, but you end being judged by the mix rather than the record. And the record is more important than the mix! The Gallery was Nicky Siano. Nicky was coming into my place when he was 14 years old. He started going right back to the beginning. He opened his place up on Fridays. Then the Soho opened up, which was Richard Long. Then Reade Street opened. And that became the Garage. Then the Gallery moved. The Flamingo was right around the corner from me. But basically, my whole situation grew from very close friends of mine and stayed that way. So I wasn’t really bothered that those places opened. I was glad they were doing it. Why were you glad? Because there are eight million people here. A lot of people want to party. It’s a positive thing. And the more people partying the better it is. The more you can get through the week. There was enough people around. Why not? It was like the civil rights movement: the more people you had marching the better it was. How did the music develop; where were you finding records? Okay. I was in Broadway; left there in 1972 and went to Soho [99 Prince Street]. Soho, nothing was happening there at that time. I went from 500 square feet to 10,000 square feet. Two floors. I didn’t want to do it. At that time there were already a lot of places going on. The city was scrutinizing and seeing if we had exits and all that stuff. I always had exits, but at my first place I didn’t have what they call a Certificate of Occupancy. There was a lot of stuff in a music magazine, and so the city became a lot more aware of what was going on. And you got to know some of the city’s leading DJs. I went to Sanctuary. I liked Francis [Grasso]. Francis was good. Basically it started with Steve D’Acquisto. He worked at – I don’t know which came first out of Tambourine or Tamberlaine – but he worked at one. And I liked the way he was doing things. So I walked over to him and said, “You know, I really like the music. Look, I have this place, it’s downtown. It’s my place, it’s a private party. Do you wanna bring a friend?” And he did. That’s how I met Michael Cappello and Francis. So you were going out to other clubs? I was more into parties. I wasn’t too much into clubs. I didn’t even start drinking until I was 26. When I did go it would be purely for the music, not anything else. But mostly, I went to rent parties and house parties; that was my thing. It was a time when DJs were becoming important. When the disc jockey got two turntables and was in a club using recorded music, a new menu was started beause the dancer was part of the performance. You’d have your live musicians, where you’d have to go some place and listen to them play. Or your home, where you’d sit on your coach and listen to records. Well, the disc jockeys got in-between this and created something new... Where the dancer became part of the whole setting of the music being played. That was the difference. You’d have one foot on the dancefloor and one in the booth. But that was where the disc jockey was able to create this whole new format: between the performance and the listener. Were you mixing records to achieve this? It wasn’t mixing, this was before. I used to make tapes and I’d put a sound effect. When I threw a couple of parties, in ’67, ’68, I did a tape. I didn’t know about mixers then. I didn’t even know if they existed. And just as a record ended, I would put a sound effect right there. I’d take these from sound effects albums. So there was always a continuance. Did you record these on reel-to-reel? Yeah. I wanted the music to be continued, with no blank spots, but I also wanted to play the records as the musician intended. I got into mixing for a while and then I stopped, because the mixes were all about the musicians. You try to have a flow, but I really try not to disturb the recording – from the beginning to the end. I would go from one record to another, chopping them up, and then one day I just said to myself, “What am I doing? It’s like having a painting on the wall. I shouldn’t change the colors; I should leave as it was intended, let it stand on its own.” You’re gearing up for your mix, and your intentions are good, but you end being judged by the mix rather than the record. And the record is more important than the mix! The mix is two or three seconds; and the musician makes the mix. Maybe that’s too philosophical. I thought we were getting further away from the message of the music. Personally, I keep coming back to, “Let the song play.” I don’t think that mixing is wrong. But once in a while let the song be its own self. Just like your own child that you raised, at some point, that child has to stand on its own. You’re saying the DJ shouldn’t be an artist? No, no, no. I’m not saying that! The disc jockey is an artist. He is shedding his ego. If he’s gaining an ego he’s not going to be an artist; and he’s not going to be there for music. He’s going to be gone. I believe there’s a third ear. And you look at the big picture. You’re painting something. I’m not saying the others are not valid, but this is what I found after many, many years. What style of music were you playing after you stopped mixing? Same thing, but I just stopped mixing. I played from the beginning to the end. With mixing it became like the audience were preferring this mix over that. But don’t worry about that. The music came before the word; music is a gift from the gods. Without a mixer, the sound signal can be purer too. Yes, for sonic purposes, too, because the less equipment you have down the line, the more open the sound is. So that was another consideration. You took incredible efforts over your Soundsystem. About my 11th year. About 1979. That’s when I started getting into heavy equipment. I started getting $3,000 cartridges. I wanted it to be as pure as it can be. Music has a life energy. Klipschorn [loudspeakers] were built by a man that simply followed fundamentals of physics. If you do that, you will come up with an amplifier that also follows the fundamentals of physics. Follow the Yellow Brick Road, so to speak. You put one watt in, you get one dB back. Once that fluctuates, the music is affected. So anything that I used was mathematically correct. Take a turntable. A turntable is only a thing that turns around. Has nothing to do with the foundation. Has nothing to do with the arm. Commercial turntables come with all this stuff, but basically the foundation is one piece. Richard Long did the bass, the foundation of it. The bass develops a lot of energy. And if the slightest [bit] goes back in, the sound’s no longer clean. There will be a couple of percent, believe me. Once you hear it, you can’t go back. How heavy is it? It’s very heavy. [laughs] The point is that it’s also in the tonearm, it’s also in the cartridge. The cartridge is made in onyx; the case is in stone. Room acoustics is rule number one. Concert hall level is 80 dB. If you’re listening to more than 90 dB sound levels for than 45 minutes straight, you start to develop ear fatigue. Once you hear the soundsystem that means you’re getting ear damage; ear fatigue. So you want music, not the system. You started the first record pool, tell us about that. When I was at Prince Street, while I was fixing it up, that was the birth of the first record pool. There were 26, 27 disc jockeys; we all knew each other. And we always connected about records, very natural. This is how we bonded. In those days it was very much like that: you shared. The idea was to straighten out how DJs received records from the labels? Right. There was a meeting once in Club Hollywood: the record companies and disc jockeys got together for the first time. It was a total disaster. And so I asked Steve D’Acquisto to make an announcement, ’cause I don’t like doing any of that stuff. I’m a background person; a behind-the-camera person. And Steve likes to talk, so... I was fixing up my place and I invited the disc jockeys back. I knew a lot of them. And at that meeting I proposed the pool. Judy Weinstein helped run the pool. How did you meet her? She worked for me. I met her through Vince Aletti. The Loft and the record pool were at the same place. Vince Aletti knew someone who needed some work. How did you know Vince? When we started the pool, we had these meetings. The record companies would come and some media people would come. I believe that’s how I met Vince. He would take a tiny record player and invite me around to his house to listen to records. He would listen to records on this and then write about them. The guy’s incredible. So how did the pool work? The disc jockeys would get the records and they’d fill out a feedback sheet; they would give the personal reaction and the floor reaction. And that information, based on the test pressings, would go back to the record company and they would adjust certain things or whatever. There was a lot of communication and organization and sanity regarding the whole scene. And the record companies saw they could gain advantage from it as well? Well, the accountants in the record companies, not the promoters. They had different days you could go get records. For record companies it came to the bottom line: it was cheaper to send the records to a central distributor, through the pool. So the music got out. We didn’t get involved in the problems between individual disc jockeys or record companies. We did not distribute a record unless we could give it to everybody. We had up to 275 disc jockeys. I mean, there’s not as many clubs about today, but if you had even 50 clubs, the amount of people that would come dancing is the same as a small radio station. So records were starting to break before radio. The companies liked it because they were getting feedback for it? 27 disc jockeys. We designed all that. We just wanted to collaborate. Little did we know we were working out a system between the record companies and the disc jockeys. That was the only pool for a long time. And it worked very well. But the accountants saw it being cheaper. A lot of record promoters thought that they would lose their jobs through this, because they thought they wouldn’t be needed any more. Not true. When did you form the pool? In 1974. We’d list ten records, not in any order, and we’d have a library section, so we’d list everything there. Another thing is, the condition that disc jockeys used to work in – I know some that got electrocuted. Someone else could come in and they’d lose their job, and this and that. That’s how, when we started the New York Record Pool, it helped change a lot of things. So, informally, it was a bit like a union? Yeah, a natural brothers and sisters union. Absolutely. Keep those politics, too. How much did the DJs pay you? It was non-profit. Did the record companies try and pervert the system with hyping? They really couldn’t. We needed each other’s cooperation, and we wanted to give it to them because we loved the music. Like Denise Chapman, she used to work with Salsoul, but she used to hang out. A lot of people hung out together. A lot of these people came to my place on Broadway, before they ever got into the business. I suppose there were so many good records by the mid-’70s they were falling on your lap? The music that came out when the record pool was in existence was the best. The music between ’75 and ’80. Most of the classics are right there. A slow week would be three to five good records. I mean, really good shit. Now, it’s difficult. How did you find records like Barrabas? Barrabas’ “Woman.” I brought that one in. I was in Amsterdam looking for some records. I found it. I’d never never heard it, I just liked the information that was on it. It looked interesting. I would buy records like that. I brought it back, checked it out and there were a couple of good things on it. So I called the record company. And they went by the box and it was $2.70 – postage, record, everything. So I ordered them, and I’d sell them to other disc jockeys. Where else did you go looking for records? London. I would go there for the vinyl. Better pressings. In 1972, I was in Chiswick. I knew this family, and I was very close to them. The mother had cancer and he took his whole family and I was invited over. What was The Choice? I took a sabbatical. What happened was, I got this building on 3rd Street between [Avenues] D & C in 1982. Yeah. That was when Alphabet City was the worst neighborhood in the entire United States. I knew some of the grandmothers. I shut down. It was so bad over there. Business was tough. I wanted to rent out The Loft. It was in the loft, but it was called Choice. So I just decided to take a break. It was very hard. People were dying, dropping like flies – a lot of friends. I decided to rent the place to someone I knew, and stay at my house up near Woodstock for about two years. 1980 was when I bought the building. ’84 was when I moved over there. ’88 was when I maybe rented it out. ’90 was when I went back. When was it open? From ’88 to ’90 I think. Almost two years. You influenced so many people: DJs who became famous, people who started labels – they got their inspiration from the Loft. There were two things. There were a lot of people I directly helped in finding locations or connecting them with things or whatever. But a lot of people were also inspired to copy the idea of the Loft, its spirit, the way it operated. Who do you think took the idea and got it right; who are you the most proud of? Nicky Siano was probably the closest. I won’t say I have objections, but there are things I wouldn’t have done that he’s done. But he was the closest. He didn’t sell membership cards. He was private. Basically, they had food... The one thing the Loft did do was set a standard; getting your money’s worth. A decent sound system: I wanna hear the music. Once you hear the soundsystem that means you’re getting ear damage; ear fatigue. So you want music, not the system. Same with lighting. You don’t want fatigue. Anyway, Nicky was about the closest. But hey: do it anyway you wanna do. Some of them deviated much more. Others, like the Garage. Larry [Levan], I got him his first job. Some parties are more intense than others, but I’ve always come away feeling better about the world, better about myself, better about people. I always felt something good from it. And you fought hard to establish the legal right to throw your kind of parties. You were taken to court over it, weren’t you? No, I took them. They closed me down once when I was on Broadway, because it was an unlicensed cabaret. The case was thrown out. When I went over to Prince Street, and I had two floors, more space, I didn’t want that to happen. This had to be established. So in 1974 I had the longest hearing in the history of consumer affairs. I was not a cabaret, because I did not sell food and drink directly or indirectly to the public. I wanted to establish that. The city was so upset. They were holding me up about paying rent. This established for all the places that had opened up as long as you were private. That was in 1974. Had to be the end of September. I actually had a good track record with the police department and fire department. Never had a police problem. Never a fire or safety problem. The fireman and policemen would come to hang out. I thought that was great for everybody. Which record have you most enjoyed playing there over the years? “Starchild” by Level 41, “Love Is the Message” by MFSB, “Walking in Rhythm” by Blackbyrds, Ashford & Simpson “Stay Free,” “Roots”... What do you think made these parties so special? It was the times. And if drugs were being used by people, they were more on the recreational side. At first everybody was together. Then it became like the same with any business. They gotta start splitting up the nights between gay, black, white. Slowly, but surely... When did that start to happen? I don’t want to mention a place. I really don’t. Let’s say around ’79, ’80. Isn’t that a natural process, that people would want to party with people similar to them? Yeah, but why take a place that’s already open and people are together and start splitting it up? So people implemented things like door policies? The Garage did it. I respected Michael [Brody] and everything, but they started splitting things. When you filled out an application it was, “Are you straight or are you gay?” And that was the night you got a card for. If you can mix the economic groups of people together, then you have social progress. How do you see the role of the DJ? Maybe not by his choice, but the negative side, he could be like a short-order cook. But certainly as a humble person, who sheds their ego and respects music and is there to keep the flow going; to participate. It is a unique situation. It is a very humbling experience. But it’s also a controlling experience? What do you mean? Talk to me. In terms of controlling the party. This has been my experience. I’m sure you can relate to this. When the music’s starting to flow... I got into the sound being more open and that sonic trail, the artist, the nuances, everything. It’s very important. There’s a lot of music in those nuances. I would take requests. And I play the requests in the order that they were given to me, because I wanted people to participate. Then what started to happen was someone would ask, “David, could you play?” And I just happened to have it in my hand. I’m ready to push the button. You get to a psychic level. You know what I mean. You can’t explain it. There’s a higher level; a higher power. Not preaching or anything, this is about music. Is this about oneness on the dancefloor? It can happen. Any notable occasions you remember? Yeah, many times, but I can’t say... sometimes it happens. Sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours. You just feel good. You have your life energy raised. I can’t have mine raised unless yours is raised. And vice-versa. But each one of us has a role. It’s all about music. What is the ideal relationship between you and the people on the dancefloor? That we all play in the same band. All characters in the same play. Can you say what was the best night? Each party I have learned something one way or another, especially in the early ’70s. A lot of music was anti-war music, a lot of music had to do with the economic situation, it had a message about the people, or about romance. I can’t categorize individual parties and say one was better than the other. Some parties are more intense than others, but I’ve always come away feeling better about the world, better about myself, better about people. I always felt something good from it. If you go to the hot springs, you’ll always come back feeling better. Maybe some days more than others, because maybe you didn’t need it as much, but it’s always cleansing. This interview was conducted in August 1999 in New York. © DJhistory.com It is reproduced in its integrity and can be found here : Interview: David Mancuso | Red Bull Music Academy Daily

"The original is in half-time with no drums, so there was a lot of freedom for interpretation. (ed.)" Colleen, Le visiteur interview, 17/01/2022 A Soul. That’s how one can receive Lady Blackbird’s voice. Something so articulate that you can hear every nuance, every note’s birth and death (the audiophiles out there know that the information contained in the ending sound of a note, be it played or sung, is priceless). “Lost and Looking” (appearing on Blackbird's album "Black acid soul" issued in September 2021) received the “Cosmodelica” treatment in the wake of 2022 by Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy and was then issued on vinyl a few months later, in June, on the “Foundation Music” record label (ref: FMPLB 001). In a lengthy interview for “Le Visiteur” (that you can read here), Colleen explained : I discovered Lady Blackbird through my friend Ashley Beedle’s remix of ‘Beware the Stranger’, which was my favourite dance record of 2020. I was absolutely astounded when I heard her voice – raw, visceral, and technically perfect. She quickly became one of my favourite contemporary voices and I asked her manager Ross Allen if I could do a remix and voila! But the story wouldn’t be complete without listening to the original song. It is an absolutely Lonely and "lost" piece of music (somewhat close in its structure to Sam Cooke's original version on his 1963 Night Beats album – tonality aside, of course). Lady Blackbird's voice is very upfront in the mix. The music, on the contrary, is very light, almost acting like a drawing that could not keep its reality on a blackboard... It’s a very evanescent track, and Blackbird’s slightly worried singing adds to that darkish atmosphere. She is searching for the one she loves. Colleen’s take on the song is different. Rhythmically, of course, there’s no denying as she explained it to “Le visiteur” : Well, the original is in half time with no drums, so there was a lot of freedom for interpretation. I double-timed it and was inspired to go for a swamp-funk, dubby-electronic sound and started with the bassline. From there it was relatively easy. It’s my new rule to only take on remixes for which I immediately hear an idea for and this one was no exception. But, philosophically, the approach is different too. While Lady Blackbird was searching for her lover in the night (I prefer the night pictured in Sam Cooke’s version, it has an open tone that allows you to see the sky, and we gradually lose that as the versions go by;-)), Colleen presents a more desperate, urgent, somewhat “primal” and visceral take, rejoining her perception of Lady Blackbird’s voice. In this version of the song, the woman is crying her heart out without an ounce of hope. Still, Colleen manages to keep the “evanescent” spirit of the track alive, so we have the musical background slowly building up and then disappearing in the echo of Lady Blackbird’s voice. I let you listen to the track and identify how this new version has been structured (or head over here if you don't feel like, well, searching)! Colleen played the remixed version of “Lost and Looking” on Balearic Breakfast, and the remix even hit the 5th spot of the top 50 furtive tracks of 2022 poll that was organised by the DJ History website.