DJ OF THE WEEK 5.30.11: DAVID MANCUSO

This Memorial Day we are going to not only remember the heroes who have gone to battle for our freedom, but we are also going to pay respects and remember one of our own heroes of the nitelife entertainment world, the legendary David Mancuso.

Many of the young cats out there might not be too familiar with David Mancuso, if at all. In all honesty, I was too young to partake in his world circa 1970’s as well, regardless, his place in the world of nitelife entertainment is set, and it’s time we pay our respects.

It was David Mancuso who started the exclusive, private party affairs that were all the rage in 70’s era New York. His parties, which came to be known as The Loft, were deep underground affairs where the cities elite would dance the nite away to everything from Jazz, Funk, Soul, even Classical, and of course the emerging sounds of Disco. The Loft parties became so huge they inspired other great parties such as Paradise Garage, The Saint, and others.

Aside from his legendary parties, one of the reasons we really love Mancuso, is due to his constant support of dance culture.

Mancuso himself was not like the DJs we are familiar with these days. He did not use pitch control or count BPM’s, he had no set play list, and just played what he felt or his friends would provide, as long as they got the crowd moving. And yes, they moved. Especially with the massive sound system he had in place. But his love for Dance music and the scene is without question.

One of Mancuso’s biggest contributions is the founding of the record pool, which he helped get started in order to distribute records to DJs. There is also his release, “David Mancuso Presents The Loft,” both volumes 1 and 2 pay homage to that 70’s era he helped provide the music to. He also launched his own record label, The Loft Audiophile Library of Music in 2008 to keep that tradition going. Mancuso continues supporting Dance culture till this day via radio shows and videos which can be found online.

The fact is, there is no way to properly cover Mancuso and his acomplishments in life and do it justice in the space allotted here, it can fill a book, and actually it has. We suggest you add “Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979” by Tim Lawrence to your library. In the meantime, listen to the two part mix below, and get ready to be schooled.