3 A.M.

Somebody named Bobby Blanco sampled Cathedrals about a year ago and called the result 3 A.M. That record was huge on the European dance scene, and has sold more than we did back in the 70's with the original. I got a nice royalty check on European sales. I really don't like the record - I think it's boring. But here's a list of the albums you can find it on. Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m.

THE TEA DANCE

After Cathedrals, D.C. was hot. His concept for a follow-up was to do a fake "original Broadway cast" album. Tea dances were huge in the Fire Island gay community, so that's where he got his title.

He selected a number of old Hollywood movie tunes, including the "Fanfare" from King Kong. I had to pull them from a record by ear - including full orchestrations - and duplicate them. They came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Generally we followed the Cathedrals pattern: some of the songs D.C. wrote and I arranged; some we co-wrote, with me doing the tracks first and D.C. coming up with the lyric and melody. We used a much better studio and a great engineer - Geoff Daking - and the recording is much improved from Cathedrals.

The format required an overture, so I wrote one - called, oddly enough, Overture. The cut I had the most hopes for was Don't Keep It In The Shadows, which I co-wrote. Lou Christie helped with the vocals, and the track had a lot of power, with Richie Crooks rolling like a freight train in the coda. I thought that song would be the new gay anthem - but it was Overture that got the play in the clubs, God knows why.

The album was an even bigger hit than Cathedrals. D.C. Larue was a disco star.


Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance

LET THEM DANCE

This is a "best of" D.C. Larue CD with six cuts I co-wrote and produced.

You can buy it at Amazon.com.


Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby

D.C. LARUE

Here's the Wikipedia entry on D.C., which does not, unfortunately, include my name.

Here's D.C.'s website. I see he's selling all our old stuff on CD (there were no CDs when this stuff first came out.) Wonder if I'll ever see any royalties? Don't see my name on there anywhere.

Here's a UK comment.


Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby

THE ROUNDS AND THE DEEP, DARK NIGHT

Just noticed (via iTunes) that D.C., or somebody, has put out some house music mixes which include material from The Rounds, which I don't recognize, and Deep, Dark, Delicious Night, which we did on Cathedrals. I actually bought it, due to overwhelming curiosity. Will comment further when I listen through it all. Okay, I listened. One cut is okay, the rest are atrocious, with D.C. stuck on there as an afterthought. I just wasted $8+. Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby

WHIRLWIND - FULL TIME THING

After the second D.C. Larue album, I did a few singles for Morris Levy's Roulette label. Morris was mobbed up (he's the inspiration for the record guy with the horse farm on "The Sopranos") but he never gave me any trouble. Or help, either, for that matter. But he paid me. One of the singles was "Full Time Thing" by Whirlwind. It went pretty high up the disco charts, got a lot of club play. A number of years later, the group called me to produce a Christian album. I was a lawyer by then, and I said no. But they did the album, and you can buy it here. Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby

STREET HASSLE

In 1977, Lou Reed asked me to do string arrangements for the title track of this album. I don't remember one damn thing about it, but here's a review of the album.

A few words on the players: Michael Fonfara (keyboards) was with Rhinoceros, a band managed by the same manager we had. Fonfara was a great player. And JoAnn Kameron (wife of drummer Richie Crooks) was a phenomenal singer for whom nothing good ever happened. If anyone knows if she's doing anything, please let me know by comment.


Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby

CONSTRUCTION #1 - TEN WHEEL DRIVE

I told this whole story on my podcast "The Ten Wheel Drive Chronicles." You can download it at iTunes.


Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby

1-900 HUSTLER

Jay-Z sampled "Ain't Gonna Happen" from Construction #1 for "1-900-Hustler."

Very weird. But thanks for the checks.


Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby, jay z

I GOTCHA OPIN - BLACK MOON

Black Moon sampled "Come Live With Me" from Brief Replies for "I Gotcha Opin." Even weirder. And no checks! Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby, jay z

THROWING OUT THE RULES

A website called mystrands mobile recently reviewed a 1969 album by the McCoys (remember Hang on Sloopy?) called Human Ball. Apparently on that album guitarist Rick Derringer played a lot of jazz-influenced solos. The reviewer makes this comment: "... The band seems like it took a page from the Ten Wheel Drive textbook of throwing all the rules out the window and just putting the art to tape." I'm sure Rick Derringer wasn't thinking of Ten Wheel Drive, but I'm grateful for the comment because it describes just what we did, and what I still do. Would I trade that iconoclasm for a number one book? You bet I would. But I don't think I can. Tags: aram, schefrin, the tenth cow, novel, novelist,writer, fiction,historical fiction, book, books, audiobook, podcast, mp3, music, rock,jazz, jazz/rock, ten wheel drive, cd, itunes, disco, d.c. larue, marwan, consider the elephant, john wilkes booth, little big horn, mobipocket, kindle, amazon.com, polo, cathedrals, palm beach premium, 3 a.m., tea dance, star baby, jay z