Special Tribute
WHAT IS A LEGEND?
The word “legend” is used to refer to a person with an inspiring story and achievement. They are usually created with the help of the media and are usually people who excel in sports, business, and entertainment (singers and actors). The word “legend” comes from the Old French word “legende” which in turn comes from the Latin word “legenda” which means “story” or “things to be read.” Its first use in the English language was during the 15th century. This page is dedicated to those early club spinners, or club DJs. that have attained the status of LEGEND in their own right, in their own unique way, many associated with controversy which in its own light has assisted in further verifying legendary status and always having a share of followers and disbelievers ponder their uniqueness and greatness. It is because of the ongoing attention that, over time and much debate, have assisted these benchmark personalities to attain the status of LEGEND.
Marty Angelo.
Biography including music business information.
Marty Angelo, a former music business entrepreneur, is the author of the powerful life changing biography-memoir entitled, Once Life Matters: A New Beginning. Angelo’s book reveals how God totally transformed his life of sin into a strong witness of His saving grace, mercy, and love. The book is offered free to prisons, jails, rehab programs, and troubled celebrities. Angelo was arrested in 1980 for two counts of possession of cocaine. Through this life shattering event he experienced a “new beginning,” a dramatic and electrifying conversion to Christianity. This miracle happened in 1981 prior to serving two-and-a-half years in a federal prison. God had filled the void in Marty’s heart with His Spirit. His life finally began to matter and it took on a new meaning as he discovered God’s true plan and purpose. Before Marty Angelo’s dramatic and “electrifying” conversion to Christianity in a farm-house outside of Buffalo New York on March 28, 1981 and going into full-time ministry, he worked in the entertainment business for 15 years, getting his first breaks from “the late Jimi Hendrix” and “the late George Harrison.” He managed several bands including Buffalo’s Raven and the popular Top 40 rock group, The Grass Roots starring Rob Grill. Angelo also created, wrote and produced the ’70s trendy dance television show, Disco Step-by-Step® and in 1978 was voted one of the Top 25 disco record promoters. He promoted hundreds of hit albums, singles, and 12″ disco 45s, receiving numerous recognition awards for his efforts. Angelo is featured in several documentaries, magazine articles, and radio/television productions. Since 1981, Marty Angelo has served God first in the Federal Correctional Institution at Lexington Kentucky, then upon his release, as staff minister and director of evangelism for The Fort Lauderdale Rescue Tabernacle (Faith Farm), counselor/teacher for Teen Challenge of Southern California, assistant aftercare director in Washington DC and Los Angeles area director for Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship Ministries, and court liaison, information services director, case manager director and medical records supervisor for the Drug Abuse Foundation of Palm Beach County. Angelo also provided nine years of personal in-home health, medical, and spiritual care for his parents, “the late Dr. Martin and Marie Angelo.” Angelo has appeared on numerous popular Christian radio shows and television programs (The 700 Club, Praise the Lord, Celebration, and 100 Huntley Street). His testimony was dramatized in 1987 on Unshackled, published in Voice Magazine, and receives various print and internet media coverage.
Marty Angelo is currently a full-time minister, teacher, and author. His second book is entitled, “Vision of New Jerusalem: Now!”.
Member – International Network of Prison Ministries (INPM) Member – Coalition of Prison Evangelists (COPE) Member – American Correctional Association (ACA) Member – International Ministerial Association (IMA) Alumni – Vision College Alumni – Berean University Alumni – Rhema University Alumni – The Full Gospel Bible College of Coatesville, PA Alumni – Dunklin Memorial Camp – Servant Leadership Training Former Staff – Ft. Lauderdale Rescue Tabernacle (Faith Farm) Former Staff – Teen Challenge of Southern California Former Staff – Prison Fellowship Ministries Former Staff – The Drug Abuse Foundation of Palm Beach County
Special Historical Disco Projects – 2000-2005
From 2000-2005 “Disco” began to make a resurgence and numerous production companies made contact with Marty for various historical purposes only. Here are some of the ones he agreed to participate in. 2000 – Donor – Disco Step-by-Step® – website. Creator – internet website. All files were donated to the United States Library of Congress in 2005.
2000 – Donor – The Official and Original – Disco Dj Hall of Fame™. Creator. Founder. Member. All files were donated to the United States Library of Congress in 2005. Disco Dj Hall of Fame™ (un-authorized reproduction).2000 – Donor – The Official and Original – Hustle Dancers Hall of Fame™. Creator. All files were donated to the United States Library of Congress in 2005. Hustle Hall of Fame (un-official).2000 – Donor – The Official and Original – Disco Hall of Fame™. Creator. All files were donated to the United States Library of Congress in 2005. Discotheque Pioneers Hall of Fame (un-official). Dance Music Hall of Fame (un-official).2000 – 2005 – Interviews – music related internet websites, NPR radio, television, newspapers, magazine articles, and documentaries.
2001 – Donor – Disco Step-by-Step® television show master videotape collection donated to United States Library of Congress – 2001. 2002 – Award Recipient – plaque from various Djs for being the first disco Dj in Buffalo, NY back in 1970. This award was presented to Marty at a Disco Step-by-Step® 25 year reunion party of former cast, crew, and dancers. The event was held to benefit “the late Helena Paolini.”
2002 – Advisor/Promotion – Paramount Pictures dance related movies DVD releases (Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Stayin’ Alive, Footloose, Urban Cowboy, and Flashdance)
2002 – 2005 – Advisor/Video Clip Contributor – Experience Music Projects exhibit: Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights. This exhibit opened at EMP’s Seattle, Washington headquarters in 2002 (photo) and traveled to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan in 2004 and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in 2005 (photos). EMP has since retired this exhibit. 2003 Interview/Video Clip Contributor – VH1 television production: When Disco Ruled the World. Photo2003 – Advisor/Promotion – ABC Family television show, Dance Fever.
2004 – Associate Producer – PBS television’s: KC and the Sunshine Bands Presents: My Music: Get Down Tonight The Disco Explosion. Photo2005 – Advisor – Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival salute to the movie, Saturday Night Fever – promotion.
2005 – Advisor/Video Clip Contributor – CBS “Sunday Morning” news show. Segment entitled: Disco Daze.
2005 – Interview/Video Clip Contributor – Passport Productions disco documentary: Disco: Spinning the Story. Photo2005 – Interview – Buffalo Spree Magazine.
2005 – Award Recipient – Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Hustle and Salsa Competition (IHSC).
2005 – Disco 2005: The Year in Review. Marty Angelo is mentioned in three books. The Beatles history: The Longest Cocktail Party, Buffalo, New York music history: Don’t Bother Knockin… This Town’s A Rockin…, and Disco history: Disco Fever, the Beat, People, Places, Styles, DeeJays, and Groups.
Visit Marty Angelo at http://www.martyangelo.com
T.K. Disco was the division of T.K. Productions that focused on 12″ disco singles for clubs. It was truly a label for the DJ, the dancer, and the lovers of DISCO. The early 12″ singles were also ONLY released as DJ promos. It wasn’t until one of my favorite groups, T-Connection’s hit “Do What You Wanna Do” came out as a commercial 12″ that T.K. Disco became one of the go-to labels for the consumer. The other rationale for why many labels had numerous sub-labels was to ensure that clubs and especially radio stations played all of their music. Remember, the issue of payola (pay-offs) plagued radio for years, although it wasn’t an issue in the club scene.
The label actually had two seminal affiliations. The first was the generally acknowledged release of the first real disco record with “Rock Your Baby” in 1974. Over SIX MILLION copies were sold after an investment of an hour of time and about $100!! The other affiliation was related as one of the writers of that song would himself (along with his group) become one of the biggest stars of the era: Harry Wayne Casey! You don’t know the name? How about his nickname: KC? His group: The Sunshine Band? Ahhhh, you got it! Unfortunately for T.K. and Henry, the aforementioned White Sox “disco is dead” protest in ’81 was the death knell for the label as they went bankrupt. Henry Stone would rise up though, continuing to be a presence in the music industry even today – in his 90s! In fact, I can’t wait for the documentary on his life in music (aptly titled Rock Your Baby) due for release in the fall!
Now onto the topic of promotion. For the last ten years, promotion has really been about small independent labels “informing… through emailed promos, social media, and online sites like SoundCloud. More often, individual producers (and we know how many of them there are!) are doing the same thing. Finally, vinyl has made a comeback but when success is measured now… it’s more about sales in the hundreds of units. So, tons of promo “noise” but nothing really “sticks”.
The huge difference vs. the past is the personal touch: the label to DJ promo 12″ vinyl delivered right to the turntable in the booth, the weekly telephone calls to determine what is “hot”… “moving”… and making the dancers crazy! The best at it was T.K. Disco’s Ray Caviano. His music foundation was deep as well. He helped grow Rolling Stone magazine at its inception. Did national publicity for ZZ Top, Al Green, and The Rolling Stones. Then really became “the man” when he broke several of the HUGE early disco acts: Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, Vicki Sue Robinson, and the Village People! I was able to speak with the energetic legend who has an encyclopedic memory of all things music. He shared that, “Smaller labels like T.K. had so much more flexibility than the larger ones.” Ray should know as he eventually ran the Dance & Music department at Warner Brothers as well as his own subdivision label with his initials – RFC. At T.K. Disco, Ray emphatically underscored that, “Henry (Stone) gave me complete autonomy to choose the music I liked! My tastes and choices were directly determined by what I heard from the DJs and what I saw and experienced on the dance floors of clubs across the country.” Ray also made “hundreds of calls daily to DJs in the big markets”. His self-described “test marketing across my network of DJs” was the key to his and T.K. Disco’s success! With a laugh he added, “The fact that the songs were killer didn’t hurt either!”
Ray continued that targeted, focused, and personal touch at Warner Brothers. “I had regional disco promotion teams. They were able to build the DJ relationships, target market differences, and break songs that the dancers loved!”
Today, we can access almost every song released, nearly immediately. The top tracks in the non-EDM/commercial categories of House Music (aka today’s underground club music) sell, maybe, 500 units. DJs generally play 1-2 hour sets in a myriad of venues (most not proper clubs) and the majority have never had a dialogue about the songs they play nor what dancers want with anyone from a record label… and definitely not via an eye-to-eye or voice-to-voice exchange with someone like a Ray Caviano. Many of us would also LOVE to have an iconic, go-to record label to fuel our dance floor cravings… T.K. DISCO did it for so many and still does it for some today.
Related: The Essential TK Disco Playlist Essentials: Foundations is a series published in print in each issue of 5 Magazine. This profile appeared in the June 2014 issue, which can be ordered here.
Ray Caviano’s twin brother Bob was also a promoter and represented club luminaries like Larry Levan and Grace Jones. He died of AIDS in ’93 but not before starting LifeBeat to fight the war against HIV/AIDS with MUSIC!