This is basically a show about SPACE music from Montreal. We ended up including SPACE music from Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario also. Another record is also included. We shall give you more details. Of course most of the wildly popular SPACE music in the 1970's and 1980's was released by European artists like SPACE, ROCKETS, SPACE ART, FINAL OFFSPRING and ARPADYS. Montreal artists were inspired by the incredible success of those examples, doing their own SPACE music. Here is a sample of some of those artists.
| S M A S H
SMASH was the creation of producer GERRY BRIBOSIA who was already famous for his 1976 12" single "Free Move". His work with MONTREAL SOUND and G.B. AND THE TRACKS would help shape the very dynamics of the MONTREAL SOUND genre of DISCO MUSIC. Hits like "Express" and "Music" by MONTREAL SOUND in 1977 would spread a distinct Montreal vibe into discos throughout the world. With SMASH, BRIBOSIA offered a SPACE single with the medley "Star Odyssey" and also a very tribal 12" DISCO version of the SURF classic "Wipe Out". We begin the show with the "Star Odyssey" medley. Towards the end of the show we will feature the CHILL track that some French discos mixed with SPACE ART called "Approche". |
| STAR ODYSSEY SMASH - 12" - TOTEM 
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| S P A C E
P R O J E C T SPACE PROJECT was the creation of producers DOMINIC SCISCENTE and MICHEL DAIGLE who were very successful with various MONTREAL SOUND records like "Love Is In The Air" by MARTIN STEVENS, BLACK LIGHT ORCHESTRA albums, and the legendary BLACK LIGHT ORCHESTRA singles with PATRICK NORMAN "Let's Try Once Again" and "Loving You". Like the BLACK LIGHT ORCHESTRA material, SPACE PROJECT is rich and well produced DISCO which some sources compared to the work of ALEC R. COSTANDINOS' |
| CONQUEST OF THE STARS SPACE PROJECT - CONQUEST OF THE STARS (LP) - RCA VICTOR
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| MAJOR MALFUNCTION DIODATI - 12" - ISBA
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| K E B E K E L E K T R I K
According to the Discogs website "Kébekélektrik was a studio project conceived and overseen by PAT DESERIO, who hired local keyboard wiz and University of Montreal philosophy student Gino Soccio to craft a disco record containing four songs: an arrangement of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero", a popular cover of Space's "Magic Fly", and two original compositions, "Mirage" and "War Dance"—the latter becoming an unexpected dancefloor hit. Although Deserio oversaw the project and has co-writing credits, Soccio performed every note." The first 12" single by KEBEKELEKTRIK was one of many cover versions of the wildly popular SPACE hit "Magic Fly" from France. Yet this Canadian version became just as popular as the original. In parts of North America it became more popular than the SPACE version. It was also one of those records that many sources identify as the essential MONTREAL SOUND recording. The producer was TONY GREEN who was responsible for some of the hottest MONTREAL SOUND records ever by artists like GERALDINE HUNT, FRANCE JOLI and FREDDIE JAMES. It was mixed by DOMIMIQUE ZGARKA and GEORGE CUCUZZELLA. No one person has done more to maintain and promote DISCO than GEORGE CUCUZZELLA. He established the monumental UNIDISC label in 1976 which brought the world unforgettable recordings by artists like EROTIC DRUM BAND, KAT MANDU, TRANS-X and LIME. A reorganized UNIDISC company would continue reissuing dozens of DISCO recordings from the 1970's and 1980's, making classic gems available to different generations of dj's. Without the vision and professionalism of GEORGE CUCUZZELLA much of that music would have never appeared or survived. All of these amazing people contributed to a record that featured a new artist called GINO SOCCIO! GINO SOCCIO would continue recording many very successful DISCO records including "The Visitors" which we are featuring later. The photograph above is of the original cover of the KEBEKELEKTRIK album. |
| MAGIC FLY KEBEKELEKTRIK - 12" - LES DISQUES DIRECTION
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| D O G S
O F W A R The DOGS OF WAR included DEREK KENDRICK, HOVANESS HAGOPIAN, JACK AUGUST and the same PAT DESERIO who conceived KEBEKELEKTRIK and ran the 'Disco 1' label. HOVANESS HAGOPIAN and JACK AUGUST also recorded many records as THE ZEBRAS in the 1980's. |
| SPACIULA DOGS OF WAR - DOGS OF WAR (LP) - GENERATION
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| H E R M A N ' S
R O C K E T Back in the late 1970's some sources claimed that HERMAN'S ROCKET was a Montreal act. It was produced by JEAN-PIERRE MASSIERA from France. MASSIERA did live and work in Montreal for a while. He was never a Canadian. Other sources claimed that the SPACE artist CHARLIE MIKE SIERRA was really just a an alias of JEAN-PIERRE MASSIERA. Certain sources insisted that both HERMAN'S ROCKET and CHARLIE MIKE SIERRA were part of the Montreal scene. Maybe JEAN-PIERRE MASSIERA was in Montreal when PAT DESERIO's 'Disco 1' label released the HERMAN'S ROCKET 12" single of "Space Woman" in 1977. It was the only release of the song in the whole world that was on a 12" format. It was the only 8 minute version of the song. It was very much a Montreal phenomena at the time. We just had to include it in this show. That 12" single listed the flipside as "Space Woman" also. Evidently that was an error as the recording there was the popular CHILL track "Green Creature". We are playing "Green Creature" from the 'Space Woman' album with was released by the ultra-cool Mucho Gusto label in Montreal in 2009! |
| SPACE WOMAN HERMAN'S ROCKET - 12" - DISCO 1 |
| GREEN CREATURE HERMAN'S ROCKET - SPACE WOMAN (LP) - MUCHO GUSTO |
| THE BORDERLESS BEYOND LEGION OF GREEN MEN - THE BORDERLESS E.P. (CD) - POST CONTEMPORARY
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| INTERGALACTIC TACTIC DOGS OF WAR - DOGS OF WAR (LP) - GENERATION
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| BEYOND ORION SPACE PROJECT - CONQUEST OF THE STARS (LP) - RCA VICTOR
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| THE VISITORS GINO SOCCIO - 12" - CELEBRATION
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| LES VISITEURS (INSTRUMENTAL) GINO SOCCIO - 7" - CELEBRATION
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| LADY CAPELLA SPACE PROJECT - 7" - RCA VICTOR
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| WAR DANCE KEBEC FLEKTRIK - 12" - RIO
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| THE ULTIMATE WARLORD THE IMMORTALS - 12" - RCA VICTOR
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| MISSION TO LYRA SPACE PROJECT - CONQUEST OF THE STARS (LP) - RCA VICTOR
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| APPROCHE SMASH - 12" - TOTEM
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| 21ST CENTURY DISEASE LEGION OF GREEN MEN - 12" - POST CONTEMPORARY
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| ETERNAL OPUSCULE #95 LEGION OF GREEN MEN - 12" - POST CONTEMPORARY
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| BOLERO KEBEKELEKTRIK - KEBEKELEKTRIK (LP) - LES DISQUES DIRECTION
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| WARLORD (PART II) THE IMMORTALS - 12" - RCA VICTOR
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Great notes ! Thank you.
11:57 AM, March 8th, 2025