Description
In 2019, Jerome Derradji signed NYC’s dance music legend Richie Weeks to Past Due Records. Richie’s work as a singer, songwriter, musician, and producer was foundational to New York’s disco, boogie funk, house scenes and beyond. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, he racked up releases on a multitude of labels in the USA and abroad while leading such incredible groups as Weeks & Co. and The Jammers on Salsoul Records, Prelude Records and also recording as Bambu, Major Weeks, and Jiraffe.
Unbeknownst to Jerome, throughout the years, Richie Weeks had accumulated a literal treasure trove of unreleased recordings on hundreds of reel to reels and cassettes. So for the last 3 years, Jerome has painstakingly professionally transferred, digitized and archived Richie’s lost productions. The result is around 300 unreleased tracks (with some being also different versions of his classic songs) all ranging between 1978-85!
There is no denying that this may be the find of the century for all the original Disco, Soul and Funk lovers worldwide. An entire new page of New York City’s Disco and Dance Music history is going to be written thanks to Richie’s absolutely mind-blowing work. Because of the sheer amount and quality of the unreleased music here, we’ve decided to space its release on at least 10 compilations that will take us from Richie’s early career in 1978 to his peak popularity in 1985/86, almost year by year.
So here we start with Vol.1: “The Love Magician Archives – Disco – New York City 1978-79.”.
In 1978, Richie got introduced by some fellow musician to the mighty Patrick Adams of Patrick Adams Productions, Inc.
Almost immediately, Patrick gave Richie studio time and started – with Richie – to executively produce his songs. The result is presented here with the first 10 songs from the archive. Prestigious guests like Leroy Burgess or Patrick Adams (on bass and drums) are plentiful and flow throughout expertly written disco tunes that are crafted and mixed by Richie Weeks himself. During these sessions, Patrick Adams compared Weeks’ attention to detail to that of Quincy Jones. For a good reason, Richie’s talent is that of a real musical genius and it shines through all these songs.
We are extremely proud to release these songs for the first time since they were mixed in 1978-79. And trust Richie, this is what Disco is supposed to sound like: soulful, timeless, melodic and gritty.
The sleeve liner has notes written by Jacob Arnold and the artwork is by Disco legend Al Kent. “All songs have been transferred from the original reel to reels and are presented unaltered. We’ve extensively and professionally restored each song but in a few occurrences the listener may experience variations in audio quality.” This release is dedicated to Patrick Adams, may he Rest in Peace.
Tracklist
A1: Richie Weeks – I’ll Keep You Up (9:23)
A2: Richie Weeks – I’ve Been There Before (Version 2) (6:39)
B1: Richie Weeks – The Beat Of The Times (Version 2) (7:51)
B2: Richie Weeks – Find That Disco Rhythm (Version 2) (5:02)
C1: Richie Weeks Feat. Tanyayette Whilloughby – Love Magician (Version 2) (10:08)
C2: Weeks & Company – Just Cause I Don’t Dance (Vocal Mix) (5:45)
D1: Richie Weeks Feat. Tanyayette Whilloughby – At The Disco (6:39)
D2: Richie Weeks – Everyone Knows (Version 3) (7:03)
E1: Richie Weeks Feat. Leroy Burgess – Who Cares? (Version 4) (9:39)
E2: Weeks & Company – Just Cause I Don’t Dance (Version 2) (6:55)
F1: Richie Weeks Feat. Tanyayette Whilloughby – How Many Times? (Version 4) (7:57)
F2: Richie Weeks Feat. Tanyayette Whilloughby – Love Magician (Version 4 Richie’s Vocal Mix) (10:38)
