Larry Levan

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Larry Levan (actually Lawrence Philpot ; born July 20, 1954 Brooklyn , New York , † November 8, 1992 ibid.) Was an American DJ and music producer . Levan is considered a pioneer of the modern disco , house and garage scene .

Together with Frankie Knuckles , Larry Levan came into contact with the burgeoning disco and dance scene of the early 1970s as a teenager. Levan and Knuckles helped out at The Gallery and from 1972 to 1976 also at the Continental Baths , where they were able to develop their skills as DJs. In 1977 Levan founded the New York nightclub Paradise Garage with Michael Brody and Mel Cheren, co-owners of West End Records , where he worked as a DJ for ten years. The club is considered to be the prototype of today's discotheques , as the individual DJ as a sound artist and dancing were the focus here for the first time . Levan often ended his DJ sets in the Paradise Garage with Manuel Göttsching's track E2-E4 and helped the track, which was previously only known to Göttsching fans, to new popularity.

In the following years Larry Levan released several successful remixes , including Taana Gardner's Heartbeat . The Paradise Garage closed on September 26, 1987, as Michael Brody was seriously ill with AIDS . Levan initially struggled to gain a foothold in another club until 1990 when he was asked to design and set up the sound system at the Ministry of Sound .

After his Harmony Tour through Japan , Larry Levan died in 1992 at the age of 38 of complications from endocarditis . In September 2004 he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his exceptional achievements and achievements as a DJ .

literature

  • Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton Last Night a DJ Saved my Life: the History of the Disc Jockey . Headline Book Publishing Ltd., 1999, ISBN 0-7472-6230-6
  • Tim Lawrence: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979 . Duke University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8223-3198-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ D. Strauss: Manuel Göttsching Revisits Minimalist Classic E2-E4. Retrieved January 7, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Levan, Larry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Philpot, Lawrence (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American DJ and pioneer of the modern disco, house and garage scene
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1992
Place of death New York City