Too Slow To Disco [2014]

Back in 1980, Paul Davis released the second self-titled album of his recording career. The album, whose back cover is pictured below, peaked at a lowly 173 on the albums chart and two singles were released - "Do Right" made it up to number 23 while "Cry Just A Little" stalled at number 78. The lead off track on Side Two of the album is titled "Too Slow To Disco" and it features our pony-tailed troubador bemoaning the fact that he was "too slow to disco" and "too old to rock and roll" while a crazy synth breakdown punctuated his frustration.

Thirty years later, Marcus Leisenfeld (above) bka as Berlin DJ Supermarkt included "Too Slow To Disco" in an eighteen song DJ mini-mix he also titled Too Slow For Disco. The mix was first featured as an exclusive on the AOR Disco site and was later shared on the DJ's Soundcloud account at DJ Supermarkt. According to Marcus, this is:

"The music that I associate with California radio stations and driving on desert highways on the west coast of the USA with some big car at a very slow tempo. For me this mix contains no irony at all. This is BIG MUSIC, with big compositions, big arrangements and (extremely) big egos." 

 This mix has since been taken down

Thanks to his tireless efforts to keep yacht rock alive in clubs in his native Germany and across Europe as well as the enthusiastic response to his previous mixes, Marcus eventually hatched an idea to issue a licensed compilation album of mostly obscure smooth cuts from the Seventies and early Eighties heyday of the genre. Released on his own How Do You Are? record label, a special double album titled Too Slow To Disco on translucent colored vinyl was commissioned for Record Store Day 2014 with a regular black vinyl and compact disc following shortly thereafter. To promote the impending release of the project, DJ Supermarkt returned to AOR Disco with an interesting and entertaining interview as well as a teaser mix of "mellow late 70s Westcoast Yachtpop you can almost dance to":

Marcus even created a YouTube playlist that features most of the tracks found on the Too Slow To Disco album, which was named the Number One Compilation of 2014 at the Rough Trade shops. To express his gratitude, DJ Supermarkt compiled and released a bonus disc to be sold exclusively at Rough Trade shops while simultaneously releasing a mini-mix to AOR Disco. Notice the change in cover art to reflect Rough Trade's UK locale, swapping out L.A.'s Capitol Building for London's Big Ben.

Unfortunately, only 10 of the album's tracks are available through Spotify US. Listen if you wanna but I'd highly advise getting your hands on your own copy of Too Slow To Disco pronto, amigo. I played it out by the pool the other night and I swear after it was over, some unseen neighbors, hidden behind concrete block walls and cloaked in the darkness of the night, actually applauded. Ninety second snippets of each track on the album as well as the liner notes can be found HERE.