I recently began the arduous task of sorting through some old reel-to-reel tapes and *acetate discs. Before the digital age, my edits, promos, and rare releases were either stored on a reel-to-reel or pressed on an acetate disc. An acetate disc didn’t last long, and it was usually suitable for about 10-20 plays. While sorting, I stumbled upon an old gem I edited many years ago. 

The old soul group “Sound Experience” has a song named “He Don’t Really Love You.” The song is from their 1975 Buddah Records LP, “Boogie Woogie.” (For those keeping score, the * catalog number is BDS5645.) It’s a cute little ballad, timed at 8:21. About the 7:55 mark, the song changes into this funky groove that I love—harmonizing vocals, classic strings, and those 1970s snares. The musical transition bought this pretty little ballad to life. Unfortunately, the portion of the song I favored was just too short.

So what did DJ’s do in those days? We either purchased two copies and extended our favorites parts live, or pulled out our tape splicing tools and went to work editing. I loved the art of cutting, chopping, and rearranging songs.

Surprisingly, the acetate played almost flawlessly (little pops and clicks can be heard). I loved playing “He Don’t Really Love You.” It is a nice 8:00 am mellow vibe that my dancers loved.

As I find these unique personal gems, I will share them. For those of you who want to purchase the original Sound Experience LP, it is available at Discogs.

Nick

*Acetate Disc – An acetate disc is a type of phonograph(gramaphone) record, a mechanical sound storage medium, widely used from the 1930s to the late 1950s for recording and broadcast purposes and still in limited use today”

* Catalogue Number – A catalogue number is a number a record label assigns to a release for identification purposes.