ORS (Orlando Riva Sound) ~ Germany

Body to Body Boogie (1978)

---10/30/13

Despite what it may appear if reviewing my collection, I'm not one to find the disco genre inherently insipid. Actually, a good disco album requires quite a bit of effort. Today, an album such as this could be made by one person with modern technology. Body to Body Boogie features no less than 17 musicians and singers. Plenty of great keyboards (including two well known underground names* on Moog), a five piece horn section, five vocalists, strings, electric guitar, bass, and drums. So there are plenty of great sounds here created by the Moog, as well as tight horn charts, and intriguing (often wordless) vocals. The problem with disco, of course, is what makes it disco: The limitations of the fat 4/4 dance beat. You take that beat element out of this recording, and you'd have a very interesting French styled avant garde electronique album that was popular in Paris during the late 70s.

* - Krautrock veterans Kristian Schultze (Passport, The Bridge) and Stefan Zauner (Amon Duul II) are listed on Moog (not keyboards, but Moog alone). Perhaps it was a "paycheck" album, but their playing here is of a high quality. Plus they wrote or co-wrote most of the material.

Personally, I also find the album cover highly appealing (Salsoul edition that is). Overall, a keeper I think. You just never know what you might find in a neighbor's collection ;-)

---10/25/26

And that's exactly how I obtained this - a neighbor gave me his record collection. Mostly junk, but this gem was among the better titles. I've already documented Silver Convention and Tender Aggression, two other German disco gems that featured underground Krautrock artists from the early 70s. For me, though, this was first up in the order (at least from a full album perspective). I think Dieter Reith wins the prize, but ORS is damn good fun.

Not quite sure why Discogs separated the German release from the Salsoul version. Best I can tell is that it contains one extra track (and different artwork), not that it's a completely separate recording. 

Ownership: 1979 Salsoul (LP). Acquired in 2013.

10/30/13 (review); 10/25/26 (update / new entry)