SYLVESTER "OVER & OVER/I NEED SOMEBODY TO LOVE TONIGHT"

Last night I attended the Manuel Gottsching performance at Club Love NYC. A few minutes into Göttsching’s set, in the silence following the enthusiastic applause for his classic “Shuttlecock” track, a lone individual in the crowd shouted enthusiastically, “Fuck her in the ass!” As I chuckled to myself, I was surprised to see the young man in question vocally denounced by his surrounding patrons for what they believed was an insulting, inappropriate and immature act. Clearly these attendees felt that the young man’s perverse proclamation was an attack on the integrity of the event, an insult to Göttsching’s legacy and his appearance that evening. I was surprised and taken aback as well, not with the young man but with the appalling show of conservativism on the part of these patrons, denouncing this young man for what was once the very energy and enthusiasm that fueled the legendary parties and club communities of NYC’s underground in years past. I can understand that some people came to the event expecting a conforming, pleasantly civil and relatively tame concert by the legendary kraut-rock pioneer (which is disturbing in itself); what I was most worried by was the fact that the majority of those who rose in anger against this youngster were themselves veterans of the party circuits of NYC’s legendary past. It seems they’ve forgotten the fun-loving, unrestrained, youthful energy that made the parties like the Paradise Garage, The Loft, Club Zanzibar & Body & SOUL so free, where the normal formalities and social constraints of everyday routine were washed away and impulsive, pleasure-seeking mania took over. I mean, seriously, think about it: if the flaming transsexuals that used to rule the party scene of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s were at the event in question, they would’ve been driven out the second they walked by the very people who are constantly pushing empty slogans like “It’s all about love" and "Everyone’s welcome!” down our throats. In reality, many of these so-called “party people” are too old (more so in attitude than age), too straight-laced, too concerned with their image and air of “maturity” and “sophistication” to even remember what was so free about the “Loft” all the way up to the not-so-long-gone Body & SOUL parties: these events were free-zones, unsoiled spaces of fraternity and pleasure where individuals were finally able to interact with each other without worrying about what they said, how they looked, who they knew and how cultured or respected they seemed. It never ceases to amaze me how often many of these completely out-of-touch elders of the dance music community talk about being “free,” about “love and happiness,” when they can’t even find the inner-child within them to let go of their idiotic pretenses and actually have a good time. In reality, their major concern is to ensure that House Music is perceived by the rest of the world as a legitimate and dignified “culture,” one that can be respected by the rich, the noble, the fashion world, the safeguards of accepted norms and standards for decency and discipline in society: to ensure that they keep their distance from street people, drag-queens and drug-addicts, so that they can finally be respected as discerning, unthreatening, dignified adults who have a place in this increasingly boring and very much UNspontaneous society. Something tells me that Sylvester did not draw his inspiration for the completely unrestrained, wildly energetic vocal belting of “Over & Over” from a gathering of 40 & 50 somethings who were more concerned with how they dressed and who they knew than having a good time. Equally less likely it seems that Sylvester would’ve made the brilliant, sex-obsessed “I Need Somebody to Love Tonight” after attending a party of married couples trying to relive their wilder days in the tamest way imaginable. And yet these brilliant songs are championed by the very same heads that would look at a drunken, lustful gathering of young adults now with patronizing disapproval. Dance music must push forward and stay free if it is to survive. Now is the time to change by recovering the old ways. BE FREE, always.

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