I’ll get the preamble out of the way by saying this: this is easily my favorite producer of the 70s (right now, subject to change, don’t even think of holding me to that statement, etc. etc.).

Einzelganger– Warum, [Einzelganger]

This track/album is part of the reason why. A friend and I have had a few conversations about Moroder and he always seems to come down on the side that Moroder was first, and foremost (and always), a pop producer. For a while I believed him. All of the early work seemed to point towards this idea. “Son of My Father” was a pure pop confection of the highest order. But what I like to imagine (and it’s probably not true) is that by the time this came about Giorgio had fallen on a rough patch. It’d been some time since Chicory had taken him to the top of the charts and he was beginning to feel like he might not get there again, especially after the failure of Donna Summer’s first album—that no one would recognize his genius. So, he releases this. A dip of the toe into avant-garde waters and kraut-rock electronics. It’s shrugged off completely and less than a year later he and Summer record “Love to Love You Baby”. The rest is history. My alternate history sees Einzelganger seized for the gem that it was by hipsters and a small portion of the public—enough to encourage him to continue with it. And then he meets up with other people pursuing the same ideas. Giorgio meet Ralf and Florian, Giorgio meet Michael and/or Klaus. What would that have sounded like?

[buy Einzelganger here]

Donna Summer– Wasted, [A Love Trilogy]

The question was raised a few weeks ago while in a used record shop: what’s worse: finding a record that you’ve been looking for and then seeing that is too scratched to play or not finding it at all? Sub-question: what about finding the sleeve and then finding that the record isn’t in there at all? Every copy of this album on vinyl fit these requirements at one point or another during the day.

My vinyl shopping woes aside, this is the most underrated Summer record of them all. The first side is taken up by “Love to Love You” Part II, which goes through more permutations than its predecessor and does it far better. And then the second side is chock-full of bangers like this one. OK, perhaps you don’t consider her cover of Barry Manilow’s “Could It Be Magic?” which has some very personal significance (the original, that is), which we won’t get into here, a banger. But this song? You can’t deny it.

[buy A Love Trilogy here]

Roberta Kelly– Speak My Mind To His Ear, [Gettin’ The Spirit]

Virtually the only information on this record that I’ve been able to find is, oddly enough, a Robert Christgau review. The Dean gave it a B+ and I’d agree, but its rarity makes it much more valuable to me. And this, the last song on the record, makes it something else entirely. Prog disco?

The beginning more resembles Hendrix’s “1983”, in a very good way, showing off some psychedelic qualities that’s hard to find elsewhere in Moroder’s work. It’s my pet theory that Giorgio saved this sort of stuff for Roberta’s records, to try out his more out-there stuff and see how audiences responded, before giving it to Donna, who might have had more to lose with a clunker of a record (this didn’t stop them from releasing The Wanderer, though).

Standard-issue disco otherwise, I can’t stop listening to this one for those moments where things get just a bit weird.

[buy Gettin’ The Spirit here]

Please note the slight change in schedule that will go into effect next week.