Is it the Heat or is it Disco Fever?

 

I think the heat musta melted my brain (what little bit I have left). Somehow dub has disintegrated into disco before my very ears. Eurodisco at that, under the watchful gaze of the musical giant, Giorgio Moroder.

Munich Machine was, for the most part, a moniker for the fairly regular cast of studio musicians on many of Giorgio Moroder's productions: Pete Bellotte; Keith Forsey; Geoff Bastow; Mats Björklund; Dino Solera; & singers Lucy Neale; Gitta Walther (aka Jackie Robinson); & Claudia Schwarz among others. Aside from the three albums released as the Munich Machine, the MM would also be anonymously credited for the accompaniment on a few of Donna Summer's albums, Roberta Kelly's Trouble Maker album & given top billing on the single Moroder produced for his sax player Dino Solera to name a few.

Moroder was often disparaged for the assembly line quality production of his musick. So on the back of A Whiter Shade, the musicians & singers were listed as shop steward, mechanics foreman, shop foremen, apprentices, & secretaries, etc. Moroder explained:

"This, you know, this is just another joke. We know people think this about what we do, so we play up to them. It is the same with the dancing robots on the covers of the first two Munich Machine records.

"All this talk of machines and industry make me laugh. Even if you use synthesizers and sequencers and drum machines, you have to set them up, to choose exactly what you are going to make them do. It is nonsense to say that we make all our music automatically.

"I know for myself how difficult or how easy it was to get a certain sound. Sometimes it's easy, sure, but as often as not it is at least ten times more difficult to get a good synthesizer sound than on an acoustic instrument. And of course we organize things - who does not? We have to be professional about this. There is nothing wrong with this, surely?"

Say what you will, the Munich Machine sound is as instantly recognizable as the Motown sound. The Munich Machine produced a flawless combination of that cool, forward-looking, hypnotic electro pulse coupled with Moroder’s exquisite orchestration & instrumental arrangements. A perfect example would be the second song on the A Whiter Shade of Pale album, the song "It's For You". The combination is evident right from the beginning, starting off with a heavy robotic pulse & spacey synth line, which is quickly augmented by a flute & a gracefully sublime string arrangement. The beautiful juxtaposition between the two elements practically define this track, with the dreamy elegance of those strings both complimenting & contrasting the mechanical synth sounds, making this track both gentle & intense all at once. Chris Bennett's vocals exhibit a similar sort of juxtaposition, alternating between a calculated cool on the verses & an almost pleading intensity on the title refrain with those echoed, multiplied vocal effects..

The Whiter Shade album is probably the last actual Munich Machine album to serve as a showcase for Moroder's backup band. The final Munich Machine album Body Shine moved away from the original music-collective concept of the first two albums to a more conventional 'band' formula. By this point, the band officially consisted of Günter Moll & Stefan Wissnet along with singers Judith Jones & Yolande Howard with all four pictured on the back cover. With Moll & Wissnet also having production credit alongside Moroder, the record has a significantly different sound from the other things Moroder was putting out at the time. 

Munich Machine – Munich Machine, Oasis OASLP 502, 1977.
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Side 1 –

Get on the Funk Train

Side 2 –

Love to love You Baby

Trouble-Maker

Try Me, I Know We Cane Make It

I Wanna Funk with You Tonite

Spring Affair

Love to Love You Baby (reprise)

Munich Machine – A Whiter Shade of Pale, Casablanca Records NBLP 7090, 1978.

Side One –

A Whiter Shade of Pale

It’s for You

It’s All Wrong (but it’s Alright)

Side Two –

La Nuit Blanche

Love Fever

In Love with Love

Munich Machine – Body Shine, Carrere 67.346, 1979.

Side 1 –

Party Light

Fallen Angel

Space Warrior

Side 2 –

Reputation

Easy

Bolectro

Shake yer booty,
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