Description
French disco's hidden masterpiece "Who's Who" is officially reissued on LP by Be With. Produced by French songwriter and producer Daniel Vangarde. The "unsung father of French disco," who founded his own label Zagora Records in 1975 and created numerous masterpieces in the underground scene for many years, released this disco-funk masterpiece under the name Who’s Who. By the way, his son is none other than Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk), making this a must-listen for Daft Punk fans who want to learn more about the family's background.
Opening Side A, "Palace Palace" comes at you with raw energy and an overwhelming groove, offering glimpses of a sound reminiscent of Daft Punk's "Discovery". An homage to the legendary Parisian club Le Palace (Paris's version of Studio 54), it is packed with the disco sensibility of the roller-skating culture of the time. The slow-motion "Hypno Dance" is a space-disco-style roller-dancing track that, despite being entirely instrumental, delivers an addictive groove. Side A closes with the upbeat "Popeden", which you can skip if it's not to your taste.
Side B opens with the stunning "Roll Jacky Roll". A masterpiece with a glamorous melody made for roller discos, it is loved by collectors around the world. "Ad Libitum 80" is an abstract electro-funk track that sounds ahead of its time and is secretly one of the album's hidden gems. The final track, "Dancin' Machine", combines smooth drums with Italo synth-funk elements, completely taking over the dance floor with its laid-back rhythm.
The audio was carefully remastered by Be With's Simon Francis. Pressed to the highest standards at Record Industry in the Netherlands, it fully captures Daniel Vangarde's original intent. The cover art was also scanned from the original 35mm transparency, and modern technology has enhanced its clarity, achieving an overwhelming level of quality while preserving the atmosphere of the era.
An essential LP symbolizing late-70s to early-80s roller disco-funk. A must-have for lovers of disco-funk, space disco, and live-sounding synth grooves.
A1. Palace Palace
A2. Hypno Dance
A3. Popeden
B1. Rolly Jacky Roll
B2. Ad Libitum
B3. Dancin' Machine
"Daft Punk brought me here, he brought me Daft Punk"
Just knowing that this slice of hyper-rare disco dynamite was crafted by Thomas Bangalter's dad should be enough for you to buy this on sight, if only to understand a little bit more about Thomas and Daft Punk's background. But this is so much more than a Daft Punk family curio.
Born Bangalter in 1947, Daniel Vangarde is a French songwriter and producer. In 1975, Vangarde founded his label, Zagora Records, who we have worked closely with on this lovingly curated reissue. For years, Vangarde wrote and produced songs that remained underground, under several pseudonyms and for various artists. Dubbed "the secret father of French disco" this here groove-fulled firecracker - using his Who’s Who moniker - is for disco-funk, library music and cosmic beat lovers.
The intense, evocative opener "Palace Palace" positively throbs with raw energy and sounds, honestly, like something off Daft Punk's Discovery. The title refers to the fashionable Parisian club Le Palace, essentially the Parisian Studio 54. "I’d been to a nightclub in New York, a big ring where people were roller skating with a whistle. The atmosphere was great. The music was all disco. I made this song when I came back. A vocoder transformed my voice. Back then, it wasn’t used much." The track rides a killer groove and is deceptively complex, with layers of fantastic percussion and ace synth work going on all over it. Listed to on repeat, it's brilliance is simply undeniable.
The louche, slo-mo heater "Hypno Dance" is, in Be With's opinion, *the* deadly dancefloor track. A svelte slice of ace space disco again geared towards the roller skating dance mania of the day. So deep, so disco, so instrumental. An unreal track and, as the title hints at, totally hypnotic. The side closes with the somewhat throwaway "Popeden" - it's a jaunty number that you're probably best skipping, in all honesty. Have we ever steered you wrong?
The B-Side opens with the frankly enormous "Roll Jacky Roll" is another thrilling, high class roller-rink jam with beautiful melodies that's adored the world over. The wonky, abstract "Ad Libitum 80" is a super dope, swirling, staccato electro-funk bounce which sounds light years ahead of its time. This might be the real lowkey sleeper gem on this record. CHECK! This remarkable LP rounds out with the huge "Dancin' Machine". It's got sleek drums that emit an absolutely ace swagger and elements of Italo synth funk feels. A relaxed, slow rhythm throughout ensures you can't help but get your funk on when this crashes soundsystems. We'll leave the final word on this to Daniel: "It amuses me to think that my son Thomas was influenced by "Dancin’ Machine" for "Around The World", he says. Both songs being based on an hypnotic repetitive refrain. Both songs being, of course, timeless pieces of Euro genius.
Who's Who really is a fantastic late-70s-early 80s roller disco-funk essential. The audio has been carefully remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring it sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the records have been pressed to the highest possible standard at Record Industry in Holland.
When it came to the sleeve for this we were presented with an unusual problem: we usually have to rely on an original sleeve as the starting point for the restoration, but instead we were able to scan the original 35mm transparency of the front cover photo. The problem is that with a modern scanner the results were far sharper than when they made the original sleeve. We’ve played around with the exposure and the colour grading but we’re sorry to say that our version of the front cover still ended up looking too good! Don’t hate us.
