Barrabas - Original New York Disco

Back in the early days of DISCO, there was a new sound, nothing that New York City had ever heard. It wasn't that MOTOWN sound, and it wasn't that PHILLY Sound, it wasn't R&B. It was new, it was EUROPEAN. The group that brought that sound to the BIG APPLE was BARRABAS.

Founder and leader of the band was Spaniard, Fernando Arbex. His other band had broken-up. So he started a new band with former band-mate Ignacio Egana. Along with several other musicians, they became BARRABAS in 1971. This Spanish group was very instrumental in the early New York City DISCO World. Thus, it was influential in the DISCO WORLD!! Initially they were a Latin Rock band with extreme influences of FUNK and JAZZ.

It was with the success at DISCOS that turned them into a full blown DISCO group. The music they played wasn't as Pop-oriented as MOTOWN, or as Orchestrated as the PHILLY SOUND. It had a little more electronic sound, more keyboards than the standard DISCO music that existed. It was EUROPEAN! It was different!

In 1972 they released their first album,WILD SAFARI. This album took off, with various cuts getting played at New York City clubs such as IPANEMA and THE COPACABANA. Soon they were in New York, performing at those DISCOS and making a home at CASA GALLICIA in Manhattan. The whole Album was great, with their single WOMAN getting so much Club play that despite no RADIO play whatsoever, it could be heard in House Parties and in houses! It eventually became one of the first DISCO CLASSICS. The impact of WOMAN and WILD SAFARI can't be underestimated. It gave deejays something very danceable, that wasn't as FUNKY as MOTOWN and the PHILLY SOUND. It was a different more European style of DISCO music.It opened the door for EUROPEAN Stars and EUROPEAN DISCO MUSIC to invade our DISCOS! WOMAN especially was played everywhere that the term DISCO was associated. It was so great, that years later,FREESTYLE, DISCO'S son, was also influenced by WOMAN, when TECHNO-LUST released a FREESTYLE Cover Version. That record too, was a pioneer of that genre of music.

In 1973, after well publicized drug problems, Ignacio Egana decided to leave the group. Fernando Arbex started producing more and spending less time with BARRABAS. they disbanded in 1977. They reunited in 1980, recorded a few more albums but were more or less done by 1984. Today, a form of the group BARRABAS still performs: rarely, and locally. Thanks for WOMAN!!!

Reprinted with permission from Bernard F. Lopez
http://www.discomusic.com

-- #62 Posted on Monday, March 9, 2009 --