FEATURE: Larry Levan - Paradise Garage

Larry Levan (born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 - November 8, 1992) was a DJ who spun discs at the New York City night club Paradise Garage. The club has been described as the prototype of the modern dance club, because it was entirely focused on dancing, and was the first to put the DJ at the center of attention. He developed a cult following, who referred to his sets as "Saturday Mass". Influential US DJ Fran�ois Kevorkian credits Levan with introducing the dub aesthetic into dance music. As Kevorkian, Levan experimented with drum machines and synthesizers which helped establish new electronic, post-disco sound.

Levan got his start alongside DJ Frankie Knuckles at the Continental Baths, as a replacement for the DJ from The Gallery, Nicky Siano. Levan's DJing style was influenced by Siano's eclectic style, and by The Loft's David Mancuso. At the height of the disco boom in 1977, Levan was offered a residency at the Paradise Garage. Although owner Michael Brody, who employed Levan at the defunct Reade Street.

Open only to a select membership and housed in an otherwise unadorned building on King Street in Greenwich Village, the club and Levan's DJing slowly engendered themselves into the mainstream. The DJ and programming director from WBLS, Frankie Crocker often mentioned the club on air and based his playlists around Levan's sets. The PA system of the club included custom-designed "Levan speakers".

Filling the void left by leading remixer Walter Gibbons, Levan became a prolific producer and mixer in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with many of his efforts crossing over onto the national dance music charts. Among the records that received Levan's touch were his remixes of "Ain't Nothin' Goin On But The Rent" by Gwen Guthrie and "Heartbeat" by Taana Gardner, as well as his production work on "Don't Make Me Wait" by the Peech Boys, a group that Levan formed and was part of (and who became the New York Citi Peech Boys when the Beach Boys threatened a lawsuit due to the similar sound of the name). With a strong gospel tinge in the vocal arrangements and driven by a tinkling piano, the latter song is a quintessential example of the deejay's soulful aesthetic. One of the first dance releases to incorporate a dub influence and an appended vocal-only edit, Levan tinkered with the song for nearly a year to the consternation of Mel Charen, whose label, West End Records, was nearing bankruptcy. When it was finally released, much of the song's momentum had been lost and it stalled in the lower reaches of the charts.

The Garage ended its run with a 48 hour-long party in September 1987. As the nineties dawned, Levan was on the brink of a comeback. Although dismissed as a relic in New York, his popularity had soared among connoisseurs of disco & early American electronic dance music in Europe and Japan. In 1991, he designed the sound system for London's Ministry of Sound nightclub and DJed alongside Knuckles in its opening weeks. Levan's 1992 tour of Japan garnered gushing accolades in the local press. Shortly after returning home from Japan, Levan voluntarily entered the hospital. He died four days later of heart failure caused by endocarditis. In September 2004, Levan was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding achievement as a DJ.

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