David Berthy Posts
Lately I’m noticing a resurgence of the early eighties roller-boogie sound. There were two obscure skate tracks on the Rapture’s recently released mixtape Tapes, and I’m hearing it a little bit on Q-Tip’s new record as well. The closest I’ve gotten lately to a roller boogie was when I watched the movie ATL on demand, but when I lived in Venice Beach I used to walk by the regularly held skate circle on the boardwalk, and I have dim recollections of the slow grooves and swirling lights at certain skate rinks I frequented in the early eighties as a clueless youth (I danced on the carpet just outside the rink, so as to avoid injury). I’ve been around the music enough, then, to know the sound is characterized by a rolling beat that lends itself to the bounce and rock of skating, and fat, fuzzy bass that recalls the legendary funk artist Roger Troutman. Here are two newish tracks that reference and update the sound. The first comes from the young Scotsman Calvin Harris, who supposedly made his silly-fun I Created Disco record in his bedroom on a Commodore 64 or something. The second song, a more obvious example of the genre, comes from LA-based Plantlife’s recently released record Time Traveller. Hopefully, the trend picks up steam and we’ll see a widespread proliferation of roller boogie nights in the near future.
The Return of Roller Boogie
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