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 Biography Eulogy Remembrances Jockey Slut article Disco Years Timeline Big Paradise Garage Records |
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Larry Levan: Eulogy Lawrence Philpot (1954-92), aka Larry Levan, legendary disc jockey of the Paradise Garage, record producer and remixer died Sunday, November 8, 1992 at Beth Israel Hospital from heart failure due to endocarditis. He was thirty-eight years old. Larry Levan leaves behind a considerable legacy of music. He was the undisputed creator of a sound, which has permeated the very fabric of contemporary music. He is acknowledged by many of his peers in the music industry as being a true visionary and the inspiration for their careers. His fiery and innovative style behind the turntables at Paradise Garage quickly made the club not only an immense success, but also the one place where record executives, music producers, and artists from around the world would converge. At the Garage, they kept up with new trends, which Larry pioneered night after night for eleven years, from 1976 until the club's closing in 1987. In the tradition of the most gifted entertainers, Larry Levan used music as a unique storytelling vehicle that transported his audience on a collective journey, reaching to the roots of their emotion and releasing unparalleled waved of excitement and energy. His music bridged cultural and ethnic boundaries and created a truly integrated environment. During the Garage years, Larry became increasingly involved in studio work as a producer and a remixer, using the club as a testing ground for his creations. His work on such classic songs as Instant Funk's "I Got My Mind Made Up," Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat," Gwen Guthrie's "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent," The New York Citi Peech Boys' "Don't Make Me Wait," and numerous others helped define a new aesthetic. Larry Levan's trademark "Garage" sound is now universally imitated, as well as electronically sampled, by many of today's leading music makers. Larry also made important contributions to audio equipment design by personally assembling and caring for the sound system at Paradise Garage, which was considered by many to be the best in the world. He lent his expertise to the late sound designer Richard Long by creating new audio components tailored to his own specifications which are regarded as some of the finest available. Since 1985, Larry had become deeply affected by the untimely passing of many of his closest friends due to AIDS, chief among them being the artist Keith Haring. In spite of these losses, he had found the motivation over the past year to resume meaningful work. He had recently returned from a very successful engagement in Japan. "The Harmony Tour," during which he enjoyed sharing the turntables with his dear friend Franois Kevorkian. Larry had invited as his guest on the tour the man he affectionately called his stepfather, Mel Cheren, the founder of West End Records and the financial backer of Paradise Garage, who was tagged by the music press as the "The Godfather Of Disco." Mel and Larry were in the process of writing a book about the history of Paradise Garage. Larry is survived by his mother, Minnie Levan; a sister, Minnie; a brother, Isaac; three nephews; and two nieces. |