I got in touch with engineer Godfrey Diamond in the fall. I spent last year listening to Bionic Boogie’s “Hot Butterfly,” a song he co-produced in 1978 with his brother Gregg, at least once a week. It’s a beautiful song (one that would be covered only a few years later by Chaka Khan), with incredible arrangements and a jaw dropping vocal performance by Luther Vandross.
After a very fawning e-mail introduction, I met with him on an October weekend afternoon at his home studio in Prospect Heights. He told me some great stories about the late 70′s, including one about getting vinyl lacquers pressed of rough mixes, bringing them over to Studio 54 that night so the DJ could spin it and then finishing the mix based on how the crowd reacted.
Thom and I convened at Perfect Mixes for two sessions, one in January and one in February.
In January, I recorded lead vocals on three Nova Social songs in the works: “The Exception,” “Leave Me Alone I’m Fine” and “The Star.”
Last week we got together with a trio of string players, helmed by Tom Chiu of Flux Quartet (along with Rachel Golub on violin and Alex Greenbaum on cello). We recorded strings on nine songs in five hours. The songs are:
“The Exception”
“Martin”
“The Delano”
“We’ll Help You Move”
“Leave Me Alone I’m Fine”
“A Boxer’s Wedding”
“I’m on Fire”
“The Star”
“Escape”
-David