El Coco - Cocomotion

My review of El Coco 'Cocomotion'

I love the string intro and the way the slightly discordant echos fade off before the bass line comes in. The bass line itself is a mellow but catchy hook which sets a relaxed mood. Nice congas are followed by some well orchestrated strings, which start to build the track with the help of the keys. The bass drops down an octave and becomes a lot more minimal as the track really gets under way shifting to a mellower feel without the strings. A gentle xylophone and piccolo melody bounces along followed by some seriously nice chords from the keyboard and the sounds of nature give a relaxed tropical feel to the track.

The track breaks to the percussion and hand claps before the only lyrics

"Do it, do it Good, Dance the cocomotion now"

After which the original bass line is played on an electric organ.

Again, the track takes another turn with the keyboard solo and the introduction of the horns, strings and wah-wah, building slowly. The original quaint piccolo and xylophone melody is heard again which is then nicely contrasted by same heavy low piano chords.

The track breaks down again and the simplified bass line returns with the wah-wah and some nice piano frills to finish the track off.

This is definitely no simple track! It's wonderfully arranged and performed with some much to it - nd what a bass hook! It's definitely danceable with a light airy feel in parts and with lots of expression, it's surely a masterpiece, if not a classic at least!! Jazz funk ? Disco? Bit of both really.

Mini biography for 'El coco'

El Coco was one studio projects of the legendary disco producers Laurin Rinder, a session drummer, and Michael Lewis a keyboardist. Laurin Rinder had been involved in the music industry from a very early age, recording as a session drummer at the just ten years old.(!) He decided to quit college completely to follow his obsession with music. He played a variety of instruments including the trumpet and the saxophone, but the drums were his forte. Laurin Rinder played drums in the 50's early rock bands in LA and later moved to Detroit and was a session drummer for Motown. He recorded and toured with a number of artists including 'James Brown' and 'Muddy Waters' and took any opportunity that came his way, often traveling around America to Philadelphia and Miami.At the end of the sixties Rinder was back in LA and met 'Michael Lewis'. They both became members of the band 'Joshua' and went on to work on the 'Simon Soussan Projects' which, basically, involved over dubbing classic soul and R&B songs to give them a more uptempo dance feel. It was at this time the pair were introduced to the early LA disco scene, and went on to start producing their own tracks. They released material on the AVI label and sub labels, under various guises including:

• Le Pamplemousse
• Tuxedo Junction
• Saint Tropez
• Rinlew Allstars
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Rinder & Lewis
• Discognosis
• In Search of Orchestra

Together, Rinder and Lewis produced a huge amount of music for the thriving LA club scene and also many TV shows and films.

They wrote and arranged most of the 'El Coco' tracks and played a variety of the instruments themselves, adding guest vocals and session musicians as needed. On one of their studio projects 'Le Pamplemousse', fictitious musician's names were added to the album even though the duo had done everything themselves.

The name 'El Coco' relates to a certain white powder, extracted from Coco leaves, that was a popular stimulant amongst dance floor revelers and musicians a like at the time.

Links

Full El Coco Biography and Laurin Rinder interview (A MUST READ!)

Band members and musicians

• Michael Lewis - Keyboards (Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Clavinet, Marimba, Synthesizers) / Clarinet / Tenor Saxophone / Acoustic Guitar / Bass
• Laurin Rinder - Drums / Percussion / Congas / Timbales / Bongos
• Joy Cannon - Lead Vocals
• Larry Lingle - Guitar
• John Hunt - Guitar
• Jack Weber - Guitar
• Dave Cahoun - Piano
• Doug Richardson - Saxophone / flute
• Fred Smith - Alto Saxophone
• Ernie Fields - Tenor Saxophone / Flute
• Luther Rabb - Electric Bass
• Joe Bellamy - Bass
• David Stout - Trombone
• Harry Kim - Trumpet
• Mark Singer - Congas
• Mark Bryson - Vocals
• Pat Powdrill - Vocals
• Merria Ross - Vocals
• Jerri Bocchino - Vocals
• Adrienne Williams - Vocals
• Chris Bocchino - Vocals
• Marsha Thacker - Vocals
• Kathy Nixon - Vocals
• Adrinne Williams - Backing Vocals
• Pat Powdrill - Backing Vocals
• Millicent Alexander - Backing Vocals
• Sybil Doss - Backing Vocals


• Engineers - Dave McKinley , Galen Senogles , Peter Krueger, Ben Rogers , John Rosenthal, Joe Bellamy, Dave LaBarre, Galen Senogles, Rick Hart
• Executive producers - Ed Cobb , Ray Harris

El Coco Discography

Albums

• Brazil - AVI Records - 1975
• Mondo Disco - AVI Records / Pye Records - 1975
• Lets Get It Together - AVI Records / Pye -1976
• Cocomotion - AVI Records / Pye / Derby- 1977
• Dancing In Paradise - AVI Records / Disques Vogue / Pye - 1978
• Revolución - AVI Records / Derby - 1980

Singles

• Lets Get It Together / Fait Le Chat - Disques Vogue / AVI - 1976
• Mondo Disco - AVI Records / CBS - 1976 You Tube
• Cocomotion / I'm Mad As Hell - AVI Records - 1977
• I'm Mad As Hell - AVI Records / Pye - 1977
• Just Be You - AVI Records - 1977
• Yakety Yak / Heartbeat - AVI Records - 1977
• Coco Kane - AVI Records - 1978
• Cocomotion - EMI Electrola - 1978
• Dancing In Paradise / Love In Your Life - AVI Records - 1978
• Cocomotion '79 (remix) - AVI Records - 1979
• Dance Man - AVI Records - 1979
• Love Exciter / Dance Man - Derby / AVI Records - 1979
• Let's Get It Together (Re-Mix) - AVI Records - 1980
• I've Got To Dance / Willie And The Hand Jive / Mondo Disco - Unidisc - 1986
• Cocomotion / Le Spank (reissue) - Hot Classics - 1990

Some other favorite tunes by 'El Coco'

• Dancing in Paradise
• Let's get it together
• Mondo Disco
• Afrodesia
• Shakeit down
• One step back for love

Go here to listen to these plus many more classic disco tracks

enjoy! see ya