l to r: Robey Newsom, Eugenie Diserio, Steven Alexander, Louis Watterson
NYC 1982
The Dance 1979-1983
The Downtown New York City music scene of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s was a renaissance, a coming together of ideas and influences from all the arts and from cultures around the world. From the humble beginnings of CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, the music scene grew to be dominated by the “dance/rock emporiums†Hurrah, Danceteria, Peppermint Lounge, The Ritz, Mudd Club, as well as myriad smaller clubs like Tier 3 and Club 57. Among the first and most prominent bands of this era in NYC was The Dance, a band that made a unique form of poetic beat music , combining musical influences from minimalism, funk, hip-hop, reggae and rock with lyrics that use wit and startling candor to explore paradox and sexual politics. They headlined regularly at all the “emporia†and at similar venues throughout the Northeast US, and were also the “opening band of choice†for a great many of the more commercial British bands including The Cure, Depech Mode, Duran Duran. Lena Lovich, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Fingerprintz and Simple Minds. Releasing two LPs on the Statik UK label, their largest audience was in Europe where they toured only once.
The Dance was formed in New York City in late 1979 when Steven Alexander and Eugenie Diserio, both visual artists with MFAs from Columbia University, dissolved their first band, the notorious Model Citizens whose self titled EP had been produced by John Cale. They soon recruited bassist Louis Watterson, whom they heard at a jazz/funk loft party in Chelsea. The first recording by The Dance was Dance for Your Dinner EP, recorded at Unique Recording in New York and released in 1980 by GoGo Records of Philadelphia. At that time, The Dance was Eugenie, Steve and Louis, along with Fred Maher on drums and Jim Martin on percussion, second guitar and sax. The song “Do Dada†from that first EP was recently re-issued by Soul Jazz Records on the New York Noise, Vol. 1 compilation CD.
In the next year, Martin was replaced by Tomas Doncker on guitar, and Maher was replaced by Robey Newsom on drums. This five-piece lineup recorded The Dance’s first LP, In Lust, released by Statik UK in 1981. Recorded in Surry, England, at Strawberry Studios, and co-produced at the label’s insistence by John Walker (a young and inexperienced engineer), In Lust presented a murky and sterile quasi-commercial funk sound. It was well received by fans and press, particularly in Europe where it had major label distribution. But The Dance’s true originality had not yet emerged on record.
Shortly after the release of In Lust, The Dance pared down to a four-piece band of Eugenie, Steve, Louis and Robey, streamlining their sound and embarking on a highly successful European tour. It was during this tour they were invited to open for The Clash in New York City at Bond’s, but they chose to decline the invitation and continue in Europe. In London at the end of the tour, The Dance entered Basing Street Studios to make what would be the first recordings of the Soul Force LP, an extended 12†single of “Stay Down†and “Dubbin’ Down†b/w “You Got to Know,†released by Statik UK in early 1982.
Returning to New York City in spring of 1982, The Dance entered Celestial Sound Studios to self-produce their second LP, Soul Force. The resulting record was The Dance at their most focused moment, confident and at home in the studio, and collaborating with fluidity and openness. The songs on Soul Force are simplified and direct, deeply felt and eloquently articulated. This record was indeed of its time, reflecting the fusion of international sounds and attitudes that was Downtown NYC in 1982. But Soul Force consistently transcends its local scene, achieving a timeless relevance by eschewing the cliché and the familiar in favor of true and essential impulses.
Like much of the most original music made in the US, Soul Force was met with critical praise but little or no support from the record company. Available in the States only as an import, the record had broad distribution throughout the rest of the world, but left The Dance without distribution and promotional support at home. So in late 1982, Steve and Eugenie entered Shakedown Sound Studios in New York City with hip-hop producer Arthur Baker to record extended mixes of a new song “Into the Future,†a trippy, hedonistic incantation with a throbbing bass and a Middle-Eastern-sounding keyboard line. The record was immediately signed to Island Records by Mark Kamins, a well known DJ who had also signed Madonna to WB and was now A&R for Island. But in 1983, a month before the record’s release, a personnel shake-up at the Island label left “Into the Future†on the shelf, where it remains today.
At that point The Dance project reached a natural conclusion. Eugenie recorded several other tracks with Arthur Baker before founding her own highly successful dot-com company. She now resides in Connecticut. Steven continued to perform solo in New York and Austin for a short time, then resumed his painting career. His work is now widely exhibited and collected, and he teaches painting at a university in Pennsylvania. Louis moved for a time to New Orleans, and now continues to play music in New York. Robey continued his education and became VP of a bank in New York.
Now in 2007, The Dance’s Soul Force LP is reissued by ReRelease.net, and available for the first time in digital form. The music on this record is possibly even more relevant today than in 1982, and is certainly just as alive and true as the day it was made. For many in the US, it is the first availability of this piece of New York underground music history. But Soul Force is not just a piece of history; it is a vital piece of contemporary art that continues to speak with humanity and love to anyone who will listen.
The Dance would like to send a special thanks to Aaron Levin for locating everyone and initiating the reissue of this record. Soul Force is now available with bonus tracks at OtherMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody and other digital music stores, and direct from ReRelease.net .