TOM MOULTON’S EXTENDED DISCO REMIX INTRODUCED THE 12-INCH VINYL SINGLE, FOREVER CHANGING MODERN RECORDED MUSIC.
by Andrew Mason
Meeting Tom Moulton is a bit like meeting Henry Ford. Whether you know it or not, if you’ve driven a car, you owe something to Ford. And if you’ve danced in a club, you owe something to Tom Moulton. Before we go any further, I should mention that, just as Mr. Ford did not invent the wheel or the automobile itself, Tom Moulton did not invent music, discos, dancing, or vinyl records. But he has a fair claim to the patents on several of the most important innovations rising from the combination of those ingredients. “He pretty much singlehandedly created the art of extended remix,” states Dimitri From Paris, one of today’s leading practitioners of the art. Along with this creation came its natural partner, the 12-inch single. And what about those long, soloed sections of percussion beloved by dancers and disc jockeys, known as the “disco break”? Another Moulton invention. But as impressive as these accomplishments are, they are merely plaques on the wall of a hall-of-fame career that seems to have encompassed several lifetimes of a passionate relationship with dance music and the industry that lies behind it. We met in his music-crammed Manhattan apartment to talk about some of his discoveries and the path that led to them.
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Photos courtesy of Tom Moulton.
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