The Black Devil Disco Club is a project dating back to the
late 70s attributed to
Parisian library musicians Bernard Fevre and Jacky Giordano under the pseudonyms Junior Claristidge and Joachim Sherylee. As Black Devil, the pair made a single, sought-after leftfield disco EP titled Disco Club in 1978, released on Italy's Out label and RCA; a dark disco masterwork with live drumming, spacey synths and spooky vocals. Bernard Fevre has since revived the project as Black Devil Disco Club to much acclaim and has added two more albums to the Black Devil oeuvre.
The impossibly hard to find original six track EP, made manually in a recording studio in the suburbs of Paris using synths and occasional tape loops and a drummer, reached legendary status among Italo disco aficionados and has been hailed as a proto Italo classic, despite originating n France.
The Chemical Brothers reputedly sampled Black Devil’s "Earthmessage" for the track "Got Glint?" for their 1999 album Surrender. In 2004, the Disco Club EP was given a timely re-release on Richard D. James’
Rephlex label in a series of 12"s. Rather than do a straight reissue, Rephlex opted to release a first 12" including four tracks from the original vinyl, and later release two other tracks along with out-takes and a remix from Luke Vibert (as Kerrier District), via 12" and CD single releases that featured different track lists. The
futuristic sound was so contemporary in 2004 that the re-issues prompted rumours and speculation that Black Devil Disco Club was in fact Richard D. James (
Aphex Twin) playing a characteristic prank. The reissue reaffirmed the record’s classic status, so ahead of its time in 1978, and in 2006 Bernard Fevre teamed up electronic artist Gwen Jamios to reform the group under the name "Black Devil Disco Club".
They have since performed live as well as released three additional albums,
28 After,
Black Devil In Dub and
Eight Oh Eight all on Lo Recordings.
28 After, titled in an obvious reference to the years lapsed between albums, caused a stir among
Italo enthusiasts and neo disco devotees, fuelled by speculation about whether the material was in fact new or more edits from the original project, with Fevre reluctant to divulge details.
Black Devil in Dub appeared in 2007, and featured remixes from contemporary artists such as
Elitechnique, In Flagranti,
Prins Thomas and Quiet Villiage.
Eight oh Eight came out in June 2008, and the six-track production was pitched as the third and final instalment of the
Black Devil Disco Club trilogy. Remixes followed from Hercules & Love Affair, Radio Slave and Paul Woolford. Black Devil Disco Club has since remixed tracks included on compilations including Sunglasses at Night and In Flagranti’s Nonplusultra.
In addition to his work released under the Black Devil guise, Bernard Fevre reportedly got his start in the music hall business in the 60s and went on to work as a musician at L'Illustration Musicale – a French library label brought into being in the 60's by Jazz pianist Eddie Warner to provide music for film and TV soundtracks – where Disco Club was produced. He went on to produce radio jingles throughout the 80s. Fevre also released material under his own name in the late 70s and early 80s, including three experimental full-lengths:
The Strange World of Bernard Fevre (1975) for L'Illustration Musicale,
Cosmos 2043 (LP) and
Suspense (LP) both for French label Musax. A chanson-style pop 7” single called "Ouvre la Fenętre" is also attributed to Fevre dated 1976. Fevre has stated in interviews that he has been involved in other projects over the years making dance music and even acid, but these have never revealed to the public.
> www.myspace.com/bddcreal
> www.myspace.com/blackdevildiscoclub26
> www.lorecords.com
Appearances:
> CTM.09 > SPEKTRAL DISCO
