Terre Thaemlitz - Raw Through A Straw / Tranquilizer

I met Terre Thaemlitz back when he was beginning his DJ career working at "Sally's" in the heart of the good old edgy, dangerous, authentic and FUN "Times Square" section of NYC. Sally's was a seedy-n-sleezy African-American Transvistite-hustler bar, and Terre was playing the latest deep house and a few Disco classics as well, and doing much of his shopping at Dance Tracks, where I worked at the time. We New Yorkers were quite excited by the emergence of "Ambient" music and Alex Patterson's work. Terry came up with this track, and David Mancuso heard it. David's a big Orb fan as well and we all loved the way "Raw Through A Straw" built up from a druggy ambient intro and kicked into an amazing production built around a loop of Dennis Coffey's "Scorpio" conga/drum break with Terre banging away on the acoustic piano, creating a most excellent dance-floor masterpiece that combines the old-school with the new school in a very effective manner. Need I say that Dennis Coffey's track was a staple of the proto-disco scene in NYC and other very early dance clubs and parties? The hard core East 3rd Street Loft clientele immediately took a liking to this track with its timeless combination of funky disco break flavor and experimental/ambient production.