Keeping Real Music Alive
The concept of Mobile Mondays intrigued me. In the words of host Rebecca Lynn, Mobile Mondays is “a weekly event/movement founded by Operator EMZ honoring the 45 RPM record.” She goes on to say, “Mobile Mondays bring NYC together to celebrate everything from disco to garage. The Mobile movement incubates creative collaboration. Mobile Mondays DJs take listeners back to an era when DJs dug a little deeper. It’s a chance to go back to the NYC they loved best, when records were events, the DJ was on the pulpit and the dance floor was epic.”
Mobile Mondays take place every Monday at The Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery at 2nd Street. I was able to speak to Lynn about this underground movement as well as an upcoming event at Lincoln Center on June 25 with headlining superstar Jody Watley and Shalamar.
I enjoyed Jody Watley at Night of a Thousand Gowns. She was amazing.
So we have this pretty amazing show.
She is just an amazing performer.
And she has such phenomenal songs.
Yeah she does, and she is a really nice person. I want to find out more about your Mobile Mondays, and then get back to Jody at Lincoln Center.
Well, Mobile Mondays is a party that friends and I started four years ago. It’s a strictly all 45 vinyl night. It’s become like an institution. We started this party because there was no place in New York that you could hear great music that started all of New York’s nightlife culture. I grew up in NYC. I remember the great nightlife in the ‘80s and ‘90s as a teenager. So now that I’m older, the nightlife is terrible. I’m sure you agree.
I loved the ‘80s.
Did you grow up in New York?
I did.
So I’m sure you remember the nightlife. How crazy NYC was in the ‘80s.
Yes, it was.
So we started this party at the Bowery Electric four years ago, and it’s become larger than life. It really encompasses every era of New York. We play every single genre in one night. It’s the only party of its kind. The DJs are phenomenal, and they’re real record collectors. They’ve been collecting records for over 20 years. It developed a real cult following. It’s still very big in an underground market. We’re still like a niche kind of party, but if you live in London or Japan, you know about this party. Our party has everyone. It’s gay, straight. It’s everyone who loves music. It’s very eclectic. It’s all ages from 21 to 65, every week. It’s really fun. It’s all about the music. Once you hear the music, there is so much energy that you can’t leave.
Vinyls are cool. I was just in Manchester for Record Day at a store called Dig Vinyl, where I met Adam Ant. I feel like back to vinyl is like a movement now.
It is. It’s coming back in such a huge way. We actually did Record Store Day. It was April 27. It’s a big deal. We did it at Rock and Soul, which is one of the oldest record shops in NYC.
So how did you come to create the Lincoln Center/Jody Watley event?
Her birthday was on a Monday, and I did a birthday tribute to her on 45s. I emailed her, and she knew about it and then thanked me. I’ve always been a huge fan of hers. Because we do concerts and stuff, I approached Lincoln Center with this whole concept and idea, and they loved it. At the same time, she finally got the rights to Shalamar. It was all timing, and this concert is going to be phenomenal. I think it’s going to be one of the best concerts anyone will see this summer.
Yes, I tend to agree with you.
Also Princess Lockeroo; I know her too, because she’s always practicing her waacking. When she goes to our party, she brings all her students, and they are waacking all night.
She’s a lot of fun. She was great dancing with Jody Watley at Thousand Gowns.
She’s really preserving the art of waacking, which is the sister dance to voguing. Waacking started in LA about the same time voguing started in New York. The gay community in New York started it at the same time the gay community in LA started waacking.
So you’re the mind behind this party at the Lincoln Center event?
I tell everyone, I do everything except DJ.
So let’s talk more about Lincoln Center.
Lincoln Center and its Summer Night Swing is their outdoor summer series. This is the first year that we’re doing this. The show’s going to be amazing. The DJs are going to play. Then there is a dance instruction. Then Jody Watley goes on at 7:30, and then the DJ will go on again around 9-9:30, and they are only going to play 45s. At 10 it’s going to turn into a silent disco, because you can’t play loud music during that time. The DJs are Operator, Joey Carvello and Natasha Diggs. I’m really excited. It’s going to be a full-on dance concert party. It’s going to be amazing.
