“Through an open mind, open ears and this multifaceted exposure I was digging up all kinds of biscuits, learning about many different musical genres. It was the autodidact’s School of Rock.”
Originally interviewed for Dust & Grooves in 2015, Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy is the woman behind Classic Album Sundays, a self-proclaimed “audio diva,” a mom, and a lover of cosmic-disco. I really enjoyed revisiting this one, as Murphy’s list is full of rock and pop classics, but also scattered with some more underground dance and jazz gems.
Murphy started her collection with quite some sophistication, bagging The Moody Blues’ psychedelic, baroque-pop concept album Days of Future Passed. To her admission, the record was borrowed from her Uncle Dennis, and with it still being in her possession, the loan period seems pretty generous. I love “Dawn: Dawn is a Feeling” because it puts you in slow motion. Imagine the kind that lets you crash into an enormous couch with flower petals drifting in the air around you.
As a fellow Bowie Freak (thanks Dad), I was thrilled to see Low get a mention—it’s my favorite of The Berlin Trilogy. I am a fan of ambient and slower stuff, so I love the direction toward that on “Warsaw” and “Art Decade”. However, for this playlist, I have selected the more energetic “Be My Wife”. The low piano part in the verses will jump up and tell Bowie you’d love to tie the knot.
Murphy worked alongside the legendary David Mancuso to co-produce The Loft for Nuphonic. The record is named after the seminal loft parties Mancuso would host from 1970s onwards, where Murphy would start playing and filling in for Mancuso in the 1990s. Murphy recalls her time as “twelve-hour sets on Koetsu Onyx moving coil cartridges (currently a single one retails for nearly $9k) to the most discerning dance floor in the world was initially daunting but the best musical education a budding DJ could get, especially when the few predecessors included Larry Levan.” Unfortunately, we can’t go back in time to be there, but we can go forward listening to the best Loft tunes from the most trusted sources.
To honor Murphy’s DJ moniker ‘Cosmo’, I’m highlighting a cosmic-disco record she never tires of, Harry Thumann’s Underwater. Murphy has to “stop [herself] from putting this into my record box each time I do a set. It is [her] cosmic-disco classic”. The title track is truly astounding, but “You Turn Me On” is just so much fun. You can truck, you can groove, you can sip your drink, and you can scan the room all equally as well to this song.
Changing direction a little, Murphy went on to share The Dub Factor by Black Uhuru, describing it as “a true comedown classic and a sonic delight”. Something you may need after a night of dancing to Thurman. My chosen track “Youth” doesn’t force you into feeling better, but eases you into a steady optimism, and the chill approach lends itself well to balancing the playlist out well with its fellow rockers and funkers.
Get to know more of why these records, and so many more, mean so much to Murphy here, in the original interview. Check out the list of top records from Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy’s collection below, and be sure to give the playlist a save; it is a curation of my favourite tracks from each of Colleen’s records so you can get groovin’. Enjoy!
Photo collage by Morgan Jesse Lappin. Limited edition prints available here
Colleen’s Recommended Listening List:
Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis
Love – Forever Changes
The Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed
David Bowie – Low
The Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician
Dexter Wansel – Life on Mars
Gregory Porter – “1960 What?”
David Mancuso – The Loft
The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico
Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets
The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy
Mingus – The Black Saint and the Lady Killer
The Soft Machine – The Soft Machine
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Gang – Safe as Milk
Black Uhuru – Dub Factor
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Johnny Harris – Odyssey
Kraftwerk – Autobahn
