Black Devil Disco Club

Disco Club

The first Black Devil release was the relatively obscure "Disco Club" 6-track EP in 1978. The actual artist name and album title are ambiguous; releases, reviews, and even the official artist and label websites use "Black Devil" and "Black Devil Disco Club" interchangeably.

Songwriting credits on the EP named Junior Claristidge and Joachim Sherylee, aliases for Bernard Fevre and Jacky Giordano, respectively. In a 2007 interview, Fevre explained that Giordano's role wasn't musical, he just financed the recordings, and the co-writing credit was a way of recouping that investment.

The 1978 EP was reissued in 2004 on the Rephlex label. Collectors unaware of the original LP release initially speculated that the reissue was a hoax by Rephlex founders.

The reissue press release read as follows:

"Originally released on Out Records way back in 1978, Black Devil’s “Disco Club” is an extremely rare disco masterpiece, an epic journey into the deepest electronic disco ... The record was discovered by Rephlex’s own PP Roy for 20 pence at a car boot sale, and quickly found favour with friends Richard D. James and Luke Vibert. The record has received heavy road testing from Richard and Luke, and original copies are on the net for up to £200...

Keen as ever to share fantastic music, label co-founder Grant Wilson-Claridge has managed to secure the exclusive license for Rephlex, unwittingly beating Metro Area’s Morgan Geist (a longtime fan) to the snap!.... It was made manually in a recording studio in the suburbs of Paris using synths and occasional tape loops and a drummer: no midi or computers..."

The album is very similar to From Here to Eternity by Giorgio Moroder, an electronica album produced one year earlier at Musicland Studios, in Munich, Germany.

1978 "Disco Club" EP

2004 "Disco Club" reissue

The 2004 reissue had four editions, some of which featured a new "128 bpm" remix by Luke Vibert under his Kerrier District alias:

New releases

After the success of the reissue, Fevre started to produce music again, performing live and relaunching the Black Devil Disco Club project. He released several new albums via the Lo Recordings label: 28 After (2006), Black Devil in Dub (2007; remixes of songs from 28 After), and Eight Oh Eight (2008). A new record, Circus, was scheduled to be released April 11, 2011, and features Nancy Sinatra, Afrika Bambaataa, Faris Badwan (the Horrors), YACHT, Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion), Aja Emma (Cosmetics), CocknBullKid, Nancy Fortune, and Nicolas Ker (Poni Hoax). A first single for it was released Oct 11th 2010: "My Screen" feat. Nicolas Ker.