Thomas Jerome Moulton (, ; born November 29, 1940) is an American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. He experimented with

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano ...

and this led to its wide adoption as a standard practice in the industry. He also invented the breakdown section, and the

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

format in the process.

Life and career

Moulton was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Yo ...

, United States, as the oldest of five children to parents who both were

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musicians. He worked as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

at the Bookings and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

agencies before beginning his production career. Before that, he had worked in the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

, first as kid working part-time in record shops, then holding a sales and promotion job at King Records (from 1959 to 1961), and similar positions at

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. He eventually left due to his disgust at the industry's dishonesty.Shapiro, Peter. ''Turn the Beat Around: the Secret History of Disco''. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2005., p.40 His music career restarted in the late 1960s, with a self-made tape of overlapping songs created for the

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Lon ...

bar and restaurant The Sandpiper.Shapiro, Peter. ''Turn the Beat Around: the Secret History of Disco''. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2005., p.42 He was responsible for the first continuous-mix album side, on

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor (née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits " I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of " Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

's disco album ''

Never Can Say Goodbye "Never Can Say Goodbye" is a song written by Clifton Davis and originally recorded by The Jackson 5. The song was originally written and intended for the Supremes; however, Motown decided it would be better for the Jackson 5. It was the first ...

'', earning him the title of "father of the disco mix." Among some of his other successes in mixing songs are

The Three Degrees The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holi ...

' "Dirty Ol' Man",

MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom ...

featuring The Three Degrees' "Love Is The Message", B.T. Express' "

Do It ('Til You're Satisfied) "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" is a popular song by funk group B. T. Express, written by songwriter Billy Nichols. Background Released from the debut album of the same title, the song became a great "crossover" success. The song is noted for its ...

Tamiko Jones Tamiko Jones (born Barbara Tamiko Ferguson, 1945) is an American singer. Her most successful record was "Touch Me Baby (Reaching Out For Your Love)" in 1975. Career Barbara Tamiko Ferguson was born in Kyle, West Virginia, and has part Japanese, ...

' " Let It Flow",

Sarah Dash Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer and actress. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, sess ...

' "Sinner Man", Michele's (

Chantal Curtis Chantal Curtis (born Chantal Sitruk)Funkybeat 70-80 ''Funk★U'', Publié le 8 août 2017 Disparition du producteur Pierre Jaubert, Propos recueillis par Christophe Geudin. Photo d’ouverture : Michel Théodon/ref> was a singer who had a disco h ...

) "Disco Dance",

The Trammps The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was their 1972 cover version of " Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disco t ...

' "

Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limit ...

", The People's Choice's "

Do It Any Way You Wanna Do It Any Way You Wanna is a 1975 crossover hit by the Philadelphia-based R&B/dance group, The People's Choice, written and produced by Leon Huff. and recorded and mixed by Jay Mark. "Do It Any Way You Wanna" was a gold record for The People's Cho ...

Andrea True Andrea Marie Truden (July 26, 1943 – November 7, 2011), better known by her pseudonym Andrea True, was an American pornographic actress and singer from the disco era. In addition to her given name, she had multiple stage names, including Inger ...

's " More, More, More", plus First Choice's "Doctor Love" as well as "Armed and Extremely Dangerous" and

Claudja Barry Claudja Barry (born in 1952) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and actress. Her successful songs were " Down and Counting", "Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes" (which peaked at #56 on Billboard Hot 100 on June 9, 1979), "Dancing Fever", and others. As ...

's album, ''The Girl Most Likely''. Between 1977 and 1979, he produced

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

's first three albums, including one of the singer's biggest hits, her rendition of

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pi ...

's "

La Vie En Rose "La Vie en rose" (; ) is the signature song of popular French singer Édith Piaf, written in 1945, popularized in 1946, and released as a single in 1947. The song became very popular in the US in 1950, when seven versions reached the ''Billboard ...

." Moulton's innovative work was honored at the 2004

Dance Music Hall of Fame The Dance Music Hall of Fame was an organization established in 2003 to honor and remember significant contributors to the genre of dance music. It had its first inductions in 2004 but went inactive after the 2005 induction ceremony. History The Da ...

ceremony in New York City, when he was inducted for his achievements as a

remixer A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

. He is the official archivist of the Bethlehem Jazz and

Salsoul Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/ post-disco 12-inch relea ...

music catalogues and has overseen all of the digital remastering. In late 2006, Moulton remixed the

Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New He ...

(featuring

N'Dea Davenport N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. She was the lead vocalist in the UK acid jazz band the Brand New Heavies and made pioneering contributions to the genre of acid jazz. Career He ...

)'s single "I Don't Know (Why I Love You)." In 2006, a compilation of mixes titled '' A Tom Moulton Mix'' of Moulton's remixes on

Soul Jazz Records Soul Jazz Records is a British record label based in London. Outside of releasing records, the label also publishes books, occasionally films and performs as a DJ set. The music releases labels from a variety of genres, including reggae, house ...

. The British label Harmless Records has released albums of Moulton's work of remixed tracks, originally issued on Philadelphia International and other Philly soul labels, mainly during the 1970s.

References

External links

Tom Moulton
interview at Disco-Disco * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moulton, Tom 1940 births Living people Businesspeople from Schenectady, New York American audio engineers Record producers from New York (state) Remixers Engineers from New York (state)