At Midnight By T-Connection

"At Midnight" by T-Connection was released in 1978 on Miami's T.K. Disco label. It was an anthem in early house culture era. This was the era of the extended disco mix. Long mixes with extended drum break sections were pioneered as a format by Tom Moulton and Salsoul Records. This track takes that format to an extreme. It's nearly ten minutes long with an intro of over three minutes of just drums.

A Favourite Big Names

This track became popular with DJs because of it's extended percussion sections. In Chicago it was played by both Frankie Knuckles at The Warehouse and Ron Hardy at the Music Box. It was also popular with Larry Levan at Paradise Garage.

At Midnight (12" Mix) By T-Connection

Bahamian Roots

The percussive style in At Midnight is Bahamian. T-Connection was formed in 1975 in Nassau, the Bahamas. The band was led by classically trained musician Theophilus "T" Coakley with his brother Kirkwood and a group of island musicians. They made a name for themselves with a crossover sound that mixed funk with Junkanoo. Junkanoo is a traditional Bahamian art form that features rapid freeform percussion.

T-Connection relocated to Miami in 1976. At the same time TK Disco Records in Miami was having worldwide success with KC And The Sunshine Band. TK Records signed T-Connection who were immediately successful, releasing several hits before At Midnight.

The Extended Edit

You might expect that the canonical extended mix of At Midnight was created by a famous New York DJ. It was created by Miami studio engineer Cory Wade. The extended mix features minutes of Junkanoo percussion, a catchy hook and montuno piano. Although Cory Wade wasn't a big name DJ, he was the producer on a string of hits for TK Disco Records.

That Intro

The drum intro is surprisingly tonal. The drums are tuned, and the pitches are layered progressively during the intro to build upwards in what sounds like a suspended chord. I'm too lazy to figure out the music theory behind this properly but it is really cool, and I'm not sure that it's standard in any musical tradition. Candido pioneered using several tuned drums to play more musical percussion, and it's possible that T-Connection were inspired by Candido to invent this musical form.

Not Just For New Years Eve

Although the track title suggests playing at midnight (which is useful for New Year's Eve), it can be played at any time. Many famous clubs didn't open until midnight, and the track has too much energy to be a warm up track in 1978. A warm up of oldies can actually work in a modern club context. Unfortunately modern deejaying is still largely based on a formulaic two hour DJ set, which doesn't leave space for creative track selection.