Bronx-born disco magician Richie Weeks steps back into the spotlight with a collection of unheard tracks

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During disco’s heyday, you were working with major artists like singer Jocelyn Brown, you mentioned producer Patrick Adams. You played legendary nightclubs like Paradise Garage and Studio 54. Then you’d go to work at the main Post Office. I’m just wondering, how did you manage to keep up that routine, and what made you do it?

Well, you know, it’s like this: I love music. And, you know, just the fact that I worked in the Post Office, you know, it was a good job, so I wasn’t about to let that go. I just said, Hey, I’m just gonna have to burn the candle at both ends, you know, see how far I can get with it. And it turned out okay. I mean, I’m sure that if I had had left the Post Office and got into my music really, really a hundred percent, I probably would’ve been even bigger, you know? But the point is, I wasn’t feeling any pain, and I had to pay bills. And, you know, I was just worried about my pension; I didn’t want to lose that. So I said, Hey, I gotta do both, you know?

Did your coworkers at the post office know about your double life?

What? Are you serious ? [Laughs] They knew about it. I used to have a limousine come down to the Post Office and wait till I finish work. And I’d jump in the limo, and they would jump in there with me! And we’d take it, we’d go right down to the Garage, and they’d come right in the back with me and everything. And they didn’t say anything at the Garage; they said, Yeah, okay, that’s your crew. And we’d be back there, and then I’d go onstage or whatever.

You know, it was fun, it was a lot of fun. I did that for quite a few of the places, like Funhouse, Bonds International, Studio 54, you know, Roseland – I did all of them, just about all the major clubs in New York. And that’s what I did: I just had the limo come down to my job and pick me up if we had sessions at night. And, you know, it worked out fine.

After you’d left the Post Office, you joined a bricklayers union in Newark?

Yes, I did that for seven years. I laid brick. I built schools, hospitals, precincts, jails, everything that has bricks and blocks. And it was good – I mean, it was paying, well, it was paying $40 an hour. I couldn’t turn that down.

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