Disco legend David Mancuso dies

As years go, 2016 has been pretty relentless in claiming deaths of musicians. Leonard Cohen recently passed away, adding to a list that has also included two indisputable icons in Prince and David Bowie, with Pete Burns, Phife Dawg, Jean Jacques Perry, Bobby Vee and many more all joining the great big gig in the sky.

Now dance music will be reeling from another loss as the news that legendary DJ David Mancuso has died at the age of 72. Mancuso threw his first ever Love Saves the Day party in 1970 which was credited as ushering in the era of disco, proving formative in the early careers of the likes of Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles and Francois K.

It was at his home, dubbed 'The Loft', where he would play long sets of music which celebrated the skills of programming and mood, helping form the early traits of the DJ culture. The news was broken by Craig Shifty of Kid Recordings on his Facebook page (see above).

Although Mancuso famously never mixed his records, his influence on storytelling and programming as a DJ still holds true to many selectors today, as was his perfectionism with sound quality. The likes of DJ Harvey and 2ManyDJs and James Murphy's Despacio project are modern examples of how Mancuso's  ideals live on.

Kerri Chandler was among those leading the early tributes. Details of the cause of death have not yet been released.

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