Nini Nobless, co-founder of Montreal disco powerhouse duo Lime, dead at 74
CBC
Disco producer Nini Nobless, formerly known as Denis LePage, had a knack for drawing revellers to the dance floor. In the heart of Montreal's pumping 1980s nightlife, the musician's hitmaking skills were unmistakable.
With a stream of Billboard chart hits, Nobless helped define an era of Canada's discotheques as part of the duo Lime. The producer, who later took the name Nini Nobless, died Monday of cancer at age 74, said former manager Yvon Lafrance.
While not exactly a household name, Nobless' infectious synthesizer hooks made Lime's songs favourites at dance clubs around the world.
"[She] was a genius,'' explained Claude Chalifoux, who co-owned Lime Light, the bustling Montreal dance club that regularly spun Lime's dance tracks.
"All of the music that Denis did was a smash hit. People went crazy when they'd play 'Your Love,' 'You're My Magician' and 'Guilty.'''
Years before those electronic disco favourites, Nobless was already chasing a music career.
As a teenager, she performed in the band the Persuaders, and by the mid-1970s had formed the jazz-fusion act Le Pouls with then-wife Denyse LePage, a singer-songwriter in her own right.
A few years later Nobless secured her first hit with the funky 1979 single "The Break," released under the name Kat Mandu. The cowbell-fuelled song peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's U.S. disco chart.
The success put some wind into the sails of Nobless' second project with Denyse, which caught the wave of the synthesizer revolution sweeping through the industry.
Inspired by the sounds of Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk, the LePage duo had recorded an electro-disco project together. But they hadn't settled on the title of their new act the night they walked into the Lime Light with a promotional copy of their first vinyl, said Chalifoux.
Lime Light, a downtown Montreal discotheque that welcomed gay and straight clubgoers alike, proved a fruitful inspiration in more ways than one. Opened in 1973, the venue began hosting an exclusive, fashion-forward patronage four years before New York's Studio 54 would cater to a similar crowd.
When in-house DJ Michel Simard played Lime's 1981 debut single "Your Love" on the turntables for the first time, he was instantly convinced they had a hit on their hands, remembered Chalifoux.
As the disco pair chatted with Simard, it became clear they were somehow connected to the venue in a special way.
"When the people came to the Lime Light, a lot of [them] said, 'We're going to the Lime tonight,''' added Chalifoux.