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THE NEXT 50 119 141 Here are the DJs who weren’t quite voted into the Top 100 this year… 101. SLUSHII 102. JETLAG 103. LOCO DICE 104. SIGMA 105. MADEON 106. 107. NETSKY 108. FTAMPA 109. 110. NUCLEYA 111. CHEAT CODES 112. NEELIX 113. 114. 115. CURBI 131 116. 117. BORGORE 118. ADAM BEYER 119. JAMIE JONES 120. 121. 122. SEVEN LIONS 123. DJ FEEL 124. A-TRAK 125. VICETONE 113 126. 127. JACK U 128. MARLO 129. GREEN VELVET 130. CHASE & STATUS 131. FELGUK 132. DADDYS GROOVE 133. 134. 135. DENIZ KOYU 138 136. BEN NICKY 137. 118 133 138. 139. BOBINA 140. OMNIA 141. NINA KRAVIZ 142. ZOMBOY 143. SUNNERY JAMES & RYAN MARCIANO 144. 145. MERK & KREMONT 146. KOLSCH 147. DEORRO 148. POPOV 149. 150. 129

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DJ575.Top100_nxt 50.indd 129 16/10/2017 14:26 UNDER THE INFLUENCE Even the top DJs had to learn from someone. In the Top 100 set questions in the preceding pages, we asked all the DJs voted into the chart who their mentor was when fi rst starting out, and here we ask a number of the most successful and respected DJs in their various particular fi elds who inspired them initially... Words: DAVE JENKINS his month we’ve learnt who the public have each turntable titan was given the chance to vote for their voted as their favourite DJs, but who are the own favourite DJ. But when the art of mixing is your career DJs’ favourite DJs? Who inspired them and put and lifelong craft, the very idea of picking just one DJ is them on the exciting path they’re on today? a complex and often philosophical issue. We came for the T We’ve asked this to some of the most respected favourite DJ story, we left with a deeper understanding of DJs in the game this month. Selected across the genre what DJing means to some of the most respected selectors in spectrum from house to hip-hop, to drum & bass, their fi elds. Time for a true DJ schooling…

“THIS IS A VERY COMPLEX TOPIC. People think there’s a simple for- mula to be a good DJ, but there isn’t. Formulas contradict the true meaning of being an artist. Many qualities represent a good DJ; knowledge, skill, passion, charm and the ability to transmit subtle emotional matter, guiding people through unexpected musical routes to achieve the optimal experience where everything unites and becomes one. But it’s not solely based on these qualities; it’s also the combination of time and the place, where a DJ is at in life, his physical and mental state, risks he is ready to take, true artistic freedom and confi dence that shines through a leader. But more than anything I value human touch, vulnerability and a sense of a real individual behind the mix that is opening the door to their world and doesn’t know quite yet where and how it will all end up. “We are not robots. Not yet. Unless you rely too much on technol- ogy, you shouldn’t always be technically perfect. I love hearing the record breathing and becoming almost physically attached to an artist. I want to feel the DJ living in the moment of that mix. We might be heading towards a singularity where emotion will become lost. Technology is a great thing but it’s okay to make errors and remain a human being in the full sense of the word. “ is a great example. I love his intuitive, rough, fast and at times loose vinyl mixing. You can hear him adjusting, chasing and locking those records together. You can almost feel his blood pressure. It’s so haunting. And then there’s Laurent Garnier, who I feel is as close to the universal emblem as we can get. “During my beginner steps, he had everything I needed to capture my imagination and emotions. When I saw him playing as a young DJ looking for inspiration, he was so passionate that it seemed like he had electricity running through him. I loved the way he could mix everything genre-wise and make it completely coherent in such a masterful narrative. His ability to transmit feelings struck me forever. “It’s a shame that emotional sensitivity is almost treated as a mistake or problem now, but for me it’s paramount. We live in interesting times. Things, values are changing, and that’s cool. But I will always continue doing things my way because of inspiration from guys like Laurent, Jeff, I-F and many less-known DJs who I’ve PAOLA KUDACKI Pic: PAOLA been infl uenced by. I don’t much rate sterile soulless mixing and trendy tracks NINA dropped in the most usual ‘effective way’. I’d rather want to be part of an experi- KRAVIZ ence and contribute to the whole emotional quality (Laurent Garnier) of the moment that the DJ is sharing with me. And a solid cherry on top would be magically brought to a totally unexpected sonic place by a DJ who himself wouldn’t know how that actually happened.”

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DJ575.FT-DJsDJs.indd 130 12/10/2017 15:15 (DJ Randall)

“GOING RIGHT BACK TO THE VERY START, the fi rst DJ I saw was a guy called Just Jones at an event that Scott Red One put on. He then started me on the path, and from there I was hooked. Hooked on , listening to the music, soaking up the vibe and understanding what raves really were. Then I went to AWOL at the Paradise Club and that pretty much changed my life. I was super-young at the time but it had a profound effect on me. “It was fi ve DJs, two hours each; Kenny Ken, Darren Jay, Micky Finn, Dr S Gachet and Randall. All of them were so inspiring, with their own totally unique vibe. But, for me, it was always Randall who inspired me the most. You knew the second he and arrived in the club by hearing Goldie’s whistle. It’s like, ‘Right, Randall’s here and it’s going to go off’. He’d blow your brains out. The way he’d roll things out and his selections were just out of this world. I can still remember some of those blends now. “And he’s still just as inspiring to this day. I had him down at XOYO earlier this year and watched every mix and would think, ‘Wow, I’d never even think of doing that!’ You see some DJs playing and you know what the mixes are going to do and when things will come in, but he still throws in surprises after all these years. The genius of his switches and how he’d take things where you’d least expect. It’s not about transitions, it’s about creating actual moments between the records. That’s the art of DJing right there. That’s Randall, mate.”

EATS EVERYTHING “NO OTHER DJ HAS BEEN ON TOP OF THEIR GAME LIKE . The main (Carl Cox) man for 30 years and the only DJ who can put 10,000 people in a anywhere in the world. He seems to get bigger and bigger. He’s peaking now! And what makes it better is that he’s such a fucking dude. “The fi rst time I saw him was Lakota, Bristol, in around 1996. He was late. Very late. 4am, 5am, 6am, still no Carl Cox but we’re promised he’s coming. By the time he turns up, around seven or eight, only around 300 of us had stayed but he played until around midday and he absolutely fucking smashed it. “There was a rumour that he didn’t take a fee because he let the people of Bris- tol down. An urban myth that we’d all speculate on at after-parties. I’ve since asked him if he remembered the night. He did. And he didn’t take the fee. What a legend. We can never forget how privileged we are to do this for a living. So when you’ve not done everything right, that’s how you should behave. “Basically, if Carl Cox doesn’t do it, you probably shouldn’t too. Not the way you DJ, but the way you handle yourself. No one says a bad word about him. Why? Because he’s sound and nice to people. People won’t take you seriously if you’re a bit of a twat. You won’t cross genres like he has if you’re a diva. When you’re a nice guy, people want to rebook you, hang out with you and make your life enjoyable and amazing when you’re away from your family and close friends for weeks or months on tour. That’s how Carl Cox behaves, and 30 years at the top is testament to why it’s the best way to behave.”

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DJ575.FT-DJsDJs.indd 131 12/10/2017 15:15 DJ575.FT-DJsDJs.indd 132 132 (QBert) DJ CRAZE up in a different way? Now that is the ultimate for me.” for ultimate isthe Now way? that up inadifferent way, crowd shit andfucking controlling the clubs inadifferent butrock asfuck whocanbetechnical DJs ColorZack. and Four AndyC,A-Trakalso beensuper-inspired peoplelike by KidKapri, “And Ihave say, then to clubculture I’ve into whenIgotback pinnacleofturntablism. me,isthe for guy?’ QBert, hellisthis the like, oncoke!sounded like ‘Who Iwas hewas he sofast, anddoingelectro juggles. Hewas turntables like upthe picking I’d doingtricks thing everseen.Hewas craziest were the andhisscratches whenIsaw QBert, “That’s stuff. using dissesandbeat-juggling routines andallthat would be Theseguys . more than way and realised it’s wholebattlingscene Mike, the Igotinto Then notlongafter meaway. anditblew sneaked aclubandsaw into himscratching really Iwas young, Iwas MagicMike who openedmyeyes. it was goingon.But was Power something 96.Hemademeaware that — station LazonaMiamiradio aguycalledDJ was this?’ What’s fi“The ‘Ohshit! Iactually heard whomademethink, DJ rst later, years afew then, QBert. start atthe back right andreally hard would beMagicMike work DJing into get me to whoreally drove guys spots,the top OFMYHEAD!Thevery TOP “ONE FAVOURITE MAN, DJ? ICOULD 10 NAME OFFTHE JUST DJMAG.COM

Pic: IAN O’CONNOR

(John Peel) DAVE CLARKE Pic: MARILYN CLARK to do with music.” dowith to hadnothing that job doing another would probably be asI question this askme to wanting evenbe wouldn’t lineyou down the years all these believe I truly John, Without play.else dared to no-one music that and weird, weird Cave Nick Harvey, asPJ such life inmy important be continue to would that artists of manyother John played mymusic.Hefi middle inthe itonhisplaylist tted received, only because graciously was was which support, radio Hebroke mycareer,integrity. other hemadeithappen.Allthe and honesty with sunbrought genre together underthe Every aboutpassionandbelief. Itwas important. vitally show was infl“But mybiggest uence? Thatwould beJohnPeel. His my headdown. fl the to oor. upmygame Itmademeseeagoal,tighten andput blown away, ataclubcalledDownbeat andwas youngster jaw himasa Iwatched together; anymore. Heblendedeverything us who’s sadly notwith DJ Shem,aBrighton was there “Then mixing butinventing loop. soundornew anew seamless arecord, essenceofbeingcreative notjust with the were guys allthese Marl; Marley Chill,Mastermind, Chuck Alert, joker.terball Red itbecameabouttechnique. Then ofcourse andnotaglit- onmusic,beserious befocused be possibleto him,anditclicked.featured From pointIrealised itcould that that onTV Isaw adocumentary socialmediaera. post-EDM, post-Trump, inthis hassadly returned that music. Something egoandnot by anddriven seemed cheesy, untrustworthy HERC.before WITHKOOL DJs ME, IT ALLSTARTED “FOR DJ 12/10/2017 15:15 DJ YODA (Skratch Bastid) Pic: TRISHA RANKIN “EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION OF ‘DJING’. It can mean anything from super- technical to hospital radio. So, I can only talk about my favourite DJs by breaking down what DJing means to me. What’s important to me in a DJ is skills, musical knowledge, personality, a sense of fun. Probably in that order, too. “ were the fi rst DJs to truly capture my imagination. I saw them at the Blue Note in in the ‘90s, rocking four turntables with all kinds of beats and samples. They even ordered pizza direct to the DJ booth. This is my idea of DJing! “But if I had to pinpoint an example of a great DJ who really inspired me in 2017? I’d say someone like Skratch Bastid from Canada. He comes from a battle DJ background, he’s technically fl awless and he backs it all up with a really comprehensive and diverse understanding of music. He’s a huge record collector, but he understands what music crowds actually want to dance to. And he does so with a smile on his face. He even has a deep love of barbecue food and has his own hot sauce… That’s my kind of DJ.”

JORIS VOORN ()

Pic: JOS KOTTMANN “WHEN I STARTED DJING, the guys that inspired me the most were the guys and one DJ who inspired in particular was Derrick May. The moment I fi rst heard him on a radio recording of a mix he did at an Amsterdam club on cassette, I’ve been inspired by him. “The way he would mix every single style I liked from into techno, house into ambient and everything in between. The way he can really create an atmosphere with a great craft. It was about mixing things that weren’t meant to work together but making them work. It’s about the mix and making it creatively; using the turntable and mixer as instruments rather than trying to sound like a computer and seamless. “Over 20 years later and you can still hear Derrick’s infl uence in my own DJ style. His ability to play and release both beautiful, melodic and emotional tracks and very groove-based house and techno is something that’s driven me since I fi rst learnt to mix. They’re two very different approaches and styles but through listening to Derrick I learnt you can do it. And when you get it right, there’s no better feeling as a DJ.”

JAMES ZABIELA (Sasha)

“I’M CURRENTLY ON A PLANE SOMEWHERE OVER MIDDLE AMERICA, having come from a gig in LA travelling onwards to the next one, and the reason I’m sat here at 35,000 feet —getting to do what I love for a living — is pretty much down to Sasha. Not because he was kind and generous enough to give me amazing opportunities that allowed for me to be in this situation, but because when I was starting out as a DJ he was a constant source of inspiration and formed my idea of what a DJ could be. “Sometimes, when I need some inspiration, I’ll often fi nd myself going back and listening to one of his legendary mixes or I’ll be playing with him at a festival and will be reminded about what makes him so special. He has the ability to masterfully weave a majestical story within his sets — all with seamless technical prowess. He has an ear for how music should fi t and work together beyond just syncing some tracks together. Not many people can create an atmosphere in the way he does, that can transport you somewhere else. I wonder how many people have lost themselves in his sets over the years? It’s some achievement, and in every set I hear of his I’ll always fi nd something to be inspired by. He’s the man.”

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DJ575.FT-DJsDJs.indd 133 12/10/2017 15:15 “I’VE GONE THROUGH MANY PHASES OF FAVOURITE DJS; Hype was a huge inspiration for me for years. Then Doc Scott. Then LTJ Bukem. I’ve always loved Joey Negro, too. But the more I think about this question, the more I think about Calibre. “He is authentic. He plays his music, the music that he believes in. This is so important in my point of view. I think some DJs see the dancefl oor as a different concept now; there’s a lot less attention on teaching people about good music, and they just want to make them scream. They play with six or seven and play every 16 bars of every single style, so it’s like Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers. They don’t let anything roll out and everything has to be so heavy. This isn’t my style. It’s not the drum & bass I grew up on. It’s not the artform I grew up on. And that is what DJing is for me; art, something we’re missing as more technology makes it so easy that even my dog can mix. “When you really think about how you present the music, how you create an atmosphere and you’re playing what you believe in and not what is expected of you; that is total art, and it’s what I want from a DJ set. It’s what I get from Calibre. He doesn’t need 100 CD players or tunes to make you scream, he just plays from his soul. That’s art.”

CHELONE WOLF Pic: CHELONE MARKY (Calibre)

ERICK MORILLO (Louie Vega & David Morales)

“I LOOK FOR A DJ WHO DOESN’T JUST PLAY WHAT IS POPULAR but takes risks with his music selection, takes the crowd on a musical journey and, most importantly, can read a room. Knowing how to pick up a room that’s a little bit down or being able to bring the vibe down in such a way you don’t lose the crowd and then being able to take them back on a musical journey is a key skill for me. “A lot of DJs don’t know how to read a room properly but two DJs who do, and I rate the highest, are Little Louie Vega and David Morales. The way they use the turntables and go back and forth with different records was amazing! Louie used to have a party every Wednesday at Sound Factory Bar in back in the vinyl days. The way he would mix in an intro back and forth seamlessly so that you would not know he was mixing the records was simply incredible. Also the way he would cut records in and take people on a journey was really special. It was the Wednesday Sound Factory nights with Louie that made me want to become a DJ. “In fact, you can still hear how David and Louie have infl uenced my DJing style. I love working a good intro or working a good drop so that it lasts a little bit longer, adding a reverb or an echo, dropping my acapellas over records and remixing on the fl y. These were all styles that I picked up from Louie and David and incorporated them into my DJ career ever since.”

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DJ575.FT-DJsDJs.indd 134 12/10/2017 15:15 SPENCER PARKER (Boris/Radio Slave) Pic: INA PETERS BEBETTA (Super Flu) “PEOPLE OFTEN WAX LYRICAL ABOUT LEGENDARY DJS like Larry Levan “WHAT MAKES THE PERFECT DJ? For me, the most important thing is playing unknown gospel records AND strange UK new wave AND The a good music collection that is connected to a story, with tension, and B52’s AND early beatdown tracks. Well, maybe we should also mixed well in a harmonic way. It’s a balance of serving, and breaking, the remember and celebrate the fact that there are still DJs in this day and expectations of the crowd. DJs should bring the audience to the dancefl oor age that are capable of moving your body in the same way… while he or she plays the sound that works for the people. But this alone “If I had to name a couple of DJs that I really admire, respect and I’m can’t be their sole intention. They should also remain faithful and unique constantly inspired by, I would have to say Berghain resident Boris with his or her musical style, be creative with the track selection and and Radio Slave. Both for similar reasons. For me, the most diffi cult surprise people by breaking the expectations and educating the crowd. thing to do with DJing in clubs is playing across the genres of house/ “And my favourite DJs to be doing all of that right now are Super Flu. There techno/disco and — this is the important/diffi cult part — do it well. are a lot of great DJs in existence, but Super Flu are perfect for me; they “I’ve heard Radio Slave play obscure disco records at Robert Johnson play a sound I like that is similar to mine, it’s groovy and always surprising before shifting effortlessly into his own tough house productions me, and they are so talented in playing with tension and connecting with and then blend into some smooth Detroit vibes, not losing the crowd the audience. or letting the energy dip for a “I’ve been a Super Flu fan since second. Similarly, I’ve witnessed very early on in my DJ career Boris belt out hard-as-nails when I saw them in 2009 in Trier, techno in London for Chapter 10, . I was instantly inspired then move into an exhilarating and caught by their sound and high-energy selection before even last weekend, I saw them I knew what had hit me. My in Distillery, Leipzig — and they personal highlight is of him blew me away again. They played fi nishing a monumental closing some tunes I did not know and set in Berghain with the full- they were bombs, thrown in length version of Sylvester’s ‘Take during moments where I least Me To Heaven’. Not one person left expected it. I’ve been lucky to call the fl oor for the duration of the them friends and DJ with them 11minutes and 13 seconds that many times too now. My sound record runs for. gets a bit groovier when we are “I think it’s natural, to a certain playing together, but even then I extent, to sometimes stick rigidly will always break out to another to one genre. I’m a big fan of a lot direction when they least expect of DJs who do exactly that and are it… Because that’s what DJing is known as masters of their chosen all about, right?” route. But, for me, to be able to Pic: FALKO hear Jeff Mills, Diana Ross and Shed in the same set and not even notice how the DJ got me dancing to all these different sounds takes real talent.”

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DJ575.FT-DJsDJs.indd 135 12/10/2017 15:15 Untitled-1 1

Photo: Jamil Hammadi THANK YOU 93 13/10/2017 16:31 HISTORY

IN THE MAKING The history of house and techno will be different depending on who you ask. Generally, though, the same few names will always crop up. But of course, behind the scenes and away from the spotlight, many other artists were — and are — toiling away, adding their own infl uences, tastes and techniques to their beats and adding to the overall evolution of the . Quite why some become so ubiquitous and others remain in the shadows is hard to work out. While many early pioneers might feel aggrieved at having been written out of the story, many are happy to lurk in the shadows. As three such fi gures prepare to release new — or in some cases, debut — , we get their perspective on things. DJ Pierre, Mike Dunn and DJ Bone hold forth on remaining relevant, keeping it real and staying true to their sounds without hogging the limelight...

Words: KRISTAN J CARYL

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DJ575.FT-DJPierre&Ting.indd 137 12/10/2017 15:11 DJ PIERRE Ready to drop his debut LP, the acid pioneer is still as relevant as ever

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DJ575.FT-DJPierre&Ting.indd 138 12/10/2017 15:11 J Pierre is inseparable from the story of Chicago . He now lives in Atalanta with his wife and two young daughters, but back in the ‘80s was one of the first wave of Windy City artists to see the potential in Roland’s new line of drum machines. One famous night, he was playing around with fellow Phuture members Spanky and Herb J on the 808 and coaxed from it an alien, squelchy sound that changed the course of music history, and indeed youth culture. Still as Dprevalent today as ever, acid house is just one of the many strings to Pierre’s bow.

Another is his famous Wild Pitch style. It is a high-energy aesthetic that found Pierre layering up many different styles and influences into one high-octane track or remix, all with the intention of mirroring the sound of three different rooms in a club in one succinct track. It took off round the world and late last year Get Physical commissioned a re-release and some new mixes in this style. Now, we’re talking to Pierre on the eve of the release of his first ever . In part, it is characterised by a selection of Wild Pitch tracks “that caused the most noise when they were released” as well as some remixes, new cuts, updated edits of some of his classics and an epic 10-minute remix of Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’. “It should have been an EP but here we are,” says Pierre of the album. “It was grueling. We left no stone unturned and it took 200% of me. I can’t turn in sub-par work, and the label pushed me to get the best out of me as well, so I’m just coming up for air.”

Saying that it wasn’t planned and wasn’t what Pierre had imagined would be his first album (he says he actually has six completed), he explains the main reason it happened now was because “I got a great vibe from the label. That was the key factor for me. The creative relationship between us was really good.”

Wild Pitch Underground has now also given its name to a club Pierre runs in Atlanta, where the likes of Lil Louis, Tony Humphries and Todd Terry often play. But Chicago will always be home. He still goes back a few times a year and still loves the city but is “very honest about the mess that went on” there, even if it was “the city that made me. So yeah, Chicago is filled with gifts and the gifted, but plagued with so many bad habits.”

His own career has no such issues. It has seen him roam through many “Exploration and boldness different styles and sounds, often under myriad different aliases. Has that made it harder for him to get established and earn the are strange concepts now. recognition he deserves? “Absolutely not. People know me. And the ones who don’t know love the moments of pleasant surprise. I think it helped actually. Helped me explore and go outside of the DJ Pierre box Music by nature is ever- for a bit. Whether I create the box, or people create it for me, it exists. So the aliases allow me creative freedom. I can force myself to not do growing and changing. It has what I would naturally do as DJ Pierre. Another name or vibe will force me into another direction but my signature will always be there.”

life and it gives life. So it’s To that end, Pierre, now 30 years into his career, reckons it’s actually easier than ever to stand apart, despite the ever-larger canon of not dead, it’s just waiting for recorded music and ever-growing number of people in the scene. “Exploration and boldness are strange concepts now,” he says. “Music by nature is ever-growing and changing. It has life and it gives life. that one bold cat to come by So it’s not dead, it’s just waiting for that one bold cat to come by and bring essence to it. Look at acid house, and Wild Pitch for that matter. and bring essence to it.” When I made ‘The Horn Song’, it was shelved for a long time because UK garage was what was in at that time, but ended up being one of my biggest selling songs.”

Mentioning the UK is important, because we have long been supporters of Pierre — whereas many of his countryfolk have been less quick to appreciate his vital contributions to dance. In fact, he says he feels “200%” more appreciated in Europe than the US. “I’m not upset about that, actually. I get it. I say all the time ‘I’m an export’. The US is a bit behind on the history of this music. Though it jump-started here, we didn’t accept it. We did not own it. Europe did. So there is a psychology behind that.”

The future will see the Afro Acid label boss re-launching Phuture with an album and live show to honour the late DJ Spanky. “That will be life-changing for me because I know I will have to go to that place where I will have to strip down to the core and just write and produce.”

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DJ575.FT-DJPierre&Ting.indd 139 12/10/2017 15:11 MIKE Chicago’s house don has prepped his first artist album DUNN since 1990 ouse is more real and honest,” says Mike Dunn in a gravelly Chicago drawl. “When I came back, I felt at home. I was comfortable, I was at ease. I had peace of mind. It just felt right.” The return to house he talks about was after 10 years immersed in the world of hip-hop, signed to Bad Body Records and working with P.Diddy. It was around the time the music mogul was dating Jennifer Lopez and had fired a gun in a New York club. He was facing 15 years prison time and a big court case, so never got round to actually putting out any“H of Dunn’s music. “The lifestyle is lavish, it’s fun to be round those people, but Biggie said it best: ‘mo’ money, mo’ problems’. It causes too much chaos, that’s why I got away from it.” He might have moved away from the scene, but hip-hop always has and always will colour a Mike Dunn production.

The Englewood, Chicago-born artist first emerged as a block party DJ in the early eighties, doing sets on reel-to-reel and playing live drum machines over the top. He was making beats for MCs, but soon turned to house. “When you hear a Mike Dunn track, you know it’s a Mike Dunn track,” he says, adding: “I always add a little hip-hop-ness into the house. Fat drums, big basslines. That’s the blueprint.” It’s one that has served him well over the years, and has produced plenty of classics from ‘Phreaky MF’ to ‘God Made Me Phunky’. He’s worked under more than 10 different aliases including the deeper, more seductive The Jass Mann and the raw-as-they-come QX-1. He doesn’t enjoy the profile of some of his peers, but given his essential canon it’s hard to know why. A decade-long absence from touring in Europe (he couldn’t get a visa owing to now- resolved child payment issues) might be part of the reason. But now he’s back in London in the midst of dates in , Liverpool and Australia, he says he feels more appreciated here than back home. “Here, they respect the history,” he says, talking as slowly and sedately as his tunes are not. “They respect what you’ve done and what you’ve put into it.” He adds that people in Europe party hard and always come to dance, and Mike is just the DJ you need in those situations. He’s energetic and raw, slamming in tunes and pumping the party. He laughs when talking about deep and polite European house, which back home they call “sleepy house”.

‘My House From All Angles’, his first album in 27 years, is the antithesis of that. It’s built on jacked-up drums, scintillating percussion and run through with a 303 as well as his own menacing vocal mutterings. There are party-starting, soul-infused cuts and stripped-back acid bangers but it’s never less than arresting. Though he’s dabbled in software and reckons these days only an expert could tell the difference between plug-ins and real hardware, on this album Dunn has gone back to the original bits of gear because he likes the hands-on approach. He says house music is always an outlet for his feelings and needs to be social and political. “The good thing about house, even before it was house, was we were putting Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson speeches over tracks, so it will always have in the political “It’s not, ‘How sphere. If we feel something, we will speak on it.” The conversation turns to Trump. “I’ve never shared this with anybody but you, but the did you stay day of the election, I literally cried when I found out Trump had won, because I knew what was coming. I did a song, I have several that I’ve done, about this Trump thing, you know.” He then sings a few bars from an unreleased track, ‘Under Siege’. “They want us all out of around for here/please believe/the blacks, the poor, the sick, even the el-der-ly, wake up America, this ain’t reality TV.” so long?’ The Thirty years after his first release, and now into his 50s, Mike says touring takes a little more of a toll, so the studio is his main love. “Every week, I have to do something to excite hardest part is to my craft, I just don’t come in and do the same stuff. I’m doing edits, retouches, or looking for the next crazy song, I’m just never satisfied. That’s how Ron [Hardy, who once decreed still be relevant that Mike was the heir to his DJ throne] and Frankie [Knuckles] were. That’s what I took from them. It’s not, ‘How did you stay around for so long?’ The hardest part is to still be relevant after so long.” after so long.”

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DJ575.FT-DJPierre&Ting.indd 141 12/10/2017 15:11 “I love succeeding while remaining underground, it’s amazing. It allows me to be me, and not what anyone else wants or expects. Your questions assume that being underground equals less money and/or fans and that’s defi nitely not the case. My career, it’s boomin’, and so are my bank accounts!”

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DJ575.FT-DJPierre&Ting.indd 142 12/10/2017 15:12 DJ BONE One of Detroit’s most underrated is fi nally getting the props he deserves

art of the reason Detroit is so revered over in Europe is its authenticity. Its realness. And no one keeps it more real than DJ Bone. He is as uncompromising as they come. Not only in his attitude to house and techno, and his derision for the social media hype game, but in his utterly fi erce DJ sets. This summer they have torn up cult gatherings like Freerotation and Dekmantel and left people awestruck in their wake. Often high-octane, high-impact affairs, his sets fi nd him going hard on the cross-fader, quickly cutting in and out, working sharp angles and keeping you on your toes, even when playing recognisableP classics.

Detroit is a famously competitive city. Crowds are not easily pleased. They are used to high standards and it takes a lot to shock, excite or impress them. Bone, real name Eric Dulan, has done that for decades. “For me, the art of DJing is about moving the crowd but also creating a vibe and introducing them to new sounds and concepts,” he says. “I feel the need to progress my skills and sound for my crowds, as they are usually very knowledgeable about the music. I want to give them my best every night.” As honest as he is in the booth, he’s just as candid in conversation. “I love succeeding while remaining underground, it’s amazing,” he says, when asked how it feels to be so well revered but on such a niche level. “It allows me to be me, and not what anyone else wants or expects. Your questions assume that being underground equals less money and/or fans, and that’s defi nitely not the case. My career, it’s boomin’, and so are my bank accounts!”

Rather uniquely, Bone used to DJ with no and no monitors. “It’s how I used to practice when I was 17,” he says. “The idea behind it was to push the boundaries of whether or not a DJ had skills. Whether it’s innate, in their DNA almost. It was extremely diffi cult to do so and was like a warning shot at other DJs playing that night. That they better bring their A-game.” Though he no longer plays that way, he says he still likes to push himself and do things that he’s never done before. He also says he plays mainly for himself, rather than the crowd, and takes the job as seriously as he ever has. Years of doing so means he knows what a crowd needs, knows when they’re tired or super up-for-it. “But I don’t cater to them with the whole cheerleading, dancing behind the decks thing or playing trendy tracks.”

His intense style is matched by the intensity of parties in Europe. Over here, we like to go hard and get stuck in. Bone recognises that, and also says Europe is better in terms of venues, late hours and soundsystems, which is why he says he feels more appreciated here than back home. “Much like early black musicians, underground techno artists from America had to fi nd respect abroad,” he opines. “It’s a damn shame. It didn’t catch on in America because it wasn’t commercial or marketable enough, especially with the faceless and vocal-less aspects of techno. Mostly rock and pop rule the US now. I think the commercial appeal of simple music — along with over-saturating the market — keeps those sounds on top.”

His own productions span the last 20 years. He initially started in the studio as he couldn’t fi nd the music to play that fi tted his urgent DJ style. Tracks often had direct messages bemoaning the lack of soul in techno. He says they are “an outlet” as well as an extension of his DJing that he produces to express himself; an idea, situation or mood that “needs to get out. That’s 90% of what I make. The other 10% are tracks that I think are necessary for the dancefl oor.”

Today, he is happy. He feels techno is in a good place and that the soul is back. “I attribute it to more artists being bold enough to embrace their individuality and reject trends,” he says. “There are also a lot of younger artists with plenty of knowledge about classic funky , and this is coming through in their music.”

Next up for DJ Bone is an album. He already put one out this year as Differ_ent on UK label Don’t Be Afraid. It was full of wiry, angry, slamming fl oor-fi ller as well as dubbed-out and slower android cuts. But the new one under his most famous moniker has been his “main focus for a long time” and, he reckons, is “my best production work yet”.

DJMAG.COM 143

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Untitled-1 1 16/10/2017 14:06 AGE OF AQUARIUS

Educated as a jazz musician and his house music business is still pretty new to Byron Blaylock, these days better known as Byron The turned onto house by mentors like Kai Aquarius. Up until a couple of years ago, he was all about the hip-hop, stitching together breaks with Alcé and Theo Parrish, Atlanta’s Byron and D12 producer Denaun Porter, as well as anotherT project, The Big Payback, with French beat-maker The Aquarius is one figure in the US Onra. That was until an unexpected night out in Atlanta set house new wave fully making moves. his life and his music on a different path. Following an album on Eglo Records, “It started when we were partying in Atlanta, and we end up bumping into Kai Alcé. We’re back at his crib, and he starts releases for Kyle Hall’s Wild Oates and playing this music from Detroit and Chicago. So I start playing some keys over it, and I guess from there, he started teaching Earl Jeffers’ Melange, as well as DJ me,” he says over the phone from his home in Birmingham, sets all over, we dug into the roots of Alabama, where he was born and raised. When you listen to his productions now, as deep, funky and stunningly his roots... accomplished as they are, it’s hard to fathom that his first encounter with house music came only two years ago. Prior to Words: BEN ARNOLD this epiphany, all he really knew of house or techno was . Productions like ‘Aquarian Voyage’, a freestyle voyage into the jazz stratosphere, which Theo Parrish released through his eminent Sound Signature label, sound like a veteran at work. Almost overnight, he flipped from to Omar S. And he’s never looked back. “The more I kept working with [Alcé], it’s like with anybody — the more you work with them, the more you understand that style of music,” he says. “He was always like, ‘Take a listen

DJMAG.COM 145 this’, ‘Take a listen to ’, says. “They’d be bleeding. They’d do stuff ‘Take a listen to Theo’, ‘Take a listen to embarrass you. Say you were doing a to Marcellus Pittman’. He was always live performance and you play something hipping me on different stuff, and it different, go off a little leftfi eld, they’d grew from there.” run up on stage and they’d embarrass you, and kick you off the piano in front of everyone. But it was to make sure you JAZZ EDUCATION were on your shit.” House scene lynchpin Alcé, born in New York, raised in Detroit but by that stage living in Atlanta, fi nds himself HOUSE ALUMNI in some pretty esteemed company It was Alcé, who was promoting parties in in becoming a mentor to Blaylock. Atlanta, who dropped some of Blaylock’s His last mentor had been Frank material over to Theo Parrish to check Eaton ‘Doc’ Adams Sr., a clarinetist, out. It’s safe to say he was pretty taken saxophonist and bandleader known for by it. “He was bringing different people his work with legends like Sun Ra and to Atlanta, so Theo came by one time, and Duke Ellington. Blaylock’s grandfather, took a listen to it, and out of nowhere a music nut himself who amassed a gave me an advance. He just reached in his collection of jazz records following the pocket, and was like ‘This is for you’. That war while stationed in Germany, was it. Me and my friends rolled to New knew Adams from the Birmingham York, and we spent that money! That scene — he’d take the young Byron was the beginning of it right there.” to late-night jam sessions, much to the chagrin of Releases then followed on Kyle his grandmother — and Hall’s Wild Oats (Hall was a fan managed to get his of Blaylock’s The Big Payback grandson enrolled into project), and recently Earl his conservatory, where Jeffers’ Melange and Adams taught him to Eglo, the infl uential UK play jazz for free. imprint run by Alex Nut “I thank my and Sam Shepherd, grandfather for aka Floating investing all that in Points. From never me,” he says. “He’d having left the US take me out at night before, he’s now — my grandma touring the world didn’t like me being DJing. “It’s been out late — and he’d amazing, I love take me to jazz it,” he says. “And I bars. That’s how I love then meeting met Doc, he had a people, and they little band going. He infl uence me. said to me, ‘Are you Like, yesterday ready?’ and I said, somebody put ‘Yeah, I’m ready’. me onto some UK Then he looks at me garage! I was like, and says ‘You sure ‘Damn! I ain’t never you’re ready?’ and heard this before!’ It I’m like ‘Yeah’. He means I’m constantly died last year. He learning, constantly taught for free, and I on the move.” was lucky to get that. He wanted to pass Eventually, he wants the legacy on. It really to get a live project motivated me.” together. He cites ’s Detroit Experiment After his schooling from as the vibe he’d be going Adams, he went on to study for. “It’s going to come jazz at Jacksonville State together, but I want to University. “It was song structure, fi nd the right people. A live reading and writing music, drummer. A live bass player. composition, theory. We learned It takes time. I don’t want , Debussy. It was tough. to rush and just jump into I won’t lie to you, it was hard, but it something. But I’m not paid off. It’s how I can create the music like Dr Dre. I’m not going I create. I didn’t always like it, but it to make people wait taught me everything. They were making us forever!” Let’s hope he great jazz musicians. It makes creating music doesn’t. more natural by knowing the theory. But the teachers in the south, they are super strict.” •Byron The Aquarius’ Blaylock describes scenes pulled straight from ‘Song For A Friend’ the movie ‘Whiplash’. He’d play piano drills, is out now on Eglo and if he hit a bum note, he’d get rapped on Records. the knuckles with a ruler. “Like super hard,” he

146 DJMAG.COM Untitled-1 1 16/10/2017 13:53 CATCH THE BEAT Since releasing on Boysnoize Records and CPU, Jensen Interceptor’s refreshing twist on Detroit electro is getting everyone from Dense & Pika to Dubfire charged up... Words: BEN MURPHY

here’s something very apt about the name of Sydney, of ‘Glide Drexler’ to the four-four electro- and dark drones of the Australia’s electro fiend Jensen Interceptor. He sounds like a title cut and slower mechanical beats of ‘Not Phased’. CPU has become cosmic voyager, but it’s actually the name of a 1970s car with a regular outlet for the Australian producer, and he’s full of praise for a distinct old-school look. The combination of futuristic and the label boss Chris Smith and the way he operates the breakthrough Tretro influences in his hands is a powerful one. imprint. Though the producer (real name Mikey Melas) has been releasing “It’s the best. Chris is all class and runs the label with the highest singles since 2012, mostly through Australian label Motorik!, in the level of professionalism, from the first communication to last few years Jensen Interceptor’s reputation has rocketed, with product,” he says. “I often send over a tracklist and we get a release releases through and Sheffield’s Central Processing Unit date happening straight away. It’s a total dream.” (CPU). He’s refined his sound to a potent dancefloor form of original electro influenced by and Detroit greats such as Drexciya Jensen Interceptor is inspired by the healthy state of the electro scene and Dopplereffekt, with an icy modern edge, which has been picked up at the moment, and earmarks a broad range of artists whose music by many of the biggest DJs outside the genre. he’s playing: “Assembler Code, Kris Baha, Privacy, Cardopusher, Sync “The only way a scene grows is by having new listeners, so it’s 24, Helena Hauff, Alessandro Adriani, The Exaltics and are awesome when guys like Dense & Pika, Dubfire and Maceo Plex are all favourites.” playing my tracks,” Melas says. “They are introducing listeners to a He’s also enjoying the amount of top quality being different subculture of on a very large scale.” created in his country, especially from the fertile scene. “The scene in Melbourne is really great and has been for a minute The discovery of dance music from an older sibling is a familiar story now. There’s so much going on down there that I sometimes think it’s for many electronic producers. Two records Melas heard via his brother a good thing I’m up in Sydney. I have always had a great relationship continue to exert an influence on his sound now. “I would ‘borrow’ with Melbourne, and electro is definitely getting heard a lot more records from his room,” Melas says. “Cybotron ‘Clear’ and NWA’s thanks to guys like Rings Around Saturn and Daze.” ‘Straight Outta Compton’ had the most impact on my future.” A refreshing component of his sound is the residue of hip-hop drawn Melas isn’t averse to an occasional excursion into house. As part of from that NWA influence all those years ago — and from ‘Planet Anthony Fade (with Brendon Zacharias), he makes sample-laced dusty Rock’ — but also from newer iterations, evident from the opiated trap disco, as heard on the ‘Champagne Paradise’ EP for Shall Not Fade, vocals and booming subs on his cut ‘Collect Those Ends’. “Hip-hop and ‘Vol.6’ on House Crime, an offshoot label of Unknown To The definitely plays a big role in my music life and there is no denying the Unknown. There is a load more Jensen Interceptor music forthcoming, trap influence in ‘Collect Those Ends’, as I couldn’t help sampling my too. favourite rapper Gucci Mane,” he admits. “However, if those elements “I have a lot coming that I can’t mention, but I can say that I have do feature in my tracks, the inspiration more often than not comes projects with Power Station, DJ Haus, Boysnoize, LKR Records and from the early bass world.” Cultivated Electronics all coming this year and next, which I’m really looking forward to,” he tells DJ Mag. His latest EP on CPU, ‘Carter’s Green Factory’ is a lethal three-tracker, which ranges in style from the distorted hats and Model 500 bass blips Make sure you catch onto him soon too.

148 DJMAG.COM Untitled-1 1 13/10/2017 16:27 GAME CHANGER Seminal cuts that altered dance music forever

Fusing funk and soul with early When we catch up with Leee John in his London electronics at the dawn of ‘80s home, he’s quick to point out that while synth-pop, ‘Body Talk’ broke the Imagination is often lumped in with disco, it was mould and then broke into the charts. in fact born out of London’s soul, funk, DJ Mag talks to band founder, Leee and jazz scenes. And, for all the mirror-balls John, about and the birth and sequins, it was actually part of an anti-disco movement. of contemporary clubbing... “We were not disco,” Leee spits. “People get confused about that. We turned our noses up at CHANCES are that if you’ve attended a wedding disco. There were disco records that we’d dance in the last three decades you’ll have at least to. If it had a heavy bass and it wasn’t kitsch, tapped along to one of Imagination’s ubiquitous we’d jump on it. But we came from the club scene. anthems. With a debut album packed with songs We were looking at Herb Albert’s ‘Rise’, it was that were all destined to chart somewhere in the that jazzy area, a soulful feel. world, this isn’t perhaps surprising. “The glam look came from and the But delve a bit deeper and you realise that, post-Sly Stone funk, which the new wave took beneath the glittery surface, the band’s roots lie up,” Leee continues. “After punk you had to have Imagination in an underground club culture that was miles an image, which for a lot of artists was a problem, ‘Body Talk’ from other chart music of the time. but it was easy for us.” R&B Records, 1981 ‘Body Talk’ landed at the very moment that punk, new wave and disco had imploded — and a fresh EARLY ‘80S CLUB SEEDS wave of electronic music and funk was forging a Looking back, it’s also easy to miss how DIY this new era of clubbing. movement was — something underlined by the

150 DJMAG.COM scarcity of artists leading the way before them. Trevor’s band Buggles had broken — as had High LIVE & KICKING “As far as black artists were concerned, the one Tension, Central Line and Lynx. With ‘Body Talk’ completed, Leee began testing who used to step out from the mould was Eddy “I’d done this track with Trevor, and Morgan reactions amongst London’s soul community: Grant,” says Leee, referring to the singer’s funk Kahn loved it. I thought it needed more funk, so “This was the end of 1980. Everyone was like, period with The Equals. “He’d wear a blonde wig they sent it to the States to add some American ‘What is this sound, what are these vocals?’” and went really freaky. We came from the scene musicians. To cut a story short — they lost the But soon a swathe of London’s leading DJs had around (seminal London daytime club) Crackers, master tape!” got behind it, including the likes of Steve Walsh, which we’d bunk off school to go to. All the kids It was hugely embarrassing for Kahn, but, as Jeff Young, Greg Edwards, Robbie Vincent and would go to Lawrence Corner (the army surplus Leee explains, Kahn’s desire to put things right George Power. However, Imagination still didn’t store) or Portobello market, and buy second- turned in Leee’s favour. “They really wanted me exist as a band. hand clothes. We were original, creating our own on the label, so they said ‘We got this piece of “When ‘Body Talk’ hit the streets I thought, identities, wearing grandfather shirts, plastic music, there’s nothing on it but see if you can do ‘Oh my god, what are we going to do live?’. So I sandals, baggy pants... something with it’, and they also introduced Tony started to form the band,” Leee remembers. “With Imagination, we escalated what we did on Sway, who became our producer. Ashley was already on board, so making him a the streets and took it on stage. Middle “I took it home and wrote the lyrics to ‘Body Talk’ part of the on-going line-up was a no brainer. As hadn’t seen that kind of look before. It was post- on my mum’s kitchen table. I’m really proud of was keeping Tony on production duty. Next, Errol punk and new wave — evolving what we did in the that, because it was the beginning of everything Kennedy was drafted in on live drums. “It was clubs to the next level. But people knew where we for me. I did backing vocals on my mum’s clock just before we did Top Of The Pops,” he adds. came from on the club scene — there was a whole radio/cassette machine and I recorded onto a black scene going on musically.” reel-to-reel — demoing it to see if it worked.” Apart from its club ethos and electronic sounds, Taking the demo to a studio, Leee asked bass another thing that made ‘Body Talk’ stand out London’s new wave of club music at the turn guitarist Ashley Ingram, who he’d met playing was its tempo. As Soul II Soul were to do years of the 1980s was centred around hard-to-find at working men’s clubs, to come and join him. later, Imagination’s debut slowed club music imports and a hardcore of DJs and club-nights Tony Sway also worked on the sound to add down to a new, groovier pace. that set the musical pattern. Central amongst bass to the song. “People later thought it was a “It had a sense of reggae to it,” says Leee. “It these was George Power’s Crackers club. “He’s real bass guitar — but it wasn’t,” adds Leee. “A had that combination of soul and down-tempo the godfather of us all,” says Leee. Moog synthesiser was behind the Imagination groove.” “We were into dancing, looking good and music. bass sound. But our electronic sound wasn’t like The first of Imagination’s many international And we would all follow each other. Live venues the European-sounding synths (of the time). hits, ‘Body Talk’ set the band on a course for were also important to what we were about. Our sounds were treated with different EQs and stardom and ushered in a new era of club sounds. Bangs (on Charing Cross Road) And, as Leee John points out, it was one of the first clubs in also paved the way for some of the London to merge funk, soul “We were not disco, we turned our noses-up biggest chart acts of the 1980s. and disco together. All the at disco. There were disco records that we’d “People like Boy George saw what heavy bands you could only we were doing, and Spandau Ballet get on import would come over dance to. If it had a heavy bass and it wasn’t came after our producer because from Harlem and play there and kitsch, we’d jump on it.” - LEEE JOHN they liked our funk sound,” Leee places like The Venue.” says with an ever-present twinkle Thankfully for Leee, while in his voice. “A lot of this doesn’t many record companies didn’t initially embrace effects. We’d use Oberheim strings, but use get spoken about, but there was a British black these rare, imported styles, one of his friends reverbs to make them sound lush. A lot of people movement in the late-’70s — a powerful soul landed himself a job promoting for Sony, which in those days would just turn on and play. But movement. I know because I lived it. I’m proof of gave Leee the confidence to try his luck within Tony was a genius at using those synth sounds.” what happened.” BEN OSBORNE the music industry. This fast-tracked him into This, along with Leee’s tendency to record London’s music circles. multiple vocal tracks (Arthur “I was lucky because I got signed to a label Baker calls him “the man of when I was very young, which put me onto the 124 backing tracks”), meant treadmill without me realising it,” he says. that the mixing desk was soon Leee became a seasoned session musician, overloaded. “Some things working for Elvis Costello’s F Beat Records and would be spun in (live, while alongside the likes of Gloria Jones (‘Tainted recording). For example, we Love’). “I was in three bands, including a group didn’t have room for the piano, with a bunch of young jewish guys from Edgware so Tony recorded it onto a tape doing jazz funk. When I left, George Michael took and spun it in.” over. Everyone knew everyone else.” Although they used a live kit for It was a time in which he rubbed shoulders ‘Body Talk’, they adopted music with George himself, Andrew Ridgeley (Wham), concrete tape-loop systems to danced in clubs with Pepsi (of Pepsi and Shirley) create the drum track. “This and hung out with DC Lee at Paul Weller’s studio. was before sample technology “So when it came to ‘Body Talk’, I knew exactly and loops kicked in,” Leee says. what I wanted in the studio,” he adds. “But we used sections of the real But despite this, the music industry still wasn’t drums and tape-looped them. ready for the music Leee wanted to make. “‘Body In fact, we used the same drum Talk’ was ground-breaking because it was what pattern for ‘Illusion’ — way everybody would later call a club release — it was ahead of its time. on a white label and everybody thought it was “With Trevor I’d used early drum an import. But club records didn’t exist,” Leee machines and I’d punched in explains. things like hand-claps with him. So when it came to Imagination LOST & FOUND we began using drum machines It was also a record that almost never existed — on tracks like ‘Burning Up’. itself. “It was supposed to be another track called That was classed as one of the ‘Got To Be Good’, which Morgan Kahn (legendary first house records by Byron producer and label owner) had signed me for. Stingily and Frankie Knuckles — “I’d recorded it with Trevor Horn in 1980, just as and it came out in 1981!”

DJMAG.COM 151 GREG WILSONWILSO ’S DISCOTHEQUE ARCHIVES

Words GREG WILSON Edited by JOSH RAY

CLASSIC LABEL DE-LITE RECORDS CLASSIC VENUE BROOKLYN’S De-Lite Records, formed in the STUDIO 54, NEW YORK late-’60s by Gene Redd Jr., brother of ‘80s dance diva Sharon THERE’S no discotheque more legendary than New York’s Studio 54. It was the Redd, was gifted its fi rst small success world’s most popular celebrity haunt, with countless tales and legends surrounding when New Jersey band Kool & The Gang’s self-titled 1969 single the venue’s unrestrained hedonism, glamour and excess. breached the US R&B top 20. Originally constructed in 1927 by renowned architect Eugene De Rosa as Manhattan’s Acknowledged amongst the great ‘70s funk groups, before Gallo Opera House, the building would later serve as a radio/TV studio for CBS before taking a decidedly more commercial turn in the ‘80s, Kool & The entrepreneurs Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed it into a lavish nightclub. Gang were the mainstay of De-Lite for the next decade and a With Jack Dushey’s fi nancial backing, they funnelled $400,000 into its interior half. design, lighting/effects and Richard Long-installed soundsystem. Their big breakthrough arrived in 1973 via their album ‘Wild And An air of notoriety was immediately created following its April ’77 opening, with Peaceful’ with its three singles, ‘Funky Stuff’, a US top 30 entry masses of revellers refused entry to the club — Rubell’s ruthlessly selective door that opened for million-selling top 10 hits, ‘Jungle policy doing much to fuel Studio 54’s popularity, with those knocked-back all the ’ and ‘Hollywood Swinging’, the latter giving them their more eager to get in next time. Once inside, the atmosphere was less judgemental — fi rst of nine US R&B #1s. Andy Warhol once remarked that it’s “a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on Kool & The Gang dominated De-Lite’s release schedule, further the dancefl oor”. mid-‘70s highlights including ‘Higher Plane’, ‘Spirit Of The Its popularity soared following Bianca Jagger’s birthday, when a live horse was Boogie’ and ‘Summer Madness’. With the rise of disco they brought into the club — the resulting photos of Mick’s wife atop a white stallion moved away from their trademark downbeat funk groove, spread globally, the club subsequently becoming the world’s best-known nightspot. striking with ‘Open Sesame’ (1976), and scoring a top 20 US Other celebrity attendees included Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minelli, , Disco hit that subsequently featured on the multi-million- Elton John, Debbie Harry, Tina Turner, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Cher, David Bowie, selling ‘Saturday Night Fever’ movie soundtrack 12 months on. Salvador Dalí, Robin Williams and even Donald Trump, whilst Studio 54 hosted However, they’d struggle to remain relevant until just before the performances from Grace Jones, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, Gloria Gaynor and end of the decade, when their Eumir Deodato-produced single Sylvester, to name but a few. Notable DJs included Richie Kaczor and Nicky Siano. ‘Ladies Night’ stormed the charts, placing US R&B #1, US Disco The stories are endless… not least the one when Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard top fi ve and US and UK top 10. Edwards were turned away from the 1977 New Year’s Eve party, channelling their The label’s other main act was Crown Heights Affair, named after drunken frustration into writing mega-hit ‘Le Freak’ (its title substituted for the a neighbourhood in their native Brooklyn. 1975’s ‘Dreaming original “aaahh fuck off” chant). A Dream’ topped the US Disco chart, whilst ‘Every Beat Of My The club enabled people to completely lose their inhibitions and indulge their wildest Heart’ and ‘Dancin’’ swiftly followed it into the US Disco top desires, with open drug taking and a highly sexualised dancefl oor, plus extreme 10. Despite being largely ignored Stateside, the UK clubs were debauchery in the secluded basement corners or up on the balcony. particularly enamoured with three tracks from their 1978 ‘Dream Such decadence couldn’t go on indefi nitely and things came to an end for Rubell and World’ LP — ‘Galaxy Of Love’, a top 30 hit, ‘Say A Prayer For Two’ Schrager after 33 months of intense pleasure-seeking and profi t-skimming, when and ‘I’m Gonna Love You Forever’. 1979’s ‘Dance Lady Dance’ they were jailed for tax evasion in 1980. The fi nal party they threw was billed ‘The End had minor success before ‘You Gave Me Love’ (1980) became a Of Modern-Day Gomorrah’, UK top 10 hit, which also reached #12 on the US Disco chart. with special guest Diana Coffee’s ‘Casanova’ was a huge 1980 UK club favourite, reaching Ross. #13 on the British chart, despite failing to make any impact in The club re-opened under the US. new management in 1980 to 1985 would be Kool & The Gang’s most lucrative period, 1981 and would operate with half-a-dozen million-sellers chalked-up, including De- until ‘88, with DJ Kenny Lite’s only US #1, ‘Celebrate’, which, along with 1985’s ‘Fresh’, Carpenter rising to would top the US Disco chart. However, 1982’s ‘Get Down On prominence following the It’ aside, their fi nal hits were viewed as insipid commercial re-launch. However, its throwaways by those who lovingly remembered their illustrious halcyon days were well funk past. behind it, the second phase In 1986 De-Lite was absorbed into PolyGram sub-label Mercury much dampened down in Records. Island Def Jam Music Group now manages the De-Lite comparison to its late-‘70s catalogue. infamy.

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DJ575.Reg-GregWilson-DiscoArchives20.indd 152 12/10/2017 18:03 CLASSIC RECORD DIANA ROSS ‘LOVE HANGOVER’

FORMER Supreme, Diana Ross had already gained diva status well before the arrival of disco. Her stock in trade was the big dramatic ballad, but in 1976 she’d deliver ‘Love Hangover’, a record that hooked in her core, now mature audience, whilst also becoming one of the year’s hottest club tracks — a three-time US chart-topper (Pop, R&B, Disco). The trick was a two-pronged approach, a slow and brooding opening section before the track burst into its irresistible dance groove for the rest of the journey, expertly set-off by the singer’s wistful performance. This type of arrangement would act as a successful template for some of disco queen Donna Summer’s Illustration by PETE FOWLER subsequent hits. Although was still the premier soul label, CLASSIC DJ issuing its greatest albums during the early-mid ‘70s, most notably by Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, Philadelphia International was the new kid on the block — far more embroiled in the emerging disco culture and very much setting the dancefl oor standards. Before ‘Love Hangover’, Motown had hardly BORN into a -based Caribbean pirate station Kiss FM. Kiss was inspired by its set the disco chart alight — a few months earlier the family in 1957, Norman Jay (aka Norman seminal New York namesake, which galvanised dance-geared ‘Love Machine’ by The Miracles also Joseph) was reared on his father’s ska, a new generation of London DJs, including, reached #1 in the US, but had barely scraped into the bluebeat, reggae, R&B, soul, funk and jazz like Jay, a number of black DJs, previously top 20 of the US Disco chart. records, fi nding his own teenage passion marginalised, but now very much exerting Motown certainly played its part — ex-Temptation in the proto-disco sound epitomised by the their infl uence. Eddie Kendricks’ ‘Girl You Need A Change Of Mind’ Philadelphia International label. Jay’s popular ‘Original Show’ (1972) is acknowledged by many as one of disco’s Staying with family in Brooklyn on various coined the term for this new scene and, foundation tracks, it’s co-producer, Frank Wilson, the occasions enabled him to soak in NYC’s alongside DJ partner/protégé , protégé of the great Norman Whitfi eld, producer of era-defi ning disco scene at its height and fuelled the rise of rare groove and boogie via Kendricks when a Temptation, whose experimental the subsequent detonation of the hip-hop Jay’s Shake ‘n’ Fingerpop party crew and Jules’ style had a huge infl uence on the upcoming disco explosion, frequenting now-classic clubs and Family Funktion collective. direction. witnessing/meeting some legendary DJs. He’d Rare groove focused on ‘70s funk, which Ross would be unable to build upon this newfound make his ‘block party’ debut there alongside was being widely sampled and looped as a disco stature until three years on, when her 1979 his uncle, a DJ/soundsystem owner. hip-hop essential in the US, whilst boogie, a Ashford & Simpson-produced album, ‘The Boss’, Energised by his New York experiences, he retrospective London-named category, drew topped the Disco chart. Her dancefl oor credentials re- built the ‘Good Times ’ with from the underground disco-funk of the late- affi rmed via the following year’s ‘Diana’ LP, produced brother Joey — the aim to appear at Notting ‘70s/early-‘80s. It was very much a London by Chic’s Rodgers & Edwards — ‘Upside Down’ Hill Carnival. Playing funk, soul and disco to movement, its illicit spaces primed for the returning her to the summit of the US chart. a largely reggae audience, the response was oncoming acid-house era — the trajectory in Ross was one of the celebrities oft spotted at exclusive initially hostile, but the good vibes groove the North and Midlands saw electro leading Manhattan club Studio 54, and was memorably won through, Jay becoming a carnival staple, directly to house, rare groove not taking root. photographed perched atop the DJ booth at the his name synonymous with the weekend, As the ‘80s drew to a close, Polygram Records venue’s closing party when the club’s original owners leading to acknowledgement from the British would bring in Jay alongside were jailed for tax evasion. establishment in awarding him an MBE for his to run the Talkin’ Loud label, whilst in 1990 Because of Ross’s pre-existing ‘60s icon status, her services to music in 2002. Kiss FM went legal, Jay hosting its inaugural role at the top table of disco divas, alongside the likes London’s mid-‘80s rare groove scene emerged show. The success continued via his more of Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer and Grace Jones, plus from the illegal warehouse party scene (its house-geared High On Hope club nights, Salsoul’s Loleatta Holloway and Jocelyn Brown (Inner best-known space Earl Court’s Dirtbox) where whilst Jay became increasingly in-demand Life), is often overlooked, but ‘Love Hangover’ and DJs like Jay Strongman and Chris Sullivan, internationally, continuing to DJ to this day at later club successes cast her as a leading fi gure. who’d subsequently run The Wag club, built parties throughout the globe. Motown would re-assert itself as a dance label to be their reputation. Norman Jay would thrive reckoned with during the next year, with signifi cant in this environment, deriving a position of successes for Stevie Wonder, The Originals, Thelma infl uence, enhanced by his new status as www.gregwilson.co.uk Houston and Marvin Gaye. presenter and shareholder at game-changing

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RAHAAN

CHICAGO is not short of heroes. EP’ — off the back of Karizma’s huge to a room full of people, but others Imagine the world is going to end Larry Heard, Derrick Carter, Marshall gospel banger ‘Work It Out for the are more personal, and better suited tomorrow. What you gonna do Jefferson are names often hyped label in March — is about to push to home listening.” tonight? to high heaven, however one of the his name further into the spotlight. “My family are very important to more underrated talents — one for Three tracks of juicy, acidic analogue Three tunes that never leave your me, and if I knew I’d never see them the real headz — is Rahaan. house with a disco fl avour, it bag… again I would want to spend my A spinner of rare classic disco and dropped in October, so we quizzed “My bag is always changing, as I try last moments with them… plus I’d raw house grooves, he’s a Chi-town him about his DJ past, present and not to play the same tracks all the also like to eat grapes. Grapes are selector with a cult following who future... time… there is too much good music my favourite food, and because rarely gets the props he deserves, out here to be cycling through the of that I even decided to name my despite consistently delivering the Remember your fi rst ? Please same records. I know some DJs have new release on Marcel Vogel’s label, piping-hot goods to every single tell us about it… a fail-safe set of tracks they can fall Lumberjacks In Hell, the ‘Grapes dancefl oor he encounters. “Well, that would be at a high school back on if things aren’t going as EP’.” He’s got a decent discography, called Mendel.” they originally planned, but I have too. As well as releasing on his faith in my selections, and prefer Describe what you expect clubbing own Street Edits label, he’s also What’s the most crucial record to try new things when I sense to be like in the year 2300... contributed to Stilove4music, made, in your opinion? the dancefl oor needs something “Having started my career over a Stripped & Chewed and Classic Music “For me, there is no single record special.” decade ago I’ve experienced many during a career that’s stretched more crucial than the next, as every changing cycles of music, but longer than a decade. However, song is a piece of a puzzle, and each If you could meet anyone — alive history always repeats itself, so I his return to Marcel Vogel’s record I own is special to me in some or dead — who would it be? think it’s safe to say there will be Lumberjacks In Hell with ‘Grapes way. Some of them I’d play in a club “My mom.” drinking, dancing and drugs.”

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