Here are a couple of jams I picked up in NYC. I have been looking for this Ragtyme record for years and was so glad to find it. Unfortunately, my hectic travel schedule put a slight warp in it but it plays OK on my Beogram. I grabbed a bunch of nice early techno and house records in NYC; I don't think they don't know how good they have it over there.
Ragtyme was a project produced by Marshall Jefferson and represents soulful deep house at its best. There is plenty of smooth with lots of edge to keep it interesting. This 12" was mixed by Frankie Knuckles and features remixes by Lil Louis and Ron Hardy.
This 1988 tune by Innercity reworked by Derrick May is an early techno masterpiece. It was produced by Kevin Saunderson.
Ragtyme - I Can't Stay Away (Ron Hardy's Club Mix)
Innercity - Big Fun (Mayday Re-Edit)
Posted by Joel Brüt
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Labels:
Derrick May,
Early House,
kevin Saunderson,
Ron Hardy,
techno
I spent the day wandering around the Soho district of London and found my way into a couple of record stores including the Soul Jazz Records hub,
Sounds of The Universe. They had a deep collection of classic and new vinyl, but alas for obvious reasons I am going wax free on this particular journey overseas. I later walked into another shop and heard a solid classic house compilation from the early 90's playing on the PA and snatched it up. The
House Nation comp is probably my first cd purchase in over ten years and in the spirit of my moment of devolution I am posting a few highlights from the disc.
Also check the sidebar for my Paris DJ sets next week. Je veux voir tous vos beaux visages.
Phase II - Reachin'Rhythim is Rhythim - Strings of LifeThe Todd Terry Project - Weekend
Posted by Magnum
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Labels:
Early House,
House,
techno
There is a mainstream revival of the classic 909 driven Chicago house sound at the moment, which most of you probably are more aware of than me, but some of the popular stuff that has crossed over recently doesn't sound so much inspired by mid to late eighties Chicago house so much as is mid to late eighties Chicago house in higher fidelity, and that's fine by me.
As such we are hosting Azari & III this Friday at Mezzanine in San Francisco, and I will be spinning alongside Jeno, Solar, Conor, Ken Vulsion and Derrick Love, it'll be a blast. If your not a San Francisco local or Euro holiday maker passing through, simply came here for the mp3's and don't give a shit about our party or the local hero line up (myself humbly excluded) then no apologies are given, as you are still better off for it, because it inspired me to record my beaten copy of Z Factor's Fast Cars for this post. Argued by academics to be the first ever house record made available to the public.
Z Factor included Vincent Lawrence and Jesse Saunders, two names that are well documented in the music history books and there are great interviews and accounts of that time in 1982/83/84 and what they achieved. Both would have been in their late teens when Jesse Saunders joined the new wave synth punk band Z Factor in Vince's father's studio, the owner of Mitchball records, the label that put out the promo I have, at the time a small soul and Chicago blues print. Some say 'On and On', Z Factor's follow up record is the first true house recording, a tape edit of some rhythms that Jesse Saunders would loop in the south side clubs during his sets at the time, but you can certainly hear the foundation for what was coming here in this rare 1983 release:
Posted by Black Shag
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Labels:
chicago house,
Early House,
Jesse Saunders
Here is an interesting track by Funktion Freeks on Purple Reign Records, released in 1986. Wet dreams make for bizarre songwriting material, but maybe his bedroom looks like the one pictured above with 1937 Altec /Lansing/RCA horn system powered by a Marantz 8B. Lots of drum machine clatter in there and lots of jankeyness. It is definitely halfway between garage house and freestyle. It catches its stride in the final third.
Funktion Freeks - So Hard Up For Your Love
Posted by Joel Brüt
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Labels:
Early House,
electro,
florida,
garage house
Here are some of my favorite Frankie Knuckles remixes. These are from an era of soulful deep house, before thick neck British blokes with shaved arms took over. Here is also a live mix from Gallery 21 in Chicago from 1987. Sorry for the marginal sound quality, please hit us up if you have any high quality mixes.
Frankie Knuckles Playlist:
- K.I.D.: Hupendi Muziki Wangu?! (You Don’t Like My Music)
- James Wells: True Love Is My Destiny
- Exodus: Together Foreverr (Dub)
- Change: Glow of Love
- Ian Dury: Spasticus Autisticus
- Mike T: Do It Any Way You Wanna
- Don Ray: Standing In The Rain
- General Johnson: Can’t Nobody Love Me Like You Do
- Trussel: Love Injection
Electribe 101 - Talking With Myself (Frankie Knuckles Mix)
Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Frankie Knuckles - Live at Gallery 21 Chicago in 1987
Posted by Joel Brüt
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Labels:
Chaka Khan,
deep house,
Early House,
frankie knuckles
"Jack boldly declared: 'Let there be house!' And house music was born."
Larry Heard AKA Mr. Fingers produced this record in 1986. This record was a follow-up to his 1985 release
Mystery Of Love. Early in his music career he was in a jazz fusion group with Adonis (whose music also has a similar sound). He later fronted the group Fingers Inc. and started producing tracks under several monikers. His tracks ushered in the deep house sound with an ethereal, serotonin laced groove that can give you a sense of the elation that those dancers felt on the dancefloor of The Warehouse in the mid-80's. This is the instrumental version, the
more common version features a Dr. King like sermon about Jack and the origins of house music.
Mr. Fingers - Can You Feel It (Instrumental)
Posted by Joel Brüt
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Labels:
Early House,
House,
jackin house,
trax records
Contrary to popular belief, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's 1991 hit Good Vibrations was not the first hip house track. Fast Eddie invented it; Tyree laid claim to the first hip house track on wax with the 1989 release of Turn Up The Bass, but UK's the Beatmasters say they preceded him by three years. As seen in this documentary, there are fine lines between hip house, rap house, house rap and you name it. The genre grew a lot in the 90's and saw a lot of success on the radio but it morphed into something very 90's. These Chicago early hip house cuts show a lot of classic house and acid elements. Tyree and Fast Eddie's earlier tracks were classic acid house with little, if any, vocal.
Tyree - Turn Up The Bass (Hip Hop Version)
Tyree - Nation Of Hip House
Fast Eddie (feat Sundance) - Git On Up
Posted by Joel Brüt
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Labels:
Early House,
hip house
Do you like classic eighties house? I do. Here is most of it:
http://www.discogs.com/release/43501
http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-History-Of-The-House-Sound-Of-Chicago/release/57624
Total bummer but we were asked to take this post down by the copyright holders.
Posted by Black Shag
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Labels:
chicago house,
Early House,
House,
jackin house,
proto house
Farley Jackmaster Funk got his break in 1981 as one of the Hot Mix 5 DJs on WBMX, in Chicago. He was a guest DJ at the Warehouse and resident at the Playground. This mix from the mid 1980's will blow your mind. It is amazing to hear so many styles of mixing done by one DJ. There are edits, mashups, and scratching along with straight mixing. Imagine hearing something this cutting edge on the Zapco stereo in your Datsun lowrider circa 1986.
Farley Jackmaster Funk - Jack Party Volume 1.
Posted by Joel Brüt
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Labels:
disco,
Early House,
Farley Jackmaster Funk
Under the guidance of legendary NYC DJ Walter Gibbons, "Set It Off" by Strafe was a massive underground club hit upon its release in 1984. Gibbons (who mixed the track) was co-founder of the Jus Born imprint which was basically formed as a catalyst for the "Set It Off" single. The track had such a profound impact that they went on to produce a female vocal version in 1985, a 1986 remix 12" as well as "Set It Off II" in '87. With its stark groove, the original version was a masterful blend of early electro, house and techno styles. Still, I quite enjoy the single as it evolved over the next several Jus Born releases.
Strafe aka Steve Standard still performs in NYC to this day. The late great Walter Gibbons (pictured above) died in 1994 and donated his massive record collection to an SF based aids charity where it was auctioned off. Many pieces of his collection are still floating around the Bay Area.
Strafe - Set It Off
Harleqiun 4's - Set It Off
Strafe - Set It Off (1986 Remix)
Posted by Magnum
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Labels:
Early House,
electro,
Strafe,
Walter Gibbons
Sorry I've been so absent in the electric world of beats (well, in terms of this blog) but I thought I'd return with another installment of jack history. Chip E, the self-proclaimed "Godfather of House", released this track to clue people in to exactly what time it was. No, not a numerical indicator of a chronological state, this was more of an instruction for the dance floor (which sounds like it was issued from beneath a pillow). Nearly synchronous with the release of
The Jacking Zone and numerous other jack tracks, it certainly was the time to jack in a larger scale as well.
Posted by safetyscissors
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Labels:
Chip E,
Early House,
Jack
Z-Factor was one of the many aliases of Chicago House producer Vince Lawrence. With a songwriting credit and production by the legendary Jesse Saunders as well as Risque Rhythm Team's N. Mitchbal, "I am The D.J." saw several pressings and remixes all released on Mitchbal's eponymous Chicago based record label. Featured here is the Dub Mix of the The Remix of the Remix if that is not at all too confusing. Ripped from a very worn copy, it is rather difficult to find this 12" in good condition as the majority of these singles were undoubtedly DJ copies and played to death in the clubs and house parties until they found a new status as drink coasters and pizza trays.
Z-Factor - I Am The DJ Remix of The Remix (Dub Mix)
Posted by Magnum
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Labels:
Early House,
Jessay,
Jesse Saunders,
Mitchbal,
Risqué Rhythm Team,
Vince Lawrence
My brain is cloudy from watching a debate between two senators who disagree on a few important issues. Therefore, I'm not sure how much depth I can spew from my spinning head for a post today...Rather, I'll focus on two things I saw in the debate through two different Jesse Saunders tracks.
First off: I'm not sure what this silly song from Saunders is about exactly but it is seething with absurdity which I have seen plenty of in this presidential race, especially in the past week. Additionally, feel free to relate this song to the topic of our nation's health care system in some obscure way (I'm open to suggestions).
Secondly, I'll focus on the mind-numbing rehashing of rhetoric which was very present in the debate (however, this track is loads more fun). Produced under another moniker of Jesse's, Fresh, Dum Dum is an amazing house anthem in a non-traditional sense. It's a mash-up medley where Mr. Saunders scratches and samples other tracks including some Sheila E as well as the other track in this post...all over the top of a simple drum machine track and a repetitive vocal medley consisting only of the word "dum". On a sidenote, there is a lack of live scratching which happens in house and techno these days. Find some old WBMX mixes online to hear the character DJs used to inject into their mixing.
I know Jesse aka Jes Say, the godfather of house, has little to do with the 2008 presidential race in the US of A but maybe he could run for president. I could imagine some vintage sounding patriotic house jam to rally support for him. You can be assured that Barack has my vote secured but without a doubt I would vote for Jesse Saunders over McCain if it came down to it. (And in no way am I comparing Obama to Jesse Saunders in case you were wondering...but I'll bet they are both swell guys.)
Dr. Derelict - Undercover (Remix)
Fresh - Dum Dum
Posted by safetyscissors
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Labels:
Early House,
Jessay,
Jesse Saunders,
Sheila E
Dictionary.com lists thirty different definitions of the word jack and UrbanDictionary.com has nearly 60 entries. However, if you read all of them you would be more than slightly hazy about what exactly all the Chicagoans were hyping through house music in the mid-80's. Farley Jackmaster Funk, Chip-E's Time To Jack, Jackin' the House...those four letters were nearly a necessity for early house records. What are they talking about? I suppose it's a sound synonymous with early Chicago house...and that sound makes you jack. The concept of "jacking your body" makes sense to me if i listen to the rigid yet somehow arousing drum machine patterns. This track should help you understand. Just don't confuse it with one of the many other meanings of the word, such as self-pleasuring, stealing, a premigratory young male salmon or absolutely nothing (as in jack shit).
Risqué Rhythum Team was K-Alexi, Mr. Lee (above) and Mitchbal. Each of them had extensive contributions to this particular definition of
jack.
The Jacking Zone was released on Chicago Connection Records in 1986. Presumably it is about some sort of area where lots of jacking took place.
Posted by safetyscissors
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Labels:
Early House,
Jack,
Risqué Rhythm Team
