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MIX NOTES

All True Man (Classic Club Mix) – My man Kendrick was kind enough to invite wifey and I to his baller-ass house in PR, so I made a mix I thought an old Paradise Garage head like him might dig. This mid-tempo cut by Alexander O’neal was released in 1991 as house music was really hitting the mainstream. The production is so damn good because Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrote, played and even sang everything – except for the lead vocals, of course.

I’m Gonna Love You – More beats from 1991. I put this song on mixes from time to time cuz it was one of the first Italian house imports I bought at Vinylamnia on Carmine Street. It was produced by Claudio “Moz-Art” Rispoli, the Italian DJ legend perhaps better known for Soft House Company’s “What You Need/A Little Piano” that came out the year before. Both still rock any dance floor of discerning NY heads.

Answer Man – Sliding in nicely amidst these old school cuts is Craig Smith aka The Revenge, who shares my love of mid-tempo grooves and really knows how to create a retro sound near indistinguishable from the originals. His drum sounds just have a bit more thump, and that’s just how I like it.

Starchild – This song has grown on me over the years. The first time I heard it, the breakdown really reminded of a this goofy section of a Spinal Tap song, and it took some time for me to remove that association. This was Level 42’s 5th single, released in 1981. It’s cowritten by Parisian keyboardist Wally Badarou, often called the 5th member of Level 42. He was an integral part of the Compass Point Studios band that played on so many Island Records cuts in the 80s. I also recently learned the first hit record he played on was the late 70s disco anthem “Pop Muzik” by M.

Where Do We Go (all night edit) – Brooklyn resident and “Let’s Play House” founder Jacques Renault (who I assume took his name from the croupier at One Eyed Jack’s on the original Twin peaks) did some simple edits to Steve “Silk” Hurley’s “House of Trix Piano mix” of Ten City’s 1989 single, “Where Do We Go”. The B Side wins again.

Free Love (Paul Simpson and DJ Romain rework) – A slightly more dancefloor-friendly edit of the 1976 classic by Jean Carne, who added the E on the end of her name at the advice of a numerologist. Paul Simpson is a certified legend in the house scene, and probably best known for Serious Intention’s “You Don’t Know”, which help lay the foundation for the NY house sound in 1984 while Chicago was laying theirs. DJ Romain got his start at acclaimed NY after-hours spot “Save The Robots” and blew the fuck up from there. His name still carries a lot of weight in the circles I run, and for good reason.

You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me) – Reaching back to 1984, this track has Larry Levan’s fingerprints all over it. Before branching out to a solo singing career, David Joseph was the keyboardist for the London Funk band, Hi-Tension, who released only one LP in 1978.

Sun Sun Sun (Walter Gibbons Mix) – One of the weirder NY Disco classics, it took me years of hearing it in clubs to really appreciate it. This came out in 1976 on the Pyramid label, mixed by legendary DJ and remixer Walter Gibbons, who was undoubtedly the first to play it – probably at Galaxy 21 on 23rd st – a 4-floor after-hours mecca of the disco scene. They even had a dedicated floor for Jack Deveau’s gay porn movies. This flyer from that era is pretty damn cool too.

We’re On Our Way Home – A wonderfully epic singalong from Detroit’s Brainstorm, who were the first band on the Tabu label – same label as Alexander O’neal (above). This came out in 78, a year after their mega-hit “Lovin’ Is Really My Game”. They disbanded in 1980, but various members of the band went on to play with groups like P-Funk, Cameo, Wham, and Sounds of Blackness – among others.

Music – Timmy Regisford used to drop this Al Hudson & One Way jam at Shelter occasionally, in the late morning, after a very long night of relentless deep house. The tempo and message were always just right. Discerning ears will recognize Alicia Meyers (“I Want To Thank You”) on shared lead vocals.

Right Back To You – The earlier dub didn’t really satisfy my need for a solid Ten City record, so I ran this joint too. Steve “Silk” Hurley and Marshall Jefferson both had a hand in this one. It’s from that same late 80s period when the distinction between real R&B bands and straight up studio house music acts was a lot blurrier.

Move (Farley mix) – A nice throwback groove from John Rocca, who was the guy behind the electro hit “I.O.U.” by Freez – an Arthur Baker production credited as being the first mainstream pop record that used an Emulator sampler (pre-Bambaataa? Not sure…). This track has Farley “Jackmaster” Funk at the controls, which is why it sounds so damn Chicago.

Rejoicing (ultrapella / dee dub) – Deee Lite did this dope remix of Ultra Naté and it sounds so very 1992, doesn’t it?

It’s All Right – Another timeless house classic from Sterling Void aka Duane Pelt. Marshall Jefferson wrote this in 1987 and it’s been moving dance floors ever since. The Pet Shop Boys covered it in 1989 and got Sterling himself to do one of the remixes.

Bad Boy (unreleased mix) – Whenever some knuckle headed newjack house DJ tells me he plays “really sleazy”, I instinctually hope he means tracks like this Jamie Principle bootleg and Virgo 4, when sadly, invariably he really means some uninspired, derivative, instrumental he bought on Beatport that week. This shit is all kinds of raw, in all the right ways. If only I could have been at the Music Box to hear Ron Hardy spin it on reel to reel…

Don’t Take It (Thomos edit) – speaking of unreleased mixes, somebody unearthed a legit unreleased Armando track in 2007, and it’s also all kinds of raw, though this time much more on the acid side of things. The girl-power anthem vocals are recited rather nonchalanty by somebody named Sharvette. It sounds like the first take and probably the only take, but the acid baseline moves thing along nicely, don’t you agree?

Girl House You (Ohleev Corrija’s Drums) – while were resurrecting old jams, I figured this recent tribal rework of The Jungle Brothers by somebody calling themselves MaW would fit right in.

Big Love (Dimitri’s D Train Edit) – Somehow, this bootleg of Peter Heller and D Train that Dimitri did in 2006 never made it on to a mix of mine, so here goes. Despite being criminally overplayed, I still get a swell of good memories when I hear this baseline creeping up.

Gabrielle – Decided to close out the journey with a mid-90s Peven Everett track that you can still play any day, to any house crowd, and get at least a few screams. Roy Davis Jr seems to have been influenced by the UK 2-step sound that had started making its way across the Atlantic around this time, but it’s potentially sort of a chicken and egg thing, innit?

My thanks to kendrick for inspiring this mix, and my thanks to you for listening!