Party Favorz

It’s that time again for another Classix Edition, and what a thrill it was to compile this mix! First, I’d like to offer a brief history lesson in house music to bring those of you (like me) that missed out up to speed. The early 80’s reeled in a major backlash against disco. The naysayers claimed disco was dead, and the metal heads were having infamous bon fires burning disco records in an attempt to disparage and rid the format from the nation’s airwaves. While they partially succeeded, the truth is, disco never died, it just went underground. Fueled by the gay community, we weren’t going to let it die a painful death. The early eighties ushered in a new era of affordable synthesizers and drum machines, thus allowing just about anybody to create their own music without a five piece band. As a result, a new sound called “NRG” began to emerge. One of the biggest artists at the time was Shannon with her major hits “Let The Music Play” and “Give Me The Night” which were major club anthems at the time and now considered classics. By the mid-eighties, another form of dance began to emerge called House Music. By retaining many of the classic elements of disco, and moving away from the more sterile synthesized sound of NRG, it was able to capture the warmth and breadth of what was once disco. While Madonna didn’t fully embrace it until 1990, she enlisted the very talented Shep Pettibone to remix the hits from her acclaimed album “Like A Prayer” for the dancefloor. Around the same time artists such as Inner City and Sybil were enjoying massive club hits that began the process for top 40 radio airplay. By the end of 1989, Soul II Soul breached that divide with the massive house classics “Keep On Movin” and “Back To Life” (the latter hitting number one on Billboards singles chart). Ultimately, this paved the way for artists such as Dee-Lite, Cathy Dennis, Crystal Waters, Lisa Stansfield and Robin S amongst others to not only have success in the clubs, but at radio as well. With the Black community also embracing this new form of music, we also witnessed the birth of hip hop which infused many of the elements of house with break beats and eventually rap. As you can see, the entire disco movement of the 70’s was evolutionary if not revolutionary as it continues to evolve into many hybrids this very day. The old saying “what goes around comes around” has never been more evident.

In an effort to recapture a period in time I lost due to a overly guarded relationship, I’ve been buying classics that I’ve missed out on since the early nineties. I started purchasing used CDs on Amazon and Ebay back in 2002. Now companies such as Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records have been releasing their back catalogues to the online music services. Still, much of this music is unavailable and website’s such as “Burning The Ground“, “Club Classics“, “Dance Music Forever” and “Retro Remixes” are doing an outstanding job of bringing back these long lost gems. I don’t plan on reviewing or rating any of these songs, because each and every one of them has secured its place in house music history, and is a classic in its own right. However, you might want to check out my amusing personal anecdote about “Gypsy Woman” by Crystal Waters.

Frankly, this is quite possibly the hardest mix I’ve attempted yet. Much of the structure of these songs is similar to that of their disco brethren from the seventies. When a mix exceeded 8> minutes, the DJ usually added a short break in the middle that most people would mix out of. However, by doing this you sacrifice a portion of the song that was essential to the original. Other times when mixes came in at about 6< minutes, the DJ would just fade the mix. So, in an effort to retain the integrity of the original songs, I mixed out when possible and other times I employed a DJ trick by using a drop fade. Regardless, the overall feeling of continuity remains. It dawned on me, that Hed Kandi’s “Back To Love” series which contain remastered classics in their entirety are never mixed, probably for this very same reason. To get a truly professional mix by today’s standards, you would have to create new loops for each song providing a more DJ friendly intro and outro. As it stands, this took a very long time to complete, and frankly there just isn’t enough time to begin that process. By the late nineties, DJs such as Hex Hector, Club 69, Thunderpuss and Victor Calderone began taking advantage of the break in the middle and utilized it to greater effect, thus retaining longer play time on the floor while providing a more DJ friendly intro and outro. It’s a practice most DJs use today.

I also want to suggest that you turn off any “loud” enhancement on your MP3 or car stereo players and/or lower the bass on your home entertainment’s subwoofer before playing these mixes. While the songs purchased through legal channels have been remastered for today’s playback devices, the CD rips from the original discs are pretty sub-par quality. Consequently, I went back and painstakingly remastered each song to match anything that I had already purchased. Expect a very tight bass with added higher frequencies and expansion. I just don’t want anyone blowing their speakers much less their eardrums.

Finally, I’ll be fixing some issues with the blog this weekend and will begin writing reviews for new CDs that are pertinent to this site and/or the gay community starting with Donna Summer’s latest “Crayons” this next week. I figured it was time to start expanding the site to other areas of possible interest. I’ve also finished the first mix for the next installment of my House Edition, and boy oh boy is this thing HOT! I’ll have that out just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, which will officially kick off summer…yippee! After that, my release schedule for mixes will be every other week, as I’ll start spending more time with my new blog “Tired Of Towing the Line“. I hope everyone has a great weekend and as always…

Enjoy!

Track : 1 Title : Love You All My Lifetime (House Mix) Artist : Chaka Khan Peak Position : u Year : 1992

Track : 2 Title : Are You Satisfied? (The Tao Of Def Mix) Artist : The Daou Peak Position : q Year : 1994

Track : 3 Title : Happenin’ All Over Again (Jewel & Stone Club Mix) Artist : Lonnie Gordon Peak Position : u Year : 1993

Track : 4 Title : Just Another Dream (Club Mix) Artist : Cathy Dennis Peak Position : k Year : 1990

Track : 5 Title : Where Love Lives (Come On In) (Sound Factory Mix) Artist : Alison Limerick Peak Position : l Year : 1991

Track : 6 Title : One Night In Heaven (Club Mix) Artist : M People Peak Position : u Year : 1994

Track : 7 Title : Push The Feeling On (The Dub Of Doom) Artist : Nightcrawlers Peak Position : p Year : 1993

Track : 8 Title : (I Wanna Give You) Devotion (Trouble’s Underground Mix) Artist : Nomad Peak Position : u Year : 1991

Track : 9 Title : Everything Is Gonna Be Alright (Chuff Chuff Dub) Artist : Sounds Of Blackness Peak Position : s Year : 1994

Track : 10 Title : I’ll Be Your Friend (Original Def Mix) Artist : Robert Owens Peak Position : u Year : 1992

Track : 11 Title : Melody Of Love (Junior Vasquez DMC Remix) Artist : Donna Summer Peak Position : u Year : 1995

Track : 12 Title : I Want You (Monster Club Mix) Artist : Juliet Roberts Peak Position : u Year : 1994

Track : 13 Title : Deeper And Deeper (Shep’s Deep Makeover Mix) Artist : Madonna Peak Position : u Year : 1993

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