Alex Moschopoulos
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Alex Moschopoulos
ParticipantHere’s another one:
Title: Luv Is All You Need (Ralphi’s Get Another Cocktail 12″ Mix)
Artist: 99 Allstars
Label: Pitch RecordsGenre(s): Trial House, Garage House
Year Released: 199699 Allstars is actually a alternative name for the 90s producer/remixer team of Marc Dillon and Patrick Dickins. While their versions of Luv Is All You Need were decent, it was Ralphi Rosario’s remix that won hearts and minds on both dancefloors and in record shops. Ralphi himself introduced the record to me and others when he played a guest spot at a club I was resident at back in the mid-90s. Took me a long time though to track down that record…after all, this was before Shazam, or smartphones for that matter!
I just love the deep groove of this tune, the dark voice, and the tribal beats Ralphi would put into a lot of his work back then.
ParticipantI remember when some journalists talked about the invention of Final Scratch. This was back when it was some college experiment. I thought it was a cool idea, but never fathomed trying it, as I felt fine on analog vinyl. I also had a CDJ-500 as a means to take advantage of the then “explosion” of MP3 into the musical landscape.
It wasn’t until I played a rave in Rockford, IL that I became hooked. DJ Craze was headlining, and he rolled up with Final Scratch 1.0 on a custom-built Alienware laptop. He played jungle, DnB, hip-hop, and he scratched…I was enthralled and memorized. At that point I saved up money for a Toshiba Laptop and Final Scratch 1.2.
Since then, I never looked back. As Beatport grew I found myself shopping online as opposed to in record stores. I’d only end up in a record store to look for classics, but even at that time I was buying more from online shops like GEMM and Satellite Records. I just grew tired of rushing to Gramaphone Records on a Thursday night to navigate a packed store in the hopes to get some cool new tunes before they sold out. I liked the freedom to sit at home and shop off my computer.
What made me finally give up on actual “decks” like turntables or CDJs was when I tried promoting a night at a bar, and I’d see a handful of guest DJs roll through using Vestax VCI-100s and one with a Torq Xponent. That venue didn’t have any decks, so I was bringing out my CDJ-1000s to play, and I grew tired of it. I ended up buying an Xponent and grew to like it enough that I stayed with midi controllers to this day.
That promotion was funny because it pretty much is what made me grow into using sync and midi. The very first night when we surprisingly found out the venue had no decks, I played off my laptop, using sync since I had nothing to control the software with. The fact I had to haul heavy CDJs in flight cases every week drove me to go midi and be more compact.
This is why I roll my eyes at the “purists”. Show up to a venue that has no gear (but should), or they have a crappy monitor (or no monitor), or the gear is malfunctioning (or not working). It’s just a convenience to be able to play and focus on picking tunes and watching the crowd over hoping something doesn’t fail or struggling to match beats due to monitor issues.
I love that now as a hobbyist I can pull my Behringer CMD components out of my storage box, turn on Traktor, and make a mix when I want…without sacrificing my desk at home to leave gear sitting on. I like that I can pull out my tablet on the train, open up Cross DJ, and plan out a new mix while commuting. It’s such an amazing age we live in now to be a DJ.
ParticipantOK, I’m going to start off with a tune I mentioned in the first Flashback Friday, but had posted another tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cqyj658S1w
Title: Sueño Latino (Winter Remix)
Artist: Sueño Latino
Label: Blanco Y Negro, Capitol RecordsGenre(s): Italo House, Balearic House
Year Released: 1989Sueño Latino was a project made up of several DJs and producers who are now seen as the fathers of the Italo House genre. Funny enough, the tune was mainly made up of a sample from an avant-garde electronic composition titled E2-E4, by German composer Manuel Göttsching. After its release, the team actually enlisted Göttsching to come and add guitar for the Winter Remix, which is my personal favorite.
I had first heard Sueño Latino on a megamix record made by two twin female Italian DJs who called themselves Rococo. From that point I had to dig up a 12″ of the original. I personally look at the tune as the very first “Ibiza Anthem”, but that’s not anything official. It’s Balearic sound just carries you off to thoughts of warm beaches, colored by a beautiful sunrise (or sunset), and I can imagine it blowing up on the island back then.
One of my most fond memories of Sueño Latino was when I played at a 3-day outdoor rave about ten years ago. With every stage/tent pumping techno and jungle, I wanted to stand out, so with Final Scratch at hand I played a set of old school house. I’ll never forget when I dropped Sueño Latino and the sun began to set. You have to imagine that blissful tune playing with a forest around us, sun setting. It seemed magical and I always have that moment in my head when I hear this tune.
ParticipantGerd, here’s last week’s: http://www.digitaldjtips.com/topic/flashback-friday-music-share-for-05292015/
That Delegation tune is just begging to be remixed into some funky house.
d-M…I so remember getting that Grid track from a record pool long ago. Never found a place to play it.
Snake…Massive Attack is like Leftfield to me. I never appreciated them back then, but now I do. Always found that strange about myself.
ParticipantSome great stuff this week. Threw a few of them into my hold bins.
ParticipantI had a hard time choosing, but ended up on a funky track that’ll make you jack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgYu9EDEdK4
Title: Jailhouse Funk
Artist: Makito
Label: Pocket Jacks TraxIt’s just that bumpin’ sound I love. I can imagine being at Smartbar or some good house club bouncing to this tune. The sax and samples only accent it all.
ParticipantGerd…wow. Gangsta rap before its time.
Snake, I’ve seen Good Life deemed as House and then as Detroit Techno. I think even the founders of Detroit Techno never really even thought of themselves as “something different”, but more wanted to make their take on Chicago House.
In any case, it’s an anthem. Still love that tune to death. 🙂
ParticipantSeeing as no one else has added, I’ll toss in a second. A polar opposite of my first:
Title: Kooler Than Jesus
Artist: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
Label: Wax TraxGenre(s): Industrial, Electronic Body Music (EBM)
Year Released: 1989Let’s see, how could I best describe this? Well, back in the late 80s when the UK was awash in E and much of Chicago was partying to the sounds of house and hip-house, there was this little subset niche of a scene that was an amalgamation of house, Detroit techno, new wave, varied forms of NRG, and of course, industrial. The infamous nightclub Medusa’s and it’s surrounding scene was the focal point of all this.
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult was a group based out of Chicago who, like many Industrial/EBM acts, would marry the notions of rock with electronic music. Kooler Than Jesus is a cult classic for Chicago, despite how their later single Sex On Wheels garnered TKK mainstream fame. I know that it seems whenever I drop my now coveted single anywhere in Chicago, the crowd simply goes crazy. That beat and bassline is just hard to resist.
ParticipantGerd, you ever hear the cover of Moments In Love by Noise Maker? Very cool uptempo version if you ever want to drop it. Also on Strictly Rhythm. The Logic tune reminds me of Photon, Inc. Just amazing how many hidden gems one could still find on SR’s archive.
Pretty cool tune Vintage. It’s so 80s.
ParticipantI’m tossing in a goodie from the late 90s.
Title: Can’t Get Enough (Jazz N Groove Nu Disco Vocal)
Artist: Soulsearcher
Label: Seems to be on a plethora of labelsGenre(s): Smooth funky vocal house
Year Released: 1998Most DJs I’ve known usually pump the Original Vocal Mix, but I personally love the Jazz N Groove version for how smooth it was. Such a great clubby urban sound that carries you from start to finish.
ParticipantThanks Bob for covering. Today was one of those “when it rains it pours” days.
ParticipantOk guys, glad you are all participating, but let’s stick to the “rulez”. Only post ONE track per week. You have more, save them for next week(s).
Sorry Vintage. You can blame me for that.
So in the spirit of Flashback Friday, we want you to post one to three tunes that are classics in your heart.
ParticipantWell it’s obviously Wolf of Wall Street.
That scream also sounds familiar.
ParticipantPretty cool picks Gerd. Have you ever seen Kraftwerk live? It’s a hell of a visual show.
Here’s another choice from the past from me. Apologies for the quality, but it’s the only online recording I can find without me uploading an MP3 illegally somewhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9II4Nppi-Q
Title: Alright
Artist: Anon
Label: NeucleusYear Released: 1993
Genre(s): HouseI don’t have much information at all on who Anon is, but it’s pretty obvious what he sampled to make a small masterpiece. I first heard Alright on an old Bad Boy Bill Hot Mix, and just loved the sound. Maybe it’s just love for Mr. Fingers and Sterling Void.
ParticipantYour link/embed isn’t showing up. Do you have a link to the page?
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