I’m Raving – Past>Forward Vol. 6 – The 50 Pound Classic Techno Mix

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Last Train To Transcentral (Live From The Lost Continent) by The KLF
Intoxication (Original Mix) by React 2 Rhythm
It’s A Fine Day by Opus III
LFO (Leeds Warehouse Mix) by LFO
Vamp by Outlander
Night In Motion (Original Mix) by Cubic 22
Instruments Of Darkness (All Of Us Are One People) (The Prodigy Mix) by Art Of Noise
O Fortuna by Apotheosis
Anasthasia (Out Of History Mix) by T99
Spice (Original Mix With Notes) by Eon
James Brown Is Dead (Original Mix) by L.A. Style
Jump! by The Movement
Come On Boy (Pump It Up Mix) by DJ H Featuring Stefy
Chime by Orbital
Next Is The E (Razormaid! Mix) by Moby
A Million Colours by Channel X
Dominator (Mental Speed Mix) by Human Resource
Jericho by The Prodigy
Sesame’s Treet by Smart E’s

“James Brown is dead!”

I started my first regular paying DJ gig in May of 1992. In the six months prior, techno had completely overtaken the clubs, so I cut my teeth working these songs to a live crowd.

For several months I’ve been mentioning to friends and promoters that I’d love to do a “Where Were U In ’92?” party, and some momentum is building. In just a couple of hours I’ll be spinning a set of classic techno at Dope, a monthly club night in the Castro.

Pride 2011 – The 50 Pound Note Mix

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Coma Cat by Tensnake
Put Your Hands Up (Pete Hammond Remix) by Kylie
Unintentional (U-Tern Remix) by Señor Stereo
I Want Your Sex 2011 (Freemasons Vocal Club Mix) by George Michael
Booty Move (Original Mix) by TJR
You Got Me by Second City Rhythm
Push It (Ron Reeser & Dan Saenz Club Mix) by Jessie And The Boy Toys
Automatic (Ultimix) by Aubrey O’Day
I Like That (Featuring Luciana) by Richard Vission & Static Revenger
Take Off (12″ Version) by Jon Giovanni
Any Which Way (7th Heaven Club Mix) by Scissor Sisters

“If this don’t make your booty move, your booty must be dead!”

This was my 3rd consecutive year serving as the DJ on Virgin America’s Pride float. In addition to my awesome tunes (*wink*) and a dance routine from some of my fellow Virgin America teammates, we were also honored to have recording artist and reality show star Aubrey O’Day on board (with her companions Ginger and Maryann).

Please enjoy this souvenir mix taken from the set I mixed live on the float.

Cover star: Maryann O’Day

View set on Flickr.

On Virgin America’s float this year, our special guest was recording artist and reality TV show star Aubrey O’Day (along with her companions Ginger and Maryann). She was lovely!

San Francisco Pride, June 26, 2011.

View set on Flickr.

Past>Forward Vol. 5 – The 50 Pound Note Disco Mix

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Disco Circus by Martin Circus
Can’t Live Without Your Love by Tamiko Jones
Is It All Over My Face by Loose Joints
Let’s Dance by The Bombers
Star Cruiser by Gregg Diamond
How Much, How Much I Love You by Love And Kisses
Mama Rue (C’est Moi) by The Queen Samantha
San Francisco (You’ve Got Me) by Village People
Love In C Minor by Cerrone
High On Mad Mountain by Mike Theodore Orchestra
Good In Love by The Ritchie Family
Souvenirs by Voyage
Magnifique by Magnifique
Dancing Is Dangerous by Nöel
Dance (Disco Heat) by Sylvester
Devil’s Run by Peter Jacques Band

“Freaky scenes of pure delight…”

Disco is hard.

I learned to DJ in the late ’80s, when turntables were the norm, and most dance music was created with drum machines and sequencers so a song would keep a consistent beat. Most disco music was created using session musicians with real drums, real percussion, real strings – real everything, so the tempo is going to vary because of the human element. Beat matching disco music is hard.

I think I did a pretty good job. I’ve been planning this mix for a while for a couple of reasons. The first is that we’re coming up on the annual Remember The Party dance at San Francisco’s legendary Trocadero Transfer. The other reason is my friend Bruce. For those of you familiar with the discography restoration projects I’ve been involved with elsewhere, Bruce is the genius behind the vinyl transfers. His ability to take a vinyl platter and massage the sound to near CD quality is unrivaled. Bruce’s passion is for authentic OOP ’70s disco albums and singles – in fact, 13 of the 16 tracks presented here are his work. He’s recently mastered some albums for CD re-release, and is beginning to get the recognition he deserves. Bruce will be here for Remember The Party (arriving tomorrow, as a matter of fact), and will finally get to experience real disco music in a real legendary disco. This mix is for him.

I discovered a few interesting things while working with these tracks. Let’s Dance was sampled by Lee Douglas for a remix of The Juan Maclean’s Happy House in 2008. Star Cruiser borrows a musical theme from Hey Jude. A keyboard riff in Mama Rue (C’est Moi) was used by Bronski beat on their Eartha Kitt collaboration Cha Cha Heels, and Devils’ Run also seems to have inspired their Hit That Perfect Beat. Finally, Pet Shop Boys may have had a huge hit with their cover of Village People’s Go West, but they also lifted a horn riff from San Francisco (You’ve Got Me) and used it in New York City Boy.

I hope this mix puts a smile on your face. Bruce has certainly caused me to re-evaluate what I always assumed was cheesy disco music – tracks like Dancing Is Dangerous and High On Mad Mountain have found a permanent rotation in my DJ sets. I also hope to see you at Remember The Party on Sunday night. Wear white!

For further reading, may I suggest Vince Aletti’s excellent book The Disco Files 1973-78.

I’ve recorded an exclusive new mix for the Electronic Music Bears podcast titled Summer Of ’83. You can download it here.

I wanted to build it around a specific feel, focusing on new artists who are using older analog sounds, but also throw in a couple of tracks that actually are from 1983. Summertime in San Francisco is usually cold and foggy, so this is one last warm farewell to a summer that didn’t really happen.

Hercules And Love Affair – The 50 Pound Note Mix

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Athene
Ex Ex Ex (Andrew Butler Hercules Mix) by In Flagranti
Roar
Chance (HALA Remix) by Babytalk
A&E (HALA Remix) by Goldfrapp
I’m Telling You
Classique #2
You Belong (Hercules Club Mix)
Falls (HALA Remix) by Bostro Pesopeo
Bad Romance (HALA Dub Remix) by Lady GaGa
Situation (HALA Remix) by Yazoo
I Can’t Wait
Get Myself Together (HALA House Mix) by Chaz Jankel
Blind (Frankie Knuckles Dub)

“Ohh…ohh…”

A good chunk of my musical education came from Julien. We grew up in the same town, came out around the same time, were opposites in many ways, yet he could make me laugh like no one else and 20 years later I still think of him as a close friend. We gravitated to opposite coasts; he lives in New York City, and I live in San Francisco. Julien loves house music and I have several cassette compilations he made for me of his “most influential tracks”.

Hercules And Love Affair’s Andy Butler grew up in Denver listening to house and disco music, and he too gravitated to New York. Andy gets it. While he’s able to score critical and commercial success by collaborating with Antony, he’s also able to craft some of the most down ‘n’ dirty Chicago House tracks this side of 1988 – tracks that feel like it’s 4am in an illegal basement club, packed wall-to-wall with dancers, while condensation drips from the ceiling. In other words, tracks I could have pulled right off Julien’s cassettes.

This is not a gay “WHOO WHOO” throw your hands in the air sort of mix, it’s something to immerse yourself in and let yourself go. It’s funky, trippy, hypnotic, and builds to a beautiful release.

Past>Forward Vol. 4 – The 50 Pound Note Retro Mix

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Some People (Extended) by Belouis Some
Imagination (Dance Mix) by Xymox
Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix) by Section 25
In The Name Of Love (’88 Remix) by Thompson Twins
The Promise (Coliseum Club Mix) by When In Rome
I Can’t Help It (Extended Club Mix) by Bananarama
So In Love (Special American Dance Remix) by OMD
Have In Mind (Kalimba Mix) by Cetu Javu
Promise (Dance Mix) by Secession
It’s My Life (Extended Mix) by Talk Talk
Reap The Wild Wind (12″ Version) by Ultravox
Memorabilia (Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) by Soft Cell

“I collect, I reject, memorabilia…”

This installment of Past>Forward is really just a collection of older tracks I’ve been revisiting lately. The Belouis Some album was just reissued on CD with a bunch of remixes included, and I’ve recently picked up remastered discs by Thompson Twins, OMD, and Ultravox.

A lot of these songs bring to mind specific people, so this one is for Brian F, Joe, Paul, Jason, Sean, Pete, and the original Beat Bash DJs Brian P and Michelle.

Pride 2010 – The 50 Pound Note Mix

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Telephone (DJ Dan Extended Vocal Mix) by Lady GaGa & Beyoncé
Enjoy The Silence (Original Club Mix) by Matt Samuels
Acapella (Bimbo Jones Remix) by Kelis
Bulletproof (Morel Vox Mix) by La Roux
Back Of The Van (Wawa Remix) by Ladyhawke
All The Lovers (Wawa and MMB Anthem Mix) by Kylie
Will You Be There (Seamus Haji Big Love Remix) by Andy Bell
Would’ve Been The One (RedTop Retro Club Mix) by Solange
Evacuate The Dancefloor (Cahill Remix) by Cascada
This Time (Mike Rizzo Funk Generation Club Mix) by Eha

“Sorry, I cannot hear you, I’m kinda busy…”

On Sunday I served as the DJ on Virgin America’s float during the San Francisco Pride parade. This was my second year doing so, and it’s always really fun but also a real challenge – the float is bouncing up and down from everyone dancing, plus there’s stop/start forward motion as the float moves along. I compare it to DJing on a trampoline. You can watch the float in motion here (thanks Bob).

I wanted to keep the vibe really up and fun and play songs people would know, but maybe not mixes they’d heard before. This mix was recorded after-the-fact as a sort of souvenir, and was pulled from the original longer set, keeping the songs in their same running order.

(Pride flag photo courtesy Jeff Smith)

View set on Flickr.

DJing on Virgin America’s float, San Francisco Pride, June 27, 2010.