Mid 90s US House – Long Relationships Mixes Vol VII
The next mix to go with the publication of my book ‘Long Relationships: My Incredible Journey From Unknown DJ to Smalltime DJ’ is Vol VII – ‘Mid 90s US House Diamonds’.
From around 1991 onwards I had bought a few US house records from labels like Strictly Rhythm and Nervous and then around maybe 94 I really got into the Sex Mania label and DJ Duke. I was in no way a connoisseur of US house, just a fan of the more percussive end of American house records, and generally the dubs or the instrumentals. Lots of early/mid US house tunes were slick and minimal, others were more raw and tribally and they all just used to work so well on dance floors. I used to mix them with early UK progressive house and piano house along with some tribal house and occasionally techno with youthful abandon.
This mixtape is a selection of a few of the US tunes that I remember from the early and mid 90s but it’s not really an accurate recreation of a Harold Heath 1995 DJ set as I would have thrown a bunch of other stuff in the mix too. Also, I can’t remember all the names of the tunes I used to play and some aren’t available digitally at the moment either (Simone’s glorious ‘Hey Fellas’, where are you? And I know the George Morel Gospel mix is available, I don’t want that, I want the original whatever-it’s-called mix).
I have to give a particular shout-out to George Morel’s ‘Let’s Groove’ because it’s just an entirely flawless jam. I also loved those DJ Duke records, they had so much percussion they really fitted well with UK progressive house on labels like Cowboy and Guerrilla, I played them to death at the time. This is an extract from the book on the subject:
“It was at the Eauzone that I learnt the true power of the B-sides of US vocal house records. Having favoured euphoric Italian and UK progressive house as the base of my DJ sets, I began to develop a more subtle approach via my growing love for the dub mixes and instrumentals of Strictly Rhythm, Emotive, Hi-Bias, Sex Mania, 8 Ball, King Street et al. Someone once told me that the difference in voltages in the electricity supplies of the UK and the US contributed something to the variation in sound between UK and US house records. Whatever the explanation, there was something in those American records, some bit of sonic magic nestling in the gaps between the heavily swung hi-hats, claps and kicks that dance floors just couldn’t seem to resist.”
I end this mixtape with a genuine game-changer of a track, Masters At Work’s ‘The Nervous Track’, a tune that on its release in check 1993 pointed the way for lots of interesting developments in clubland in the second half of the 90s. Here’s the jams, turn em up.
Tracklist:
Mood II Swing – On Your Knees
George Morel – A Touch Of Jazz
DJ Duke – Get Up
Xana – Give It To Me
Mateo & Matos – Feel Funky
George Morel – Lets Groove
The Club Kidds – During Peak Hours (Mood II Swing Dub)
Mood II Swing – Move Me
DJ Duke – Lost In The Grooves
Lou2 – Freaky – The Bar Heads Mix
Nate Williams – Light Speed (Roys Red Dog Mix)
Kerri Chandler – Keep Me Inside
George Morel – Get Back Into It
Cynthia M – Love Storm
Loni Clark – Rushing (Mood II Swing Dub)
Mood II Swing – Move Me Dub (Sun Beats)
Masters At Work – The Nervous Track
