Straight from the vault!
CHICAGO HOUSE SYNDROME - WORK IT
DJ Deep (Cyril Etienne des Rosaies) is a true music miner. On a daily quest to wander in record shops, he has not lost his appetite in search of lost gems. His City To City compilation series is worth having for the proponents of obscure house/techno music, originated in New York, Detroit and Chicago. In the third part of the series, a primitive yet catchy and groovy track can be found.
Chicago House Syndrome was an alias used by Richie Jones and Rich Tancredi for the production of an EP (Work It), back in 1987 (Dance-Sing Records).
Richie Jones is an American producer, starting his career as a remixer in 1983. He is known as the mastermind producer behind the Degrees Of Motion, an early 90's NY house group with instant success; the first single Do You Want It Right Now, a remake of Siedah Garrett's track, hit the UK National Charts, after being signed to Pete Tong's label, FFRR.
Rich Tancredi is a keyboard player, focused on house music. He provided his technical expertise in several house tracks of the 80's and later he became a producer for popular artists (Taylor Dane, Mariah Carey, Laura Branigan, Celine Dion).
I am not a big fan of the early Chicago house music (though I respect classics such as Mr. Fingers - Can You Feel It). However, Work It actually works for me. It is a simple composition production-wise, but its simplicity and funky jam are the elements that make the track addictive for non-stop listening. I believe the fact that it was released on small independent NY label prevented it from being a classic track of that era!
Δευτέρα 16 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019
Παρασκευή 13 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019
Tune #101: The Space Cadets - Stotinki
In a previous post I mentioned the need for an experimental DJ set, following the standards of The Future Sound of London. A perfect learning start would be their first Essential Mix at BBC Radio 1, aired on 12 April 1993 (whoa, time flies!). Many obscure tracks are presented in the set, a personal favorite of which would be Stotinki by The Space Cadets.
The Space Cadets was a one-off collaboration between the British Asian Haq Nawaz Qureshi and Cypriot Harri Kakoulli.
Nawaz's history is definitely not common. He was born and grew up in Bradford. At the start of the eighties, he was the drummer in gothic punk band Southern Death Cult (until 1983) and later in alternative rock band Getting The Fear (1984). In 1986, he moved to London, in order to set up a company for signing artists to major record labels. Two years later, with no signings of compositions that fused world music with dance elements, he started with Katherine Canoville a new music label that focused primarily on that goal. The label was Nation Records, an early home for groups such as Asian Dub Foundation, Transglobal Underground and Loop Guru. In 1997, Katherine's involvement in the label ended, making Nawaz the sole head honcho. The steps followed by him were controversial. Spending a lot of his time travelling, he met with extremists and jihadists and he even attempted to meet Osama Bin Laden back in 1998. His controversial actions can be identified in his primary music project Fun-Da-Mental, with strong preference in Islamic fundamentalism. The ideology projected through his tracks was provocative and uncompromising, leading to trouble with the law and the label's directors.
Harry Kakoulli is multi-instrumentalist, mostly known for his tenure as the bass player for Squeeze, between 1976 and 1979. Throughout the first half of the 80's, he followed a solo career that spawned an album and a handful of EPs. Since the end of the 80's, he has been an early collaborator for Nation Records, composing records that fuse world music, techno and trance (adopting the label's ethos). His valuable experience gave him the chance to produce the first compilations of the music company (Fuse 1 & 2). Nowadays, he still involved in electronic music production, ranging from downtempo/balearic to progressive house and psy-trance (always with a Middle Eastern music essence!).
The original version of Stotinki (as well as the Dub mix) appeared for the first time in 1991, included in the second installment of the Fuse series. Two years later, a remixed version by Transglobal Underground (Tim Whelan & Hamilton Lee) surfaced in another Nation compilation, named Global Sweatbox Remix Album. The last version is the one that was used by FSOL for the Essential Mix.
The female vocals in the track are undoubtedly astonishing and they belong to Anglo-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas, whose contribution to Nation Records is immense. Her singing career started by being a member of Transglobal Undeground and she is now considered one of the prominent singers in ethnic electronica genre.
Finally, you can enjoy the 3 versions of the track:
THE SPACE CADETS - STOTINKI
THE SPACE CADETS - STOTINKI (DUB MIX)
THE SPACE CADETS - STOTINKI (TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND MIX)
P.S. I cannot imagine the connection between the sub-units of the Bulgarian currency (stotinki) with the track...
The Space Cadets was a one-off collaboration between the British Asian Haq Nawaz Qureshi and Cypriot Harri Kakoulli.
Nawaz's history is definitely not common. He was born and grew up in Bradford. At the start of the eighties, he was the drummer in gothic punk band Southern Death Cult (until 1983) and later in alternative rock band Getting The Fear (1984). In 1986, he moved to London, in order to set up a company for signing artists to major record labels. Two years later, with no signings of compositions that fused world music with dance elements, he started with Katherine Canoville a new music label that focused primarily on that goal. The label was Nation Records, an early home for groups such as Asian Dub Foundation, Transglobal Underground and Loop Guru. In 1997, Katherine's involvement in the label ended, making Nawaz the sole head honcho. The steps followed by him were controversial. Spending a lot of his time travelling, he met with extremists and jihadists and he even attempted to meet Osama Bin Laden back in 1998. His controversial actions can be identified in his primary music project Fun-Da-Mental, with strong preference in Islamic fundamentalism. The ideology projected through his tracks was provocative and uncompromising, leading to trouble with the law and the label's directors.
Harry Kakoulli is multi-instrumentalist, mostly known for his tenure as the bass player for Squeeze, between 1976 and 1979. Throughout the first half of the 80's, he followed a solo career that spawned an album and a handful of EPs. Since the end of the 80's, he has been an early collaborator for Nation Records, composing records that fuse world music, techno and trance (adopting the label's ethos). His valuable experience gave him the chance to produce the first compilations of the music company (Fuse 1 & 2). Nowadays, he still involved in electronic music production, ranging from downtempo/balearic to progressive house and psy-trance (always with a Middle Eastern music essence!).
The original version of Stotinki (as well as the Dub mix) appeared for the first time in 1991, included in the second installment of the Fuse series. Two years later, a remixed version by Transglobal Underground (Tim Whelan & Hamilton Lee) surfaced in another Nation compilation, named Global Sweatbox Remix Album. The last version is the one that was used by FSOL for the Essential Mix.
The female vocals in the track are undoubtedly astonishing and they belong to Anglo-Egyptian singer Natacha Atlas, whose contribution to Nation Records is immense. Her singing career started by being a member of Transglobal Undeground and she is now considered one of the prominent singers in ethnic electronica genre.
Finally, you can enjoy the 3 versions of the track:
THE SPACE CADETS - STOTINKI
THE SPACE CADETS - STOTINKI (DUB MIX)
THE SPACE CADETS - STOTINKI (TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND MIX)
P.S. I cannot imagine the connection between the sub-units of the Bulgarian currency (stotinki) with the track...
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