Around three years ago, the editor-in-chief here at Ears To The House started writing on his Facebook page about Sterling Void. All of those posts were copied over to this site’s original incarnation when it was set up in early 2020 – and they’re all still available in our archive.

To put it mildly, Sterling Void – real name Duane Pelt – isn’t the most honest in the business. He previously forged the signature of singer Cleveland P Jones on a contract, ripped off British producer Neil Hipkiss to the tune of £2000 over a sample pack, pretended he had a release forthcoming on Defected and conned many a person for taxis which never existed – to give just a small sample.

Earlier this week, Void shared the following photo on his Facebook page…

What’s much more interesting is what Void hasn’t told his social media fans and followers. In 1987, Void was sharing a flat in Chicago with Marshall Jefferson. At the time, Jefferson was working on a song with Paris Brightledge called “It’s Alright” – Void subsequently took the track to DJ International and got the credit.

After doing the same in 1988 with another Jefferson composition called “Runaway Girl”, Jefferson caught Void smoking crack in his flat – leading to Jefferson evicting him. Shortly afterwards when Jefferson was in the studio, Void cleared the entire flat out. He even persuaded the landlord to help him do it, claiming Jefferson was also leaving.

Void even took the carpets. At the time of publication, this story remains curiously absent from Duane Pelt’s Facebook page…